So the other day we discussed our favorite Lovecraft stories, and there was a lot of response. But what about your favorite Lovecraftian story that was not written by H.P. Lovecraft?
It could be a favorite short story, or a favorite novel. And you don’t have to pick just one. What story best embodies Lovecraft’s themes, in your opinion? Or what story did you just plain enjoy the most?
Comment below!
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Also included in Richard Gavin’s At Fear’s Altar is an excellent sequel to H.P. Lovecraft’s “The Hound” called “Faint Baying from Afar”.
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My favourite would be “The Eldritch Faith” by Richard Gavin from his latest book “At Fear’s Altar”. Its an excellent book! I highly recommend it!
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Stephen King’s novella “The Mist” works for me as a great Lovecraftian story. I’m thinking particularly of the ending, which suggests not that a small hole has appeared between our world and a hideous other universe, but rather a great ripping open.
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Someone already mentioned it, but I adore The Fungal Stain by Wilhelm von Pugmyre.
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There are so many stories from youth that really stuck with me such as Robert Bloch’s ‘Notebook Found in a Deserted House’, ‘The Shadow from the Steeple and ‘Shambler from the Stars’. Laird Barron’s ‘Hallucigenia’, Ramsey Campbell’s ‘Voice of the Beach’, ‘The ‘Insects from Shaggai,’ and the ‘Inhabitant of the Lake’. Thomas Ligotti’s ‘The Shadow at the Bottom of the World’ and a not often mentioned story, ‘The Golden Keeper’ by Ian MacLeod. My first introduction to Lovecraft was through a collection of mostly other writers that I read in the mid ’70’s.
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I first got into horror via Stephen King’s “Salem’s Lot”. This eventually lead me to “Jerusalem’s Lot”. I was confused why it didn’t have anything to do with vampires, but I still thought it was cool.
Eventually, I started reading HPL and found The Rats in the Walls. I thought “This reads like Jerusalem’s Lot”. Then I realized I got it backwards.
It’s been forever since I’ve read Crouch End, but I recall enjoying it as well.
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Brian, welcome. Have you read “N”, by Stephen King as well? VERY Lovecraftian.
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Stephen King’s N. is definitely one of my favourites, if not the most favourite one! I recommend it to anyone who does not read it yet!
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Yes, I did read N. For some reason I locked on to the OCD and paranoia aspects of the characters more than the weird/alien/Lovecraftian nature of the story. Having read King’s Dark Tower series, I associated the holes in space/time more with the “thinnies” of that universe, which made them kind of mundane in my mind. After reading this thread, N is definately on my list of stories to re-read.
Speaking of The Dark Tower series, there is a point in the last book where the characters are traversing a tunnel complete darkness and can sense a number of creatures stalking them. There was no description of the creatures because of the darkness, but the characters can sense their alien nature. This flight and the creatures struck me as Lovecraftian and was one of the few really engaging sections for me, in what was otherwise a disappointing book.
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I honestly cannot remember if I’ve read “N” or not. Which probably means I haven’t! On my list now. On another note, this list has made me wish for an ebook service just for short stories – especially those in out-of-print or very expensive collector volumes. Not because I begrudge the money to authors but because I want to jump right to a story and read it and not wait to get or afford an anthology which contains it. From this “Sticks” and “N” and “Drawer something or other” by Kiernan are on top of that “oooo, I want to read THAT” list.
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The Great White Space – Basil Copper
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Feeling talkative tonight for some reason. On the heels of my last post was an immediate sense of possessiveness about the HPL canon and the joy of belonging to the select company of people who know of and love it – a feeling even more true when I first discovered him in the early 60’s. There is a part of me that does not want the masses into the club because they couldn’t possibly appreciate him and others and others as much as we do. This last to be read ironically – or not. So there.
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OK, I have a new social media campaign to start. As I started looking up the authors and stories mentioned in this thread I discovered that so many of the works are in anthologies and editions that cost tens to hundreds of dollars. On the one hand, I think that speaks volumes about the quality and contribution of these authors, on the other in means that they are not in circulation enough. So, quite selfishly I admit, I want to start a “make all Lovecraftian Lit and Lore available to the masses” campaign (and still make the authors a ton of dough).
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shortcut
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I really don’t think this counts for a number of technical reasons, but it does have some at least distant relation to HPL and it is my favorite short story bar none – “Mrs. Todd’s Shorcut” by Stephen King
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Great to read your comment, Marc, because MRS. TODD’S SHORTCUT is one of my favorite short stories, too. And I do think it’s Lovecraftian.
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Mike,
I so appreciate you sharing this. Makes us feel even more sympatico. The HPLness of Mrs. Todd would be a great discussion in itself. I don’t often think of it as Lovecraftian because it is such a huge, delightful boost for me every time I read it, it feels like Christmas gift in the best sense, and “delight” is not a sensation I generally equate to my love of Lovecraftian lit; “disturbing” would be the more common sensation in that regard.. Although in some strange way it probably explains why the Dreamquest of Unknown Kadath is my favorite of the canon.
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N. by Stephen King, Maybe the Stars by Samantha Henderson
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Hmmmm – that’s a thinker! Off the top of my head, I’d say “The Lurker At The Threshold” (yes, I know it was a based on fragments written by HPL himself, but it was August Derleth who completed it) and “Jerusalem’s Lot” by Stephen King. Oh, if you want to stretch a point, there’s “The Ceremonies” by T.E.D. Klein – a very underrated piece if work, well worth the reading!
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I see “Sticks” has a lot of fans, count me as one more. I also thought Klein’s “The Events at Poroth Farm” was extraordinarily creepy.
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Miind you the Laundery series is really very good.
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Agreed, Im a big fan of Charles Stross, currently im listening to the Apocalypse Codex. A Colder War, and Neil Gaiman’s A Study In Emerald. Im pretty new to HPL so I appreciate the extensive lists posted here of like minded authors, time to catch up!.
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I forgot to mention Fritz Lieber’s “Our Lady of Darkness” one of my all time favorite novelettes. Not sure if its considered Lovecraftian, but it is creepy (plus, Ive gone to the locations in the book, fun!)
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Charles Stross’s A Colder War is amazing. I’d also add I thought that
Twilight Turns From Amethyst also really got me. Chilling.
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I haven’t read many non-Lovecraft HPL stories, of the ones I have read I think Crouch End, by Stephen King is the best for grabbing the emotional effect Lovecraft has on me. The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen is also a great non-Lovecraft story, thought it predates any of Lovecraft’s works.
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My favorite non-HPL story is “The Dweller in Darkness”
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Oh, I just thought of The Boats of the Glen Carrig” and “The House on the Borderlands” by William Hope Hodgson.
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oops, novels not stories 🙂
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I would say the author who has come the closest to really capturing the “scare the hell out of you without really being very specific in description” (one of my definitions of HPL style) is Ramsay Campbell. Again with my apologies to many of the authors in this community whom I’m unfamiliar with.
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First of all, Mike, I hope you compile and preserve this list because I want to use it to catch up with contemporary non-HPL lit. I have to confess I’m not very familiar with the more recent stories (hence my appreciation for this list and you, Mike and the ezine in general). So my choice will reveal my era. “The Hounds of Tindalos” by Frank Belknap Long. I’m a sucker for the whole odd geometry thing. And frankly, if you’ll pardon the expression, this story scares the hell out of me. There are others that would come to mind if I continue to cogitate but that’s the first story that bubbled up into my consciousness when I read the question.
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“From Beyond the Stars” by Richard L. Tierney.
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I know I’m far from alone here, but my vote would probably also go to Klein’s “Black Man with a Horn,” though there are countless great Lovecraftian stories floating around. Has anybody already mentioned Molly Tanzer’s “Infernal History of the Ivybridge Twins”?
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Basil Copper’s the Great White Space, along with W.H. Pugmire’s selections.
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House of Leaves – Mark Z Danielewski
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Wow…I thought I was going to be the only one to recall Karl Edward Wagner’s “Sticks” (which I’m still convinced was an inspiration for Blair Witch). I’m glad to see others list it as well.
Aside from that, I’d like to diverge from the obvious and put forward “Haunted” by Chuck Palahniuk. It’s not overtly Lovecraftian, but it’s got a lot of the same disturbing eeriness as found in stories like “The Shunned House”, “The Terrible Old Man” and especially “The Picture In the House”. Not for the squeamish, but I suspect there’s few of those here anyway.
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Eldritch Fellas by Tim Curran, although you lot will probbable curse me for it.
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Two words: “Black Thirst” by C.L. Moore.
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Voice of the Beach by Ramsey Campbell
if graphic novels count, Uzumaki by Junji Ito
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I’m going to jump on Wilum Pugmire’s bandwagon with another vote for T.E.D. Klein’s “Black Man with the Horn” — though his novel “Ceremonies” is also excellent.
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The Mind Parasites and The Return of the Lloigor, both by Colin Wilson.
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Oh, and these are in the short story form. Novels would be in a different list!
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I’m not going to bother trying to limit myself to one favorite. Here, instead, is a list of stories I think are outstanding examples of the genre. And this is not a comprehensive list; there is so much good stuff out there (although you do have to wade through a sea of dross to get to it).
The Doom That Came to Innsmouth – Brian McNaughton (Wildside Press)
A Study In Emerald – Neil Gaiman (Shadows Over Baker’s Street)
A Colder War – Charlie Stross (Toast)
To Be As They – Stephen Mark Rainey
Rapture in Black – Stephen Mark Rainey
Fat Face – Michael Shea (Cthulhu 2000)
Black Man with a Horn – TED Klein (Cthulhu 2000)
Old Virginia – Laird Barron (The Imago Sequence)
Cabinet 34, Drawer 6 – Caitlin Kiernan
Last Feast of Harlequin – Thomas Ligotti (Cthulhu 2000)
Fair Exchange – Michael Smith
Shaft Number 247 – Basil Copper
Crouch End – Stephen King
Objects from the Gilman-Waite Collection – Ann K. Schwader
Glimpses – AA Attanasio
The N-scale Horror – Gerard Giattannasio (Tales Out of Dunwich)
Acute Spiritual Fear – Robert Price (Blasphemies & Revelations)
Behold I Stand at the Door and Knock – Robert Price (Blasphemies &
Revelations)
Mr. Skin – Victor Milan (Cthulhu’s Heirs)
Incident on Highway 19 – CJ Henderson
Wormwood – Tim Curran
Tomb on a Dead Moon – Tim Curran
Eldritch Fellas – Tim Curran (Hardboiled Cthulhu)
What Sort of Man – Walter DeBill (The Black Sutra)
The Bookseller’s Second Wife – Walter DeBill (The Black Sutra)
The Wreck of the Ghost – Tim Curran (High Seas Cthulhu)
Twenty Mile – Ann K. Schwader (Strange Stars and Alien Shadows)
Only the End of the World Again – Neil Gaimen
One Way Conversation – Brian Sammons
Seduced – Ron Shiflet (Eldritch Blue)
The Other Names – Ramsey Campbell (Dead But Dreaming)
The Faces at Pine Dunes – Ramsey Campbell
The Violet Princess – Stephen Mark Rainey (Eldritch Blue)
Final Draft – David Annandale (Dead But Dreaming)
Why We Do It – Darrell Schweitzer (Dead But Dreaming)
The Disciple – David Barr Kirtley (Dead But Dreaming)
Bangkok Rules – Patrik Lestweka (Dead But Dreaming)
Impossible Object – David Conyers (The Spiraling Worm)
False Containment – David Conyers (The Spiraling Worm)
Topping Out – Denise Dumars (Lovecraft Slept Here)
The Video – Denise Dumars (Lovecraft Slept Here)
Mail Order Bride – Ann K. Schwader
The Margins – Robert Weinberg
Goat Mother – Pierre Comtois
Dominion – Don D’Ammassa (New Mythos Legends)
The Night Music of Oakdeene – Joseph Pulver (Blood Will Have Its
Season)
What Washes Ashore – Jeffrey Thomas (Unholy Dimensions)
The Roaches in the Walls – James Chambers
Dreams.biz – Richard Lupoff
Small Ghost – Michael Minnis (Arkham Tales)
Al Azif – Michael Minnis Short Fiction (Anencephalus und vergiftete
Traume)
Chartreuse Michael Minnis Short Fiction (Anencephalus und vergiftete
Traume)
Horror Show – Gary Myers (Dark Wisdom)
Terror Rate – Konaka Chiaki (Inverted Kingdom)
A Night at Yuan-Su – Nanjo Takenori (Inverted Kingdom)
Inverted Kingdom – Matsuo Mirai (Inverted Kingdom)
Take Me to the River – Paul McAuley (Weird Shadows Over Innsmouth)
The Pisces Club – James Ambeuhl (Hardboiled Cthulhu)
Some Thoughts on the Problem of Order – Simon Bucher-Jones (Hardboiled
Cthulhu)
Salt Air – Michael Minnis (Dead But Dreaming)
Arkham Rain – John Goodrich (Arkham Tales)
Broadalbin – John Tynes (Rehearsals for Oblivion)
Tattered Souls – Ann K. Schwader (Rehearsals for Oblivion)
The Road – Aramata Hiroshi (Straight to Darkness)
…Which Art in Heaven – Azuchi Moe (The Dreaming God)
Rshanabi Street – Fushimi Kenjo (The Dreaming God)
The Idiot God – Don Webb (When They Came)
Meeting the Messenger – Don Webb (When They Came)
Big “C” – Brian Lumley (Lovecraft’s Legacy)
The Barrens – F. Paul Wilson (Lovecraft’s Legacy)
Clownfish – Matthew Baugh (High Seas Cthulhu)
Predicting Perdition – Paul Melniczek (Horrors Beyond 2)
Children of the Mountain – Stewart Sternberg (Frontier Cthulhu)
The Dunwich Lodger – Brian McNaughton (Tales Out of Dunwich)
Felicity – Susan McAdam (Cthulhu’s Creatures)
The Horror in the Genizah – Robert Price (Blasphemies & Revelations)
Psychopomp of Irem – Wilum Pugmire (New Mythos Legends)
The Sothis Radiant – Will Murray (Miskatonic University)
Ghoulmaster – Brian McNaughton (Even More Nasty Stories)
The Invasion Out of Time – Trent Roman Cthulhu Unbound 1)
Turf – Rick Moore (Cthulhu Unbound 1)
The Patriot – John Goodrich (Cthulhu Unbound 1)
New Fish – Kiwi Courters (Cthulhu Unbound 2)
The Long Deep Dream – Peter Clines (Cthulhu Unbound 2)
Abomination with Rice – Rhys Hughes (Cthulhu Unbound 2)
Hallucigenia – Laird Barron (The Imago Sequence)
Cold Water Survival – Holly Phillips (Lovecraft Unbound)
Houses Under the Sea – Caitlin Kiernan (Lovecraft Unbound)
Come Lurk with Me and Be My Love – William Browning Spencer (Lovecraft
Unbound)
Daoine Domhain – Peter Tremayne (Eternal Lovecraft)
Necrophallus – Makino Osamu (Night Voices Night Journeys)
Love For Who Speaks – Shibata Yoshiki (Night Voices, Night Journeys)
Night Voices, Night Journeys – Inoue Masahiko (Night Voices, Night
Journeys)
Firebrands of Torment – Michael Cisco Short (Secret Hours)
The Elephant God of Leng – Robert Price (The Tindalos Cycle)
Sanctuary – Don Webb (Cthulhu’s Reign)
The Shallows – John Langan (Cthulhu’s Reign)
The Pauline Corpus – Matt Cardin (Cthulhu’s Reign)
Russian Dolls – Robert Furey
Once More from the Top – A Scott Glancy
Valentia – Caitlin Kiernan (To Charles Fort, With Love)
Snuff Movie – Michael Minnis (Anencephalus und vergiftete Traume)
Notebook Found in a Deserted House – Bloch
Pickman’s Other Model – Kiernan (Black Wings #1)
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Matt, thanks for taking the time to compile your list of favorites! I’ll be referencing it frequently. My wallet does not thank you.
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Matt, a BIG thank you for making the effort to publish this list. It has now been transformed into a to-do list.
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Right off the bat, I have to name Threshold by Madame Kiernan. That novel still sends shivers down my spine, and it is such a fine example of the wonderful talent she possesses. I also remember “The Fungal Strain” by Wilum to be particularly striking, along with Laird’s “Old Virginia.” Oh, the wondrous connotations of being “ridden into the woods.” *shiver*
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As a teen gobbling up all the Lovecraft related stuff I could find, Robert Bloch’s “Notebook Found In A Deserted House” really stuck with me. From the pre-Lovecraft era, I really enjoyed some of the Dunsany fantasy, and The King In Yellow.
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Hard to narrow it down to just one…I’ve always remembered “The Silence of Erika Zann” by James Wade…maybe because i’m in music, that one made a big impression on me. I also like “The Tugging” by Ramsey Campbell. And, although I know it’s far from the best story, “The Shuttered Room” by August Derleth; mostly because it was the first “Lovecraft” story I ever read. I read the book of Derleth pastiches before I read anything by HPL himself.
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Oh, so hard to choose… The King In Yellow? The Burrowers Beneath?
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Actually I would have to say Hodgson’s House On The Borderland – Kind of a pre-lovecraftian novel that lead me to explore Lovecraft back in the early 1960’s – Lovecraft was quoted in a blurb on the back cover.
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Wilum literally mentioned my two! As an alternate, I submit ‘Darkness, My Name Is’ by Eddy Bertin.
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That Which Should Not Be by Brett Talley and Alhazred by Tyson are my modern faves. The Lurker at the Threshold is my fave Derleth…
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It’s a tie between “Black Man with a Horn” by T. E. D. Klein and “Sticks” by Karl Edward Wagner. But it is so difficult to make a choice, because there are so many other great Lovecraftian tales that I begin to think, “wait, what about . . ” We are richly blessed with so much excellent Mythos fiction!
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Wow, that’s a tough one, but a fun topic. Off the top of my head I say “The Voice of the Beach” by Ramsey Campbell, “Sticks” by Karl Edward Wagner, and “The Last Feast of Harlequin” by Thomas Ligotti.
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The Hounds of Tindalos by Frank Belknap Long. The whole hallucinatory images of things floating in the angles of time bit just really sticks with me.
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That Would have to be Alhazred by Tyson. It was such a great novel that really summed up Lovecraft’s world nicely, and had such a mysterious and occult back ground. It was truly amazing.
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