You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
adventurous
dark
mysterious
challenging
dark
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is a solid collection of Weird cosmic tales and a must read for anyone interested in the classics of the genre. The only story I couldn't get through was Henry James The Jolly House, but the rest were stellar. Seaton's Aunt was one I had never read before and adored.
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
dark
mysterious
slow-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
This is a solid collection of tales that helped me become more well read in the "Weird Fiction" tradition. There were a couple stories I could not immerse myself in that I ended up skipping, at least one other story that I read through which was a bit of a slog, but all other stories were a real treat. My favorite writers included in this collection are Machen and Blackwood, along with Bierce. I am looking forward to reading more of them.
I'm not sure this is a great introduction to cosmic horror for people. While it contains the earliest vestiges of the genre, these aren't the best examples of what authors have done with it. The Henry James story in particular is god-awful.
Standouts include:
R.W. Chambers, The Repairer of Reputations (a lot of the themes from Chambers' work were used for True Detective Season 1)
Algernon Blackwood, The Willows
Walter de la Mare, Seaton's Aunt
HP Lovecraft, The Color Out of Space (possibly Lovecraft's best story - tightly written, filled with dread, truly original, and with only one aside about Polish people).
Overall, I'd give this collection a 3-3.5. it might be useful for understanding the origins of the genre, but 20-21st century authors have greatly improved on the form and warrant inclusion in a primer.
Standouts include:
R.W. Chambers, The Repairer of Reputations (a lot of the themes from Chambers' work were used for True Detective Season 1)
Algernon Blackwood, The Willows
Walter de la Mare, Seaton's Aunt
HP Lovecraft, The Color Out of Space (possibly Lovecraft's best story - tightly written, filled with dread, truly original, and with only one aside about Polish people).
Overall, I'd give this collection a 3-3.5. it might be useful for understanding the origins of the genre, but 20-21st century authors have greatly improved on the form and warrant inclusion in a primer.
I am not really into horror. Or scary things. One of the last scary books I read was [b:Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders|1274942|Helter Skelter The True Story of the Manson Murders|Vincent Bugliosi|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1387718660s/1274942.jpg|1077715] like 12 years ago and I didn't sleep for about a week afterwards. (And called up friends at 2 AM when I heard noises.) After that, I pretty much stopped even trying. But I thought [a:HP Lovecraft|9794991|HP Lovecraft|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] might not scare me they way, say,[a:Stephen King|3389|Stephen King|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1362814142p2/3389.jpg] does. I picked this book up because the title story was recommended as a story that was easy for new readers. (Apparently the rest of the mythos is all intertwined and is less accessible.)
Anyway, this was a collection of short stories. The title story (which was last) was a lot more readable than I would have expected, considering how long ago it was written - the vocabulary was a lot more extensive than I usually encounter (I went to the dictionary a few times), but the style was readable. (As opposed to some arctic books from the 1940's I tried to read that I just found completely frustrating.)
Unfortunately, that wasn't true for all of them. After I enjoyed the Lovecraft, I decided to start at the beginning. I got through the Poe, and was mostly confused by what I was supposed to be scared of. (Apparently the possibility that there were holes in the poles where the water went in was a viable theory at the time. (I refuse to spoiler a 150 year old story.))
There was a pretty readable and plausible story by [a:Bram Stoker|6988|Bram Stoker|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1202438456p2/6988.jpg], then three very short stories by [a:Ambrose Bierce|14403|Ambrose Bierce|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1183231430p2/14403.jpg]. The latter weren't exactly scary, but interesting and not bad. (Wikipedia added immensely to my enjoyment of "An Inhabitant of Carcosa"; I had no idea it was so influential. Then came two stories that I slogged through and didn't particularly like, and the one that utterly defeated me. All in all I missed 3.5 out of 12 stories (but they were about a third of the book).
Sort of historically interesting but I can't recommend the effort.
Anyway, this was a collection of short stories. The title story (which was last) was a lot more readable than I would have expected, considering how long ago it was written - the vocabulary was a lot more extensive than I usually encounter (I went to the dictionary a few times), but the style was readable. (As opposed to some arctic books from the 1940's I tried to read that I just found completely frustrating.)
Unfortunately, that wasn't true for all of them. After I enjoyed the Lovecraft, I decided to start at the beginning. I got through the Poe, and was mostly confused by what I was supposed to be scared of. (Apparently the possibility that there were holes in the poles where the water went in was a viable theory at the time. (I refuse to spoiler a 150 year old story.))
There was a pretty readable and plausible story by [a:Bram Stoker|6988|Bram Stoker|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1202438456p2/6988.jpg], then three very short stories by [a:Ambrose Bierce|14403|Ambrose Bierce|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1183231430p2/14403.jpg]. The latter weren't exactly scary, but interesting and not bad. (Wikipedia added immensely to my enjoyment of "An Inhabitant of Carcosa"; I had no idea it was so influential. Then came two stories that I slogged through and didn't particularly like, and the one that utterly defeated me. All in all I missed 3.5 out of 12 stories (but they were about a third of the book).
Sort of historically interesting but I can't recommend the effort.
dark
tense