Today when we think of horror our minds bring about images of Stephen King’s It and a pile of his other books or George Romero and Wes Craven in the film world. Horror has taken on a certain violence to create fear in the audience, and the latest wave of torture horror movies move to shock the viewer. But before Dawn of the Dead and The Walking Dead there were the original horror and zombies tales. Before all this, a man named Howard Phillips Lovecraft produced some of the best original horror in American literature. During his lifetime, he was virtually unknown except in pulp magazines. He gained fame after his death and even among non-readers many horror fans know of Reanimator, Dagon, and the Cthulhu South Park episode.

What separates Lovecraft from other writers is his sense his writing leaves on readers. The zombie stories in this Dover collection, although not including the popular Cthulhu mythos, display some of the finer work of the writer. From the opening story “The Outsider,” the reader experiences something more than typical horror. There is an overwhelming feeling of dread and despair that lingers long after reading the story. The reader will feel the darkness, the cold stone enclosure, the damp, moldy, mossy passageways. It is not torture or violence that create the fear it is the setting and inserting the reader into hopelessness that surrounds the characters. That is the stuff of nightmares. It lingers deep in the brain almost as a personal experience.

Lovecraft creates lasting horror images. Whether the image is Herbert West’s pathological drive, Egyptian mythology, or the killing of one’s best friend there is a soul-wrenching memory created in the reader’s mind. He or she feels as helpless as the characters in the story. Simply putting the book down and walking away is nearly impossible. It will haunt you. Your only hope is to finish in a vain attempt to find closure. An excellent introduction to the master of horror. ( )

***** The Outsider
A re-read.
It doesn't get any more gothic than this!
Alone in a dreary dark castle, a young man has no memories of every being anywhere else, of ever seeing another human soul. He learns of the outside world from the castle's extensive libraries, and develops the desire to see the light. Thus, he embarks on a dangerous excursion to try to reach the exterior.
This story is a classic example of the paradox at the heart of Lovecraft's art and life: He was xenophobic well past what was considered average at the time, but yet he writes of horrors - "outsiders" - from an inside perspective, with remarkable sympathy.

*** Herbert West - Reanimator
Although presented here as one story, this is actually a series of six linked stories about the mad scientist, Dr. Herbert West. More than anything else by Lovecraft, these feel like true pulp fiction, written for pure shocking entertainment, with a dashed-off, distinctly "non-literary" feel. Originally published as a serial, the magazine that they were written for apparently (and unfortunately) demanded that Lovecraft 're-cap' previous events in each installment, which makes for repetitive, tedious reading when you're not waiting a month between segments.
Once the re-cap bits are dealt with, though, the story itself is great fun. It can be viewed as a parody of or an homage to Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein' - but where Dr. Frankenstein was an earnest experimenter, Dr. West is a straight-up psychopath. Each segment tries to outdo the one before with gross and disturbing gory details. [One 'alert' - the third segment clearly reflects what can be most generously interpreted as the narrator's racism, in a way that's a different sort of unpleasant.]
I haven't seen the movie that was based on these stories. Someone told me, back when it was a recent release, that its cheesy schlockiness didn't do Lovecraft justice. But after reading the stories, I actually feel that a schlocky, campy adaptation is appropriate to the source material.

**** In The Vault:
A re-read (I've read this one more than once before).
An undertaker accidentally locks himself inside a tomb full of coffins awaiting burial. Although he's an unimaginative, workman-like sort - not one to be bothered by the proximity of corpses - after what transpires that night, he'll never be the same.
Objectively, this is an exceedingly well-crafted piece, but the 'big reveal' just doesn't bother me as much as it's clearly supposed to. It's predicated on an assumption of a religious belief in the necessity of the integrity of dead bodies. If you're one of those people who believes that your body needs to be interred intact in order to be resurrected at the end of days, then yes, you will find the undertaker's 'transgression' disturbing. But I'm not one of those people.

**** Cool Air:
Forced by circumstances to take lodging in a cheap rooming house, the narrator is delighted to discover that one of his neighbors is a well-educated doctor - a man of 'quality,' even if he's a bit eccentric. The most obvious oddity is that he's a recluse, never leaving his rented rooms - and he keeps those rooms air-conditioned to a shockingly low temperature. However, it will eventually be revealed that there was a reason for his 'madness.'

**** Pickman's Model:
A re-read.
When someone speaks of an artist's model, the first thing that probably leaps to mind is an attractive woman. But when an artist specializes in painting the weird, the grotesque and the macabre, the feminine form is likely not what he's seeking out. When the artist in this story invites a fan to see his secret studio, in the depths of Boston's North end slums, what is revealed has implications for the whole city.


**** Thing on the Doorstep:
A re-read.
"It is true that I have sent six bullets through the head of my best friend, and yet I hope to show by this statement that I am not his murderer." Is that a great first line, or what?
A frightening tale of stolen identity and ancient, immortal horrors.
The narrator, Dan, was friends with Edward Derby since childhood. However, he saw Edward grow up into an unassertive, weak-willed man, who eventually merely transferred his dependence on his parents onto his new wife, Asenath... an Innsmouth woman with strangely protuberant eyes.
Of course we know that anyone from Innsmouth is bound to be bad news, but in this case, the horror runs even deeper than one might guess.
This story is full of all of the favorite Lovecraftian motifs... and would be nearly perfect, except for the fact that the narrative depends on the aggravating plot point that Asenath's body is unsatisfactory to the ancient spirit that had possessed it because the female brain is inferior. Of course, it's also pointed out, as a secondary negative factor, that she's also not fully human, but the female thing just seems to be unacceptable. And that concept is more than a bit unacceptable to me. It's a shame, because this story is near-perfect in ever other respect. (Full disclosure: there are New England Asenaths in my family tree - don't dis them!) ;-)

Although Lovecraft's work is all available in many locations, it's nice to have a small collection come out to revisit some stories and encourage me to read a few that I've previously overlooked.

Many thanks to Dover and NetGalley for this copy of the book. As always, my opinions are solely my own. ( )

This is truly a fantastic anthology by the true master of horror fiction. Even the renowned Stephen King (another favorite author of mine) says he was influenced by H.P Lovecraft.
These zombie stories are a bit different than the current day type of zombie but Lovecraft was a master at creating horrific stories with such atmosphere and suspense that they are far superior to anything we have today.
H.P Lovecraft's work is classic and I am glad to see them revived once again. Highly recommended. In fact, I plan to purchase a copy for myself as the stories are ones that I will read again and again.
I received a copy of this anthology via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review ( )

This is truly a fantastic anthology by the true master of horror fiction. Even the renowned Stephen King (another favorite author of mine) says he was influenced by H.P Lovecraft.
These zombie stories are a bit different than the current day type of zombie but Lovecraft was a master at creating horrific stories with such atmosphere and suspense that they are far superior to anything we have today.
H.P Lovecraft's work is classic and I am glad to see them revived once again. Highly recommended. In fact, I plan to purchase a copy for myself as the stories are ones that I will read again and again.
I received a copy of this anthology via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review ( )