So far only The Temple has creeped me out

Dr. Zoltar said:

I got this when it came out - I'm afraid that I wasn't massively impressed. As far as I can remember, it starts off as quite a good pastiche, but it loses it as the story develops. Pick up a cheap copy if you come across one, but I'd stick with the original every time.

Difficult choice! Only one ?

It depends what you want - for a Cthulhu mythos story it has to be At The Mountains of Madness . If you want a grim horror story dig out Cool Air or In The Vault. Failing that, The Cats of Ulthar is always good for a laugh!

The Call of Cthulhu was the first one I read in an old "Tales of Cthulhu Mythose Vol. 1" anthology in my high school library. Still my favorite. The next would be The Shunned House.

My favorite is The Statement of Randolph Carter . I also love the fantasies, The Cats of Ulthar and The Doom that Came to Sarnath.

bump

I read 3 HPL Omnibus over the past weeks. Happened upon them when I was killing time (stupid Invulnerability text ) and browsing in a book store. As a heavy Arkham Horror addict, figured what the hell.

Whisperer in Darkness was very nice, easily my favourite. Also the only one that gave me the creeps. Of the non-Mythos stuff, The Quest of Iranion was awesome.

I can't put my finger on why, but "The thing on the Doorstep" really did it for me. After having read biographies of Lovecraft, I'm pretty sure the main character (NOT the narrator) is based on himself. I really really disliked "Whisperer in the Darkness"... It might be just me, but the Mi-Go don't seem evil to me. I might've read it wrong, but to me, they seemed genuine in their offer, and thus, were being friendly... And friendly... Creatures? Things? Fungi? don't make for good horror stories.

I haven't read all of Lovecraft's stories, but of the ones I have, Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn, A Shadow over Innsmouth and The Music of Eric Zann. All of those had endings that really made me think.

I'm going to have to be cliched and say that 'Call of Cthulhu' is my favourite, it was so groundbreaking for its time and has, well, Cthulhu in it.

I'm with you on the Thing On The Doorstep, that story just creeped me out and has the best opening line in any short horror story I've read. On the contrary, I Whisperer In Darkness is in my top 5. The ending where he goes downstairs and finds...well I won't give anything away, but it literally gave me chills!

I simply cant reduce the body of work into a favorite selection. I like each story for different reasons, even the shorter poems.

But I will strive to list what I like and why in a short list.

The Dunwich horror, because of how immersive the story is due to Wilbur Whateley's own words. Chilling how nefarious he is depicted.

The Dreamquest of Unknown Kadath, because of its epic scale and a dreamers path to find his most cherished memory again. When viewed in a certain light, it is a very personal story of Lovecraft's, one which could easily be superimposed to be almost autobiographical in a manner of speaking.

The Shadow out of Time, because it makes such a great alternate history read. Fantastic in its attempt.

The Silver Key and Through the Gates of the Silver Key. The first because of its very well defined descriptions and the hint of something grander. I am glad E. Hoffman Price submitted his draft for Lovecraft to co-author (though its fairly obvious looking at the original manuscripts that Price was the real author with Lovecraft basically editing the piece) because of the ingenious and monumental scale of the journey and the power of a single man's dreams. Its stories like this that makes the Dreamlands such a riveting plot device.

The Dream Quest of Uknown Kadath. I reread sentences in that story just because I love how Lovecraft's Syntax was. I also love the comedy throughout the books and how lighthearted it was.

Powerslave60 said:

That story was rather macabre. I found it to be up there in creepiness. Obviously it didn't beat Dagon or The Color out of Space or the Horror at Red Hook....

but it was good.

THE DUNWICH HORROR, hands down the best!

They've made two crappy movies of it. Both starring Dean Stockwell. Really awful. But the story is first class.

OH, I"m sure you've all seen the SAMURAI CAT send up, THE DUNWICH COW. It's a classic.

The Outsider, it was my first Lovecraft that I read, and Im not lying my jkaw dropped open at the end of the story, ever since then Ive been hooked on Lovecraft

Just come across this thread and couldn't resist adding my own thoughts to it

I've not yet read all of Lovecraft's work, but from the big chunk that I have, I would have to say The Dunwich Horror is my absolute favourite. The story is just so immersive from the start, I was totally drawn in. The first story of Lovecraft's that I'd read was Call of Cthulhu, but it was Dunwich Horror that got me on board for this ride!

Two runners-up have to be The Thing on the Doorstep, which was just awesomely creepy, and The Shadow Over Innsmouth, for the atmosphere.

It always will be The Dunwich Horror . Follow-up is At the Mountains of Madness .

I vote for thing on the doorstep i agree with Overkongen about derby being based upon lovecraft and it dose not contane that much history(like rats in the wals).

Favorite horror story: "The shadow over Insmouth". People should check out the movie "Dagon" (2001).

Favorite fantasy story: "The quest of Iranon", great twist at the end.

Favorite story that made me laugh: "Herbert West -Reanimator". West, while still a student, is experimenting on bringing the dead back to life. When the abandoned house he uses for his experiments burns down he has to hide the demented creature his experiments created on campus. When somebody notices the mewling shambling monster, West pretends it is a DRUNK FRATBOY that he's helping back to his dorm. Thats just amazing...

I also like "The haunter of the dark". Not so much for the story itself but more because H.P. is playing literary tag with some of his

friends. 1st Robert bloch writes a short story in wich a character that obviously is meant to represent lovecraft get killed by a star vampire. Then in haunter of the dark Lovecraft retaliates by killing Andrew Blake- Blake being a stand in for Robert Bloch.

the Dunwhich Horror