HP Lovecraft

[paeng]

Two interesting things I found out about Lovecraft:

He believed in cosmic horror, which gives a very bleak view of life, i.e., the universe is neutral and there's nothing out there, which makes life meaningless.

But because that won't sell, he had to bring in things like Elder Things, etc., to attract readers. Meanwhile, the works were published via pulp magazines, and publishers usually paid per word, so Lovecraft used phrases repeatedly to earn more.

 

[BAYLOR]

Two interesting things I found out about Lovecraft:

He believed in cosmic horror, which gives a very bleak view of life, i.e., the universe is neutral and there's nothing out there, which makes life meaningless.

But because that won't sell, he had to bring in things like Elder Things, etc., to attract readers. Meanwhile, the works were published via pulp magazines, and publishers usually paid per word, so Lovecraft used phrases repeatedly to earn more.

A penny a word ?

 

[Ningauble]

Two interesting things I found out about Lovecraft:

But because that won't sell, he had to bring in things like Elder Things, etc., to attract readers. Meanwhile, the works were published via pulp magazines, and publishers usually paid per word, so Lovecraft used phrases repeatedly to earn more.

No, he didn't pad his stories. In fact, the longer the story, the more difficult it was to sell. If a story was long, it was because the subject required that treatment in his opinion, not to pad the word count.

 

[Pyan]

Meanwhile, the works were published via pulp magazines, and publishers usually paid per word, so Lovecraft used phrases repeatedly to earn more.

Sorry, this is simply not true. Read The Cats of Ulthar, and work out how much padding could have been added if it was.

 

[CupofJoe]

If I'm paying an author by the word, then every word has to have to fight to earn its place.
I'm not going to give away money I don't have to.
Admittedly not in fiction, but I've worked with editors that have struck the last 200/300 words from a piece because it was "too long" [or even worse "dull"] and just handed it back to rewrite until it fitted. You learn to write more concisely or have your article dropped.
And they were usually right. The shorter version was better.

 

[Karapace]

I'm reading Haunter of the Dark and its great. Does anyone here read Lovecraft as well? Or is horror and gothic too off-topic?

As a youth I read a lot of Lovecraft. At the mountains of madness was one of my favourites. What I liked about Lovecraft was his ability to conjour up (sic) images of horror that went beyond the usual vampire, werewolf, ghost stuff. The mythos was quite vast in scale and introduced me to the importance of not always describing the horror for greater impact (Although an "indescribable horror" does get tiring when over done). Only later did I learn of his racism and quite liked that "Lovecraft County" played with that (although a little more cosmic horror would not have gone amiss).
Another author I felt was in the same vein was William Hope Hodgson "The House on the Borderland" which was short and very strange.

 

[BAYLOR]

Thank you for the recommendations : )

Im always glad to recommend.

 

[BAYLOR]

As a youth I read a lot of Lovecraft. At the mountains of madness was one of my favourites. What I liked about Lovecraft was his ability to conjour up (sic) images of horror that went beyond the usual vampire, werewolf, ghost stuff. The mythos was quite vast in scale and introduced me to the importance of not always describing the horror for greater impact (Although an "indescribable horror" does get tiring when over done). Only later did I learn of his racism and quite liked that "Lovecraft County" played with that (although a little more cosmic horror would not have gone amiss).
Another author I felt was in the same vein was William Hope Hodgson "The House on the Borderland" which was short and very strange.

I found Lovecrat at about the time I found Robert E. Howard . The story by him that hooked me was The Festival and it's ending quote from The Necronomicon.

 

[Karapace]

I found Lovecrat at about the time I found Robert E. Howard . The story by him that hooked me was The Festival and it's ending quote from The Necronomicon.

I've got two copies of the Necronomicon, both different from each other. One was produced by Robert Turner and David Langford and the other annonymous was published on the anniversary of the death of Aleister Crowley. Allegedly compiled by Crowley but I suspect more likely by Crowley afficiando Kenneth Grant

 

[paeng]

No, he didn't pad his stories. In fact, the longer the story, the more difficult it was to sell. If a story was long, it was because the subject required that treatment in his opinion, not to pad the word count.

It felt like that when I presented At the Mountains of Madness in a Gothic lit class, and then compared it with others, like several from Wilde, Hawthorne, Shelley, and so on. Some of the subject matter did not merit a verbose style as they involved technical and narrative content, e.g., "frightful ice" and all that.

 

[Ningauble]

It felt like that when I presented At the Mountains of Madness in a Gothic lit class, and then compared it with others, like several from Wilde, Hawthorne, Shelley, and so on. Some of the subject matter did not merit a verbose style as they involved technical and narrative content, e.g., "frightful ice" and all that.

That is to reflect Dyer's mental state as he is writing in hindsight, thinking back on what he knows of the Old Ones and the shoggoths. AtMoM was one of the difficult sales, and the cuts made by Astounding (particularly in the last part, most likely to get a serial out of the way) made Lovecraft consider it unpublished.

 

[Ningauble]

I've got two copies of the Necronomicon, both different from each other. One was produced by Robert Turner and David Langford and the other annonymous was published on the anniversary of the death of Aleister Crowley. Allegedly compiled by Crowley but I suspect more likely by Crowley afficiando Kenneth Grant

Since Crowley never heard of Lovecraft, I'd say that is a safe bet.

 

[paeng]

That is to reflect Dyer's mental state as he is writing in hindsight, thinking back on what he knows of the Old Ones and the shoggoths. AtMoM was one of the difficult sales, and the cuts made by Astounding (particularly in the last part, most likely to get a serial out of the way) made Lovecraft consider it unpublished.

FWIW, it looks like characters from many of his stories appear to have a similar mental state.