Standalone Sunday: H.P. Lovecraft’s Book of Horror
Standalone Sunday was started by Megan over at Bookslayer Reads.
What is Standalone Sunday?
Each Sunday bloggers feature a standalone book (one that is not part of a series) that they loved or would recommend. The standalone can also be one you want to read. There is so much focus on books that are part of a series that standalone books seem to be forgotten. They can be just as great as book series!
Here is my selection for this week:
H.P. Lovecraft’s Book of Horror
Written by one of the most important writers of the twentieth century, Lovecraft’s 1927 essay “Supernatural Horror in Literature” traces the evolution of the genre from the early Gothic novels through to the work of contemporary American and British authors. Throughout Lovecraft acknowledges those writers and stories that are the very finest that the horror field has to offer: Edgar Allen Poe, Henry James, Rudyard Kipling, Bram Stoker, Robert Louis Stevenson, Guy de Maupassant, and Arthur Conan Doyle, among others. This chilling new collection also contains Henry James’ wonderfully atmospheric short novel The Turn of the Screw.
Here is the Wikipedia Link of H.P. Lovecraft. This paragraph is taken from there:
Howard Phillips Lovecraft (August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American author who achieved posthumous fame through his influential works of horror fiction. He was virtually unknown and published only in pulp magazines before he died in poverty, but he is now regarded as one of the most significant 20th-century authors in his genre. Lovecraft was born in Providence, Rhode Island, where he spent most of his life. Among his most celebrated tales are “The Call of Cthulhu” and “The Shadow over Innsmouth“, both canonical to the Cthulhu Mythos. Lovecraft was never able to support himself from earnings as author and editor. He saw commercial success increasingly elude him in this latter period, partly because he lacked the confidence and drive to promote himself. He subsisted in progressively strained circumstances in his last years; an inheritance was completely spent by the time that he died at age 46.
This week’s selection was influenced by my husband. He is a Lovecraft and Cthulhu fan. As hard as he tries, I can not pronounce Cthulhu to save my life! Lovecraft still influences many today. It’s a pity he did not see fame until after his death. Have any of you read any Lovecraft?