Thread: HP Lovecraft Advice

I've decided I want to give Lovecraft a try. I've never read anything, so what would be the recommended starting point? I know a lot of his stories/books and characters intertwine, so I don't want to just pick a random book and not know who everyone is. Thanks.

The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath is a short dark fantasy novel that most of his pieces jump off from. You can find it in a number of his collections. The one entitled The Dream Cycle has other related work from that early period. From there you can get to any of his other fiction, which is all in related collections.
Lovecraft is best-known for his Cthulhu Mythos stories, but he didn't refer to them as such.

You can read his fiction at dagonbytes if you're inclined toward online reading.

I would grab any of the many short story collections of HP's work. Any bookstore probably has several. They all give a decent overview of Lovecraft's work. When buying multiple collections beware. Many contain the same tales.

Like deviger said, your best bet is to pick up a short-story collection; I read the penguin modern classics one (Call of Cthulu and other stories I think it was called), where the stories were ordered chronologically, so that would be a good bet. The only major story missing from that collection (I think) was At the Mountains of Madness.

And good choice with Lovecraft, some of his stories are genuinely creepy. 'The Shadow Over Innsmouth', 'The Colour from Outer-Space' and 'Reanimator' are all good. My favourite is still 'The Picture in the House', check that one out.

K.

Thanks for that link I've been looking for Call of Cthulhu forever!

I love Lovecraft, though the writing at times can be teadious. Certain times I really enjoy the writing style, other times I just kind of mush through it. Some stories I can't even read, but only because I'm exceedingly picky. But I mostly enjoy him, the ideas presented are creepy or mystifying.

I have The H. P. Lovecraft Omnibus Volume 1-3. They collect pretty much everything he ever wrote (including Call of Cthulhu, The Shadow over Innsmouth, Dagon, Herbert West: Re-animator, The Unnamable and At the mountains of madness).

As a fun side note, I even own a book called Necronomicon.

There are several books called Necronomicon, most of them by someone called Simon. I have a couple too. They're not much fun. Robert M. Price edited an anthology of stories about the Necronomicon, which are by name writers and are mostly decent. There's also the Harms and Gonces book The Necronomicon Files and the associated website NecFiles. Dan Harms is the author of the Encyclopedia Cthulhiana, which is used as source material in a lot of CoC RPG and in a good portion of today's Lovecraftian fiction.
There's also an annual convention called the NecronomiCon, held in Providence. I've been to a couple. Very silly affairs, but fun if you look at it the right way.

You know what this Lovecraft thread needs? A SOUNTRACK.
Does anybody here know of any cool Cthulu cult music?????

Sure. My cd or the Darkest of the Hillside Thickets. Pick one. The first is the only place you can get a free download. Excuse the pluggery
Here's more: ectoplasmosis
Lauridsen
and there's always HP Lovecraft, even though they were horrible.

Excuse the pluggery

It would have been inexcusable for you to miss a straight like that one, dude. I was listening to some of your music last night. Some very cool stuff. Including the "music to creep out over Lovecraft with".

I didn't say Necronomicon was written by Lovecraft (or that arab) or any good, but it's pretty cool to have one next to my Lovecraft books.

You could watch some of the (crappy) movies based on his work if you want to see what it's all about. I suggest starting with this one: Amazon.co.uk: The H.P. Lovecraft Collection, Vol. 1: Cool Air [2004] region 1 (NTSC) (REGION 1): DVD

It's a collection of low-budget fan-made movies based on his work and supposedly pretty good. I think. Haven't seen it myself, but really want to.

Originally Posted by lin

It would have been inexcusable for you to miss a straight like that one, dude. I was listening to some of your music last night. Some very cool stuff. Including the "music to creep out over Lovecraft with".

*nods* I can recognize an eephus pitch when I see one...thanks, Lin. I'll get back atcha when the final version and associated texts and graphics are released.
Why watch bad Lovecraft adaptations? E.g., Stuart Gordon, et al. Get something by Aaron Vanek, who knows what he's about.

I didn't say Necronomicon was written by Lovecraft (or that arab) or any good, but it's pretty cool to have one next to my Lovecraft books.

Writerdude, I wasn't sitting in judgement, just conveying information. Here are a few more links to Lovecraftian fun:
Mike Minnis, one of the most accomplished of the "new" breed of Lovecraftian fictioneers.
James Ambuehl, much more of a traditionalist than Minnis, with a sometimes satirical slant on the material.
Letters from Outside, no-longer-operating Lovecraftian ezine with a wide sampling of fiction and nonfiction, headed up by yt.
the Reader's Guide to the Cthulhu Mythos. A listing of Cthulhu Mythos stories online, maintained by editor E.P. Berglund.

No need to read big heavy books... here's a nice cartoon.

And.... from Playboys, "Girls of the Cthulu Mythos"