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deety · 02-13-2009, 02:36 AM

I agree that Lovecraft is more about atmosphere and concepts, and his style is not going to be to everyone's taste. Try "The Shadow Over Innsmouth," "The Color Out of Space," or maybe "Cool Air."

I hate to contradict anyone, but I usually recommend that people avoid "Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath" until they really get a taste for his stuff. The Dream Cycle stuff is good, but I think it's less accessible to someone new to Lovecraft. If you'd like to try one of his longer stories, go with the "At the Mountains of Madness" suggestion. It's amazing.

Whatever you do, avoid the knockoff Mythos stories by other writers. Especially the stories claimed to be co-written by Lovecraft (they're largely people revising and adding to story fragments after his death). Then again, I have this huge bias against novels or short stories that "continue" an author's setting or characters after they're no longer with us.

02-13-2009, 02:36 AM	#9
deety book geek Posts: 51 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2008 Device: Kindle 2	I agree that Lovecraft is more about atmosphere and concepts, and his style is not going to be to everyone's taste. Try "The Shadow Over Innsmouth," "The Color Out of Space," or maybe "Cool Air." I hate to contradict anyone, but I usually recommend that people avoid "Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath" until they really get a taste for his stuff. The Dream Cycle stuff is good, but I think it's less accessible to someone new to Lovecraft. If you'd like to try one of his longer stories, go with the "At the Mountains of Madness" suggestion. It's amazing. Whatever you do, avoid the knockoff Mythos stories by other writers. Especially the stories claimed to be co-written by Lovecraft (they're largely people revising and adding to story fragments after his death). Then again, I have this huge bias against novels or short stories that "continue" an author's setting or characters after they're no longer with us.