For years, the HPLHS has offered numerous editions of Lovecraft's fiction by *other* publishers. An edition of their own has been long overdue. Nor surprisingly, quite a lot of careful thought and effort was put into creating this set with the usual creativity and extra touches that we've come to expect from our beloved Society. This is not merely an edition of the complete fiction. It's called the H.P. Lovecraft Experience for a reason. And weighing in at 8 pounds, it's massive!
The two volumes of Lovecraft are a perfect size for holding comfortably and reading. They are beautifully made with flexibound covers, edge staining, and placemark ribbons. By the way, possibly unbeknownst to the boys at the HPLHS, they are a perfect companion match to the Barnes & Noble edition of Edgar Allan Poe's Classic Stories which is the same size and with a similar flexibound cover! (see photo). Plus, it is nice to see that these books have sewn bindings. If there is any doubt, open up the book and look down inside the middle of one of the "signatures" (the booklets that are sewn in), and you will see the stitching (see photo). Not only that, but the Reader's Guide also has a sewn binding. Quality everywhere.
The Reader's Guide is a valuable and very welcome part of this set, featuring Branney and Leman's insightful analyses of ten of Lovecraft's stories. As usual, they've come with another way to add to the experience of enjoying Lovecraft. I am very happy that they chose to include something like this.
Adding to the overall experience are the lovingly crafted ephemera. My favorites are the Orne Library Card and the leatherette bookmark (I'm a sucker for cool bookmarks).
And of course everything is housed in a frightening vault that even features lifting ribbons for extracting the hideous tomes from their encasement. That's if you can get past the terrifying visage on the outside! This set is totally a winner and well worth acquiring.
If you don't have a full set of HPL works, this is a great set to have. If you already have the complete works, you'll have to decide if another copy is worth $100.
The Reader's Guide itself is worthy of purchase, if that comes up for sale on it's own, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
The quality and presentation are very well done. It looks great, it's solid, and the straps are a welcome addition.
The Miskatonic extras are cool, but I wish they would have all been different pieces from what is already available in other kits.
The 2 books are well done. The font is perfect for HLP's writing. I would have preferred the books to be hard-cover, but that's just me.
Overall, I really like it, and I'm going to use this set to replace my HLP Anthology books.
I loved my original lifetime membership wallet but once I saw this one available I had to snap it up. I'm a tactile guy and the feel of this one is perfect. It's got a nice grain to it and the embossed emblem on the front is evocative and looks fantastic. A great addition to my collection and a perfect one for any HPLS member, pick em up while they've still got some left, you won't regret it!
This story is a world-wind trip across the globe with an amazing voice cast, SFX and a mood setting score that helps to build the tension without overwhelming the voice actors. I've purchased several of these now and this one with the sheer length and scope of the story and the amazing array of props that came with it has been an absolute delight. A genuine must have for HPL fans, CoC players and Keepers and everyone else in between!
I just got into picking up the DART shows and this really is the ideal way to not only store them but to keep track and protect the amazing props and documents that come with each one. An absolute must have if you want to keep your DART cds and props protected and organized.