The H. P. Lovecraft Collection: Slip-cased Edition

I have been reading Howard P. for years, but lost all the the books during various moves and housing disasters.

This collection has solved that problem, everything the man published (including some I have never seen before) in a single easily navigated electronic document. With audio versions as an added bonus.

I highly recommend this for the die hard HPL fan, it isn't the same as having that dusty old copy of The Strange Case of Charles Dexter Ward in your hands, but it is a damn close call.

I started reading this but am not done with it yet. Being it is a collection of stories I can only read a few stories at a time. I then read another book by someone else before going back to it.
HP Lovecraft was a great writer. So far he is the only writer who wrote a UFO/SciFi story that I enjoyed. I do find that his writing can be difficult to read. The cause is because of the time period when these stories have been written. The social and cultural enviroments of that time were very different than ours which for me makes it hard to get lost in the story.

And at a phenomenal price! I am a huge Lovecraft fan. I like the more horror oriented stories but even the fantasy stories enthrall me just for his sheer writing skill. I even like his poems and that is saying a lot because most poems bore me to tears. I also loved the essays. I'm not sure if he wrote more but I particularly loved 'Cat vs. Dog' because it was so funny and so true! Also, 'Supernatural Horror in Literature' was excellent. And even better since most of the titles that I hadn't heard of before are available here, more of them than I would have thought to find at any rate. I also loved the essay on writing weird fiction. I found it to have a lot of helpful and still very valid insights. I find the collaborative works a bit more uneven than the ones purely his own but still very good.
The audio links were a bit of a disappointment though. I could not open them on my reader (the Kindle Keyboard) and had to download them to the Kindle for PC on my desktop. That really bummed me out because I was looking forward to curling up with some if I was too tired to read. As far as their quality goes I have no real complaints. I enjoy the straight up readings (I don't know who does them but the readings are good and they have an old-fashioned quality to them that makes them seem very authentic). I was very glad they didn't go for the modern-day crispness and instead they are a little crackly like a radio broadcast, it makes you feel as though you were listening to recordings from the actual people telling the stories. I don't usually like audio versions and don't generally listen to books so it surprised me that I liked them. I didn't enjoy the 'radio drama' ones as much though. Mostly because the voices weren't as good as the readings. As I said before, one of the things I love most about Lovecraft is his unique style and craft with words and to hear them degenerated into a radio play just left me cold. Others may like them though. They also weren't in any real order so a bit of searching was required to find what I was looking for.
The only other flaw I found, and this was a technical issue with the book itself, was that the story 'Quest of Iranon' was just titled Iranon and the chapter heading was not at the beginning of the story where it should have been. The other one was 'The Transition of Juan Romero'. It was entitled 'Quest of Iranon' for some reason. The publisher could probably fix that in an update though and it definitely does not detract from the book as a whole.
When I get jaded with modern stories and their sometimes liberal use of words, grammar and spelling I love turning to the classics and re-reading books by those who know what a word is, how it should be used and more importantly, how it is spelled.

But as others have mentioned its hard to find how to download the audio books.

If anyone knows where i look for this i would love the help!

159 books for .99 can you really beat that even if you only read 2 books its still a good deal!

This is a difficult review to write on a number of fronts. First, if you're a fan of H.P. Lovecraft, this purchase is a no-brainer. Buy. Buy directly. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. For the price, you simply cannot get a better deal.

On the other hand...you kind of get what you pay for, too. I feel bad complaining at all because, well - look at the price! But, in a review, one is duty bound to point out the deficiencies:

One of the biggest selling points is the audio book links. These files are all MP3s, which - depending on your device - may not sort, bookmark, pause, resume, or generally behave as expected (i.e., like audio books, rather than "songs"). If you're willing to invest the effort and are technically proficient, you can do the work to convert them to more suitable formats yourself.

More difficult to overcome is the quality of some of the readings, which vary from pretty good to dreadful. Some are adaptations, essentially radio plays, rather than direct readings of the original texts. Others sound like they were read by enthusiastic amateurs. Dedicated,to be certain, and doing the best they can, to be sure, but amateurs nonetheless - and not exactly with the best of equipment or environs.

But this feels like I'm nitpicking. I feel a little guilty complaining because - darn! - look at the price!

So it's best to think of the audio files as an added bonus, a little something extra in an already amazing value, rather than a main attraction.

As for the works themselves, well...

H.P. Lovecraft has been called the best (or most famous) bad American writer. There is little serious dispute about his often clunky, sometimes hilariously awful and overwrought prose (he never met an adverb or adjective he didn't like, and would often fearlessly invent new ones), but for those of us who feel deep affection for his stories, this is part of their charm. I count myself among those who fall under the spell of his pulpy, purple prose and - for me, at least - it never fails to weave a spell. Detractors say his stories are not even scary, but I beg to differ: there is such enthusiasm and drive within that I find myself carried along every time, with a curious mixture of anticipation and dread for even the oddest of his inventions.

You see, the man simply LOVED to tell a twisted tale. And this - this hard-to-define quality of relish in the telling - is what defines his work. For all of Lovecraft's shortcomings as a writer, he was a very effective storyteller. However clumsy his steps along the path, he always did his best to lead the reader through dark country, on a thrilling journey of discovery to some blasphemous evil of indescribably putrescent, evilly glowing, fetid, living ichor of transcendent madness inducing, nauseous tansdimensional writhing hellishness. Or something.

Anyway, fans know who they are, and they know what they should do...buy it!

I am a fanatic of reading (& Films). So when I saw this electronic ebook of all of HPLovecraft's work, including the books/stories he helped to edit/wrote in conjunction with for other authors, & his poetry.....I immediately purchased it for my Kindle! And you know something.......I was NOT disappointed with this purchase!
If you are a fan of Lovecraft's work. And DON'T want to spend the $ for alot of the editions of his work that are out there, buy this electronic edition. You won't be disappointed.
Not only will you get some of his most printed work like "Call Of Cthulhu" & "The Colour Out Of Space" but you will get his little known work (Which are gems unto themselves) like "The Curse of Yig" & "The Transition of Juan Romero".
I Love this collection & it truely desreves the claim of "The COMPLETE Collection".

Once you get past the fact that lovecraft is extremely racist and due to that you can't read this in certain places, this is a very good, free ebook. Also, due to the time period, you may need a dictionary, a nightlight, and the ability to not be offended. Heavy reading even though the stories are short. Most narrators will go insane, get killed, or both. This is not a romance novelist, it's psychological horror and science fiction. He's racist, but that's common for his time period. If you are against any of these, don't read, but if you like them, go ahead! (Also if you liked "the yellow wallpaper" you'll love this guy)

This is HP Lovecraft and that means it's pretty darn good stuff. It is old as far as the passage of time goes. It was written back when most folks lived in towns with dirt roads and a lot of them still rode horses. A lot of the references are questionable in todays world filled with technology. But these are really good, well written stories. I had heard of Lovecraft a long time ago but never got around to reading his stories. Then I started hearing mention of Cthulu when that monster movie Cloverfield came out. Then I heard mention of Lovecraft on the TV show Supernatural. The story of Cthulu is pretty good. Lovecraft goes to great lengths explaining surroundings, character feelings and the terror they are experiencing. But he's a good enough author that he doesn't just force feed it to you. You'll come away from these stories thinking, 'Well why didn't he describe this, or Why did he not continue in this way.' I'm thinking that as more modern people who are fed some of the best CGI movies and special effects ever seen that we have forgotten it is up to us to imagine at least a part of the story in front of us. I think reading these stories and those of other authors of his time and style that a person could really give their imagination a good workout. And I do believe we all need that at least from time to time.

If you LOVE Lovecraft, then you will certainly love this collection. So vast and full. Although I do not have an appetite for Lovecraft, I believe I can safely assume, that if you do, then you will certainly love this collection. I highly recommend it.

This is an outstanding collection by a great writer. I have heard and read about other people having trouble with the audio part. They work great for me no problems. Great value for this collection. Would recommend.

It's weird to write a review of the complete Lovecraft. If you don't know what Lovecraft is all about, a short review won't explain it. And if you do, well, this is the complete Lovecraft! This is great collection because of its completeness and its price.

Love HP stories! However, trying to download the audio books to my tablet is a nightmare! I'm not tech savvy and need step-by-step instructions. You can listen to the audio books when you're on the internet, but I want to be able to listen to them while I travel. By accident, I managed to unzip the books, but couldn't go any further. Bummer!

Fantastic Collection at a throwaway price !!! This is how horror stories should be written. Have not downloaded the audio books though. Not interested in them. Lovecraft`s "craft" is best experienced while reading. The atmosphere he creates through his prose is excellent.

I am completely amazed that this is offered for such a reasonable price. With so much for so little how could you go wrong? Especially with all the audio book files to enjoy for when you don't feel like reading Lovecraft's written words. This is truly one of the great values in the store's eBooks library.

This is an absolutely fantastic collection of HP Lovecraft's stories. The audio books are alright, but some are missing, and there's no way(as far as I'm aware) to download them without having a Google drive app. It's not a problem for me personally, but some people may be affected.

Easy to read on the Kindle, price was right and It contains quite a few short horror stories, Lovecraft was the forerunner of the modern horror story and some are worth the read. I haven't found a way to access the free audio books so good luck with that.

Post review update: 5/10/2015

I am super grateful and very happy that my previous issues with this purchase have been fixed! and would completely recommend this collection!

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The main motivation for my purchase of this was the audio books; as it would have allowed me to enjoy the stories during my daily commute.

However after downloading all of the audio books from the google drive (using the two provided links);I noticed that the longer stories were broken into separate audio files. While i normally would have no issue with this, I think it is because of this that some of the files are missing.

As of now the ones i have noticed are from the first google drive link, and include:

-Dream-Quest of unknown Kadath (parts 2-14 are present; not the first part)

-The thing on the doorstep (only the first part of the story is provided)

I was also unhappy all of the audio books listed under the second google drive link were unlabeled; causign a list of 21 files, all named "Lovecraft".

While the compilation of Lovecraft text into the kindle is great, My main reason for the purchase was the audio books.

Having read a short story many years ago that I thought was extremely scary, I was excited to come across this collection. Unfortunately, his formula for telling a story seems to follow a fairly set path. There were a number of words that I had never run across before for which I had to look up the meaning. I have no problem with that but I am having a problem with his use of those same words from story to story. What seemed unique and made for interesting reading quite quickly became old hat when the same words were used repeatedly.

The stories in this book are in a jumbled mess all out of order. You should not read HPL out of order. For example, Randolph Carter is introduced in The Statement of Randolph Carter and then later is the main character in The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath. This book has the stories in the wrong order. Or another, the Terrible Old Man is introduced in the story of the same name and then he comes back in a somewhat surprisingly different way in the The Strange High House in the Mist. The effect is lost if you read them in the reverse order.

Lovecraft has always been seen as a standard for fantastic horror, but I can't see why. The stories are just okay. His writing style doesn't begin to compare with Stephen King, Dean Koontz or Clive Barker.

It seems extraordinary that for a long time Lovecraft was considered a limited writer, that his prose was too ornate and allusive. looking again at his work, superbly presented in this high quality edition, I am struck by his lucidity, the rhythm of his prose and the sweep of his imagination.

Lovecraft is a writer whose importance cannot be underestimated. His work has influenced countless, lesser, writers and touchstones from his works, such as the Necronomicon and Cthulu, just to name a few, have entered popular culture. The term Lovecraftian similarly instantly evokes images and ideas that this fantastic writer has inserted into popular culture.

Lovecraft's works defy classification: horror, gothic, science fiction, fantasy, alternate history all fall under its purview. His non-fiction is erudite and insightful. Lovecraft is a major figure of American literature and this collection affords many hours of reading pleasure and stimulation. Lovecraft is one of those artists who is in a class and status all of his own. Any lover of horror or science fiction must own a Lovecraft collection and this one is outstanding in scope and value.

Despite the title and the promise of audio books there are none to be had. Unless there is some email that allows for the audio books or there is missing whispersink you should stay away. If they are trying to advertise that text-to-speech is an audio book, and you like that go ahead, but if text-to-speech is not your wheelhouse then stay far away.

Please kindly change the advertised title to having nothing to do audio books and my review will change to 5 stars for the book itself.

These are great foundational stories of the horror genre. However, I should note that these are in the public domain and available for free in many formats and locations such as http://arkhamarchivist.com/free-complete-lovecraft-ebook-nook-kindle/. Also, the audio books are also available from Librevox, the Internet Archive, and other places such as http://cthulhuwho1.com/2013/09/07/the-worlds-largest-h-p-lovecraft-audio-links-gateway/.

Honestly I don't know when I'll read this. It was a deal on Slickdeals and everyone was saying it was great and buy it now. So as a free thinking person I bought it immediately. I'll update this review when I actually read it. Curse you Slickdeals.

I'm a huge Lovecraft fan- first read him in Panther editions in the 1970's- I'm lucky to have an awesome collection of vintage Lovecraft paperback editions from that era. I am also a great fan of Ebooks- and of getting a great deal.
However, to my mind this collection is long on text and short on quality. The text has not been developed beyond a basic dump from sources available for free on the internet. What I do like about my paper editions of Lovecraft is that a great deal of care has gone into them to bring out changes in narrative, fragments from books etc that is essential in creating the authentic Lovecraftian atmosphere. However, this Ebook has basically thrown as much text as possible into the mix but has mastered none of it. The result is not a book but a featureless dump of text devoid of atmosphere and replete with formatting errors. To my mind, that does not represent Lovecraft very well as an author and it would be a pity if prospective fans were put off by such shoddy editions.
What is desperately needed is a high quality edition of Lovecrafts works which has editorial excellence as the first priority, not text by the ton and someone who can take the time to produce a quality work at the right price. Not recommended!

I won't comment on the stories or writing style. H.P. Lovecraft takes some getting used to. Either you enjoy an older style of writing, or you don't. I do, but I still need to be in the right mood for it. This is also an awesomely huge collection of stories.

My only real issue with this collection is in the formatting of the text. In some of the stories, the text is left-justified, as it should be. In some, text is centered. This is difficult for me to read. In some, it changes from left, to centered, and back again. No rhyme, no reason.

I'm using an Android tablet with the Kindle app, so it might be fine on a real Kindle.

The Shadow over Innsmouth is mostly missing. The table of contents is missing some titles, so you have to skip through to the various untitled stories and hope to find the one you're looking for. Otherwise the collection seems ok so far. I'm really sad about Shadow over Innsmouth though.

I'm not going to star this, since I have not actually read the book, but it seems like a great deal. 150 long books for 0.99. If you're into this kind of sci-fi, this would be a great collection for you. I'm not a big fan of classic sci-fi because it's too descriptive with not enough action, but I know some people love it. That's just my opinion.

My rate is not for the book, my rating is for the fact that I can’t read this book because there’s no way for me to buy it... I have the kindle app and everything, and when I look under the “how do I read this book” link it simply says “books you buy here can be read on the kindle app” I have the kindle app, but there’s no purchase button... this is stupid the store

This book uses the word "COMPLETE" in it's title.
It is NOT.
All the fiction seems to be there, but Lovecraft wrote HUNDREDS of essays and poems and only a random selection are available in this compilation. Clearly the editor who put this together has not studied Lovecraft's bibliography very hard.
For that price, you can't complain much, but if you are expecting to actually get the Complete Works... well, you won't.