The Call of Cthulhu and Selected Strange Tales

An introduction to the weird and unsettling world of H. P. Lovecraft, master of horror and pioneer of 'weird fiction.'Between these pages you will find things that lurk, things that scurry in the walls, things that move unseen, things that have learnt to walk that ought to crawl, unfathomable blackness, unconquerable evil, inhuman impulses, abnormal bodies, ancient rites, nameless lands best left undiscovered, thoughts best left unspoken, doors best left closed, names best forgotten. You have been warned.

Stephen King

The twentieth century's greatest practitioner of the classic horror tale."

New York Times

"Dark, weird tales about tentacled beasts, ancient artifacts that ooze unidentifiable slime and baby-eating cultists eager to bring about the end of the world."

Independent

"Lovecraft is the crucial link between Victorian Gothic and post-Sixties Horror, as well as a palpable influence on the mythology of Buffy the Vampire Slayer."

About the Author

HOWARD PHILLIPS LOVECRAFT was born in Providence, Rhode Island on August 20, 1890. His father, a traveling salesman, suffered a nervous breakdown three years later and was hospitalised until his death in 1898, from a form of syphilis. Lovecraft's family experienced financial difficulties after the death of his grandfather in 1904, and the shame of this deeply affected the young writer. His relationship with his mother was severely troubled, and she was also hospitalised after a nervous breakdown in 1919. After a brief marriage and a period living in Brooklyn where he first began publishing his stories in the magazine Weird Tales, Lovecraft returned to Providence where he continued to write stories, and supported himself through ghost-writing. He continued to be plagued by money problems, and died in relative poverty on March 15, 1937. His numerous stories, novellas and poems were never collected and properly published during his lifetime.

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