Ken M. reviewed on + 35 more book reviews
First off, I have to confess that I'm a huge fan of the 1985 Stuart Gordon-directed movie adaptation. So, I'm sure I was a little biased in that I was going to like the story. But this is where, as a reader and movie fan, you have to be careful. It's easy to be disappointed with any other version than the one you originally fell in love with. Most of the time, it's the movie adaptation from the book. But, since I fell in love with the movie first, I went into this story with guarded optimism. One look will show that I gave it 5 out of 5 stars. Obviously, there was no let down going from cinema back to the original written page. If anything, it was better.
The story is a parody of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Lovecraft was paid to write the story in installments and end each installment in a cliff hanger fashion. He was also required to begin each new installment with a recap of the previous installments. According to renowned Lovecraft historian, S.T. Joshi, Lovecraft was unhappy with the story and only wrote it because he was being paid five dollars for each installment. He also states that's Herbert West:Reanimator is "universally regarded as one of Lovecraft's poorest efforts". I couldn't disagree more. The story is edgy. Especially, when comparing it to the times. It was written between 1921 and 1922. Decapitations, grave robbing, disemboweling, and cannibalism? Not you're typical fare in literature from the Great Gatsby era.
What I love most about this story and other ones written by Lovecraft, for that matter, is that you can see all the influences he had on the horror genre. The story is a recounting of a doctor who went to medical school with Herbert West and the two began experimenting on bringing the dead back to life through the use of West's research. What started with lab animals evolved into human cadavers. While the research shows promise, the results are problematic due to the lack of freshness of the corpse. This leads West on a quest for fresher specimens and ultimately down the road to the edge of madness.
Herbert West:Reanimator is an easy and fun introduction to Lovecraft, especially if you're already familiar with the movie adaptation. The writing isn't as dry and tedious as some of his others and makes for a quick read. Its a great little story to see where many of the horror icons of today got their influences from.
The story is a parody of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Lovecraft was paid to write the story in installments and end each installment in a cliff hanger fashion. He was also required to begin each new installment with a recap of the previous installments. According to renowned Lovecraft historian, S.T. Joshi, Lovecraft was unhappy with the story and only wrote it because he was being paid five dollars for each installment. He also states that's Herbert West:Reanimator is "universally regarded as one of Lovecraft's poorest efforts". I couldn't disagree more. The story is edgy. Especially, when comparing it to the times. It was written between 1921 and 1922. Decapitations, grave robbing, disemboweling, and cannibalism? Not you're typical fare in literature from the Great Gatsby era.
What I love most about this story and other ones written by Lovecraft, for that matter, is that you can see all the influences he had on the horror genre. The story is a recounting of a doctor who went to medical school with Herbert West and the two began experimenting on bringing the dead back to life through the use of West's research. What started with lab animals evolved into human cadavers. While the research shows promise, the results are problematic due to the lack of freshness of the corpse. This leads West on a quest for fresher specimens and ultimately down the road to the edge of madness.
Herbert West:Reanimator is an easy and fun introduction to Lovecraft, especially if you're already familiar with the movie adaptation. The writing isn't as dry and tedious as some of his others and makes for a quick read. Its a great little story to see where many of the horror icons of today got their influences from.
