It's no secret that I'm currently working on another H. P. Lovecraft movie, 'The Haunter Of The Dark'. In preparation for that, I've done a little research into Mr Lovecraft. Not a lot, but enough to get me into the right 'mindset' to work on his story.
As I write the script, I've kept reading his short stories (not just 'Haunter, but any and all I can get my hands on) and I've noticed that he certainly did love his home of New England (or maybe he hated it so much that he wanted to haunt it with all sorts of evil critters?) And, as an aussie, I find it amusing that he has thrown Australia into the mix every now and then. It's nice to know, for example, that under the desert sands of Western Australia lies the ruins of a mind-faring race of beings from another time and place.
Another observation (and a pretty obvious one, for those that have read his stories) is the language differences. For instance, the word "show" is written "shew" and "shown" is "shewn". I noticed the same kind of difference in another novel of about the same period, 'When Worlds Collide' (by Philip Wylie & Edwin Balmer) that used the word "bowlder" instead of the modern "boulder". I guess I find that kind of thing fascinating.
Right now, my script writing is on hold (due to Cosmo's death - I just can't make myself do anything 'fun' while I mourn his loss) but I am still reading the Lovecraft stories I've downloaded to my Kindle (more on that device in a later blog, I'm sure). I like the fact that pretty much all his work is now in the public domain (or whatever the correct expression is) and readily available for reading/download on several sites.
Lovecraft came up with some cool ideas. I like the fact that they aren't the typical 'Demons' or 'Angels' that we get in many horror tales. They are more science fiction than horror, in my opinion. Or maybe a good mix. Apparently the man was an atheist and wanted to write stories that would scare Christians. I have a funny feeling he succeeded.
And man, was Lovecraft ugly or what?! (Sorry HPL...)
Oh yes, old HP definately didn't believe in a "old, bearded kindly guy looking down on everything with a wry smile"; he pictured the entities of the majority of his tales as wierd, non-elucidean beings with desires and goals so utterly alien that no sane being could fathom out what they were... and boy, they certainly had the looks that only a mother could love :P
ReplyDeleteAnyone who loves horror and/or sci-fi could really do worse than check out some of his tales; the seminal "Call of Cthulhu", "The Whisperer in Darkness", "At the Mountains of Madness" (interesting that a team of geologists have recently discovered a hitherto buried mountain range deep beneath the Antartic ice...), "The Dunwich Horror"... classic tales, even today (despite the fact that some folk just can't seem to get their heads round the archaic language for some reason...)
...oh and (as you mentioned above) "The Shadow Out of Time"... can't beat a race of beings that mind-jump millions of years to inhabit a race of beetles :)
ReplyDeleteI quite like the "archaic" language he uses. As a slight aside, I recently read Robert Bloch's tales that "bookend" Lovecraft's 'Haunter story ('The Shambler From The Stars' and 'The Shadow From The Steeple'). The first one is very much written in the same "language" that Lovecraft used (but also clearly written by a more 'youthful' author, and much more bloody.) And then the second tale, written 20+ years later, is in a totally different "modern" style, though the story itself is closer to what Lovecraft would have come up with.
ReplyDeleteInteresting and yet... not. ;)
Similar authors (who have either added to the Mythos Tales or are of the same "macabre fiction" bent):-
ReplyDeleteBrian Lumley (Necroscope might be a bit "full on" to qualify, but a lot of his earlier shorts, like Dagon's Bell, the Titus Crow series, etc, are worth a look);
Ramsey Campbell (his Severn Valley Tales are all Mythos inspired);
August Derleth (pretty much any of his anthologies)
William Hope Hodgson (Carnacki the Ghost Finder, the House on the Borderlands and the Boats of the Glen Carrig being some choice picks here)