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The Thing on the Doorstep and Other Weird Stories (Penguin Classics)

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A further exploration of Lovecraft
Penguin's Second Lovecraft Book
Another good collection from Penguin Books
Patronizing
The Contents of This Book

The Thing on the Doorstep and Other Weird Stories (Penguin Classics)
H. P. Lovecraft , and S. T. Joshi
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0142180033
Release Date: 2001-10-02

Book Description

Howard Phillips Lovecraft's unique contribution to American literature was a melding of traditional supernaturalism (derived chiefly from Edgar Allan Poe) with the genre of science fiction that emerged in the early 1920s. This new Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics edition brings together a dozen of the master's tales-from his early short stories "Under the Pyramids" (originally ghostwritten for Harry Houdini) and "The Music of Erich Zann" (which Lovecraft ranked second among his own favorites) through his more fully developed works, "The Dunwich Horror," The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, and At the Mountains of Madness.

The Thing on the Doorstep and Other Weird Stories presents the definitive corrected texts of these works, along with Lovecraft critic and biographer S. T. Joshi's illuminating introduction and notes to each story.

Customer Reviews:

A further exploration of Lovecraft.......2005-05-12

"The Thing on the Doorstep and Other Weird Stories" represents the second of three (to date) collections of H. P. Lovecraft's work edited and annotated by J. T. Joshi and published by Penguin. Like the preceding volume ("The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories") the stories unfold in the chronological order of their writing, allowing the reader to both observe Lovecraft's development as a writer, and the interlinking of his developing mythos. The only substantial differences between this volume and the former are that this one contains more stories within the Cthulhu Mythos, and it also contains Lovecraft's two longest (and to my mind best) works.

The book begins with an introduction from Joshi that readers of the first volume will probably find disappointing as it offers no meaningful difference to that books introduction. It seems odd that someone who has chronicled Lovecraft's life as intently as Joshi has couldn't find a different avenue of consideration, and it is unfortunate that the same facts are repeated, regardless of how important they may be to understanding Lovecraft's writing.

Fortunately, that is the only black mark against Joshi's work as he has provided exhaustive foot-noting of each story. Sometimes whimsical and sometimes critical, these observations open up an entirely new and deeper view of the stories in "The Thing on the Doorstep and Other Weird Stories". In particular, residents of New England in general and Rhode Island in particular will appreciate the impression that regional history and geography had on Lovecraft's writing.

As for the stories themselves, they are somewhat better generally than the first volume, which may simply be a reflection of my preference for the Cthulhu stories, or may alternately reflect that they are indeed better written (as I would argue). The stand out contributions can be found in the final four entries, "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward", "The Dunwich Horror", "At the Mountains of Madness" and "The Thing on the Doorstep", all of which are noteworthy for both individual and common reasons.

"The Case of Charles Dexter Ward", like all four stories, continues the evolution of Lovecraft's occult mythos, but it is most noteworthy (aside from being the longest piece he ever wrote) for the way that it inverts the traditional Yankee ghost/horror story. Lovecraft removes, or rather reassigns, the supernatural and places it instead within the realm of a vast, seemingly unfathomable but quite literally real hidden world. Likewise, "The Dunwich Horror" plays upon these same elements, but at the same time explores the deep mystery of New England's rural regions, and the dichotomy of the bustling coast and the relatively rural interior.

"At the Mountains of Madness" is my favorite Lovecraft story, and is significant in that it represent the most concrete conveyance of facts regarding the various "Old Ones" who ruled the earth untold millennia ago. It also helped create the adventure/techno-thriller genre which is so prevalent today and which so frequently draws occult imagery and themes (the novels of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child being the best representation of this admittedly mixed bag). Finally, "The Thing on the Doorstep" is interesting in that it offers a sequel of sorts to the well regarded "The Shadow Over Innsmouth".

"The Thing on the Doorstep and Other Weird Stories" comprises another nice collection of stories by Lovecraft. However, what really makes this edition stand out among other options are the fascinating contributions of Joshi which not only flesh out individual stories, but help place them within the larger context of Lovecraft's body of work, life experience and personal philosophies. As such, this is a book which can be enjoyed equally buy long time fans and new readers alike.

Jake Mohlman

Penguin's Second Lovecraft Book.......2004-10-13

If you enjoyed the first book of Lovecraft's work published by Penguin (The Call of Cthulhu) then you will undoubtedly appreciate this one. As before, it is a nice mix of the three areas of Lovecraft's work: the dream cycle, the Cthulhu and the Great Old Ones cycle, and the macabre tales cycle.

In this book you will find what I consider to be one of the best Lovecraft's story: At The Mountains of Madness. It's a novella (about a hundred pages)that's just one of the best short story he has ever written. Along with this there's also this other novella: The Case of Charles Dexter Ward. The latter is equally interesting (although the beginning is slighlty deterring, it quickly changes).

On the whole, I'd recommend this book for anyone interested in Lovecraft; however, if you have never read anything by him I recommend you start with Penguin's first book of his work. Not that it's very important but if you asked me that's what I'd advise you.

Another good collection from Penguin Books.......2003-07-14

It tells you something about the critical reappraisal of American horror writer H P Lovecraft that Penguin Classics is releasing short story collections by this writer.

The current collection, like the first Call of Cthulhu, gives us a sampling of Lovecraft's writing arranged chronologically. This volume is dominated by two of his best novella: The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, one of Lovecraft's most unsettling works, and the great tale of Antarctic horror At the Mountains of Madness. These are must reads for horror fans and among Lovecraft's best efforts.

There are also three classic short stories here: the enigmatic Music of Eric Zann, the ghoulish Pickman's Model and the late Cthulhu Mythos tale The Thing on the Doorstep, which takes some of the concepts of possession from Charles Dexter Ward and goes in another direction with them. These tales also rank high in Lovecraft's output.

The remaining stories are more of a mixed bag, especially the early tales, but we do get a nice representative tale from the writer's "Dunsany" fantasy period with The White Ship. However, the format allows one to see Lovectaft mature as a writer and even the weaker tales have their moments and point toward his later efforts.

Great work by editor Joshi, who is doing a great service for Lovecraft fans with his definitive texts. His notes are especially welcome for At The Mountains of Madness, which manages to cover an amazing amount of scientific, historical, and mythological ground in its simple format.

Lovecraft may not be the most subtle writer, but at his best he takes us on a slow gradual journey that begins simple enough and leads us to true cosmic horror. Just look at a movie like Alien and you'll see Lovecraft's influence has been remarkable.

Patronizing.......2002-06-06

It's a testimonial to how effective leftist indoctrination is in popular culture that this political hack S.T. Joshi who has authored such history books as From Thomas Jefferson to David Duke should apparently be the dominate current editor of H.P. Lovecraft's writings.

Many of the books which Joshi has edited actually carries warnings of the quaint antique datedness of the contents to be read with the condescending superiority that an assumed left/liberal urban professorate can bestow on reactionary trifles.

This dichotomy between an academic's doctrinaire loyalties and marketing results in Joshi's schizophrenic editing. A finicky apologetic mess.

Joshi is symptomatic of the congealing imagination as the ivy league disgorges it's post-modern generation into publishing. Lovecraft and company deserve better.

The Contents of This Book.......2002-01-05

Since there are so many different Lovecraft collections out there, it may be useful to prospective buyers to know what's actually in this one:

[By S. T. Joshi:] Acknowledgments; Introduction; Suggestions for Further Reading; A Note on the Text; [short stories, except where noted, by H. P. Lovecraft:] The Tomb; Beyond the Wall of Sleep; The White Ship; The Temple; The Quest of Iranon; The Music of Erich Zann; Under the Pyramids [a.k.a. Imprisoned with the Pharoahs]; Pickman's Model; The Case of Charles Dexter Ward [novella]; The Dunwich Horror; At the Mountains of Madness [novella]; The Thing on the Doorstep; [by Joshi:] Explanatory Notes

Unlike in THE ANNOTATED H. P. LOVECRAFT and MORE ANNOTATED H. P. LOVECRAFT, also edited and annotated (though in the latter case co-edited and co-annotated) by Joshi, the equally copious annotations here are collected at the back of the book (thereby being what are technically known as "endnotes") rather than placed at the bottom of story pages where they're referenced (known as "footnotes"). And also unlike the "ANNOTATED" volumes, THE CALL OF CTHULHU AND OTHER WEIRD STORIES lacks photographs that highlight the relationships between the subjects in the stories and the persons and places of Lovecraft's life; features smaller print, making it slightly harder to read but meaning more stories can be fit into the volume.

THE THING ON THE DOORSTEP AND OTHER WEIRD STORIES is something of a sequel to THE CALL OF CTHULHU AND OTHER WEIRD STORIES, a similarly produced and arranged collection of Lovecraft fiction, with an introduction and endnotes by Joshi, put out by the same publisher, Penguin. To his credit, Joshi's respective introductions to both Penguin collections are informative and interesting for readers regardless of previous familiarity with Lovecraft, while repeating little of the same content.

Each of these Penguin titles, as well as the two "ANNOTATED" titles published by Dell, presents its selection of narrative fiction in the order written, a practical advantage when reading Lovecraft, and make attractive companion volumes.

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