The Call of Cthulhu by H.P. Lovecraft
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Why choose the lesser evil? Vote Cthulhu.
Francis Thurston starts fossicking through his uncle’s things and discovers some notes and a carving. Fascinated, he searches high and low to uncover the origins of the carving. Soon he is traversing the world to uncover a cult and the being they worship. Things only get better from there on in.
It is hard to review a classic work of fiction. Usually, there are only a few paths open to you:
1) Fawning sycophancy;
2) A belligerent dismissal of the work as rubbish which avoids engaging in anything other than superficial comment;
3) Overly detailed comment and critique that ends up being worthy of a Masters dissertation that no-one will bother reading and just assume you did #2 (i.e. a complete waste of time);
4) A review that is clearly based on having watched the movie adaptation.
The reasons that this is a hugely influential work are clear. The mystery being uncovered with a slow reveal. The dense and subtle narrative. The gradual rise in tension as we come to the realisation. It is also a bleak comment on human existence and our insignificance. But there is also the use of the memoir narrative that appears to have been very popular in speculative fiction in the past. For me, this style removes both the narrator and the reader from the events of the story, which removes much of the tension and emotion.
I feel comfortable saying my rating is “good but not great” because Lovecraft himself described this as a middling effort.
Tyson Adams 
Personally I prefer his shorter works. I like the Cthulhu mythos but shorter works like From Beyond are an easier more enjoyable read.
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I’ve got a collection of his Cthulhu works, not sure what it collects exactly, but I think it has the shorter stuff. One of those collections of his “important” stories that publishers put together as part of their rebadging process.
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There are 100s of collections that are all very similar to each other containing his work. Weird really, it’s all public domain so can pick it up for free.
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How else can you sell public domain works? Rebadge, rebadge, rebadge!
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