For many of you familiar with Lovecraft, and the genre that has followed from his writing, you are aware that there are a multitude of authors who have contributed material.

Out of all of the various authors who have contributed works to the Cthulhu mythos, who is your favorite who is not Lovecraft?

Personally my is August Derleth I discovered some of his writing in an anthology, and his tale where I first heard of Yog - Sothoth has just stuck with me more then any other tale through the years.

I like Robert Bloch...and from the newer ones Basil Copper and Michael Marrak.

lordofmasks

I think one of the intresting things is how Lovecraft has bled into other settings, most blatently in the case of Conan... It realy makes it feel like an actual hidden history of the universe when you can stumble across Lovecraft's concepts in other unrelated works.

I like REH. I guess HPL was a fan of his work aswell. My two favorite authors.

BeneathTheEarth said:

Better than 'fan' - they were part of a group who regularly corresponded, shared stories with each other asking for advice on their development and structure, and dropped bits of each other's 'mythology', characters and sometimes (usually via bad puns!) used each other's names into their own stories.

I haven't read enough of the "Lovecraft Circle" to make a very informed opinion, but I think Ramsey Campbell had some nice ones. The Inhabitant of the Lake , and Cold Print , for instance. But I admit I need to read more Robert Bloch. August Dereleth doesn't really come close IMHO.

I agree with the above posters with Robert E. Howard, Robert Bloch, and Ramsey Campbell. Derleth is okay, but it reminds me of when Lin Carter and L. Sprague de Camp were "co-writing" Conan the Barbarian stories. Their writing just gave me a "not quite there" feeling.

You might want to consider Brian Lumley as well. Although his stories have a more "adventure" and less macabre feeling to them.

"Teatro Grottesco" by Thomas Ligotti has some great weird stories that feel like HPLs "Outsider." Robert W. Chambers original stories of "The King in Yellow" are also quite good.

There are some good anthologies out there that should be easy to find. Also check out Chaosium.com and look at their Lovecraftian fiction. Usually they have a good selection.

What about Clark Ashton Smith?

check out the Choasium "Call Of Cthulhu Fiction" series, esp the cycle books. I read The Innsmouth Cycle and was VERY suprised at how well the stories flowed. It features everything from stories that inspired HP to modern written tales in his universe. i can't wait to get my tenticles on more!

If I'm honest, outside of HPL himself I'm not a fan of other Mythos authors. Some stories are good, but in general they take more of the sci-fi route rather than the horror. Its the horror that draws me to Lovecraft more than anything. In fact i think he almost dropped the ball given a scientific explaination for things in At the Mountains of Madness.

Brian Lumley especially, is one author who has deviated too far from the source for my tastes really.

Robert E. Howard, hands down. There's a lot of horror even in his action stories, especially the Kull the Conqueror series.

There's an interesting novel called Shadow's Bend by David Barbour and Richard Raleigh - it's about Lovecraft and Howard taking a road trip to California to see Clark Ashton Smith. There's a weird mystery/horror plot tacked on which doesn't really work, but the characterizations of Howard, Lovecraft and especially Smith are fun.

I'll give another vote to Clark Ashton Smith. I have A Rendevous in Averoigne. One thing I definitely need to read more of is the revisions Lovecraft did with other authors while he was alive.

Of hte Lovecraft circle - my favorite is probably Bloch. Notebook in a Deserted Farmhouse is a classic, and the Shambler/Haunter/Steeple series he and Lovecraft went back and forth on is a staple.

But T.E.D. Klein and his collection seemed to be the closest to the master I had encountered. Black Man with a Horn still gives me the chills.

RW Chambers is probably my favorite, and August Derleth is easily my least favorite (that I've read)

I only read Lovecraft