lemex
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Post by lemex on Apr 12, 2009 18:19:08 GMT
H.P. Lovecraft has been the subject of rather heated debate on at least two threads on here; so I have decided to start this thread, both in honour of him (my favourite writer) but also to dispel the myths about him:
Yes, he came up with the name 'Arkham' used in the batman comics and films, but this does not mean batman is stealing from Lovecraft - no. The name Arkham, and Arkham insane hospital is a REFERENCE and a HOMAGE to H.P. Lovecraft's Arkham town and Arkham Sanatorium (featured in the short story The Thing on the Doorstep)
Secondly; H.P. Lovecraft has nothing to do with the story line or the setting of the first Silent Hill game (an idea that has been gaining popularity lately and I do my best to dispel this idea) H.P. Lovecraft was a cosmic horror writer, who - mostly - wrote about the horrors of worlds beyond our own, and a hidden, fictional grimore of powerful, alien entities who either are making plans to, or are passively try to destroy mankind and our society. Silent Hill was more inspired by the work of Stephen King, and the psychological horror of early 90s Rubber Reality films such as Jacob's Ladder and Session 9.
Other than this, I must ask everyone who has read or is a fan, what are your favourite Lovecraft works?
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Post by alx on Apr 12, 2009 21:17:49 GMT
My favorite is "Shadow Over Innsmouth" and I think it has all the elements needed for a good Lovecraft tale
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Post by Vaco Deus on Apr 13, 2009 0:25:51 GMT
He's okay. I have alot of his work but it takes a long time to get into for me.
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Post by alx on Apr 17, 2009 4:14:45 GMT
Now I never said HPL was a great writer- He wasn't. His prose was bone dry but this is true of all the gothic novelists which he tried so hard to emulate. His style was woefully thin on verb but since he wrote short stories he had to get to the verb sooner than later so it isn't quite the chore it might've been otherwise. Admittedly, I skim whole pages where he goes into ecstasy over architecture and his choice of modifiers are often hilarious but those are not what made him great
HPL's concepts were and still to this day are first rate and juicy, like a fine wine which, while dry, still leaves a pleasing taste upon the tongue long after it has been swallowed. Keep in mind the man was very much in the same league as Verne when it came to speculating on future technologies but my favorite thing by far about his work isn't that or even the mythos as much as what I call "the Lovecraft Guarantee"
The bulk of his work will leave the narrator dead, insane or both on the last page and as the Bard wrote Empires may fall and oceans may rise, but there's naught like a play where everyone dies...
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Post by Toadkiller Dog on Apr 17, 2009 5:11:06 GMT
Hell, I'll say his writing was fantastic, and he has been my single biggest inspiration as a horror writer myself.
My favorite tale of his is "The Color Out Of Space".
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lemex
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Post by lemex on Apr 17, 2009 8:48:59 GMT
Hell, I'll say his writing was fantastic, and he has been my single biggest inspiration as a horror writer myself. My favorite tale of his is "The Color Out Of Space". My sentiments exactly. He is my favourite horror writer simply because he was a fantastic writer. Sure he did go on about things you or I may not care about, but it was always fitting with the story. I think he should be counted as among one of the best writers ever, and tales like The Outsider and Herbert West are just wonderful stories. Sure, he had some bad things about his style and prose (even the best can't excape their own short comings); but overall he was and still is a damn good writer. My favourite stories of his are The Wisperer in Darkness, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, The Hound, The Shadow over Innsmouth (not his best, but there is just something in this tale that continues to fascinate people) and Hypnos (again, not his best, but like Innsmouth there is just something in it that fascinates me).
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Post by alx on Apr 17, 2009 20:46:51 GMT
I'm glad you like his writing style but I personally find it lacking. On the other hand, I love his craftsmanship (drum-roll)
Color out of Space: I never much cared for it, although it was one of his better attempts at writing. He really nailed the whole mood in that one yet the whole radiation visible to the human eye bit always bothered me, but that is probably me being an optics nerd again. Certainly the concept of the land being turned into a reservoir is spot on, since the government was sure to do that or turn it into a park. Leukemia for everyone!
Artistically speaking, it never fails to piss me off when HPL describes out of gamut colors since, by definition, they can't be painted. On the other hand, I love to paint Cthulhu since you never have to paint him the same way twice! Hell, the number of eyes I give him vary from picture to picture...
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lemex
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Post by lemex on Apr 17, 2009 21:29:08 GMT
Artistically speaking, it never fails to piss me off when HPL describes out of gamut colors since, by definition, they can't be painted. On the other hand, I love to paint Cthulhu since you never have to paint him the same way twice! Hell, the number of eyes I give him vary from picture to picture... Haha sounds as cute as Cthulhu can be. I am the first to admit though, he has a lot of short-comings. But overall, he was a great writer nevertheless; even if his style was a little pretenious and melodramatic (and, yes, mabye a little thin too).
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Father Vincent
Lying Figure
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Shuwatch!
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Post by Father Vincent on Apr 17, 2009 21:39:07 GMT
The Hound scares the crap out of me every time I read it. And The White Ship isn't one of my favorites, but it's a prime example of his work having an impact on modern writers, as it reminds me a lot of Neil Gaiman. One thing that always bugged me about Lovecraft though, so often he'll be like, "The thing was so unnaturally hideous I can't even begin to describe it. It looked like this: . . ."
Also, I never heard the word "eldritch" before I read any HPL. But now I chuckle whenever I see Terry Pratchett use it for a joke in one of his Discworld books, such as, "I said it was eldritch." "I thought 'eldritch' meant 'oblong.'"
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Post by alx on Apr 19, 2009 11:13:26 GMT
Neil himself is guilty of criminal misuse of the mythos but due to his other contributions I'm willing to commute the sentence. Gene Wolf is the only author I am aware of that does HPL justice. And when it comes to descriptions, HPL sucked! Not only did he blow chunks with the "it could not be described" bit but when he went on to describe something the man would frequently contradict himself. In the same damn paragraph! Yeah, we could blame the editor but let's face it- Howie works best on the concept level and not always so well when it comes to details (unless you mean the nauseating detail he lavishes on architecture) But that being said, he remains a constant source of inspiration to contemporary authors, so he must've been doing something right. Not bad for a self-proclaimed hack... Here's one of my favorite studies of the old sushi head, although it is in no way meant to be my final word on the subject. I can (and have) drawn that beastie a hundred times and never came up with a solution that I want to stick with. But that's all part of his charm. Google the bitch and you'll see that no two artists agree on how he should look. If nothing else, one must respect his ability to keep fanboys busy from beyond the grave
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Post by Tabris on Jul 11, 2009 18:16:42 GMT
I as of late have been getting into Lovecraft. I've very quickly become a huge fan of his. I've been reading the Necronomicon since my friend lent it to me.
I find his greatest fault is also one of his greatest strengths. His writing style. It can be very dry while at the same time extremely compelling. I love his descriptions of architecture. Although, I find his ambiguity somewhat redundant from story to story.
So far, my favorite story is probably The Music of Erich Zann. I'm a huge music buff so the end of that story is incredibly chilling and enthralling. I also really loved The Cats of Ulthar which gave me a shit eating grin by the end of the story. I adore cats, so to see them take revenge as they did made me so happy.
Honestly, I loved every story I've read of his so far. I just finished The Hound, which was so twisted and full of maniacal karma.
For me, so far, it's been hard to fault Lovecraft's faults. It really has become more of a charm than anything. Maybe I won't exactly say that by the end of the Necronomicon, but so far I stand by that.
I can also see the influence Lovecraft has had on damn near everything I enjoy. Even NIN and Silent Hill. They may not have been the end all be all influence on these things, but the mystery of reality itself and how easily everything can come crashing down, I can definitely see that.
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Post by Toadkiller Dog on Jul 13, 2009 3:41:23 GMT
Keep in mind, Lovecraft did NOT write the Necronomicon.
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lemex
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Post by lemex on Jul 13, 2009 15:06:27 GMT
Neil himself is guilty of criminal misuse of the mythos but due to his other contributions I'm willing to commute the sentence. If you like criminal misuse of the mythos, try some of the stories in Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos. It's meant to be one of the central books in the mythos, but I read it last week and most of the stories where horridly depressing. The worst is The Space Eaters by Frank Belknap Young, he contradicted himself in the same paragraph - and sometimes sentences - and made a story so full of plot holes its like fishnet tights. Most of them in this book are not even connected to the mythos, and are only vaguely connected if at all. The Black Stone by Robert E. Howard is a great story, but no one can tell me it's a Mythos story. Keep in mind, Lovecraft did NOT write the Necronomicon. They mean the Commemorative Edition Necronomicon, a collection of his best works.
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Father Vincent
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Shuwatch!
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Post by Father Vincent on Jul 13, 2009 16:36:44 GMT
I was just talking about HPL and the Cthulhu mythos on another forum as well. I had to share a few of these pictures. By the way, www.hello-cthulhu.com is funny as crap. And my own contribution, showcasing my MS Paint/HP Photosmart skillz:
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Post by Tabris on Jul 14, 2009 15:48:53 GMT
Yea, I was definitely referring to the collection of short stories. Although I wish I wasn't. That would be kinda badass.
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