Making full and immediate use of the change in policy, i decided to create a thread here about horror literature 
The thread is about one of the main names by now in the literature which usually is termed as horror.
Some background:
Lovecraft was born in Providence, near the beginning of the 20th century. His father was locked in a mental asylum when Lovecraft was still an infant. While in the following years he did enjoy the luxury of reading from his grandfathers large collection of books, in the attic of his first house, the economic disaster which struck that man after a failed buisness project (and his related death soon afterwards) meant that the house had to be sold, and the large library went with it.
Lovecraft was homeschooled, something obviously a lot more common at that time. He appears to have been sunk in a very deep depression for at least fifteen years, during which he made little contact with other people outside of his family. His first published story was at an amateur journal. It was the story titled "Dagon". His main works appeared mostly in the magazine "Weird tales" which had been established at the same time that he - in his thirties - was moving a bit outside of his circle in Providence.
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My own view of Lovecraft is formed by reading his letters as well as his stories (i haven't read all of his fiction). He does appear to be one who tried consciously to create a horrific effect, through metaphor and symbol. I would not claim that he was a better writer than his main influence, Poe, but he clearly moved to another direction, and -in the end- provided an entire mythos. My favorite larger work of his is The Rats in the Walls. Some shorter stories are excellent too, Dagon, Music of Erich Zahn, and The Statement of Randolph Carter
The thread is about one of the main names by now in the literature which usually is termed as horror.
Some background:
Lovecraft was born in Providence, near the beginning of the 20th century. His father was locked in a mental asylum when Lovecraft was still an infant. While in the following years he did enjoy the luxury of reading from his grandfathers large collection of books, in the attic of his first house, the economic disaster which struck that man after a failed buisness project (and his related death soon afterwards) meant that the house had to be sold, and the large library went with it.
Lovecraft was homeschooled, something obviously a lot more common at that time. He appears to have been sunk in a very deep depression for at least fifteen years, during which he made little contact with other people outside of his family. His first published story was at an amateur journal. It was the story titled "Dagon". His main works appeared mostly in the magazine "Weird tales" which had been established at the same time that he - in his thirties - was moving a bit outside of his circle in Providence.
*
My own view of Lovecraft is formed by reading his letters as well as his stories (i haven't read all of his fiction). He does appear to be one who tried consciously to create a horrific effect, through metaphor and symbol. I would not claim that he was a better writer than his main influence, Poe, but he clearly moved to another direction, and -in the end- provided an entire mythos. My favorite larger work of his is The Rats in the Walls. Some shorter stories are excellent too, Dagon, Music of Erich Zahn, and The Statement of Randolph Carter
