Reviews

Houdini: Under the Pyramids by H.P. Lovecraft

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ankylia's review against another edition

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3.0

*2.5 Stars

acejolras's review against another edition

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dark tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

This happened to be my first Lovecraft, and it was a trip knowing he ghostwrote this for Houdini. Not that I expected any different, but people are certainly right that a lot of his idea of horror is…brown people existing. I kept rolling my eyes that “Houdini” thought Anglicized Egypt was too much like home but then hated the Bedouins when they had a more authentic experience.

For being a short story, I found it quite a slog and very wordy, and the payoff wasn’t worth it. I’m much more interested in considering the unreliable narrator aspect.

almondraids's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

cute_monkey_girl's review against another edition

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4.0

Rating: 3.5

qalminator's review against another edition

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4.0

I realize this was not intended to be funny, but I found large chunks of it hilarious. It seems to me that Houdini's influence over the story was to make it over-the-top in noticeably ridiculous ways. Good, fun read.

asimilarkite's review against another edition

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3.0

Somehow this is the first H.P. Lovecraft story I have ever read. Kind of a strange one to read first, considering that it's the only thing he ever ghost-wrote, and it's ghost-written for Harry Houdini, which is just incredibly random.

I think there's something about Lovecraft's writing style that just inherently bugs me. It's overly descriptive, which sometimes I like, but in this situation it just annoyed me. I really liked the dark tone and the descriptions of the setting, but it's just....to many words or something.

Besides all that, I did kinda like this story. It's been a month or so since I read it, and it did actually stay with me a little. It's creepy and dark and grotesque, and made me want to learn more about Harry Houdini, actually :)

fachrinaa's review against another edition

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5.0

hendejos's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

dorothy_gale's review against another edition

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3.0

3 stars... This audiobook had such potential! It had a horrible female narrator with a heavy accent who mispronounced such simple terms as Gaza and dynasty. Since it was Harry Houdini's story they should've used a male narrator. Then if you can get past all that, you're left wondering if you should really trust the story because it is Houdini after all. Would be a good thriller to be made into a movie if it hasn't already been done. Not good for claustrophobic peeps... Good thing it's short!

nevermore66's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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