MYTHOS GROUP discussion

Hello Lovecraft Lovers. I created this topic, to discuss which story is your favourite, and why. I think it's nice thing to talk about and get some new opinions on our favourite stories :)

Hard to say, because I read all his stuff in chronological order, at the impressionable age of 14, and his two distinct phases took me to very different places. "The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath" tuned me in to his nostalgic, otherworldly melancholy. "The Nameless City" gave me this real sense of foreboding, that this guy's mind was about to slip its tether. "At the Mountains of Madness" was the Mythos story that I tripped off of the most. At that point my school's guidance counselor called me in to solemnly inquire of me, "What have you been reading. On your own. Outside of school."

It sure isn't easy to say which one is the best. In my opinion, all of his stories have very similar structure, in that case, if you like one, you have to love them all. Of course some of them are pure epicness, and others are just great.

I'll say this: towards the end, he wrote some non-Mythos, conventional genre horror tales, e.g. "The Wicked Clergyman", which- taken by themselves- are pretty weak and blandly told. Yet one reads them with a sense of dread, for this is HP Lovecraft; you don't trust him; he has caught you by the throat, before; beware.

Also: if you read his complete works: Lovecraft wrote non-genre stories- humor; romance; comedy- that are simply awful by any criterion. So far as that goes, when I was a teen, my treasure was the complete Arkham House editions of Lovecraft, including three volumes of his letters. Lovecraft was, himself, an incredibly pathologic and dysfunctional individual. He avoided human contact but, in social situations, he projected a malevolent and sinister persona. Though frail and weak and sickly, Lovecraft was a big man (6'2"). Many people recall meeting him as a highly traumatic experience. Case in point: Sir James Barrie, the author of the play "Peter Pan". Himself an intriguing case study- he recalled meeting HP ("The American dime-novelist named Lovecraft") as a deeply traumatic experience, "the most hateful, hate-filled specimen of humanity I have had the misfortune to encounter." In a then-current letter, Lovecraft spoke at length of the encounter. He called Barrie an "anus-licking sodomite", a "rat-faced Asiatic" and "a Jew". (Lovecraft was, like his pen-pal Robert E.Howard,a domestic proto-Nazi.) Read him; dig him; trip off to the max on what he wrote. But the deepest, greatest horror of Lovecraft was truly, who he was.

I can see you are really interested in Lovecraft. I've not read much about his personal life, but I know about his "spooky" (i may say) life style and his racist atitude. But on the other hand, he lived in the age, when racism was (unfortunately) kind of normal. So I would not hate him for that. We see racism differently today. I did not want to say that I support racism or something I just look at historical facts.

I agree, Lovecraft's views were less abnormal then than now. He married a Jewish lady, Sonya Greene (though human sexuality is not without its quirks.)This is not to say he didn't have a ton of issues. Did you know, when he was born, Howard was exclusively a girl's name? (As recently as 1940, Anne Rice was born Howard O'Brien.) I have heard of other weird sexual stuff in his childhood- being dressed and treated as a little girl, etc- though I cannot cite the source of that offhand. My point is, awful people can produce great things. Isaac Newton, who singlehandedly transformed Western thinking, was- by all accounts- not someone you would wish to know. Many aspiring writers think that they can "write Lovecraft". But he is not a genre. They made him then, for good or ill, they sledgehammered the mold.

Well, I am not the kind of person who wants to know all about favourite writer (person), because I don't want to be affected by his/her history, or other irrelevant stuff. I mostly care about art itself. I don't want to look like an ignorant, but I do this on purpose (of course I've got few exceptions). I hope you understand my point, sometimes my english is chaotic.
Anyway, I've heard about his childhood as well. As he was dressed as a girl and so on. I think his parents were just "different", but still for me his work is inspirational and entertaining.

My friend, I hear you completely. I went through my Lovecraft phase 40 years ago, and this is the sum of my convictions regarding him: Lovecraft is, to coin a phrase, demonic. His work is well-known to induce mental illness. As a writer myself, I am no longer susceptible to his "malevolent influence", and I still get transported by rereading him. Just, with this one writer, exercise the greatest caution. He is the cusp of the Abyss.

Wow, I just checked your profile, and I noticed that you've published three books. I assume you are professional writer, then. I've read the Drakulya's description and it seems like a very interesting book. I would like to read it, but I'm afraid I will not be able to get in my country.

The Grey wrote: "Wow, I just checked your profile, and I noticed that you've published three books. I assume you are professional writer, then. I've read the Drakulya's description and it seems like a very interest..."
Do you have Kindle for PC? Give me your e-mail address and I'll be happy to send it to you.

I do not have Kindle. Actually I have bit of a problem when I'm reading long text on a computer/ebook. I am only able to read paper books. That makes my life way more complicated. I hope I will get used to it after few years, because you can see that electronic books are year after year more popular, and in my opinion new publishers will not publish in paper form any more. But thank you anyway for you kind offer. Maybe one day I will read your book. Then I promise I'll send you my review.