A friend and professor at school suggested after reading my work that I should invest some time into reading a few H.P. Lovecraft stories, not because they were necessarily "good" from a technical standpoint, but because they were the root of atmospheric horror and a primary influence for almost everyone currently working in that genre. This is a statement that I have come to understand from experience to be a rather consistent, overriding fact... it's hard to get through much in the horror genre without knowing anything about Cthulhu, Dagon and Nyarlathotep.
Since I am by no means a Lovecraft expert, having read only perhaps a half-dozen of his works thusfar, I am simply going to start at this point by writing my initial reactions as I recall them to particular aspects of a few individual stories first, and then I shall try to widen my scope and explain what I see on a larger scale developing in my reactions to this writer.
I first read a tale entitled, "The Hound." This is easily a favorite of the stories I have read of Lovecraft thusfar, primarily because he managed to create a work that made my stomach turn on a number of levels. An atmosphere of terror permeates this little tale, from the gruesome and rather diabolical nocturnal activities of the main character and his friend to the ultimate consequences resultant in the character's disregard for the power of what they had disturbed. The general structure of the story is sound, as the main character takes us through the actions of himself and his friend which led to his current pitiful and mortally terrified state. I enjoyed the simplicity and sparseness of description in this particular work, and found that these elements combined to illustrate the character's unnamed horror. Lovecraft managed to hit on the right balance in this work of the wide emptiness of mortified horror coupled with just the right descriptive terminology and narrative structure to leave the reader understanding and fearful of the ultimate moral: be careful, kiddies, of the power with which you play!
I found myself rolling my eyes during "The Statement of Randolph Carter" as I began to realize the evidence of what my friend had implied when he had warned me about some of the "technical shortfalls" of Lovecraft's work. The author's complete refusal to describe what the main characters were pursuing or why supported only by the rather shoddy excuse from the confessor of not being able to remember (a sort of post-traumatic amnesia) was exceptionally irksome to read. As a writer myself, I can usually recognize a cop-out employed due to writer's block when I see it, and this had all the symptoms of being such. However, I had partially forgiven him by the end of the work as the ominous, unknown creature the pair had awakened spoke through the telephone box out of the darkness. I must admit I chuckled with a bit of wicked glee as the creature spoke the tale's final words through the receiver with what I perceived as a tone of absolute disgust with the silly monkeys that had interrupted its solace. I can certainly understand that perspective, and found myself rather amused that I ended the story liking and understanding the creature much more than the spineless title character.
In the interest of space and my own time at this early hour, I am going to only reference one more work at this time: "Nyarlathotep." As I look back at this work, I must admit to a bit of a bias toward it, as the character himself is so marvelously and mysteriously constructed that the rest of the tale could easily be complete tripe and I would still find this a worthy read. My religious affiliation has no small degree of effect upon my perception of this character as well, as he rather eloquently personifies my experience (something which I will not elaborate upon here), so I feel I can identify with this character, probably in a manner in which others will not. However, the story essentially is the description of the mystery and power of this particular character over those who experienced him and the story is therefore shrouded in similar power and mystery. I found some of his adjectives a little bit lacking and prosaic, but this is yet again a technical complaint that I tended to forgive by the end of the work when I saw the character developed in all his awe-full glory.
"Nyarlathotep" is yet another story that does not suffer for sparseness; the mystery of Nyarlathotep is what gives him some further degree of power, as does the mystery of how what appears to be a resurrected Pharaoh can have such extensive knowledge and understanding of modern science and psychology. The story rather cleverly alludes to the success of ancient wisdom and magic which would have flown directly in the face of the pompous materialist perspective existent among the "educated populous" at the time (and which, of course, still exists today). The rather backhanded rumination that lurks behind this narrative most certainly gives the work much more depth as the reader contemplates the possibilities of this very specific ancient power rising up from among the Egyptian sands.
Overall, I'd have to say that I do find many aspects of H.P. Lovecraft's work worth attention, not because of the prowess of his writing skill (which can be, at times, somewhat hit-and-miss), but because of what his work ultimately became. While I think sometimes he is subject to a bit of overblown hype (much like Edgar Allan Poe), that is not his issue and is really not his fault. I think I can also forgive Lovecraft to some degree because the openness of some of his narratives leaves the reader free to explore the darkness and manifest their own horror. Though sometimes it seems this technique falls through for him, the times it does work in his writing, he creates an atmosphere that is an immersive abyss of darkness.
Lovecraft's ability to ignite the dark imagination of so many people (and sometimes even create a genuine belief in the reality of his characters) is not an impact that can be easily ignored. While his "good guy" characters are often rather forgettable, the creatures that climb out from the Underworld in his tales inspire a mortified awe as the reader is shoved headfirst into the darkness with no discernible escape from its presence. Lovecraft launches his readers into the arms of a Darkness which is all-encompassing and all powerful and challenges his reader to confront and, perhaps, ultimately submit to its overwhelming presence. He has brought the face of the Abyss to life in the minds and the lives of the masses, so he is certainly due no small degree of credit for that success.
Copyright 2005 S.L. Olson
