The Call of Cthulhu (Serapis Classics)

By H. P. Lovecraft

The narrator, Francis Wayland Thurston, recounts his discovery of notes left behind by his grand-uncle, Brown University linguistic professor George Gammell Angell after his death in the winter of 1926-27. Among the notes is a small bas-relief sculpture of a scaly creature which yields "simultaneous pictures of an octopus, a dragon, and a human caricature." The sculptor, a Rhode Island art student named Henry Anthony Wilcox, based the work on delirious dreams of "great Cyclopean cities of titan blocks and sky-flung monoliths." Frequent references to Cthulhu and R'lyeh are found in Wilcox's papers. Angell also discovers reports of mass hysteria around the world...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Serapis Classics
• Release date: Nov 13, 2017
• ISBN: 9783963135132

H. P. Lovecraft

Renowned as one of the great horror-writers of all time, H.P. Lovecraft was born in 1890 and lived most of his life in Providence, Rhode Island. Among his many classic horror stories, many of which were published in book form only after his death in 1937, are ‘At the Mountains of Madness and Other Novels of Terror’ (1964), ‘Dagon and Other Macabre Tales’ (1965), and ‘The Horror in the Museum and Other Revisions’ (1970).

Book preview

Published 2017

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. The Horror In Clay

II. The Tale of Inspector Legrasse

III. The Madness from the Sea

I. The Horror In Clay

The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the light into the peace and safety of a new dark age.

Theosophists have guessed at the awesome grandeur of the cosmic cycle wherein our world and human race form transient incidents. They have hinted at strange survivals in terms which would freeze the blood if not masked by a bland optimism. But it is not from them that there came the single glimpse of forbidden eons which chills me when I think of it and maddens me when I dream of it. That glimpse, like all dread glimpses of truth, flashed out from an accidental piecing together of separated things - in this case an old newspaper item and the notes of a dead professor. I hope that no one else will accomplish this piecing out; certainly, if I live, I shall never knowingly supply a link in so hideous a chain. I think that the professor, too intended to keep silent regarding the part he knew, and that he would have destroyed his notes had not sudden death seized him.

My knowledge of the thing began in the winter of 1926-27 with the death of my great-uncle, George Gammell Angell, Professor Emeritus of Semitic Languages in Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island. Professor Angell was widely known as an authority on ancient inscriptions, and had frequently been resorted to by the heads of prominent museums; so that his passing at the age of ninety-two may be recalled by many. Locally, interest was intensified by the obscurity of the cause of death. The professor had been stricken whilst returning from the Newport boat; falling suddenly; as witnesses said, after having been jostled by a nautical-looking negro who had come from one of the queer dark courts on the precipitous hillside which formed a short cut from the waterfront to the deceased's home in Williams Street. Physicians were unable to find any visible disorder, but concluded after perplexed debate that some obscure lesion of the heart, induced by the brisk ascent of so steep a hill by so elderly a man, was responsible for the end. At the time I saw no reason to dissent from this dictum, but latterly I am inclined to wonder - and more than wonder.

As my great-uncle's heir and executor, for he died a childless widower, I was expected to go over his papers with some thoroughness; and for that purpose moved his entire set of files and boxes to my quarters in Boston. Much of the material which I correlated will be later published by the American Archaeological Society, but there was one box which I found exceedingly puzzling, and

Reviews for The Call of Cthulhu (Serapis Classics)

[soultalk · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Lovecraft has his own strange mythology and style of storytelling. It is a bit droll and tedious but pays huge dividends in creepy atmosphere. Great stuff for the Poe fan, but skip it if you enjoy the more sensational and less cerebral horror fiction.

[caanderson-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Fast, fast pace. He doesn't let you breathe. Excellent story.

[xuebi-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A selection of weird tales from the master of weird fiction. The epononymous work, Colour out of Space, The Whisperer in Darkness, and the Haunter of the Dark are the standouts.

[albertgoldfain · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Filling in the gaps in my geek cannon, the "Call of the Cthulhu" has been on my list for awhile. What I liked most about the story was the Jules Verne style and level of descriptive detail. I also liked that it was told from the perspective of a rational mind confronting (in an almost fatalistic way) a series of irrational events. The ability of the Cthulhu to horrify its victims in dream as well as in the waking hours puts it on a higher rung than other famous monsters.

[geniemagik · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Not everyone likes reading this as much as I do. Many like minded people have told me they enjoy Anne Rice or Poe more. These weird little tales by HP Lovecraft are by far my favorites. Darker than other horror stories, the good and evil in these stories are well defined. No blurred lines.

[jaredorlando-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Somehow I have lived 30 years without reading a word of Lovecraft. That changed this year when I picked up the beautiful Penguin Orange copy of Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories. Most stories were so brilliant and creepy that the feeling stayed with me for hours after. Some were just okay, but just okay Lovecraft is better than most. His quintessential stories are here in this collection and recommended by a first reader like me.

[lndlindsey · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The fact that I can spell Cthulhu without having to look it up says something about how much I like Lovecraft. His style is... out of style, but he created a masterful mythos. These are the stories I read by candle or gaslight on stormy nights with a cup of tea and bag of popcorn. His monsters aren't threateningly real, so I can happily set aside rationality and just enjoy the fantasy.

[mausergem_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A man discovers amongst his dead uncle’s papers a narrative about a secret cult called the Cthulhu cult. In a series of letters and personal interviews the author has presented to us a picture of this cult. The cult members are savages and are the devotees of the Cthulhu and the Great Old Ones, creatures from the stars who are trapped in their underwater city waiting for release.Something which is entirely imaginative and occult but still creates a sense of fear is quite amazing.

[jsaj_3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Love H.P. Lovecraft and this is a pretty good collection. My Lovecraft review- interesting writing, even though he has stylistic problems. Very creative and creates fascinating and deeply detailed worlds.

[shanth_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The first couple of stories were pretty interesting, but after a while the stories tend to get repetitive and predictable with nearly identical plots and themes. Nonetheless, it was worth it just to read the original story of the Cthulhu Mythos.

[elviomedeiros_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

After ploughing through the hard-to-read, truncated, cyber-punk craziness of Neuromancer, I went to the more "simple" and "traditional" The Call of Cthulhu. Ahhh, Lovecraft, isn´t it great to read such well written and immersive fantasy?! Will stay on this book for quite some time enjoying each of the short stories...

[razorhack · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This collection includes some of the best short stories written by H.P. Lovecraft. The stories themselves have been recollated and proofed against the original sources and are the definitive texts. Good introduction to Lovecraft for novices.