“H.P. Lovecraft has yet to be surpassed as the twentieth century’s greatest practitioner of the classic horror tale.”—Stephen King “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.”—H.P. Lovecraft This is the collection that true fans of horror fiction must have: sixteen of H.P. Lovecraft’s most horrifying visions, including: The Call of Cthulu: The first story in the infamous Cthulhu mythos—a creature spawned in the stars brings a menace of unimaginable evil to threaten all mankind. The Dunwich Horror: An evil man’s desire to perform an unspeakable ritual leads him in search of the fabled text of The Necronomicon. The Colour Out of Space: A horror from the skies—far worse than any nuclear fallout—transforms a man into a monster. The Shadow Over Innsmouth: Rising from the depths of the sea, an unspeakable horror engulfs a quiet New England town. Plus twelve more terrifying tales!

"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown." --H. P. LOVECRAFT, "Supernatural Horror in Literature" Howard Phillips Lovecraft forever changed the face of horror, fantasy, and science fiction with a remarkable series of stories as influential as the works of Poe, Tolkien, and Edgar Rice Burroughs. His chilling mythology established a gateway between the known universe and an ancient dimension of otherworldly terror, whose unspeakable denizens and monstrous landscapes--dread Cthulhu, Yog-Sothoth, the Plateau of Leng, the Mountains of Madness--have earned him a permanent place in the history of the macabre. In Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos, a pantheon of horror and fantasy's finest authors pay tribute to the master of the macabre with a collection of original stories set in the fearsome Lovecraft tradition: ¸ The Call of Cthulhu by H. P. Lovecraft: The slumbering monster-gods return to the world of mortals. ¸ Notebook Found in a Deserted House by Robert Bloch: A lone farmboy chronicles his last stand against a hungering backwoods evil. ¸ Cold Print by Ramsey Campbell: An avid reader of forbidden books finds a treasure trove of deadly volumes--available for a bloodcurdling price. ¸ The Freshman by Philip José Farmer: A student of the black arts receives an education in horror at notorious Miskatonic University. PLUS EIGHTEEN MORE SPINE-TINGLING TALES!

A classic tale of terror and grotesquerie by the original master of horror H. P. Lovecraft proclaimed his Dunwich Horror "so fiendish" that his editor at Weird Tales "may not dare to print it." The editor, fortunately, knew a good thing when he saw it. One of the core Cthulhu stories, The Dunwich Horror introduces us to the grim village of Dunwich, where each member of the Whateley family is more grotesque than the other. There's the grandfather, a mad old sorcerer; Lavinia, the deformed, albino woman; and Wilbur, a disgusting specimen who reaches full manhood in less than a decade. And above all, there's the mysterious presence in the farmhouse, unseen but horrifying, which seems to be growing . . . Wilbur tracks down an original edition of the Necronomicon and breaks into a library to steal it. But his reward eludes him: he gets caught, and the result is death by guard dog. Meanwhile, left unattended, the monster at the Whateley house keeps expanding, until the farmhouse explodes and the beast is unleashed to terrorize the poor, aggrieved village of Dunwich. As chilling today as it was upon its publication in 1929, The Dunwich Horror is a horrifying masterwork by the man Stephen King called "the twentieth century's greatest practitioner of the classic horror tale."

The award-winning French novelist pays tribute to a literary hero in this critical biography of the master of horror—with a foreword by Stephen King. Best known for his acclaimed novels, such as the Prix Goncourt-winning The Map and the Territory, Michael Houellebecq devotes his single work of nonfiction to the pioneering author of horror and weird fiction, H. P. Lovecraft. In a volume that is part biographical sketch and part pronouncement on existence and literature, France's most famous contemporary author praises his prewar American alter ego, whose style couldn't be less like his own. With a foreword by Lovecraft admirer Stephen King, this eloquently translated edition is an insightful introduction to both Lovecraft’s dark mythology and Houellebecq’s deadpan prose.

“[Lovecraft's] dream fantasy works are as terrifying and haunting as his tales of horror and the macabre. A master craftsman, Lovecraft brings compelling visions of nightmarish fear, invisible worlds and the demons of the unconscious. If one author truly represents the very best in American literary horror, it is H. P. Lovecraft.”—John Carpenter, Director of At the Mouth of Madness, Halloween, and Christine With an introduction by Neil Gaiman This volume collects, for the first time, the entire Dream Cycle created by H. P. Lovecraft, the master of twentieth-century horror, including some of his most fantastic tales: The Doom That Came to Sarnath—Hate, genocide, and a deadly curse consume the land of Mnar. The Statment of Randolph Carter—“You fool, Warren is DEAD!” The Nameless City—Death lies beneath the shifting sands, in a story linking the Dream Cycle with the legendary Cthulhu Mythos. The Cats of Ulthar—In Ulthar, no man may kill a cat...and woe unto any who tries. The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath—The epic nightmare adventure with tendrils stretching throughout the entire Dream Cycle. And twenty more tales of surreal terror!

"Originally serialized in the February, March, and April 1936 issues of Astounding stories"--Copyright page.

Terrible tales are told of Innsmouth, a once prosperous fishing village, but now poverty-stricken. The cause of the degradation is blamed on an epidemic that came from a ship and mercilessly struck the town. However, evil tongues speak of pacts with the devil. Few people venture to travel to the village, as many foreigners have not returned after traveling to Innsmouth. Nevertheless, the protagonist of this story, a traveler in search of his family origins, is attracted to the town and decides to visit it on his way to his final destination. But, to his misfortune, he is forced to spend the night in the town. Will he be prepared to learn the town's macabre secrets?

When he died in 1937, destitute and emotionally as well as physically ruined, H. P. Lovecraft had no idea that he would one day be celebrated as the godfather of modern horror. A dark visionary, his work would influence an entire generation of writers, including Stephen King, Clive Barker, Neil Gaiman, and Anne Rice. Now, the most important tales of this distinctive American storyteller have been collected in a single volume by National Book Award-winning author Joyce Carol Oates. In tales that combine the nineteenth-century gothic sensibility of Edgar Allan Poe with a uniquely daring internal vision, Lovecraft fuses the supernatural and mundane into a terrifying, complex, and exquisitely realized vision, foretelling a psychically troubled century to come. Set in a meticulously described New England landscape, here are harrowing stories that explore the total collapse of sanity beneath the weight of chaotic events—stories of myth and madness that release monsters into our world. Lovecraft's universe is a frightening shadow world where reality and nightmare intertwine, and redemption can come only from below.

“H.P. Lovecraft has yet to be surpassed as the twentieth century’s greatest practitioner of the classic horror tale.”—Stephen King “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.”—H.P. Lovecraft This is the collection that true fans of horror fiction must have: sixteen of H.P. Lovecraft’s most horrifying visions, including: The Call of Cthulu: The first story in the infamous Cthulhu mythos—a creature spawned in the stars brings a menace of unimaginable evil to threaten all mankind. The Dunwich Horror: An evil man’s desire to perform an unspeakable ritual leads him in search of the fabled text of The Necronomicon. The Colour Out of Space: A horror from the skies—far worse than any nuclear fallout—transforms a man into a monster. The Shadow Over Innsmouth: Rising from the depths of the sea, an unspeakable horror engulfs a quiet New England town. Plus twelve more terrifying tales!