"One is drawn into Lovecraft by the very air of plausibility and characteristic understatement of the prose, the question being When will the weirdness strike?" writes Joyce Carol Oates in The New York Review of Books. Del Rey has reprinted Lovecraft's stories in three large-format paperbacks. This second volume, 25 tales in all, collects the classic "Case of Charles Dexter Ward," the phantasmagoric novel "The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath," several fantasies inspired by Lord Dunsany and other stories. Introduction by Neil Gaiman (author of the Sandman comics).
From Publishers Weekly
Horror master Lovecraft (1890-1937) frequently used dreams in his tales of the supernatural to evoke fantastic worlds inconceivable to the conscious mind. This repackaging of 25 stories and fragments calls attention to that aspect of Lovecraft's work, but it won't convince anyone that the selections form a coherent cycle. In the light fantasies "Celephais," "The Silver Key" and "The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath," dreams are vehicles for travel to lands of enchantment in which men rub shoulders with gods and imaginary creatures. In the terror tales "The Dreams in the Witch-House," "Hypnos" and "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward," dreams intrude upon reality and serve as portents for horrors too terrible to engage directly. Both "The Statement of Randolph Carter" and the prose-poem "Nyarlathotep" are based on actual dreams of Lovecraft's, but a number of the other stories, good though they are, have no dream association whatsoever. Comics virtuoso Neil Gaiman (Sandman) supplies a respectful introduction that gives no clue to the selection criteria and, in several places, is factually incorrect. (Lovecraft placed two tales, not one, in the magazine Astounding Stories before its name was changed to Astounding Science Fiction, and before the tenure of editor John W. Campbell.) Its failed agenda notwithstanding, this book is a welcome tribute to a writer whose dreams inspired some of this century's finest literary nightmares. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Midwest Book Review
For the first time the entire Dream Cycle creation is collected into a single volume: stories of hate and death packed into a title which is an excellent Lovecraft volume. Both newcomers and prior fans will find this a fine gathering, though it's the Lovecraft enthusiast who will have the most appreciation for the editorial work which went into this gathering.
Book Description
"[Lovecraft's] dream fantasy works are as terrifying and haunting as his tales of horror and the macabre. A master craftsman, Lovecraft brings compelling visions of nightmarish fear, invisible worlds and the demons of the unconscious. If one author truly represents the very best in American literary horror, it is H. P. Lovecraft."
--John Carpenter, Director of At the Mouth of Madness, Halloween,
and Christine
This volume collects, for the first time, the entire Dream Cycle created by H. P. Lovecraft, the master of twentieth-century horror, including some of his most fantastic tales:
THE DOOM THAT CAME TO SARNATH--Hate, genocide, and a deadly curse consume the land of Mnar.
THE STATEMENT OF RANDOLPH CARTER--"You fool, Warren is DEAD!"
THE NAMELESS CITY--Death lies beneath the shifting sands, in a story linking the Dream Cycle with the legendary Cthulhu Mythos.
THE CATS OF ULTHAR--In Ulthar, no man may kill a cat...and woe unto any who tries.
THE DREAM QUEST OF UNKNOWN KADATH--The epic nightmare adventure with tendrils stretching throughout the entire Dream Cycle.
AND TWENTY MORE TALES OF SURREAL TERROR
From the Inside Flap
"[Lovecraft's] dream fantasy works are as terrifying and haunting as his tales of horror and the macabre. A master craftsman, Lovecraft brings compelling visions of nightmarish fear, invisible worlds and the demons of the unconscious. If one author truly represents the very best in American literary horror, it is H. P. Lovecraft."
--John Carpenter, Director of At the Mouth of Madness, Halloween,
and Christine
This volume collects, for the first time, the entire Dream Cycle created by H. P. Lovecraft, the master of twentieth-century horror, including some of his most fantastic tales:
THE DOOM THAT CAME TO SARNATH--Hate, genocide, and a deadly curse consume the land of Mnar.
THE STATEMENT OF RANDOLPH CARTER--"You fool, Warren is DEAD!"
THE NAMELESS CITY--Death lies beneath the shifting sands, in a story linking the Dream Cycle with the legendary Cthulhu Mythos.
THE CATS OF ULTHAR--In Ulthar, no man may kill a cat...and woe unto any who tries.
THE DREAM QUEST OF UNKNOWN KADATH--The epic nightmare adventure with tendrils stretching throughout the entire Dream Cycle.
AND TWENTY MORE TALES OF SURREAL TERROR
The Dream Cycle of H. P. Lovecraft: Dreams of Terror and Death ANNOTATION
The long-awaited sequel to the bestselling Lovecraft anthology Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Macabre. Now, for the first time in one volume, here is the entire Dream Cycle of classic stories by the man whose "fiction is one of the cornerstones of modern horror" (Clive Barker)--25 tales of surreal terror.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
"[Lovecraft's] dream fantasy works are as terrifying and haunting as his tales of horror and the macabre. A master craftsman, Lovecraft brings compelling visions of nightmarish fear, invisible worlds and the demons of the unconscious. If one author truly represents the very best in American literary horror, it is H. P. Lovecraft."
—John Carpenter, Director of At the Mouth of Madness, Halloween,
and Christine
This volume collects, for the first time, the entire Dream Cycle created by H. P. Lovecraft, the master of twentieth-century horror, including some of his most fantastic tales:
THE DOOM THAT CAME TO SARNATH—Hate, genocide, and a deadly curse consume the land of Mnar.
THE STATEMENT OF RANDOLPH CARTER—"You fool, Warren is DEAD!"
THE NAMELESS CITY—Death lies beneath the shifting sands, in a story linking the Dream Cycle with the legendary Cthulhu Mythos.
THE CATS OF ULTHAR—In Ulthar, no man may kill a cat...and woe unto any who tries.
THE DREAM QUEST OF UNKNOWN KADATH—The epic nightmare adventure with tendrils stretching throughout the entire Dream Cycle.
AND TWENTY MORE TALES OF SURREAL TERROR
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
Horror master Lovecraft (1890-1937) frequently used dreams in his tales of the supernatural to evoke fantastic worlds inconceivable to the conscious mind. This repackaging of 25 stories and fragments calls attention to that aspect of Lovecraft's work, but it won't convince anyone that the selections form a coherent cycle. In the light fantasies ``Celephais,'' ``The Silver Key'' and ``The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath,'' dreams are vehicles for travel to lands of enchantment in which men rub shoulders with gods and imaginary creatures. In the terror tales ``The Dreams in the Witch-House,'' ``Hypnos'' and ``The Case of Charles Dexter Ward,'' dreams intrude upon reality and serve as portents for horrors too terrible to engage directly. Both ``The Statement of Randolph Carter'' and the prose-poem ``Nyarlathotep'' are based on actual dreams of Lovecraft's, but a number of the other stories, good though they are, have no dream association whatsoever. Comics virtuoso Neil Gaiman (Sandman) supplies a respectful introduction that gives no clue to the selection criteria and, in several places, is factually incorrect. (Lovecraft placed two tales, not one, in the magazine Astounding Stories before its name was changed to Astounding Science Fiction, and before the tenure of editor John W. Campbell.) Its failed agenda notwithstanding, this book is a welcome tribute to a writer whose dreams inspired some of this century's finest literary nightmares. (Oct.)
Art & Photography
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