Herbert West -- Re-Animator

Rating: Four shoggoths out of five

Nutshell: A medical student at Miskatonic University begins studies with Herbert West, a brilliant fellow student who has taken up an interest in reanimation of dead flesh.

Commentary: Ah, another personal favorite of mine. Lovecraft has built a rather gruesome homage to Mary Shelly's Frankenstein. This tale is quite the adventure, and spawned two delicious movies (see below). Those looking for a storyline just like the films, however, may be disappointed to find that the short story looks like more of a rough sketch of what the movies turned into. The story is still quite wonderful, just very different and minimal.

My only complaint about the short story is that it is split into small chapters, which I suspect were originally released in a magazine as a serial. Thus, the beginning of each chapter tiresomely rehashes everything you've already read. This is unfortunate, since it is the story's only major flaw.

Film: The story of Herbert West took on new life in the films Re-Animator and Bride of Re-Animator. The two movies may be a touch gory for the queasy, but are wonderfully constructed horror movies that rise well above the usual muck that is churned out these days. The same crew made both films, and the movies do a fine job at transferring Lovecraft's vision to a more modern version of Miskatonic University. The movies also harbor a delicious streak of dark humor and some really nice special effects, which are icing on the cake.

Special kudos go to genre actor Jeffrey Combs, who delves deep into the character of Herbert West, turning him into one of the most fascinating horror flick characters in recent memory. The images on this page are of him, from both films.

On a side note, the same crew also worked on another H. P. Lovecraft film adaption: From Beyond.