The Shuttered Room and Other Pieces is an anthology of fantasy and horror short stories, essays and memoirs by American author H. P. Lovecraft and others. It was released in 1959 by Arkham House in an edition of 2,527 copies and was the fifth collection of Lovecraft's work to be released by Arkham House. August Derleth, the owner of Arkham House, and an admirer and literary executor to Lovecraft, edited the collection and wrote the title story, "The Shuttered Room", as well as another story, "The Fisherman of Falcon Point" from lines of story ideas left by Lovecraft after his death. Derleth billed himself as a "posthumous collaborator". Although most copies of this volume have the usual Holliston Black Novilex binding used by Arkham House at this period, there are reportedly some copies (possibly a few dozen) with less sturdy "board" covers made of a softer material and without the dustjacket. These may constitute a variant state of the volume.

Film

A British film titled The Shuttered Room based on the eponymous short story was released in 1967.

Contents

The Shuttered Room and Other Pieces contains the following pieces:

Reception

Damon Knight reviewed the collection unfavorably, saying of the title story that "the protagonist's continued obtuseness drives the reader to chew paper" and faulting Lovecraft as a writer whose stories "are only endlessly retraced beginnings."

Sources