Ah, what to say of dear old Howard. Probably the greatest writer of the twentieth century. Many see him as nothing more than a Psuedo-Dunsany Interpreter. But he's so much more. While his stories do resemble Lord Dunsany in many ways, naturally they would he was one of Lovecrafts major influences, they are still highly unique. His stories have depth; it really pulls you in, and makes you think the whole time you read it. He managed to blend fantasy, Sci-Fi, and horror into explosions of delirium and brilliance; they followed sort of a structured chaos. Case example: "The Shadow out of Time" most likely the best piece he ever wrote. So, Thoughts?
Lovecraft was a terrible writer but had two VERY VERY important contributions. 1) The notion that science, far from moving us away from primitive fears (oo, that lion cat might grab me in the night) has opened a worse pandora's box (woops! There's stuff out there and it ain't friendly). 2) He open sourced his world. Invited others to build on his mythology. That ruled.
Though I highly disagree with you, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. What all of his have you read?
Such a wonderful imagination.....befuddled with such a verbose writing style... I would say that he took as much inspiration from Poe as anyone..... Probably the most copied author in history.... ....and i never understood the lovecraftian tradition of having the narrator of the story continue writing....even while being consumed.....
I never said he wasn't imaginative, inventive, an inspiration to millions - having read almost all his stuff and having loved it I will say only this. 1) His writing style. He is NOT the author you wish to copy, stylewise. 2) How can you write something after being consumed, as stated above? I mean, there's only so many times you can read of a "gibbering, formless mass that I cannot.... I must not.... remember let alone describe!"
I wouldn't go as far as terrible but I outgrew him. So many others used Lovecraft as a foundation. If you like Lovecraft rainbowpower, try Robert Block(SP?) he did build directly on Lovecraft in some books, and Harlan Ellison's Deathbird Stories because he will give you that same weird vibe from his stories. Good stuff too.
I like his stories very much, The shadow out of time is probably my favourite. But also the madness of young Gilman in Witch sabbat is written very intense. I only have a dutch translation though, but I think I liked his style.
Indeed....and Brian Lumley has also directly continued the Cthulhu Mythos, his short stories and novellas are worth reading
