H. P. Lovecraft

[Mirror Image]

Hello All,

I'm curious if any of you out there in GMG land are fans of Lovecraft's work? I haven't read one book but was wondering if you could recommend something for a Lovecraft novice. Thanks!

[drogulus]

     Undoubtedly there is someone here who knows more than I do about Lovecraft. I've only read one story, which might be enough since it's supposed to be his best, The Colour Out of Space. I was young enough to read collections of science fiction, teenaged I think, and this story made an impression.

[Mirror Image]

     Undoubtedly there is someone here who knows more than I do about Lovecraft. I've only read one story, which might be enough since it's supposed to be his best, The Colour Out of Space. I was young enough to read collections of science fiction, teenaged I think, and this story made an impression.

Thanks, I keep reading that At the Mountains of Madness is his best work. May investigate that one.

[Octave]

I hope you don't mind if I am less substantial re: specific story recommendations, and merely trot out a couple editions; maybe you know this already, or it might not matter if you are an e.reader.  (I am still addicted to glue and paper, which is good for huffing.)

A comprehensive and cheap collection of the fiction plus his benchmark essay "Supernatural Horror in Literature" (certainly worth reading, and applicable beyond its subject), is this Barnes & Noble hardback collection:
[asin]B005IFZ36I[/asin]
alternative ASIN: 1435122968
Actually maybe a little cheaper via B&N themselves, of course; I bought this in the brick/mortar store, ~$20.
Yes, the B&N hardbacks are pretty tacky-looking; but I think this volume is well put together and the cover image is partially on what looks like a very think plate of metal mounted into the front cover.  Is it radiant mold?  Psychotropia in cotton-candy colour scheme?  Plus the pages are thicker than the Library of America edition (ed. Peter Straub!), which is as nice as those always are and with sexy and slightly more readable font.
The B&N has a concise intro by HPL scholar and Übergeek S.T. Joshi, but not the nice biographical chronology of the LOA.

It might be worth avoiding the older (pre~2011) edition of the B&N Lovecraft, a slightly thinner and larger hardback without the faux-leather look, even if it's super cheap; there were apparently many typos and whatnot, corrected in the newer edition.  (I've seen accounts of this in several places, including Amazon.)  That one looks like this:
[asin]1435107934[/asin]

I agree completely about Mountains of Madness being great, though I think it might be his longest work of fiction?  You might prefer to warm up with several shorter stories.  One problem with omnibus culture is surfeit; I charged through so much HPL in so little time, not long ago, that I am not even sure I can pin story titles to the horrible images and shadowplay that's now semipermanently grafted on to my subconscious and dreamlife.  I'm still a silly small-town Saturday Evening Post (these days, probably New Yorker is the better example) snob when it comes to reading habits; but I think HPL's brand of pulp is a seething, prosthetic nightmare of a mess.  The implied multiple exclamation points at all turns are well justified; he had a special power that is not to be confused with pretentious hacks like Clive Barker.  No offense intended, of course, to those who've gotten more from Barker than have I.

[Octave]

And he has New Yorker sanctioned celebrity admirers!  I was floored to see that Joyce Carol Oates had written an introduction for the genre-impaired.  For the New Yorker, even, iirc.  In my own defense, I did not know about that essay until after my HPL binge.

[Mirror Image]

Thanks, Octave. I appreciate your help. I'll definitely look into this. I'm not a big reader at all, but I've become interested in H. P. Lovecraft by a recent documentary I saw on him. A fascinating person for sure.

[Bogey]

Where is MN Dave? I am sure he will weigh in.

Here is a discusssion on a site I visit now and then:

http://www.universalmonsterarmy.com/forum/index.php?topic=13283.msg214078#msg214078

[Mirror Image]

Where is MN Dave? I am sure he will weigh in.

Here is a discusssion on a site I visit now and then:

http://www.universalmonsterarmy.com/forum/index.php?topic=13283.msg214078#msg214078

Thanks, Bill. I think I'm going to see if my local library has any Lovecraft. As Octave suggested, I'll try to find some of his shorter stories to begin with.

[david johnson]

i find i prefer his colleagues - clark ashton smith, donald wandrei...

[dyn]

At the Mountains of Madness is great. Most of the short stories are also worth reading, although there are some that veer towards silliness... (The Colour out of Space, The Music of Erich Zann, & several others are usually considered among the best; i remember Pickman's Model as being pretty effective as well) ...i'll admit that it's been a few years since i read any Lovecraft though; horror literature has lost most of its capacity to scare me since turning 18 or so

[kishnevi]

My favorite HPL is Charles Dexter Ward ( I don't remember off the top of my head the full title.)  Second favorite is probably The Dunwich Horror. Another one I'd recommend is The Witch House of Arkham.
Just make sure you don't read too many stories together, because his writing had some mannerisms which become noticeable the more you read, and which can grate if you notice them often.

[snyprrr]

No one has REALLY put Lovie on screen in a SUPER EPIC way.

[kishnevi]

No one has REALLY put Lovie on screen in a SUPER EPIC way.

FTFY.  As far as I know, while some movies have used story titles and character names, and even sometimes an idea from a story,  no one has ever done a film of a Lovecraft story that can be called 'faithful to the book' even by the relatively loose standards of the movie industry.  The upcoming Mountains of Madness movie may the first one (based on the little tidbits I've seen discussed online) to qualify as such.

[Lake Swan]

Here's a good intro if you can find a copy. There are probably others but I haven't really been keeping track lately.

http://www.amazon.com/Bloodcurdling-Tales-Horror-Macabre-ebook/dp/B000FBFMH0/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1357603266&sr=8-3&keywords=lovecraft+del+rey

[Lake Swan]

Also, this. http://www.hplovecraft.com/

[snyprrr]

FTFY.  As far as I know, while some movies have used story titles and character names, and even sometimes an idea from a story,  no one has ever done a film of a Lovecraft story that can be called 'faithful to the book' even by the relatively loose standards of the movie industry.  The upcoming Mountains of Madness movie may the first one (based on the little tidbits I've seen discussed online) to qualify as such.

Re-Animator plays with the 'feel' of Lovie, but I was disappointed with From Beyond. Then there's the other 'Madness' movie with Sam Neill I think,... Dunwich Horror from the '60s (yes, not faithful)...

I do have a verrry fond weakness for Die,Monster,Die! with Karloff and Nick Adams, such atmospheric surroundings.

Yes, for all the to-do of everything, it's amazing that no one has even done the... oh, nevermind...

[bigshot]

I've got the Arkham House complete Lovecraft set of books, and there isn't a bad story in the batch. M.L. James, Algernon Blackwood and Arthur Machen are great too. Machen is my favorite.

[dyn]

I've got the Arkham House complete Lovecraft set of books, and there isn't a bad story in the batch. M.L. James, Algernon Blackwood and Arthur Machen are great too. Machen is my favorite.

Machen's The Great God Pan was one of HPL's biggest inspirations as is (or should be) widely known. it's also pretty great on its own though.

[Lake Swan]

Machen's The Great God Pan was one of HPL's biggest inspirations as is (or should be) widely known. it's also pretty great on its own though.

That story blows most horror out of the water.

[Lake Swan]

Cool! Old school horror folks on GMG.