# Do you know who HP Lovecraft is?



## Andrea Pearson (Jun 25, 2011)

I'm interested in seeing the answers to these questions:

1. When did you discover HP Lovecraft?
2. What was your initial reaction? 
3. Has your opinion of him changed?
4. What is your favorite story of his?

For me:
1. When my hubby made me read his stories. 
2. Too much description and backstory at the beginning, then awesomeness later.
3. Not really. I still like his writing but dislike the backstory at the beginning. 
4. So many choices. At the Mountains of Madness or the Mole people one. (I can never remember the title. The people have two different colored eyes and live underground.)


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## Sam Kates (Aug 28, 2012)

I have his complete works on my Kindle, but haven't yet got to them. Will do very shortly.


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## Andrea Pearson (Jun 25, 2011)

Sam Kates said:


> I have his complete works on my Kindle, but haven't yet got to them. Will do very shortly.


Nice! I've got smatterings of his stuff here and there in different collections, but would love them all to be in one spot.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

I read pretty much all of his work back in the sixties. Several years ago I got an ebook collection and am working though that every so often. I like his stories a lot.

Mike


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## Andrea Pearson (Jun 25, 2011)

jmiked said:


> I read pretty much all of his work back in the sixties. Several years ago I got an ebook collection and am working though that every so often. I like his stories a lot.
> 
> Mike


Since I only just discovered him a couple years ago, I'm always slightly envious of people who've known of him for a long time.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

I like that most of his work is in short stories, so that I can enjoy them in small doses; as it's not something I want a steady diet of, but it is a refreshing alternative from time to time.


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## Tony Richards (Jul 6, 2011)

1. Soon after leaving college -- I studied law (groan!) and didn't read a word of fiction for three years.
2. I thought the singularity of his vision was amazing.
3. I still think the singularity of his vision is amazing.
4. The Shadow over Innsmouth.


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## Sam Kates (Aug 28, 2012)

Tony Richards said:


> I studied law (groan!) and didn't read a word of fiction for three years.


I studied law for five years, then practised it for fourteen. I was still crap...


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## CoraBuhlert (Aug 7, 2011)

Andrea Pearson said:


> I'm interested in seeing the answers to these questions:
> 
> 1. When did you discover HP Lovecraft?
> 2. What was your initial reaction?
> ...


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## Ty Johnston (Jun 19, 2009)

1. I don't remember exactly when I became aware of who he was, but probably late '70s or early '80s, my late grade-school and early teen years. I do remember the first time I read anything by him, and that would have been '84 when I purchased a collection of his works from a local book store.

2. Interesting ideas, intriguing background material, but a clumsy prose writer. There were much better writers, though not necessarily as imaginative, during his lifetime.

3. Not really, no.

4. Hmm, probably "Shadows Over Innsmouth." Or, at least, I think it is his most tightly constructed story.


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## Guest (Jan 15, 2013)

Andrea Pearson said:


> 1. When did you discover HP Lovecraft?
> 2. What was your initial reaction?
> 3. Has your opinion of him changed?
> 4. What is your favorite story of his?


1. Aged about twelve in the local library in an omnibus of Mythos stories by various authors. 
2. Scared out of my mind, and impressed because most modern horror authors had failed to do that. I managed to find a collection of his very short (few hundred word) works and I think he is definitely an author who is actually scarier in the shorter stories where a lot of the fear is done by implication.
3. I think I'm more aware of unfortunate subtexts in his work, but his stories are still terrifying and gripping.
4. A tie between "The thing on the doorstep" and "At the mountains of madness"


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

1. vaguely
2. negative -- not into horror
3. 4. never read anything


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## Tony Rabig (Oct 11, 2010)

1. Around 1965, with a paperback (title may have been THE DUNWICH HORROR AND OTHER STORIES, but I've slept since then, so I may have that wrong).

2. Found I enjoyed him more at short story length than at novelette and longer, but then I feel that way about a number of writers.

3. Not that much, but it's been some time since I read him; picked up a Kindle edition with all the stories, but haven't started re-reading him yet.

4. Until I get around to re-reading, I'd go with "Pickman's Model," "The Outsider," and "The Thing on the Doorstep."


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## Andrea Pearson (Jun 25, 2011)

CoraBuhlert said:


> My opinion changed as soon as they dug up the frozen Elder Things, which promptly unfroze, and when they discovered the city of the Elder Things. By that time my reaction was, "Oh my God, I so want to visit that place. I want to go on one of those Antarctic cruises and visit that city."


I felt the exact same way when I read At the Mountains of Madness.

And many of you have mentioned stories of his that I really enjoy. Shadow over Innsmouth had such a surprise ending, and I really like that.

Still haven't read The Thing on the Doorstep.


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## William Meikle (Apr 19, 2010)

I discovered the writing of H P Lovecraft back in the very early Seventies. I came to him, not looking for horror, but for Science Fiction as that was where my prime interest lay back then. I believe the first story I read was THE DUNWICH HORROR in one of the cheap UK paperback editions. That was enough for me to seek out the rest, and I remember reading AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS while sitting on the back steps of our house on a hot summer's day.

It was only natural that I should turn to some Lovecraftian conceits in my own writing, and in recent years I've found there's a wide variety of markets willing to share my obsession. My list of Lovecraft-inspired works grows apace, and here's where you can find the most recent.

Novels / Novellas


The Creeping Kelp (Hardcover / Paperback / Ebook / Dark Regions Press)
Clockwork Dolls novella (Hardcover / ebook / DARKFUSE)
The Midnight Eye Files: The Amulet (Ebook / Black Death Books)
The Invasion (Paperback / Ebook / Dark Regions Press)
Island Life (Ebook / Generation Next)

Short Story Collections


Carnacki: Heaven and Hell (Hardcover / Paperback / Ebook / Dark Regions Press)
Dark Melodies (Hardcover / Paperback / Dark Regions Press)

I also have numerous lovecraftian anthology and magazine appearances of my stories and I've also recently finished a Lovecraftian Space Opera novella. PLASM, coming in 2013 from Dark Regions.

I'm currently writing a short story for another Lovecraft themed anthology.

I probably won't stop until the stars are right.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Andrea Pearson said:


> I'm interested in seeing the answers to these questions:
> 
> 1. When did you discover HP Lovecraft?
> 2. What was your initial reaction?
> ...


I've vaguely heard of him, but since I haven't read any of his works, I have no initial reaction and no favorite story.

Some of what I've read here makes me want to try him, though if he's primarily short stories, those aren't my favorite form, so that makes me less likely to try.

Betsy


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## James Everington (Dec 25, 2010)

_1. When did you discover HP Lovecraft?_
When I was about 15, I think. I knew Stephen King had praised him and I got a cheap paperback of what I now realise were some of his weaker stories.

_2. What was your initial reaction? _ 
I probably loved him at that age, because his vision was so strong and unique, and even then I had the impression there was some interesting small-p philosphical underpinning to his work...

_3. Has your opinion of him changed?_
I still rate him as being exceptionally influential and no serious reader of horror/weird fiction can ignore him. His best work is amongst the best there is. However it's harder nowadays to overlook both his prose-style (which whilst unique led him to write some hideous sentences on occasion) and the undercurrent of racism in some of his stories.

And I'd say _Blackwood _ is better...

_4. What is your favorite story of his?_
Agree that his short stories are where to start; The Call Of Cthulhu is my favourite.


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## VondaZ (Apr 21, 2009)

I've always been aware of Lovecraft, but I didn't start reading him until a couple of years ago when I picked up the Halcyon Classics Lovecraft anthology for my Kindle. At first, I was blown away because it was so different from the horror that I was used to. But I stopped reading that book about 40% into it, after finishing the Mountains of Madness. While each story is different, they all have that same Lovecraftian uniqueness that kind of made everything seem like more of the same after a while. The evil frequently felt like it was the same evil in just another incarnation. And it was sometimes difficult to relate to that evil, which takes a little of the horror out of it if it doesn't feel like it could reach out and touch you where you are. It felt a little distanced from me.

Probably my problem was reading it all at once, rather than mixing it in between other things - I just became oversaturated with it. Also, the archaic style gets old after a while. I get into it for a while and then I get tired of it.

I am not sure which is my favorite. The one I remember most because it always felt a little different than the rest was the one about the meteor. I think it was "The Colour Out of Space" - but I am not positive. "Dreams in the Witch House" also stands out in my memory.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

VondaZ said:


> Probably my problem was reading it all at once, rather than mixing it in between other things - I just became oversaturated with it. Also, the archaic style gets old after a while. I get into it for a while and then I get tired of it.


That's the way I feel about it also. I'm going through the entire collection, but I only read something from it every four or five months.

Mike


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

1. When did you discover HP Lovecraft? - as a horror fan, I was aware of him for a long time.  Stephen King, for example, has dabbled in the Lovecraft mythos.  I didn't actually read any of Lovecraft's work, however, until a few years ago.
2. What was your initial reaction? - I thought he was OK.  I liked the ideas of his work - the complexity of the Lovecraftian mythos and the creatures and beings he invented, more than the stories.  
3. Has your opinion of him changed? - Yes, I have grown to appreciate his work more and more as time has gone by.
4. What is your favorite story of his? - I have to go with the classic "Call of Cthulhu" of course.


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## Kathelm (Sep 27, 2010)

I've known about his works via osmosis for some unknown length of time.  I finally got around to reading some of it sometime in college.

In general, I'm sorry to say I wasn't impressed.  Too much of his description of horrors boils down to, "And then something indescribably awful happened/appeared.  It was eerily dreadful and our language is insufficient to capture my terror.  But trust me, it was really scary."

In other words, it's an older style that just didn't work for me.  I recognize why he's held in high esteem, though.


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## NottiThistledore (Jan 11, 2013)

I heard about Lovecraft in high school, but didn't get around to reading (well, attempting) At the Mountains of Madness until uni. I only made it about fifty pages through, I'm afraid to say!


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## Y. K. Greene (Jan 26, 2011)

1. I've always been aware of him, but didn't read any of his works until my mid twenties. If you're a fan of horror, he's _always_ there, seeping around the edges of everything new, influencing it, _haunting_ it. Like Poe or Stoker, a haunting that's is often better than the original, trimmed, lean and terrifying.

2. Didn't actually like it. At all. Still don't, really. His writing makes me feel turned around in half a dozen circles, I find myself rereading and rereading and rereading the same sections of text over again, trying to comprehend what's really going on. That turned around and dreamy feeling is actually my favorite part about his work.

3. Not really. I still vastly prefer works that were influenced by his writings to his actual writing. I do love the cosmic horror genre though, "The Great God Pan," is one of my favorites in the genre.

4. "Pickman's Model," maybe? I haven't read all of Lovecraft's works yet, so maybe there's still a shinning light out there that I haven't found yet. Mostly my current pick has more to do with being able to recall the story in somewhat full detail than actual fondness


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## Debbie Bennett (Mar 25, 2011)

1. When did you discover HP Lovecraft? In my mid twenties, when I got involved with the British Fantasy Society
2. What was your initial reaction? Never really "got" it, to be honest. I much preferred things like William Hope Hodgson's House on the Borderland which was supposed to be "Lovecraftian". That was a book I didn't enjoy ready much but was more scary afterwards than during.
3. Has your opinion of him changed? Nope. Very overrated, IMO, but I know people who adore him and are inspired by his work. Meh.
4. What is your favorite story of his? None of them stuck out enough to remember. Found them all very slow but that was more a sign of the times rather than his ability as a writer, I suspect. As I said, I prefer other writers who have used the Cththulhu mythos.


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## Jan Strnad (May 27, 2010)

Andrea Pearson said:


> I'm interested in seeing the answers to these questions:
> 
> 1. When did you discover HP Lovecraft?
> 2. What was your initial reaction?
> ...


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## julidrevezzo (Sep 15, 2012)

Let's see. 1. When did you discover HP Lovecraft?
A: College

2. What was your initial reaction?
A: That his stories were totally cool, out there and different--all of which are a plus. 

3: Has your opinion of him changed?
A: Honestly? *sheepish grin* I haven't re-read him lately but the last time I did, no. I still felt the same love for him as I had back then.

5: What is your favorite story of his?
A: Oh, hard to choose! "Pickman's Model" "Call of Cthulu" and " Dreams in the Witch House" are my favorites. But they're all good.


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## Red Dove (Jun 11, 2012)

1. I discovered him when a friend gave me a battered copy of short stories, long since gone, knowing I read Jules Verne, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert E Howard etc
2. I liked his imagination and found the Cthulhu mythos engaging and vaguely disturbing but often found his prose hard going, still do and haven't read him for some time
3. I need to revisit him I think, especially in light of recent events (see 4)
4. Favorite story would be "At the Mountains of Madness" and I'm very disappointed that Guillermo Del Toro decided not to make a movie out of it because Ridley Scott's "Prometheus" came so close to Guill's imagining of the story, especially the ending. I can see that, the "Prometheus" movie surely referenced Lovecraft and I remain traumatized by the giant face hugger scene.


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## Norm Geddis (Feb 10, 2013)

I discovered Lovecraft hiding behind my house in the alley when I was 8 years old. He had picked some chicken bones out of the trash and was violently gnawing the meat off them.  Mom let us keep him and my sister named him.  I had no idea who the writer was before discovering our contemptuous looking gray tabby.


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## NoreeCosper (Dec 5, 2012)

Sam Kates said:


> I have his complete works on my Kindle, but haven't yet got to them. Will do very shortly.


1. I borrowed a book from one of my friends.
2. His stories send chills down my spine and I loved him.
3. Not at all. He's an awesome storyteller.
4. I haven't read everything, but "The Rats in the Walls" is one of my favorites.


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## julidrevezzo (Sep 15, 2012)

That *would* be nice! Heck, I'd love to see what Scott or Del Toro would do with anything of Lovecraft's. I bet it would be awesome. 



Red Dove said:


> 4. Favorite story would be "At the Mountains of Madness" and I'm very disappointed that Guillermo Del Toro decided not to make a movie out of it because Ridley Scott's "Prometheus" came so close to Guill's imagining of the story, especially the ending. I can see that, the "Prometheus" movie surely referenced Lovecraft and I remain traumatized by the giant face hugger scene.


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## yaradager (Mar 1, 2013)

Here are mine!

1. When did you discover HP Lovecraft?
College

2. What was your initial reaction?
One of the best stories I have ever read and very much different than the other authors

3: Has your opinion of him changed?
I keep reading some of the stories over and over again and still feel they leave the same great impression on me. I recently got a full collection of all his stories from Amazon (book in signature) and they all still have the same effect on me like when I read them the first time... just Awesome!

4. What is your favorite story of his?
Simple. All of them


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## Beez (Feb 17, 2013)

Every fan of horror should be familiar with the work of Lovecraft. It's really hard not to be, as all great horror writers talk about him as an inspiration and favorite all the time. I've been reading his books since high school.


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## Guest (Mar 14, 2013)

High school. I found a copy of _The Necronomicon_ (this fact should tell you everything you need to know about my old high school ). This was actually an 'academic' version based off of the 'Simon' Necronomicon that included footnotes comparing Lovecraft's actual body of work to both Crowley's writings and Sumerian culture. (Again, the existence of this book in my high school should answer a lot of questions  )

My initial reaction was that they were just great horror stories filled with monsters and alien intelligences and people going crazy. 

As I got older, the most interesting thing about Lovecraft's work has been the notion that humans are not the center of the universe. If you think about a lot of the older horror, it was generally this struggle between good and evil. And evil always had a purpose (power, immortality, greed, etc). It NEEDED something from humanity, and thus in some odd way reinforced out notion of self-importance. In Lovecraft, you have this concept of evil in a void. You imagine the Elder Gods or Great Old Ones think no more of humans than humans do a gnat. For the most part, you ignore it until it buzzes in your face, at which time you swat at it.

To be honest, I think I'm more a fan of the mythos itself than Lovecraft's writing. I think many of the writers who added to the mythos later were better writers than Lovecraft. Lovecraft was an exceptional storyteller but an average writer (if that makes sense).


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## Linjeakel (Mar 17, 2010)

I had heard of him, but as I'm not into either short stories or horror, I haven't ever read anything of his.

I can't see that changing, despite the many positive reports here.


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## jason10mm (Apr 7, 2009)

1. Somewhere in middle to junior high. Not sure if it was from Metallica songs ("Call of Ktulu" and especially "The thing that should not be") the paperbacks with those awesomely creepy covers, the older Arkham House editions found in some dusty library shelf, or the "Call of Cthulhu" RPG game.

2. Pure awesomeness. I was helped by liberal readings of Verne, Howard, and Burroughs, so the writing style was not totally foreign.

3. If anything, it has deepend when you realize the amount of current science and speculative fiction he worked into his stories. Most are more sci-fi than horror, or would be categorized as such if released today.

4. Depends on my mood. "Color out of Space" and "Whisperer in Darkness" are fantastic. "Call of Cthulhu", despite being awesome, is so hampered by the "I heard from a guy who heard from a guy..." style. "Rats in the Walls" is another great one. "Shadows out of Time", so good!

I probably grew up reading the August Derleth revisions. Recently did a 100% reread of the restored versions so it is hard to say how my memories and nostalgia reconciled with the actual stories. Not a plug, but there is a podcast called the "H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast" that goes through EVERY story in chronological order. Pretty good way to move through Lovecraft if you are down for a detailed read, or you can just pick and choose for the popular stories.

It is also worthwhile to track down the Robert Howard mythos stories. If you ever wanted to know what a lovecraft story would be like if the main character packed a gun and threw a punch instead of fainting dead away....


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

Heard about him in of all places a yarn website.  (Yarn as in the stuff you crochet with not yarn as in stories.
Picked up a collection of his after I got my kindle.
Have not read any of it yet.


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