wextra's reviews
53 reviews

An absolute master class in playing with language and literary ideas, using the character of Baron Von Munchausen as a vehicle for such. This is, of course, perfect for the character as he is traditionally written and this novella ascends to the highest levels of the extended Munchausen canon for what it does. The ending seals it, as seems typical for Krzhizhanovsky, really putting it over the hump in the end.

Absolutely one of Coleridge's best, this short story length poem tells a grand dark adventure that's absolutely worth the ride.

What a shame it is that just as Poe was finally, finally finding a voice for his detective Dupin that he should abandon the character to history and leave other writers to take up the genre mantle! Without a shadow of a doubt, "The Purloined Letter" is the best of Poe's Tales of Ratiocination and the one where the detective genre feels most fully formed as Dupin involves himself in observation and subterfuge the likes of which would become staples of Doyle's much more well-known English detective, Sherlock Holmes. While the story is short, it improves upon its predecessors by not lingering too long on repetition of ideas to fill out the word count. This is one of Poe's best works and yet sadly never adapted into film, although it would be a difficult task to extend the plot into anything substantial. Absolutely worth a look.

About on par with Holmes' first outing in the end, the mystery is less intriguing but the character interactions are very strong, there's noticeably more humor that fits ths mood quite well and the perpetrator's motivation ends up being a very entertaining read. The book ends elevate the book mightily and it's definitely a counter to *A Study in Scarlet* in showing more of the fallibility of Holmes which adds very entertaining depth.

I give Poe credit for the interesting idea of solving a case entirely through news reports but the lack of action and the leaps in logic required make it lesser than such an idea should be. While I enjoy Dupin tearing apart the suppositions of the media, his own suppositions are equally wild in the end and the ending leaves a lot to be desired. It is better than "Murders in the Rue Morgue" but still not up to the level of later detective fiction.

Perfectly serviceable Poe story about mesmerism and life after death. It doesn't particularly build to anything or do anything particularly interesting with the premise but it's definitely inoffensive.

Lovecraft's tale of reanimation is full of horrifying scenes and concepts but stumbles a little here and there with repetition due to the nature of its original release. Very worth your time but also peaks early.

One of the more well known of Lovecraft's works and decidedly within the Cthulhu mythos, The Dunwich Horror dispenses with the tense mystery of many of his works in favor of a more action-oriented tale in its latter half that, while highly influential, I found less interesting than his slower and more delibrate works. Very popular for a reason and practically begging to be adapted a billion times with big budget special effects.

Classic Poe but with a tinge of violence not usually seen in his work. A story of losing one's mind to hyperfocus and obsession with beauty, firmly in the traditional neurosis of a good Poe story, although coming up short compared to The Fall of the House of Usher or The Black Cat. Still a worthwhile read.

One of Lovecraft's earliest stories, it remains and entertaining diversion about madness and spirits, very much in the mode of Lovecraft's preference for ambiguity and mystery.