H. P. Lovecraft

Thaiboxer

I have been without a book to read for about 2 days now. I haven't gone 1 day in over 4 years. I usually have a stack on my shelf waiting to be read. Alas, it is depleted.

Because of the reference in today's news post, I figure I'll pick up a Lovecraft book. I always have this fear, when reading something from a an author I have never read before, that I will end up reading a book, of theirs that should have been read after another.

Prose

That's a chronological list of H. P. Lovecraft works. My questions is where should I start? I'll eventually want to read up on Cthulhu I suppose. All recomendation are welcome.

Orikaeshigitae

Lovecraft's work is public domain.

Enjoy.

I liked "In the Mountains of Madness", as well as "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward".

D4v3

The Shadow Over Innsmouth & The Dunwich Horror are two of my personal favorites. I had a pretty hefty volume of Lovecraft's short stories that contained maybe 8-10 of his "better" works, though it is proving to be quite elusive at the moment. If you want the feel of a good book, I'd suggest looking around for something like that.

I'm not sure a defined starting point works for Lovecraft. I would just suggest picking up on some of his earlier short stories to get acquainted with his style and universe. If you enjoy the first story you read, then you'll know that you're in for a real treat with the rest of them.

Raziel

His stuff reads more or less the same anyway. Though it is about as good mid-20th century American horror as you'll find.

I figure you could type up a list of all the various compendia of short stories, throw a dart, and start there.

Beyond that, the central canon is pretty much "The Dunwich Horror," "At the Mountains of Madness," and "Dagon."

I read three volumes entitled [one of the above stories] and other tales, or something to that effect.

JohnnyCache

I second "At the mountains of Madness" - that is teh pure lovecraft. Avoid like the plauge things that say "HP Lovecraft With August Derleth" - at least at first. They were finished later by Derleth and tend to have . . . tonal issues.

Raziel

Way to tiptoe the issue, man. Kudos.

ceres

I must say, my absolute favorite Lovecraft story has always been "The Color Out of Space". It just has a really different feel to me.

Also, you can't go wrong with "Call of Cthulhu".

thorpe

The Shadow over Innsmouth, At The Mountains of Madness, The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath, The Haunter of the Dark, and The Whisperer in the Darkness are his best, in order of quality.