Scan barcode
A review by nupsilon
Shadows of Carcosa: Tales of Cosmic Horror by Lovecraft, Chambers, Machen, Poe, and Other Masters of the Weird by H.P. Lovecraft
3.0
Like a lot of anthologies, this is uneven.
The two obvious standouts are Machen's "The White People", a tale of ancient folklore and witchcraft, and Blackwood's "The Willows", an atmospheric take on the stranded-on-an-island trope.
Poe's story is just okay; it seems he was going for an open ending, but it just feels like half of the story is missing.
Stoker's story is kind of ridiculous, with its vengeful cat and its cartoonish American character (I couldn't even tell what he was saying half the time).
Bierce's stories are good but too short to leave much of an impression.
Lovecraft's "The Colour Out of Space" is good but not scary enough. I expected more.
Henry James is being Henry James, ie overwritten and uneventful. That's a bit unfair; his story is actually scary, in a very subdued way. I just get tired of his prose very quickly.
Walter de la Mare's "Seaton's Aunt" is... fine. I didn't find it scary or suspenseful. It ended the way I expected it to end.
Chambers' "Repairer of Reputations" was interesting, but I think I need to read the rest of the King in Yellow stories before I can make up my mind about it. I usually enjoy stories about madness and this was a good one.
As for Shiel's "The House of Sounds"... What the hell was that? Maybe I was just very tired when I read it, but I couldn't get into it. Something about the way it was written seemed off.
Overall I recommend this anthology, if only for the Machen and Blackwood stories. It's a quick introduction to classic horror.
The two obvious standouts are Machen's "The White People", a tale of ancient folklore and witchcraft, and Blackwood's "The Willows", an atmospheric take on the stranded-on-an-island trope.
Poe's story is just okay; it seems he was going for an open ending, but it just feels like half of the story is missing.
Stoker's story is kind of ridiculous, with its vengeful cat and its cartoonish American character (I couldn't even tell what he was saying half the time).
Bierce's stories are good but too short to leave much of an impression.
Lovecraft's "The Colour Out of Space" is good but not scary enough. I expected more.
Henry James is being Henry James, ie overwritten and uneventful. That's a bit unfair; his story is actually scary, in a very subdued way. I just get tired of his prose very quickly.
Walter de la Mare's "Seaton's Aunt" is... fine. I didn't find it scary or suspenseful. It ended the way I expected it to end.
Chambers' "Repairer of Reputations" was interesting, but I think I need to read the rest of the King in Yellow stories before I can make up my mind about it. I usually enjoy stories about madness and this was a good one.
As for Shiel's "The House of Sounds"... What the hell was that? Maybe I was just very tired when I read it, but I couldn't get into it. Something about the way it was written seemed off.
Overall I recommend this anthology, if only for the Machen and Blackwood stories. It's a quick introduction to classic horror.