The Essential Lovecraft

De: H.P. Lovecraft, Leslie S. Klinger - editor

Narrado por: Edoardo Ballerini, Marc Vietor, Scott Brick, Simon Vance, Jonathan Davis, Jay Snyder, Mirron Willis, Kevin Kenerly, Dan Bittner, Chris Ciulla, Vikas Adam, Gregory Connors, Jason Culp, Timothy Andrés Pabon, full cast

Forty-eight of H.P. Lovecraft’s most important stories are brought together in this collection–available only from Audible–selected and with introductions by the award-winning, best-selling Lovecraft editor Leslie S. Klinger. Howard Philips Lovecraft was the early 20th-century genius who, almost singlehandedly, pioneered horror and scientific fiction, only to die in near-obscurity. Rediscovered by critics and scholars in the 1970s, Lovecraft’s work has influenced—by their own admission—every major horror or science-fiction writer of today.

Full cast of narrators include:

• Fred Burman
• Kevin Pariseau
• Matt Godfrey
• Peter Berkrot
• Robert Fass
• Timothy Andrés Pabon
• Paul Woodson
• Avi Roque
• Raphael Corkhill

Foreword narrated by Leslie S. Klinger

Chapter 1: The Tomb narrated by Fred Berman

Chapter 2: Dagon narrated by Gregory Connors

Chapter 3: Polaris narrated by Simon Vance

Chapter 4: Beyond the Wall of Sleep narrated by Dan Bittner

Chapter 5: The Transition of Juan Romero narrated by Raphael Corkhill

Chapter 6: The Statement of Randolph Carter narrated by William DeMerritt

Chapter 7: The Doom That Came to Sarnath narrated by Peter Berkrot

Chapter 8: The Terrible Old Man narrated by Chris Andrew Ciulla

Chapter 9: The Cats of Ulthar narrated by Vikas Adam

Chapter 10: Facts concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family narrated by Simon Vance

Chapter 11: The Temple narrated by Sascha Rotermund

Chapter 12: Celephaïs narrated by Simon Vance

Chapter 13: From Beyond narrated by Mirron Willis

Chapter 14: Nyarlathotep narrated by Kevin Kenerly

Chapter 15: The Picture in the House narrated by Neil Hellegers

Chapter 16: Ex Oblivione narrated by Jason Culp

Chapter 17: The Nameless City narrated by Jonathan Davis

Chapter 18: The Quest of Iranon narrated by Avi Roque

Chapter 19: The Outsider narrated by Raphael Corkhill

Chapter 20: The Other Gods narrated by Vikas Adam

Chapter 21: The Music of Erich Zann narrated by Edoardo Ballerini

Chapter 22: Herbert West: Reanimator narrated by Jay Snyder

Chapter 23: The Unnamable narrated by William DeMerritt

Chapter 24: The Hound narrated by Raphael Corkhill

Chapter 25: The Lurking Fear narrated by Jay Snyder

Chapter 26: The Rats in the Walls narrated by Paul Woodson

Chapter 27: The Festival narrated by Fred Berman

Chapter 28: Under the Pyramids narrated by Jonathan Davis

Chapter 29: The Shunned House narrated by Robert Fass

Chapter 30: The Horror at Red Hook narrated by Chris Andrew Ciulla

Chapter 31: He narrated by Marc Vietor

Chapter 32: Cool Air narrated by Timothy Andrés Pabon

Chapter 33: The Call of Cthulhu narrated by Matt Godfrey

Chapter 34: The Silver Key narrated by William DeMerritt

Chapter 35: Pickman’s Model narrated by Chris Andrew Ciulla

Chapter 36: The Strange High House in the Mist narrated by Kevin Kenerly

Chapter 37: The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath narrated by William DeMerritt

Chapter 38: The Case of Charles Dexter Ward narrated by Edoardo Ballerini

Chapter 39: The Colour Out of Space narrated by Gregory Connors

Chapter 40: History of the Necronomicon narrated by Simon Vance

Chapter 41: The Dunwich Horror narrated by Marc Vietor

Chapter 42: The Whisperer in Darkness narrated by Kevin Pariseau

Chapter 43: At the Mountains of Madness narrated by Scott Brick

Chapter 44: The Shadow over Innsmouth narrated by Edoardo Ballerini

Chapter 45: The Dreams in the Witch House narrated by Dan Bittner

Chapter 46: The Thing on the Doorstep narrated by Jason Culp

Chapter 47: The Shadow Out of Time narrated by Kevin Kenerly

Chapter 48: The Haunter of the Dark narrated by Neil Hellegers

©2024 Leslie S. Klinger (intro) (P)2024 Audible, Inc.

Very well done!

The narration was fantastic! Before this audiobook set I had very little experience in lovecrafts work, this was a great listen.

Great collection

This is a great one stop shop, but honestly it's just for Lovecraft fans. Most of his works aren't that good, especially his early stuff. It is interesting to hear the bad stuff alongside the legitimate masterpieces like At the Mountains of Madness or The Shadow Over Innsmouth.

All the Lovecraft you need

At the time of writing, this audiobook is available on Plus which is great. I've always wanted to read some of Lovecraft's stories.

Personally, I like the idea of the stories more than the actual stories themselves.

The narration is quite good and I found Edoardo Ballerini to be excellent. So much so that I'm listening to another audiobook that he narrated now. I didn't like the editor's notes on the stories however. As another review mentioned, the apologies about Lovecraft's racism and other flaws just go way overboard. And I really disliked the way Cthulhu is pronounced by the editor. He says it's the way it's supposed to be pronounced but after years of hearing it differently, I just didn't like it at all. Luckily the narrator of Call of Cthulhu pronounces it the way one would expect.

Perfect

I have no words, thank you so much, this collection was much needed, the best out there, thank you for making it easier for everyone to consume the genius of LoveCraft.
do WarCraft next ;)

A good listen

There were parts expecially in the forward that sounds like additional audio was added after the initial recording and it sounds really out of place.

Also in reference to the people complaining about the forward mentioning Lovecraft's racism. The forward/introduction goes over Lovecraft's life, his writing, his inspirations, his death, his friends, and fans. It talks about after his death his friends tried to collect all his work and publish it. How the Cthulhu mythos came about it. All the media that is influenced by his work like tabletop games, movies, and other books etc.
At the end, it talks about his racism and it talks about how he was a man of the times and how with age his beliefs changed. That it might be an uncomfortable read and how it's worth reading anyways. So anyone complaining about it talking about how Lovecraft was a racism is just a whiny child. Get over yourself. It wouldn't the a critical reception of Lovecraft's work if it didn't include it.
The forward/introduction was very thorough and I grabbed some of the books/short stories that inspired Lovecraft to listen to. Don't listen to the whiny babies and give it a listen or just skip the intro LOL.

Large collection of Lovecraft tales

This collection of forty-eight Lovecraft tales is mostly short stories including a novel and some of his longer works. The stories are presented in the chronological order of their publication. There’s a lengthy intro that offers background info on Lovecraft’s life and then each story is preceded by a bit of editorial comment on the subsequent story. While certainly not exhaustive, the range of tales does capture the essence of the quintessential lovecraftian ‘cosmic horror.’

The narration is provided by a bevy of narrators setting the proper tone for each story.

Beyond the cosmic void of the unthinkable

What makes cosmic horror special is not the unhappy endings. It is the horrifying concepts and odyssey revealed midway or towards the end - that the universe is a cold, unyielding vast place of unimaginable horrors that leaves the strongest mind broken. Not only are we not the center of the universe, we are also not part of some divine well concrete plan that places us as the inheritors of all that is just and beautiful. There is no paradise waiting for us beyond our terrestrial confines in this and other realities. This revelation alone is enough to make anyone with a strong sense of purpose feel disenfranchised and hopeless.
Lovecraft's human protagonists as not very well written. I think this is an unfair assessment. His characters are what they should be given their situation.
Colour Out of Space, At The Mountains of Madness, Call of Cthulhu, The Dunwich Horror, Dagon, Pickman's Model, Reanimator, Horror at Insmouth are Lovecraft's most popular stories, but this collection shows us other hidden gems that are just good.

Seminal spookiness

Do you want to know what scares authors of scary stories? H. P. Loved craft. If you’re looking for a best of this is it. All that is needed to be said.

Mirron Willis Should be Proud of What he Did Here

Whole text is good, obviously, but I wanted to very specifically cite Mirron Willis' narration of From Beyond as being very compelling and breathing fresh life into the story.

A good Lovecraft Collection... BUT...

First off, this is a very good and complete collection of Lovecraft work, so I recommend it highly as a lifelong fan... The actors who read the stories are quite good, and as a lifetime Lovecraft fan, I feel it is important to have a collection like this out there. So if you are already into Lovecraft, or are getting into his work, this would be for you either way.

HOWEVER... I have one big gripe with this particular collection, and that is the editor and his notes. I like having some history on Lovecraft, but the editor seems to go out of his way to do literally EVERYTHING I hate that other editors have done with Lovecraft...

Modernism. As with many others, this editor goes into long boring apologies and apologies about lovecraft's racism and other personal flaws, and quite frankly, it's tiresome.

Yes, Lovecraft was a xenophobic, neurotic, racist, twerp whose pros had many flaws (again, I am a lifetime avid fan of his).... But I ask, "So what???" I certainly don't endorse any of these personal flaws, but I also recognize that those was made him into the person who made a very interesting and enthralling world that has influenced pop culture for a hundred years...

So, yes, I might not like him at a dinner party, but I still love his work, and the need to apologize for it all is just played out.

Also, the editors pronunciation of Cthulhu annoys me even though he claims it's the one that Lovecraft himself came up with himself. (He pronounces it "Klu-Lu," but I like the more popular, "Ka-Thu-Lu.")

In summary, get the collection, and maybe just fast forward through the editor's notes.