|
H. P. Lovecraft: The Complete Fiction Omnibus
The Early Years
1909–1925
Edited and annotated by
John J. D. Finn
This is the first volume of the Lovecraft Omnibus set of three books. It deals with the early years of Lovecraft’s writing career up to his 1926 thesis “Supernatural Horror in Literature”, for there is no doubt but that Lovecraft’s work does show a significant improvement after this essay was written.
But these works from the early years have a great deal of interest. Some are reasonably well written and entertaining. There is certainly a continuing improvement. We can see the enormous influence of the Irish fantasy writer, Lord Dunsany but also how Lovecraft still infuses his own personality and vision into these pieces. “Herbert West Reanimator” is a six part parody of horror literature which has distinctly comic overtones. And the appendix contains a number of unusual works such as “Sweet Ermengarde: or the Heart of a Country Girl”—a satire of the Horacio Alger books and the Prohibition Era, the “History of the Necronomican” and the complete text of “Supernatural Horror in Literature”.
The volume concludes with a Timeline of H.P. Lovecraft’s Life and Work.
One of the features that makes John Finn’s edition very useful is the presence of introductory material preceding each story and accompanying biographical details.
Finn also does a competent reading of the entire volume—including the introductory notes to the individual stories for Audible.
|