H.P. Lovecraft

[Anthony]

Are there any other H.P. Lovecraft nuts out there? I've collected his works and old first pressings of the Arkham House works for a number of years.

I just find it completely fantastic that he was able to develop his own mythos, entire universe and have the propensity to claim that all other religions were a misinterpretation of HIS religion. Hell, I even have a tattoo of the Necronomicon Sigil. :twisted: :cyclops:

It amazes me that even by today's standard his writings are considered more than out there. Let alone back when his works were being published he was viewed as the Black Plague of science fiction/wierd tales/horror.

Ia Ia Cthulhu Fhtagn!

"That is not dead which can eternal lie; yet with strange aeons, even Death may die."
-H.P. Lovecraft

 

[Doc Manhattan]

I adore Lovecraft. He's a bit of a southern New England icon. I live nearish to Moodus, CT, home of the "Moodus Noises" that inspired some of his Old Ones mythology.

Funny you have an HPL tat--my tattoo parlour is called Lovecraft! Itis decorated with lots of Victorian studies of squids and creepy-looking plants.

If you can find it (it was a small-press deal,) there's a parody novelette called Scream for Jeeves, which imagines a Jeeves and Wooster adventure with the Old Ones. It's spot-on.

(Blake did the whole "all mythologies are imperfect shadows of mine" first, but of course, he was quite mad from inhaling etching chemicals for years.)

 

[thedeep]

Since I have a pipe named after one of Lovecraft's characters, I have become a big fan. My pipe, Curwen, came from "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward." Now, I read Lovecraft. Strange that I had overlooked him, previously.

 

[Harlock999]

I too "adore" Lovecraft.
I read everything I could get my hands on back in my late teens, and have continued to be entranced by his work.
"The Festival" is one of my favorite short stories.

On a side note, I always thought it was cool that there was a record label back in the 60's called Dunwich.

As well the band named H.P. Lovecraft

 

[Anders And]

I’m also a Lovecraft aficionado. My favorite novel is The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath. I can read it over and over again and it still keeps stunning me.

If you are interested in Lovecraft as a person, I can really recommend the biography by S.T. Joshi: H.P. Lovecraft: A Life (Necronomicon Press).

 

[cakeanddottle]

His early period stuff is dull, the middle period somewhat generic, but the last 15 years of his life he wrote some great stories. He did have an annoying habit of falling in love with a word and then using it to death within a story (cyclopean comes to mind); his social ineptitude shows through in his hollow characters, and I don't think we can install him with the giants of English Literature.

However, his craft at creating dread, doom and hysteria are unparalleled. History will remember Stephen King when American Horror comes up, but between these two pop culture icons Lovecraft's work was much more signigicant and influential. Pimples, warts and all, he's one of my favorite writers too.

 

[ewest]

Lovecraft is one of my favorites. I finally had a chance to watch the documentary "Lovecraft, Fear Of The Unknown". Good overall documentary. I have thought about a Lovecraft inspired tattoo. He had his faults and yes he would latch on to a word beat it till it was dead. But the worlds he created and the tones or moods he could set are still admired and copied to this day. The man continues to inspire.

 

[babysinister]

And now you can download all of Lovecraft (or practically) into your Kindle or Nook. He was inducted at last in the Library of America editions, with a volume of his short stories, edited by Peter Straub (one of the interviewees in the documentary Fear of the Unknown). Many of the mainstream writers who snubbed Lovecraft as a writer have never made it to one of the LoA series. Late-blooming justice.

On the light side, go to YouTube and search for The Adventures of Li'l Cthulhu and Hey There Cthulhu - The Photomontage Video.

 

[Anthony]

Here's my Necronomicon sigil :twisted:

Disregard the farmer's tan.

 

[MisterE]

I watched the Lovectaft: Fear of the Unknown last night. I have never read him but I will now thanks to this thread! :idea:

 

[Doc Manhattan]

Anthony, sweet ink! I don't suppose your dogtags specified that you wanted Cthulu Cult clergy? :twisted:

This is my boy in his Baby Cthulu bib (and an appropriate jumper). If only he slept as soundly as Cthulu...

 

[MisterE]

Hey, cute kid Doc!! Congrats again! :cheers: :cheers:

 

[babysinister]

I watched the Lovectaft: Fear of the Unknown last night. I have never read him but I will now thanks to this thread! :idea:

MisterE, if you can wade past his writing style which can be best described as, er, old fashioned, frequently convoluted and with a penchant for purple prose, you'll acquire this taste. Play past all that and you will get to the heart of Lovecraft. I guess the best story to start with is The Call of Cthulhu.

 

[cakeanddottle]

Stuart Gordon did three pretty decent Lovecraft adaptations. From Beyond, ReAnimator and Dagon. Dagon is arguably the best, and is kind of a mix of Dagon and Shadow Over Innsmouth.

 

[Harlock999]

I watched the Lovectaft: Fear of the Unknown last night. I have never read him but I will now thanks to this thread! :idea:

MisterE, if you can wade past his writing style which can be best described as, er, old fashioned, frequently convoluted and with a penchant for purple prose, you'll acquire this taste. Play past all that and you will get to the heart of Lovecraft. I guess the best story to start with is The Call of Cthulhu.

All of the above is true!
Lovecraft exists in an antiquated world of even older dreams and fears.

 

[ewest]

Anthony, that is one sweet tat! I have found several different Lovecraft designs that I thought would work out, but I just haven't found "the one yet". By the way, for anyone wanting to know. I DVR'd the "Fear of The Unknown" documentary on the "Chiller" channel. So if you have the channel, you might run a search and see if they are showing it again. I also think Netflix has it.

 

[Anthony]

Anthony, sweet ink! I don't suppose your dogtags specified that you wanted Cthulu Cult clergy? :twisted:

This is my boy in his Baby Cthulu bib (and an appropriate jumper). If only he slept as soundly as Cthulu...

FUNNY STORY: I actually DO have "Non-Euclidean" on my dogtags. It was a bitch and a half trying to get them to approve it. I had to petition to the chaplain and mortuary affairs because they didn't have the proper funeral rites in case I died in combat. So I got a lawyer to notarize a letter calling for the procedure of my burial as follows sans legal terms:

For my body to be wrapped in fresh kelp and seaweed atop a green raft engraved with various described occult symbols, a stone statue of Cthulhu at my head, and a statue of Shub Niggurath between my loins. To be lit on fire (viking funeral style) and sent off to sea in the approximate direction of R'lyeh while all attendants at the funeral are wearing black hooded robes sashed with sea foam green rope belts, no other clothing underneath.

I'll have to dig up my tags and post pics for proof :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

 

[Gumball]

His prose may be a little purple but I put him up there with Poe as a great of the horror lit scene.

I just purchased the commemorative editions

 

[Doc Manhattan]

FUNNY STORY: I actually DO have "Non-Euclidean" on my dogtags. It was a bitch and a half trying to get them to approve it. I had to petition to the chaplain and mortuary affairs because they didn't have the proper funeral rites in case I died in combat. So I got a lawyer to notarize a letter calling for the procedure of my burial as follows sans legal terms:

For my body to be wrapped in fresh kelp and seaweed atop a green raft engraved with various described occult symbols, a stone statue of Cthulhu at my head, and a statue of Shub Niggurath between my loins. To be lit on fire (viking funeral style) and sent off to sea in the approximate direction of R'lyeh while all attendants at the funeral are wearing black hooded robes sashed with sea foam green rope belts, no other clothing underneath.

I'll have to dig up my tags and post pics for proof :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

That is so, so excellent. Obviously I wish you a long, happy life, but that would be quite the sight to see. As would the Military Chaplain's face when he unsealed that letter.

 

[alfredo_buscatti]

I've never learnt about Lovecraft before, and I've never sought him out. But once I finish with Jane Austen's novels, I would suppose that a good transition would be provided by him.