Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
It would be 4 stars but had to knock a star for being racist
This was a really creepy story, which like yes exactly what I wanted! I need to read or listen to more from HP Lovecraft. There wasn’t anything super scary, but the level of creepiness really was such a fun part! I enjoyed listening to it too, because the version I used has a fun background noise that really added to the vibe!
My first Lovecraft story, very creepy and amusing. The spooky soundtrack behind the narration was the best part.
reflective
tense
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is the first horror story that has gripped me in ways that horror movies and other horror writers could not. Known for his particular brand of dreary, Northeastern fright and virulent racism, HP Lovecraft is for better (and worse) firing on all cylinders here. Okay, yes I'll roll my eyes at the ultra-regressive statements. But the guy was born 13 years after the end of Reconstruction and I'm not really basing my sociological views on stories about half-fish people.
The main wisdom of horror films and novels is "don't show the monster" and Lovecraft is the progenitor of this trope. The horror in this novel doesn't lie in descriptions of scary monsters, but the horrific sounds that the protagonist hears and what image that renders in the reader's mind. The monsters are ever present, but always juuuust out of the protagonists sight: banging on his hotel door or shambling, disfigured shadows pursuing him through the streets. At one point, the protagonist even closes his eyes to avoid seeing the pursuing monsters. The best horror lives in your imagination, and Lovecraft does a wonderful job making sure it stays there for as long as possible.
Unlike The Call of Cthulu, this book is all first person narrative with some dialogue from the Innsmouth drunkard serving as maybe unreliable exposition. Overall, I really liked the pacing of this book. The slow, intense buildup of the Innsmouth lore and then the intense chase scene are a nice break from the slow recollection of stories that makes up the Call of Cthulu. Oh and the ending has such a delicious twist, that literally made me say, 'ohhhh shit.'
This one goes on the list of my all-time favorite horror tales of any medium (even spooky haikus).
The main wisdom of horror films and novels is "don't show the monster" and Lovecraft is the progenitor of this trope. The horror in this novel doesn't lie in descriptions of scary monsters, but the horrific sounds that the protagonist hears and what image that renders in the reader's mind. The monsters are ever present, but always juuuust out of the protagonists sight: banging on his hotel door or shambling, disfigured shadows pursuing him through the streets. At one point, the protagonist even closes his eyes to avoid seeing the pursuing monsters. The best horror lives in your imagination, and Lovecraft does a wonderful job making sure it stays there for as long as possible.
Unlike The Call of Cthulu, this book is all first person narrative with some dialogue from the Innsmouth drunkard serving as maybe unreliable exposition. Overall, I really liked the pacing of this book. The slow, intense buildup of the Innsmouth lore and then the intense chase scene are a nice break from the slow recollection of stories that makes up the Call of Cthulu. Oh and the ending has such a delicious twist, that literally made me say, 'ohhhh shit.'
This one goes on the list of my all-time favorite horror tales of any medium (even spooky haikus).
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Surprisingly for someone as nerdy as me, this was my first experience reading Lovecraft (after a recommendation from a friend.) I am not usually into horror, but I do like more suspense/psychological approaches to the genre (as opposed to violent/gross-out approaches). Lovecraft definitely fits that bill.
The building of interest and tension in this story is almost perfect. It reminded me in a lot of ways of _The Haunting of Hill-House_. We begin with the narrator getting some vague clues about this creepy place while he's still in another town, then traveling there, gradually learning more, then a sharp heightening of tension when he is forced to stay there overnight, leading to a very thrilling room invasion/chase scene. I found it interesting that most of the building of creepy detail came from supporting characters just giving exposition, and yet it worked really well--I guess largely because of the sketchiness of the details and the questionable reliability of some of the sources. My only complaint is that the chase scene gets drawn out a little too long after the tension has already fallen from its peak, and relatedly, there is a fairly long "falling action" sequence after the chase scene is over. I think a quicker wrap-up would have improved the pacing. Finally, I thought it was an interesting choice to have the story told in first-person past tense by the protagonist, so that there was no real question from the beginning that he would escape Innsmouth basically safe. I think this maybe makes the story more interesting by directing your attention toward more subtle questions around what might happen.
The final twist is also very well-executed. Lovecraft places several clues early in the story that are easy to connect to the twist after the fact, but did not telegraph it too obviously (at least for me). It's a good job of walking the fine line between too obvious and too out-of-the-blue.
Oh, and I also learned a good vocabulary word from this story: "batrachian," meaning "froglike."
I'm not immediately looking to read more Lovecraft, but I will definitely plan to read some more when Halloween comes around!
The building of interest and tension in this story is almost perfect. It reminded me in a lot of ways of _The Haunting of Hill-House_. We begin with the narrator getting some vague clues about this creepy place while he's still in another town, then traveling there, gradually learning more, then a sharp heightening of tension when he is forced to stay there overnight, leading to a very thrilling room invasion/chase scene. I found it interesting that most of the building of creepy detail came from supporting characters just giving exposition, and yet it worked really well--I guess largely because of the sketchiness of the details and the questionable reliability of some of the sources. My only complaint is that the chase scene gets drawn out a little too long after the tension has already fallen from its peak, and relatedly, there is a fairly long "falling action" sequence after the chase scene is over. I think a quicker wrap-up would have improved the pacing. Finally, I thought it was an interesting choice to have the story told in first-person past tense by the protagonist, so that there was no real question from the beginning that he would escape Innsmouth basically safe. I think this maybe makes the story more interesting by directing your attention toward more subtle questions around what might happen.
The final twist is also very well-executed. Lovecraft places several clues early in the story that are easy to connect to the twist after the fact, but did not telegraph it too obviously (at least for me). It's a good job of walking the fine line between too obvious and too out-of-the-blue.
Oh, and I also learned a good vocabulary word from this story: "batrachian," meaning "froglike."
I'm not immediately looking to read more Lovecraft, but I will definitely plan to read some more when Halloween comes around!
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No