The Call of Cthulhu and Other Stories

Born in Providence, Rhode Island, in the late nineteenth century to a well-to-do family, H. P. Lovecraft was largely unknown in his lifetime, being almost exclusively published in the pulp magazines of his day. It was not until a scholarly revival of H. P. Lovecraft's works in the 1970s that the author was fully appreciated for his contribution to the literary genres of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. At the center of Lovecraft's writing is his philosophy of cosmicism, which posits the idea that humans are essentially an insignificant part of the cosmos. Lovecraft is probably best remembered today for his stories concerning the Cthulhu Mythos, a fictional mythology named for a central creature in Lovecraft's seminal short story "The Call of Cthulhu". That work is included here in this collection along with seventeen other stories. In this representative collection, readers will find much cause for the celebration of Lovecraft's particular contributions to the genre of speculative fiction.