Will I have to turn in my nerd/geek credentials if I admit that H.P. Lovecraft
I worked my way up to Beyond This Wall of Sleep, and then skipped ahead to The Call of Cthulhu
This is really scary. No, really, it is really, really scary! Look how scary it is! And slimy too! Boo! Scared you! Oh, and craziness abounds. It is CRAZY SCARY! Or SCARY CRAZY! Scaaary… Oh, look, that might be a monster!… Or it could be your imagination. Either way, it is really, REALLY scary and it is going to make you CRAAAZY!
Maybe it is a byproduct of growing up on too many books, television shows, movies, and other stories that can trace their roots, directly or circuitously, back to his demented universe, but I am just not seeing the attraction. I can certainly comprehend why he was as revolutionary and disturbing as he was in the time in which he wrote, and I suddenly have a much firmer grasp on the origination of the current “goth” movement, but when it comes to recreational reading… well, I would rather read Larry Correia
Anywise, if you are interested in plumbing the insane depths of H.P.’s writings, they are available free online and for the Kindle, which, whether you like them or not, is pretty awesome (though more due to Lovecraft’s lack of foresight than generosity). And try not to let one philistine’s lack of appreciation deter you – the man was gifted, perhaps not for writing, but rather for creating universes.
The horror indeed sir!
I’m a fan of all his work, but I do agree that some of it can be quite bland or just boring in some respects.
Might I suggest a couple of my favorites (and common favorites among many I might suspect) if you ever want to give it a try: “The Shadow Over Innsmouth” and “The Whisperer in Darkness”.
Sure, he might have been able to turn the sanity-sapping eldritch horrors beyond the ken of mortal man into boring exposition, but I seem to remember Lovecraftian horror as having had a profound enriching effect on my vocabulary.
Besides, some of the stuff other people have done with his universe since has been pretty good. I read an anthology of Sherlock Holmes short stories where he had to deal with shoggoths and other bizarre Lovecraftian tropes, and it was pretty good.
@ JP: I will look into those, and see if they help any… If nothing else, they are good bedtime books, for a variety of reasons
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@ wfgodbold: Oh, I will certainly not deny the man has had a significant, and positive, impact on the world of fiction in its totality – like I said, I grew up on stuff that was clearly inspired by his voluminous works.
But, damn, you have to be dedicated to get through some of it.
I probably will finish the list at some point – some of my distaste may be due to reading more than a few right after one another – but for now I am going to rely on the interpretation of others
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I downloaded that a while back and have been looking though it. I think I’ll have to agree with you–respect, mild enjoyment, and wild gratitude for spawning Monster Hunter. Because when it’s all said and done, I’d rather see the slime-drooping faces of evil getting the crap getting kicked out of them than any alternative.
Personally, one of my favorites was The Case of Charles Dexter Ward.
@ bluesun: Hell yes. With Lovecraft, we would be inundated with nothing more than Twilight, and THAT would be an eldrich horror indeed!
@ BobG: Will try that one too… they are short enough, I suppose
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