H. P. Lovecraft was one of the greatest horror writers of all time. His seminal work appeared in the pages of legendary Weird Tales and has influenced countless writer of the macabre. This is one of those stories.

In the longest of the four Cthulhu Mythos stories in this collection, "The Legacy of Erich Zann," the violin and the music that the ill-fated musician left behind become the target, some fifteen years later, for a mysterious searcher who will stop at nothing--including murder--to obtain them. Edgar Allan Poe's great detective, Auguste Dupin, who's endangered because of his connection to Zann, must not only figure out who--but why. In the original novella, "The Seeds from the Mountains of Madness," it turns out that the famous Captain Oates, whose body was never found after he left Scott's tent in the Antarctic, did not die after all--or, if he did, still retained his ability to function in the world. Sent back to England with a mission to fulfill, Oates seeks the help of an old school friend, a veteran of the Great War--who must also play detective, endeavoring to determine who or what has sent Oates back--and, of course, why! Also included are two short stories, "The Holocaust of Ecstasy" and "The Truth About Pickman." Riveting horror--gripping mystery--from a master storyteller.

A university student is forced, by his lack of funds, to take the only lodging he can afford. In a strange part of the city he had never seen before, on a street named "Rue d'Auseil", he finds an apartment in an almost empty building. One of the few other tenants is an old German man named Erich Zann. The old man is mute and plays the viol with a local orchestra. He lives on the top floor and when alone at night, plays strange melodies never heard before.

At the heart of the universe, the court of the blind idiot god Azathoth dances to the insane piping of demonic flute-players. The sinister music resounds across space and time, blasting the minds and ripping the souls of those who hear it. It is the melody of chaos, the sound of madness, the song of Cthulhu. This book includes nineteen stories and one essay, linked together by the alien and terrible music of the spheres.

WIKIPEDIA says: 'H.P. Lovecraft's reputation has grown tremendously over the decades, and he is now commonly regarded as one of the most important horror writers of the 20th century, exerting an influence that is widespread, though often indirect.' His tales of the tentacled Elder God Cthulhu and his pantheon of alien deities were initially written for the pulp magazines of the 1920s and '30s. These astonishing tales blend elements of horror, science fiction and cosmic terror that are as powerful today as they were when they were first published. THE NECRONOMICON collects together the very best of Lovecraft's tales of terror, including the complete Cthulhu Mythos cycle, just the way they were originally published. It will introduce a whole new generation of readers to Lovecraft's fiction, as well as being a must-buy for those fans who want all his work in a single, definitive volume.

Retells classic horror stories and includes Poe's and Lovecraft's original texts.