Howard Phillips Lovecraft was, until recently, one of the most underrated science fiction/horror/fantasy writers who ever set pen to paper. Aliens and anomalies, witchcraft and wormholes, insanity and Elder Things, the Cthulhu Mythos and creatures from hell – all of this lies ‘dead but dreaming’ awaiting readers.
“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.”– H.P. Lovecraft
Human beings inhabit (infest?) a minor planet in an insignificant solar system surrounding a commonplace star on a featureless arm of a run-of-the-mill spiral galaxy in what may be one of a multitude of universes. Unnameable horrors could be lurking just out of sight beyond the moon or under the oceans or in the deepest jungles – or, next-door.
Lovecraft’s skill, like that of Stephen King’s, was to couple the mundane with the preternaturaladj.1/3 – “…King is a fan of H.P Lovecraft and refers to him several times in in Danse Macabre. Lovecraft’s influence shows in King's invention of bizarre, ancient deities, subtle connections among all of his tales and the integration of fabricated newspaper clippings, trial transcripts and documents as narrative devices. King’s invented trio of afflicted New England towns—Jerusalem’s Lot, Castle Rock and Derry – are reminiscent of Lovecraft’s Arkham, Dunwich and Innsmouth. King's short story Crouch End is an explicit homage to, and part of, Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos story cycle. Gramma, a short story made into a film in the 80’s anthology horror show Tales From the Dark Side, mentions Lovecraft’s notorious fictional creation Necronomicon, also borrowing the names of a number of the fictional monsters mentioned therein. I Know What You Need from 1976’s anthology collection Night Shift, and ’Salem’s Lot. also mention the tome. Another tribute to Lovecraft is in King’s short story ‘Jerusalem’s Lot’, which opens King’s book Night Shift. King differs markedly from Lovecraft in his focus on extensive characterization and naturalistic dialogue, both notably absent in Lovecraft's writing. In On Writing, King is critical of Lovecraft’s dialogue-writing skills, using passages from The Colour Out of Space as particularly poor examples. There are also several examples of King referring to Lovecraftian characters in his work, such as Nyarlathotep and Yog-Sothoth.” –Wikipedia entry
“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.”– H.P. Lovecraft
Human beings inhabit (infest?) a minor planet in an insignificant solar system surrounding a commonplace star on a featureless arm of a run-of-the-mill spiral galaxy in what may be one of a multitude of universes. Unnameable horrors could be lurking just out of sight beyond the moon or under the oceans or in the deepest jungles – or, next-door.
Lovecraft’s skill, like that of Stephen King’s, was to couple the mundane with the preternaturaladj.1/3 – “…King is a fan of H.P Lovecraft and refers to him several times in in Danse Macabre. Lovecraft’s influence shows in King's invention of bizarre, ancient deities, subtle connections among all of his tales and the integration of fabricated newspaper clippings, trial transcripts and documents as narrative devices. King’s invented trio of afflicted New England towns—Jerusalem’s Lot, Castle Rock and Derry – are reminiscent of Lovecraft’s Arkham, Dunwich and Innsmouth. King's short story Crouch End is an explicit homage to, and part of, Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos story cycle. Gramma, a short story made into a film in the 80’s anthology horror show Tales From the Dark Side, mentions Lovecraft’s notorious fictional creation Necronomicon, also borrowing the names of a number of the fictional monsters mentioned therein. I Know What You Need from 1976’s anthology collection Night Shift, and ’Salem’s Lot. also mention the tome. Another tribute to Lovecraft is in King’s short story ‘Jerusalem’s Lot’, which opens King’s book Night Shift. King differs markedly from Lovecraft in his focus on extensive characterization and naturalistic dialogue, both notably absent in Lovecraft's writing. In On Writing, King is critical of Lovecraft’s dialogue-writing skills, using passages from The Colour Out of Space as particularly poor examples. There are also several examples of King referring to Lovecraftian characters in his work, such as Nyarlathotep and Yog-Sothoth.” –Wikipedia entry
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