Why I like H P Lovecraft
I imagine my introduction to H P Lovecraft's work was similar to that of most people. I found "The Haunter in the Dark" in a collection of short horror stories. It stood out as one of the best and in searching other anthologies for more of the same I tripped over "The Thing on the Doorstep" and encountered "The Rats in the Walls". By then I was hooked and had to have all three of his anthologies. Howard Phillips Lovecraft is one writer to whom I often return. I really like the idea of ancient towns such as Arkham being in such a modern nation as the USA and Miskatonic University is so obviously full of reading matter that ought to have been burnt due to insane and unworldly messages it contains that I want a reader's ticket. He's a master at discreetly building tension. Some of his throw away lines are just dreadful - quite literally full of dread. His writing style is so fevered as to be quite over the top but it works beautifully and I...