|
The Haunter of the Dark Review
As mentioned before, this tale is much shorter than the previous three that I read. I think it's actually a better tale that The Dunwich Horror. I love the imagery of this story, and the various elements really work together to create a very nice mood.
I think, at least in this case, shorter is definitely better. Many of Lovecraft's longers works are highly regarded (The Shadow Over Innsmouth, The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, At the Moutnains of Madness). Still, this shows him a bit more elegant. His prose is tighter and well woven, creating a nice tapestry.
You can tell that he is at the height of his craft when he writes this story. This was near the end of his life and he had already been diagnosed with the stomach cancer that would kill him. He wrote several stories during this time, but this was the only story he wrote by himself. It was really his swan song, since only one other tale (co-written as many of his last tales were) would follow and its not even in the mythos (it is, however, really, really good (The Night Ocean)).
One problem is that the story does have more conventional horror elements at times. As such, it is an easy read from those getting into Lovecraft for the first time, but its a bit disappointing for those who enjoy the uniqueness of Lovecraft's vision.
As a result, I'd say the technical precision is Lovecraft at his best, but the occasionally mundane elements bring it back down.
Four out of Five Stars.
|