H.P. Lovecraft fans?

[rjt65]

Read some Lovecraft years ago. the Yog-Sototh grafiti in needful things got me thinking about the whole Cthulhu Mythos

So reading some Lovecraft now any other fans? what are your favorite stories?

[henrythomasgirl]

*raises hand*

I'm new to Lovecraft so no idea yet what my favorite story is. :)

[rjt65]

Prob. most famous as it is a horror classic- Re-Animator.

I have not read in long time..so will read and see!

[GravemakersAndGunslingers]

I'm a huge fan. 'The Shadow Over Innsmouth' and 'The Call Of Cthulhu' are two favourites in particular. 'The Whisper In The Darkness' and 'At The Mountains Of Madness' are also very good stories. I love the whole Cthulhu Mythos and I'm pretty sure Sai King linking so many of his works together is a result of being inspired by Lovecraft doing so with his own works.

He was an absolute master and I urge anyone who loves weird/Horror stories to check his stuff out.

[GravemakersAndGunslingers]

Here's a taster:

'The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the deadly light into the peace and safety of a new dark age.'

[Nero]

I only just picked up The Call of Cthulhu and other weird stories. I haven't started reading it yet, but I'm anxious to get into that mythos!

[staropeace]

I find his writing horrid and totally off the wall.....why use all these names that nobody can pronounce.....he goes on and on and on. He is the epitome of a bad writer....in my opinion. But for folks who like him....read on and enjoy

[GravemakersAndGunslingers]

I love Lovecraft's imaginative descriptive narrative style...I think it really brings the stories home; some won't like his works and consider them wordy...either way I urge anyone who likes horror stories to give his works a try.

[Sepia and Dust]

Lovecraft was not a great writer. He knew that and made no pretentions otherwise--several volumes of his private letters have been published, and Lovecraft was quite clear that he considered himself to be a hack. One of the better hacks, but a hack nonetheless.

His main contribution was not what he wrote, but what he wrote about. He wrote about the things that most of us try very hard not to think about--utter alienation; the insignificance of human life; our brief, pointless, doomed battles against eternity.

Sure, he couched the despair in the trappings of horror and science fiction--realistically, beasties from other planets and dimensions probably would have names unpronouncable to humans... it's not like the shape of our vocal apparatus is a universal constant. But the core of his mythos is simply this--nothing we strive to build or save has any meaning, except as fleeting, temporary successes. We are not alone, but we are too insignificant to be noticed. Through all the long aeons amid the illimitable gulf, we simply don't matter.

[GravemakersAndGunslingers]

His main contribution was not what he wrote, but what he wrote about. He wrote about the things that most of us try very hard not to think about--utter alienation; the insignificance of human life; our brief, pointless, doomed battles against eternity.

While I agree with your points, I believe Lovecraft was a very reserved modest man...IMO he was great...at what HE did.

[Turd Ferguson]

I'm a Lovecraft fan. Modern horror writers owe a huge debt to Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe, IMO.

[Presque Vu]

I love Lovecraft's imaginative descriptive narrative style...I think it really brings the stories home; some won't like his works and consider them wordy...either way I urge anyone who likes horror stories to give his works a try.

ditto... my fave for a while was Re-Animator of corpse... I do need to re-read some of his stories again, haven't done that in ages...

[rjt65]

Well IMHO I would agree he gets wordy at times... so i don't read him for his writing per se,(at times i find it difficult to read his style for long periods versus sai King for example) but the stories are great. And to think this was in the 1920's!

One passage really got me going from The Call of Cthulhu, one of the best paragraphs i have ever read.

The first paragraph:
" the most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of disassociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad,from the revelation or flee from the deadly light into the peace and safety of a new dark age. "

[BlackThorn]

I find his writing horrid and totally off the wall.....why use all these names that nobody can pronounce.....he goes on and on and on. He is the epitome of a bad writer....in my opinion. But for folks who like him....read on and enjoy

You obviously weren't his target audience is all... =)

[Sepia and Dust]

While I agree with your points, I believe Lovecraft was a very reserved modest man...IMO he was great...at what HE did.

I agree. Nobody else but Lovecraft could have written those stories.


To the OP, some of my favorites are The Music of Erich Zann, The Dunwich Horror, and The Colour Out of Space.

[rjt65]

I posted this in song lyrics thread but wanted to redirect here:

Ok i am a Metallica and HP lovecraft FAN: So was their late Bass player-Cliff Burton. They have 2 songs connected to the Cthulhu Mythos from Lovecraft

the thing that should not be lyrics below and Call of the Ktulu (missppell of Cthulhu from the Lovecraft Chu. Mythos) 2nd song is an instrumental

the thing that should not be:

Messenger of Fear in sight
Dark deception kills the light

Hybrid children watch the sea
Pray for Father, roaming free

Fearless wretch
Insanity
He watches
Lurking beneath the sea
Great Old One
Forbidden sight
He searches
Hunter of the Shadows is rising
Immortal
In madness You dwell

Crawling Chaos, underground
Cult has summoned, twisted sound

Out from ruins once possessed
Fallen city, living death

Fearless wretch
Insanity
He watches
Lurking beneath the sea
Timeless sleep
Has been upset
He awakens
Hunter of the Shadows is rising
Immortal
In madness You dwell

Not dead which eternal lie
Stranger eons Death may die

Drain you of your sanity
Face The Thing That Should Not Be

Fearless wretch
Insanity
He watches
Lurking beneath the sea
Great Old One
Forbidden sight
He searches
Hunter of the Shadows is rising
Immortal
In madness You dwell

[rjt65]

Hey all fans of HP--I started a group so come join and post any thoughts, likes or dislikes on the work of HP or related stuff!

look at social groups- Hp Lovecraft: Yog-Sothoth..... and join!

Look forward to some further discussion

[Vienna]

Lovecraft is one of the only authors who truly scared me; the others being King and Straub. Not only did Lovecraft write fine English, but he wrote of the "Old Gods" in a manner that was truly terrifying. I read him as a teenager; now in my 50's, he STILL makes me uneasy!

Best,
Vienna

[Seussy]

At the Mountains of Madness is a frightening story. rjt, I love The Thing that Should Not Be and Call of Ktulu. I think I appreciated the songs more after reading his stories too. TTTSNB is very well written lyrically in my opinion. Orion also has a Lovecraft feel to it even though it is more geared toward a spacey and dimensional approach (at least that's what they say). I get a different feel from it.

[crazycrashink]

The Colour out of Space and The Shadow over Innsmouth always give me the heebie jeebies! I compare the stories of Lovecraft to the Sherlock Holmes stories in that I love them dearly, but can only handle a few stories at a time. Too much of that lingo and my head would explode :eek2:

[blunthead]

I've read only four HPL stories, the best of which, The Shadow Out of Time, was truly fantastic. Per Wikipedia: "Lovecraft critic Lin Carter [scifi, fantasy author] calls 'The Shadow Out of Time' 'Lovecraft's single greatest achievement in fiction', citing 'its amazing scope and sense of cosmic immensitude, the gulfs of time it opens, [and] the titanic sweep of the narrative'".

[Balrog21]

Big time Lovecraft fan here. I will tell you how I first got introduced to him...

It was in 1992 I was in the Navy on board the ship halfway across the Atlantic, you know where the bottom of the sea is close to three miles down. It's midnight, I am in my small bunk and I start reading Call of Cthulhu. I finished it, kept the light on for the rest of the night and DID NOT go outside on deck to have a smoke. (Those of you who have read CoC will see the humor in that; I hope. :grinning:

But yeah, I have all his books, and I was given a SPECTACULAR birthday present two years ago. It's a prop sort of thing that is TOTALLY OUT OF THIS WORLD IN AUTHENTICITY. It's a replica of Dr. Angell's box he found of his uncle's in Call of Cthulhu. This has got to be the BEST prop that you can buy EVER. I am going to try and put a pictue in here of what all is contained within. If any of you are interested you can PM with the link to where you can get this beauty. It's a little pricy, but gosh is it worth it for any Lovecraft fan. Picture below(hopefully)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v197/balrog21/boxheader.gif

My top 3 Lovecraft stories would be:
1. Call of Cthulhu
2. The Case of Charles Dexter Ward
3. The Dunwich Horror

What still amazes me is that he wrote this stuff in the 1920's..he was WAY ahead of his time.

Best,
Bal

[PSYCHOTIQUE]

*RAISES HAND!*

My favorite is:
Music of Eric Zann