Reddit reviews The Annotated H.P. Lovecraft

I know S.T. Joshi did a couple of annotated volumes. Lots of historical references.

The Annotated H.P. Lovecraft

More Annotated H.P. Lovecraft

My favorite collections of his are the annotated ones, they include some explanation, as well as interesting background. Though i guess the annotations can get out of hand.

I also own Dreams of Terror and Death, which is a collection of his dream cycle and related stories.

Just be sure that any anthology you buy is actually by Lovecraft and not just "inspired by". Except Shadows Over Baker Street which is absolutely brilliant.

If you can track down a copy of The Annotated H.P. Lovecraft (ed. S. T. Joshi) then get that. It's a great cross section of Lovecraft's work and the footnotes are both fascinating and invaluable.

Specific stories to track down, my favorites would be The Colour Out of Space, At The Mountains of Madness, and The Dunwich Horror. Heresy to not say The Call of C'thulu, I know, but it's actually a middling read, IMO, even if the climax is famous. Those three (which are, incidentally, all in the first volume of the Joshi collection) are probably the best written.

Here's the Joshi collection on Amazon (note that the description on that page is for volume 2).

In that case you may want to check out some of the annotated editions. I know ST Joshi's Annotated Lovecraft (Vol. 1 and Vol. 2) are popular here. This annotated collection by Klinger looks solid as well, and includes more illustrations than Joshi's. Neither of these are 100% complete collections but are pretty close and cover all of the best/most popular/most influential writings. I'm not sure there are any annotated editions that include all of his works.

Is this trip really necessary?

I really really really recommend the annotated Lovecraft book.

http://www.amazon.com/Annotated-H-P-Lovecraft/dp/0440506603/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1420327088&sr=8-2&keywords=annotated+lovecraft

It's really geared towards people getting into Lovecraft. It's not just annotations for random words with more than 3 syllables. The annotations talk about his style and referencing other stories. Helps give you a footing with the mythos. Plus the stories in it are some of the best of, I think there's The Rats in the Walls, The Color Out of Space, something else and At the Mountains of Madness. I recommend reading that cover to cover and then starting in with a bigger best of (like the Necronomicon) then read the rest.

https://www.amazon.com/New-Annotated-H-Lovecraft-Books/dp/0871404532/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=annotated+lovecraft&qid=1562599328&s=gateway&sr=8-3

https://www.amazon.com/Annotated-H-P-Lovecraft/dp/0440506603/ref=sr_1_10?keywords=annotated+lovecraft&qid=1562599328&s=gateway&sr=8-10

I really like the Annotated H. P. Lovecraft volumes. There are two, and they give you much more context for his works. Read the stories and ignore the footnotes the first time, then go back and read them with the notes.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Annotated-H-P-Lovecraft/dp/0440506603/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1394454915&sr=8-1&keywords=annotated+h.p.lovecraft

http://www.amazon.com/More-Annotated-H-P-Lovecraft-H/dp/0440508754/ref=pd_sim_b_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=08KHZW3TWN8CHRV0ZXTP