Lovecraftian Horror!

Arch

So I just read this book and I loved it immensely.

Problem is, now I am jonesing for more love-craft style horror. I leafed through a horror anthology at the bookstore the other day, and it didn't appeal to me; it was more gruesome than actually eerie.

Anyone know where to look for either short stories of the eldritch, or longer works?

Also if there are any...I guess websites that host some for free that I could browse at work?

Esh

"Jerusalem's Lot", a short story in Stephen King's "Night Shift" is right along those lines.

In The Land Of Time And Other Fantasy Tales

Ancient Sorceries And Other Weird Stories

These guys were big influences on Lovecraft.

Jademonkey79

Sadly the modern incarnations of the mythos are far more entertaining (and in some cases, readable) than Lovecraft's original work. There are a couple of good Cthulhu Mythos collections out there with stuff by Robert E. Howard and others. Shouldn't be too hard to find.

Arch

For the record- I have read almost all of King and am sick up to HERE with him, and others of his ilk

Also thanks for those links

T: jademonkey I should clarify that I am not really looking for "Mythos" stories, just stories that have the theme of "something scary out there that is big and uncomprehensible and will drive you mad"

Rent

Arch if you're up for a video game with Lovecraft-style horror, Echo Bazaar should be up your alley

Arch

I cannot read a video game at work silly goose

Rent

Arch wrote: »

I cannot read a video game at work silly goose

It's browser based sillier goose

HAH I WIN

Xagarath

Look for the stuff that inspired Lovecraft himself.
Robert W Chambers, William Hope Hodgson, Arthur Machen, Algernon Blackwood (who someone's already linked).
If you want genuinely eerie horror, also consider some of the ghost stories of the time. Start with MR James, arguably the finest writer the genre's ever seen.

Arch

Rent wrote: »

Arch wrote: »

I cannot read a video game at work silly goose

It's browser based sillier goose

HAH I WIN

O_O

Raiden333

Arch, I'd like to warn you first that this book isn't for everyone. In fact, the dedication says simply "This book is not for you." You will either love it and read it 2-5 times, or hate it and not even finish it. But it fits exactly what you're looking for when you say you want something about "something scary out there that is big and uncomprehensible and will drive you mad"

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski.

Since you're a fan of the creepy thread in D&D, I'll assume you know a very basic summary. Otherwise, here:

Spoiler:

For the most part, the story has 3 layers of narrative. It opens with a 20-something tattoo artist in LA named Johnny Truant. His life consists of pretty much nothing outside his job, getting fucked up, and getting laid.

His friend Lude tells him that an old guy in his apartment building just died, and the city is coming the next morning to take away all his stuff, so they might as well poke around the apartment and see if they can find anything worthwhile. Johnny finds a trunk of random unorganized papers, gets curious, takes them home. These papers are a scholarly critique of The Navidson Record, a fim documentary about a family who moves into a house that's bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. Johnny, getting more and more curious, organizes and annotates them as he starts to piece the story together, and it starts to consume him and drive him crazy.

So there are your 3 narratives: You've got The Navidson Record, the story of the House. But the movie never actually existed (even in Johnny's universe) so you only hear this story through the 2nd narrative: the old man's critique of the documentary. You get brief glimpses at who he was through his work. The 3rd narrative on the surface is Johnny himself, who organizes the old man's work and adds footnotes and annotations about how he keeps seeing creepy parallels to his own life and it's slowly driving him crazy.

If it sounds confusing, that's because it is. Luckily, each narrator has a different font, so it's always obvious who you're reading.

Seriously though, you owe it to yourself to at least check it out. It's the most unique use of the book as a medium for storytelling I've ever seen, and the theme is exactly what you're looking for. The big scare for me came not when I was reading it the first time, but when I found myself reading it the third time and making my own notes in the margins.

Judge-Z

Oh god. House of leaves. That book certainly could be considered Lovecraftian. Not so much because of the contents of the book itself. Oh no. Rather, the multiple layers make you feel like a participant of some sort in the book, one trapped in your own Lovecraftian nightmare. The sense of ill-defined dread I had while reading that book still comes back every time I think about it.

necroSYS

Fuck House of Pretention right in its fucking face.


But if you want great stories from a contemporary of Lovecraft's, try Clark Ashton Smith. Rendezvous in Averoigne is great. http://www.amazon.com/Rendezvous-Averoigne-Fantastic-Tales-Ashton/dp/0870541560

If you want newer stories of the Lovecraftian ouvre, try Cthulhu 2000.http://www.amazon.com/Cthulhu-2000-Various/dp/0345422031/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268272675&sr=1-1

Still one of my favorite anthologies ever.

I know you said you were fed up with King, but you owe it to yourself to read his Lovecraftian short work, specifically Jerusalem's Lot, Crouch End, and N.

If you want to check out N. for free, go here: http://www.stephenking.com/n/

Elin

Neil Gaiman free short stories:

I Cthulhu
Emerald (it's a PDF)

Darkewolfe

This is off the wall, but I think someone who enjoys Cthulhu would also enjoy the book "John Dies at the End."

It's... Lovecraftian horror-humor? Sort of? Dude originally hosted the entire book on his website, because no publisher would buy it. It became an internet cult thing, and eventually he found a publisher. Can't recommend it enough just as something excellent.

KidDynamite

It's kind of been referenced above, but Shadows over Baker Street is pretty cool to me.

It's Sherlock Holmes meets Lovecraft stories.

I enjoyed it.

Judge-Z

Darkewolfe wrote: »

This is off the wall, but I think someone who enjoys Cthulhu would also enjoy the book "John Dies at the End."

It's... Lovecraftian horror-humor? Sort of? Dude originally hosted the entire book on his website, because no publisher would buy it. It became an internet cult thing, and eventually he found a publisher. Can't recommend it enough just as something excellent.

And luckily, they finally reprinted it. The original published edition has sold for Texa$ (amazon want $200 for it!).

Not bad for a book available free online.