For the first time, students and scholars of Lovecraft can see at a glance all the textual variants in all relevant appearances of a story-manuscript, first publication in magazines, and first book publications. The result is an illuminating record of the textual history of the tales, along with how Lovecraft significantly revised his stories after initial publication.

The result is the definitive text of Lovecraft's fiction-an edition that supersedes all those that preceded it and should endure as the standard text of Lovecraft's stories for many years.

In this first volume, Lovecraft's earliest stories are printed in chronological order by date of writing. Included are such early triumphs as "Dagon" and "The Outsider," along with the many tales Lovecraft wrote under the inspiration of Lord Dunsany. The celebrated "Herbert West-Reanimator" and "The Rats in the Walls" show Lovecraft experimenting with longer narratives-a tendency that will culminate in the novelettes and novellas of his final decade of writing.