The Colour Out of Space: Tales of Cosmic Horror by Lovecraft, Blackwood, Machen, Poe, and Other Masters of the Weird (New York Review Books Classics) [Paperback]

D. Thin (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 30, 2002

"The true weird tale has something more than a secret murder, bloody bones, or a sheeted form clanking chains. An atmosphere of breathless and unexplainable dread of outer, unknown forces must be present; a hint of that most terrible conception of the human brain—a malign and particular suspension or defeat of those fixed laws of Nature which are our only safeguard against the assaults of chaos and the daemons of unplumbed space." —H. P. Lovecraft

This new collection features some of the greatest masters of extreme terror, among them Edgar Allan Poe, Ambrose Bierce, Bram Stoker, and Henry James, and includes such classic works as Arthur Machen's "The White People," Algernon Blackwood's "The Willows," and of course Lovecraft's own weird and hideous "The Colour Out of Space."

Contents:

Edgar Allan Poe, "MS. Found in a Bottle"
Bram Stoker, "The Squaw"
Ambrose Bierce, "Moxon's Master"
Ambrose Bierce, "The Damned Thing"
Ambrose Bierce, "An Inhabitant of Carcosa"
R. W. Chambers, "The Repairer of Reputations"
M. P. Shiel, "The House of Sounds"
Arthur Machen, "The White People"
Algernon Blackwood, "The Willows"
Henry James, "The Jolly Corner"
Walter de la Mare, "Seaton's Aunt"
H. P. Lovecraft, "The Colour Out of Space"
A Note on the Selection by D. Thin

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The Colour Out of Space: Tales of Cosmic Horror, selected by D. Thin, collects a dozen otherworldly stories by authors ranging from Edgar Allan Poe ("MS. Found in a Bottle") to H.P. Lovecraft (the title tale). This choice anthology should help persuade skeptical mainstream readers that some horror fiction merits the label of "literature."
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"This new anthology...presents, for perhaps the first time since 1927, the Lovecraftian tradition as Lovecraft saw it." -- Paul Lafarge, The Village Voice

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: New York Review Books (September 30, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590170261
• ISBN-13: 978-1590170267
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.8 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #759,509 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A superb collection with only a few missteps, September 21, 2002

By 

Jay Dickson (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Colour Out of Space: Tales of Cosmic Horror by Lovecraft, Blackwood, Machen, Poe, and Other Masters of the Weird (New York Review Books Classics) (Paperback)

This book isn't "by" H. P. Lovecraft: rather it's a collection of stories of what he would call "cosmic horror" assembled by D. Thin based largely on Lovecraft's personal favorites in the horror fiction genre and including what Lovecraft considered his very best short story, "The Colour Out of Space" (which must have been inspired by accounts of radium poisoning at the time). The choices are fine, and several famous and forgotten horror classics, such as Arthur Machen's wonderfully disorienting "The White People," which seems to anticipate the fiction of Angela Carter, and Algernon Blackwood's splendidly eerie "The Willows," which must have been an inspiration behind THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, are included. There are a few missteps in inclusion, such as Bram Stoker's piece of Grand Guignol "The Squaw"--which, though quite gruesome, seems to have nothing to do with the collection's theme--and also displays his irritating fascination with American Western accents which he poorly imitates, as he also does in DRACULA. And where are the illustrations to the stories advertised?