# Help me get started with Lovecraft - **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 18, 2011, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-get-started-with-lovecraft/585904 "2011-06-18T01:25:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-get-started-with-lovecraft/585904/1 "2011-06-18T01:25:48Z")
So - I have never read any of his works - I continually see references to them here and elsewhere - but I have no idea ‘where’ to get started - I bought a couple of ‘complete works’ (who can resist a leather covered necronomican), but want an easier starting point. Things like a litmus test - “reading x will tell you if you will like his overall style or not” “read x no matter what” “don’t read x without having read y” things like that - including, ideally, things I can go pick up at amazon or ebay relatively cheap. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_Hartwick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@Dave\_Hartwick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Hartwick)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-get-started-with-lovecraft/585904/2 "2011-06-18T01:31:40Z")
I got interested in HPL after reading “The Colour Out of Space”. I’d also suggest “The Rats in the Walls” and “The Shadow Over Innsmouth”. I’ve seen some of his stories online. I believe they’re legal as copyright has expired. [http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The\_Shadow\_Over\_Innsmouth](http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Shadow_Over_Innsmouth) for instance. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-get-started-with-lovecraft/585904/3 "2011-06-18T01:39:16Z")
Wait, did you buy his complete works or not? If so, why would you need to buy anything else off Amazon? I’d start with some of his most popular stories and then the novella-length “At the Mountains of Madness.” I like Lovecraft, but I find him repetitive. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-get-started-with-lovecraft/585904/4 "2011-06-18T01:53:38Z")
> [@Erdosain](#): > > Wait, did you buy his complete works or not? If so, why would you need to buy anything else off Amazon? > > I’d start with some of his most popular stories and then the novella-length “At the Mountains of Madness.” > > I like Lovecraft, but I find him repetitive. I bought “The Necronomicon - the best wierd tales of H.P Lovecraft” - but its a couple of inches thick, and not a good ‘starting point’ - It’s also a bit cumbersome to carry on a plane when I might actually have time to read) - so, its not so much wether or not I’m silly enough to ‘own’ all his works (without having read the first one) - its more that I don’t know where to start with them. So, looking for ideas - and if I already have the stories in this volume - all the better. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-get-started-with-lovecraft/585904/5 "2011-06-18T02:04:09Z")
You want [this book.](http://www.amazon.com/Best-H-P-Lovecraft-Bloodcurdling/dp/0345350804/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1308362008&sr=8-2) Lovecraft wrote a ton of stories, but this book really does a good job of collecting the definitive works: “The Shadow over Innsmouth,” “The Colour Out of Space,” “Pickman’s Model,” and, of course, “The Call of Cthulhu.” The only “must-read” work that’s not included in here is his novel, _At the Mountains of Madness_. After that, there’s dozens and dozens of other stories to explore at your own pace, but you’ll have already covered the ones that are both most accessible, and most definitive. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-get-started-with-lovecraft/585904/6 "2011-06-18T02:05:07Z")
[Best to start slow, I think…](http://www.hello-cthulhu.com/?date=2003-11-30) ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-get-started-with-lovecraft/585904/7 "2011-06-18T02:06:20Z")
“The Colour Out Of Space” “The Shadow Over Innsmouth” “The Dunwich Horror” “The Rats In The Walls” Those are distilled Lovecraft. If you like those, you’ll love most of his work. If you hate those, you’re not going to like most of his work. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-get-started-with-lovecraft/585904/8 "2011-06-18T02:18:59Z")
I’m a big Lovecraft fan. I’d recommend the Library of America anthology – it has most of the important stories and is a quality book, bookwise. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-get-started-with-lovecraft/585904/9 "2011-06-18T02:20:21Z")
For actual stories, a couple of the most alluded to are “At the Mountains of Madness” and “The Call of Cthulhu.” ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-get-started-with-lovecraft/585904/10 "2011-06-18T02:26:02Z")
> [@tnetennba](#): > > I’m a big Lovecraft fan. I’d recommend the Library of America anthology – it has most of the important stories and is a quality book, bookwise. Yeah, I read this [Library of America anthology](http://www.amazon.com/H-P-Lovecraft-Library-America/dp/1931082723). Very nice quality and has the heavy hitters. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-get-started-with-lovecraft/585904/11 "2011-06-18T02:32:33Z")
That’s the one. I’ve collected a number of the LOA books, and was excited to see Lovecraft make the cut… along with Chandler, the big (welcome) surprise of genre writers being considered part of the canon and worthy of inclusion next to Hawthorne, Twain, etc. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-get-started-with-lovecraft/585904/12 "2011-06-18T02:39:29Z")
I wrote [a Lovecraft pastiche here](http://extras.kurtisscaletta.com/mud/mountains/)… /self-promotion ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-get-started-with-lovecraft/585904/13 "2011-06-18T04:44:32Z")
Thanks ! ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-get-started-with-lovecraft/585904/14 "2011-06-18T09:07:11Z")
It’s not really typical Lovecraft, but if you read a lot of academic stuff, read his short story “Ibid”. It’s hysterical. ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-get-started-with-lovecraft/585904/15 "2011-06-18T09:56:36Z")
Lovecraft is out of copyright, his whole works can be downloaded from Project Gutenberg. Get an e-book reader, then you’ll have all Lovecraft, all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-get-started-with-lovecraft/585904/16 "2011-06-18T09:57:44Z")
> [@tnetennba](#): > > For actual stories, a couple of the most alluded to are “At the Mountains of Madness” and “The Call of Cthulhu.” At the Mountains of Madness can be very long and very dry for someone who’s not entirely familiar with Lovecraft’s work. I love LOVE Lovecraft and will forgive him a lot of ills, and even I need to be in the mood to read AtMoM, and sometimes even then it’s a slog. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-get-started-with-lovecraft/585904/17 "2011-06-18T10:32:57Z")
_The Outsider_ is an old favorite of mine. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-get-started-with-lovecraft/585904/18 "2011-06-18T10:33:49Z")
I think what to read and where to start in order to get into Lovecraft has been pretty well covered, but if (after you have read some and liked it – or, for an experiment, before reading anything) you want to appreciate him on a different level, I suggest French novelist and (former?) literary enfant terrible Michel Houellebecq’s essay (in book form) _Against the World, Against Life_, if you can get a hold of it for a reasonable price. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-get-started-with-lovecraft/585904/19 "2011-06-18T13:58:37Z")
The problem with Lovecraft is, his most famous stuff is not his best work. When he is trying to write a _ **Horror Story** _, and trying to impress you with how horrible the horrific horrors are, he often gets rather campy. When he is just trying to paint pictures with words, he is wonderful. My favorites: “The Silver Key”, “The Strange High House in the Mist”, and “In the Walls of Eryx”. “The Street” displays some of the worst of his racism, but also contains some beautiful imagery. ---
**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:** [June 18, 2011, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-get-started-with-lovecraft/585904/20 "2011-06-18T15:39:59Z")
I would recommend _The Case of Charles Dexter Ward_, his longest work, “The Shadow out of Time,” “The Rats in the Walls,” “The Dunwich Horror,” “Pickman’s Model,” “At the Mountains of Madness,” and “Dreams in the Witch-House.” For some of his lesser-known tales, try “The Tomb,” “The Doom that Came to Sarnath,” “Quest for Iranon,” “The Hound,” and “The Music of Erich Zann.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-get-started-with-lovecraft/585904.md?page=2)