Dreams of Terror and Death: The Dream Cycle of H. P. Lovecraft
Del Rey - Del Rey
Release date: 1995-09-11
Paperback
Author: H. P. Lovecraft
Lovecraft, H. P. (Howard Phillips), 1890-1937, Fiction, Fiction - Horror, Horror, Fiction / Horror, Horror - General, Dreams, Horror tales, American
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Dreams of Terror and Death: The Dream Cycle of H. P. Lovecraft
Date undefinedThis is absolutely amazing, "From Beyond" got into my head and I was kinda spooked of the air for a while after I read it. I've never been one for being able to truly visualize while reading but Lovecraft is one of the few authors that have been able to hook me in so deep that I can visualize what is going on.
Dreams of Terror and Death: The Dream Cycle of H. P. Lovecraft
Date undefinedThere must be something very special about H.P. Lovecraft to have an entire genre devoted to his works. As you read through his writings it's clear that he has had a profound and lasting impact on entertainment that resonates to this day. This is my third Lovecraft book from Del Ray and I'd be lying if I said it wasn't my least favorite. A lot of the stories in this book are very flowery and artsy and I found myself completely losing track of what was going on as my mind wandered away. Fortunately these more esoteric stories tend to be very short while the book is dominated by two extremely long and more traditional tales including `The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath' and `The Case of Charles Dexter Ward'.
Unknown Kadath is interesting in that it features something very rare in Lovecraft's world, a recurring character. Williams Randolph Carter appears in no less than four stories in this book. He's an explorer of dreams who appears to have enough experience in the Lovcraftian world to face its nightmares head on and retain his sanity. Lovecraft's style has always been to nibble at the edge of horror, hinting at something far worse just below the murky surface. By contrast in Kadath, Carter openly challenges the worst nightmares and even interacts with one of the "Other Gods" Nyarlathotep in a rather disappointing meeting. The story has a rather non-Lovecraftian feel to it and even H.P. himself admitted that, `it isn't much good'. The previous story called `Pickman's Model' featured a Boston painter who disappears after apparently using an actual flesh eating ghoul as a model for his disturbing paintings. Well, Pickman makes a return appearance in Kadath but drawing back the curtain on his fate diminishes the impact of `Pickman's Model'. Kadath was described as a Lovecraftian Alice in Wonderland but that's not really what Lovecraft is supposed to be about. I actually enjoyed the story but it felt out of place in a Lovecraft book.
Charles Dexter Ward is a good story but I hold Lovecraft to very high standards and my one complaint would be that it's overlong. Lovecraft tends to work better and hits harder with shorter stories. At some point the story seemed a bit padded as if Lovecraft were being paid by the word.
The quadrilogy of William Randolph Carter appears throughout the book including the final story and this one finishes big with a spectacular finale. Personally, I'd give Carter the award for the most amazing and memorable character to spring from Lovecrafts imaginative mind. I have never read a bad book by Lovecraft so to say this is the weakest of the three I've read in no way makes it mediocre. It's just that there were some short stories that I looked forward to being done. There is more than enough great stuff in this book to make it worth the time and effort.
Dreams of Terror and Death: The Dream Cycle of H. P. Lovecraft
Date undefinedA collection of Lovecraft's stories chosen with the dream as a theme of them. A natural for an introduction to such a bunch of stories is therefore Neil Gaiman, the Dream King. He tells why he has been influenced by Lovecraft, and of others, and mentions a few Mythos stories he has done, as well as the fact it is likely to happen again.
So, if you are a Randolph Carter fan, this is a pretty good one.
Dreams of Terror and Death : Azathoth - H. P. Lovecraft
Dreams of Terror and Death : The Descendant - H. P. Lovecraft
Dreams of Terror and Death : The Thing in the Moonlight - H. P. Lovecraft
Dreams of Terror and Death : Polaris - H. P. Lovecraft
Dreams of Terror and Death : Beyond the Wall of Sleep - H. P. Lovecraft
Dreams of Terror and Death : The Doom That Came to Sarnath - H. P. Lovecraft
Dreams of Terror and Death : The Statement of Randolph Carter - H. P. Lovecraft
Dreams of Terror and Death : The Cats of Ulthar - H. P. Lovecraft
Dreams of Terror and Death : Celephais - H. P. Lovecraft
Dreams of Terror and Death : From Beyond - H. P. Lovecraft
Dreams of Terror and Death : Nyarlathotep - H. P. Lovecraft
Dreams of Terror and Death : The Nameless City - H. P. Lovecraft
Dreams of Terror and Death : The Other Gods - H. P. Lovecraft
Dreams of Terror and Death : Ex Oblivione - H. P. Lovecraft
Dreams of Terror and Death : The Quest of Iranon - H. P. Lovecraft
Dreams of Terror and Death : The Hound - H. P. Lovecraft
Dreams of Terror and Death : Hypnos - H. P. Lovecraft
Dreams of Terror and Death : What the Moon Brings - H. P. Lovecraft
Dreams of Terror and Death : Pickman's Model - H. P. Lovecraft
Dreams of Terror and Death : The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath - H. P. Lovecraft
Dreams of Terror and Death : The Silver Key - H. P. Lovecraft
Dreams of Terror and Death : The Strange High House in the Mist - H. P. Lovecraft
Dreams of Terror and Death : The Case of Charles Dexter Ward - H. P. Lovecraft
Dreams of Terror and Death : The Dreams in the Witch-House - H. P. Lovecraft
Dreams of Terror and Death : Through the Gates of the Silver Key - H. P. Lovecraft
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