H. P. Lovecraft / Cthulhu mythos
 

I've recently gained interest on Lovecraft's novels, and I'd like to know if you could recommend any good ones? Is there any specific order which I should maintain while reading them, or are novels' plots independent?

Only crotchburned faggots call it "mythos."

I've recently gained interest on Lovecraft's novels, and I'd like to know if you could recommend any good ones? Is there any specific order which I should maintain while reading them, or are novels' plots independent?

He's only wrote something like sixty stories in his life, not too hard to read them all. There's not really an order to them, just read a bunch and you'll start to get a general idea of the whole shebang.

There's a penguin press collection of his stories, but I can't remember the name of it. It's got most of his best ones.

Could it be Call of Cthulhu, The: And Other Weird Stories? It's published penguin books, and is part of the Penguin Modern Classics.

Yeah, that's the one.

The Shadow Over Innsmouth/ The Lurking Fear is out there. and so is The Watchers Out Of Time in the Carroll and Graf Masters of Horror series.

Shadow Over Innsmouth is a good one.

What would Rankeri have ever done without you?

I've read the Penguin's Call of Cthulhu and other weird stories, and my of my did it keep me on it's grab. Might sound like a pussy but some of the novels really made me feel uneasy with the fact that I didn't have any lights in my apartment at the time when I read it.

All the novels were awesome, but my favorites were definitely:

Dagon
The hound
Rats in the walls
The Call of Cthulhu (although because of the hype I was waiting for a scarier novel. It was still awesome though)
The shadow over Innsmouth (Seriously makes me want to try the Cthulhu game)
The whisperer in darkness
The color out of space
Cool air
Herbert West - Reanimator
Facts concerning the late Arthur Jermyn and his family

I'm definitely going to buy the other two of Penguin's Lovecraft collections

Yes, one of my all time faves! That and "Herbert West, Re-Animator".

I totally forgot about "The Color Out of Space". Loved the psychological edge added to the alien parasite/blob/whatever it was. "Cool Air" was good but predictable as was "Jermyn".

In honor of the Halloween season I've been reading (and re-reading) classic horror/ghost stories. I thought about starting a thread on it but thought it may be too highbrow.

There's no particular order to them and the MYTHOS (hmmmm, what's that burning sensation? Oh, dropped a roach in my lap) is pretty loosely put together and mostly incoherent.

Last night I read HPL's The Doom That Came To Sarnath. It's a classic.

At the Mountains of Madness was also pretty good and is nothing like the shitty movie of the same name.

Since you like Lovecraft here are some other stories to try:

In Ygiroth -Walter C deBill jr.
A Whistle and I'll Come to You My Lad -MR James
They Bite -Anthony Boucher

Enjoy.

August derleth also wrote some Cthulu books too. Strangely nobody has mentioned The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath.

The Dunwitch Horror is a good one

Ya, I'm a fan of Lovecraft, but in a desperate battle with supernatural forces I'd rather be hanging with Poe.

Poe is a better writer too :P

Poe was very talented, and I agree that he was a better writer, but I wouldn't completely discredit Lovecraft. The differences lie foremost in thematic elements and style. Lovecraft's depiction of fear is predominantly based on loss of sanity, whereas Poe is more versatile in what he attempts to frighten the reader with, for example. Lovecraft's writing is also incredibly distinctive, which can be either a blessing or a curse however you want to look at it. The way he sets up his stories, his outlandish vocabulary, even down to the manner in which he describes things becomes easily identifiable after reading some of his work. That's not to say that his stories suffer any detriment from this. I haven't been bored with his work yet, save for a few slow-paced short stories, like I mentioned before.

True enough and well put, Naught :)

I guess I just found some of Lovecraft's language awkward (but when it worked well it was exceptionally effective) and his slow stuff REALLY slow. His imagination was amazing though, which I completely respect. I've just always preferred Poe.

Lovecraft IS really fun to read though. I think I got my army of cats idea from one of his stories...

The army of cats come from the story I mentioned The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath.

You damn punk kids and your Lovecraft an your Edgar Allen Pop an your Lord Byron an your rock and roll music

William Hope Hodgson is one of Lovecraft's biggest inspirations as far as other writers go. There's a collection of some of his best short stories called "Adrift on the Haunted Seas" that is excellent.

My favorite Lovecraft is still What The Moon Brings, it's so unsettling. I love the fact he forces your imagination to work that hard.

Couldn't tell if anyone said this yet, but they're making a cthulhu movie.
cthulhuthemovie.com

i'm sure it'll be great