The story that gives this collection its name is, perhaps unsurprisingly, the pick of the bunch - beloved by Lovecraft for reasons which are extremely obvious given both its proto cosmic horror angle and the logbook/diary style tracing the narrator's descent into complete madness. Excellently done, too, right down to the inevitably apocalyptic close.

Of the rest of the set, most of them have their own merits even if there's a couple of duds as is usually inevitable in a collection like this ("Le Trou" is just a bit silly, while "Une famille" feels strangely incomplete). The two stories featuring la marquise de Rennedon et la baronne de Grangerie are both very funny and are the most daring (along with "Joseph") of a set of tales which are often quite earthy; "Amour" is excellent atmospheric writing; and "Le Vagabond" is an explosively acrid and bitter ending that doesn't pull any punches. ( )