H.P. Lovecraft and the Cthulhu mythos

[JD]

For years now I've been seeing references to H.P. Lovecraft and his Cthulhu mythos, but I've never read any of his stories or the mythos stories by other writers. My curiosity has finally gotten the better of me and I've decided to check out some of his stories and/or the mythos, but I don't know where the best place to start would be. Where would you guys recommend I start?

 

[Gaith]

I'm no Lovecraft expert myself, but any short story collection with "The Rats in the Walls", "The Colour out of Space", "The Dunwich Horror" and (of course) "The Call of Cthulhu" should do the trick. Careful, though, reading too many at once may induce depression and/or stark raving madness, with "Colour" being especially nihilistic. From what I've read of his stuff, he rarely if ever writes compelling characters, so while some stories pop more than others, once you've got a sense of his prose and style, it gets pretty samey fairly quickly.

Movie-wise, I consider The Mist (especially Darabont's preferred B&W version) an honorary Lovecraft sotry, and Prometheus can be considered a loose adaptation of At the Mountains of Madness.

Also, if you're a Sherlock Holmes fan, be sure to print out and read Neal Gaiman's short story "A Study in Emerald".

 

[Gov Kodos]

For years now I've been seeing references to H.P. Lovecraft and his Cthulhu mythos, but I've never read any of his stories or the mythos stories by other writers. My curiosity has finally gotten the better of me and I've decided to check out some of his stories and/or the mythos, but I don't know where the best place to start would be. Where would you guys recommend I start?

There is no real mythos as such by Lovecraft rather a collection of tales and concepts with a central guiding motif he once expressed to editor Farnsworth Wright 'Now all my tales are based on the fundamental premise that common human laws and interests and emotions have no validity or significance in the vast cosmos-at-large.' 'Call of Cthulhu' 'Dagon' 'The Color Out of Space' and 'At the Mountains of Madness' capture some of that. Later writers like August Derleth cultivated the idea that there was a Cthulhu Mythos.

For Lovecraft Cthulhu was just one unspeakable horror in a universe much vaster and more terrible than even Cthulhu. He writes some fun stories but there is no big baddie underlying everything except that humanity grossly overestimates its knowledge of and ability to comprehend the full nature of and reality of the universe. Because of the era his writing easily comes off as purple prose with some things very noticeable like eldritch horrors and gibbous moons and such. However, like Robert E Howard as the grandfather of Sword and Sorcery, Lovecraft is the undeniable grandfather of modern horror. There is a pretty good bio of Lovecraft and his work here.

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[RJDiogenes]

You might also want to check out the HP Lovecraft Historical Society, which not only has a lot of information, but has produced a bunch of "radio" adaptations and a couple of nice independent films.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Quite a few writers have also written Cthulhu stories in the Lovecraftian style -- one of my favourites is "A Colder War" by Charles Stross.

http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/colderwar.htm

 

[Greg Cox]

Just pick up a general "Best of Lovecraft" type collection: Chances are, it will have the biggies: "The Call of Cthulhu," "The Colour out of Space," etc. It's not really a series, with continuing characters or whatever, so you can read them in most any order, or even skip over a story that isn't working for you. (The last time I tried reading "Shadows over Innsmouth," I found all the phonetically-rendered dialect rather grating so I skipped over it. A little of that goes a long way.)

As for recent Lovecraftian fiction, can I shamelessly plug RED RIGHT HAND by Levi Black? It's about a young woman, a distant relation of H.P., who gets caught up in the nightmarish world of the Elder Gods. (Full disclosure: I edited the book.)

I also enjoyed MAPLECROFT by Cherie Priest, which ingeniously mixes Lovecraft with Lizzie Borden. (Haven't had a chance to read the sequel yet.)

 

[Lowdarzz]

As stated above, the Cthulhu Mythos was a term coined after Lovecraft's death. Several of his stories share similar themes and have been lumped together by others into this mythos.

As a fan of Lovecraft's work I would recommend you either buy or borrow the complete collection of his work that was published by Barnes and Noble a few years back. There are some typos here and there but overall it's of good quality. Some of the earlier stories don't hold the weight of the later but that's true of most authors. If any of them feel derivative, just remember that that's because others later copied Lovecraft.

 

[JD]

What's the overall opinion on the movie Dagon? I came across it streaming on Netflix shortly after I first became aware of Lovecraft and I enjoyed it.
What about Boom! Studios' Fall of Cthulu comic book series?
I found a Penguin Classics edition of CoC that I was thinking about starting with that features:
Dagon
The Statement of Randolph Carter
Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family
Celepahais
Nyarlathotep
The Picture in the House
The Outsider
Herbert West - Reanimator
The Hound
The Rats in the Walls
The Festival
He
Cool Air
The Call of Cthulhu
The Colour Out of Space
The Whisper in the Darkness
The Shadow Over Innsmouth
The Hunter in the Dark

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

And never, ever, under any circumstance, say "Hastur"

 

[JD]

I'll keep that in mind.

 

[starrchild]

Once you've read those, check out Charles Stross' Laundry Files series.

 

[JD]

I've been planning on checking that one out. I didn't realize it had a connection to Lovecraft.

 

[Greg Cox]

"Dagon" is one of the better Lovecraft movies.

One you might miss is THE HAUNTED PALACE, a 1963 horror film with Vincent Price. Although it was marketed as "Edgar Allan Poe's THE HAUNTED PALACE," it's actually based on "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" by Lovecraft.

How weird is that?

 

[The Grim Ghost]

Penguin collection sounds like a great starting point.

If you end up getting into Lovecraft you might also enjoy looking into Clark Ashton Smith.

I enjoyed the movie Dagon even though it strays pretty far off the story. It is an adaptation of The Shadow Over Innsmouth which is great.

If you enjoy 80s and 90s gory movies at all with Lovecraft themes (even if they go wildly away from the actual stories in many cases) these are fun movies to check out, quality varies quite a bit. You'll see a lot of Jeffrey Combs who can even make something not so great like Castle Freak kind of fun.

Reanimator I, II and III
From Beyond
Castle Freak
Unnamable I and II

 

[JD]

I have been curious about the Re-Animator movies ever since I found out Jeffrey Combs was in them. He's one of my favorite recurring Trek actors, so seeing in in a starring role like that does make me curious. I just watched the trailer and did look like it could be something I might enjoy. I'm not usually that into gory stuff, but I find over the top stuff like that more tolerable than really realistic stuff.

"Dagon" is one of the better Lovecraft movie.

One you might miss THE HAUNTED PALACE, a 1963 horror film with Vincent Price. Although it was marketed as "Edgar Allan Poe's THE HAUNTED PALACE," it's actually based on "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" by Lovecraft.

How weird is that?

That is pretty crazy. I could see if they took a title from another Lovecraft story, like Dagon and The Shadow Over Innsmouth, but it seems weird to pick a unrelated title from a totally different writer.

 

[Gov Kodos]

I have been curious about the Re-Animator movies ever since I found out Jeffrey Combs was in them. He's one of my favorite recurring Trek actors, so seeing in in a starring role like that does make me curious. I just watched the trailer and did look like it could be something I might enjoy. I'm not usually that into gory stuff, but I find over the top stuff like that more tolerable than really realistic stuff.
That is pretty crazy. I could see if they took a title from another Lovecraft story, like Dagon and The Shadow Over Innsmouth, but it seems weird to pick a unrelated title from a totally different writer.

One movie for a Lovecraftian like situation is 'Horror Express' with Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. It's not based on any Lovecraft story but its situation and threat is something Lovecraft might have thought up.

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[Redfern]

Of course, beware of "imitators". I believe someone got confused over the concept of Cthulhu's "throne".

The Cthulhu model is by Sixus1 and the "crappy" composition is from moi.

 

[Set Harth]

You might also want to check out the HP Lovecraft Historical Society, which not only has a lot of information, but has produced a bunch of "radio" adaptations and a couple of nice independent films.

I love those films.

 

[Greg Cox]

That is pretty crazy. I could see if they took a title from another Lovecraft story, like Dagon and The Shadow Over Innsmouth, but it seems weird to pick a unrelated title from a totally different writer.

At the time, American-International Pictures was churning out a string of profitable Poe movies starring Price. This eventually led them to start slapping Poe's name and titles on Vincent Price movies that had nothing to do with Poe. (See also THE CONQUEROR WORM and CRY OF THE BANSHEE.)

But, yes, "Edgar Allan Poe's THE HAUNTED PALACE, based 'The Case of Charles Dexter Ward' by H.P. Lovecraft" is bizarre even by Hollywood adaptation standards.

I guess Lovecraft was not considered a marquee name back in 1963.

And speaking of Lovecraftian fiction:

http://www.tor.com/2016/05/24/reprints-those-who-watch-ruthanna-emrys/

 

[sojourner]

Of course, the closest thing to a big budget Lovercraft movie is In the Mouth of Madness.