Customer Reviews

The House of Sounds and Others: Including the Purple Cloud (Lovecraft's Library)

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While I agree with the first reviewers account of the purple cloud only an idiot judges an anthology by just one of its stories The house of Sounds is a work of haunting art the other stories include Xelucha, The Pale Ape, The case of Euphemia Raphash, Huguenin's Wife, The Great King, The Bride, and of course the novel The Purple Cloud. enjoy may the nightmares kill you in your sleep:)

I just finished reading The Purple Cloud and decided to see what others had written about it. What did I miss, if anything, in my reading.

I missed nothing. What little merit the book brings (the discussion of two opposing forces - white and black - in the universe) is so buried in pointless, overdrawn, repetitive, monotonous, utterly boring writing that I am amazed that this remains in print much less on any serious horror or SF reader's "must read" list.

I cannot recommend reading The Purple Cloud for anyone unless they have a VERY good reason to slog through the pages. A reason like a PhD thesis or maybe a bet. It would have to be a serious bet before I would waste my reading time with it again.

I think H.P. Lovecraft was being nice when he wrote The Purple Cloud as "falling little short of actual majesty" and "a distinct letdown".

It must have been the little mention and use of poet Machen in the book which made Lovecraft be so kind.