These stories are timeless because the great one don't give a heck about time.

After more than three years and just about over half the collection completed, I give up. HPL is not to be read in chronological order and without any critical apparatus, so I will begin soon(ish) the four volumes edited by S.T. Yoshi. / Dopo più di tre anni sono solo a poco più di metà di questa edizione, mi arrendo. Lovecraft non si può leggere in ordine cronologico e senza un minimo di apparato critico, quindi tra poco (forse) inizierò i quattro volumi curati da S.T. Yoshi.

Wow, this took forever! I found it more a trial of endurance than anything else. Some of the stories were better than others, but, well, that's pretty faint praise, isn't it?

Pros: Seeing the clear influence of Lovecraft's work on literature and other media to come. Creepy atmospheres. The cats.

Cons: The stories were extremely repetitive. The prose was overly elaborate and often falsely antiquated, without enough plot to support the endless description. Lovecraft was a clear racist, classist, and sexist, and this was in no way disguised in his fantastical writing. Also, his incorporation of evolutionary theory was frustratingly warped.

And, thus, I complete this massive tome as an older, wiser human being, secure in the knowledge that I will never be a fan of H.P. Lovecraft. If you have some curiosity about this admittedly influential author, I would highly recommend starting with a smaller compilation that collects his better-known works, rather than deciding to read everything he ever wrote all at once - unless, like me, you are a masochist.

Zworek was vograth.

H. P. Lovecraft Complete Collection is a real mixed bag. Stories like The Shadow over Innsmouth, The Dunwich Horror and The Music of Erich Zann are classics that, while a little wordy, still stand up today. However, these great tales are spread thin in the weight 1000 odd page tome that contains a lot of baffling non-stories.

If you're a huge Lovecraft fan I'm sure there is real value in this but for those of us with a more of a passing interest I'd recommend you pick your stories individually; start with In the Vault it is the best one in the whole book.

H. P. Lovecraft Complete Collection is a lengthy collection of Eldritch, cyclopean horror that contains some fantastic stories, unfortunately the chaff outweighs the wheat by quite a stretch.

This one is very hard to rate for me. Some of the writing in this is genuinely groundbreaking. When Lovecraft is doing his thing, it‘s some of the best horror fiction ever written. Atmospheric, conceptually brilliant, instilling a genuine feeling of uneasiness even a century after the fact.
I think it is in the hands of the individual whether they can separate the art from the artist. I for myself can‘t, because Lovecraft‘s art is intrinsically linked to his abhorrent view of the world. Simultaneously, elements of his works have influenced both me and authors I love, who have gone on to write different and at times better stories than these, including all the good parts and fascinating themes and leaving out Lovecraft‘s "personal flavor" (to put it gently). While the man himself is revolting, I am grateful for the entertainment his works have given me.
But also, seriously, screw H.P. Lovecraft.