Necronomicon

Necronomicon
The Best Weird Tales of HP Lovecraft



I've known of Lovecraft and his status as a classic horror writer for a long time, but it's only been in the past few years that pushed me to delve into the mythos. It started with a couple of audiobooks and listening to a few of the discussions on the HP Lovecraft Literary Podcast and I was hooked. I needed a collection of my own.

There are many different versions of Lovecraft collections but I'll freely admit that I wanted a hardback copy of the Necronomicon collection for the creep factor. A black hardcover with a title like Necronomicon with a title like the Necronomicon printed across the top is much cooler than the usual paperback.

I really enjoy Lovecraft. His imagery and phrasing is beautiful and haunting and horrifying. His creatures are terrible and fascinating. Some of his stories feature classically delightful twists and others are so dreamlike and complex that they blew my mind.

If you are at all interested in classic monster horror, you should pick up some Lovecraft. Picking up one or two of his more well known stories - The Call of Cthulhu, The Mountains of Madness, Dagon, The Shadow Over Innsmouth - and see how you like them. Don't be discouraged if you need breaks between stories; I'd actually recommend reading these stories between other books. They're great stories, but too many at once can be overwhelming.

Imprisoned by the Pharaohs

Imprisoned by the Pharaohs and Other Stories
By HP Lovecraft
Narrated by Staten Elliot and Gareth David-Lloyd




This is another early Audible grab for me when I was playing around with podcast promo codes and discovering audio books a couple years back. Like The Call of Cthulhu, I picked this one up mainly because Gareth David-Lloyd narrates one of the stories and I tend to be an obsessive fanboy, but I did enjoy the audio book on its own merits.

Like The Call of Cthulhu, this audio book contains three stories. The first story is called Imprisoned with the Pharoahs and it’s narrated by Staten Elliot. I really liked this story. It’s probably my favourite of the bunch. It’s about a magician tourist whose boasting and arrogant sense of adventure get the better of him when he vacations in Egypt and realizes that the old magic has not yet died. It’s great look into how folks of Lovecraft’s time sort of both thought themselves above and revered the ancient secrets of Egypt and it’s delightfully creepy.

The second story The Nameless City is narrated by Gareth David-Lloyd and I don’t think I’ll ever have anything negative to say about his performances. His voice work on this story is really well done. I don’t think that this story has the same kind of chilling eeriness that the Call of Cthulhu, or even Imprisoned with the Pharaohs, has, but it is still an interesting horror story that outlines a history before history which gives power to the Egyptian mythos and is well worth a listen.

The third story, The Alchemist, narrated once more by Staten Elliot is a story I really enjoyed. It has taken me a while to really sink my teeth into it because it is unlike the other two stories and seems a little bit out of place. It’s more like a Poe story, all cursed legacies and grim halls, but with the fantastical flavour that Lovecraft excels at. It’s a brilliant story, of course, but it’s a bit jarring because it isn’t really an Egypt tale like the other two.

All in all, a good buy. It doesn’t absolutely blow my mind, but it’s an audio book that I have listened to more than once, so it’s worth having. If you like H.P. Lovecraft, horror stories, Egyptian myth, or either of the narrators’ voice work, I’d definitely recommend it. I suggest finding a preview or demo on Audible or iTunes or somewhere if you’re thinking about this one.

The Call of Cthulhu and Other Stories

The Call Of Cthulhu and Other Stories
by H.P. Lovecraft
Narrated by Gareth David-Lloyd and Iain Fairbairn



This is an audiobook that I’ve had for over a year now. I don’t quite remember, but it might very well be the first audiobook that I ever downloaded. Audible sponsors a handful of the podcasts I listen to and, after hearing the many praises of the Audible services, I decided to try out one of the promo codes.

Lovecraft is one of those authors whose work I am familiar with, but never sat down and read. I had wanted to for a while, but hadn’t quite managed it. And I had found out that Gareth David-Lloyd - of Torchwood fame - read one of the stories for this audiobook, so it seemed to be the only logical choice.

The book starts out with “The Hound” narrated by Iain Fairbairn. While I enjoyed the story, I was distracted by the narrator’s voice. There were times when he slurred noticeably and he mispronounced “Necrinomocon.” His narration was also kind of… flat. There is great potential with this story to get worked up into a kind of frenzy or to start out in a kind of frenzy and slowly give up hope as the story unfolds, but he did neither. It pretty much stayed the same throughout. It isn’t bad – certainly not the worst reading I’ve ever heard – but it’s not the greatest, which makes it a little disappointing.

In contrast, Gareth David-Lloyd’s reading of the title story, “The Call of Cthulhu,” is phenomenal. When the narrator is talking about sure things – about his uncle and the Louisiana inspector and all aspects of the story not about the Old Ones – his voice is calm and even and strong. Once the narrator delves into the deep, he begins reading very softly and despairingly. From what I’ve seen of his acting, Gareth is a very deliberate actor – he’s one of those people who is always doing something in the scene, even if he is not the main focus of the shot. He uses his voice in the same way with those ups and downs in his reading. But the best thing about his voice work is how he uses silence. That’s where the horror is and it’s magnificently dark and satisfying.

Especially if you listen to this wearing headphones. In a room full of people. I listened to it at work. It was chilling.

This audiobook is worth it just for that story.

But that’s not the last story. Iain Fairbairn returns for “The Festival.” I had the same problems with this story that I did with “The Hound,” so it seems that I’m not a fan of Iain Fairbairn’s reading. However, I do think that he did a more effective job of narrating the tone of this story.

So, overall, I recommend this to you all. If you are a fan of HP Lovecraft or of good old fashioned monster horror, definitely check this out. Listen to a demo of Gareth David-Lloyd’s reading if you are unsure, but his story makes this one of my most played audiobooks.