Books
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LOL Matt
Yeah, he was a pretty virulent racist, and if we're being honest, some of the nuances of his fiction stems from his darker impulses, including racism and xenophobia. But when applied to alien beings in a work of fiction, I think this is harmless: e.g., when you read The Shadow Over Innsmouth, you don't necessarily understand the perspective it's coming from, but the feelings he describes there do reflect his own xenophobia–it's just not overtly aimed at real human beings, cultures, or races in the fiction.
For example, he spent some time in Brooklyn, and he was so freaked out by immigrants there that this informed some of his characterizations of slightly abnormal populations associated with some of his eldritch creatures in his fiction. So, Matt's right: don't read his letters about his experience in Brooklyn, you'll get similar characterizations reading about, for example, the people of Innsmouth.
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Thanks @mclaincausey and @Matt. I’ll have to check this out (the fiction not the other stuff).
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You’ll like it, I’m sure. Like @mclaincausey said no one has really made any noteworthy translations into other media formats like TV or movies but Lovecraft Country on HBO is definitely worth a watch after you have read some of his stories. It’s especially interesting and purposefully ironic to see how they create such a powerful vision of racism in the Jim Crowe era using the themes of HPL’s supernatural works juxtaposed to the monstrosity of the prevailing interracial relationships at the time.
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For me, easily the scariest part of Lovecraft Country was the racism. I will leave it at that so I don't spoil anything, but they wrought that very real threat in a way that made the otherworldly threats in the series pale by comparison.
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The Ballad of Black Tom is a Lovecraftian book that deals with HPL's racism in the course of a damn good horror story
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Well, I started The Shadow Over Innsmouth and felt compelled to finish it although I should probably be asleep by now. I’m not sure I’m tuned in to his prose style but an interesting read and I can definitely see the other stuff coming through.
The introduction on this thread reminded me of this. Many obvious differences, not least in style, but some overlap in sensibilities perhaps.
https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Chronicles_of_Clovis/The_Music_on_the_Hill -
For me, easily the scariest part of Lovecraft Country was the racism. I will leave it at that so I don't spoil anything, but they wrought that very real threat in a way that made the otherworldly threats in the series pale by comparison.
Agreed.
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If you like Lovecraft & the mythos, I have 2 recommendations:
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The "Laundry Files" series of books by Charles Stross. Make sure you follow the order because the first ones are the best ones. He's an excellent writer of urban fantasy / horror, and this series draws on Lovecraft. Interestingly, where Lovecraft was a proto fascist, Stross is a committed leftist. His writing is excellent.
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The Alan Moore visual novels "Neonomicon" and "Providence" are superb (the first better than the second IMHO). Viewer discretion is advised, because both books are fairly disturbing.
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I am hip to #2, but have not yet delved into them. Thanks for the recs @JDelage –I have heard of Stross but will check him out!
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if you like Lovecraft Algernon Blackwood and Arthur Machen are good too they had an influence on HPLs work.
Blackwoods story The Willows is especially good at conveying the existential dread you're talking about. -
Good call–also Robert W. Chambers' The King in Yellow.
I think Victorians were trying to get their heads around some of the emerging discoveries of the day and their stories have stood the test of time.
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Tiger Stripe Camouflage……. Birthday gift from the Mrs a couple of months back.
This thing is an absolute labour of love by the chap who wrote it. So much detail it is unbelievable.
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