The New Annotated H.P. Lovecraft

Review:

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Title: The New Annotated H.P. Lovecraft

Series: -----

Author: H.P. Lovecraft, Leslie Klinger

Rating: 3 of 5 Stars

Genre: Horror

Pages: 1008

 

 

 

Synopsis:

A compendium of Lovecraft's stories with historical, geographical and misc data footnotes to make this a fuller experience.

 

My Thoughts:

First, I found the annotation to be completely useless. Being from New England myself, most of the geographic and historical data wasn't new to me and the bits that weren't, I didn't care about.

There were also pictures of places where stories took place. I don't care to see the "Fuller House, repaired in 1997".

A lot of the historical and literary annotations I knew about as well. I'm just well read and experienced enough that this stuff wasn't for me. I definitely wasn't the target audience for the annotations side of things.

 

Second, the quality of the stories varied so greatly that I wasn't sure what I was getting into from page to page. Some were incredible, some were just complete and utter stinkers. Sometimes I believed the horrorness of the  "unnameable horror" and at other times I was rolling my eyes so hard that my glasses practically jumped off my face.

 

Thirdly, I really wish I had this back in my teen years. I found so many things that other books I've read referenced. It would have made for a much richer reading experience. However, better late than never and I look forward to finding future Lovecraftian influence in the horror books I read.

 

Finally, I don't regret the time I spent on this monster book but I do wish more of the stories had been of higher caliber.

Original post: Bookstooge.booklikes.com/post/1183305/the-new-annotated-h-p-lovecraft