[earnmyturns]

I should have just turned my Schiit on and listened to music instead of watching the circus. 90 minutes of my life I'll never get back.

Music always wins.

 

[artur9]

The over the top gore stuff just isn't creeptastic! If it doesn't raise the hair on the back of my neck and forearms it's just not unsettling enough, but maybe a laugh or two, or more.

Exactly. It needs to be deeply psychological and unexpected. Plus, I'm a huge fan of short fiction. A lot of modern novels could be told in 5 pp.

Have you seen the Sherlock Holmes / Lovecraft fusion? That's weirdly fascinating.

Try King Rat by China Miéville. Amazing. Terrestrial, but nontheless amazing!

I've read some of his stuff. Definitely could benefit from the 5pp rule I mention above. Even his short fiction feels too long.

 

[FLTWS]

...Have you seen the Sherlock Holmes / Lovecraft fusion? That's weirdly fascinating.

No I haven't. I find myself going back to read all my favorite horror literature some of which is decades old and that I hung onto thru many moves.

As luck would have it your post reminded me of my first paperback anthology of short stories I bought in 1959 at age 12 for 35 cents brand new. "The Macabre Reader".
It got misplaced/lost somewhere along the way and in recent years I've checked Amazon every now and then and yesterday I finally found a used copy that's now on order.

My dad was a horror buff and had a first edition printing of Stokers "Dracula" (and I wish I knew who in the family got away with it). We would watch all the classic B&W horror flicks of the 30's and 40's together, the only time I was allowed to stay up past 10PM in those days. I read it just before buying "The Macabre Reader"; the book cover got me curious.

One mashup novel of Holmes/Watson, Dracula, the Mummy, etc. was written by Mark Frost, co creator of "Twin Peaks". "The List of Seven". I think I'll dig that out for re-read.

 

[G0rt]

Some years back, Chaosium published many volumes of Mythos fiction, 20 or 30 at least, including all the classics, follow on to their Call of Cthulhu RPG.

Many may still be available. Arkham House of course, Fedogan & Bremer, Weirdbook, others.

I enjoyed much of Lumley's work from Ganley, but I think Ligotti gets closest to the real Lovecraftian weird (Grimscribe, Noctuary, Songs of a Dead Dreamer...)

A fun modern take is the Lovecraft trilogy by Peter Levenda, and Tyson's Alhazred books.

 

[audio philestine]

I think I have several copies of many of his stories.

I just wish there was a modern author with his style. Uber-creepy but not gory. I read a volume of "modern Lovecraft" and it was all slasher stuff. No like slasher stuff.

It's not exactly "modern", but I believe August Derleth collaborated with Lovecraft on some later works, and continued publishing after Lovecraft's passing.

 

[G0rt]

It's not exactly "modern", but I believe August Derleth collaborated with Lovecraft on some later works, and continued publishing after Lovecraft's passing.

Derleth's 'posthumous' collaborations are fun but slightly revisionist, colored by his Christian biases toward an inherently moral universe, which was hardly what HPL had in mind.

 

[Varejao17]

There's a few people writing in the universe of Lovecraft:

- Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff (also an HBO series)
- The Laundry Files by Charles Stross (imagine an MI-5 organization against the supernatural)
- Carter and Lovecraft by Jonathan L Howard (heh) - modern day PI in the Lovecraft universe

These are the decent ones that I know of, but there are lots of execrable ones as well.

I keep hoping that someone makes a film of "At the Mountains of Madness"

 

[G0rt]

There's a few people writing in the universe of Lovecraft:

- Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff (also an HBO series)
- The Laundry Files by Charles Stross (imagine an MI-5 organization against the supernatural)
- Carter and Lovecraft by Jonathan L Howard (heh) - modern day PI in the Lovecraft universe

These are the decent ones that I know of, but there are lots of execrable ones as well.

I keep hoping that someone makes a film of "At the Mountains of Madness"

Oh.hell.yes. Stross' Atrocity Archives is a blast.

Cannon's Scream For Jeeves is wonderful if you're a Wodehouse fan, too.

 

[macdonjh]

It's right up there for me, definitely. Call me odd, but my favorite Who song is "I Can't Explain" in original mono. Kind of timeless, and says it all.

"Magic Bus", the Meaty Beaty Big & Bouncy version... I understand why John Entwhistle hated playing it, but Keith Moon must have had a blast.

[edit] Oops, the Decca vinyl version of Meaty Beaty Big & Bouncy. No other studio version I've found is as long as this one, so you miss a lot.

 

[45longcolt]

Thanks for all the literature suggestions! This is why I so enjoy this thread. Well, Jason's contributions also have something to do with it...

 

[GumbyDammit223]

I think I have several copies of many of his stories.

I just wish there was a modern author with his style. Uber-creepy but not gory. I read a volume of "modern Lovecraft" and it was all slasher stuff. No like slasher stuff.

The one thing about Lovecraft that drives me crazy - when he writes things like "it's so horrible that it cannot be described", c'mon, give it a shot and describe it to me! You're a writer, surely you can find the words to describe it! I know what he's going for, but it makes it harder to visualize.

 

[JamminVMI]

I've read some of his stuff. Definitely could benefit from the 5pp rule I mention above. Even his short fiction feels too long.

King Rat is the odd book out. For him, it’s off the reservation. And I agree with your assessment for most of his stuff...

 

[valiant66]

There's a few people writing in the universe of Lovecraft:

- Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff (also an HBO series)
- The Laundry Files by Charles Stross (imagine an MI-5 organization against the supernatural)
- Carter and Lovecraft by Jonathan L Howard (heh) - modern day PI in the Lovecraft universe

These are the decent ones that I know of, but there are lots of execrable ones as well.

I keep hoping that someone makes a film of "At the Mountains of Madness"

I really enjoyed the Laundry Files. They seem so breezy, until you wake up in the middle of the night shuddering.
.

 

[artur9]

The one thing about Lovecraft that drives me crazy - when he writes things like "it's so horrible that it cannot be described", c'mon, give it a shot and describe it to me! You're a writer, surely you can find the words to describe it! I know what he's going for, but it makes it harder to visualize.

I like that. Can you imagine what it would be like if he had spent a dozen paragraphs describing the horror and decades later, you think, "That's not so bad, my kid's bathroom is more horrible than that!"

 

[artur9]

One mashup novel of Holmes/Watson, Dracula, the Mummy, etc. was written by Mark Frost, co creator of "Twin Peaks". "The List of Seven". I think I'll dig that out for re-read.

Some years back, Chaosium published many volumes of Mythos fiction, 20 or 30 at least, including all the classics, follow on to their Call of Cthulhu RPG.

Many may still be available. Arkham House of course, Fedogan & Bremer, Weirdbook, others.

I enjoyed much of Lumley's work from Ganley, but I think Ligotti gets closest to the real Lovecraftian weird (Grimscribe, Noctuary, Songs of a Dead Dreamer...)

A fun modern take is the Lovecraft trilogy by Peter Levenda, and Tyson's Alhazred books.

- Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff (also an HBO series)
- The Laundry Files by Charles Stross (imagine an MI-5 organization against the supernatural)
- Carter and Lovecraft by Jonathan L Howard (heh) - modern day PI in the Lovecraft universe
I keep hoping that someone makes a film of "At the Mountains of Madness"

Wow! That would be amazing. Maybe the team that did Colour could do it. They seem to have the atmosphere down.

Cannon's Scream For Jeeves is wonderful if you're a Wodehouse fan, too.

Y'all are ruining my Schiit budget.