Review: The Lurker at the Threshold by Howard Phillips Lovecraft

I would venture to say that this was the best story I have read so far by Lovecraft, I can't believe I never read it until now, even though I always heard about it.

The story is told in first person by Dan, admitting that he killed his friend, his best friend Edward. But it was with just cause, and we may think he's crazy but he's not (I admit this reminded me a lot of how the "Tell-Tale Heart" story begins).

He then clarifies that it wasn't specifically Edward he killed.

But... Who is Edward? This individual is a very intelligent person but also very shy because of overprotection by his parents. Growing up this makes him not know how to manage in life, it is difficult for him to travel and make important decisions, social relationships are a nightmare and much more the love ones. The only knowledge he has of how the outside world works is from what he read in countless books.

Edward has a talent for writing and this prompts his friend Dan to publish a compilation of his short stories that immediately becomes well known.

Something that fascinates Edward is the esoteric (the mysterious, occult) and so much so that at the age of 38 he is still interested in the subject and it is his favorite topic to talk about with Dan.

Then Asenath appears, a mysterious and somewhat disturbing girl from Innsmouth (Lovecraft talks about that place in another of his stories, I have not read it yet but if you are interested it is called "The Shadow over Innsmouth") Everyone is afraid of her, everyone except the shy Edward, and the love he feels for her is so great that they soon get married.

But this is where things go wrong.

Edward suddenly looks very bad. He seems to be in some kind of depression. But other times he is seen with the greatest of confidence, out of nowhere he learns to drive and not only drives, but does it better than anyone else on crowded roads.

I could not go on talking about it because it would ruin the story, but I liked it very much, it has been so long since I read something that generated me so much pleasure to unravel, and I have read it in one sitting, marking each part that seemed interesting or important, I did not read all the bibliography of this author but I would definitely recommend it to start with Lovecraft, for the simple fact that it does not bore you at all, his words catch you and in the last pages they surprise you as you would not believe.

Truly, one of the best reads so far this year!