Where to start for the budding Lovecraftian?

[Asmor]

So I've had a growing appreciation for the type of dark fantasy typified by ancient secrets and insanity, the sort of themes invariably dubbed "Lovecraftian," and it got me thinking... I should read something by Lovecraft.

So... any suggestions for ONE book I should get (for now... if I like it... you never know).

A bit about my reading habits... I don't read fiction much at all. Honestly can't remember the last novel I read... I prefer something short. Probably shouldn't have a lot of exposition (I've never read the LotR trilogy because I just can't start the first book. I've gotten 100 pages into it or so and it just bores the ever-living **** out of me. I have read The Hobbit, though).

I love reading... non-fiction-like fiction books, if that makes any sense. Things like Lords of Madness, where they describe something fake in an almost textbook-like fashion (although, obviously, it has to be on a topic I like in the first place... I don't have the Draconomicon because honestly dragons are just kinda ho-hum). I'd love something like that which described "the elder gods" I've heard so much about-- what they are, why they are, etc...

What's got me interested in this primarily is the aforementioned Lords of Madness. I never really gave Aboleths a second thought and Mind Flayers were just kinda "meh," but now I'm enamoured with both... particularly Aboleths.

So which H. P. Lovecraft novel should I start with? Or would you even suggest picking something up by a different author in the same vein?

 

[trancejeremy]

Well, HPL really never wrote a novel (he did write one, but it was really short). Most of his books are short story collections.

Which seems to perhaps fit your reading style. (I can't really recomment one book, since I have no idea what is in print these days)

 

[Angel Tarragon]

For your viewing pleasure, there are the following movies (in chronological order):

From Beyond - 1986
The Unnamable - 1988
The Unnamable II: The Statement of Randolph Carter - 1993
Lurking Fear - 1994
Necronomicon - 1994
Un siècle d'écrivains: Le cas Howard Phillips Lovecraft (The Case of Howard Phillips Lovecraft) - 1998
Dagon - 1991
Nyarlathotep - 2001
Pickman's Model - 2003

 

[Filby]

The Statement of Randolph Carter. Really short story, fun read, it's what introduced me to Lovecraft.

 

[Ibram]

The great thing about Lovecraft is that you can start reading anywhere... his stories dont occur in any specific order. The best thing to do is go down to your favoret books store and pick up a collection.

Some of his more iconic stories...

At the Mountains of Maddness: his longest story, about a group of scientites exploring the arctic. Hilarity ensues.

Call of Cuthulu: one of his best known stories, and nearly as long as "At the Mountians of Maddness". If I had to recomend a single store to start with it would be this one.

Reanimator: "To Life, to Life, I'll bring all these dead men to life..."

The Colur out of Space: a favoret of mine; about a farmor and a british color.

 

[Gomez]

You can find most Lovecraft stories on the internet. Here is some suggestions to start out with.

Rats in the Walls, In my opinion one of the best Lovecraft stories.
Pickman's Model
The Colour Out of Space
The Shadow over Innsmouth, a classic.
The Dunwich Horror, One of the few Lovecraft stories in which the good guys win.
The Thing on the Doorstep
The Call of Cthulhu, The grand old gentleman of the Mythos Stories
The Horror at Red Hook
Imprisoned with the Pharaos, Ghost written by Lovecraft for Harry Houdini.
Dreams in the Witch-house
Cool Air
The Lurking Fear
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward
The Haunter of the Dark, Creepiest description of a city ever!
At the Mountains of Madness

 

[Asmor]

Oh, well, thank you all very much!

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

My Top 3 Lovecraft stories:
The Rats in the Walls
The Colour Out of Space
The Dunwich Horror

There are many others that are excellent, but if you only want a few, those are the ones I'd start with, in that order.

 

[mmadsen]

I prefer something short. Probably shouldn't have a lot of exposition (I've never read the LotR trilogy because I just can't start the first book. I've gotten 100 pages into it or so and it just bores the ever-living **** out of me. I have read The Hobbit, though).

If you want something that moves quickly, you may be out of luck; HPL is known for his meandering, purple prose. (When I recently reread "The Shadow over Innsmouth," I was shocked by how redundant much of it was.)

That said, "The Call of Cthulhu" should fit the bill. Also, you might enjoy Robert E. Howard's horror stories -- same basic setting, but a much quicker pace; the heroes take action.

 

[DungeonmasterCal]

Last month there was an 800+ page of collected Lovecraft stories released. I'd just buy that and leave the lights on.