I'm looking to read some Lovecraft but I'm not really sure where to start. Are there any stories of his in particular that are better to read for getting into his work than others?
Try starting with Mountains Of Madness or The Call Of Cthulu.WhyBotherToTry said:I'm looking to read some Lovecraft but I'm not really sure where to start. Are there any stories of his in particular that are better to read for getting into his work than others?
That was going to be my recommendation as well. People tend to focus on Lovecraft's later stuff (i.e, Cthulhu, Mountains of Madness), and those are all great, but no matter what BreakfastMan above says, the Dream Cycle stuff is actually quite good and underrated.Shadowstar38 said:You should try "Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath". Man thats a mouthful. Its like morphine that you read.
http://www.yankeeclassic.com/miskatonic/library/stacks/literature/lovecraft/novellas/dreamque.htm
this one.Shadowstar38 said:"Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath".
On this note, I think I should probably tell you the bad stuff:dimensional said:I just bought the Necronomicon and read it through lots of a good stories in there with a few duds. I didnt particularly like the dream cycle with the exception of
this one.Shadowstar38 said:"Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath".
Others that I remember off the top of my head are Reanimator,Colour from outer space and shadow over innsmouth but TBH you are unlikely to go wrong with whatever you read of his as the good stories far outweigh the few bad. (using bad as a relative term here)
Agreed. I'd add Shadow of the Comet and the first Alone in the Dark.Clive Howlitzer said:I also recommend playing Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of The Earth.
I'm not that easy to be surprised, but to see a real telepath in action...Hal10k said:'The Call of Cthulhu' and 'At the Mountains of Madness' are good distillations of his work, but they're fairly long. I'd suggest 'The Colour Out of Space'- it's short enough to read in a single sitting, but long enough to capture everything you need to know about Lovecraft, aside from its suspicious lack of racist undertones.