H. P. Lovecraft was one of the most influential writers and authors in American history. He is most notably remembered for his posthumous successes, in which most of his greatest works would finally have their time in the sun. The sum of his works would go on to create a mythos and subculture that has become a thriving community: the horror genre. Many popular movies, books, art and even video games have been inspired by Lovecraft's works. The sense of emending doom and madness are always present in these tales of eldritch horror. The atmosphere in these stories is so tense and laden with anxiety of what could be or what surely should not be.
"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown." -H.P. Lovecraft
1. "The Call Of Cthulhu"
A man inherits many documents from his uncle, a well-known professor. This man delves deeper and deeper into his uncle's studies of nightmares shared by multiple individuals, a cult with outposts all over the world and an incomprehensible horror. This is Lovecraft's most famous story.
2. "The Rats In The Walls"
The narrator is a male descendant of the now deceased de la Poer family. He moves to the family's old ruined residence, Exham Priory, in England. He rebuilds Exham Priory to the disgust and dread of those living nearby. Moved in with his many cats and servant, the narrator is plagued by the sound of scratching behind the walls of the estate. While investigating the house, he comes upon an underground city, where for centuries his family would raise generations of human cattle to supply their taste for human flesh. This discovery sends the protagonist into a maddened state, in which he attacks one of his friends and begins to eat him. Subdued by other members of the party, he is confined to a mental institution. Exham Priory is torn down soon after his confinement. The protagonist proclaims his innocence in the murder, saying it was the rats (the rats in walls who ate the man). He continues to be plagued by the sound of rats in the walls of his cell.
3. "Pickman's Model"
An artist named Pickman grows more repulsive and eccentric with his taste in art. A fellow artist and colleague tries to understand and reason with Pickman. Pickman takes this man to his secret art studio to reveal his greatest work and an unspeakable horror.
4. "The Color Out Of Space"
An unnamed narrator pieces together the story of an area
known as the "blasted heath," west of
Arkham, Massachusetts. The narrator discovers that years ago a
meteorite crashed there, poisoning every living being nearby and the people go insane or die one by one.
5. "The Case Of Charles Dexter Ward"
A young man named Charles Ward uncovers secrets of his ancient ancestor, Joseph Curwen, an alleged wizard with unsavory habits. Charles Ward beings to resemble Joseph Curwen in appearance and mannerisms. Charles attempts to continue his ancestors horrific work and alchemical research. Ward's doctor, Marinus Bicknell Willett, attempts to discover the cause of Charles Ward's madness.
6. "The Dunwich Horror"
In a decrepit little town called Dunwich, a horrific being is born to a deformed and deranged albino woman and an unknown father. The child, Wilbur Whateley, develops at an astounding rate, reaching manhood in a decade. Wilbur and his family are shunned by the local community and animals that they come into contact with. Over the year, Wilbur and his grandfather conjure a being in their house which grows immensely larger every year. Wilbur's grandfather buys large groups of cattle and the locals grow suspicious when his herd does not increase in size. As the being inside their farmhouse grows ever larger, Wilbur and his grandfather must make modifications to the house in order to contain the creature. Wilbur's grandfather eventually dies and his mother disappears while the entity now occupies the entire farmhouse. Wilbur goes to Miskatonic University in Arkham to procure their copy of the Necronomican. A spell book with the incantations to summon the Old Ones, a race of malign entities bent on our destruction. Wilbur unsuccessfully dies trying to steal the book from the college library. With Wilbur dead, the entity in the farmhouse has no one to keep it in check and one day the Dunwich horror breaks free.
7. "The Shadow Over Innsmouth"
A man goes on a site seeing trip through New England and happens upon an opportunity to detour to the seaport town of Innsmouth. Talking to locals in the neighboring town reveals a long held and steadfast distrust and hatred of Innsmouth's inhabitants. The narrator goes to Innsmouth on a bus with a man bearing the Innsmouth look "queer narrow heads with flat noses and bulgy, stary eyes." The narrator through conversing with the clerk of the local grocery and an old drunkard named Zadok who is known to open up about the towns history when imbibing too much; he finds out that Innsmouth has more strange and dire secrets with implications of madding horror.
8. "At The Mountains Of Madness"
An arctic expedition goes horribly wrong with all the members dead except the narrator, Dr. William Dyer. Dyer recounts the event of the expedition that were not made public and kept by him until there is a second expedition set to traverse the arctic once more. Dyer gives account to the fact that the group split up to investigate something they saw flying over the mountains. Dyer stays with the base camp and the other group led by Professor Lake ventures to the second site. Upon reaching the site Lake's group uncovers 14 prehistoric life forms, 8 of which are in good condition and 6 are damaged. The group is unable to identify the specimens as either plant or animal. They decide to take the fossils back to there camp for further study. Then the main group loses contact with Lake's group. Dyer and his team fly out to investigate the campsite. When they arrive they come upon a scene of pure devastation. The camp is completely destroyed and all of the men and sled-dogs are dead. Some of the appear to have been dissected. Upon further investigation the pristine fossils are gone, and one man has escaped with a team sled-dogs. In an attempt to find there comrade Dyer and a graduate student, named Danforth, fly an airplane across the mountains, which they identify as the outer walls of a vast abandoned stone-city, alien to any human architecture.
9. "Dagon"
The narrator recounts his horrific experience of being stranded on an island after escaping capture by German sea raiders. After being stranded for day at he awakes on a plane of black and sticky goo with his boat some distance away. Instead of being revealed by the revelation of not being stranded at sea, the narrator is beset with unease and anxiety. The sun and sky are black and the stench of dead and decaying flesh of fish and other indescribable things. This plane extends as far as he can see, not even being able to hear the splashing waves of the ocean. He decides to make his way towards a large hill in the distance after three days of waiting for the ground to harden. After trekking towards the hill for two days he crests the slope and gazes upon a vast canyon with an immense stone monolith at the center of a channel of water. Descending the slope he sees many markings on the monolith that are curious hieroglyphs and the shapes of fish, eels, whales, and octopi. Among these shapes are man like figures with fish like features "webbed hands and feet, shockingly wide and flabby lips, glassy, bulging eyes, and other features less pleasant to recall". While contemplating the meaning of these humanoid fish beings, a giant creature bursts forth from the watery depths and clasps the monolith with massive scaly arms. The narrator then goes mad.
10. "The Haunter Of The Dark"
The story takes place in the diaries of its late protagonist Robert Blake. Blake a writer, painter and a purveyor of the occult became enticed by the large abandoned church on the crest of Federal hill. Blake's research reveals the presence of an old cult that used to inhabit the church. He explores the church and its crypts despite the warning given by the locals in the neighboring parts of town. Blake gains entrance to the church through a window in the cellar. He ascends the tower all the way to the peak and discovers an ancient artifact known as the Shining Trapezohedron, property of the Stary Wisdom Cult. The stone has the ability to conjure a being from outside time and space, and it provides the user with fantastic visions of time, space and other worlds. Blake inadvertently summons this being by looking into the Trapezohedron. Blake flees the church after hearing rumbling above him. Completely unaware of what he's unleashed he returns home frightened. The creature can only travel in darkness and is repulsed by light. A few nights later a severe thunderstorm knocks out the city's power grid. Blake frantically prays, pleads and begs for salvation, but eventually the power fails. Blake is found dead in his apartment staring with a look of horror on his face.
H. P. Lovecraft has many more works, but these are some the most renowned, as well as my personal favorites. Lovecraft's works have impacted many lives, including my own. His contributions to modern science fiction, horror and the thriller genre are without a doubt some of the most significant. He has been heralded as one of the most influential American writers of the 20th century. Although his works may be set in various locals and time periods, as well as the views and writing style, they also accompany those of the 20th century. Even so, I still enjoy reading Lovecraft.
