Omnibus: At the Mountains of Madness - H.P Lovecraft

HP Lovecraft (1890-1937) is probably the most influential horror writer of the first half of the 20th century, although he wasn't well known during his lifetime. This is the first time I've sat down to read his work in large doses. This anthology contains three novellas and four shorter stories. Lovecraft is best known for creating the Cthulhu Mythos, an elaborate cosmology which has been expanded since his death by other writers, game developers etc. The gist is that the universe is full of profoundly weird, unbelievably ancient, apocalyptically scary entities which need to be avoided at all costs. Lovecraft's work is pretty dark, with man but a tiny, ...  Read the complete review

I am a coward when it comes to anything spooky or suspenseful; even the adverts for horror films leave me quivering in my chair, my heart pounding and my hands clasped firmly over my eyes. I have an overactive imagination unfettered by my normally extremely sensible, cynical and logical brain and my parents and husband have many amusing and embarrassing stories concerning this aspect of my personality (nope, not sharing them today!). So the decision to read and subsequently review a collection of stories by Lovecraft; an author famous for his chilling, supernatural and futuristic stories, seems a strange one. For some strange reason, I often feel the need to regularly ...  Read the complete review