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Type of bind: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN num: 9780345458292
ISBN number: 034545829X
Label: Del Rey
Manufacturer: Del Rey
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 384
Printing Date: January 01, 2003
Publishing house: Del Rey
Release Date: January 01, 2003
Sale Popularity Level: 355537
Studio: Del Rey
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“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.”
–H. P. LOVECRAFT
Welcome to the world of H. P. Lovecraft, the undisputed master of terror. His work has inspired countless nightmares, and this collection of some of his most chilling stories is likely to inspire even more.
Cool Air–An icy apartment hides secrets no man dares unlock.
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward–Ward delves into the grey arts and resurrects the darkest evil from beyond the grave.
The Terrible Old Man–The intruders seek a fortune but find only death.
Herbert West–Reanimator–Mad experiments yield hideous results in this bloodcurdling tale, the inspiration for the cult film Re-Animator.
The Shadow Over Innsmouth–A small fishing town’s population is obscenely corrupted by a race of fiendish undersea creatures.
The Lurking Fear–An upstate New York clan degenerates into thunder-crazed mole like creatures with a taste for human flesh.
PLUS TEN OTHER SPINE-TINGLING TALES
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Rated by buyers 
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This is an excellent collection of stories by HP Lovecraft, one of the greatest horror writers of all time. This collection includes three long stories: The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, The Shadow over Innsmouth, and Herbert West-Reanimator, as well as several shorter stories such as Cool Air, The White Ship, The Hound, The Lurking Fear, The Temple, The Terrible Old Man, The Moon-Bog, and Arthur Jermyn.
Rated by buyers 
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There may be better collections of Lovecraft's work out there, but this is one of the most accessible anthologies on the market today. Almost none of the stories have anything to do with the otherworldly mythology Lovecraft created, but all of them are examples of the eerie style that originated with the author. Many of the stories are short, and some of them are throwaways. Few of them reference Miskatonic University, the fictitious academy that is at the center of Lovecraft's best-known works. But there are some true gems here. Among them are:
Herbert West - Reanimator: in which many aspects of the "Frankenstein" novel are reinterpreted in an even more sinister light.
The Outsider: in which Lovecraft explores an almost Edgar Allen Poe-like pathos.
Shadow Over Innsmouth: containing enough paranoia to keep any conspiracy theorist happy.
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward: containing a meticulously researched colonial-era backstory, and one of Lovecraft's best fleshed-out doomed heroes.
As horror writers go, Lovecraft never really jolts you while the book is open. But his stories have an insidious way of working their way into your imagination and inspiring nightmares. They possess a consistent, unnerving and disturbing worldview that's impossible to forget. Many thanks to Del Rey for keeping this author available in readily affordable paperback editions!
Rated by buyers -
H.P. Lovecraft revitalized the Horror genre (too bad it wasn't noticed until after his death). Between Poe and King, Lovecraft stealthily introduced "cosmic" horror; a mix of mythology, science fiction and horror. It is his combination of science fiction and horror that really introduced a new way to look at the fear of the unknown.
Waking Up Screaming has a collection of some fine stories, but some of the themes were a little too repetitive for me. The discovery of an unknown entity or mythical heritage seems to take-up the bulk of these stories. While I appreciate the author's contribution to genre with these stories, my fault lies with the publisher putting too many similar stories together in one collection.
The central theme in most of the stories, besides a strong focus on how family heritage and its bloodlines can warp the family tree, is the knowledge that there are things in this universe that can not be explained. Many stories introduce the reader to terror that is beyond description - literally. Lovecraft purposely does not describe the terror in detail because the characters can not comprehend what they see without going mad.
Lovecraft really brings this theme to the forefront, almost as a guide to the reader, in his story the "The Unnamable". The protagonist in "The Unnamable" attempts to explain to his skeptical friend why he has a "preoccupation with the mystical and unexplained". That not everything has "fixed dimensions, properties, causes and effects...." there are things beyond our imagination that have no motive and can not be processed in our limited reality. The skeptic is of course, just like the reader, made a believer as the two characters are attacked by an "unnamable" or indescribable beast.
There are some great stories here and well worth a read to follow the development of the horror genre. "Cool Air", "The Hound", "The Unnamable", "The Shadow Over Innsmouth", "Herbert West - Reanimator", "Arthur Jermyn" and "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" are all important stories in Lovecraft's legacy.
Rated by buyers -
This is a great set of some of Lovecraft's stories. Not the best, book good for what it is. This is my very first book of Lovecraft stories, and has gotten me hooked onto all of works. This book contains sixteen stories. Not all are great, but none are bad. Some of the ones in here that I love is Herbert West - Reanimater, The Hound (scared the heck out of me!), The Outsider (the band Nile gets their debut album title from this book), Cool Air, The Lurking Fear, The Shadow Over Innsmouth (a Lovecraft classic), and others. If you're looking for any of the stories that are within the Cthulhu mythos, you won't find any here (though Shadow Over Innsmouth contains a brief reference to Cthulhu). You get sixteen stories, some awesome, some good, for a cheap price. If you want a collection with some of his best stories, then get The Best of H.P. Lovecraft: Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and Macabre.
Rated by buyers -
In my Fiction Workshop class we got to the subject of genre in literature, and eventually we started talking about Edgar Allen Poe. Well, the name "H.P. Lovecraft" began to get dropped around, and I started to get an interest in this fellow. I had only heard of him with regards to the roleplaying game centered around his Arkham, but never had I ventured to read his books. One night I went online and read his story "Daigon" - it was the shortest of his stories I could see, and I was tired at the time. His style enthralled me, so I headed down to my local Books-A-Million and bought this exact book.
Well, within days I was pouring page over page of "Herbert West: Re-Animator" like I had never done with a full novel! I went on to read "Cool Air" and "A Shadow Over Innsmouth" and eventually to the entire book. H.P. Lovecraft is truly a remarkable author, and while I wouldn't call his plotlines ingenious or on par with Charles Dickens, this man can certainly write! His narrations get into my mind like they're my own and stay there.
He's kind of humorous too, in his own manner. Want to know what I mean? Well all right, I'm going to teach you how to use his sense of description. First, start your own horro story. Now, when you get to the scary part, this is how to describe your monster:
"What I saw before me I cannot describe in words, for it is too horrible to recollect..."
OK, those aren't Lovecraft's exact words, but I couldn't help notice a pattern. Don't get me wrong, there was nothing wrong with that pattern. I was scared during the "Innsmouth" story with its tale of fish-people, and some parts of "Re-Animator" gave me some nice goosebumps. I have to add that the latter also had one of the most humorous twist endings ever. I won't ruin it for those reading the review but...trust me its worth a read.
In fact, this whole book is worth a read. Trust me. Make a postumously famous author happy.
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