The Dunwich Horror and Others (edition 1985)

The master horror writer at his best in his original unedited words. A must read. ( )

The first of the Arkham Lovecraft collections contains a very strong selection of tales, with "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" being my favorite. ( )

Some of Lovecraft's best stories including "Call of Cthulhu," "The Colour Out of Space," "The Dunwich Horror" (all three of which have been made into movies) "The Shadow Over Innsmouth," "The Whisperer in Darkness," and some non-Mythos tales like "Cool Air" and "Pickman's Model" (both of which, I believe, were adapted for Rod Serling's Night Gallery TV show in the 70's). Most of the stories are just a bit too long and could have used some judicious editing, but they are atmospheric and often achieve a real power by the end. There should be a Lovecraft drinking game in which one imbibes whenever one reads the word "blasphemous," but then I'd probably never get to the end of a story. ( )

An excellent overview of Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos stories, as well as some general horror tales, often about terrible old men with ghastly secrets. My edition contains August Derleth's introduction that tries to fit Lovecraft's Yog-Sothothery into a good-versus-evil frame, which is... not so successful, but oh well. Other features of this edition include Derleth's editorial decision to italicize the final line in almost every story, and a very nice cover drawing of Wilbur Whateley playing with a balloon or something. ( )

Contents: H. P. Lovecraft and his work / by August Derleth --In the vault -- Pickman’s model -- The rats in the walls -- The outsider -- The colour out of space -- The music of Erich Zann -- The haunter of the dark --The picture in the house --The call of Cthulhu -- The Dunwich horror -- Cool air -- The whispering in darkness -- The terible old man -- The thing on the doorstep -- The shadow over Innsmouth -- The shadow out of time. ( )