Getting into Lovecraft

[Allen]

Well, I've started reading some of his erlier stuff, like The Tomb and The Wall of Sleep and I am really enjoying it. Cthulhu was great as well. He has a wordy yet direct approach in describing all of his fantastical places and things that I like. Also, all of the Existential and metaphysically-oriented philosophy he forcibly injects into the stories is great. Very intelligent guy he must have been.

Still, he's a racist. He has a lot of negative commentary on different races, but I guess that's sadly just who he is...

Still, avoiding that regrettable facet of his personality, I'm enjoying his shit.


Thoughts?


allen

[T.K. Baha]

I used to read a lot of his stories when I was younger. He was good with descriptive language and coming up with dark settings but after a while I got out of reading fiction for the most part. And what do you care if he was racist? He still told good stories and half of the white folks around then were racist.

[Code Of Silence]

I suggest reading stuff by other weird fiction writers if you like Lovecraft. The cats of ulthar, beyond the wall of sleep. :thumbsup:

And what do you care if he was racist? He still told good stories and half of the white folks around then were racist.
Good thing to note here, his racist commentary is just reflective of the time period he was writing in.

[Launchpad]

Yeah Lovecraft is sweet - I got into him as a real, real young kid. I fuckin' loved horror short stories and horror novels - I remember reading the Dark Half by Stephen King in grade 3...I think if my parents knew what was in those stories they wouldnt have let me - def worse than the R movies I couldn't watch haha

I found it was really hard to find his stuff though - I always had to look through second hand book shops when my dad went in to see if I could get anything. Luckily recently I found a site on the internet that has like all his short stories - I think its called Dagonbytes or something...Kind of shitty to read Lovecraft on the web (I always thought it was better reading in your attic or something w/ the crusty old pages/smell of a used book) but what can ya do.

Also, anybody remember a story where a kids dad comes down the chimney as Santa, but ends up getting horribly burned or dying or some shit? I vaguely remember reading something like that as a kid and I thought Lovecraft but I could be wrong

[DEADBEATDAD]

Yeah, racist but you got too remember the time period he wrote in.

[T.K. Baha]

A burn victim Santa would be fucking lulz but thats not Lovecraft. But let me know if you find the story that might make my belly jiggle like a bowl full of jelly.

[Monkmaster]

I thought a cat named Nigger-Man was comedy gold.

I recently finished an anthology of Lovecraft's work. I really enjoy how he tries to explain 'the unknown'.

[Fish]

I wrote a 40 page thesis on Lovecraft for my undergrad studies - he definitely ranks as one of my favorite authors.

I'd recommend a few works, but I'm afraid that I'd never be able to end the list if I started it...

[Allen]

I understand the whole race/time-period thing, sometimes it's just a little annoying. still, he's a great writer and I am enjoying his stuff. Just finished the Temple and The Thing on the Doorstep today.

allen

[kfc v lot]

Weird- i just started reading the Necromonicon today :) it is basically all Lovecraft's work in one leather bound edition :) .

[Proots]

He has a very bizarre, yet rich and technical way of writing. Very vivid, very real.

"At the Mountains of Madness" is a good book to pick up. Whether it's just short novella, or the short story collection, it's well worth it.

I find his works more "creepy" than "scary", if you know what I mean.

Lovecraft isn't for everybody, but for those who can enjoy his works, I highly recommend him. OP: Keep readings his stuff, I promise you'll only enjoy it more and more.

[LiquidIce]

I started out with "Mountains of Madness" and then just got sucked right in. Haven't read his longer works but read most of the short stories. That man had it in him to write pure awesome.

Also, a short called "The Music of Erich Zann" was fucking wonderful. God, if ol' H.P. was still alive today I would gladly travel to him and shake his hand.

[KillSwitch_J]

Very intelligent guy he must have been.

Still, he's a racist. He has a lot of negative commentary on different races, but I guess that's sadly just who he is...

Still, avoiding that regrettable facet of his personality, I'm enjoying his shit.


Thoughts?


allen

Yeah, it's a shame someone with a mind capable of conjuring up such alien vistas and beings from other worlds/planes, couldn't seem to get past his prejudices of other humans right here on earth.

Other than that. I've read a few of his works and there were definately spellbinding (pardon the pun). His stories really had a way of hooking you and making you want to keep reading for hours on end.

[FON]

Also, a short called "The Music of Erich Zann" was fucking wonderful.

Read this the other day and I can confirm its greatness. The Alchemist wasn't bad either.

[Allen]

Yep yep yep. this is an update. I'm loooving it more and more, searching for all of his stuff. Read the Necronomicon on scribd, it was awesome, as well as Charles Dexter Ward (!!!) and Iranon's Quest (or something to that title...I'm stoned right now....).

He's so sweet. His descriptions of a dream-like ether that we really exist in reminds me of a marijuana/loracet/DXM trip.....



Still, really enjoying all of the stuff I've read so far. Thanks Barnes & Noble!!!!


allen

[Sopio]

Also, anybody remember a story where a kids dad comes down the chimney as Santa, but ends up getting horribly burned or dying or some shit? I vaguely remember reading something like that as a kid and I thought Lovecraft but I could be wrong

From the movie Gremlins?

[SomeLowLife]

Of course he was racist. He was a an old school white recluse. What did you expect?

His horror prose is great and that's whats most important. His racism is just mildly amusing in my opinion.

[KillSwitch_J]

Charles Dexter Ward

I remember that one well. They also made a B-rated movie about called The Resurrected (1992).

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105242/

Plot: Charles Dexter Ward's wife enlists the help of a private detective to find out what her husband is up to in a remote cabin owned by his family for centuries. The husband is a chemical engineer, and the smells from his experiments (and the delivery of what appear to be human remains at all hours) are beginning to arouse the attention of neighbors and local law enforcement officials. When the detective and wife find a diary of the husband's ancestor from 1771, and reports of gruesome murders in the area begin to surface, they begin to suspect that some very unnatural experiments are being conducted in the old house

[Firemite]

The complete works of Lovecraft can be found online at http://www.dagonbytes.com/thelibrary/lovecraft/index.html

[Dog]

If you're interested in a very Lovecraftian Stephen King short story, check out "N." in his newest anthology Just After Sunset. Great story.

A good Lovecraftian film is "In the Mouth of Madness" with Sam Neill.

I've read some of this stories though I can't recall any titles off the top of my head. Great stuff though.

[ArmsMerchant]

Weird- i just started reading the Necromonicon today :) it is basically all Lovecraft's work in one leather bound edition :) .

In Lovecraft's writings, the Necronomicon is a fictional book, as was the play "The King in Yellow." That is, the works exist only in the fictional world Lovecraft created.

In a cheesy effort to profiteer, books called the Necronomicon have been published, but I don't think Lovecraft had anything to do with them besides supply the title.

[KillSwitch_J]

In Lovecraft's writings, the Necronomicon is a fictional book

While Lovecraft's Necronomicon might be fictional. A friend of mine has been looking into it, and told me, that it might have actually been inspired by another arabic book called the Lemegeton aka the Lesser key of Solomon aka the Goatia.

Which is supposedly a book that listed many different jinn/demons and their powers, and how to summon them.

[Launchpad]

If you're interested in a very Lovecraftian Stephen King short story, check out "N." in his newest anthology Just After Sunset. Great story.

A good Lovecraftian film is "In the Mouth of Madness" with Sam Neill.

I've read some of this stories though I can't recall any titles off the top of my head. Great stuff though.

Fuck man definately the best one in that book...read it cover to cover while waiting in airports etc. I love his description of his dream with the giant demon standing over Boston or whatever city it is..like 2 miles high or some shit. Steven King is awesome.

[supperrfreek]

I've got a Lovecraft book sitting around. This summer I'll probably start reading it, I think it has a small selection of his stuff in it.
Still, he's a racist. He has a lot of negative commentary on different races, but I guess that's sadly just who he is...

Well, back then it was kinda ok to be a little racist. But otherwise he was a child prodigy, poet, and amazing writer from what I've heard: so I guess it's one of those take it or leave it things.

[Greyusurper]

Long time fan of HP Lovecraft. I agree with some of the other suggestions that people have made here, but would love to add "The Colour Out of Space". Its kind of dry in the beginning, but the horror of the story is the slow effect on the family, animals, and farm over the seasons. Everything just starts to go quietly mad. A must read when you have enough time late at night before going to bed (about 45mins to 2hours depending on your speed).

As to Lovecraft being a racist, and as well a sexist, he hoped to break these things in his life time. He married a Jewish woman, who interestingly enough would have to remind him of it when he went off. He also had anxiety attacks in large Cosmopolitans when suddenly finding himself surrounded by minorities. It freaked him out on another level, probably instilled from a parent. He informed a colleague in a letter that their should be strong female protagonists, but he himself was vague on writing from that gender perspective.

I have a short story you can read at Myspace, I wouldn't say its Lovecraft, more like Hunter S. Thompson doing the style of horror with Spiritualism as a backdrop.

Regards,
-Grey

P.S. I miss Totse and all the fun I had lurking there. This is my first post since T-day.