The Lovecraft Thread

[OmegaZilla]

I completely agree with you -- I only consider Lovecraft's own works to be parts of this universe. Lovecraft and other writers actually started this 'game' in which they all inter-linked their stories, but I have to say those not from him I consider only some kind of glorified fan fiction as you say. I partially support Michel Houellebecq's 'circle' idea of disposing the Cthulhu Cycle, but I have organized my own version -- I divide the Cthulhu Cycle into three circles.

The First Circle is composed of the core stories of the Cthulhu Cycle, which Lovecraft wrote all by himself (meaning they weren't rewritings or corrections for his clients):
Dagon
The Nameless City
The Hound
The Festival
The Call of Cthulhu
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward
The Colour out of Space
The Dunwich Horror
The Whisperer in Darkness
At the Mountains of Madness
The Dreams in the Witch House
The Thing on the Doorstep
The Shadow over Innsmouth
The Shadow out of Time
The Haunter of the Dark

In the second circle, what Lovecraft wrote based on ideas or annotations by his clients, or rewritings of their stories:
The Curse of Yig
The Mound
Medusa's coil
The Man of Stone
The Horror in the Museum
Out of the Aeons
The Diary of Alonzo Typer

In the third Circle, Lovecraft's poetry and very short stories. Won't list them all, but I reckon the most relevant ones are:
Fungi from Yuggoth
The Doom that came to Sarnath
Nyarlathotep
The Crawling Chaos
Creature of the Loch

That's the general 'Cthulhu Cycle Canon' in my view. I would like to erase The Dreams in the Witch House and The Mound from it, since they are the two stories I don't really like (Medusa's coil comes close, though only for the odd end twist), but that would be rather arbitrary.

[DoomRulz]

I completely agree with you -- I only consider Lovecraft's own works to be parts of this universe. Lovecraft and other writers actually started this 'game' in which they all inter-linked their stories, but I have to say those not from him I consider only some kind of glorified fan fiction as you say. I partially support Michel Houellebecq's 'circle' idea of disposing the Cthulhu Cycle, but I have organized my own version -- I divide the Cthulhu Cycle into three circles.

The First Circle is composed of the core stories of the Cthulhu Cycle, which Lovecraft wrote all by himself (meaning they weren't rewritings or corrections for his clients):
Dagon
The Nameless City
The Hound
The Festival
The Call of Cthulhu
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward
The Colour out of Space
The Dunwich Horror
The Whisperer in Darkness
At the Mountains of Madness
The Dreams in the Witch House
The Thing on the Doorstep
The Shadow over Innsmouth
The Shadow out of Time
The Haunter of the Dark

In the second circle, what Lovecraft wrote based on ideas or annotations by his clients, or rewritings of their stories:
The Curse of Yig
The Mound
Medusa's coil
The Man of Stone
The Horror in the Museum
Out of the Aeons
The Diary of Alonzo Typer

In the third Circle, Lovecraft's poetry and very short stories. Won't list them all, but I reckon the most relevant ones are:
Fungi from Yuggoth
The Doom that came to Sarnath
Nyarlathotep
The Crawling Chaos
Creature of the Loch

That's the general 'Cthulhu Cycle Canon' in my view. I would like to erase The Dreams in the Witch House and The Mound from it, since they are the two stories I don't really like (Medusa's coil comes close, though only for the odd end twist), but that would be rather arbitrary.

If one were to read those in the order you listed, would they flow together?

[OmegaZilla]

I listed them in chronological order, from the story Lovecraft wrote first to the one he wrote last (at least from what I can remember).
There are some small interconnections between the stories, but I wouldn't really call them sequels in a narrative sense -- I guess you could call them stories set in the same universe. Just as an example, in The Shadow out of Time you get a mention of antarctic vegetaloids (the Elder Things from At the Mountains of Madness) and space octopi (the Cthulhu spawn). Deities like Cthulhu, Yog-Sothoth and Shub-Niggurath get mentioned in a lot of them, as well as cities like Arkham (Lovecraft initially titled his stories as a whole 'the Arkham cycle'), Innsmouth and Dunwich. A lot of those interconnections and mentions, as you can see from the first example I cited, can be indirect.
The biggest interconnection I can recall right now is between The Thing on the Doorstep and The Shadow over Innsmouth -- in the former story you have this woman who is implied to be a Deep One/Human hybrid, or at least a descendant of one, and is said to be a member of a family from Innsmouth. Both those hybrids and Innsmouth are the main elements of The Shadow over Innsmouth.

[Cvalda]

Even then, different elements of the stories contradict each other, with the names and descriptions of some beings being switched around to get the point across that humanity can never truly understand the universe these entities occupy, so really, the stories don't need to be read in a chronological order.

[OmegaZilla]

I don't remember particularly significant contradictions, other than Cthulhu being spelled in what, 2 or 3 different ways? I remember Cthulhu (The Call of Cthulhu) and Tulu (The Mound). But that's not really a contradiction, it's just demonstrating that different cultures have different names for him, due to various reasons.

[Cvalda]

Lovecraft refers to Azathoth as Nyarlathotep in "The Rats in the Walls" for starters. There are several other incidences of him mixing up his own mythos deities, though I am too lazy to go find and list them.

[OmegaZilla]

Oh yes. I don't remember if the author actually intended it to be part of the cycle or if that was a scattered reference, though. With the benefit of doubt over that I guess we could either say it's unrelated, or the protagonist got confused. Like someone can say Athena was the greek Goddess of the hunt.

[KiramidHead]

If I'm remembering it correctly, Rats in the Walls was one of his earlier stories, before any of the details were worked out.

[Cvalda]

Yeah, but Nyarlathotep predates The Rats in the Walls, and already had a large portion of his character established before that story, or his subsequent expanded role in Dream Quest.  It's believed Lovecraft intentionally mixed up the names of his entities at times to hint that humanity could never really understand them, and to also lend a feeling of authenticity to their status as ancient myths. So again, you don't need to read the Mythos stories in order to appreciate them.

That said, I just started working my way through my Complete Fiction in chronological order. Interesting to see Lovecraft's writing style grow and mature and refine as you go along.

Speaking of Nyarlathotep, how do you all picture him/it looking (setting aside the fact his form changes all the time )?

[OmegaZilla]

I just started working my way through my Complete Fiction in chronological order. Interesting to see Lovecraft's writing style grow and mature and refine as you go along.

That's true. The Call of Cthulhu has a more defined style than Dagon (which is enjoyable already).
His style was odd to get into at first, for me, but eventually I grew to love it. In some stories it could have been moderated (some of the Randolph Carter stuff would be an example), but really, it's able to immediately throw you in media res, and to create tension and anticipation, sometimes with a single line.

Speaking of Nyarlathotep, how do you all picture him/it looking (setting aside the fact his form changes all the time )?

In the story that introduced him he was described as similar to a Pharaoh, so I always imagined him mutating from this form and having a long neck (like the Norris Thing in The Thing), with this unnaturally screaming pharaoh head, with glowing green eyes. This neck starts from a humanoid torso, off which protrudes a mass of  long, writhing tendrils. When it moves, you see it slithering around like some kind of squid-serpent. I always pictured him like that. He's a messenger, a despicable corrupter.

[SM]

If one were to read those in the order you listed, would they flow together?

There's no real continuity as such, though HPL did write a 'trilogy' of sorts with Robert Bloch - The Shambler from the Stars (Bloch), The Haunter of the Dark (HPL), and the Shadow From the Steeple (Bloch).

[KiramidHead]

I'm getting towards the end of The Dunwich Horror, and even though it's my second time reading it, I'm finding new aspects to appreciate. It builds and builds, and not a word is wasted. The information is doled out in perfect increments, and you really get a feeling of complete wrongness regarding the Whateleys. Excellent story.

[Cvalda]

I'm getting towards the end of The Dunwich Horror, and even though it's my second time reading it, I'm finding new aspects to appreciate. It builds and builds, and not a word is wasted. The information is doled out in perfect increments, and you really get a feeling of complete wrongness regarding the Whateleys. Excellent story.

Indeed, one of his best. Also very noteworthy against the rest of Lovecraft's oeuvre due to the relatively triumphant ending.

There's some gorgeous artwork inspired by the story on deviantart:

[OmegaZilla]

Oh yes! That last one is breath taking. Absolutely astounding.

[DoomRulz]

It looks more Resident Evil-y than anything else. Not a bad thing, mind you.