Where to start for the budding Lovecraftian?
- Thread starter Asmor
- Start date
Templeton580
Explorer
At the Mountains of Madness is my all-time fave.
DungeonmasterCal
First Post
Asmor said:
I believe that's the one!
Krieg
First Post
Black Seas of Infinity: The best of H.P. Lovecraft is a nice place to start.
Desdichado
Hero
That's one of my faves too. The DreamQuest of Unknown Kadath is the first one I heard of, the first one I read, and still my favorite to this day, but when I recommended it last time we did this, a bunch of folks jumped on me because it's not very representative of Lovecraft in general.Cutter XXIII said:
I can't argue with that. The iconic stories are really ones like "The Dunwich Horror," "The Shadow Over Innesmouth" and "Call of Cthulhu." I think every gamer should have read those three. And then turn to "DreamQuest" and "Mountains."
If you're looking for engaging dialogue, interesting or sympathetic protagonists, or subtlety, Lovecraft is not for you. Lovecraft tells you everything, you rarely -- i every -- read character dialogue, and there is a sense of dread throughout the stories.
However, what makes Lovecraft worth reading is the fact that he scoffs at the notion of human certainty or the suggestion that there's anything beneficent and hopeful in the universe beyond this little, green mudball planet. There is a pervasive sense of doom in his writing related to the insigificance of humanity in the cosmic scale. A more direct aspect of his writing deals with people searching out or getting involved in knowledge and/or situations in which they have no business. More than anything, that's what draws me to Lovecraft. It's ironic that this is a recurring theme in his shortstories, particularly those that are considered part of the "Cthulu Mythos." I think Lovecraft was an atheist or at least agnostic; however, this idea that there are things that human beings have no business involving themselves in is something found in Christianity and Juadism.
At any rate I think the suggestions given to you are good ones. I would just pick up a collection and read from there. Also, buy one of the setting handbooks for The Call of Cthulu game. I know that the one from WotC had many references to Lovecraft's stories and a bibliography of "Cthulu Mythos" stories and books from Lovecraft and those influence by him.
However, what makes Lovecraft worth reading is the fact that he scoffs at the notion of human certainty or the suggestion that there's anything beneficent and hopeful in the universe beyond this little, green mudball planet. There is a pervasive sense of doom in his writing related to the insigificance of humanity in the cosmic scale. A more direct aspect of his writing deals with people searching out or getting involved in knowledge and/or situations in which they have no business. More than anything, that's what draws me to Lovecraft. It's ironic that this is a recurring theme in his shortstories, particularly those that are considered part of the "Cthulu Mythos." I think Lovecraft was an atheist or at least agnostic; however, this idea that there are things that human beings have no business involving themselves in is something found in Christianity and Juadism.
At any rate I think the suggestions given to you are good ones. I would just pick up a collection and read from there. Also, buy one of the setting handbooks for The Call of Cthulu game. I know that the one from WotC had many references to Lovecraft's stories and a bibliography of "Cthulu Mythos" stories and books from Lovecraft and those influence by him.
Frukathka said:
You left out one of the few GOOD Lovecraft movies - Re-animator. Most of Lovecraft based movies are best avoided.
Though the Unnamable had some really funny moments in it "Hell, no I'm not going back there. Either they're playing a prank or they went back there and they're dead. Places like that are DANGEROUS!" it is really just another standard "Teens killed by monster in Haunted House" movie. The Unnamable II is a z grade horror movie, which is simply awful.
Necronomicon - The first and second stories are quite good, the third is not really very Lovecraftian.
Dagon is a fairly straight adaptation of "A Shadow Over Innsmouth" another good story to read. While it's not a bad movie it is missing something and is ultimately sort of eh.
I've not seen the others, but I would recomend the movie "She-Creature". Despite a bad title and a cover picture that suggests T&A, it captures the feeling and spirit of a good Lovecraft story better than any movie I've ever seen. Perhaps because it isn't based on any Lovecraft stories.
One last suggestion. Avoid any of the other stories written by others of the "Lovecraft" circle, esp August Derleth? While they ape the subject and style of his stories, they completely lack the sense of the unknown and the alien that make his best stories so unique.
Filby
First Post
I haven't read any of Derleth's Cthulu Mythos work (a term which, I believe, he coined), but I strongly object to the way he adapted it, by adding the "Elder Gods" as opponents for the Outer Gods and basically turning it into a standard good-versus-evil thing, not to mention forcing various Great Old Ones (including Cthulhu himself) into roles as "elementals."
However, if you can find any stories by Clark Ashton Smith, especially those set in the fictional French province of Averoigne, I would recommend them. He only borrowed tangentially from Lovecraft (dropping the names of a few immortals, for instance) and otherwise built up a pretty good mythos of his own, at least in my opinion. Smith was also just a generally better writer. He was also the inspiration for the classic D&D adventure Castle Amber, and the influence of his stories can be felt in some parts of the Mystara campaign setting. My only real complaint with Smith's stories is that a certain amount of sexism shows through, as his female characters are often portrayed as just objects of affection.
However, if you can find any stories by Clark Ashton Smith, especially those set in the fictional French province of Averoigne, I would recommend them. He only borrowed tangentially from Lovecraft (dropping the names of a few immortals, for instance) and otherwise built up a pretty good mythos of his own, at least in my opinion. Smith was also just a generally better writer. He was also the inspiration for the classic D&D adventure Castle Amber, and the influence of his stories can be felt in some parts of the Mystara campaign setting. My only real complaint with Smith's stories is that a certain amount of sexism shows through, as his female characters are often portrayed as just objects of affection.
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Asmor
First Post
Heh, just wanted to update you guys...
Got "Bloodcurdling tales of horror and the macabre" at Waldenbooks today, a collection of his stories including Call of Cthulu.
Then tonight when I got home from bringing my girlfriend home, there was a power outage. On top of that, I'd left my window cracked and the winds were strong enough that it was howling... so I was faced with the enviable predicament of having no option for entertainment except to read Lovecraft by candlelight in the dark with the wind howling...
Sadly by the time I was all set up the lights came back on and my usual distractions returned once more. :/ But I'm going up to NH for Mother's day, so I'll have nothing to do at night except read that...
Got "Bloodcurdling tales of horror and the macabre" at Waldenbooks today, a collection of his stories including Call of Cthulu.
Then tonight when I got home from bringing my girlfriend home, there was a power outage. On top of that, I'd left my window cracked and the winds were strong enough that it was howling... so I was faced with the enviable predicament of having no option for entertainment except to read Lovecraft by candlelight in the dark with the wind howling...
Sadly by the time I was all set up the lights came back on and my usual distractions returned once more. :/ But I'm going up to NH for Mother's day, so I'll have nothing to do at night except read that...
