August Derleth (who published quite alot of Lovecraft's works along with many of his contemporaries; he was not one of the great ones IMO, who dabbled in the Cthulu Mythos, but he was good and a personal friend of Lovecraft's whom he admired to some degree)
Clark Ashton Smith
Manly Wade Wellman
Fritz Leiber
Robert Bloch (author of Psycho among many others)
Robert E. Howard (Conan writer: in fact if you read some of the original Conan stories they have some connections to Lovecraft's Cthulu Mythos)
There are more I'm forgetting I'm sure. Maybe I'll have a look around when I get home.
Some of Lovecraft's own influences were Lord Dunsany, Algernon Blackwood, Arthur Machen, Robert W. Chambers, and Gertrude Bennet(t?). If you're interested in who influenced Lovecraft though and which authors impressed him you should read Supernatural Horror In Literature by Lovecraft. I discovered some really good horror writers with this book.
Then the question becomes with what story/stories?
My preference for a starting point is Polaris.
You could have gotten that impression from quite a few of his stories. You really should read some.
What Brice said, my fellow horror nerd, Lovecraftian freak, and Poe pupae.
In addition to Brice's suggestion of "Polaris", may I also recommend the following first few stories:
- The Cats of Ulthar
- The Statement of Randolph Carter
- The Call of Cthulhu
- At the Mountains of Madness
- Herbert West-Reanimator
It'll take a lot more than words and guns,
A whole lot more than riches and muscle.
The hands of the many must join as one.
And together we'll cross the river.
Puscifer, "The Humbling River"
Some great suggestions, but my preference when recommending stories to new Lovecraft readers is with the pre-Mythos dream cycle though of course there is some overlap there. Ultimately though it doesn't really matter where you start I suppose. His every word was brilliant.
*nod* That's a good course of reading. My approach is to throw out a sampling of different lengths and types, so the new reader can see the variance in his work. I think that our dual-pronged approach should net us (insert Dagon joke here) a few more Lovecraftian devotees.
It'll take a lot more than words and guns,
A whole lot more than riches and muscle.
The hands of the many must join as one.
And together we'll cross the river.
Puscifer, "The Humbling River"
I have a copy now of 48 stories courtesy of a dear bear we know!!
I will commence reading in a few minutes, and return with my thoughts !
Thanks Jean!
The answer is within
all matter is energy, all energy is GOD
My favorite Lovecraft stories are The Shadow over Innsmouth, its companion story The Thing On the Doorstep and The Case Of Charles Dexter Ward
if the worlds gonna end then let's get it over with, i got shit to do
1st story is very enjoyable so far, nicely written, mayhap I need to mature to appreciate his style.
The answer is within
all matter is energy, all energy is GOD
...or it may take a couple more stories. I suggest you pick short ones. Order really doesn't matter so much.
I wonder if we can't come up with a definitive list of King works with Lovecraft influences and/or mentions.
I am reading It at the moment, and King mentions Lovecraft when describing Boston in the early morning.
Brice my sweet, have you a recommendation then?
I have checked the e-book file and it appears I have no
listing of what the 48 stories are, I could carefully scroll
down the pages , but alas I a so lazy!
The answer is within
all matter is energy, all energy is GOD
Thanks , I'll take a look see if it's one in the file
The answer is within
all matter is energy, all energy is GOD
It may not be his best (though I like it alot), but it's always seemed to me to be somewhat more accessable.
With the collective King knowledge on this site, I think we'll be able to tackle that.
Off the top of my head:
IT - (what's the exact reference you meant, pablo?)
IT - Some of the images in the "smoke house" scene are Lovecraftian.
The Dark Tower series - Creatures of the prim
The Dark Tower series - Use of term "The Great Old Ones"
"Crouch End" - It's a Lovecraft tribute, specifically as part of a collection of modern Cthulhu mythos tales
"The Mist" - Possibly a rip in the fabric between universes / thinny allowed the massive monsters to enter our world.
From a Buick 8 - Something in this reminds me of a Moon Beast from Lovecraft.
Countless direct comments referring to "something out of Lovecraft" or the like. We will need to go through each piece individually to document this properly. There is also a lot of Lovecraftian imagery that we could count.
It'll take a lot more than words and guns,
A whole lot more than riches and muscle.
The hands of the many must join as one.
And together we'll cross the river.
Puscifer, "The Humbling River"
I read some Bloch, and liked him, although would have never made any mental connection between him and Lovecraft - the styles are too radically different, and Bloch kinda stands on his own feet. As far as Howard is concerned, I tried to read him, and failed - his writing, say sorry, seemed pathetic to the bear... And of course, I read Machen - thanks to King and you personally - who is absolutely brilliant. I think I'll have a look at the rest of them.
Ask not what bears can do for you, but what you can do for bears. (razz)
When one is in agreement with bears one is always correct. (mae)
bears are back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The one I was talking about was a short story. I don't recall it exactly, but it involved some strange carnival like procession and drums that were like the god drums in Lud...I'll have to have a look through my books and see if I can find it...
Such great imagery of the mind. Wonderful phrasing and terrific terror!
I may indeed be able to comment further soon. Thanks again , for the
books Jean.
The answer is within
all matter is energy, all energy is GOD
Oh, yeah...as far as Bloch goes (while he's great on his own) here you'd be looking for strictly short stories ( oftentimes they have lovecraft like titles even and were published by Arkham House: Lovecraft's publisher) I think for the most part. The same is true with Howard. Here we are talking stories with direct connections to lovecraft's world. Lovecraft and these author's directly and intentionally referenced things in each other's stories. I could list more, but this'll get you started nicely. Or I suppose I could list specific stories.
Lisa, it's really not ringing a bell. Sorry! I'm no expert though. Alot of writers have written stories with connection to Lovecraft. I'd even go so far as to say most of modern horror owes some debt to him.
And today I just recieved my early birthday present to myself- a first edition Tales Of The Cthulu Mythos.
I've only started becoming interested in Lovecraft recently, but i do love the short stories i've read so far. The Statemen of Randolph Carter certainly gave me the creeps!
I must say that, although i haven't read much of his work, i have seen a LOT of references recently. A couple of Doctor Who Expanded Universe have explicitly connected some of the monsters in the show with some of the Old Ones in the Lovecraft mythology, and in a comic strip in 2000AD set in Victorian times, there were several slight injokes, most notably a book in one panel clearly labelled "Necronomicon". So his impact is certainly undeniable!
Never be cruel and never be cowardly. And if you ever are, always make amends.
You are a walking talking Doctor Who encyclopedia to me. - Melike
Yes, that's a particularly good story.
It'll take a lot more than words and guns,
A whole lot more than riches and muscle.
The hands of the many must join as one.
And together we'll cross the river.
Puscifer, "The Humbling River"