H. P. Lovecraft Omnibus 1: At the Mountains of Madness and Other Novels of Terror [Mass Market Paperback]

This collection, the first of three volumes, may well represent the pinnacle of Lovecraft's creative genius. His knack for conjuring the most horrific and fantastical of atmospheres is unparalleled; these stories will have you shuddering with captivated horror at the incredible otherworldly landscapes and monstrosities leaping from their pages.

Plagued with a great sensitivity to cold from a young age, Lovecraft's first novel "At the Mountains of Madness" was perhaps a little closer to home than any other piece he attempted, and its sublime execution would perhaps imply this further. Regardless, this tale is arguably the greatest of the man's catalogue, with a gradual, drawn-out build up of tension and isolation into a frantic climax in a world so alien, beautiful and deadly. Reading this made me long to live in a world where such places as Antarctica still existed unexplored and mysterious, potentially housing that which men of the time could barely dream of. One loses oneself in those icy peaks, those ancient ruins, and yet one always feels as if they are not quite alone...

"The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" is next in line, and one can't help but feel sceptical as to how this piece will fare up against the previous mountain of a story. Don't let the slow start sway you - this one's darn great too! As with "Mountains...", Lovecraft creates an ominous atmosphere this time via gradual exploration of Curwen and Charles' dark discoveries, once again motivated by wild curiosity. Yet in this piece something far more disturbing and horrific lurks, implied constantly in Lovecraft's subtle narrative. Less beautiful, fantastical and isolating perhaps, but all the more human and realistic and TERRIFYING as a result. There is a scene involving darkness and a pit (not going into detail here for fear of spoiling it) which will stay with you for a damn long time - a claustrophobic nightmare.

Next in line comes a little break from the longer novels, with what I consider to be the least absorbing story in the volume, "The Dreams in the Witch-House". It's pretty telling that I can't remember much about this whereas I remember the previous two vividly. I recall being somewhat intrigued with the combination of mathematics, folklore, multi-dimensions and the like, but the main plot isn't all that gripping. Worth reading, nontheless.

The following four stories all focus upon a character named Randolph Carter - a man whose personality is founded upon a pursuit of the beauty found in dreams. It has frequently been said that this character is most representative of Lovecraft himself, and I must admit feeling great empathy towards him in "The Silver Key", a short prequel to "Through the Gates of the Silver Key", which can easily be read as a commentary on a dry and absurd society - as relevant now as it was then.

The best of these tales is perhaps "The Dream-Quest of the Unknown Kadath", which whilst seemingly having less focus and direction than his other two novels, is just filled to the brim with wonderous landscape after wonderous landscape packed full of creatures both stunning and diabolical. Carter's quest for the paradise city of his dreams is bizarre, yet wholly enticing. The previously mentioned "Through the Gates of the Silver Key" is also very atmospheric, though not a journey - this shorter story involves Carter's gradual venture into the realms of beings of chaos which dwarf humankind, and reveals much about the workings of the dream-world Lovecraft has created.

Lovecraft has created a mythos, from terrible beasts and Gods to ancient old writings and lands, which renders his readers both fascinated and ultimately insignificant in comparison. Treat yourselves folks, this is dark, atmospheric literature done properly. 5 stars don't do it justice.

The first of three omnibus editions of the great mans work. This one includes his longer works.

Anyone with any interest in the horror genre will be aware of Lovecraft ... many of his stories have been made into films over the last few years - with varying degrees of success (re-animator, from beyond etc). But this is the source material. When reading his work you can really see where modern authors of horror have been influenced - Stephen King, Clive Barker, James Herbert and especially Ramsay Campbell and Brain Lumley who have both extended the Cthulhu Mythos in their own work.

Lovecrafts style is unique, many stories weren't released until after he had died, in the main because he thought they were poor. He was most disappointed when 'at the montains .. ' was rejected. When reading stories in this volumne I was struck with the contrast in his writing - the macarbe and the surreal. I find his more macarbe tales the readable .. whereas 'Dreamquest of unknown Kadath' his less accessible.

The Case of Charles Dexter Ward is pure classic .. possibly my favourite horror story from any author. The atmosphere and descriptive nature has he builds the story is superb. I was left guessing until the end as to what was happening. The passages when Dr Willett is exploring the cottage is gripping to say the least.

Anyone who has seen the 'The Thing' will understand the nature of 'at the Mountains of Madness'.. a slower story than Dexter Ward but no less satisfying...again many of the horrors are left to the readers imagination.

All the stories in this book are more than worthwhile .. and any fan of the genre will be left wanting more. This is classic in all the sense of the phrase. Gothic, atmospheric , an absolute must.

This is the 1st of the three Lovecraft collections available in the UK, and is, in my opinion, the 2nd best of the three volumes. This volume contains Lovecraft's three longest tales (they are novellas rather than novels as the title suggests) and the four Randolf Carter stories. Of the 3 novellas, "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" stands head and shoulders above the other two, and is my single favourite HPL work. It boasts a superbly realised plot (with some excellent twists), superb period detail, and some splendid moments of real terror throughout. The story concerns the title chracter Ward who, when pleasantly bemused to discover that he is a direct descendant of a singularly despised and feared demonologist executed for watchcraft some 200 years before, decides to dig up (literally) his ancestor's past. The unlucky Ward finds more than he bargained for and soon begins to suspect he is merely a pawn in a plot of cosmic proportions to allow to Great Old Ones back through from the void onto their original home - our planet Earth. The novella was filmed as (ironically) "The Haunted Palace" with Vincent Price and Lon Channey - the title is Poe's but the plot and characters are Lovecraft. "At the Mountains of Madness" is another excellent story based around a very convincing (this was written in th 1920s remember) report of a doomed expedition to the South Pole by a team of scientists using planes, ships and dog sleds. It contains echoes of The Thing From Another World and boasts a very slow, steady build of terror (which put off many of the story's original critics); and some fantastic description of an utterly alien city that does not even conform to our own physical laws. I like this one, but it is an acquired taste and even HPL himself was dismayed by the story's general failure on first publication. The 3rd novella, "Dreams in the Witch House" is creepy but forgetable and only a minor contribuor to the Cthulhu Mythos. [Cthulhu Mythos: the accepted name for the mythology established by Lovecraft's greatest works; based on the fundamental theory that Mankind is merely an accident or joke in the grand scheme of a universe ruled by cosmic dieties of such unbelieveable power and sanity-blasting scope that humans should beware of every little shadow and bump in the night - a daring concept for the 1920's when most of these stories were produced.] Randolf Carter (HPL's alter-ego) appears in the last four (fairly mediocre) tales here. The best of these is the surreal "Dreamquest of Unknown Kadath" which reads more like Lord Dunsany than HPL's typical glooming, brooding dark shadows and strange piping sounds in the night horror. (i.e. far more dark fantasy than cosmic horror). The plot concerns a quest by the title character to find a forbidden city somewhere in the Dreamlands of human unconcious. Carter literally falls asleep to begin his quest and then wanders the real (i.e. chartable, and consistent to themselves) areas of the Dreamlands where the dangers and horrors are just as threatening and, well, real as in real life. The journey is fraught with peril and encounters with fabulous, surreal characters and monsters. Carter sails from the Earth to the Moon in a sinister galley, climbs mountains ruled by the fearful Nightgaunts just to look upon the carved face of a God, befriends grave-robbing Ghouls, has confabs with the Cats who rule Earth's rooftops in the dark of night, gets involved in a major war between the Cats, Ghouls and Moonbeasts and even thwarts Nyarlathotep, the Crawling Chaos - and all this while snoring in bed! This quite remarkable story is Lovecraft's "Odyssey" if you will. I believe this volume is not the best introduction to HPL and it may put readers off this wonderful author - especially the painfully slow pace of "At the Mountains of Madness". It is valuable in that it showcases Lovecraft's two writing styles: the dark and macabre Cthulhu stories (which the author is most associated with), and fantastic and surreal Dreamlands stories (Kadath). These as so disparate that they can often feel they have been produced by a different author. Or at least an author in two different states of mind, or two planes of sanity (if you'll allow me to borrow concepts from the great man himself!). For my money, the Cthulhu stuff wins hands down and thus renders a fair bit of this volume as "baggage". Get the marvellous volume 3 instead (The Haunter of the Dark) - especially if you are new to the 20th century's master of terror. [But don't forget to read The Case of Charles Dexter Ward in this volume when you are ready. It's a cracker!]