Just recently, I've gotten into stuff by Lovecraft. I always liked the stuff inspired (or loosely inspired) by his work, such as Evil Dead and Re-animator, but I never bothered to look at his actual writings. After seeing MOH's Dreams in the Witch House and reading up on the writer himself, I'm staring to get into his style, which blurs the lines between sci-fi and the occult - witch's spells being based in mathematical geometry, interdimensional worlds, the difference between gods, demons and aliens not quite defined. I've only read a couple of his stories, and I want to read more, so if anybody has any suggestions (of stories, books, movies, etc) I'm all ears.
_At the Mountains of Madness_
And you must, must read "The Shadow Over Innsmouth."
And "The Thing on the Doorstep."
And "Pickman's Model."
=) Lots of other good ones but those are a great start. Buy or borrow a copy of _The Best of HP Lovecraft: Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Macabre_ and you'll be well on your way.
QuoteAnd you must, must read "The Shadow Over Innsmouth."
Still the most terrifying story I've ever read til this day. I've read that Lovecraft hated fish to the point of fearing them so just imagine the terror of that story from his standpoint. The town that inspired Innsmouth is in the NE regions of MA I've never been through it but I've been to several places in my area that have reminded me of that story.
For my money, Lovecraft's most effective story is also one of his shortest: "The Statement of Randolph Carter."
beyond the wall of sleep. I'm not sure if it is a book or not but i saw the movie and it was great.
Quote from: The DarkSider on November 26, 2007, 06:52:21 AM
QuoteAnd you must, must read "The Shadow Over Innsmouth."
The town that inspired Innsmouth is in the NE regions of MA I've never been through it but I've been to several places in my area that have reminded me of that story.
It has never been officially established which town Innsmouth is based on, but the popular opinion is Ipswitch, MA. I am not of that opinion and am convinced that he based the story on a coastal New Hampshire town I grew up near called Seabrook which is in the same area that he describes, neighboring Newburyport, MA.
Seabrook is this rundown old town with a sordid past. Lovecraft describes a mutated community that spoke a strange, almost-English language which describes Seabrook to a T. The local dialect is a lot like the deepest, most remote Apallachian villages where the older residents still use Thee and Thy when speaking. The accent, at its worst, is nearly indecypherable. I can imagine that any ordinary person passing through that area at the time would wonder how such a backwards community managed to survive for so long being unable to communicate with nearby towns and being openly hostile to outsiders.
Lovecraft also describes a couple of locations that are very similar to central Seabrook locations.
I'm convinced of this.
Quote from: RapscallionJones on November 26, 2007, 04:20:49 PM
Quote from: The DarkSider on November 26, 2007, 06:52:21 AM
QuoteAnd you must, must read "The Shadow Over Innsmouth."
The town that inspired Innsmouth is in the NE regions of MA I've never been through it but I've been to several places in my area that have reminded me of that story.
It has never been officially established which town Innsmouth is based on, but the popular opinion is Ipswitch, MA. I am not of that opinion and am convinced that he based the story on a coastal New Hampshire town I grew up near called Seabrook which is in the same area that he describes, neighboring Newburyport, MA.
Seabrook is this rundown old town with a sordid past. Lovecraft describes a mutated community that spoke a strange, almost-English language which describes Seabrook to a T. The local dialect is a lot like the deepest, most remote Apallachian villages where the older residents still use Thee and Thy when speaking. The accent, at its worst, is nearly indecypherable. I can imagine that any ordinary person passing through that area at the time would wonder how such a backwards community managed to survive for so long being unable to communicate with nearby towns and being openly hostile to outsiders.
Lovecraft also describes a couple of locations that are very similar to central Seabrook locations.
I'm convinced of this.
MUST VISIT.
Seabrook, I've been around that area. Isn't there a nuclear plant there?
Quote from: nshumate on November 26, 2007, 04:29:58 PM
Quote from: RapscallionJones on November 26, 2007, 04:20:49 PM
Quote from: The DarkSider on November 26, 2007, 06:52:21 AM
QuoteAnd you must, must read "The Shadow Over Innsmouth."
The town that inspired Innsmouth is in the NE regions of MA I've never been through it but I've been to several places in my area that have reminded me of that story.
It has never been officially established which town Innsmouth is based on, but the popular opinion is Ipswitch, MA. I am not of that opinion and am convinced that he based the story on a coastal New Hampshire town I grew up near called Seabrook which is in the same area that he describes, neighboring Newburyport, MA.
Seabrook is this rundown old town with a sordid past. Lovecraft describes a mutated community that spoke a strange, almost-English language which describes Seabrook to a T. The local dialect is a lot like the deepest, most remote Apallachian villages where the older residents still use Thee and Thy when speaking. The accent, at its worst, is nearly indecypherable. I can imagine that any ordinary person passing through that area at the time would wonder how such a backwards community managed to survive for so long being unable to communicate with nearby towns and being openly hostile to outsiders.
Lovecraft also describes a couple of locations that are very similar to central Seabrook locations.
I'm convinced of this.
MUST VISIT.
Trust me. No, you don't.
Most of Seabrook exists on Route 1 heading south into Massachusetts where it's nothing but chain restaurants, Home Depot and Walmart. It's chief exports are fireworks, discount beer and cigarettes, bad tattoos and pornography.
The real Seabrook exists down by the marshes, heading toward the coast on a desolate strip called South Main Street which is pockmarked by houses that look like no one lives in them yet expensive SUVs and huge pickup trucks sit in every driveway. Every other house is home to a retired old guy who only technically speaks english because of the seabrook accent. Approach his house and he'll threaten you in that stacatto dialect and point a rifle at you. The other houses all manufacture crystal meth.
Head down Lower Collins Street and for the love of god, don't slow down for anything. Stop sign? f**k it. Blow right through it. I attended a funeral down that way once and found a crowd of them forming around me like Night of the Living Dead, pushing the car and threatening me because I wasn't local until my old-school Seabrook mother in law got out and vouched for me but not before throwing up the old accent and threatening to "stave them all in the face".
That place is screwed.
Quote from: The DarkSider on November 26, 2007, 04:39:23 PM
Seabrook, I've been around that area. Isn't there a nuclear plant there?
Yeah. They shut down one of the reactors a few years ago and put half the town on unemployment.
Good times.
You're not dissuading me, but I think I won't take the kids.
QuoteMost of Seabrook exists on Route 1 heading south into Massachusetts where it's nothing but chain restaurants, Home Depot and Walmart. It's chief exports are fireworks, discount beer and cigarettes, bad tattoos and pornography.
Ah yes its all coming back to me. Its been over 5 years since I've been in that area. Isn't there a plaza in town with all those places in it or is that Portsmouth? I recall stopping by a place with a 24 hour porn store, a tattoo parlor, firework shop and a comic book store. I haven't really gone deep into Seabrook luckily. I usually keep to the Hampton Beach area.
I think there was a dog track in town too.
That sounds a little like one of those Irish Traveler communities, except that the accent would be different, I guess.
Karma each to Rapscallion and to nshumate.
To Rapscallion, for the "chief exports" sentence, which had me and my wife both laughing hard, and to nshumate for the "you're not dissuading me" post, which would have had me blowing Coke out my nose if I had been drinking in the moment.
You guys are something else. I love this board. Y'all can come by my place anytime. =)
And, I've got to echo:
MUST VISIT.
Thank you for the suggestions, right now I'm in the middle of reading "The Shadow over Innsmouth" (great story so far, but incidentally I'll have to take a pass on visiting a place like Innsmouth). I didnt even need to go to the library to read it - its all right here: http://www.dagonbytes.com/thelibrary/lovecraft/
I'm even thinking of getting my own Miskatonic University t-shirt.
Modern day Shadow Over Innsmouth with methheads and satellite television junkies? Sounds like a winner to me. I mean I've heard some paranoid meth ranting in my day, but throw in some Old Ones and you've got a winner of a meltdown. Especially if the methhead was losing his teeth and developing a fish-like sheen on his skin. An entire town of people with bodies breaking down and piping Azathoth from on high directly to their television set.
I smell a short story.
Quote from: Mofo Rising on November 27, 2007, 12:51:11 AM
Modern day Shadow Over Innsmouth with methheads and satellite television junkies? Sounds like a winner to me. I mean I've heard some paranoid meth ranting in my day, but throw in some Old Ones and you've got a winner of a meltdown. Especially if the methhead was losing his teeth and developing a fish-like sheen on his skin. An entire town of people with bodies breaking down and piping Azathoth from on high directly to their television set.
I smell a short story.
Sounds like Decatuer,Michigan...which is about 8 miles from where I live in Lawton. I'ts full of back woods meth heads and inner bred rednecks. Ever see GUMMO? That's Decatuer. Buncha low-lifes. Creepy half retart,no toffers,cross eyed, speed freak burn-outs!
Quote from: The DarkSider on November 26, 2007, 07:22:20 PM
Ah yes its all coming back to me. Its been over 5 years since I've been in that area. Isn't there a plaza in town with all those places in it or is that Portsmouth? I recall stopping by a place with a 24 hour porn store, a tattoo parlor, firework shop and a comic book store. I haven't really gone deep into Seabrook luckily. I usually keep to the Hampton Beach area.
I think there was a dog track in town too.
Oh yeah. That's Seabrook. The comic store is Chris' Comics which is where I used to buy all my books when I was still buying comics. The porno store is Leather and Lace which used to be owned by a guy who was involved in the local organized crime scene. Believe it or not, there was, indeed, a Seabrook mafia. A bunch of bad-ass local biker guys who dealt drugs, ran illegal poker games and video poker machines and had a hand in local prostitution. All of these activities were run out of Leather and Lace. The head of the group got busted in Florida a couple of years back with a very large quantity of heroin in his possession and is now in jail. I'm related to him in a not-too distant way by marriage.
The Fireworks store is still there, somehow, the tattoo shop is one of the worst in town and that's saying something. There's also a pawn shop and a place to buy marijuana paraphenalia that is connected to the porno store. The guy who opened the head shop also opened one in nearby Portsmouth only to have it shut down after a couple of months because of employees selling weed from behind the counter.
I could go on and on about this place but it doesn't have much to do with Lovecraft, so I'll just take a bow.
I co-worker got me reading Lovecraft back in the mid-90s. I was hooked. His stories are amazing, simply for the fact that they were so far ahead of their time, and have, as someone mentioned, a unique blend of horror, occult and science fiction. He also largely gave up the standard horror settings of the time for something that was more distinctly American. And once you read his stories, you really appreciate how much HPl influenced the horror and sci-fi that followed.
Best of all is his style. Although a bit heavy on description sometimes, its something we need more of these days. His best stories stimulate the imagination rather than just outright showing and telling. He writes about feelings and reactions to horrors more than the horrors themselves, and some of his most frightening descriptions are of just how much those horrors defy description. He makes you think, and there's probably no better way to unsettle a person than to get his mind working.
As for favourite stories, The Shadow Over Innsmouth and At the Mountains of Madness are definite must-reads, as is the Call of Cthulhu. An early work, by a teenage HPL, that I like is The Beast in the Cave.
The works that have been adapted to the screen are particularly interesting to read. Whether the movies were good or bad, they do take licence with the source material which is very difficult to adapt. The Unnameable, The Colour out of Space, From Beyond, The Dunwich Horror and Herbert West, Reanimator, among others.
But the story that always comes to mind when I think of a simple, effective Lovecraft story is The Picture in the House. This is one of the first of his New England-based horror stories, and the first set in the fictional Miskatonic region. A very short story in a very simple setting, the simplest of plots, but utterly creepy and memorable.
Lovecraft's grave is in Providence RI and its one of those sites I hope to visit some day. Its only around a half hour from my house so if I go I'll take some pictures. The man has inspired so much in horror and sci fi.