| Title | : | The Lovecraft Anthology, Volume 1 |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1906838283 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781906838287 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 120 |
| Publication | : | First published April 15, 2011 |
The Lovecraft Anthology, Volume 1 Reviews
-
This is a highly enjoyable anthology of major Lovecraft works adapted and realized by noted professionals in the graphic novel and comic book fields. The seven adaptations include “The Call of Cthulhu,” “The Haunter of the Dark,” “The Dunwich Horror,” “The Colour Out of Space,” “The Shadow Over Innsmouth,” “The Rats in the Walls,” and “Dagon.” All the adapters have the good sense to cut much of the Lovecraft prose, letting the progression of the images do much of the work instead, and the artists continually divert the eye with a variety of styles.
I particularly liked the backwoods imagery Of “Dunwich” and “Colour,” which sometimes teeters on the edge of “Beverly Hillbillies” exaggeration but is still chilling and evocative; the box-like panels and vivid coloring of “Cthulhu” which give the whole piece an appropriate 1930’s flavor; and the sombre shades and cinematic development of the panels of “Innsmouth.” My favorite piece, however, is “The Haunter of the Dark,” for the way Shane Ivan Oakley's fragmented and jagged illustrations fill each panel with queries of form, visual mysteries of possibility; it is not often that the image of a graphic novel evokes fear of the unknown.
My only cavil with the collection is the problem I have with all graphic adaptations of terror fiction: the moments of horror, the anticipated climax is often ineffective, even ludicrous. Because, of course, our greatest fear is always not what we see, but what we fear to see. -
What can you say about these books - well to be honest if you know the works of H P Lovecraft and his Cthulhu mythos then you pretty much have the contents of this and its companion volume (incredibly called Volume 2)
The contains retellings of some of the most iconic stories of Lovecraft and yet seeing them given life on the page by some of the most talented and famous comic book artists has lent them a new life I totally was not expecting.
Yes the style changes between stories (as you would expect as each project was handed to a different team) but somehow it lends itself to the format - showing each a different horror but at the same time drawing them all together sharing the same theme of horrors just beyond our perception waiting for their chance to cross over and take control.
This book has long been on my want list but only now has the opportunity arisen for me to read them and I can honestly say it has not been a disappointment. So for any fan of H P Lovecraft this book is well work the time and money -
Graphic novels like this one are a special treat. Each story (there are 7 in total) are done in varying artstyles, all of which capture the bleak, isolated hopelessness so common to this literary master; many, disturbingly creepy (Mark Stafford).
This graphic novel succeeds where "Sherlock Holmes and the Necronomicon" failed. Lovecraft's horrific imagination is simply ripe for artists' interpretation of some of his most memorable monsters and atrocities!
The written adaptations for this graphic medium are done well, allowing the art to fill in the necessarily omitted void of description with visual elements.
Of particular noteworthiness to me was the book's interpretation of "The Colour Out of Space" (Adapted by David Hine and Illustration by Mark Stafford).
Lovecraft's "The Colour Out of Space" has always been one of the trickiest - if not outright impossible! - stories to translate into any visual medium. Several movie adaptations have attempted to interpret this story and failed miserably. (Although possibly entertaining in their own right, they failed as an interpretation of "The Colour Out of Space").
"The Curse" (1987) and "Creepshow's" (1982) episode starring Stephen King, "The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill" come to mind with the latter portraying the 'extraterrestial' colour as a bright, near unnatural, green.
This graphic novel version (still a visual medium) sidesteps this issue, focusing on what horror it does to the plants, animals and, especially, people. (I am challenged to imagine how one represents a new colour while limited to the colours of our visual spectrum?"
I was also especially pleased (or unpleased as we shall soon see) with its rendition of "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" (Adapted by Leah Moore & John Reppion and Illustrated by Leigh Gallagher). It succeeded in relaying the town's sense of isolation, destitution and, ultimately, emptiness.
It was unpleasently soul emptying and I didn't want to continue reading at times! Well done!
In "The Call of Cthulhu" (Adapted by Ian Edginton and Illustrated by D'Israeli), depicting the corpse-city R'lyeh's strange angles is a difficult endeavor even for the most imaginative minds.
I believe it's no accident that Lovecraft himself never directly takes us to R'lyeh, instead ingeniously relying upon his fictitious character, Johansen's testimony. (I know I myself am facing this particular challenge. I am currently working on finishing the third book of The Symbiot Series where I take the main characters directly into (read in, first person) the risen city of R'lyeh.)
This graphic novel's version of "The Call of Cthulhu" can be forgiven to rely on a variation of M.C. Escher's stairs. to represent R'lyeh's odd angles. The only other medium I can recall that was bold enough to attempt a direct first person perspective of R'lyeh's outré angles was the 2005 film "The Call of Cthulhu", and did the job well. (I only hope I can pull off writting a journey into R'lyeh myself!)
The Lovecraft Anthology Volume 1 should please the well read H.P. Lovecraft fan as well as serve as an appetite wetting introduction to the Lovecraftian world of the Cthulhu-mythos (or, more accurately, Yog-Sothothery!)
What a brave and bold endeavor!
Four stars! I look forward to Volume 2! -
Jeff VanderMeer gave me some great advice as we were editing the
Leviathan 3 anthology: Don't ever put your own fiction in an anthology you're editing. That's proven to be good advice, and, after having edited several
anthologies and written my share of
short fiction, I've learned that editors are often their own worst critics. And by this, I don't mean that editors are too hard on themselves. In fact, I mean quite the opposite. It is extremely rare that an editor doesn't at least hamper, if not ruin, their own anthology by including their own work therein. The Lovecraft Anthology: Volume 1 is no exception.
Let's do some math. There are seven adaptions of Lovecraft's work in this anthology, including "The Call of Cthulhu," The Haunter of the Dark," "The Dunwich Horror," The Colour Out of Space," "The Shadow Over Innsmouth," "The Rats in the Walls," and "Dagon". Of these, Dan Lockwood, the editor, adapted three. Four of the adaptions are uncompelling. Can you guess who adapted three of the four that I found least appealing? Bingo!
Now, just because four out of seven adaptions were less than stellar doesn't condemn this anthology. Adapting from one media (the short fiction form) to another (graphic novel form) is hard work and easy to bungle. So we have to make some allowances for difficulty in translation. There was bound to be some bad work here.
And the art ranges from good (in the case of Alice Duke's rendition of "Dagon") to very clever (in the case of D'Israeli's "Call of Cthulhu") to comic book genius (in the case of I.N.J. Culbard's "The Dunwich Horror"). There really is no bad artwork in this volume. There is a wide range of styles represented, each with its own strengths.
Unfortunately, the art is saddled with the adaption and, though visually appealing, it is difficult for the dark beauty of the art to overcome the poor adaptions.
Three of the adaptions are excellent: Rob Davis' treatment of "The Dunwich Horror," David Hine's take on "The Colour Out of Space," and Leah Moore and John Reppion's collaboration on "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" are all faithful enough to the original texts, without being unoriginal, that even the most hard-core
Lovecraft fan should find a great deal of enjoyment in them. If you're an old hat at Lovecraftian terror, you're not likely to enjoy the others.
If you are new to Lovecraft's work, I wouldn't recommend this anthology outside of the three stories I've mentioned above. The others cut far too much out of the original stories and don't allow the reader to build up to the sort of cosmic dread for which Lovecraft is known. "Dagon," a story which
I love, was particularly dull, I thought.
And I'd be ungrateful if I didn't acknowledge that my daughter bought this for me as a Christmas gift. The girl knows her old man! -
This is a graphic novel collection of seven H.P. Lovecraft stories, there's two of these graphic novels and in this one we have The Call of Cthulhu, The Haunter of the Dark, The Dunwich Horror, The Colour Out of Space, The Shadow Over Innsmouth, The Rats in the Walls and Dagon.
I've give this a 3 Star rating because the artwork is on point, but it really breaks down the stories making them very brief; I did enjoy it though/it was a fun and visually pleasing.
I'd recommend this for Lovecraft fans, but if you haven't read any of his stories already you may not get as much out of it. -
I was given this as a present for Christmas,
As my family know of my love and addiction for H.P Lovecraft. I adore his works, funny considering when I first picked up one of his book's I couldn't get my head around his old style of writing and gave up on it. But, something nagged at me and I tried again and lo and behold the Cthulhu Mythos opened up his world for me and my admiration and addiction grew! The Lovecraft Anthology is a graphic collection of H.P Lovecrafts short stories.
The collection includes:
The Call of the Cthulhu.
The Haunter of the Dark.
The Dunwich Horror.
The Colour Out of Space.
The Shadow over Innsmouth.
The Rats in the Walls.
Dargon.
ThIs book is fantastic and well presented with wonderful, strange and eerie art perfectly showing how you could imagine H.P would have envisaged an artists view of his world. I find now I have a better understanding then ever of some of the best of H.P Lovecraft's work's because of this great book.
All in all a well recommended read. To be followed by The 2nd Instalment in the graphic Anthology. -
The Lovecraft Anthology was quite good. Volume One collects 7 Lovecraft short stories. Considering the difficulty of abridging a short story to fit inside a comic format is trying, but admirably well done by the authors. The art styles also vary for each story and range from decent to not very good, but I am forgiving because it "works" for the subject matter and the nebulous sense of horror that Lovecraft creates.
The Call of Cthulhu
The Haunter of the Dark
The Dunwich Horror
The Colour Out of Space
The Shadow Over Innsmouth
The Rats in the Walls
Dagon
Those are the seven stories in volume one. The short stories were all well done by the variety of authors. The art? Shadow Over Innsmouth was excellent and wished that the artist (Leigh Gallagher) had penned the other stories as well. Dagon (illustrated by Alice Duke) had very trippy but cool art as well. The rest are not awful but, stylistically, they are best suited for bizarre horror stories. It works well for the environment of the stories.
A great little collection of Lovecraft stories and one I would recommend to any horror of Lovecraft fan. -
This was fantastic, both the story adaptations and the artwork. It sometimes frightened me, not something I often experience reading a comic book. Hell, the artwork alone frightened me. I wish my library had vol 2. I'm tempted to buy both volumes. Good stuff.
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3 Stars
I was recommended this book by one of my goodreads friends and so I thought I would give it a try because it sounded really good. This book was not what I really expected I don't know why but I guess I was just excepting better than what it was. It was still good don't get me wrong but it was just a okay book to read. I did like the writing of this book and the story line was okay for me. I would probaly not read this book again because it is one of those books that I would only read one time. I would recommend this book to anyone really. -
This was the graphic novel that gave me the first glimpses into Lovecraft's nightmares all those years ago (and I mean that by approx. 4 years ago), so I will admit that the 4-Star rating from me might be partially due to nostalgia. Of course, it is quite impossible to capture Lovecraft's nightmares on the form of graphic vignettes due to H.P's love of eloquent yet often times verbose style or writing.
However, I can still commend the effort of those that choose to attempt such a difficult task and execute it beautifully. These illustrations you see here might just be the closest we can get to Lovecraftian imagery.
I have selected two favorites from this composition--which one I enjoyed reading the most and which one captured the Lovecraft aesthetic the best.
The Shadow Over Innsmuth-Adapted by Leah Moore and John Reppiom, Illustrated by Leigh Gallagher was my favorite out of all these. The derelict town of Innsmouth was captured very well. It was creepy, eerie, and possessed the aesthetic of an East Coast sea town, along with its rather...strange inhabitants. Of course it's abridged as all hell but it's still enjoyable.
P.S. If you haven't read the original Shadow Over Innsmouth story...read it now! It's a masterpiece.
Dagon-Adapted by Dan Lockwood and Illustrated by Alice Duke always caught my attention whenever I read this. I believe this one, out of all of them, was the most beautifully done while being hella freaky! It's done entirely in watercolor and is the most surreal of the bunch. Just beautiful! Well done, Lockwood and Duke! I hope to see more from you two.
Just as a recap as I don't feel the need to do individual reviews for every story, here are all the graphic adaptations in this collection from favorite to least favorite:
The Shadow Over Innsmouth, Dagon, The Call of Cthulhu, The Rats in the Walls, The Colour out of Space, The Haunter of the Dark, and the Dunwich Horror. -
Note: This is a review for both the Lovecraft Anthology, Volume 1 and
Lovecraft Anthology, Volume 2.
In these anthologies, various comic writers and artists adapt a few dozen of H.P. Lovecraft’s most famous tales to a graphic format, to me, mostly ineffectually. While a few feature intriguing art styles, most cannot approach the atmosphere or creepiness of the original stories filtered through the reader’s own imagination and thus feel rushed and fragmented.
Due to the verbose nature and detached style of Lovecraft’s writing, I feel that it is extremely difficult to adapt his work into a visual format, one that really succeeds as an adaption, and I have yet to see a truly satisfying comic interpretation of a Lovecraft story. Relying on slowly building atmosphere and describing “indescribable” horrors, his tales do not lend themselves to be rendered in images aside from one’s own imagination. It may be part of the limited space the editors and artists had to work with, but many feel slightly trite, with little of the eerie feelings cultivated through Lovecraft’s wordcraft.
The most successful were, I feel, were "Dagon," adapted by Dan Lockwood and illustrated by Alice Duke in Volume One, and "Pickman's Model," adapted by Jamie Delano and illustrated by Steve Pugh in Volume Two. Each of these used evocative art with an understated, close interpretation of the original stories to make them effective takes on the tales. Both of these stories are quite short, however. -
4.5
So I got this collection from Amazon today and I could not put it down. There are seven stories, all illustrated by different artists and the different styles really appealed to me. You got The Call of Cthulhu, The Haunter of the Dark, The Dunwich Horror, The Colour Out of Space, The Shadow Over Innsmouth, The Rats in the Walls, and Dagon. I did not read many of Lovercraft's short stories in my life but the ones I did that appear in this 120 page graphic collection of his stories, it was spot on. Yes there were details emitted that are found in short stories but I think just the artistic representation of such stories deserves a good rating alone. I felt like the "Dagon" story was cut too short but it was beautifully illustrated.
My favorite of these stories was definitely "The Colour Out of Space". Really creepy and the artist who drew it made it extra creepy with his own style. The characters were hideous and story was fun.
Highly recommend this to any Lovecraft fan. I know you might find some details left out but enjoy it for what it is; an imaginative graphic depiction of short stories by one of the greatest authors of some totally creepy shit.
P.S. There is another volume of these graphic stories that you can bet your ass I'll buy soon to read. -
as a collection of lovecraft, some are very good, some less, and style chosen for each story does add some interpretation. but think i prefer to read words rather than pictures. a big aspect of lovecraft is the idea that these horrors are resistant/maddening to any description, any words, so he piles on adjectives/adverbs to express so much confusion. this is graphic work, so obviously this strategy devolves into abstraction of images...
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Never has an author been more suited to graphic novel adaptation than H.P. Lovecraft. For all his creative genius, his writing was not that great. The adapters in this collection have skillfully kept everything creepy, fantastic, and mind-bending from Lovecraft's sick, dark mind while trimming out those excesses which tended to make his work drag. The art, though not of my favorite style, complements the stories extremely well.
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A collection of Lovecraft stories adapted by different writers and different artists. Most of the writing was good. Most of the artwork was great. But one of my favorite Lovecraft stories ever (The Shadow Over Innsmouth) was ruined by the writing and the artwork.
Yet (The Color Out of Space) was particularly good.
On to volume 2! -
şahane çizimler var içerisinde :) yazar hakkında ufak çaplı bir fikir sahibi olmak için okudum, iyi ki de okumuşum. çizgi romanda diyaloglar yok denecek kadar az, daha çok hikaye anlatımına ağırlık verilmiş. ( bu da yazarın yaşantısının bir yansıması olmu kendisi pek sosyal bir kişi değilmiş)
bazı hikayeler en heyecanlı yerinde son bulmuş. not kırmamın tek sebebi buydu. -
Rating 4 out of 5 | Grade A; Scary things which go bump in the night
Warning: Graphical Violence, Blood, Gore, Body Horror & much more; Reader Discretion advised
I chanced upon a series of Graphical novels, adaptations of well known Lovecraftian tales, and I thought, Great. Now I get a chance to revisit those tales of eldritch horrors, without having to wade through the doom and nihilistic gloom of the written form, which would give Edar Allan Poe the chills.
And I’ve to say, Lovecraft’s short stories lend themselves quite well to illustrated mediums. There is so much to explore, and present, and the artists can go wild coming up with all manner of horrifying illustrations & landscapes, the types of which only a troubled mind such as Lovecraft was capable of conjuring up.
For those whose first foray this is unto the writer’s body of work, bewarned. This is one of those, ‘you have to take in account the time when it was written’ sort of stories. Lovecraft did not have a healthy childhood upbringing; and even less healthy adult life. Writing was his sole escape from the actual nightmares and crippling feeling of nihilistic doom which plagued him. This, combined with misguided morals, lead him to be immensely offensive & outspoken in regards to the ‘colored folk’, as well as any sort of romantic relationship between them and those who he saw as civilized people.
You could say, the whole of ‘The Shadow over Innsmouth’ is Lovecraft’s screwed up opinions & fears in regards to intercultural marriages, and what he thought would be the ‘abominations’ which they would spawn. So, read them with the understanding that, if you belong to any cultural groups other than ‘white’, these stories carry a lot of things which would anger you.
And you know, the obligatory warning for the Graphical violence, body horror and frankly nightmare inducing premises which are the staple of any good Lovecraftian story. (Be particularly wary of the body horror on display in ‘The Color out of Space’.
Yet, despite his shortcomings, Lovecraft was nonetheless able to scare and move his audiences, renewing their fear in the unknown. In his own words,“The oldest & strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest & strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown”
Scientists of all ages looked to the stars with optimism, believing in the notion that there is life out in the universe; and we are not alone in this dark, dark existence. Lovecraft went over the other side of that railing, driven insane by the notion of what the vast, cold darkness of the universe might hold. He feared that, whatever was out there, didn’t mean well for civilization as he knew it. And he is able to convey that, frighteningly vividly, in his stories.
Suffice to say, any connoisseurs of cosmic terror, would be remiss to not take a gander at the vast worlds which was penned from his mind. One which, through friends, peers and acquaintances, grew into a collective universe, filled with old gods, new gods and countless unknown horrors. Lovecraft is to Horror, what Philip K Dick was to science fiction; Prolific, thought inducing, imaginative, but ultimately underappreciated. So join us in indulgences into his nightmare fueled, slightly racist, fear of non-Euclidean geometry filled immortal tales.
Review
This Anthology of stories is composed of 7 of the most well known short stories penned by H.P. Lovecraft. Including:
✤
The Call of Cthulhu
No-one needs any introduction to what could without doubt be considered as the most recognizable & lasting piece of the Lovecraftian Mythos. One which has slithered it many armed tentacled presence into much of modern media, art & literature. From games such as Elden Ring, to movies such as Hellboy & Evil Dead, comics such as Hellboy,
Seed of Destruction, Alan Moore's
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 1 &
Neonomicon, to recently TV Series such as Lovecraft Country & Rick & Morty, Cthulhu & Lovecraftian Mythos is found long & wide.
The original story is no less chilling, on rereading. When cults, occultists, and psychically sensitive individuals around the world, begin going insane in either horror or ecstasy, all mentioning the warden of the old gods 'Cthulhu', and investigator tries to uncover the truth behind this eldritch entity.
In a series of disjointed accounts & anecdotes, we learn of the cult of Cthulhu & the old God which they worship. One who had awakened from the depths of the ocean floor, and now is preparing to free the cabal of eldritch beings known as the old gods, so that they and their acolytes may eradicate life as we know it, and reign once more with their cosmic horrors.
The artstyle in this volume, each of which varies from story to story, has immense range, in a good way. You can never expect what new aspects the illustrators are able to imbue in each story. For Call of the Cthulhu for example, the artists have used an interesting blend of dark, flowing, almost aquatic sheen when it comes to portraying the titular entity. Which, despite the setting, is crystal clear, and allows us to appreciate each aspect of the art on display, while also being simple to follow.
The whole background & setting is filled with this darkened purplish hue generously strewn about, which made me reminisce of some of Samurai Jack panels from the animated show. That is a comparison. Plus, on display here is Lovecraft's hilarious yet disturbing fear of shapes & non-Euclidian geometry.
✤
The Haunter of the Dark
I admit, I've gone through most of Lovecraft's works, and it's the first time I read the Haunter in the dark. The story is typical Lovecraft, with the occult, mysterious grimoires, shadowy beings, fearful denizens set in a rural new England town. Nothing much to write home to.
The art is simplistic, yet at the same time filled to the brim with details, with sharp colors & outlines, going for a minimalistic sketch like aesthetic. Which once again reminded me of Samurai Jack.
✤
The Dunwich Horror
One characteristic of Lovecraft Stories is the recurrent locations, and mcguffins which all show up in the shared world. This story, features the fictional Miskatonic University, as well as the dreaded Necronomicon, the staple of any good Lovecraft story.
Not much to say about this one, as the art, while competent doesn't really standout compared to the rest of the better stories.
✤
The Color Out of Space
This, now this Ladies & gents is the crown piece of this anthology. Perhaps one of the more enduring tales, right up there along with Cthulhu, it describes a otherworldly meteor of mysterious nature, which crash lands onto the farm of Gardners. In time, this leads to a serious of alarming changes which takes place in and around the farm.
Vegetation which is bitter & unconsumable. Livestock & Fauna which become mutated, bloated abominations that are too horrorsome to even behold. In time, the family of the Gardners themselves slowly whittle away as if something were draining the very lifeforce from them, eventually driven insane to death.
On full display in its decadent glory, is the entire gamut of body horror, as we are made privy to the horrifying changes which have afflicted the land and life in it, when coming in contact with the noxious vapors from outer space. And of course, there are the psychedelic otherworldly colors, which seem alive and almost, sinister.
The Color out of space is the story which benefited the most from the graphic novel treatment, with its array of grotesque, macabre creations which could give the creatures from Thing a run for their money. Don't miss reading this. Unless you are someone who gets squeamish with body horror, in which case, why have you picked up this anthology in the first place!
✤
The Shadow over Innsmouth
Innsmouth, is one of those stories, which, in my opinion, puts front and center, the feelings of fear, revulsion and disagreement which Lovecraft held to, among other things, people of other ethnicities & cultures, as well as the concept of interracial marriages as well the children who are borne of them.
The denizens of Innsmouth, who copulated with the creatures from the undersea world, to gain riches and immortality are portrayed as slimy, loathsome abominable beings whose very existence is an affront to everything that is good.
Using terms such as ‘Sickening fish tainted stench of the town- the idea of wormy decay’ to describe them. It may have given rise to who knows how many tales of mysterious, sinister villages & townsteads located in the heartland of the nation.
The art in some places is reminiscent almost of the undead pirates from Pirates of the Caribbean: The Black pearl movie. The settings & creatures are very well rendered and would leave you with that feeling of uncomfortable sliminess that the author is all gung ho about.
✤
The Rats in the Walls
The Rats in the walls, which has surprisingly less amount of gore, (relatively) for one of these stories, is also reminiscent of the Edgar Allen Poe novels of old, from the Title to the subject matter. The outer gods or sinister beings, don’t make much of an appearance in this story, but the allusions to what had transpired in those catacombs, much of which remained unsaid, is chilling.
✤
Dagon
The Shortest of the Lovecraft stories, Dagon takes a similar approach to that of ‘The Call of the Cthulhu’, when introducing its titular entity. There is barely enough story for a couple of scenes, but that in itself is crammed with all the horrors & grotesque wonder the illustrators could fit in.
And much like Cthulhu, the awe inspiring, nightmarish visage of Dagon is rendered in quite a chilling manner. Short, but gets the job done. As well as a good closing story.
Concluding thoughts
Other than the 7 stories illustrated in this volume, there are still several tales of the author which I would like to read as a comic. The likes of ‘
At the Mountains of Madness’, '
The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath’,
Pickman's Model and many more. Looking forward to the next volume for those tales. -
L'ipnotica scrittura di Lovecraft sommerge le immagini e la forza dei sogni di Chtulhu riemergono nei tuoi sogni.
IL RICHIAMO DI CHTULHU
La cosa piu' misericordiosa al
mondo e' la capacita' della mente
umana di mettere in relazione
i suoi contenuti. Abitiamo una
placida isola d'ignoranza tra mari
neri d'infinito e non era previsto
che ce ne allontanassimo. (da qualche parte)
L'ORRORE DI DUNWICH
... qualcosa legato
ai neri abissi d'essenza
e d'esistenza che si
dilatano al di la'
della materia, dello
spazio e del tempo.
Gli Antichi furono, gli Antichi sono, gli Antichi
saranno. (da qualche parte)
DAGON
Ma la notte sogno il giorno in cui le terre sprofonderanno...
... quando quelle innominabili creature sorgeranno dai flutti e trasci-
neranno i resti dell'umanita' inconsistente, logorata dalle guerre,
nell'olezzo dei loro artigli. (da qualche parte) -
Seven illustrated Lovecraft short stories in this tpb. Overall, it was a good read. My only complaint would be the cartoony artwork which to me doesn't mesh well with Lovecraft. If it was up to me I would have had a line up featuring Kelly Jones, Bernie Wrightson, Bill Sienkiewicz, etc.. Artists who work with shadows and dark material. I am not saying that these artists used in the anthology are bad artists, but the style of Mark Stafford, David Hartman, and I. N. J. Culbard just don't equate with the horrific story being told. On the other hand, I did enjoy the art by Alice Duke & Leigh Gallagher.
The writing/adapting were top notch. My overall winner as favorite was probably "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" and that doesn't seem like an easy story to adapt since it is rather lengthy and has a lot of locales, action, and detail going on it. -
Seven tales from Lovecraft are adapted and illustrated by different graphic teams in this excellent production. The standard is high throughout and well known stories are imbued with the appropriate level of fear and menace.
Obviously not a substitute for the original corpus but either an attractive first introduction for those who should go on to the texts or a nice reminder of much-loved tales for the experienced Lovecraftian and a showcase for some serious and largely British illustrative talent. -
Trasporre graficamente Lovecraft è assai arduo.
Pensavo che rievocare quel misto di angoscia, oppressione e follia sarebbe stato addirittura impossibile, ma invece devo dire che questi adattamenti non sono niente male.
Consigliato! -
If you wish to maintain your sanity and not creep yourself out, I’d recommend reading these stories a few at a time. I of course did not do this and read them all in one sitting. Lovecraft tends to get a different reception depending on who you talk to. Hardcore horror fans who enjoy gore and unrelenting terror are unlikely to be much impressed by Lovecraft’s stories. Lovecraft relies heavily on creeping dread, fear of unfathomable darkness and the darker sides of human nature. The trick of reading Lovecraft is that his writing is dense and sometimes downright dull even when the story he’s telling is a compelling (if horrifying) one. The greatest thing about this anthology is the way that it makes Lovecraft so much more accessible. Instead of having to fight through Lovecraft’s dry writing style, the adaptations and illustrations bring the full creepiness of his stories to vivid life. While I don’t always like graphic novel adaptations in the sense that writing styles can get lost or overwhelmed, in this case it makes the stories so much more readable. Many of the artists and particularly Matt Timson and Alice Duke match the tone of the adaptations with gorgeously disturbing panels that up the creep factor tenfold. Volume 1 includes The Call of Cthulhu, The Hunter of the Dark, The Dunwich Horror, The Colour Out of Space, The Shadow Over Innsmouth, The Rats in the Walls and Dagon.
If you ever wanted a horror story that will slowly raise the hairs on the back of your neck and make you wary of the darkness, The Lovecraft Anthology is an excellent adaptation of a master of horror. The graphic novel adaptations diminish the worst parts of Lovecraft like his dry writing style and tendency towards suspension of disbelief breaking racism and accelerate the forbidding nature of the stories themselves. Highly recommend it for other Lovecraft fans or anyone who’s been turned off by the denseness of the novel form of the Lovecraft universe.
Full series review
here -
I am a huge fan of HP Lovecraft and I have a great imagination when it comes to his descriptions of his monsters but it is so cool to see what other people imagine these creatures looking like! I absolutely loved this book and can't wait to read the second volume!
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Some wonderful artwork amongst the tales in this first volume.
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H.P. Lovecraft is an author I have very complicated feelings towards. While I enjoy the concepts behind his stories for the most part, there is the trouble of his overly vague and altogether sloppy writing to overcome. Beyond that, there is the obvious racism of his writing, the misogyny of it and his own personal beliefs... More than once I've seen articles titled "Hatecraft" and for the most part I find that sentiment difficult to argue against.
That having been said, Lovecraft had some rather brilliant concepts and his writing tends to do very well in the hands of others. For instance, Stephen King has written extensively within the Lovecraftian genre and one of my very favorite of his stories, "N", falls firmly into that classification.
The Lovecraft Anthology (Volume 1) is of interest due to the fact that it neatly distills the best of the Cthulhu mythos stories into an easily digestible graphic novel. It holds onto the tone of the original stories, while cutting through the sloppy characterization and overblown descriptions of the original text. What one is left with is a series of short cosmic horror tales rendered by an ever-changing array of artists that each seek to employ a different style to convey that creeping dread. Innsmouth and Dagon were my favorites from this collection, as I feel the watery scenes and submarine horror were aided greatly by the artistry. A fun quick read for a fan of the stories. -
This is the second graphic adaptation of Lovecraft material I have read from SELFMADE HERO press. The first At the Mountains of Madness was a classy production but possibly suffered from an over-respect for the material. This anthology, containing seven stories from as many illustrators, is much more fun, But the stories themselves are more fun, more lurid, more outrageous than the ponderous and self-important At the Mountains of Madness.
Here are Lovecraft classics such as "The Dunwich Horror," "The Shadow Over Insmouth," "The Call of Cthulhu," and four others. (Am I the only person who has to check the spelling on "Cthulhu" every time I type it?) There is much slithery horror to be had in these stories, and the artists relish it. Nor do the hold back when depicting the New England version of hillbillies that populate the dismal wastelands from Connecticut to Maine. Lovecraft and Erskine Caldwell may seem an unlikely pair, but I have to come to think that Lovecraft does for Yankee psychic depravity what Caldwell did for sexual depravity in the South.
A second volume is due within the year. -
Graphic art is the perfect medium for these abridged tellings of Lovecraft's cosmic horror stories. Seven tales are included in total, and I'll admit that I have only read the original version of "The Call of Cthulhu," which I enjoyed despite Lovecraft's dense, showy writing style. I wanted to read this anthology to sample his other stories in a more accessible form. "The Colour Out of Space" was by far my favorite, followed by "The Rats in the Walls." I didn't care much for the others.
This book is meant to be an introduction to Lovecraft or a new way to re-experience his stories rather than a substitute for reading the originals. As with any adapted version of something, the reader loses the nuances and prose. Still, the varied artwork provides a unique atmosphere for each story, as all seven tales are illustrated by different talented artists. I especially enjoyed Alice Duke's watercolor-esque style in the last story, which was unfortunately also the shortest tale in the book.
The four-star rating is more due to my own "meh" feelings toward Lovecraft than this wonderfully curated collection. -
3.5 stars
I loved the different styles of illustrations, even if not all of the illustrations themselves, and I think some of them were very appropriate for the stories and helped to evoke the atmosphere of horror, mysticism, and mystery that identified Lovecraft's stories. Unfortunately, some of the adaptations didn't work so well in this format. For some, removing large chunks for the text worked well with the images for they managed to convey what the words didn't, but for others, there was a sense of disjointedness, a feeling that there was something missing, and that made some of them really hard to understand. As a whole, I think this is a really cool effort. -
The art was so so disturbing but such good quality. So much so that I have to admit that cosmic horror is just not my genre, it was far too unsettling for me to enjoy and I found myself unwilling to look at some of the frames.
The stories themselves were a little repetitive in parts, always academics or men investigating their ancestors and discovering horrors in isolated places, but much of the writing was really good.
