Recently, I've been rereading an anthology edition of H. P. Lovecraft's tales, and after finishing "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" (one of my favorites) I got to thinking who else might be a fan of Lovecraft's work. While I know a lot of folks dislike how prosaic his writing can sometimes be, I've never personally found it difficult to read -- and I'm the type who normally dislikes flowery and unnecessarily lengthy prose. There is something about the bizarre nature of his tales and of the lore surrounding them that I adore, and I know I can't be alone. So here I am, curious as to whether or not anyone else here shares my interest. Are there any other Lovecraft fans on site? If so, what are some of your favorites tales? What do you enjoy most about the stories?

I'm somewhat of a Lovecraft fan. The RPG his mythos inspired ('Call of Cthulhu') is interesting in that, the better you are at playing it, the sooner your character goes insane.

It's hard to find good movie adaptations, or even movies inspired by the general themes, of Lovecraft's work. One I would recommend if you haven't seen it is 'In The Mouth of Madness', an overlooked John Carpenter film that's the best attempt I've seen. It has many Lovecraft references, including the title itself (a variant of one of Lovecraft's story titles).

Oh, nice! Glad to see another fan. I have heard of the "Call of Cthulhu" RPG but have never played it myself. From what I've seen, the setting has remained largely the same from the source material (1920s America), which I like. That's a really interesting mechanic for the game and very appropriate to Lovecraft's original tales. It almost makes the players feel like they've lost even when they win.

I've noticed the film industry is sadly lacking in good adaptations of Lovecraft's work. The ones that do exist are largely chopped up, the setting has been changed, or all that remains of the source material is the title. I do enjoy movies influenced by his work, though, since I'm not constantly comparing an adaption to an existing piece. Oh, I've heard of "In The Mouth of Madness"! I've always wanted to see it and what it's about, but I've never gotten the chance. It's a good one to keep in mind, though, so thank you for the reference. If anyone can create a good Lovecraftian-themed film, I'd imagine it would be John Carpenter.

Yes, I think it's somewhat unique (the game mechanics, how you basically can't "win" in the long run) and also true to Lovecraft's work - his stories don't have happy endings.

I would definitely recommend it. I'm not really a big John Carpenter fan, but it's easily the best Lovecraft-ian film I've ever seen in terms of structure, plot, mood, etc.

I've seen attempts at film versions of Lovecraft stories that are very true-to-form, but most of them are horribly low-budget cheezy and/or poorly acted.

It certainly sounds like it, as true to form, a Lovecraftian story doesn't have a "good" ending. The protagonist is going to end up dead, insane, or changed in some way by the end of the story. Still, that actually sounds like a very smart mechanic, as players wouldn't be so invested in winning the game as they would be in learning the story.

Awesome, I'll take a look if I get the chance. Yeah, most of Carpenter's films are a bit too on the gory side for my taste, but I can really go for an atmospheric film filled with Lovecraft-inspired structure and plot because it feels as much a mystery unfolding as it is a horror story.

I can't say I've personally watched any of those films, but I have heard about them and have to agree, most of them unfortunately suffer from a lack of budget and quality actors. The intent to create a faithful adaptation of Lovecraft's work is certainly there, but it seems that we can't have the best of both worlds: either it's faithful but low-budget and poorly acted, or it's unfaithful to the source material with a bigger budget and reasonably well-performing cast. The creepiness of the original stories was what always intrigued me, how something could be conveyed with relatively little detail and still manage to be incredibly unsettling, and I wish more films in general took that approach.

Ok. It's really not that gory, certainly less so than Carpenter's 'The Thing'. It has some disturbing visuals, but very little actual "gore". Definitely much more along the lines of mood and atmosphere (and insanity) as the central theme.

I agree with your point about horror movies in general, 'The Shining' is still one of my favorite horror films and there's very little actual displayed violence in it...as opposed to a lot of horror movies that seem to lean on gore because they don't have anything else to them.

Yeah, that's what I had assumed. "The Thing" was actually the movie I had in mind when I mentioned gory, and I figured "In The Mouth of Madness" would be far more psychological a horror film, which I like. There's just something about a good horror movie that messes with your mind. It takes more effort and forethought to create something that can creep you out instead of just throw gore and crazy stuff at the screen.

Oh, nice! "The Shining" is definitely a psychological film that relies on the horror of the situation. What could be more frightening than having a family member slowly descend into insanity, while you can do nothing but watch (and potentially be pursued by said family member). It just takes way more effort on the director's part to create something that leans less on shock value. I agree that many horror movies unfortunately lean so heavily on gore and frightening visuals because they just don't have anything else as a basis. It's basically the "monster chases protagonist" formula, which can work, but which has lately become fairly mediocre. Granted, some could argue that Lovecraft's work is fairly easy to figure out, as well, since you kind of know what will happen by the end (the protagonist doesn't win), but it's the eerie journey to get there that makes up for it -- at least in my opinion.

I just read "The Shadow over Innsmouth" for the first time a few weeks ago and was completely captivated by the tale. I'm not sure what to read next. I listened to the audiobook of "The Hound" in my car on a longer drive when I wanted a break from music. I liked it but not anywhere near as much as I liked "The Shadow over Innsmouth."

Ooh, that's one of my favorites! The tale itself is drenched in so much gloom and unease that one can't help being captivated by it. (Which reminds me of the effect Edgar Allen Poe's work often has.) "The Hound" is one story I haven't yet read, since it wasn't included in the two anthology books I have, but I have heard of it. To be honest, not many of Lovecraft's other tales have compared to "The Shadow Over Innsmouth," but a few that I've personally read that might be worth a read include "Pickman's Model" and "The Music of Erich Zann" (both of which use the reader's imagination to great effect by never outright showing the object of the protagonists' horror), "The Dunwich Horror" (whose ending differs slightly from most of Lovecraft's work), "The Colour Out of Space" (which unnerved me personally due to my fear of contaminated water), and "The Whisperer in Darkness" (more of a novella than a short story, this one runs primarily on paranoia, but it still manages to be quite creepy.) Basically, it depends on what you're in the mood for: a very short tale with eerie overtones, or something more cosmic. And on a side note, audiobooks sound like the perfect cure for car-ride doldrums when music won't cut it.

thank you for the suggestions! I am always happy to have new reading to add to my list.

If you have Spotify there are Lovecraft audiobooks on there, which is awesome. I listened to a bit of "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" on it and found that the fellow who read it was wonderful. I wish he did the other books as well! Audiobooks have been my best friends over long trips. I listened to the Game of Thrones books and The Martian over especially long trips. If you watch the Game of Thrones HBO show then listening to the audiobooks is like rewatching the show while you're driving. I love it.

No problem! I'm always happy to offer suggestions for new reading material.

I actually don't have Spotify (I don't think, anyway), but that's good to keep in mind! I have a couple radio dramas produced by the H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society (a group who aims to preserve the originality of Lovecraft's writing in media such as films and radio plays) although radio dramas and audiobooks do differ slightly. Having something read to you can be just as engaging as reading it yourself, and I always enjoy hearing someone else's take on the text. It's brilliant when you find a really good narrator, too -- of course, like you said, you end up wishing he or she had recorded the rest of the series. I can imagine they would be. They're great for that kind of thing. There's just something very special about being told a story -- one advantage being it makes the time go quicker. Oh, nice! I've never watched Game of Thrones (no HBO in our cable deal) but have always really wanted to, and I've considered getting into the book series, so knowing it's available in an audiobook form that isn't much different is really awesome! So thank you for those recommendations. :D

happy to help! The book series is excellent and definitely worth the read.

Spotify is free, there are just ads every once in a while. I ended up getting a deal where it's only $0.99 for the first 3 months so I don't have to deal with the ads anymore.

I will have to check out the H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society as I had not heard of them before now! It sounds really neat. Do they do podcasts?

I'm always searching for new books and series to read, so the help is much appreciated! I've heard a lot of good things about the series, and I've actually got the first book sitting on my bookshelf, so I might have to dive into it sometime soon.

Oh, neat! Honestly, I'm not too bothered by ads. They can be a bit of an annoyance, but I usually deal with them unless they distract completely from the material. It's really nice to know there are deals to be had, though!

Awesome! I am actually not sure if they do podcasts, but that'd be worth looking into. If I'm honest, I haven't done too much research on them as a whole, so all I do know is that they do radio dramas (in both CD and mp3 format) and have produced at least one short film based around "The Call of Cthulhu" short story, with the film being both made to look like a vintage silent production and being very loyal to the source material. I haven't been able to see it, unfortunately, so I'm only going on word of mouth.

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