Rant on H.P. Lovecraft mistakes in Dance Macbre

[doowopgirl]

Before I really begin, I want to state that this is on behalf of my 19year old media student son. A long time Lovecraft fan and a more recent SK fan.He finds it odd that SK, who is, by his own admission heavily influenced by Lovecraft, would mahe some glaring mistakes in DM. 1st In DM he says The Colour out of Space is not a science fiction storyin the strictest sense. While the horrors come from space, the horror comes from the isolation.. The same as Alien is set in a spaceship, it is horror in the sense that it is the isolation and the fear of the unknown that makes it truly horror. 2nd, Three times SK writes ' plains of Leng'. While Lovecraft had a habit of using variant spellings and pronounciations of some of his creations, never once in his fiction was there a Plains of Leng. There is a Plateau of Leng, but never a Plain. 3rd At one point SK refers to Yog Sothoth, The Goat with a Thousand Young' apparently SK has mixed up two totally separate gods; Yog Sothoth, the key and the gate and Shub Niggurth The Black goat of the woods with a Thousand Young. At the end of my sons rant he says that Sk is awesome, but he finds these 'mistakes' a bit much for someone who is influenced ny Lovecraft and usually not make such transgressions. Comments please.

[JohnDalglish]

this is on behalf of my 19year old media student son... Comments please.

Hi,

I think you might be in danger of splitting heirs there!

Sorry, I couldn't resist it, I'll see myself out.

Long days and pleasant nights

[muskrat]

Well, whatayagonnado? Steve was still partying a lot back when he wrote Danse Macabre.

Your son is 19 and he reads Lovecraft? Sweet. There's hope for the young generation yet.

[fushingfeef]

He sounds like a smart kid! I've read Lovecraft but not often enough to be that familiar with the specifics.

[GNTLGNT]

Tell your son that even the best can sometimes frig things up...it's nothing more than that...at least King isn't doing surgical procedures(....though there have been rumors.....)

[doowopgirl]

Thanks to all wo replied to the Danse Macbre rant. SEan was pleased enough for me to post and at least he is now temporarily quiet on the subject. He's 19. He knows everything, yes?

[Robert Gray]

It isn't science fiction because the central power of the story doesn't turn on a scientific idea. I will try to explain it, although I think Sai King did that just fine. Consider the following:

Jurassic Park:
This is a science fiction tale because it tackles a scientific genie that is only just now getting out of the bottle and considers the implications, applications, and likely outcome of doing so. While scary monsters chasing/eating people is on the surface, the story is really about whether or not there is technology man is not supposed to tamper with. You can have a story with monsters chasing and eating people (and we have thousands and thousands of them) but what makes Jurassic Park different is that the science isn't merely a means to the "monster end" but that science itself is the monster.

The Colour out of Space:
This is not science fiction because the fact that it is an alien or comes from outer space is merely a convenient setup to release a horror on the world. Much like Alien, which also has solid scientific basis, the technology and science is a garnish (window dressing). It isn't the meat of the story. There are not larger ideas and philosophical problems being addressed. It is simply a story of a monster. I expect when looked at laid out like this you will discern the difference?

[Sophius]

A 19 year old reading Lovecraft is a notable occasion? I'm fifteen and read Lovecraft( I actually have his complete and collected works); I thought Lovecraft was supposed universally appeal to teenaged boys(he's not my favorite, but I still enjoy him; he's great to read before bed.).

Anyway, those errors do not seem particularly flagrant, although the mistake regarding the Plateau of Leng is rather irksome. One would suppose that, given that three(I believe) editions of Danse Macabre that have been published, one of them just last year, the error would have been corrected, but perhaps there is an instance within Lovecraft's fiction that mentions a Plains of Leng?

[am78]

I excuse those mistakes because King was recalling something that happen when he was 10 or 11(finding his father's stash of weird fiction). Not everyone is going to remember the exact title of a story they read over 20 years before. Its okay that he didn't run and grab a Lovecraft anthology to check.

[Garriga]

what is science