A review by house_of_hannah
The Gothic Tales of H. P. Lovecraft by Xavier Aldana Reyes, H.P. Lovecraft

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

3.75

In the past I have only read several of H.P. Lovecraft's short stories, so it was nice to finally read an entire collection. These are presented in chronological order, with the last story being the final one Lovecraft ever wrote. 

These are definitely gothic tales, but it was interesting to see how to storytelling changed from first person accounts to third person, and the genre definitely twisted more into sci-fi/cosmic horror. You can tell in these stories when Call of Cthulhu was written, as aspects of that mythos become ingrained in his stories. Because of this, I actually think I enjoyed his early works more. 

The following are each story included in this collection, the year it was written (Not published), a one sentence summary, and my personal rating of the story. 
 
The Alchemist (1908) - A man, who is the last of his line, discovers that his family is impacted by a generational curse that began 600 years ago. 4 Stars

The Tomb (1917) - As a boy, Jervas stumbles upon an old tomb in the woods. He spends years trying to open it, but one day is seemingly guided by a spiritual force to the key in his attic. His decision to descend into the darkness will change the course of his life. 4.5 Stars

The Moon-Bog (1921) - A man laughs at the warnings about messing with the bog from the locals. 3.5 Stars

The Music of Erich Zann (1921) - A man who lives on the 5th floor of an apartment hears strange, frantic music coming from a room on the 6th floor. 4 Stars

The Outsider (1921) - An individual with no recollection of where they came from or who they are seeks out the light. 5 Stars

The Hound (1922) - Two men build a private collection of artifacts by graverobbing. After acquiring a certain jade piece they start to encounter unusual phenomena around their museum. 4.5 Stars

The Lurking Fear (1922) - A man is obsessed with what locals deem a haunted mansion. Whenever there is a lightning strike during a storm people tend to wind up dead. 3.5 Stars

The Festival (1923) - A man returns to his ancestral home to discover that something evil lies beneath. 3 Stars

The Shunned House (1924) - An abandoned house has a history of sucking the life out of those that live there. A man and his uncle, fueled by their curiosity, are determined to discover the house’s secret. 3 Stars

Cool Air (1926) - A man befriends a doctor who lives in the apartment above his, but this doctor has a strange condition where his room must always be kept cold. 4 stars

The Strange High House in the Mist (1926) - A philosopher climbs the cliffs above his town to get to a cottage that is steeped in local lore. 2 Stars

The Dreams in the Witch House (1932) - A man believes that mathematics may be the key to unlocking other dimensions. 4 Stars

The Haunter of the Dark (1935) - A man is fascinated with an abandoned church that holds a treasure trove of dark secrets. 2 Stars 

As you can see none of my descriptions mention women. There is only one story where you could say one of the main characters is a woman, and it's not in a positive light. Most of the stories do not include a female character at all, so you will always be following a man's perspective here. I guess you could say that Lovecraft wrote what he knew, and stuck with that formula, which he did with more aspects than just this one. 

There is definitely a formulaic approach to his storytelling, and his last story in particular felt like an amalgamation of every story that came before it. Most of the time it didn't bother me, as the plot was interesting enough to make up for it, but I feel like I'll now be able to spot a Lovecraft story instantly. 

Averaging all the ratings comes to a 3.62. This book started out so strong, so I'm really disappointed in those 2 stars at the end ! I rather enjoyed reading this though, and as far as short story collections go I'd say it's one of my favorites for now. 
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