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Awix (3310 KP) rated The Haunted Palace (1963) in Movies
Apr 19, 2020
Brooding Gothic horror from Roger Corman and Vincent Price. A notorious warlock is killed by an angry mob, but a century later his great-grandson moves into his old mansion and is possessed by his ancestor's spirit. One of the stronger and darker Corman-Price movies, but disingenuously billed as part of their Poe series: the story's fixation with the influence of the past on the present and the horrors of miscegenation would mark it out as an H.P. Lovecraft adaptation even if they hadn't retained the original character names and references to HPL's wider mythology.
Memorable more for an unsettling atmosphere than for being actually scary, though there are some very creepy moments concerning the deformed mutant villagers Price's experiments have produced. Terrific performance from Price, as you'd expect, also from Lon Chaney Jr as his sidekick, which you perhaps wouldn't. A seminal movie for Lovecraft followers and a pretty good one for anyone who likes old-style horror films.
Memorable more for an unsettling atmosphere than for being actually scary, though there are some very creepy moments concerning the deformed mutant villagers Price's experiments have produced. Terrific performance from Price, as you'd expect, also from Lon Chaney Jr as his sidekick, which you perhaps wouldn't. A seminal movie for Lovecraft followers and a pretty good one for anyone who likes old-style horror films.
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated The Whisperer in Darkness in Books
Dec 31, 2020
216
Kindle
The whisperer In Darkness
By H.P. Lovecraft
Once read a review will be written via Smashbomb and link posted in comments
The Whisperer in Darkness is a 26,000-word novella by American writer H. P. Lovecraft. Written February–September 1930, it was first published in Weird Tales, August 1931. Similar to The Colour Out of Space (1927), it is a blend of horror and science fiction. Although it makes numerous references to the Cthulhu Mythos, the story is not a central part of the mythos, but reflects a shift in Lovecraft's writing at this time towards science fiction. The story also introduces the Mi-go, an extraterrestrial race of fungoid creatures.
I really got into this story! He has a way of making you actually question whether there is life out there like that! Then you finish the book and realise it was just that a story! Told by a man with such an amazing imagination! I don’t know why I waited so long to read these!
Kindle
The whisperer In Darkness
By H.P. Lovecraft
Once read a review will be written via Smashbomb and link posted in comments
The Whisperer in Darkness is a 26,000-word novella by American writer H. P. Lovecraft. Written February–September 1930, it was first published in Weird Tales, August 1931. Similar to The Colour Out of Space (1927), it is a blend of horror and science fiction. Although it makes numerous references to the Cthulhu Mythos, the story is not a central part of the mythos, but reflects a shift in Lovecraft's writing at this time towards science fiction. The story also introduces the Mi-go, an extraterrestrial race of fungoid creatures.
I really got into this story! He has a way of making you actually question whether there is life out there like that! Then you finish the book and realise it was just that a story! Told by a man with such an amazing imagination! I don’t know why I waited so long to read these!
Mothergamer (1517 KP) rated Lovecraft Country in TV
Aug 18, 2020
Just watched the first episode and right from the start it's interesting and really starts the story with a great premise. The cast is great and there are some scary and intense moments that are incredible. It is also set in the time of Jim Crow laws and draws some important parallels about the fact that Lovecraft was a talented writer, but was incredibly racist. The storytelling for the premiere episode is great and it left me wanting more. Overall, great show.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Necronomicon: The Best Weird Tales of H.P. Lovecraft in Books
Mar 15, 2019 (Updated Mar 15, 2019)
Dang-near essential for anyone interested in the 20th century horror story, this volume does what it says on the front and collects the most significant fiction of H.P. Lovecraft's career. Lovecraft has a unique and idiosyncratic writing style (and that's putting it mildly) and he's not afraid to insert his deeply unpleasant racist views into his stories. However, no single figure has been more influential in the development of the fantasy-horror genre in the last century.
Lovecraft's best stories take the scientific discoveries of his time and use them to summon up an extraordinary sense of cosmic dread: the vastness of the universe and the primordial origins of the human race become the stuff of genuine nightmare. All the key stories are here - the famous Call of Cthulhu, of course, along with others that are still massively influential, such as The Colour Out of Space and At the Mountains of Madness. Lovecraft wrote the book on a certain kind of horror, and this volume is pretty much it. Some of the stories are minor works, but the best ones here are epochal.
Lovecraft's best stories take the scientific discoveries of his time and use them to summon up an extraordinary sense of cosmic dread: the vastness of the universe and the primordial origins of the human race become the stuff of genuine nightmare. All the key stories are here - the famous Call of Cthulhu, of course, along with others that are still massively influential, such as The Colour Out of Space and At the Mountains of Madness. Lovecraft wrote the book on a certain kind of horror, and this volume is pretty much it. Some of the stories are minor works, but the best ones here are epochal.
Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated The Haunted Palace (1963) in Movies
Dec 15, 2020
Something Wicked
The Haunted Palace- is anethor Poe, Price and Corrman film. But Although marketed as "Edgar Allan Poe's The Haunted Palace", the film actually derives its plot from The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, a novella by H. P. Lovecraft. The title The Haunted Palace is borrowed from the 6-stanza poem by Poe, published in 1839 (which was later incorporated into Poe's horror short story "The Fall of the House of Usher"), and the film uses eight lines from the poem within the framing of the story. So in reality its a H.P. Lovecraft story and a Poe title.
The plot: Condemned warlock Joseph Curwen (Vincent Price) curses a New England village just before being burned alive. More than a century later, Curwen's kindly great-great grandson Charles Ward (also Price) arrives in town and moves into Curwen's old mansion. Caretaker Simon Orne (Lon Chaney Jr.) helps Charles and his wife Ann (Debra Paget) adjust to their new home. The ancient curse, however, takes hold of Joseph, awakening inside him a long-dormant evil passed on through blood.
Its a decent film.
The plot: Condemned warlock Joseph Curwen (Vincent Price) curses a New England village just before being burned alive. More than a century later, Curwen's kindly great-great grandson Charles Ward (also Price) arrives in town and moves into Curwen's old mansion. Caretaker Simon Orne (Lon Chaney Jr.) helps Charles and his wife Ann (Debra Paget) adjust to their new home. The ancient curse, however, takes hold of Joseph, awakening inside him a long-dormant evil passed on through blood.
Its a decent film.
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated The Nameless City in Books
Sep 2, 2020
159 of 200
Kindle
The Nameless City
By H.P. Lovecraft
The Nameless City of the story's title is an ancient ruin located somewhere in the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula and is older than any human civilization
As someone who isn’t very wordy and struggles with certain terms I’ve always sort of stayed away from H.P. Lovecraft but my husband installed all the Novellas onto my kindle so I thought what the hell let’s give it a go! I don’t pretend or write big long fancy reviews so this won’t be as intelligent as some you read if you read it at all!
So I enjoyed this short I felt so claustrophobic during the crawl through the hidden corridors and found myself getting involved in the story. This even to me is the whole point of writing to bring your reader into the world you’re creating. I did have to find out a few of the big words as like I said I’m not entirely sure of some of the language used! I’m not entirely hooked from one short book but I’m certainly intrigued!
Kindle
The Nameless City
By H.P. Lovecraft
The Nameless City of the story's title is an ancient ruin located somewhere in the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula and is older than any human civilization
As someone who isn’t very wordy and struggles with certain terms I’ve always sort of stayed away from H.P. Lovecraft but my husband installed all the Novellas onto my kindle so I thought what the hell let’s give it a go! I don’t pretend or write big long fancy reviews so this won’t be as intelligent as some you read if you read it at all!
So I enjoyed this short I felt so claustrophobic during the crawl through the hidden corridors and found myself getting involved in the story. This even to me is the whole point of writing to bring your reader into the world you’re creating. I did have to find out a few of the big words as like I said I’m not entirely sure of some of the language used! I’m not entirely hooked from one short book but I’m certainly intrigued!
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated The Colour Out of Space in Books
Nov 9, 2020
186 of 200
Kindle
The colour out of space
By H.P Lovecraft
H. P. Lovecraft's vision of the perfect horror story was one that transcended the merely creepy and inspired a feeling of bottomless fear - a cosmic terror in which all of creation is at stake. This collection includes some of the genre's most notable achievements, including Algernon Blackwood's "The Willows," Henry James's "The Jolly Corner," and Arthur Machen's "The White People." Inspired by Lovecraft's pioneering survey of the field of horror fiction, Supernatural Horror in Literature, this anthology also contains the title story, one of Lovecraft's best. First published in 1927, "The Colour Out of Space" follows the dissolution of a farming family after a giant meteor hits their land, poisons their crops, and drives them insane. Edmund Wilson praised the story for foreshadowing atomic fallout. Color and black-and-white illustrations are included.
The colour out of space is a retelling of events from a witness that experienced a meteor occurrence. I’m still quite new to reading Lovecraft and I think I’m this has to be my favourite so far! Apparently they made a film so that’s on my watch list too! I just love how descriptive these tales are how you kind of get lost in his telling!
Kindle
The colour out of space
By H.P Lovecraft
H. P. Lovecraft's vision of the perfect horror story was one that transcended the merely creepy and inspired a feeling of bottomless fear - a cosmic terror in which all of creation is at stake. This collection includes some of the genre's most notable achievements, including Algernon Blackwood's "The Willows," Henry James's "The Jolly Corner," and Arthur Machen's "The White People." Inspired by Lovecraft's pioneering survey of the field of horror fiction, Supernatural Horror in Literature, this anthology also contains the title story, one of Lovecraft's best. First published in 1927, "The Colour Out of Space" follows the dissolution of a farming family after a giant meteor hits their land, poisons their crops, and drives them insane. Edmund Wilson praised the story for foreshadowing atomic fallout. Color and black-and-white illustrations are included.
The colour out of space is a retelling of events from a witness that experienced a meteor occurrence. I’m still quite new to reading Lovecraft and I think I’m this has to be my favourite so far! Apparently they made a film so that’s on my watch list too! I just love how descriptive these tales are how you kind of get lost in his telling!
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated The Festival in Books
Oct 1, 2020
173 of 200
Kindle
The Festival
by H P Lovecraft
The Festival" is a short story by H. P. Lovecraft written in October 1923 and published in the January 1925 issue of Weird Tales.
The story is set at Christmas time: "It was the Yuletide, that men call Christmas though they know in their hearts it is older than Bethlehem and Babylon, older than Memphis and mankind." An unnamed narrator is making his first visit to Kingsport, Massachusetts, an "ancient sea town where my people had dwelt and kept festival in the elder time when festival was forbidden; where also they had commanded their sons to keep festival once every century, that the memory of primal secrets might not be forgotten."
I am still quite new to reading Lovecrafts work the things that strike me so much about him is his imagination and the way he translates what’s in his head to paper and does it so well! I’m really enjoying these little novellas!
I know not a huge review but I find myself getting bored with long winded explanations of how you should
Or shouldn't feel! With a classical author like this the work tends to speak for itself!
Kindle
The Festival
by H P Lovecraft
The Festival" is a short story by H. P. Lovecraft written in October 1923 and published in the January 1925 issue of Weird Tales.
The story is set at Christmas time: "It was the Yuletide, that men call Christmas though they know in their hearts it is older than Bethlehem and Babylon, older than Memphis and mankind." An unnamed narrator is making his first visit to Kingsport, Massachusetts, an "ancient sea town where my people had dwelt and kept festival in the elder time when festival was forbidden; where also they had commanded their sons to keep festival once every century, that the memory of primal secrets might not be forgotten."
I am still quite new to reading Lovecrafts work the things that strike me so much about him is his imagination and the way he translates what’s in his head to paper and does it so well! I’m really enjoying these little novellas!
I know not a huge review but I find myself getting bored with long winded explanations of how you should
Or shouldn't feel! With a classical author like this the work tends to speak for itself!
Awix (3310 KP) rated Black Wings of Cthulhu 6 in Books
Mar 2, 2020
Another mixed bag of Lovecraft-inspired fiction and poetry. As usual with this sort of thing, some of the stories are basically in-jokey games of Spot-the-Yithian, while others suffer from the authors trying too hard to bring their own agenda to the HPL milieu. Some reasonably good stuff apart from this, though, assuming you like pulpy horror-fantasy. Editor S.T. Joshi gets very precious, even perhaps a touch pretentious, about this stuff given how cheesy and broad-brush some of it is. The wheat-chaff ratio isn't brilliant but it passes the time.