So far my only interaction with Lovecraft and Cthulhu was through a couple Call of Cthulhu RPG sessions in the 90s and Ash's quest to retrieve the Necronomicon. Frankly, I don't really get it.
If I were to try to educate myself a bit on what all the hubub was about, what book would you recommend I read first? Does Lovecraft write in any sort of chronology that I should make an effort to get his first novel or something early on? In case my thread title is misleading, I'm not actually looking for an encyclopedia of Elder Horrors, but rather trying to make an attempt to experience the stories that seem to have half the gaming world so frenzied.
Thanks all.
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There were some suggestions on this thread that were helpful to me. Most of his well-known stuff is in short story form, which makes it easier to pick up without having to commit to a long novel.
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This book collects all his fiction.
The story "The Call of Cthulhu" is a great starting point, but I personally think every bit of fiction (and poetry, and a bit of non-fiction) the man wrote is worth reading.
I really hesitate to recommend other author's Mythos works, because it seems that very few of them "got it." Many turned it into a big war between good and evil entities, some left out the sense of insignificance...I just really have yet to read a non-Lovecraft story that rings true to the Mythos, at least for me.
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Well I'd have to disagree about the other authors in the "Lovecraft Circle." August Derleth was really the only one who gave the mythos that good vs. evil spin. Granted he was one of the most prolific of that bunch (he was also the guy who though coined the term the Cthulhu mythos but wanted to originally call it the Mythology of Hastur, after one of his own creations.)
Clark Ashton Smith, Robert Bloch, Robert E. Howard and others all wrote some great Mythos stories. Even Derleth had some good ones. Moreover, much of the mythos were created from their collaborations so it wasn't just Lovecraft writing in isolation.
So far my only interaction with Lovecraft and Cthulhu was through a couple Call of Cthulhu RPG sessions in the 90s and Ash's quest to retrieve the Necronomicon. Frankly, I don't really get it.
If I were to try to educate myself a bit on what all the hubub was about, what book would you recommend I read first? Does Lovecraft write in any sort of chronology that I should make an effort to get his first novel or something early on? In case my thread title is misleading, I'm not actually looking for an encyclopedia of Elder Horrors, but rather trying to make an attempt to experience the stories that seem to have half the gaming world so frenzied.
Thanks all.
You might be tempted to go with the Call of Cthulhu story itself, but to me, Dunwich Horror is also up to the task.
There really isn't a Lovecraft novel - a few stories are of substantial length but none are particularly huge.
Id also try to sample CoC games run by different game masters. That delicious combination of suspense and horror is really hard to capture in a game.
This book collects all his fiction.
The story "The Call of Cthulhu" is a great starting point, but I personally think every bit of fiction (and poetry, and a bit of non-fiction) the man wrote is worth reading.
I really hesitate to recommend other author's Mythos works, because it seems that very few of them "got it." Many turned it into a big war between good and evil entities, some left out the sense of insignificance...I just really have yet to read a non-Lovecraft story that rings true to the Mythos, at least for me.
Don't forget the sense of isolation before apparent and unavoidable change.
I sat in a session with Robert M Price at HPL Film Festival in 2009, and he talked about how Lovecraft often portrayed the hordes of foreigners, bringing their foreign and incomprehensible ways; clearly HPL felt that way, esp when he lived in New York.
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 8
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My advice is "don't". Stay away from that scary s!@~. I was listening to Mountains of Madness today while driving on the highway. This freaking snowstorm sprung up from nowhere. I couldn't see anything. Couldn't pull over. Finally I started fishtailing out of control and ended up in the ditch. Later, when I was driving back, I put of some Abba and the snow cleared up. Watch out for Lovecraft.
Fletch,
My life's reading has been rather idiosyncratic, and it wasn't until I started lurking on the Paizo boards a few years back and hearing all the fuss that I grabbed what I could find at my local used bookstores: the posthumous Lovecraft-Derleth The Lurker at the Threshold, which I read first, and two paperback anthologies of short stories (can't remember one of them, but the other was the Penguin Lovecraft.) I'd recommend an anthology of the short-stories first, rather than a novel, but if my experience is any indication, starting anywhere will work.
TD -- heh.
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For a quick start, go to this website and read The shadow over Innsmouth and The Dunwich horror. If you like them, then... well, then read everything else there. ;D
the posthumous Lovecraft-Derleth The Lurker at the ThresholdI wish they would stop marketing that as a collaboration. Derleth inserted a couple of lines from one of Lovecraft's notebooks into one of his stories.
Hey, not just any body knew exactly which of those and where they needed to be inserted.
;P
If I were to try to educate myself a bit on what all the hubub was about, what book would you recommend I read first? Does Lovecraft write in any sort of chronology that I should make an effort to get his first novel or something early on? In case my thread title is misleading, I'm not actually looking for an encyclopedia of Elder Horrors, but rather trying to make an attempt to experience the stories that seem to have half the gaming world so frenzied.
For more information than you could possibly need, visit the HPL Archive.
Personally, my favorite story is The Shadow Over Innsmouth.
Be warned as you start reading Lovecraft's works: This is not easy reading. The language is heavy and complicated. Lovecraft writes in a very Victorian style, and you'd best be prepared for it.
Lovecraft wrote short stories for pulp magazines in the 20's and 30's; there's not really a chronology, unless you're a literary type. There are collections that highlight his maturity as an author, but I don't think that's really what you're looking for.
As for his attraction . . . good question. He was an original, and his ideas were shared through the pulp community. Lots of authors of 'weird' stories borrowed his ideas, so there's lots of crossover.
If Lovecraft's works are too heavy for you, I might suggest you take a look at some of Brian Lumley's short stories. Good luck!
What I often wondered about these stories, why none of Lovecraftian creatures aren't scared with how humans look like and go all crawling back?
What I often wondered about these stories, why none of Lovecraftian creatures aren't scared with how humans look like and go all crawling back?
In my house, we joke about the tentacles. If multi-tentacled creatures started showing up in Japan, for example, they'd probably run for their lives as hungry Japanese measure them for beds of vinegared rice and bring out daubs of wasabi ;-)