A review by davidpc83
The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories by H.P. Lovecraft

dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

4.5

I kept coming across H.P. Lovecraft's name in reference to other media ("Lovecraftian" being used to describe a style/vibe for a video game, then Ed Greenwood (creator of the Forgotten Realms - the world of D&D) being influenced by him as a kid reading his stories. Also, Stephen King has mentioned him as a huge influence on his writing. So I finally got around to reading a collection of his short stories (he has many). He's most known for his novella "The Call of Cthulhu," which does a good job of combining many of his signature themes and elements in his other short stories. His stories were written between 1908-1936, with his best known work being written from 1926-1936, most taking place in the New England area. He was from Rhode Island, I believe. He died young from cancer (46 years old) and penniless and didn't become well known until after his death, much like Edgar Allen Poe (one of his influences). Considered a founding father of what's called the Weird Fiction genre (a mix of speculative/sci-fi/fantasy/horror), he is also credited as being the founder of the "cosmic horror" genre, as well as and one of the founders for the horror and science fiction genres in its infancy (late 1800s/early 1900s).  Mostly known for his cosmic horror (think of feeling scared and insignificant with the realization that there are evil space entities infinitely more powerful and advanced compared to insignificant human beings), but I actually also enjoyed his horror short stories (example: a creepy person you encounter takes you with them to show you an unknown hidden world through a door, filled with darkenss and monsters/unknown creatures, or the subtle and sudden realization that you're trapped in a room having a conversation with a cannabal/killer. Close readers will notice similar characters, towns (real and fictional- such as Arkham), items (the Necronomicon) and aliens/monsters/alien-races/gods are mentioned across his stories, creating his own lore that will influence all types of media for years to come.

Overall: 4.5 /5 stars