H.P. Lovecraft Discussion Thread [Archive]

View Full Version : H.P. Lovecraft Discussion Thread

BKS

01-23-2008, 1:38 PM

Discuss the world H.P. Lovecraft created herein. From what I've read of him (not that much), he'd created a fantastic setting and it just reeks of culture and backstory.

I find myself reading one of his stories and going "Damn it! I want to know more about these things!"

Monsters, madness, anything Lovecraft.

Has anyone read Rats in the Walls? That was my first taste of Lovecraft, and I nearly fucked my couch at the ending. It was amazing. That man must have been wrong in the head, because what he wrote is like Hell incarnate.

Assassin

01-26-2008, 6:14 AM

He's awesome. It's kind of hard to find his books up here, so I've only been able to read 2 story bundles of him. My favorite has to be "The Whisperer in Darkness". The atmosphere that goes in his stories is just fucking frightening.
The thing is, his stories are not entirely based around the monsters and creatures (which are totally awesome btw), the point is the lead character (mostly a scientist) losing his sanity, and discovering a cosmic and horrific truth.

Stories I read of him so far:

The Whisperer in Darkness
At the Mountains of Madness
The Shadow out of Time
The Colour out of Space
The Call Of Cthulhu
Dagon
He
The Dreams in the Witch House
The Haunter of the Dark
The Temple
? (I never found the title in English of this one, the title in Dutch is something as "The Unseeable")

Film adaptions of his work:

The HPLHS (http://www.cthulhulives.org/toc.html) has made a silent movie of The Call of Cthulhu and is bringing out a film adaption of The Whisperer in Darkness this year
Dagon (a cross of Dagon and The Shadow over Innsmouth)
The Dreams in the Witch House, by Masters of Horror
And Guillermo Del Toro is going to make a film adaption of At the Mountains of Madness, his dreamproject, in 2010.
There are others too but these are the ones I can think of right now.

BKS

01-27-2008, 1:42 PM

The HPLHS (http://www.cthulhulives.org/toc.html) has made a silent movie of The Call of Cthulhu and is bringing out a film adaption of The Whisperer in Darkness this year
Dagon (a cross of Dagon and The Shadow over Innsmouth)
The Dreams in the Witch House, by Masters of Horror
And Guillermo Del Toro is going to make a film adaption of At the Mountains of Madness, his dreamproject, in 2010.
There are others too but these are the ones I can think of right now.

Del Toro's should be amazing. I'm a fan of most, if not all of his works that I've seen and he's pretty damn good at making scary.

Assassin

01-27-2008, 1:58 PM

Yeah I can't fucking wait to see it. I don't know alot of Del Toro's work but just to see a good film adaption of a good director will be amazing.

I hope it won't get alot of hype though.

BKS

01-27-2008, 6:42 PM

Yeah, as long as it comes out in a local theater, and I get to see it, then it's fine. Otherwise I'm afraid the hype may wreck it.

Desert

01-27-2008, 7:16 PM

I read The Call of Cthulhu. My favorite book hands down. They're making another movie this year I think.

CalculatePie314

01-27-2008, 7:16 PM

I just bought a book of a bunch of stories by Lovecraft. I've only read a couple, and they're all really interesting. Problem is, I'm pretty bad at english and I don't have a huge variety of vocabulary, so some of the material is hard to read. Other than that, all of the stories want me reading more.

Spiffy13

01-27-2008, 10:20 PM

The Wanderer (still one of, if not my #1 favorite Lovecraft stories, by the way) is what got me into him a year and a half ago or so. And holy shit, I'm so happy my brother introduced me to him. He is a horror god.

The Picture In The House... oh my god, that creped the shit out of me, and was awesome to a level I didn't know existed.

In fact, they're so awesome that Metallica made a song about The Shadow Over Innsmouth.

BKS

01-27-2008, 10:54 PM

I bought 2 story collections. 2 sort of "Best of" books.

I just bought a book of a bunch of stories by Lovecraft. I've only read a couple, and they're all really interesting. Problem is, I'm pretty bad at english and I don't have a huge variety of vocabulary, so some of the material is hard to read. Other than that, all of the stories want me reading more.

It's not just you. I'd like to think that I am pretty literate and good with the English language, and even I have to take it slow while reading. If you can get past that, it's pure amazement.

CalculatePie314

01-28-2008, 9:13 AM

What are some stories that you would recommend? I mean, some people already mentioned a few (Shadow over Innsmouth, Call of Cthulhu, etc.) but what are some others? Also, where do you buy your books at? I looked at a couple local bookstores but resorted to going online. Is there a site with a bunch of stuff from him as well as similar authors?

Spiffy13

01-28-2008, 10:08 AM

Kitsuri

02-10-2008, 9:58 AM

I've only read Rats in the Walls and about half of The Colour Out of Space, but my god! Lovecraft is amazing. I've heard varying amounts of dissent because the time he takes in detailing the architecture and settings, but once you've through that, it's absolutely amazing.

tunacake

03-29-2008, 7:48 PM

Haven't read anything of his yet and I've wanted to for quite a while. There's a big tank of a collection called Necronomicon coming out next month. It's the biggest one I could find and it's killing me waiting for it.

Homemaster

03-31-2008, 7:10 PM

Jag

04-04-2008, 8:48 PM

I just read "The rats in the walls" last night and was thoroughly scared! I must say I'm looking forward to reading the rest of his short stories now. Good pacing, nice small twist, pretty horrific AND terrifying. only thing was, i didn't get the whole subterranean thing....i realise his family was part of some cult, but what the hell did they do EXACTLY?!!? please exrain
Lovecraft will usually feature the element of the character not being able to escape what his family has done previously in the past, a curse being brought down from the Royal Bloodline.
What Delapore's Family experiences is a common action among Lovecraft Mythos, which is the degradization of the Human Being.
In this case, the ancient city beneath the walls of the castle was used as the Cult Center of the Area, where civilization lived and thrived. Delapore mentions Nyarlathotep, another god of Lovecratian Mythos Lore. It is here that Delapore's Destiny is carried out and where he finds he is unable to escape what his family has done in the past.
The Human Cattle were the result of Humans born into slavery, forced to walk on all fours, eat grains and grass, and herded, much like cattle. The result of this was the source of food.
It's a seriously fucked up book.

But I just love The Music of Erich Zann. It's creepily intense.

Spiffy13

04-04-2008, 9:36 PM

Lovecraft will usually feature the element of the character not being able to escape what his family has done previously in the past, a curse being brought down from the Royal Bloodline.
What Delapore's Family experiences is a common action among Lovecraft Mythos, which is the degradization of the Human Being.
In this case, the ancient city beneath the walls of the castle was used as the Cult Center of the Area, where civilization lived and thrived. Delapore mentions Nyarlathotep, another god of Lovecratian Mythos Lore. It is here that Delapore's Destiny is carried out and where he finds he is unable to escape what his family has done in the past.
The Human Cattle were the result of Humans born into slavery, forced to walk on all fours, eat grains and grass, and herded, much like cattle. The result of this was the source of food.
It's a seriously fucked up book.

But I just love The Music of Erich Zann. It's creepily intense.
Holy crap, The Music of Erich Zann was so weird and creepy.