The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)

By H.P. Lovecraft

Book Overview

A definitive collection of stories from the unrivaled master of twentieth-century horror in a Penguin Classics Deluxe edition with cover art by Travis Louie

Frequently imitated and widely influential, Howard Philips Lovecraft reinvented the horror genre in the 1920s, discarding ghosts and witches and instead envisioning mankind as a tiny outpost of dwindling sanity in a chaotic and malevolent universe. S. T. Joshi, Lovecraft's preeminent interpreter, presents a selection of the master's fiction, from the early tales of nightmares and madness such as "The Outsider" to the overpowering cosmic terror of "The Call of Cthulhu." More than just a collection of terrifying tales, this volume reveals the development of Lovecraft's mesmerizing narrative style and establishes him as a canonical - and visionary - American writer.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0143106481
• ISBN13: 9780143106487
• Release Date: September 2011
• Publisher: Penguin Classics
• Length: 448 Pages
• Weight: 1.11 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 5.6" x 8.2"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

By a waterfall, I’m calling Cthulhu.

For some reason, this critter is an H.P. Lovecraft (Howard Phillips Lovecraft) classic. I have ordered the 2005 movie. I kept waiting for the action, and somehow it ended before it started. I did not realize how meaningful the title was until the end, when I said, “Oh wow, now I understand. After Francis Wayland Thurston (a professor at Brown University) shuffles off this mortal coil, he leaves papers. His great-nephew, an anthropologist who narrates the story, is shocked to find that France Wayland’s research into what started as a spooky dream to find that he uncovers a cabal of Cthulhu worshipers. But who or what is Cthulhu? We travel with the narrator as he pieces together what Francis suspects. When Cthulhu calls, we may even have to confront him/it ourselves. Buyer tip: check the ISBN, check the page count, and if the author isn’t Lovecraft, assume you’re dealing with an adaptation, a derivative, or a tentacle‑shaped metadata accident.