So where do I start with Lovecraft?

Jinnigan

I am looking to get into Lovecraft. I am interested mostly in his Cthulhu Mythology and Dream Cycle.

However, I have no idea where to begin.

So - suggestions? Specific books/links on Amazon welcome.

The Cat

you start in H/A, that's what yo do :P

mrcheesypants

go to wikisource and type in lovecraft. A lot of HP Lovecraft's short stories are public domain.

FishMist

Here's a good site:

http://www.dagonbytes.com/thelibrary/lovecraft/index.html

Raziel078

You should also realize that Lovecraft was a damn dirty racist. I really like the cthulu mythos but Lovecraft was a complete dick. In some biographical info that I read on him it talked about how he had a jewish wife and all he did was bad mouth jews and she had to constantly remind him that she was jewish. and ever cthulu story talks about "savage mulatoes" and "negroes twisted with evil".

edit: Also to really get an idea of what a bastard he is read the story "The Street" that shit is raw KKK

Vorus

Great starting point, I think (and not very pricy)

Descendant X

Raziel078 wrote: »

You should also realize that Lovecraft was a damn dirty racist. I really like the cthulu mythos but Lovecraft was a complete dick. In some biographical info that I read on him it talked about how he had a jewish wife and all he did was bad mouth jews and she had to constantly remind him that she was jewish. and ever cthulu story talks about "savage mulatoes" and "negroes twisted with evil".

edit: Also to really get an idea of what a bastard he is read the story "The Street" that shit is raw KKK

Of course, you know, you could always allow Jin to read Lovecraft's material and make up his own mind.

EDIT: Just so I actually add something of substance to the thread, let me suggest that you read The Call of Cthulhu, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, At the Mountains of Madness, The Shunned House, The Music of Erich Zann, The Dunwich Horror, and The Haunter of the Dark. All of these stories are very good and are a fairly easy introduction to HPL's world. I can't really give you any recommendations regarding the Dream Cycle stories as I've not read them, even though I have them in the collection that I printed out years ago.

If you can find The Horror in the Museum and Other Revisions you will be able to read some excellent stories that HPL revised for other authors. It is a truly wonderful book and should be read by everyone who considers him or herself a fan of HPL's work.

Good luck with your search and enjoy!

Dragonsong

I cannot recommend "the color out space" enough. Not a real tie to some of the mythos but a great story none the less. The above mentioned stories/ books by Descendant X are also very tasty.

Agem

Descendant X wrote: »

Raziel078 wrote: »

You should also realize that Lovecraft was a damn dirty racist. I really like the cthulu mythos but Lovecraft was a complete dick. In some biographical info that I read on him it talked about how he had a jewish wife and all he did was bad mouth jews and she had to constantly remind him that she was jewish. and ever cthulu story talks about "savage mulatoes" and "negroes twisted with evil".

edit: Also to really get an idea of what a bastard he is read the story "The Street" that shit is raw KKK

Of course, you know, you could always allow Jin to read Lovecraft's material and make up his own mind.

I don't think there's any question about Lovecraft's racism. Guy wrote, you know, that ridiculously racist poem with the name I can't even post here.

Doesn't mean you can't enjoy anything he wrote, of course. See: Star Wars (and a hell of a lot of other things) drawing from Nazi propaganda films (no, seriously). Him being a racist doesn't affect whether or not his work is good (feel free to be disgusted when it creeps into his work, of course).

I'm also going to recommend "The Colour Out of Space." Even Lovecraft considered that his best story.

thorpe

It may be pretty famous, but "The Dunwich Horror" is pretty fucking awful, and I love Lovecraft (no pun intended).

I can't recommend "The Shadow over Innsmouth", "Beyond the Mountains of Madness", and "The Color out of Space" enough, though. Easily three of his greatest, and "Madness" and "Color" were in particular beloved by Howard.

Agem

thorpe wrote: »

It may be pretty famous, but "The Dunwich Horror" is pretty fucking awful, and I love Lovecraft (no pun intended).

Glad I'm not the only one who hates that story.

Elendil

Agem wrote: »

thorpe wrote: »

It may be pretty famous, but "The Dunwich Horror" is pretty fucking awful, and I love Lovecraft (no pun intended).

Glad I'm not the only one who hates that story.

It's pretty bad, yeah.

Thorpe's recs are good, and I'd add The Shadow Out of Time and The Rats in the Walls.

Shifty_Calhoun

Well I just bought a couple of books then:

Omnibus 1 at the mountains of madness

and

Omnibus 2 DAGON and other macabre tales.

Hope they are good. I bought them second hand so if they suck I wont have too much to complain about.

Munacra

Play the videogame "call of chtulu".

That should give you a nice interactive and quite creepy entryway into the Cthulhu mythos.

Shifty_Calhoun

When did they come out and which platform was this game on?

Munacra

Right here

e - now it's worth to mention that the game is buggy as hell. Make sure to look for the unnoficial patch put out by the DCOE community sometime after headfirst went down.

oh and play it in the dark, and get ready to shoot some shit up with J. Edgar Hoover by your side!

thatnerdyguy

Realize that most of what Lovecraft wrote was short fiction, so probably the easiest thing to do is head down to a used bookshop and pick up an anthology-style volume. I snagged one here for about 5 bucks, has most of the major stories including The Call of Cthulu, Rats in the Walls, The Colour Out of Space, etc.

Dragonsong

Ohh man, "The Rats in the Walls" I need to reread that it was so good and I haven't read it in so long!

Szechuanosaurus

Munacra wrote: »

Play the videogame "call of chtulu".

That should give you a nice interactive and quite creepy entryway into the Cthulhu mythos.

Nah. He should play the original Alone In The Dark. The game is literally littered with Lovecraft literature.

ViolentChemistry

Szechuanosaurus wrote: »

Munacra wrote: »

Play the videogame "call of chtulu".

That should give you a nice interactive and quite creepy entryway into the Cthulhu mythos.

Nah. He should play the original Alone In The Dark. The game is literally littered with Lovecraft literature.

Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem y/n?

Szechuanosaurus

ViolentChemistry wrote: »

Szechuanosaurus wrote: »

Munacra wrote: »

Play the videogame "call of chtulu".

That should give you a nice interactive and quite creepy entryway into the Cthulhu mythos.

Nah. He should play the original Alone In The Dark. The game is literally littered with Lovecraft literature.

Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem y/n?

Inspired by (but not directly adapting), but y anyway because it's good. AitD has actual Lovecraft references and monsters as well as selected works in books found in-game.

Pheezer

Agem wrote: »

Descendant X wrote: »

Raziel078 wrote: »

You should also realize that Lovecraft was a damn dirty racist. I really like the cthulu mythos but Lovecraft was a complete dick. In some biographical info that I read on him it talked about how he had a jewish wife and all he did was bad mouth jews and she had to constantly remind him that she was jewish. and ever cthulu story talks about "savage mulatoes" and "negroes twisted with evil".

edit: Also to really get an idea of what a bastard he is read the story "The Street" that shit is raw KKK

Of course, you know, you could always allow Jin to read Lovecraft's material and make up his own mind.

I don't think there's any question about Lovecraft's racism. Guy wrote, you know, that ridiculously racist poem with the name I can't even post here.

Doesn't mean you can't enjoy anything he wrote, of course. See: Star Wars (and a hell of a lot of other things) drawing from Nazi propaganda films (no, seriously). Him being a racist doesn't affect whether or not his work is good (feel free to be disgusted when it creeps into his work, of course).

Guys, shut up. We're not having this discussion here. Stay on topic.