The Lurking Fear

The Lurking Fear

By

3.8571428571429
(7 Reviews)
The Lurking Fear by H. P. Lovecraft

Published:

1923

Pages:

18

Downloads:

15,955

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The Lurking Fear

By

3.8571428571429
(7 Reviews)

Book Excerpt

s in the pitchy darkness, but we smoked pipes and occasionally flashed our pocket lamps about. Now and then we could see the lightning through cracks in the wall; the afternoon was so incredibly dark that each flash was extremely vivid.

The stormy vigil reminded me shudderingly of my ghastly night on Tempest Mountain. My mind turned to that odd question which had kept recurring ever since the nightmare thing had happened; and again I wondered why the demon, approaching the three watchers either from the window or the interior, had begun with the men on each side and left the middle man till the last, when the titan fireball had scared it away. Why had it not taken its victims in natural order, with myself second, from whichever direction it had approached? With what manner of far-reaching tentacles did it prey? Or did it know that I was the leader, and saved me for a fate worse than that of my companions?

In the midst of these reflections, as if dramatically arranged to intensify them, there fel

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If adjective overexposure can induce lurking fear, this book delivers. Not Lovecraft at his best, there are better choices on this site.
Plot bullets

A four part attempt to identify and overcome the evil of the old house.



I. The Shadow On The Chimney

o Three men band together to investigate happenings at an old house.

o What was that shadow on the chimney.

o Not all return.

o Do the violent storms that frequent the area around the house, bring evil from beneath the ground, like worms in a thunder storm.

II. A Passer In The Storm

o Another try at the house, with another friend.

o Another friend gone.

III. What The Red Glare Meant

o Another try, alone at the ancient owner\'s grave .

o What new horror?

IV. The Horror In The Eyes

o The last attempt to free the house from the evil within.




This one might not be on such a grand scale as "Call of Cthulhu" or "At The Mountains of Madness", but when you get to the end your heart will be racing.
This was the first Lovecraft story I ever read, at age 15, and though he wrote better stories, for me this one made the perfect gateway. After this, I could not get enough Lovecraft.
Lovecraft's The Lurking Fear is not one of his best. Lovecraft indulges in all his literary vices: trying to create atmosphere through the use of adjectives, dues ex machina events, and coincidence stretched past the breaking point. Yet for the thirty minutes it takes to read, the story is well worth the time. There are some genuine shocks worthy of modern horror literature and Lovecraft is always the master of creating a rich visual world, the sense of emotional claustrophobia, and the shock ending.

The story centers around an old, deserted house in the New York Catskills and the horror that lives within its walls and under its foundations. There is a rather large body count which, except for one dramatic incident all takes place off stage, and though the reader may see the ending coming, it's still well worth the trip.