I Lovecraft This Author

I forgot how Gothic and Victorian H. P. Lovecraft reads. I feel like I need to put on a cloak and read these stories by candlelight (which I casually do have the supplies for). However, I only set the scene before reading for Call of Cthulhu.

Lovecraft set a standard in horror and just fiction in general. Otherworldly horrors became something that still inspires people to this day. I first found my love for him after reading Dagon, and I’ve been delving into spookier reading and writing ever since. I own the Call of Cthulhu tabletop gaming rule books, and even have the Cthulhu Virtual Pet app on my phone. Lovecraft was, and will always be, very influential to writers.

Being objective however, I find the distinct voice Lovecraft has in his writing works really well for his otherworldly Horrorterror stories about gods, but works less for his human stories with a monstrous twist at the end. Both Pickman's Model and The Outsider followed that trope, the twist at the very end, which is kind of predictable by today's standards. I expected both outcomes given the foreshadowing in the text and knowing how Lovecraft writes. That trope is something we see all the time in modern stories. However, I found that it worked much better in The Outsider than in Pickman's Model, where it was a little too drawn out.

My general thoughts on the three stories we read were as follows:

The Outsider was good, albeit predictable. I knew he was going to be the monster in the mirror as soon as he entered the room, but at the same time I liked that twist and was pleased with the ending. The beginning was full of beautiful descriptions very stereotypical to how I would describe the tone to Lovecraft’s writing. Very eloquent.

Pickman’s Model still has the nice descriptions stereotypical of the author, but I felt in this one the lead up was dragging on to get to the point of him describing seeing the pictures at the end. The beginning was saved a little in how he told the story through the narrator’s point of view and interview-style. However, I find myself after the fact remembering very little of the beginning because it all blurred together. Once again, the twist at the end was predictable but acceptable and nice enough.

Call of Cthulhu is a beloved story close to my heart. I’ve read it many times, so I am a little biased rereading it. But at the same time, it is a Lovecraft classic. It has his classic voice and plot arcs that saves explanations until the end. Despite being longer than the other stories above, every part felt necessary and interesting with good foreshadowing. As alluded to in my beginning, instead of reading this story, I listened to it narrated by a British man while I was soaking in a bath and that made it even more aesthetic. It was a glorious experience.

If you think that you’d get to the end and I wouldn’t recommend Lovecraft then you don’t know me very well. I have a purse with Cthulhu on it that I brought with me to my friend wedding. Cthulhu was literally my date to that wedding.

READ H.P. LOVECRAFT.