Lovecraft's Monsters

By: Neil Gaiman, Ellen Datlow - editor

Narrated by: Bernard Clark

Length: 15 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's Summary

Prepare to meet the wicked progeny of the master of modern horror. In Lovecraft's Monsters, H. P. Lovecraft's most famous creations--Cthulhu, Shoggoths, Deep Ones, Elder Things, Yog-Sothoth, and more--appear in all their terrifying glory. Each story is a gripping new take on a classic Lovecraftian creature.

Contributors include such literary luminaries as Neil Gaiman, Joe R. Lansdale, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Karl Edward Wagner, Elizabeth Bear, and Nick Mamatas.

Legions of Lovecraft fans continue to visit his bizarre landscapes and encounter his unrelenting monsters. Now join them in their journey...if you dare.

©2014 Ellen Datlow, Foreword copyright 2014 by Stefan Dziemianowicz, Introduction copyright 2014 by Ellen Datlow (P)2015 Audible Inc.

The ones that were good were really good!!!

Most of the stories are really good. Skip Blackest from pole to pole and the stand out story for me was Red goad black goat, it was really scary in my opinion; I wish it was a full length novel.

Incredibly uneven

Stories ranged from pointless to great. A couple of really awful poems. Surprisingly, I deeply disliked Gaiman's story and almost returned this. Laird Barron and I will never click, I found his passable but frustrating. One promising piece ended up being a setup for a contrived pun. The final two stories were worth hanging on for. Bless Joe Lansdale for a really great horror story, definitely the best here and one I could say has only a tenuous mythic connection. Good performance outside of an overwrought reading of the introduction.

Its out there... you just have to find it

What disappointed you about Lovecraft's Monsters?

The sometimes lack of substance to the stories. A few were good but the vast majority were not. They didn't have the real meat to it like many of the off shoots of Lovecrafts stories do.

Has Lovecraft's Monsters turned you off from other books in this genre?

I am always looking and *listening for great Lovecraftian Cthulu Mythos stories. I have found some here and there. In this one the Neil Gaiman story was great, so were a few others yet some left me hoping the story would end soon as they were dry as the Sahara.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

It was about Lovecraftian critters, that is its only true redeeming quality.

A Unique and Fun Listen

I enjoyed the majority of the stories; however, a few did not meet my liking. More of a personal opinion than an assessment of the work. I would not recommend it for a long car ride, as you may start checking your mirrors for the Elder Gods and their underlings. If the car in front of you looks like it has inverted angles, it may be time for a change up.

Fun read

Had a good time with this one, quite a few good stories in here, but as usual with anthologies theres a few that sneak in that arent so great (werewolf vs cthulhu pls). Worth a listen!

Fabulous Introduction to Lovecraft

Great stories, beautifully curated by Ellen Datlow and Neil Gaiman, with a compelling and mesmerizing performance by Bernard Clark, who is a vocal chameleon.

Good stories not many endings

I think that the editor pulled together a good grouping of stories that fit nicely into the Lovecraft storyline. However, many of the stories just end. I understand leaving some things to the imagination of the reader but a lot of the stories just leave you hanging with a feeling that they are unfinished. Because of this and the way they stories are pressed together by the reader sometimes you are not even aware that they have moved on to the next story.

PURPLE WARMTH

MUNDANE ANALYSIS
Let me start by saying I am not a Lovecraft Lover. I bought this because I feel that no matter the genre, that I will usually find an author in any anthology that is worth discovering. Plus I am a fan of Joe Lansdale. After trying to listen I find I would rather drink TWO FINGERS OF COFFIN VARNISH. I gave each and every story a shot, but very few interested me. I did enjoy a story by Brian Hodge. Bear had a good story going with really good characters and than it just ended. Newman and Spencer were okay, but the rest, meh.

VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE WONDERS
If you are not familiar with Lovecraft, this would not be the place to start. Several of his individual stories are available at audio. I would suggest purchasing one of the them and you will know right off if you are a fan. His stories are often not describable. He will even mention that in his story. It is very common place in his stories for him to tell the reader that he could not describe a feeling, a sound, a look, etc... The stories are also usually open ended. All of this, is I guess, so you can use your own imagination to fill in the blanks. But what do I know, I am just a GREASY HUMAN.

The best stories are the short ones

This anthology contains stories ranging in length from 15 minutes to a couple of hours. Sadly, the longer the story is in this collection, the less terrifying and interesting to continue it is.

There are a couple of examples, but the longest stories are not worth the time or the payoff.

How could I have missed this?

I'm so glad this was offered in a sale or else I would have never tried this book. I vaguely remember years ago, struggling through several HP Lovecraft books. They left me with an impression of vast mindbending omnipresent monsters and grim, depressing outcomes. I gave this anthology a try because of Neil Gaiman's story and perhaps it was my age when I read Lovecraft, but I went into Lovecraft's Monsters anticipating I wouldn't like most of it, and instead enjoyed all of it immensely.

Each story is fascinating and the narration is _awesome_. The tone of each story shifts and changes in time frame and attitude. Bernard Clark has a wide range and no two of his voices are alike. Each story is distinct, exceptionally vivid and stands alone. He takes you from gritty hardboiled to 1800's American West frontier to 1950's Doo Wop to Victorian era explorers in the jungles of South America, to name just a few. I caught myself checking to see who narrated a story, because it was so drastically different from the last, sure it was another narrator, but Bernard Clark does it all. I will be looking for more books he's narrated, as well as other stories from the authors in this anthology.

The writing is excellent throughout with clear, concise stories that suck you in at the first word and run the gamut of emotions. From fascinating, to horrifying, to disturbing, to amusing, the only consistency is that they contain HP Lovecraft's monsters. The monster compendium at the end gives you an explanation of the monster and which stories featured it, but if you're not a Lovecraft aficionado (like myself), it was a wild ride. Well worth the credit.

Go on, it's well worth it.

Brilliant, fantastic, riveting. I bought this anthology for Neil Gaiman's involvement, but am blown away by all the contributors. I just wish there was some detail on the chapters as to what the title of the individual tales is and who the author might be.

Lovecraft goes postmodern

A collection of 18 short stories, novellas and poems of varying quality. There are a handful of weaker inclusions in this anthology, but on the whole the stories are good, if not downright excellent! As a lover of all things postmodern, I thoroughly enjoyed how each author used setting, time period and allusions to other famous pieces of literature to provide an exciting new perspective on the well established Lovecraftian lore.

Of the 18, my top 5 are:

5 - 'I've Come To Talk With You Again'. The mystery and the creep factor really gripped me!
4 - 'The Bleeding Shadow'. Noir horror set in the 1930's. Vivid, imaginative and evocative.
3 - 'Bulldozer'. Set in the Old West. An excellent set of characters and very gritty.
2 - 'The Same Deep Waters As You'. The ending to this one has really stuck with me!
1 - 'Children Of The Fang'. Some of the best characterisation I have ever seen and an amazing horror at the same time.

This anthology took me a long time to listen through, as I found myself listening to many of the stories two or three times and I would recommend another listener to do the same. All of the pieces here are rich in mystery, little details and references to Lovecraft and his contemporaries, making additional listens worthwhile!

By far my biggest praise for this audio version is the performance of Bernard Clark. He has an amazing range of voices and really breathes life into these stories. With 18 different stories, each with their own cast of characters, Clark could be forgiven for reusing voices, but he never does this, which really makes each piece stand out as an individual to me.

I raised a tentacle

A lovely little collection of dark and disturbing stories. Lovely to listen to at night.

Some great stories amidst a hit-or-miss collection

At times, this collection is excellent. Lovecraftian horror written better than even the man himself could manage. At other times... Less so much. But the good massively outweigh the bad so if you like the written works of HP Lovecraft give this title a whirl! I doubt you'll be disappointed.

Some true re-animation

Some great stories here. Using Lovecraft's mythos to weave some new tales. It's great to see people throughout the world reclaiming some of the rampant racism that flows through the original text. That's the only thing missing from the intro - some insight into the original stories.

Great stories around Lovecraft's monsters

Loved the suspence, the chills, that creeping darkness, that Lovecraft use to do so well

Creepy, mind mangling, terrifying stuff

It starts well and builds chapter by chapter to some terrifying events.
The readers are good, the writing is sharp.
It made my skin crawl and the hair prickle on the back of my neck.
A deliciously macabre collection of work. It starts with Lovecrafts writings and builds some fresh nightmares on those foundations.

Best enjoyed by a fireplace or candlelight, in the dark with a glass of restorative spirit close at hand.

Not every chapter is a classic and not every tale is a winner but the collection hits far more often then it misses.

Rating: A-
A few tiny flaws prevent it from being perfect but it's a gloriously twisted companion to spend an evening with.

Some entertaining stories

SThough some stories are good, there are also some weak ones, but overall a good listen.

contributors and content expertly sourced!

Ellen Datlow has again created an anthology of content and brings a collection of contributors that truly extend the works of Lovecraft in terms of their depth, breadth and range of voices and accents...

Rubbish - please don't bother with this

I read the reviews and thought I'd give it a try but i really wish i hadn't. i somehow managed to get through about 7 hours and about 10 sorry stories hoping it would get good / interesting / scary. unfortunately it was none of these things and was just verbose nonsense.