This is the most complete collection of American author of horror, fantasy, and science fiction. Stephen King has called Lovecraft "the twentieth Century's greatest practitioner of the classic horror tale." His works were deeply pessimistic and cynical, challenging the values of the Enlightenment, Romanticism, and Christian humanism. Lovecraft's major inspiration and invention was cosmic horror. Lovecraft has developed a cult following for his Cthulhu Mythos as well as the Necronomicon, a fictional grimoire of magical rites and forbidden lore. The History of the Necronomicon. "Original title Al Azif-azif being the word used by Arabs to designate that nocturnal sound (made by insects) suppos'd to be the howling of daemons..."