The stories included in this edition:
The Festival
Lovecraft himself did not think much of the story. Even so, Clark Ashton Smith, in a letter to Lovecraft dated October 1933, wrote: "In spite of your disparagement, 'The Festival' holds its place in my affections, and has an imaginative quality that puts it above the new stories in the current 'Weird Tales'."
He
The story "He" was written after an all-night tour of the remnants of Old New York; by 7 a.m. the next morning, Lovecraft had reached Elizabeth, New Jersey, by ferry, where he bought a dime composition book and wrote the story in Elizabeth's Scott Park.
The Call of Cthulhu
The published story was regarded by Robert E. Howard (the creator of Conan) as "a masterpiece, which I am sure will live as one of the highest achievements of literature....
The Colour Out of Space
Being Lovecraft's personal favourite of his short stories, critics generally consider "The Colour Out of Space" one of his best works, and the first with his trademark blending of science fiction and horror.
The Dunwich Horror
The plot entails a desolate, decrepit Massachusetts village of Dunwich, Wilbur Whateley is the hideous son of Lavinia Whateley, a deformed and unstable albino, and an unknown father. Strange events surround Wilbur's birth and precocious development.
The Shunned House
The narrator hatches a plan. He orders a military gas mask, digging tools, and six carboys of sulfuric acid to be delivered to the cellar door of the house. He digs into the earthen floor of the cellar, turning up fungous yellow ooze, and arranges the barrels of acid around the hole in the belief that he will happen upon some kind of monstrous creature.
