Eldritch Tales

A Miscellany of the Macabre

By: H. P. Lovecraft

Narrated by: various narrators

Length: 20 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

Following the phenomenal success of Necronomicon, its companion volume brings together Lovecraft's remaining major stories plus his weird poetry, a number of obscure revisions, and some notable nonfiction, including the seminal critical essay "Supernatural Horror in Literature."

Gathering together in chronological order the rest of Lovecraft's rarely seen but extraordinary short fiction, this collection includes the entirety of the long-out-of-print collection of thirty-six sonnets "Fungi from Yuggoth."

Lovecraft died at the age of forty-seven, but in his short life he turned out dozens of stories that changed the face of horror. His extraordinary imagination spawned both the Elder God Cthulhu and his eldritch cohorts, as well as the strangely compelling town of Innsmouth, all of which feature here.

©2014 H.P. Lovecraft (P)2014 Blackstone Audiobooks

Worthwhile for Lovecraft fans

What did you love best about Eldritch Tales?

Some of the stories were amazing, and the essay on weird tales at the end was very informative.

What did you like best about this story?

The variety of stories, and unimaginable concepts Lovecraft creates.

What three words best describe various narrators’s voice?

Some were horrible.
Elijah Alexander was absolutely tedious...it is painful to listen to him. It is as if he does not understand what he is reading, or did no rehearsals. His tones and meter make no sense, and make the story completely lost. When I hear his name, I want to skip that story.

Any additional comments?

Overall it is good for Lovecraft fans

Lesser known Lovecraft

I recently listened to Eldritch Tales written by H. P. Lovecraft and narrated by various narrators. 

This is a compilation of some of Lovecraft's lesser known tales, poetry, short stories, and even some uncompleted works. The stories are very much what one would expect from a master of the cosmic horror genre. They brim with old ones fishing for vengeance, tales of bards from cities that never were, and German submarine commanders dragged into the cold embrace of Atlantis.

To cap the entire thing off, it ends with a treatise written by Lovecraft. It lays out the foundation of the weird tale and horror in literature. It lays its foundations in ancient poems, moves forward to the viking Edda, and step by step follows its progress into the turn of the century. This most intriguing work of study is almost worth the cost of the book by itself as it lays out the progress of horror tales through the ages.

The narrators were many and generally well chosen. Most do an excellent job. While there are a few odd points of narration I would prefer changed, I generally feel it was carried off well.

Conclusion: This is a very Lovecraftian book. Weird tales and horror stories are, generally speaking, a niche interest. Those who want a bit of fright will find delicious delight in these pages. All others may safely stop before opening the cover, the mental gates of forbidden knowledge, lest they hear of cyclopean monstrosities that may warp the steadiest of minds.

well done

I love h.p Lovecraft's tales and the performance of the narrators is well done. chapter nine is one of my favorites in this audio book.

An Excellent, If Repeated, Performance

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend this audiobook to a friend because of the great stories that are told within. Lovecraft can be a bit hard to get into, but if you like horror then this collection has something for everyone. Stories about monsters, dreams, quests and all manner of the macabre never make it a dull.

What did you like best about this story?

Given that this is a collection, it is hard to nail down exactly what the best thing about the volume is. Since I am a fan of Lovecraft, just hearing more of his work after consuming the Dreamcycle is a great privilege.

Have you listened to any of various narrators’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have listened to most of the narrators from the previous Lovecraft volume called Dreams of Terror and Death. I particularly enjoyed the performances of Stephan Rudnicki and Simon Vance. They've just got that voice that conveys terror so well. Armando Duran, a newcomer in this volume, adds an interesting flair to the stories set in the western parts of the United States.

Who was the most memorable character of Eldritch Tales and why?

There are simply too many to count, but Joe Slatter from Beyond the Wall of Sleep always stands out to be as a tragic figure due to the mental strain he undergoes while lacking the sophistication to relay how he feels.

Any additional comments?

I have to say that I am disappointed in the inclusion of stories from Dreams of Terror and Death. I was hoping for the inclusion of works such as The Call of Cthulhu or The Dunwich Horror and hearing quite a lot of the previous volumes content was a let down. However, the inclusion of the history of the horror fiction genre towards the end was a surprisingly interesting addition, though it is ironic Lovecraft wasn't mentioned in it.

2nd Best Anthology

I enjoyed this collection of Lovecraft stories. This and the Necronomicon together comprise a large percentage of well known Lovecraft writings, although this is still missing the Mountains of Madness and Shadow Over Innsmouth. I preferred the Necronomicon to this collection but did enjoy this one quite a bit. Recommended if you, like me, are looking for the highlights of Lovecraft.

60 short stories, 10-20 of any real value

H.P. Lovecraft wrote hundredes and hundredes of short stories, and yet most people has only ever heard about let alone read a handfull of them...
there is a reason for that... 9 out of 10 a near unreadable/unlisenble, being either pure word salad, or worse, just plain boring....
Buuuut the few good works, are pretty damn good

so yeah this is a collection of lesser known works, and I would say 1/5th is pretty good and the rest is garbage
the comedy poem both suprised me and mad me giggle though

Great collection of odd tales

The readers voices and tones fit the tales perfectly, and really add to the atmosphere of the story. This is a great collection for anyone looking to read/listen to stories of oddities and horror.

I feel a bit shortchanged

It's all fine and good, but some of the recordings do appear in another audio book by the same publisher. With the change of main theme, I didn't think this would happen.

That is not un-READ which can eternal lie...

If you could sum up Eldritch Tales in three words, what would they be?

H. P. Lovecraft

Who was your favorite character and why?

Each and every character is Howard, yet all their lives end up linked throughout the different stories if you listen close enough,

Which character – as performed by various narrators – was your favorite?

all were excellent.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

if possible -

Any additional comments?

• Howard Phillips Lovecraft wrote in the 1920's when Egypt and Polynesian culture were newly discovered, in any mass-media sense, to America. Both cultures seemed to be the door-ways to greater, ancient, old-gods, and knowledge of a cosmos so large that we're humbled before it. 
• Unlike western religion that tells us we are the center of the universe, Lovecraft's Cthulhu-mythos tells us we are not. We are an insignificant tiny part of a fearfully vast, complex, and quite often alien universe. 
The universe is far greater than we think, or can even imagine -  and we are but a tiny little part of it, and very very far from the most powerful thing in it.
• However, the link to mankind's significant role in this universe is through the earth Dreamlands, where a human can journey - travel through time & dimensions, and even transform into something more.

The Rest of Lovecraft

More accurately, a miscellany of Lovecraft. Blackstone Audio had already put together two almost definitive multi-voiced collections of the master: “Necronomicon” covering his great horror tales, and “Dreams of Terror and Death” covering his dark fantasy tales. This collection is full of the stuff that most “Best of Lovecraft” anthologies leave out. Included here are the master’s less regarded horror stories, stories already performed in “Dreams” and regurgitated here for filler, his poetry, his collaborations with other authors, and his essay on the history of horror stories, “Supernatural Horror in Literature.”

I feel that the lesser regarded stories are usually lesser regarded for a reason, but I did enjoy listening to them being performed. (Favorite example: the solemn Stefan Rudnicki reading “The Temple” with a slight German accent.) I was didn’t dislike the poetry, but I wonder if that is because it was good or that I can’t tell poetry from doggerel. I enjoyed one collaboration, “The Crawling Chaos,” a superb apocalyptic vision. I hated the others. I would recommend them for the library at Guantanamo. I wouldn’t listen to them again unless a track of Mike, John, and Kevin was added. As for “Supernatural Horror in Literature,” well, look at my latest acquisitions on Library Thing. Thank you, Mr. Lovecraft, I’m sure I will enjoy them.