The knowing dreamer theme meets the terrible beings of space/beyond theme with a splash of the perceptive artist theme and the forbidden knowledge theme. One thing I appreciate about Lovecraft: his yearning for the extraordinary comes through clearly, but he consistently portrays his narrators as corrupted either by power or madness due to their dabbling in the forbidden realms. He has a clear grasp of the ease with which the human heart is twisted. (I would say this is another unknowable terror story, but the themes are clearer as the total body of his work shapes up.) The unreliable narrator actually makes this one work instead of detracting.

(Moved 2015 review to the individual work Sept. 2017 to make room to review the collection under its own entry.) ( )

Deux hommes ont décidé de tenter de percer les mystères du sommeil et du monde des rêves. ( )