Necronomicon: The Best Weird Tales of H.P. Lovecraft (Commemorative Edition) Paperback – March 27, 2008

I always swore I would never buy another edition of Lovecraft. I already own his complete works in multiple forms: a few copies of "Weird Tales," a complete set of the old Arkham Press hardcovers, S.T. Joshi's annotated editions, an Easton Press luxury edition of "At the Mountains of Madness." several comic book adaptations, and an illustrated version of Nyarlathotep. But then Gollancz Press came along with this cool faux leather-bound "Necronomicon" and I found myself buying yet another bound volume of Lovecraft works for that most vain reason to buy a book--it looks good on my bookshelf.Obviously,"Necronomicon" is not a single-edition complete set of Lovecraft. It is followed by a second Lovecraft edition, Eldritch Tales. Both books form a matched set with Gollancz Press' The Complete Chronicles of Conan. The front cover it says that this is a Commemorative Edition but it doesn't say what it commemorates The book was originally printed in 2007. If I that is a significant date to Lovecraft, then I don't know what it is. And yes, all three books together look good on my bookshelf.The subtitle for "Necronomicon" is "The Best Weird Tales of H.P. Lovecraft" and arguably that is what it delivers. His most famous works are here: "The Call of Cthulhu." "The Dunwich Horror." "Herbert West - Reanimator." "The Rats in the Walls." "The Horror at Red Hook." "The Shadow Over Innsmouth." "At The Mountains of Madness." There are thirty-six stories collected in all, including Lovecraft's ghost written piece for Harry Houdini, "Under the Pyramids."Notably missing are Lovecraft's poems. There is no "Fungi From Yuggoth." No "Nyarlathotep." The only poem included is the short "Night Gaunts" in the front and "To a Dreamer" in the back. Also not included are his revisions that he did of other writers works, many of which are almost wholly Lovecraft stories with Lovecraft re-writing over ninety percent of the story. Most what is not collected can be found in the companion volume "Eldritch Tales."The book is illustrated by Les Edwards, who does an excellent job with a series of black-and-white drawings that summon up some of the great scenes of the stories. Obviously, not all thirty-six stories are illustrated, and some of the illustrations are used more than once, but they look great. Really, Lovecraft doesn't need lush illustrations and I thought Edwards did a fantastic job.There is a nice afterward, titled "A Gentleman of Providence," by editor Stephen Jones. I really enjoyed this. Jones laid out Lovecraft's life from birth to death to beyond, touching briefly on almost everything. From Lovecraft's earliest literary efforts, to his career as an author, to his death and resurrection from obscurity by August Derleth, to Derleth's own invention of the "Cthulhu Mythos," to films and TV and comics and pretty everything Lovecraft. In a few short pages Jones is very thorough.Except for Jones' excellent afterword, I wouldn't say this is really a beginner's Lovecraft. There really are a lot of different versions available, and this Gollancz Press is largely for established fans. Still, it is an excellent book and I am glad I was lured to add one more Lovecraft edition to my bookshelf.

This book Is great, It's an anthology full of Lovecraft's short stories. The hardcover version of this book looks great, It feels sturdy and sleek. I bought this because my brother had bought my dad a similar book and I really enjoyed what I read.A few I really enjoyed were: "The Reanimator", "The music of Eric Zahn", and "The Tomb". Since It's a collection of short stories, It's very easy to pickup at anytime and just choose what you want to read. However It Is worth noting Lovecraft writes with elevated diction, so you may find yourself learning obscure or archaic words rarely used in modern writing.One of my complaints about this version of the book Is It does not include Lovecraft's poetry. The version my dad has is ostensibly the same, both are named the Necronomicon and use the same covers. So unfortunately, this Is not the complete works of Lovecraft. Even so It's still a great book and definitely worth picking up If you're interested in unique horror/mystery stories and the world that they occupy.

I bought this for my nephew and he loved it!

I'm 65 and have been a fan of H. P. Lovecraft since I was in my early teens. I'm semi-retired now and have plenty of time for reading so I've decided on putting together a library of my favorite books in hardcover. First off this is a beautiful Edition of 877 pages and very well made, you will be proud to have it in your library and show it off to your friends. The gold print on the cover is actually a foil which reflects the light. The print is a little small but still very clear and easy to read. Best of all this book feels good in your hand going you the feeling of wanting to pick it up and start reading again. I should also say that I have all these writing on my Kindle and have probably read all these stories before at one time or another. I should also say that I was so impressed when I received this Edition I turned around and ordered and now have the same style Edition of Eldritch Tales: A Miscellany of The Macabre of 538 pages. Both Editions are beautiful and very impressive. Both contain many black and white ink drawings of Les Edwards that fit and enhance the stories