The Annotated H.p. Lovecraft

Jacket Description/Back: Now readers have an opportunity to scrutinize and further appreciate the greatness of Lovecraft's strange genius as Lovecraft scholar S. T. Joshi annotates, for the first time, some of Lovecraft's most famous tales. S. T. Joshi's text illuminates the more obscure references throughout Lovecraft's writing, from an explanation of the chemicals referred to in "The Dunwich Horror" to the definition of one of his favorite adjectives, "eldritch". Readers will also discover which story details are wholly fabricated by H. P. Lovecraft and which are taken from real life, such as the "Moodus Noises" and "Garden of the Gods". Jacket Description/Flap: Stephen King wrote that H. P. Lovecraft "has yet to be surpassed as the twentieth century's greatest practitioner of the classic horror tale." Now enthusiasts and newcomers alike have the opportunity to enjoy five of Lovecraft's best tales in a unique package. Included are four short stories of unrivaled terror--"The Rats in the Walls," "Herbert West--Reanimator," "The Colour Out of Space," and "The Dunwich Horror"--as well as the complete text of his eerie novella of ancient alien life in the Arctic, "At the Mountains of Madness." Augmented by hundreds of fascinating annotations by scholar S. T. Joshi, and illustrated with photographs and artwork depicting Lovecraft's life and work, this rich and varied volume is destined to become, like its author, a classic. Biographical Note: Almost completely ignored by the mainstream press during his lifetime, H. P. Lovecraft (1890-1937) has since come to be recognized as one of the greatest writers of classic horror, on a par with Edgar Allan Poe, Lovecraft's mentor. H. P. Lovecraft's work has been translated into more than a dozen languages, his tales adapted for film, television, and comic books, and he has been the subject of more scholarly study than any other writer of horror fiction save Poe. Marc Notes: Derived from recent Arkham House corrected ed. 1984-1986 - 21p. new matl; American horror tales. Publisher Marketing: Stephen King wrote that H. P. Lovecraft "has yet to be surpassed as the twentieth century's greatest practitioner of the classic horror tale." Now enthusiasts and newcomers alike have the opportunity to enjoy five of Lovecraft's best tales in a unique package. Included are four short stories of unrivaled terror--"The Rats in the Walls, " "The Colour Out of Space, " and "The Dunwich Horror"--as well as the complete text of his eerie novella of ancient alien life in the Arctic, "At the Mountains of Madness."Augmented by hundreds of fascinating annotations by scholar S. T. Joshi, and illustrated with photographs and artwork depicting Lovecraft's life and work, this rich and varied volume is destined to become, like its author, a classic. Publisher Marketing: Explore the marvelous complexity of Lovecraft's writing--including his use of literary allusions, biographical details, and obscure references in this rich, in-depth exploration of great horror fiction from the acknowledged master of the weird, including the stories "Herbert West--Reanimator," "Pickman's Model," "The Call of Cthulhu," "The Thing on the Doorstep," "The Horror at Red Hook" and more. Did Lovecraft believe in ghosts or paranormal phenomena? In what story does the narrator fear riding the Boston T? A pathfinder in the literary territory of the macabre, H. P. Lovecraft is one of America's giants of the horror genre. Now, in this second volume of annotated tales, Lovecraft scholars S. T. Joshi and Peter Cannon provide another rare opportunity to look into the mind of a genius. Their extensive notes lift the veil between real events in the writer's life--such as the death of his father--and the words that spill out onto the page in magnificent grotesquerie. Mansions, universities, laboratories, and dank New England boneyards appear also as the haunts where Lovecraft's characters confront the fabulous and fantastic, or--like the narrator in "Herbert West--Reanimator"--dig up fresh corpses. Richly illustrated and scrupulously researched, this extraordinary work adds exciting levels of meaning to Lovecraft's chilling tales . . . and increases our wonder at the magic that transforms life into a great writer's art. Review Citations:

Booklist 06/01/1997 pg. 1669 (EAN 9780440506607, Paperback)

Library Journal 11/01/1997 pg. 121 (EAN 9780440506607, Paperback)

Contributor Bio:  Lovecraft, H P Howard Phillips "H. P." Lovecraft (August 20, 1890 - March 15, 1937) was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction. He is now regarded as one of the leading horror authors of the 20th century. Contributor Bio:  Joshi, S T S. T. Joshi is a widely published literary critic and editor.