The Original Horror Masterpiece - The Call of Cthulhu

In The Call of Cthulhu HP Lovecraft has fashioned a truly spooky story that haunts the reader long after finishing the book. The concept is simple enough, a man has spent his life searching for a strange cult. He doesn't find it, but he finds the trail of men who did come across its worshipers and he puts the evidence together to discover an astounding truth. The truth is so horrible he can't face it and wants the story of the cult, all the evidence he has gathered, destroyed. What makes the story suspenseful is the reader is given the evidence a little at a time; thus, the reader builds a picture of the terrible facts as the story is told. Because the story is told from front to back, that is, from the present to the past, the author presents the frightening truth at the end of the tail. Lovecraft's description of the evil and the damp stones it inhabits is nothing short of masterful.

The author leaves the reader feeling alone in the vastness of the universe, with something awful residing in his home but totally beyond any understanding. It is the transference of the gut level of dread from the author to the reader that makes the story so powerful.

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This is a short story with very descriptive details about H.P. Lovecraft's brainchild Cthulhu. It discusses several accounts from a scholarly perspective of their experiences with the ancient ones.

Beware: By the end, you too will know too much.

You will not be disappointed upon reading "The Call of Cthulhu". Even though the narrator and yourself never meet the beast in person or go to his slime covered citadel the recounting of such places sets ones imagination ablaze with grotesque possibilities and the vast cruelness of cosmic indifference. Let your mind wander while reading this book and you will find H.P. Lovecraft's true genius in evoking in your own mind the terrors that he only vaguely describes. This book comes highly recommended and my copy came in excellent condition.

Just read this again for the first time in decades. And it is a scary, unsettling tale, indeed. In fact, arguably, the premier horror story of all-time.
But what a pathetic publication! Apparently, "The Call of Cthulhu --" and maybe the rest of H.P. Lovecraft, as well -- is no longer under copyright protection and is now in public domain. Meaning anyone can publish it.
Including those who did this edition. And didn't even bother to check for typos. Which is unforgivable in a less-than-fifty-page "book."
So, if anyone wishes to read "Cthulhu," I'd suggest obtaining it elsewhere somehow. Even if this edition does have some nifty cover art.

"...all the earth would flame with a holocaust of ecstasy and freedom."

I have received numerous recommendations over the years for the work of horror legend H.P. Lovecraft, and have often been met with surprise when I admit that I had never read his work. While I am a horror and gothic enthusiast I always felt apprehensive about Lovecraft's work - after all, how could he possibly compare to such greats as Edgar Allen Poe and Sheridan Le Fanu?

Despite having the Tales of H.P. Lovecraft (edited by Joyce Carol Oates) sitting on my shelf, I decided to download Lovecraft's "The Call of Cthulhu" on my Kindle2 after seeing it mentioned in a group on LibraryThing. ( I apologize now, because I cannot for the life of me remember who brought it up recently, but it inspired me to give Lovecraft a try once and for all).

I am pleased to say that I was not disappointed. "The Call of Cthulhu" is a delightfully dark and twisted tale that has the ability to draw readers in from its first mysterious pages. The tale is presented from the point of view of a secondary source (the nephew and executor of a deceased professor) stumbling upon the research and first-person accounts regarding an ancient and malevolent entity by the name of "Cthulhu." As cult members practice dark arts in order to revive this creature from its watery depths, the narrator realizes with horror that it has already been done, and instills in readers a kind of apprehension that such a thing can be innocently done again, much to the detriment of all living creatures.

Lovecraft's style is at once elegant and non evasive, so his language adds to the understanding and delight of the reader as opposed to detracting from the story with superfluous prose. The evolution from nineteenth-century gothic literature is evident, which helps to ground the short story in a strong literary history, while allowing it to evolve into what audiences now call "horror."

This book was very interesting. However, I got my hopes up too high. The thing I disliked the most is the Cthulhu only makes a cameo in the book. I was looking to see what this monster was capable of. I didn't get that

Not just here for the Metallica song; this story is the greatest story I've ever read. Hands down. Not spoiling anything, but if you like octopus-dragons and cults worshipping them, you're going to love this.

Although I like Lovecraft's writing style, his focus seems misdirected in this novel. Lovecraft spends so much time describing how horrific the beast is, that he fails to adequately describe the beast itself. I had very high hopes for such a classic, and was let down. The beast has become a cult icon but it is in spite of the novel, in my opinion. I would not read this again.

It REALLY makes you think about how much the Lord IS protecting us from. We see the evil on the news and wonder 'where was God when that happened?' We never give much thought to the evil we do not see. Oh we ARE most certainly protected AND He triumphed over evil and purchased for us a way out!

The book sounded interesting at the first page but was too advanced for my 8 year old accelerated reader. He couldn't enjoy the story as the writing was too complex, even if I read it to him. We will keep it though and try again when he is a little older.

More than anything else, Lovecraft is known for Cthulhu. That, in and of itself, is extremely interesting because, other than a few other mentionings of the... creature, "The Call of Cthulhu" is the only story he ever wrote about the monstrous deity from the far reaches of space. I would say it's because of the 80s RPG except that that game only came about because "Cthulhu" was already a thing. Even TSR tried to use the character as a deity of some sort in one of their D&D publications.

In fact, I think all of the popular culture reference to Cthulhu have led to a misconception about who or what Cthulhu is or was. Not that I'm going to tell you, because you should read it. Just know that Cthulhu is not just some demon from Hell. It's more complicated than that. "In his house at R'lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits dreaming."

The story itself seems to be typical of Lovecraft's style, meaning the action happens to characters other than the protagonist, who is only researching events that have already happened. Sometimes, as in the case of "The Call of Cthulhu," this raises the tension and suspense. Why? Because, as we find out early in the story, our protagonist is expecting to be murdered, and his research into his uncle's supposed accidental death tells us why.

So here's the thing: I don't quite get why "The Call of Cthulhu" has taken on such a mythic quality. It was good, but I wouldn't say it's great. It's certainly apparent that there is a huge tapestry of mythos that this one story was pulled from and, evidently, Lovecraft had some of that worked out. Of course, I'm not very far into my reading of Lovecraft, yet (I've only read about half a dozen stories, so far), so, maybe, it's the other mentions in other stories that really build up the "legend" of Cthulhu and have made so many other people want to build on it. That said, even Lovecraft said this particular story was only "middling."

At any rate, it's certainly worth a read if, for nothing else, just to see where all the Cthulhu stuff came from. And, honestly, I think the whole cult of Cthulhu aspect is much more frightening than Cthulhu itself. Who, after all, is going to kill the protagonist? Assuming that happens, of course.

More than anything else, Lovecraft is known for Cthulhu. That, in and of itself, is extremely interesting because, other than a few other mentionings of the... creature, "The Call of Cthulhu" is the only story he ever wrote about the monstrous deity from the far reaches of space. I would say it's because of the 80s RPG except that that game only came about because "Cthulhu" was already a thing. Even TSR tried to use the character as a deity of some sort in one of their D&D publications.

In fact, I think all of the popular culture reference to Cthulhu have led to a misconception about who or what Cthulhu is or was. Not that I'm going to tell you, because you should read it. Just know that Cthulhu is not just some demon from Hell. It's more complicated than that. "In his house at R'lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits dreaming."

The story itself seems to be typical of Lovecraft's style, meaning the action happens to characters other than the protagonist, who is only researching events that have already happened. Sometimes, as in the case of "The Call of Cthulhu," this raises the tension and suspense. Why? Because, as we find out early in the story, our protagonist is expecting to be murdered, and his research into his uncle's supposed accidental death tells us why.

So here's the thing: I don't quite get why "The Call of Cthulhu" has taken on such a mythic quality. It was good, but I wouldn't say it's great. It's certainly apparent that there is a huge tapestry of mythos that this one story was pulled from and, evidently, Lovecraft had some of that worked out. Of course, I'm not very far into my reading of Lovecraft, yet (I've only read about half a dozen stories, so far), so, maybe, it's the other mentions in other stories that really build up the "legend" of Cthulhu and have made so many other people want to build on it. That said, even Lovecraft said this particular story was only "middling."

At any rate, it's certainly worth a read if, for nothing else, just to see where all the Cthulhu stuff came from. And, honestly, I think the whole cult of Cthulhu aspect is much more frightening than Cthulhu itself. Who, after all, is going to kill the protagonist? Assuming that happens, of course.

Deep and chilling. I was done with this book almost before I realized I was reading it, it was so compelling. I was completely absorbed in the imagination and style of the writing. A must for anyone fascinated by dark and eternal mythos.

I had never read HP Lovecraft and since everyone went on and on about this work in particular I went ahead and read it.

I find that:

1) The first half of the book was thoroughly dull. It took me 3 times to read it than the second half;

2) During the second half, we can finally see some action along with all the beautiful prose, the text is engaging and appeals to our imagination, when asking the reader to try and conceive the unconceivable. The descriptions, particularly of R'lyeh, are quite engaging, though I still craved for more;

3) There is some repetitiveness (I lost track of the amount of times I read "when the stars are right" or some variation over the course of 2 or 3 pages) and, overall, there were parts that stretched on and on when they simply did not have to. It did not bring anything new to the table nor increased the suspense or horror for that matter, it was simply tedious;

4) The ending was beyond disappointing. After such a build up, it was a shock that the author could not think of something better. I find it an insult to the reader, actually.

I can see why Cthulhu had such an impact when it first came out, has become such an influence in horror fiction, and why it has so many followers, but I still feel its tale could have been developed a lot better than this.

"I was provided this audiobook at no charge by the author, publisher and/or narrator in exchange for an unbiased review via AudiobookBlast.com."

H.P Lovecraft is one of my favorite authors of strange fiction. When I received this review copy, I was excited. The story still holds it's narrative impact, the narrator does a great job of reading the story, but the loud noises of the "side performance" seemed to take me out of this awesome story due to how loud they were compared to the soft spoken narrator.

All in all though, I highly recommend this to any H.P Lovecraft fan.

This is my first time reading "The Call of Cthulhu" after hearing many things about it for years now. The story isn't very long but it's amazing how much detail Lovecraft was able to put into the story that made it seem like such a big world. Although trying to imagine non-euclidean geometry is a tough I would welcome the Great Old Ones to rule over the earth ones again.

A feeling of a strange familiar going or coming could suggest that being normal is good enough to delve into a book, place, or cave with enough of a memory to call upon the queer darkness; that letting out into the world would forge a relationship with this unseenable, benighted evil; A team of real estate developers take to the woods of Alaska and find a clue to a scroll left by someone nowhere near that the Eskimos could describe as being really neighbourly. The clue, a head/skull with a coin in it, an old myan or aztec piece, one side adorn with a myan dragon, the other, a face of an octopus-man eyes like tiny leaves. The side of the skin torn-skull is edited with a traversing pattern and a little diploma looking object. A map to a treasure or dangerous place?

From the beginning, Lovecraft's classic tale that inspired the name of his cosmological mythos combines the macabre romanticism of Poe with unique tones of disparaging pessimism which contrasted the flamboyant and proud spirit of the 1920. This grand era actually came to an end as the Great Depression spread throughout the nation nearly a year after it was written, and had become more apparent to the public a year after being published in the notorious pulp magazine "Weird Tales". The opening passages are among the most definitive glimpses at the whole of Lovecraftian lore, if not his literary style as a whole. Although relatively simple in structure and length when put against more ambitious works such as "At the Mountains of Madness", this story is both a source of enjoyment to those new to the old genre, and a compelling introduction to the world of that could be considered the birthplace of modern horror. This is a story not to be considered for its namesake alone, but as a condensed description of an imagination shaped by a life of hardship and strong atheist convictions. Weather in passing for a leisurely read, or in study of Lovecraftian fiction as a whole, to chose "The Call of Cthulhu is to become acquainted with the artist in his time.

I have often found myself studying the origins of H.P Loveccrafts Cthulu Myhtos and was shcoked to realize I never read it. I bought the book for a dollar and love it. Brilliantly written, magnifcently original, these words seep to the deep, dark, twisted corners of my mind and bring out the crazed horror junky buried inside me. I would suggest this book to anyone and everyine besides the stupid and faint-of-heart.