Akratus
Bleep bloop.
I'm still waiting for Guillermo Del Toro's At the Mountains of Madness. ;_;
Favorite books / What are you reading?
- Thread starter Snackpack
- Start date
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TorontoReign
Guest
Don't make me cry.
Sadly, I've never played the PnP.
Those stories are among my favorite too. I'd add The Color Out of Space which is highly unique.
SnapSlav
NMA's local DotA fanatic
I've wondered for a long time now... because when people refer to "that type" of mysticism or horror or monsters or such, they refer to it as "very Lovecraftian" ...what were those commonly called in Lovecraft's day, before he wrote about it? XD
Akratus
Bleep bloop.
He kind of invented his own genre, no?
Before Lovecraft I imagine it was just 'horror', and then after it was cosmic horror.
Before Lovecraft I imagine it was just 'horror', and then after it was cosmic horror.
Akratus is right about that one, Lovecraft invented his own genre, or perhaps more fitting, sub-genre of horror. Most of the stuff he created and the way he approached them were revolutionary.
He was a fanboy of Poe, but took things to a whole different level.
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SnapSlav
NMA's local DotA fanatic
My question was partially tongue-in-cheek, partially sincere. I DO wonder how things of even a remotely similar nature were perceived in his time, before his name became attached to all things tentacled and faceless. But it was also a parody of the notion of branding and brand-naming, and that there was an older brand in centuries past to the same thing before he came around. XD
UniversalWolf
eaten by a grue.
If you're interested, I suggest checking out some of the writings of Nathaniel Hawthorne:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathaniel_Hawthorne
I'd start with a short story called Young Goodman Brown, I think. Lovecraft - while he definitely created a unique style - is part of a tradition of New England supernaturalism that goes back to the Puritans. Stephen King is the modern part of that tradition.
If you've never read Lovecraft before...well, you probably don't understand what he's like. Really every story that has already been mentioned is good. I also like The Shadow Out of Time, Shadow Over Innsmouth, and The Shunned House, among others. The Outsider that TorontRayne mentioned is another really good one.
SnapSlav
NMA's local DotA fanatic
Interest in a subject and many different facets therein is a very separate entity from interest in reading. I am unfortunately a slow reader and a lifetime of that has groomed me to be very disinterested in casual reading. In short, it's just not for me. So I more than likely will not be taking a look at any books anytime soon. It's a very rare breed of novel that manages to get me through its pages, and I don't go on the hunt to find that kind very much at all. Too rare to find.
The Outsider is, given its relative simplicity, one of the most haunting things I have read. I imagine that it is that simplicity which gives it so much strength.
I've realized now that, although really a "cult" writing, The Call of Cthulhu is not in my "Top 5 Lovecraft stories". Not that I have the actual list or anything, but reading through this thread, I realize I like other, already mentioned stories more than his most famed one.
Weird to hear you're not some sort of bookworm, SnapSlav. Don't take this is an offence - it's just something I'd guess on the richness of your vocabulary. One can go wrong, I suppose...
I've realized now that, although really a "cult" writing, The Call of Cthulhu is not in my "Top 5 Lovecraft stories". Not that I have the actual list or anything, but reading through this thread, I realize I like other, already mentioned stories more than his most famed one.
Weird to hear you're not some sort of bookworm, SnapSlav. Don't take this is an offence - it's just something I'd guess on the richness of your vocabulary. One can go wrong, I suppose...
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TorontoReign
Guest
His most famed story is not his best by a long shot. What I like about Lovecraft is a lot of his stories are really short, so you can finish most of them in a night.
Definitely not the best, no.
Well, most of his stories are. Some are quite lengthy, but yeah, usually go for one night. Which reminded of The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, an epic, but unfinished tale. Such a mindfuck, that one.
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TorontoReign
Guest
That might be one of my favorites. I like so many of his works. That one in particular may be stranger than the rest.
One of my favorites too. In fact, any Randolph Carter story sits so well with me. I might have to re-read Lovecraft soon.
THOSANDJosh
First time out of the vault
I really like the Hitchhiker's Guide series myself, I highly recommend it. Well... Maybe avoid the last one, the author died after writing about only a fourth of the novel and the guy who took over did a less than stellar job.
Akratus
Bleep bloop.
Ordered the Necronomicon.
Could you reading from it right now explain why the sky has suddenly torn asunder?
It looks almost like a whole or a rip in the fabric of space-time like in a science fiction show, and I think I see something dark and ominous peeking through it.
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Akratus
Bleep bloop.
Must be BP drilling again.
SnapSlav
NMA's local DotA fanatic
Not an offense, at all. It's a strange dichotomy that's never escaped my notice. Why am I so eager to absorb words if I don't enjoy reading? Why am I so keen and adept at writing and with such great speed if I'm poor at reading? Yeah, you wouldn't think it'd make any sense...
Sounds to me like Aizen's at it again!
UniversalWolf
eaten by a grue.
For your first post on NMA, you could do much worse than this. Welcome.