Lovecraft Anthologies: The State of Things
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 ธ.ค. 2019
- NB: The Lethem essay I mention in the video is actually called "You Don't Know Dick." Apologies for the mix-up!
A video where I bash* some popular existing anthologies of HP Lovecraft stories and decide I'll just have to come up with one myself.
Please know I picked these anthologies based on the most popular options you find around UK boostores. American stores might offer different options altogether.
*It should go without saying, but all of the scholars and authors who curated and edited these anthologies did so for a reason, and why I may disagree with or be puzzled by their picks, I appreciate their engagement with Lovecraft, and their hard work preserving his oeuvre.
Penguin Classics' The Call of Cthulhu and Other Stories, edited by ST Joshi, remains your best pick if you are looking for an introduction into Lovecraft's fiction.
US readers, buy it on IndieBound (yep I'm an affiliate):
www.indiebound.org/book/97801...
UK readers, buy it on Blackwell's (also an affiliate):
blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/pro...
Barnes & Nobles' Complete Fiction is the best option for someone who's already a Lovecraft fan and is trying to fill up the gaps in his Lovecraft scholarship. They'll still have to locate his collaborations (some of which rank among his strongest work), but those are easily obtainable online.
US readers, buy it on IndieBound:
www.indiebound.org/book/97814...
Leslie Klinger's New Annotated HPL, of which two volumes now exist, is also a great resource for already-fans looking for a treasure chest of insightful scholarship, curiosities, and background knowledge. Here are links to Volume 1:
US readers, buy it on IndieBound:
www.indiebound.org/book/97808...
UK readers, buy it on Blackwell's:
blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/pro...
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Herbert West Reanimator is probably included so often because the movie version is the most famous film adaptation of Lovecraft's work.
I always find something new about Lovecraft's world in his writings. Thank you for the video!
That's one of the reasons I read so much of Lovecraft's peripheral works, the essays, poems and letters, as they flesh out his persona & worldview immensely.The poetry is up and down more so than the fiction, but we do get jewels like Fungi From Yuggoth. I think Bob Price once said that if the Fungi was the only surviving work from Lovecraft we had, that he'd be considered a notable horror maestro for it!.
My first anthology was "Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Macabre," and while it lacks some more notable stories (Dagon, At the Mountains of Madness) and has some editorial concerns; I personally liked it as an introduction. It really felt like it captured several of his styles and topics so it seemed more well rounded than other collections. The Rats in the Walls is a nice starter story if you don't have Dagon, while The Picture in the House and The Outsider are very much Lovecraft without tentacles. Still, if you prefer eldtitch abominations, there's Cthulhu, Erich Zann, Dunwich, The Thing on the Doorstep, and Innsmouth. It covers the different stayed of Lovecraft without paying attention to as many 3rd tier stories as many other volumes. Also, to be honest it's a small thing, but I also appreciated the cover art by Michael Whelan (his work has been cover art for Meatloaf, Sepultura, Heinlein, King, Clarke, and others), and it was a nice break from the tentacles which usually adorn the covers of Lovecraft.
Benath the Remains' artwork is one of my favorite in metal, possibly in music generally ;)
love your enthusiasm and passion. thanks for the video
...A hymn to Lovecraft...a veritable aria. Wow, you must be one of those passionate PhD's.
I knew you were exceptional years ago, I love being correct.
Thanks, BC!
Exactly the video I was looking for. Thank you, sir!
i am a hardcore lovecraft fan, and i love ALL his work! nice review!
Lovecraft tier list when?
The first lovecraft story I read was The Nameless City, in an anthology of english literature classics published by an argentinian newspaper and it fascinated me.
That story must be among the first ones in any new reader anthology at least for the merit of being where the "That is not dead which can eternal lie..." verse first appeared.
I soon started reading with the Worthsworth anthology which is not perfect but it is divided into manageable sort of thematic tomes, and it did the job of gradually getting me into it. I did leave the sencond tome for last, which is the ghostwritting and collaborations, because that made more sense to me, and indeed a lot of those were among the most unremarkable stories.
Same i remember reading that one first too so trippy once u get to the end envisioning that is insane
Excellent review. You gained a sub.
Great video.😊 great channel
man please, make more videos on pynchon thanks
The Del Ray paperbacks are the best, feel good in the hand, comprehensive editions . ..But I still like the Necronomicon and Eldritch Tales, , they are not too heavy either, although I agree with you regarding the random, misplaced illustrations.
LOL when you start talking about that last fucking sentence in The Quest of Iranon I lost my shit lmao so true
I bought the three Arkham House volumes in 1970 and I don't see anything here that would replace them. Especially since they are untainted by the fungous touch of Joshi.
I' ve always found reading Lovecraft from the few very old pulps and early paperback editions I have of his stories the most satisfying experience. The age of the paper adds a level of mystique to me that is forever lacking in high-quality reproductions of his tales. I would love to see a collection of HPL's stories printed as they originally appeared, meaning on a pulp-like, yellowed/yellowing paper. This does present a technical problem: Is it possible to come up with a synthetic pulp paper that has the coarseness, tone and smell of pulp paper, but is resilient to handling over a long period of time? Pulp paper that has some very subtle strengthening added to it as a very invisible binding element that prevents the fibers from crumbling as easily as old pulp paper. did/does. (I can imagine the wrath of Lovecraft scholars who would scream, "You are tossing Lovecraft back into the very pulpy waters we've worked so hard to rescue him from!! How dare you, you backwards-thinking _____________[fill in an appropriate caustic insult here]...)
I think it would be fun to see a collection that included sample reproductions of his actual original hand-writings on envelope-backs, pieces of random paper, typed pages, notes included as had been done with Dennis Wheatley's detective tales of the late 70's---ie The Malinsay Massacre and Who Killed Robert Prentiss.. And/or---a mock-up of the scrap newspaper article dealing with the sailor's encounter with Cthulhu in The Call of....
I'd also like to see an anthology that featured the notes Lovecraft worked with in writing/ghosting the "collaborations", to give some perspective as to just how much of each story is Lovecraft vs. the other named author.
Well, one can dream a little.
I think that exists by now - remember seeing something like that while looking Lovecraft on Amazon.
Ciao! C'è un posto dove posso contattarti per una veloce "consulenza"? Sto facendo un dottorato sugli pseudobiblia e per vari motivi mi imbatto in lovecraft. And by the by, the way you speak is mesmerising.
Why are your books ordered by colour?
Do you like Thomas Ligotti? Will you review his books?
I've never read him, but he's been recommended to me countless times!
Have you tried Clark Ashton Smith or Thomas Ligotti?
I would love love to hear some thoughts about Ligotti's fiction.
@@laughingskuls7000 I haven't read him yet but two reviewers on here who I really respect gave him a lot of kudos. One of those was was Scott Bradfield who was definitely bang on the money about Clark Ashton Smith.
Check the videos out for yourself. If you like the book chemist you will love these two.
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I am a fan of Smith, although he's a very peculiar, off-kilter writer - not so much in his themes and plots (which still house some gems) as in the quality of his prose. I've never read any Ligotti but I've been told I'll love him!
Have you seen the penguin edition? I’m new to Lovecraft and it has the Cthulhu story in it.
You are quite correct on HPL, although I believe it is best to time travel to 1932 to really understand him in context. But I’m not concerned about that now. I’m worried about you, Bookchemist, because you seem to have arranged your books... BY COLOR. This is shocking. It violates one of the fundamental laws of bibliophilia, random acquisition and alphabetical access. Please address book fetishism and the proper ways of book exhibitionism and storage.
Well some years ago I received Necronomicon as a gift. Read it cover to cover and proceeded to buy eldritch tales and read that one too cover to cover (it includes everything missing from Necro). Both books in about a months time. And then I did not touch Lovecraft or anything horror for a year. Don't over-read uncle Howard, you will experience a burnout.
Indeed one should read as a first story Dagon. I still remember the feeling. I think in order to tier the stories, a re-read would be in order. Although I must say call of cthulhu and the dreamlands are probably at the top of my list to be.
Looking forward at your list though as it is bound to be interesting and informed as always. (That phd must be used from time to time doesn't it?)
Also it is nice for once, someone who really likes something, doing semi-objective criticism to it and not fanboying around.
PS: The amount of Lovecraft monetization and "Lovecraftian" creations etc out there is getting more annoying by the year. Or I am getting older by the year. One of the two at least, must be true.
I am also getting increasingly annoyed by the market's exploitation of the Lovecraft canon. It was fun at first but it's getting ridiculous!
Agreed. Lovecraft has been watered-down as of this day and age, and all this "hype" and newfound mainstream appeal is hurting the best the author has to offer by trying to force EVERYTHING he has ever written down everyone's gullets. I have seen 3000 pages one-volume collections with even his most meandering and unimportant letters included for no reason (not to say his dumb views on ethnicity, nationality, etc.).
All the while other important writers in the weird genre, some even better prose stylists than Lovecraft ever was, are slowly being forgotten. Also not to mention the eclipse over people writing new/neo Weird today that deserve more than they are getting.
I have the New Annotated Lovecraft and really enjoy(ed) it, lots of good bits to contextualize the stories -- but I do agree that the selection could've been better.
I always loved his short story 'The Music of Erich Zann', and I seldom see it discussed. The man really knew how to ramp up tension.
Too late to fix it, I guess, but for anyone who will search for `I love Dick` essay, beware, it is actually called `You don't know Dick`, at least in the copy I found.
You're very right of course - I think I got it mixed up with the title of another book. Thank you, I'll make a note of it in the description box!
@@TheBookchemist anyway, thanks for the heads-up. I know you recommended it in a earlier video but it took this one, for some reason, for me to get interested. Disappointment Artist turned up an incredibly cathartic book for me. And surprisingly cohesive too, at least in the way the last essay summarizes and reflects on what all the previous pieces were about.
Also, to whom not may concern: there is an abridged Disappointment Artist on Audible where only every other essay gets read. Don't be fooled into buying it if you are dead set on having the entire thing.
Have you heard that a major production movie is about to get made by the producers of Game of Thrones? I can't Wait