A good mix of some shorter tales

Rupert Degas does a great job of narrating some shorter tales by Lovecraft. Not every story collected here is Lovecraft at his best, but 'Short Tales of Terror' succeeds in providing a representative selection of his work. 'The Festival' alone makes this recording worth having.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Lesser Lovecraft stuff

These are minor Lovecraft stories, and fragments, but many of them evoke tremendous leaps of imagination, and I see through them the marvellous and doomy conceptual spaces they first summoned from my teenage self.

Rupert Degas does a great job :)
I particularly like the lovely Richard Burton he does for The White Ship, the most blatantly Dunsanian bit of Lovecraft ever.

Very worthwhile if you want to poke some lesser known squidgy Lovecraftian spots and watch them squirm through your brain 🙂

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Great atmospheric collection

What made the experience of listening to H. P. Lovecraft's Short Tales of Terror the most enjoyable?

This is a nice collection of some of Lovecraft's best short stories. In addition the narrator is fabulous; there is also atmospheric music at the start and end of each tale which frames it well.

Have you listened to any of Rupert Degas’s other performances? How does this one compare?

Rubert Degas is a narrator to seek out. I first heard him read The Name of the Wind.

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

One could easily be tempted to keep on listening.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

Lovecraft's earlier tales

Would you listen to H. P. Lovecraft's Short Tales of Terror again? Why?

I would listen to this again as I'm a Lovecraft fan and short stories are great to listen to now and then when you have a few spare moments.

What did you like best about this story?

These are some of Lovecraft's earlier and less known stories, so its great to have these on audio-book and get more familiar with them. A personal favorite is 'Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family', but it was great to hear a tale such as 'The Alchemist', which is one of Lovecraft's very first efforts, written when he was a teenager I believe. Although not as accomplished as his later famous stories it is still interesting to hear and realize that Lovecraft had a lot of talent even at a young age.

What does Rupert Degas bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Rupert Dagas's narration is a key reason why this audio-book works so well. His reading suits the stories perfectly, and the addition of some audio effects and music adds nicely to the overall feel of these tales.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

All tales are moving/haunting in their own way and a very worth listening to if you're at all interested in Lovecraft.

Any additional comments?

Overall this is one of the best produced and well-read audio-books I've ever heard - it is really great to hear Lovecraft's stories being given the treatment and respect they deserve.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

Curiosity more than Horror

Although I'm sure the stories carried dread, 100 years ago, they didn't quite suit modern times. Still interesting to read how Lovecraft wrote, but the ominous music at the end of each story created greater effect than the story itself.

Audible should be embarrassed how each story heading in the list is labelled Chapter 1, Chaoter 2, etc. Would it be so hard to label each "The White Ship", "The Hound", etc.? If I want to find a specific sorry, I'd have to listen to the start of every chapter, including music, just to find the one I want. Poor effort.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

Cheesy or what ?

Running review as I listen…
These prolix and dull stories are in no way chilling or unsettling and the cheesy production including plinky - plonky “ominous” music doesn’t help. Eye-rollingly bad sound effects…cringe-worthy “horror” voice filters. The overall effect is unintentionally humorous in places. Offensive accents and racial stereotyping. Why are there credits/intros for every single story? Couldn’t they have been edited out for the long compilation ?

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

Very annoying intro and ending to each story…

This audiobook has been made up of stories which were seemingly made to publish individually and, very annoyingly, each story contains intro and exit music as well as production information (narrator, publisher, etc). The music is discordant and louder than the narration volume, so I found it jarring and really irritating, like loud commercials in an audiobook. The stories themselves were ok, but, for me, not worth it.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!