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A review by unwisely
The Colour Out of Space: Tales of Cosmic Horror by Lovecraft, Blackwood, Machen, Poe, and Other Masters of the Weird by Douglas Thin
2.0
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.