General Lovecraft/Weird fiction thread - Page 2

conanfan · 04-19-2008, 02:17 PM

Well, let me jump in here - I've been a huge fan of lovecraft and weird fiction generally since my teens. My favorite Lovecraft works are "Dream-Quest of the Unknown Kadath" and "The White Ship." I'm also a fan of Clark Ashton Smith and William Hope Hodgson. Like Dr. Drib, I have also collected a nearly full set of the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series - I first read William Morris, George McDonald and Lord Dunsany through that imprint.

That being said, I've also developed a real taste for the New Weird - current writers of strange fiction, often influenced by Lovecraft and his peers. A great website for online new weird fiction is Fantastic Metropolis (http://tinyurl.com/46bmnu), which is sadly dormant at the moment, but still has a remarkable collection of new weird tales (I recommend anything by Jeff Vandermeer or Jeffery Ford). Jeff Vandermeer's City of Saints and Madmen is a tremendous work of weird fiction and is available at Books on Board, among other ebook sites.

I also highly recommend anything by Thomas Ligotti, who is perhaps the most Lovecraftian writer going. Two of his short stories are available online at http://tinyurl.com/6jpnda. His work can be hard to find, but the collections Teatro Grottesco is currently available in hard cover at Amazon (http://tinyurl.com/6yak9z), with a trade paperback edition available for pre-order. Otherwise, ebay, alibris and Amazon's used books section are probably your best bets.

Lobolover · 04-19-2008, 05:56 PM

Hi.You seem like a wery educated person.Id sugest "The thing from the Lake" by Eleanor M. Ingram and "The Place Called Dagon" by Herbert S. Gorman-very lovecraftian.Merritt is also wery good-and you MUST read the King in Yellow (book),the Maker of Moons and the Carpet of Belshazar.Even Kipling's "The mark of the beast" is wonderfull,even if the guy ends good.And "Lukundoo" by Edward Luccas White and Irvin S. Cobb's "Fishead"-basicly everything Lovecraft recomends in "supernatural horror in literature".

weird thing is,though,modern weird stories seem to IMITATE Lovecraft/other such authors,while puting them in new setings,wery alien (in the original sense of the word) to them.A good example about it is "Broadalbin" by John Scott Tynes from the "Rehersals for oblivion" king in yellow pastiches.Its good,but it seems to near a plain golden age sci-fi story in that it kinda,well,it doesnt evoke terror,now the chill and fascination every sensitive person feels when reading Chambers' original King in yellow stories.Its kinda plain and there isnt any real horror in it,nor any real alusions.

That colection has stories which are good,though "Cat with the hand of a child" by Mark McLaughlin seems like a fanfiction,and not a REALY good one.

"Ambrose" doesnt use the card of desolation and despair,of distant memories of an actual life long forgoten through aeons,as good as it could and leaves a bitter aftertaste,also the presence of the robot child seems a litle useless and one term.

What I mean is-in Chambers' stories,the play is WERY loosely mentioned and is something mystic,just beyond the course of reality.I think there are THREE stories detailing the play in that colection.Also,instead of at least explaining a handfull of the allusions made my Chambers,they explain all,wery one-sidedly.Not one was adopted by another author.Id like if writers of theese things could continue what Lovecraft and his colleagues did-contribute to each others stories,instead of constantly re-interpretating one and the same thing.

Having things like descriptions of sex in a weird fiction story just seems wrong and missing the point.

Halk · 04-19-2008, 06:00 PM

Would the Lovecraft fans care to suggest a suitable piece to start with?

I've read one Lovecraft story, but it was a very, very long time ago and I can't remember what it was.

Ideally if you could recommend something "typical" of him, that doesn't require me to have read any other works.

Lobolover · 04-19-2008, 06:05 PM

Suitable.Hmm.Try "The doom that came to sarnath" ,being short,"Celephais" and "The rats in the walls",even if its long.

Halk · 04-19-2008, 06:13 PM

As I understand his work is all in the public domain, so it's ok to get it without paying for it. Could you point me in the right direction for Celephais or The Rats in the Walls?

Edit : Ah, never mind. Turns out one of the guys here has collected everything freely available into 4 volumes. I've snagged those and it's on the first one.

Lobolover · 04-19-2008, 06:19 PM

almost all,except four of his revisions of C.M.Eddy's stories.

here it is

http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Author:H._P._Lovecraft

Megatron-UK · 04-21-2008, 08:26 AM

Can't go wrong with the biggies to get started...

The Call of Cthulhu
At the Mountains of Madness
Shadow over Innsmouth
Herbert West, Re-Animator

I like the fact that even though he almost never explicity links his main antagonists together, you can't help but connect the various novels and stories together via their overwhelming sense of something dark and ominous, just outside our normal existence, trying to get in.

August Derleth went a little too far in trying to connect the whole mythos together IMO (his whole 'Elder Gods' vs 'Great Old Ones' setup is a bit corny), but some of the more modern stuff manages it quite while - the back story of the Elder Things, Shoggoths and the Cthulhu-spawn is quite neat.

Lobolover · 04-21-2008, 09:06 AM

not onnly was it corny,but making them represent "good" and "evil"-something Lovecraft insistantly denied in his works-now that was just stupid and trying to bring it down to his own catholic beliefs.thn again,it aint to markant in "Lurker at the threshold".

Dr. Drib · 04-24-2008, 04:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by conanfan

Well, let me jump in here - I've been a huge fan of lovecraft and weird fiction generally since my teens. My favorite Lovecraft works are "Dream-Quest of the Unknown Kadath" and "The White Ship." I'm also a fan of Clark Ashton Smith and William Hope Hodgson. Like Dr. Drib, I have also collected a nearly full set of the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series - I first read William Morris, George McDonald and Lord Dunsany through that imprint.

That being said, I've also developed a real taste for the New Weird - current writers of strange fiction, often influenced by Lovecraft and his peers. A great website for online new weird fiction is Fantastic Metropolis (http://tinyurl.com/46bmnu), which is sadly dormant at the moment, but still has a remarkable collection of new weird tales (I recommend anything by Jeff Vandermeer or Jeffery Ford). Jeff Vandermeer's City of Saints and Madmen is a tremendous work of weird fiction and is available at Books on Board, among other ebook sites.

I also highly recommend anything by Thomas Ligotti, who is perhaps the most Lovecraftian writer going. Two of his short stories are available online at http://tinyurl.com/6jpnda. His work can be hard to find, but the collections Teatro Grottesco is currently available in hard cover at Amazon (http://tinyurl.com/6yak9z), with a trade paperback edition available for pre-order. Otherwise, ebay, alibris and Amazon's used books section are probably your best bets.

Hi, conanfan:

I'm retaining your full quote, because I feel like I've just met my clone!

I agree with everything you've said about weird fiction and also the current state of imaginative literature.

You mention all the greats that I loved (and still love - mixed in now with a humorous grain of salt. The fact is, Lovecraft - for me - is the most ridiculous fun I've ever had!

)

"The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath" is also my favorite Lovecraft story, perhaps because of the way he "borrowed" the language and mythos of Dunsany to create an other-world-styled dream kingdom.

Thomas Ligotti, as you note, is a wonderful writer, a very atmospheric writer, and one who revels in language.

What I want to say is thank you for expressing EXACTLY what I feel about weird fiction.

Don

Lobolover · 04-25-2008, 06:39 AM

you DO realise theres a whole "dreamlands" series of stories,do you?

Dr. Drib · 04-25-2008, 08:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lobolover

you DO realise theres a whole "dreamlands" series of stories,do you?

Yes, and I've read them all and enjoyed them all.

Thanks,
Don

Lobolover · 04-25-2008, 11:22 AM

yes,your coment of Dream Quest let me think otherwise.I liked them for the "something else" feeling they have,not being conventional fantasy stories,thank goodness.

Lobolover · 05-23-2008, 12:45 PM

I just saw Stepanok's post old post somewhere.

Where he says that "there's 2 murders a page" and only"speaking of nameless horror".

I can just see the posters IQ.With a microscope.

conanfan · 05-24-2008, 01:19 AM

Don, sorry I'm so delayed in replying but I just had ankle surgery and I haven't felt like doing much of anything. I'm glad to meet someone with similar tastes in fiction.

I love the titles you post here - unfortunately, I'm a pocket pc user, so I don't get to use them. In any case, it's good to meet a kindred spirit and fan of weird fiction.

Lobolover · 05-24-2008, 05:51 AM

2 questions

1-Have you read the King in yellow and the Maker of moons?

2-Have you seen Hodgson's story "A voice in the night"-a MUST for any fan (ive only managed to finish his short stories,and im about 2/3ths finished with Night Land,which I have COMPLETELY printed out,yes,im that sortof a madman)

G.B.Bennet should get some credit for her influence,though."Claimed!" should be noted more videly,its a CLASICALY writen weird tale.

Also,"Auriol,or the elixir of life" from Ainsworth is realy worth a read,a delusious litle weird tale of another sort.

PPPS:One final note-ive located the COMPLETE text of "Melmoth the wanderer" (not simply an excerp) online,if anyone wants.......

04-19-2008, 06:13 PM	#20
Halk Fanatic Posts: 538 Karma: 469999 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Scotland Device: Sony PRS-650 (PRS+ alpha - thanks Kartu!)	As I understand his work is all in the public domain, so it's ok to get it without paying for it. Could you point me in the right direction for Celephais or The Rats in the Walls? Edit : Ah, never mind. Turns out one of the guys here has collected everything freely available into 4 volumes. I've snagged those and it's on the first one. Last edited by Halk; 04-19-2008 at 06:17 PM.

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04-19-2008, 02:17 PM	#16
conanfan Me Lurk Here Long Time Posts: 79 Karma: 541625 Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Nashville, TN Device: Oasis; PW1+3g; Lenovo Yoga Tab 3 Pro; KF HDX 7;	Well, let me jump in here - I've been a huge fan of lovecraft and weird fiction generally since my teens. My favorite Lovecraft works are "Dream-Quest of the Unknown Kadath" and "The White Ship." I'm also a fan of Clark Ashton Smith and William Hope Hodgson. Like Dr. Drib, I have also collected a nearly full set of the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series - I first read William Morris, George McDonald and Lord Dunsany through that imprint. That being said, I've also developed a real taste for the New Weird - current writers of strange fiction, often influenced by Lovecraft and his peers. A great website for online new weird fiction is Fantastic Metropolis (http://tinyurl.com/46bmnu), which is sadly dormant at the moment, but still has a remarkable collection of new weird tales (I recommend anything by Jeff Vandermeer or Jeffery Ford). Jeff Vandermeer's City of Saints and Madmen is a tremendous work of weird fiction and is available at Books on Board, among other ebook sites. I also highly recommend anything by Thomas Ligotti, who is perhaps the most Lovecraftian writer going. Two of his short stories are available online at http://tinyurl.com/6jpnda. His work can be hard to find, but the collections Teatro Grottesco is currently available in hard cover at Amazon (http://tinyurl.com/6yak9z), with a trade paperback edition available for pre-order. Otherwise, ebay, alibris and Amazon's used books section are probably your best bets.

04-19-2008, 05:56 PM	#17
Lobolover Gorosei Posts: 421 Karma: 334 Join Date: Feb 2008 Device: Microsoft Word	Hi.You seem like a wery educated person.Id sugest "The thing from the Lake" by Eleanor M. Ingram and "The Place Called Dagon" by Herbert S. Gorman-very lovecraftian.Merritt is also wery good-and you MUST read the King in Yellow (book),the Maker of Moons and the Carpet of Belshazar.Even Kipling's "The mark of the beast" is wonderfull,even if the guy ends good.And "Lukundoo" by Edward Luccas White and Irvin S. Cobb's "Fishead"-basicly everything Lovecraft recomends in "supernatural horror in literature". weird thing is,though,modern weird stories seem to IMITATE Lovecraft/other such authors,while puting them in new setings,wery alien (in the original sense of the word) to them.A good example about it is "Broadalbin" by John Scott Tynes from the "Rehersals for oblivion" king in yellow pastiches.Its good,but it seems to near a plain golden age sci-fi story in that it kinda,well,it doesnt evoke terror,now the chill and fascination every sensitive person feels when reading Chambers' original King in yellow stories.Its kinda plain and there isnt any real horror in it,nor any real alusions. That colection has stories which are good,though "Cat with the hand of a child" by Mark McLaughlin seems like a fanfiction,and not a REALY good one. "Ambrose" doesnt use the card of desolation and despair,of distant memories of an actual life long forgoten through aeons,as good as it could and leaves a bitter aftertaste,also the presence of the robot child seems a litle useless and one term. What I mean is-in Chambers' stories,the play is WERY loosely mentioned and is something mystic,just beyond the course of reality.I think there are THREE stories detailing the play in that colection.Also,instead of at least explaining a handfull of the allusions made my Chambers,they explain all,wery one-sidedly.Not one was adopted by another author.Id like if writers of theese things could continue what Lovecraft and his colleagues did-contribute to each others stories,instead of constantly re-interpretating one and the same thing. Having things like descriptions of sex in a weird fiction story just seems wrong and missing the point.

04-19-2008, 06:00 PM	#18
Halk Fanatic Posts: 538 Karma: 469999 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Scotland Device: Sony PRS-650 (PRS+ alpha - thanks Kartu!)	Would the Lovecraft fans care to suggest a suitable piece to start with? I've read one Lovecraft story, but it was a very, very long time ago and I can't remember what it was. Ideally if you could recommend something "typical" of him, that doesn't require me to have read any other works.

04-19-2008, 06:05 PM	#19
Lobolover Gorosei Posts: 421 Karma: 334 Join Date: Feb 2008 Device: Microsoft Word	Suitable.Hmm.Try "The doom that came to sarnath" ,being short,"Celephais" and "The rats in the walls",even if its long.

04-19-2008, 06:19 PM	#21
Lobolover Gorosei Posts: 421 Karma: 334 Join Date: Feb 2008 Device: Microsoft Word	almost all,except four of his revisions of C.M.Eddy's stories. here it is http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Author:H._P._Lovecraft

04-21-2008, 08:26 AM	#22
Megatron-UK Connoisseur Posts: 76 Karma: 22 Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: uk Device: Sony PRS505	Can't go wrong with the biggies to get started... The Call of Cthulhu At the Mountains of Madness Shadow over Innsmouth Herbert West, Re-Animator I like the fact that even though he almost never explicity links his main antagonists together, you can't help but connect the various novels and stories together via their overwhelming sense of something dark and ominous, just outside our normal existence, trying to get in. August Derleth went a little too far in trying to connect the whole mythos together IMO (his whole 'Elder Gods' vs 'Great Old Ones' setup is a bit corny), but some of the more modern stuff manages it quite while - the back story of the Elder Things, Shoggoths and the Cthulhu-spawn is quite neat.

04-21-2008, 09:06 AM	#23
Lobolover Gorosei Posts: 421 Karma: 334 Join Date: Feb 2008 Device: Microsoft Word	not onnly was it corny,but making them represent "good" and "evil"-something Lovecraft insistantly denied in his works-now that was just stupid and trying to bring it down to his own catholic beliefs.thn again,it aint to markant in "Lurker at the threshold".

04-25-2008, 06:39 AM	#25
Lobolover Gorosei Posts: 421 Karma: 334 Join Date: Feb 2008 Device: Microsoft Word	you DO realise theres a whole "dreamlands" series of stories,do you?

04-25-2008, 11:22 AM	#27
Lobolover Gorosei Posts: 421 Karma: 334 Join Date: Feb 2008 Device: Microsoft Word	yes,your coment of Dream Quest let me think otherwise.I liked them for the "something else" feeling they have,not being conventional fantasy stories,thank goodness.

05-23-2008, 12:45 PM	#28
Lobolover Gorosei Posts: 421 Karma: 334 Join Date: Feb 2008 Device: Microsoft Word	I just saw Stepanok's post old post somewhere. Where he says that "there's 2 murders a page" and only"speaking of nameless horror". I can just see the posters IQ.With a microscope.

05-24-2008, 01:19 AM	#29
conanfan Me Lurk Here Long Time Posts: 79 Karma: 541625 Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Nashville, TN Device: Oasis; PW1+3g; Lenovo Yoga Tab 3 Pro; KF HDX 7;	Don, sorry I'm so delayed in replying but I just had ankle surgery and I haven't felt like doing much of anything. I'm glad to meet someone with similar tastes in fiction. I love the titles you post here - unfortunately, I'm a pocket pc user, so I don't get to use them. In any case, it's good to meet a kindred spirit and fan of weird fiction.

05-24-2008, 05:51 AM	#30
Lobolover Gorosei Posts: 421 Karma: 334 Join Date: Feb 2008 Device: Microsoft Word	2 questions 1-Have you read the King in yellow and the Maker of moons? 2-Have you seen Hodgson's story "A voice in the night"-a MUST for any fan (ive only managed to finish his short stories,and im about 2/3ths finished with Night Land,which I have COMPLETELY printed out,yes,im that sortof a madman) G.B.Bennet should get some credit for her influence,though."Claimed!" should be noted more videly,its a CLASICALY writen weird tale. Also,"Auriol,or the elixir of life" from Ainsworth is realy worth a read,a delusious litle weird tale of another sort. PPPS:One final note-ive located the COMPLETE text of "Melmoth the wanderer" (not simply an excerp) online,if anyone wants.......