The Literature of Lovecraft, Vol. 1

By: various

Narrated by: Sean Branney, Andrew Leman

In his Commonplace Book and and his lengthy essay "Supernatural Horror in Literature", author H.P. Lovecraft carefully assessed weird tales through the ages. He named a great many stories that he admired. The H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society has curated a collection of 43 of the best of them and recorded them as audiobooks for your listening enjoyment. Read by the HPLHS' own Andrew Leman and Sean Branney and featuring original music by Troy Sterling Nies, these eerie tales will delight your mind and chill your blood.

This collection features 43 tales totaling roughly 50 hours of thrilling storytelling by masters including Blackwood, Dickens, Kipling, Machen, Chambers, Conan Doyle, and Poe. You'll likely meet new authors whose works you may not know. The collection features a special audio afterword in which Mssrs. Branney and Leman share their thoughts as editors and readers of the collection in a casual conversation.

Contents

• "The Adventure of the German Student" by Washington Irving
• "The Avenger of Perdóndaris" by Lord Dunsany
• "The Bad Lands" by John Metcalfe
• "The Black Stone" by Robert E. Howard
• The Boats of the "Glen Carrig" by William Hope Hodgson
• "Count Magnus" by M.R. James
• "The Dead Valley" by Ralph Adams Cram
• "The Death Mask" by Henrietta Everett
• "The Fall of the House of Usher" by Edgar Allan Poe
• "The Ghost of Fear" by H.G. Wells
• "The Ghostly Kiss" by Lafcadio Hearn
• "The Horla" by Guy de Maupassant
• "The House and the Brain" by Edward Bulwer-Lytton
• "The House of Sounds" by Matthew Phipps Shiel
• "Idle Days on the Yann" by Lord Dunsany
• "Lot #249" by Arthur Conan Doyle
• "The Man-Wolf" by Erckmann-Chatrian
• "The Middle Toe of the Right Foot" by Ambrose Bierce
• "The Minister's Black Veil" by Nathaniel Hawthorne
• "The Monkey's Paw" by W.W. Jacobs
• "One of Cleopatra's Nights" by Théophile Gautier
• "The Phantom Rickshaw" by Rudyard Kipling
• The Place Called Dagon by Herbert Gorman
• "Seaton's Aunt" by Walter de la Mare
• "The Shadows on the Wall" by Mary E. Wilkins
• "A Shop in Go-By Street" by Lord Dunsany
• "The Signal-Man" by Charles Dickens
• "Skule Skerry" by John Buchan
• "The Spider" by Hanns Heinz Ewers
• "The Story of a Panic" by E.M. Forster
• "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" by Robert Louis Stevenson
• "The Tale of Satampra Zeiros" by Clark Ashton Smith
• "The Tapestried Chamber" by Sir Walter Scott
• "The Upper Berth" by F. Marion Crawford
• "The Vampyre" by John Polidori
• "The Venus of Ille" by Prosper Mérimée
• "The Were Wolf" by Clemence Housman
• "What Was It?" by Fitz-James O'Brien
• "The White People" by Arthur Machen
• "The White Wolf of the Hartz Mountains" by Frederick Marryat
• "The Willows" by Algernon Blackwood
• "The Yellow Sign" by Robert W. Chambers
• "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
• Afterword - in which readers Andrew Leman and Sean Branney engage in a lively improvised discussion of the many tales and authors in this collection
• Outtakes - hear unvarnished audio wipeouts, dialect disasters, textual lamentations, and expletive-laden outbursts by your dedicated narrators

©1931 All tales Public Domain, except - “The Black Stone” is recorded courtesy of Robert E. Howard Properties, LLC. “The Tale of Satampra Zeiros” is recorded courtesy of Casisana Enterprises, the Literary Estate of Clark Ashton Smith. (P)2022 HPLHS, Inc.

Andrew and Sean do such a great job reading!

a great way to discover more literature related to Lovecraft. Very well read by the HPLHS, they add a layer of atmosphere to the books.

Love these guys

These guys are the best narrators (Andrew is my personal fave, if I were to pick :D). They make Lovecraft come alive. Ever since I listened to the other two anthologies, I've been wishing for even more content. I'm looking forward to going through this new collection with two of my favorite readers ever.

Five Stars, More HPLHS Greatness

These are my favorite books on Audible. The HPLHS is a hoot. I hope this great entry into the catalog can be revised with chapter titles. The best!

This is all I listen to now!

Since the first time I heard the complete fiction audiobook I fell in love! I have always been a Lovecraft fan but I have been able to see his stories in a whole new light, and some I've never heard at all! Secondly I love the narrator's! Especially Sean Branney, my husband and I actually drove from Washington to California just to meet him! No matter what I'm doing I'm listening to one of their productions and am eagerly waiting for more! Boo to the naysayers! Lovecraft for life!

masterful voices reading great stories

from the shelves of h.p. lovecraft, a collection of wonderfully atmospheric stories read by two of the best voices for your listening enjoyment... recommend all of the books in the hplhs collection

Great Compilation But Rename the Chapter Dividers.

Thanks for putting together these stories. It was fascinating to hear what inspired Lovecraft. So many of these stories are so obscure. But for sanity's sake, please rename the chapter dividers so we can see which stories we are listening to.

This is great but please fix the contents

This is, as with all things by the HP Lovecraft Historical Society, excellent. Andrew Lehman and Sean Branney are terrific readers, and the stories, even the ones I like less, are wonderfully read. My only complaint is that the book, when downloaded, lists merely “chapter 1, chapter 2,” etc. This is pretty hard to navigate, given that there are so many stories and that the Hodgson story “The Boats of the ‘Glen Carrig’” takes up several chapters. Might you correct this?

Here is a table of contents

THE LITERATURE OF LOVECRAFT, VOLUME 1, is a wonderful collection of horror and fantasy stories that inspired H.P. Lovecraft. The biggest weakness of the audiobook is the chapters only provide numbers, so it is difficult to navigate the stories. I have provided a list of what every chapter contains in this review:

1. "The Adventure of the German Student" by Washington Irving (1824)
2. "The Avenger of Perdóndaris" by Lord Dunsany (1912)
3. "The Bad Lands" by John Metcalfe (1920)
4. "The Black Stone" by Robert E. Howard (1931)
5. The Boats of the "Glen Carrig" by William Hope Hodgson (1907), Part 1
6. The Boats of the "Glen Carrig" by William Hope Hodgson (1907), Part 2
7. The Boats of the "Glen Carrig" by William Hope Hodgson (1907), Part 3
8. The Boats of the "Glen Carrig" by William Hope Hodgson (1907), Part 4
9. The Boats of the "Glen Carrig" by William Hope Hodgson (1907), Part 5
10. "Count Magnus" by M.R. James (1904)
11. "The Dead Valley" by Ralph Adams Cram (1895)
12. "The Death Mask" by Henrietta Everett (1920)
13. "The Fall of the House of Usher" by Edgar Allan Poe (1839)
14. "The Ghost of Fear" by H.G. Wells (1894) [more often titled "The Red Room"]
15. "The Ghostly Kiss" by Lafcadio Hearn (1880)
16. "The Horla" by Guy de Maupassant (1887)
17. "The House and the Brain" by Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1859)
18. "The House of Sounds" by Matthew Phipps Shiel (1911)
19. "Idle Days on the Yann" by Lord Dunsany (1910)
20. "Lot #249" by Arthur Conan Doyle (1892)
21. "The Man-Wolf" by Erckmann-Chatrian (1876), part 1
22. "The Man-Wolf" by Erckmann-Chatrian (1876), part 2
23. "The Man-Wolf" by Erckmann-Chatrian (1876), part 3
24. "The Middle Toe of the Right Foot" by Ambrose Bierce (1891)
25. "The Minister's Black Veil" by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1832)
26. "The Monkey's Paw" by W.W. Jacobs (1902)
27. "One of Cleopatra's Nights" by Théophile Gautier (1882)
28. "The Phantom Rickshaw" by Rudyard Kipling (1888)
29. The Place Called Dagon by Herbert Gorman (1927), part 1
30. The Place Called Dagon by Herbert Gorman (1927), part 2
31. The Place Called Dagon by Herbert Gorman (1927), part 3
32. The Place Called Dagon by Herbert Gorman (1927), part 4
33. The Place Called Dagon by Herbert Gorman (1927), part 5
34. "Seaton's Aunt" by Walter de la Mare (1922)
35. "The Shadows on the Wall" by Mary E. Wilkins (1903)
36. "A Shop in Go-By Street" by Lord Dunsany (1912)
37. "The Signal-Man" by Charles Dickens (1866)
38. "Skule Skerry" by John Buchan (1928)
39. "The Spider" by Hanns Heinz Ewers (1915)
40. "The Story of a Panic" by E.M. Forster (1911)
41. "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" by Robert Louis Stevenson (1886), part 1
42. "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" by Robert Louis Stevenson (1886), part 2
43. "The Tale of Satampra Zeiros" by Clark Ashton Smith (1929)
44. "The Tapestried Chamber" by Sir Walter Scott (1828)
45. "The Upper Berth" by F. Marion Crawford (1886)
46. "The Vampyre" by John Polidori (1819)
47. "The Venus of Ille" by Prosper Mérimée (1835)
48. "The Were Wolf" by Clemence Housman (1896)
49. "What Was It?" by Fitz-James O'Brien (1859)
50. "The White People" by Arthur Machen (1904)
51. "The White Wolf of the Hartz Mountains" by Frederick Marryat (1839)
52. "The Willows" by Algernon Blackwood (1907), part 1
53. "The Willows" by Algernon Blackwood (1907), part 2
54. "The Yellow Sign" by Robert W. Chambers (1895)
55. "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1892)
56. Afterword - in which readers Andrew Leman and Sean Branney engage in a lively improvised discussion of the many tales and authors in this collection
57. Outtakes - hear unvarnished audio wipeouts, dialect disasters, textual lamentations, and expletive-laden outbursts by your dedicated narrators

Wonderful performance

The stories are a mixed bag for a 21st century audience. Many are great though. The audio readings are all very good.

the very best chapter breaks... E V E R !

"The Literature of Lovecraft, Vol 1" has the very best chapter breaks... E V E R !

Also this audiobook has narration by professional actors so it sounds top notch.
One of the narrators is Andrew Leman, and I have this B-Romantic obsession with Andrew Leman.
Why?
Because Andrew Leman's voice sounds just like the actor who is my actual homosexual man-crush-obsession: Mark Hamill.
What? Mark Hamill is too old to have a crush on?
It's like this, I have this actual homosexual man-crush because this homosexual man-crush started when I was 15 years old and I saw the first STAR WARS movie in the theater (23 times).
It just never wore off.