Dreams of Terror and Death

The Dream Cycle of H. P. Lovecraft

By: H. P. Lovecraft

Narrated by: uncredited

Length: 20 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

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, such as:

• "The Doom that Came to Sarnath" - Hate, genocide, and a deadly curse consume the land of Mnar.
• "The Statement 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.

Plus twenty more tales of surreal terror!

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

A superb collection

As a neophyte Lovecraft fan, I cannot honestly say that I have heard every edition of Lovecraft in audiobook format. However, I have heard a few versions of various tales, including the Librivox recordings (and the volunteers there generally do an excellent job); as such, I feel confident in saying that a version with such universal quality to all the stories does not likely exist.

Literary perfection.

One of the greatest collections of short stories and a few novellas you can find. The fact that some of these weren't published until after his death, and were first drafts than Lovecraft somehow didn't see the literary merit in is baffling. The narrators are easy to understand, and it is a great place to start for fledgling Lovecraft enthusiasts. This coupled with the Necronomicon spans a vast majority of his work, and I personally think giving them a listen or read will change your perspective on horror, or even your life. Enjoy.

love lovecraft. good delivery

can be confusing if you miss just a few words, and always weird and interesting

Mostly great readings of varyingly good stories.

Dreams of Terror and Death: The Dream Cycle of H. P. Lovecraft

My favorites are marked with an exclamation point after the track number. This collection leans toward broad inclusiveness in deciding which stories belong to Lovecraft’s dream cycle. If you want a shorter, more focused experience, I suggest the following tracks (only): 5-13, 16, 17, 19-24, 52-59. This gives you the Randolph Carter cycle, the stories it references, and a few extras that are too good to miss.

ALL TRACKS

1: [Fragment] Azathoth read by Robertson Dean.

2: [Fragment] The Descendant, Simon Vance.

3: [Fragment] The Thing in the Moonlight, Sean Rennet.

4: Polaris, Elijah Alexander.

5!: Beyond the Wall of Sleep, Stephan Rudnicki.

6!: The Doom that Came to Sarnath, Robertson Dean.

7: The Statement of Randolph Carter, Bronson Pinchot.
~ Part of the Randolph Carter cycle. I like Pinchot but I wasn’t a fan of this reading. It was too amped up.

8: The Cats of Ulthar, Elijah Alexander.

9!: Celephais, ready by Simon Prebble.

10!: From Beyond, Tom Winer.

11: Nyarlothotep, Stephan Rudnicki.

12!: The Nameless City, ready by Malcolm Hilgartner.

13: The Other Gods, Stephan Rudnicki.
~ I did not like Rudnicki’s reading. His voice was pitched in a way that I found hard to follow. It sounded like he needed a drink of water.

14: Ex Oblivone, Sean Rennet.

15: The Quest of Iranon, Elijah Alexander.
~ Couldn't finish because of Alexander’s reading.

16!: The Hound, Simon Prebble.

17: Hypnos, ready by Simon Vance.

18: What the Moon Brings, Sean Rennet.

19!: Pickman’s Model, Malcolm Hilgartner.

20-23: The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath (Carter), ready by Bronson Pinchot.
~ Part of the Randolph Carter cycle. You can’t beat this one for sheer inventiveness. It really maps out Lovecraft’s dreamlands. And yet it isn’t much of a “story.” So just enjoy the ride; don’t expect a great payoff.

24: The Silver Key, Bronson Pinchot.
~ Part of the Randolph Carter cycle.

25: The Strange High House in the Mist, Tom Winer.

26-49: The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, Robertson Dean.
~ This story is a bit of a slog. Also, the text in this one has at least one error. The beginning of file 30 is incorrect. The internal numbering of chapters in general is off the texts I have (I checked three), but that’s not a big deal. Somehow, though, the beginning of file 30 is actually the text from the beginning of the next section. (Skip to file 31 and you’ll see they open with the same phrase.) The file gets back on track right away, but it should start with “In 1766 came the final change in Joseph Curwen. It was very sudden, and gained wide notice amongst the curious townsfolk…”

50-51: The Dreams in the Witch House, John Lesko.

52: Through the Gates of the Silver Key, Bronson Pinchot.
~ Part of the Randolph Carter cycle.

I loved this production of these stories.

I loved this production. It's why I picked up several others. if you're a Lovecraft fan, pick it up!

Don't get this unless you are already a fan

Would you try another book from H. P. Lovecraft and/or uncredited?

Yes - I didn't like this because it is just excerpts of stories, little vignettes, short and unfinished ideas. Some are interesting to listen to, but they go nowhere. I think if you have already read every thing else by Lovecraft and still weren't sated, you should listen to this. Otherwise, wait until something else is available to listen to.

Lovecraft Made Easy!

What did you love best about Dreams of Terror and Death?

Lovecraft is the greatest horror writer of our, or the previous generation. His work changed horror fiction forever. The only problem is many folks have a hard time reading his verbose and archaic style of writing. This problem is gleefully solved by having the greatest tales of terror read to you buy some of the greatest reads assembled!

What did you like best about this story?

Well, it's not one story, it's many many tales. Not the complete works of Love craft, but I bought this because it had some of my favorites - i.e. "Dreams in the Witch house" and "The Strange High House in the Mist", The doom that came to Sarnath", The Cats of Ulthar… and the utterly amazing fantastic epic dark-fantasy tale: "The Dream quest of Unknown Kadath", plus many more seldom available stories.

What about uncredited’s performance did you like?

Each tale has a great reader - all different, but it takes real talent to read a H. P. LOVECRAFT tale… the best may be "The Statement of Randolph Carter".

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I was entertained & enthralled. The laughs came when I cross referenced each story with the story's review on the "The H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast" on the net. They go over each tale and explain all the hidden meaning, and much more. Very entertaining.

Any additional comments?

Buy it and listen, and then listen to the "The H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast" - it's a great combo and you'll get so much more out of these Lovecraft masterpieces than you could imagine.

Dreams!

this was as good as reading the paperback years ago! I loved the variety of readers going through some of my favorite HP Lovecraft stories.

if only we could explore our own dream worlds...

If only we could explore, control & remember ourselves in the dream realm as we do everyday in the waking world. I wonder how both person & region would be effected & how would we along...

Fearsome performance

Every narrator in this collection was terrific, although a few certainly stood out. My favorite readings were of "The Other Gods", "Azathoth" and "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward". Bravo!!