Lovecraft - Where should I start
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- McNutt
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Lovecraft - Where should I start
I bought a collection of Lovecraft stories but don't know where to start. Should I jump into Call of the Cthulhu or is there a better place to begin?
- hepcat
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Re: Lovecraft - Where should I start
It's all goodness and dark from here on out. Honestly, you could just dive in and enjoy yourself. I believe the love of At the Mountains of Madness is pretty heavy in these parts, though. So if you're looking for a jump off suggestion, I would go with that.
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- WarPig
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Re: Lovecraft - Where should I start
I'm a big fan of Beyond the Wall of Sleep as well. The dreamlands stories are kind of a departure from the insanity. Still, all good.
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- Arcanis
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Re: Lovecraft - Where should I start
Call is the only book I have of his and I don't feel like there are things I'm expected to know from the others. So it won't hurt to read it first, but I can't say that the others aren't better choices either.
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Re: Lovecraft - Where should I start
I picked up a Kindle "Complete" works earlier that was arranged chronologically. Some of his early stuff is painful to read and indicative of a rookie writer.
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- El Guapo
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Re: Lovecraft - Where should I start
I just read a couple stories from Lovecraft short stories book I got - At The Mountains of Madness, Call of Cthulu, and the Haunter of the Dark. I enjoyed The Haunter of the Dark the most, actually, though the other two explain more about the Lovecraft universe.
So I'd say grab what's available and dig in, though any of the above three stories I can recommend.
So I'd say grab what's available and dig in, though any of the above three stories I can recommend.
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- silverjon
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Re: Lovecraft - Where should I start
I don't think there's a best story to start with, but the collections edited and annotated by S.T. Joshi are top-notch, so I hope that's what you've ended up with. I'd consider any other edition inferior at this point.
wot?
To be fair, adolescent power fantasy tripe is way easier to write than absurd existential horror, and every community has got to start somewhere... right?
Unless one loses a precious thing, he will never know its true value. A little light finally scratches the darkness; it lets the exhausted one face his shattered dream and realize his path cannot be walked. Can man live happily without embracing his wounded heart?
To be fair, adolescent power fantasy tripe is way easier to write than absurd existential horror, and every community has got to start somewhere... right?
Unless one loses a precious thing, he will never know its true value. A little light finally scratches the darkness; it lets the exhausted one face his shattered dream and realize his path cannot be walked. Can man live happily without embracing his wounded heart?
- ImLawBoy
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Re: Lovecraft - Where should I start
Honestly, a lot of his stuff is painful to read. He wrote some great tales and created a good mythology, but his prose often left a lot to be desired, IMO.Isgrimnur wrote:I picked up a Kindle "Complete" works earlier that was arranged chronologically. Some of his early stuff is painful to read and indicative of a rookie writer.
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- Smoove_B
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Re: Lovecraft - Where should I start
While not a book, last year I did watch this film about Lovecraft and his life. I'd recommend it to anyone that has read his stories, particularly to see how he started out as an early writer.
Maybe next year, maybe no go
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Re: Lovecraft - Where should I start
For those who want to be maddened on the go.
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- hepcat
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Re: Lovecraft - Where should I start
Compared to the writers of today, he was friggin' Christopher Marlowe.ImLawnBoy wrote:Honestly, a lot of his stuff is painful to read. He wrote some great tales and created a good mythology, but his prose often left a lot to be desired, IMO.Isgrimnur wrote:I picked up a Kindle "Complete" works earlier that was arranged chronologically. Some of his early stuff is painful to read and indicative of a rookie writer.
He did mature as a writer and ended up forming a writer's group of penpals that included Robert Bloch, Clark Ashton Smith and Robert E. Howard. I think the formality of his writing style (although the norm of that period) and the fact that they were actually written for the pulps of that time might turn some folks off. But the stories are still great, even if that isn't your cup of tea.
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- Debris
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Re: Lovecraft - Where should I start
I would jump in and just start reading. A lot of his stories reference other stories/characters/mythoi, so the more you read, the more the nightmare world that he envisioned gets fleshed out.
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Re: Lovecraft - Where should I start
Lovecraft does satire: Sweet Ermengarde.
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- silverjon
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Re: Lovecraft - Where should I start
People tend to forget that he could be devastatingly funny. His correspondence is entertaining; it's no wonder other writers liked to exchange letters with him.Isgrimnur wrote:Lovecraft does satire: Sweet Ermengarde.
wot?
To be fair, adolescent power fantasy tripe is way easier to write than absurd existential horror, and every community has got to start somewhere... right?
Unless one loses a precious thing, he will never know its true value. A little light finally scratches the darkness; it lets the exhausted one face his shattered dream and realize his path cannot be walked. Can man live happily without embracing his wounded heart?
To be fair, adolescent power fantasy tripe is way easier to write than absurd existential horror, and every community has got to start somewhere... right?
Unless one loses a precious thing, he will never know its true value. A little light finally scratches the darkness; it lets the exhausted one face his shattered dream and realize his path cannot be walked. Can man live happily without embracing his wounded heart?
- Zarathud
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Re: Lovecraft - Where should I start
"At the Mountains of Madness" shows up briefly in "The Shadow Out of Time."
Parts of "The Thing on the Doorstep" will make more sense if you've first read "The Shadow Over Innsmouth".
Other than those, the stories work relatively well in any order.
Definitely read "Call of Cthulhu" but I would suggest getting a little taste of his other works first.
Parts of "The Thing on the Doorstep" will make more sense if you've first read "The Shadow Over Innsmouth".
Other than those, the stories work relatively well in any order.
Definitely read "Call of Cthulhu" but I would suggest getting a little taste of his other works first.
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"I don't stand by anything." - Trump
“Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.” - John Stuart Mill, Inaugural Address Delivered to the University of St Andrews, 2/1/1867
“It is the impractical things in this tumultuous hell-scape of a world that matter most. A book, a name, chicken soup. They help us remember that, even in our darkest hour, life is still to be savored.” - Poe, Altered Carbon
- Holman
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Re: Lovecraft - Where should I start
I think the best ones to read early are "the Call of Cthulhu," "The Shadow over Innsmouth," "The Dunwich Horror," "The Colour Out of Space," and "At the Mountains of Madness." These feel like core Lovecraft to me.
And I gotta agree, Lovecraft is a genius of horror, but his style can be dreadful. He really really wanted to be Poe, but he doesn't have the poetry.
And I gotta agree, Lovecraft is a genius of horror, but his style can be dreadful. He really really wanted to be Poe, but he doesn't have the poetry.
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- gameoverman
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Re: Lovecraft - Where should I start
Pickman's Model.
It's a short story, not a novella, so it's a quick read. It touches on his wider world while staying centered on the story at hand. It reads very modern, without some of the really strained language Lovecraft used so often. It has most of Lovecraft's hallmarks, including a revelation at the end.
It's a short story, not a novella, so it's a quick read. It touches on his wider world while staying centered on the story at hand. It reads very modern, without some of the really strained language Lovecraft used so often. It has most of Lovecraft's hallmarks, including a revelation at the end.
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Re: Lovecraft - Where should I start
i remember the creepiest were "Under the Pyramids", "The Colour Out of Space" and "The Temple". my favorite story was where this one guy had a vision of Cyclopean-non-Euclidean-geometry-land. if you're ever reading a story and you come to a point where you can easily guess the 'twist' ending (such as the abysmal "Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family"), feel free to skip it and go to the next. trust me on this.
- hepcat
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Re: Lovecraft - Where should I start
Rod Serling was a bit of a fan. Check out the box sets of Night Gallery for some great (and not so great) dramatizations of Lovecraft's works. Pickman's Model and Cool Air were particularly well done.
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- Doomboy
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Re: Lovecraft - Where should I start
I absolutely agree with that. They were quite creepy, and scared the hell out of me when I was a kid. Well, the Pickman's Model episode did. Cool Air is not such a scary story. But it is good.hepcat wrote:Rod Serling was a bit of a fan. Check out the box sets of Night Gallery for some great (and not so great) dramatizations of Lovecraft's works. Pickman's Model and Cool Air were particularly well done.
- Jaymann
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Re: Lovecraft - Where should I start
I got the same thing for 99 cents. They are all so short it is not much of a time investment to read them all. A few got a bit tedious so I just skipped ahead to the punchline.Isgrimnur wrote:I picked up a Kindle "Complete" works earlier that was arranged chronologically. Some of his early stuff is painful to read and indicative of a rookie writer.
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- Lagom Lite
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Re: Lovecraft - Where should I start
I believe "The Color out of Space" was one of the novels he himself considered the best. It is very good, and it stands out.
"The Shadow over Innsmouth" for all the references made by modern horror films... It's very iconic of his work.
I very much liked "Cool Air" because of it general icky-ness, and it also illustrates his borderline racism...
"The Shadow over Innsmouth" for all the references made by modern horror films... It's very iconic of his work.
I very much liked "Cool Air" because of it general icky-ness, and it also illustrates his borderline racism...
Last edited by Lagom Lite on Mon Nov 14, 2011 4:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Is there anyone in hell?
"Lagom you are a smooth tongued devil, and an opportunistic monster" - OOWW Game Club
- Lagom Lite
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Re: Lovecraft - Where should I start
+1 for S.T. Joshi btw.
But you've seen who's in heaven
Is there anyone in hell?
"Lagom you are a smooth tongued devil, and an opportunistic monster" - OOWW Game Club
Is there anyone in hell?
"Lagom you are a smooth tongued devil, and an opportunistic monster" - OOWW Game Club
- silverjon
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Re: Lovecraft - Where should I start
Borderline racism?
The man was very obviously bigoted, but also a product of his time.
The man was very obviously bigoted, but also a product of his time.
wot?
To be fair, adolescent power fantasy tripe is way easier to write than absurd existential horror, and every community has got to start somewhere... right?
Unless one loses a precious thing, he will never know its true value. A little light finally scratches the darkness; it lets the exhausted one face his shattered dream and realize his path cannot be walked. Can man live happily without embracing his wounded heart?
To be fair, adolescent power fantasy tripe is way easier to write than absurd existential horror, and every community has got to start somewhere... right?
Unless one loses a precious thing, he will never know its true value. A little light finally scratches the darkness; it lets the exhausted one face his shattered dream and realize his path cannot be walked. Can man live happily without embracing his wounded heart?
- Lagom Lite
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Re: Lovecraft - Where should I start
Right. I'll fix it.silverjon wrote:Borderline racism?
The man was very obviously bigoted, but also a product of his time.
But you've seen who's in heaven
Is there anyone in hell?
"Lagom you are a smooth tongued devil, and an opportunistic monster" - OOWW Game Club
Is there anyone in hell?
"Lagom you are a smooth tongued devil, and an opportunistic monster" - OOWW Game Club
- McNutt
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Re: Lovecraft - Where should I start
Thanks for the help. I ended up reading Call of the Chthulu and was kind of ambivalent about it. I'll probably check out The Color Out of Space next, but I recently got sucked into Abercrombie's The Heroes, so I'll finish that one first.
- McNutt
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Re: Lovecraft - Where should I start
Ten years later and I finally got around to reading The Color Out of Space. Easy to read in one sitting. I really enjoyed this one. It was better than Call of the Chtulu.
Now I'm ready to dig in.
Now I'm ready to dig in.
- hepcat
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Re: Lovecraft - Where should I start
Watch the Nick Cage film of the same name from a year or so ago. Not really an adaptation, but hella fun.
He won. Period.
- Holman
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Re: Lovecraft - Where should I start
Fhtaghn!
If "The Call of C" turned you off, I recommend "The Shadow over Innsmouth" and "The Dunwich Horror." They both feel like adventure/detective stories and less like pseudo-psychological case studies.
After that, dive into "At the Mountains of Madness." It's clearly an inspiration for John Carpenter's The Thing.
Much prefer my Nazis Nuremberged.
- hepcat
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Re: Lovecraft - Where should I start
I’ve heard at least one other person say The Thing was influenced by At the Mountains of Madness, but I disagree with that. The Thing sticks pretty closely to the Campbell novella Who Goes There. The only similarity between that and At the Mountains of Madness is the Antarctic setting and a shapeless race…but even then, Shoggoths are gigantic creatures, and they couldn’t/didn’t mimic humans. Other than that, they are very different tales of terror. Mountains is cosmic horror on a grand scale, The Thing is a much more intimate horror story. The sense of paranoia and the claustrophobia that Carpenter created in The Thing are the real horrors.
Now, if you look at In the Mouth of Madness…yeah, definitely a Lovecraft inspired story.
Now, if you look at In the Mouth of Madness…yeah, definitely a Lovecraft inspired story.
He won. Period.
- AWS260
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Re: Lovecraft - Where should I start
Not so much "Where should I start," more "where you might end up."
The New York Times on NecronomiCon
The New York Times on NecronomiCon
What was striking was how many of the participants have worked through the problem of Lovecraft himself to repurpose the basic tropes in his fiction. They are appropriating its overarching themes — the powerlessness of humanity against great, unknowable forces — and turning the weird into an instrument of self-exploration, liberation and creativity.
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Re: Lovecraft - Where should I start
Another vote for the Color Out of space, really enjoyed it.