Ye Next LOVECRAFT ILLUSTRATED


Some few changes are coming with ye next three volumes of PS Publishing's LOVECRAFT'S ILLUSTRATED series. The Mound and The Case of Charles Dexter Ward will each have their own single volumes. But it is ye Haunter of the Dark volume that has me really excited. This third book will contain both "The Haunter of the Dark" and "The Thing on the Doorstep"; but it will also contain ye Robert Bloch story that inspir'd Lovecraft to pen "Haunter"--"The Shambler from the Stars"--and Bob's sequel to Lovecraft's tale, "The Shadow from the Steeple". August Derleth publish'd these three tales, in chronological order, in his Arkham House edition of Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos. This volume will also contain some essays concerning ye two tales, so it shou'd have quite a few pages. It will be quite a while after these next three are publish'd that we will see further volumes, although one of them will be another combo containing both "Herbert West--Reanimator" and mine beloved "The Lurking Fear". 

There have been hints, yet unfounded but thrilling nonetheless, that almoft all of H. P. Lovecraft's fictional oeuvre will be publish'd in this illustrated series. These books are the products of honest-to-gawd aficionados. Pete Von Sholly's artwork is vivid and diverse in pictorial approach, and I especially love the two-page spreads, such as we have below:

That image above is a bit faded compar'd to ye actual reproduction in ye book, which is of vivid blue in hue. Some of the art pieces has a startling power in the way they capture the power of Lovecraft's scenes, & they shew that Lovecraft had a very visual sense when it came to painting his dreams in fictive form. Many of the illustrations are in subdued single tones--others are quite vibrant in their use of colour:

Although I will never consider myself any kind of Lovecraft "scholar", I have grown keenly fond of writing my wee essays for this series of books. Writing essays, I've found, slightly changes the way I approach reading HPL's tales--I not only read them but I kind of scrutinize them for aspects that have eluded me in previous readings. It has greatly heightened my joy in reading Lovecraft, and my admiration for ye Old Gent's fictive art. I look forward to all future volumes!

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