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Necronomicon

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Necronomicon

By: H. P. Lovecraft
Narrated by: Richard Powers, Bronson Pinchot, Stephen R. Thorne, Keith Szarabajka, Adam Verner, Tom Weiner, Patrick Cullen
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About this listen

The only audio edition of Necronomicon authorized by the H. P. Lovecraft Estate

Originally written for the pulp magazines of the 1920s and ’30s, H. P. Lovecraft’s astonishing tales blend elements of horror, science fiction, and cosmic terror that are as powerful today as they were when first published. This tome brings together all of Lovecraft’s harrowing stories, including the complete Cthulhu Mythos cycle, just the way they were when first released. It will introduce a whole new generation of readers to Lovecraft’s fiction, as well as attract those fans who want all his work in a single, definitive volume.

Stories include:

“Dagon”
“Herbert West – Reanimator”
“The Lurking Fear”
“The Rats in the Walls”
“The Whisperer in the Darkness”
“Cool Air”
“In the Vault”
“The Call of Cthulu”
“The Color Out of Space”
“The Horror at Red Hook”
“The Music of Erich Zann”
“The Shadow Out of Time”
“The Dunwich Horror”
“The Haunter of the Dark”
“The Outsider”
“The Shunned House”
“The Unnameable”
“The Thing on the Doorstep”
“Under the Pyramids”

©2014 H. P. Lovecraft (P)2014 Blackstone Audio, Inc. Anthologies Anthologies & Short Stories Fantasy Fiction Horror Scary Science Fiction Short Story

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All stars
Most relevant  
Never having listened to any Lovecraft before I was aware of the reputation and influence his work has had on many of my favourite authors so I was intrigued. Overall I am glad I have heard these stories but many of them dragged terribly.
I enjoyed the Chthulu stories but by in large his protagonists are flat and suffer from being very two dimensional.
The performances are on the whole good with a couple so monotone that I found it a little hard to stay focused.
I would recommend dipping into this audio book in small snatches lest you will get a little annoyed with his repetitiveness of themes and words.
For an interest in where the modern horror started though it is a good place to look.

Repetitive with great moments

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loved it is holds up even against modern horror novelization. Through this you can see the origins of many horror tropes that we typically see in sifi horrors. lovecraft was a man whos work was deeply driven by his own fear; of the sea, the mental illness and of a meaningless death.

brilliant existential horror that holds its own

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Less complete than the other lovecraft omnibus on here but still 20+ hours and narrated superbly. Highly recommended. Thoroughly engrossing tales that have lost little to time.

Seminal horror cast and narrated excellently

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Massive Stephen King fan so eventually picked this after so many mentions of it in King’s work. Really is just as, if not more frightening than any of King’s work. Simply amazing and original.

Original, frightening, amazing

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Lovecraft was to me a name which I knew, his stories having leaked into general knowledge to some extent especially if, like me, you are disposed to fantasy, horror or dice based Role Play Games. I must confess that my first direct involvement in his wonderful mythos was through the latter of my examples. To listen at last however to his work was as delightful as it was surprising, his stories are beautifully written yet linguistically dated (do not partake if casual racial slurs within a historical context offend) though this does not detract from the feel of the stories. In some cases this enhances them, the words invoke not simply a two sided view of good and evil, but of humans and all their flaws stumbling upon eldric terrors and dark delights such as no one, save for those of a dark disposition such as Lovecraft, could possibly comprehend.

Beautiful chaotic insanity

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Lovecraft never fails to thrill. there are tales absent from this collection, but that aside the main and important titles are included. The Call of Cthulhu has been superbly narrated, with just the right amount of tone. It remains my favourite of this collection. I feel I should also mention that there are a few tales which have, in my opinion been very badly narrated. I also think it is a shame that there is no detailed breakdown of the talking books contents and it would be very helpful to have the narrators identities displayed alongside each tale. This production is genuinely something I will listen to again.

Unseen Horror? Not Half.

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Several of the voice actors used in the audio book were terrible. There was very little emotion, pacing or dramatic inflections that would have given the stories more life. They sounded like they were read by robots or, at the least, someone who had never read them before. Fortunately, Lovecraft was an excellent writer and I was able to finish and even enjoy the stories. It could have been so much better with decent voice actors.....

Read by robots.... American robots

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If you could sum up Necronomicon in three words, what would they be?

truly despicably terrifying

What did you like best about this story?

The words

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Some narators were reall good and got you into the atmosphere of the story, but a couple were bland and monotonous and you lost the feeling and suspense of the stories.

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

All stories a amzing and make you tremble in psychological fear, constantly fearing for your sanity. However, as some narrators weren't that compelling the emotions were lost.

Any additional comments?

I would still recommend it to any horror fans.

Lovecraft, Need I say more?

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Getting only a few stories into Necronomicon I have realised that, though I have a fascination to what is often referred to as Lovecraftian horror, I just cannot get past who Lovecraft was as a person long enough to enjoy his own work.

You'll find Lovecraft's views are brought into most of these stories, sometimes very much shoehorned in at that. Many will argue he was a product of the times he was writing in but, frankly, I think even given when the stories were written he has an especially strong hatred for minorities and wanted "racial purity".

There are points in stories where he will almost tangent off just to spout some hideous comments on minorities, particularly if they are black. There's a point in the Herbert West story that jumps to mind. It seems even possible to argue that some stories were written purely so he could make such comments, an example being the Dunwich Horror which is essentially entirely based his views on racial purity.

I just can't keep listening to this book and it will be the first time I will be abandoning an audiobook on Audible but I can't face the vitriol that taints these stories. I'd never recommend censoring a book as it's important to know that this is how people thought and some still do but it certainly isn't something I'm enjoying.

I'll take this moment to recommend the podcast "The Magnus Archives" which has developed some great horror in a similar vein but for the modern day and with none of the repulsive views featured in this book.

Turns Out I Love "Lovecraftian" but Hate Lovecraft

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They chose just the right reader for every story, aswell h.p lovecrafts stories still hold up to today's stories of horror and sci fi

masterful

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