Poll of the Day > So I read some Lovecraft stories for the first time... (Spoilers)

(+) Yeah! (+)

I passed by "The Lovecraft Compendium" when I was birthday shopping for my mom and picked it up on a whim. I'll give my thoughts on each story below.

Dagon: Not much to say about this one. It's really short and most of it is basically a walking simulator in book form. It's ok, I guess.

The Call of Cthulhu: Part I is a bit boring, but part II is full of mystery and intrigue. And then part III comes in and ruins everything. Maybe it's because of the hype or something, but when Cthulhu appears it's just so damn underwhelming. He shows up in the flesh, a fucking Great Old One, and just starts killing everyone like a B-Movie monster. Then a guy rams him with a boat and he gets knocked out. This is the thing that inspired so much cosmic horror? He's a chump.

The Dunwich Horror: After not much liking what seems to be widely considered Lovecraft's best work (by people who've never read it, I now assume), I was a bit wary of the last 3 stories in the compendium. This wariness was unnecessary, however, as the Dunwich Horror is a very good story. I like that the heroes are eggheads that stumble upon something awful and then have to go fight something more awful. I like that the titular monster is basically a force of nature, destroying everything as it goes. I like the idea that the world almost ended because of the work of one half-man in a town full of bumpkins in the middle of nowhere. Of the five stories in here, this is my number one. But the next one is a very close second.

The Whisperer in the Darkness: A slow burn done is a great way. The only real complaint I have is how dumb the narrator is at the end. The final letter is such an obvious set-up to destroy all the evidence and witnesses that the fact the narrator, someone who's been a smart guy up to this point, goes along with it is almost absurd. Aside from that, though, it was great. I became incredibly invested in Akeley's fate. Though I knew he wouldn't, I was really rooting for him to get out safely. Because of this, I felt connected to Wilmarth, because he wanted the same thing that I did. I liked the focus on the more sci-fi side of the Lovecraft mythos. Also, the final sentence is downright chilling.

The Haunter of the Dark: Another short story, and a huge let down after the last two stories. I feel like more could have been done with the concept instead of just have the fart monster hide in the church the whole time until the end when it kills Blake for... reasons? I guess I shouldn't expect to understand the motivations of these sorts of beings, but its hatred of Blake seems arbitrary. This one still makes my top 3 from the compendium, anyway.
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A lot of people today find Lovecraft boring, partly because he spends like 2/3rds of every story just describing things rather than furthering plot, and partly because years worth of horror movies have sort of desensitized us all to the idea of creeping dread. Especially when most people today can see the ending coming from a mile away, because we've seen the dozens of stories that have been written since that rip-off the concept.

But I also find it kind of depends on which Lovecraft story you're reading. For instance, I found The Case of Charles Dexter Ward and The Dunwich Horror better than a lot of his other stories.

Ironically, some of the best Lovecraft stories you're ever going to read are stories that Lovecraft didn't write, but that were written by authors trying to evoke the same mood and tone because they were strongly influenced by his writing and style when they were younger. Or which were written directly in homage to him and the mythos he helped create.


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I started reading Lovecraft somewhat recently as well. He has some pretty cool stuff.

Too bad dude was a racist
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green dragon posted...

I started reading Lovecraft somewhat recently as well. He has some pretty cool stuff.

Too bad dude was a racist

Hey I'm the guy who informed you of that super racist poem he wrote

ParanoidObsessive posted...

partly because years worth of horror movies have sort of desensitized us all to the idea of creeping dread

I think it's less this and more that modern horror fans think that horror is about how many jump scares you can shove into 2 hours.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

For instance, I found The Dunwich Horror better than a lot of his other stories.

Since your tastes seem similar to mine, how do you feel about At the Mountains of Madness? I've been thinking about reading that one next. And I'll be sure to check out The Case of Charles Dexter Ward at some point.
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SkynyrdRocker posted...

green dragon posted...

I started reading Lovecraft somewhat recently as well. He has some pretty cool stuff.

Too bad dude was a racist

Hey I'm the guy who informed you of that super racist poem he wrote

Heh, maybe. On the creation of *racial slur*
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tbh, I love Lovecraft but he can be a tough read at times. Thankfully, many of his stories have been adapted for tv, etc, if reading them isn't to your fancy.

However, just stay the fuck away from his poetry =x

GanonsSpirit posted...

Dagon: Not much to say about this one. It's really short and most of it is basically a walking simulator in book form. It's ok, I guess.

>_>

tbh, a few of his stories are similar in format where it's more a matter of a narrator recording observations than actively engaging in the events.
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It's not great.
But the stuff made from his work is top notch.
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i liked the rats in the walls.

and not just because of the cat with the hilarious name.
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Too bad dude was a racist

He actually moved away from those views before he died. Some of his later letters basically have him saying he's reconsidered his stance.

and not just because of the cat with the hilarious name.

It's actually the name of a cat he had as a child. From his letters we know that he didn't name the cat, but he really loved the cat. Naming the cat that in the story was to honor his cat's memory.
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GanonsSpirit posted...

Since your tastes seem similar to mine, how do you feel about At the Mountains of Madness? I've been thinking about reading that one next. And I'll be sure to check out The Case of Charles Dexter Ward at some point.

IMO you probably should have started at Mountains of Madness since it's one of the better ones, but then you'd end up slogging through many of the more anticlimactic stories and Lovecraft might have become a chore to read...
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Check out The Outsider. One of my favorites. I like Lovecraft's style despite it being often tedious.

By the way if you like weird fiction with sci-fi/cyberpunk/dystopian elements check out JG Ballard. I love his short stories.
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Mountains of Madness is one of my favourites, as is The Color From Out Of Space.
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