# H.P. Lovecraft suggestions **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 12, 2012, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h-p-lovecraft-suggestions/609254 "2012-01-12T04:24:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h-p-lovecraft-suggestions/609254/21 "2012-01-13T16:40:36Z")
Having only just starting reading Lovecraft myself (after years of hearing about his works) I thought that _The Dunwich Horror_ was a good intro. Not too long, and not requiring extensive background knowledge to follow, it was a good, suspenseful read that left me wanting more. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h-p-lovecraft-suggestions/609254/22 "2012-01-13T16:51:00Z")
H.P. Lovecraft is fantastic but he often comes off as dated to people just getting into the genre, for something similar but more accessible I’d go with [The Imago Sequence and Other Stories by Laird Barron](http://www.amazon.com/Imago-Sequence-Other-Stories/dp/1597801461/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1326473279&sr=8-1) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h-p-lovecraft-suggestions/609254/23 "2012-01-13T22:01:25Z")
> [@Lusus\_Naturae](#): > > You want to introduce someone to Lovecraft, but do it _gently_? Where’s the mind-gnawing gibbering madness going to come from, then? 😉 Oh, it’ll come, all right. When it’s too late to stop it. Remember, a trap should never **look** like a trap. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h-p-lovecraft-suggestions/609254/24 "2012-01-13T23:11:59Z")
The Dunwich Horror is a great place to start, as is Innsmouth. The action really makes your guts twist in empathy! Pickman’s Model - nice and short, and totally delivers. The Color out of Space is one of my personal favorites, as is The Rats in the Walls. The Stephen King short story is “Jerusalem’s Lot,” not to be confused with his novel 'Salem’s Lot. A Study in Emerald is made of awesome and win, but it is emphatically not written in Lovecraftian style. It’s a Sherlock Holmes story in structure and wording, with Lovecraftian plot elements. Anyone who’s reading Lovecraft in order, or even those who’d like to just learn more about individual stories, should check out The[H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast](http://hppodcraft.com/), in which they have professional actors read excerpts, and they discuss the story itself and its background relative to Lovecraft’s other work and life. They also have selected stories read in full by excellent readers. I really can’t recommend it enough. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h-p-lovecraft-suggestions/609254/25 "2012-01-14T01:32:26Z")
> [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](#): > > The Dunwich Horror is a great place to start, as is Innsmouth. The action really makes your guts twist in empathy! And the latter was made into (for once) a pretty good [movie.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagon_(film)) ('Course, there ain’t a feature film’s worth of action in the story, and they had to throw in a lot of new shit and add more characters and change the ending; and the movie is actually titled after a completely **different** HPL story.) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h-p-lovecraft-suggestions/609254/26 "2012-01-14T03:09:46Z")
If you want stories that aren’t that dark, I would suggest “The Quest of Iranon” and “The Strange High House in the Mist.” ---
**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h-p-lovecraft-suggestions/609254/27 "2012-01-14T23:07:34Z")
You guys are the best! Thank you so much for all of the great links. > [@Sitnam](#): > > H.P. Lovecraft is fantastic but he often comes off as dated to people just getting into the genre, for something similar but more accessible I’d go with [The Imago Sequence and Other Stories by Laird Barron](http://www.amazon.com/Imago-Sequence-Other-Stories/dp/1597801461/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1326473279&sr=8-1) You are right that Lovecraft comes off as dated, but thats part of the charm. I am going to aquire a copy of that book for myself. The preview pages sucked me right in. Thank you so much. > [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Oh, it’ll come, all right. When it’s too late to stop it. Remember, a trap should never **look** like a trap. Grins. You are so right. Its the slow descent into gibbering madness that makes it so exquisite. > [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](#): > > The Stephen King short story is “Jerusalem’s Lot,” not to be confused with his novel 'Salem’s Lot. > > \ Thank you! > > Anyone who’s reading Lovecraft in order, or even those who’d like to just learn more about individual stories, should check out The[H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast](http://hppodcraft.com/), in which they have professional actors read excerpts, and they discuss the story itself and its background relative to Lovecraft’s other work and life. They also have selected stories read in full by excellent readers. I really can’t recommend it enough. And thank you again. I’ve never found that and from what I’ve hearing now…this is going to be so much fun. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h-p-lovecraft-suggestions/609254.md?page=1)