Great Weird Tales: 14 Stories by Lovecraft, Blackwood, Machen and Others [Paperback]

S. T. Joshi (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 24, 2011

From the masters of the genre, 14 spellbinding tales written between 1880 and 1940, including "The Sin Eater," by Fiona McLeod, a wild Celtic fantasy, "The Eye Above the Mantel," by Frank Belknap Long, as well as works by Ambrose Bierce, R. H. Barlow, Arthur Machen, W. C. Morrow and others.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications; F edition (November 24, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486404366
• ISBN-13: 978-0486404363
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,877,734 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

S. T. Joshi (Seattle, WA) is a freelance writer, scholar, and editor whose previous books include Documents of American Prejudice; In Her Place: A Documentary History of Prejudice against Women; God's Defenders: What They Believe and Why They Are Wrong; Atheism: A Reader; H. L. Mencken on Religion; The Agnostic Reader; and What Is Man? And Other Irreverent Essays by Mark Twain.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must Read Horror, January 18, 2001

By 

ronfactor "ronfactor" (Centreville, va USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Great Weird Tales: 14 Stories by Lovecraft, Blackwood, Machen and Others (Paperback)

This volume is an indispensible guide to the authors that have inspired modern horror, as well as a darn good read. Blackwood's "The Man Whom the Trees Loved" is a study in despair that will surprise even the most savvy of readers. R.H. Barlow's "A Dim-Remembered Story" creates a feeling of the surreal that is so strong, one begins to question the truth of our own existence. Machen, Lovecraft, and Lord Dunsany are also represented. The book is organized in a fashion that categorizes the stories as examples of various types of weird tales. Many of these stories are out of print, so to find a collection of the finest stories of the genre is, one might say, a stroke of Providence.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Introduction To The Golden Age Of The Eerie And The Strange, June 9, 2006

By 

Caesar M. Warrington (Lansdowne, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Great Weird Tales: 14 Stories by Lovecraft, Blackwood, Machen and Others (Paperback)

S.T. Joshi, author of H.P. LOVECRAFT: THE DECLINE OF THE WEST (1990) and H.P. LOVECRAFT: A LIFE (1996), editor of LOVECRAFT STUDIES and STUDIES IN WEIRD FICTION, has compiled 14 tales of madness, horror and the bizarre which highlight the work of some of the best American and British authors from the 'golden age of weird fiction' (circa 1880-1940).

Following Joshi's informative introduction, he categorizes the stories as follows:

I. Tales of Supernatural Horror
Ralph Adams Cram, "The Dead Valley"
Fiona Macleod, "The Sin Eater"
William Hope Hodgson, "The Voice In The Night"

II. Tales Of Non-Supernatural Horror
W.C. Morrow, "His Unconquerable Enemy"
Ambrose Bierce, "My Favorite Murder"

III. Tales Of Awe
Arthur Machen, "The Inmost Light"
Algernon Blackwood, "The Man Whom The Trees Loved"

IV. Tales Of Fantasy
F. Marion Crawford, "The King's Messenger
Lord Dunsany, "The Unhappy Body"
M.P. Shiel, "Xelucha"
Frank Belknap Long, "The Eye Above The Mantle"
R.H. Barlow, "A Dim-Remembered Story"

V. Tales Of Pseudo-Science
Fitz-James O'Brien, "The Diamond Lens"
H.P. Lovecraft, "Facts Concerning The Late Arthur Jermyn And His Family

The inclusion of Macleod's "The Sin Eater" and Barlow's "A Dim-Remembered Story" alone make this anthology a worthwile purchase.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars More Meat For The Stew, February 13, 2006

By 

cherie (new york) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Great Weird Tales: 14 Stories by Lovecraft, Blackwood, Machen and Others (Paperback)

A good intro into the genre of the weird and eeries tale. Almost all the selections were good reads. Especially notable are Algernon Blackwood's "The Man Whom The Trees Loved" and Fiona MacLeod's "The Sin Eater."
But a Poe selection would have been good to show the pioneering work the great man made to the development of the genre. And why wasn't a selection from Robert E. Howard's vast body of work included? As for Lovecraft, "The Colour Out Of Space" would have been a much better selection than "Arthur Jermyn." For that matter, authors such as Lovecraft and Blackwood and Machen should have had more than one selection. Such an overwhelming influence did these three in particular have on the genre.

If you see this book on the library shelves borrow it.