What is your favorite Mythos / H P Lovecraft story and why?

[JJewel]

Weirdly I usually choose The Quest of Iranon, the reason I suspect is I enjoy the uplift in the begining as it has almost a hippy feel, to the crushing ending as reality crashes in and drowns him.

 

[Randy M.]

I haven't read his more fantasy stories in years. Of the later work, my reread of At the Mountains of Madness a couple of years ago surprised me. It was better than I'd remembered. That aside, my answer might depend on which day you ask: "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward', "The Colour Out of Space" and "The Rats in the Walls" are all favorites of mine.

Randy M.

 

[JJewel]

I haven't read his more fantasy stories in years. Of the later work, my reread of At the Mountains of Madness a couple of years ago surprised me. It was better than I'd remembered. That aside, my answer might depend on which day you ask: "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward', "The Colour Out of Space" and "The Rats in the Walls" are all favorites of mine.

Randy M.

Yeh I have the same issue, I enjoy so many of them. Rats in the wall for sheer entertainment, Mountains of Madness of suspense and mounting horror (Tekeli-Li!!!) and Colour out of space is actually classic sci-fi I have always thought.

 

[DeathFusion]

Through The Gates of the Silver Key, the meeting with the Entity was totally awe-inspiring.
Least favorite: The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath. A lot of cool ideas, but ultimately not a very good story.

 

[Extollager]

“The Colour Out of Space” is Lovecraft’s best story. I’m confident about that.

I don’t see it as a Mythos story. Of the HPL Mythos stories, At the Mountains is probably the greatest, quite a sustained effort. But perhaps my favorite Mythos stories, which are more fun to read than Mountains, are The Whisperer in Darkness and The Shadow Over Innsmouth. Probably I’d choose Shadow as my favorite, with its protagonist who has unusual spunk for a Lovecraft hero, and because the old drunk with his screams, spelled out for us by Lovecraft, is kind of a hoot. The story evokes the Old Weird America with that classic bus ride! However, Whisperer’s brooding landscapes etc. are memorable.

 

[BAYLOR]

“The Colour Out of Space” is Lovecraft’s best story. I’m confident about that.

I don’t see it as a Mythos story. Of the HPL Mythos stories, At the Mountains is probably the greatest, quite a sustained effort. But perhaps my favorite Mythos stories, which are more fun to read than Mountains, are The Whisperer in Darkness and The Shadow Over Innsmouth. Probably I’d choose Shadow as my favorite, with its protagonist who has unusual spunk for a Lovecraft hero, and because the old drunk with his screams, spelled out for us by Lovecraft, is kind of a hoot. The story evokes the Old Weird America with that classic bus ride! However, Whisperer’s brooding landscapes etc. are memorable.

You might find the film adaptation of The Color of Space staring Nicolas Cage to be of interest.

 

[BAYLOR]

At The Mountains of Madness The story's bleak and frozen Antarctic setting is a good staring point . The slow creeping dread which begins when the Peabody expedition starts making its disturbing finds in the fossils beds and , then there's is Eons dead city of the ancients with its weird geometry and inhuman architecture.

I would loved to have seen what Guillermo Del Toro could have done with this.

 

[DaleyPaley]

I love The Outsider. It's short, slow, deeply atmospheric, and poignant.

 

[alexvss]

Alan Moore's Neomicon.

 

[Phyrebrat]

There are so many it’s hard to choose!!

The Whisper in Darkness, maybe. Actually I prefer his non-mythos tales; the ones that are less cosmic horror and more weird fiction.

 

[Luiglin]

My favourite is not one by Lovecraft but by his friend, August Derleth - "The Whippoorwills in the Hills"

 

[Toby Frost]

I'd go for either "The Whisperer in Darkness" or "The Shadow over Innsmouth".

The two things I like best about Whisperer are the unreliable narrator and the sense of mounting danger. The idea of a narrator who puts the story together second-hand through recordings and letters is quite modern. The overheard recording is really effective.

Innsmouth really interests me because it hints at so much. Is there a department of the FBI that deals with the paranormal? What terrible things happen in the camps and prisons where the Deep Ones were taken? What will happen now the Navy has torpedoed a Deep One city? Also, I really like the escape from the hotel. Apparently Lovecraft didn't like the action elements, but I think they work well.

Both stories have quite an intimate, small-scale feel of one guy fighting people-sized monsters, which I find much scarier than the vague threat of Cthulhu or the like. I've thought in the past that Lovecraft tended to tell the same story over and over again, but I like the variations he brings in Innsmouth and Whisperer.

Also, I've got to mention "The Picture in the House", which isn't his best, but has this unpleasant pornographic quality that feels weirdly prescient. Not exactly "radicalised by the internet" but the concept isn't a million miles away...

 

[StilLearning]

Mountains of Madness. I am always struck by the way the protagonists views on the Old Ones change from horror and fear to sympathy and respect in the face of something more terrifying - and yet clearly justified in its actions.

 

[BAYLOR]

Mountains of Madness. I am always struck by the way the protagonists views on the Old Ones change from horror and fear to sympathy and respect in the face of something more terrifying - and yet clearly justified in its actions.

Here's hoping that someday we get a movie version of this book.

 

[Timebender]

I'm not sure about a favorite mythos story, but my favorite of ol' Howie's is "The Color Out of Space". The horror, the atmosphere... it's all pitch-perfect. It also has some of the more likeable and empathetic characters in Lovecraft's tales.

 

[BAYLOR]

I'm not sure about a favorite mythos story, but my favorite of ol' Howie's is "The Color Out of Space". The horror, the atmosphere... it's all pitch-perfect. It also has some of the more likeable and empathetic characters in Lovecraft's tales.

Check out the film Nicholas Cage Film. It's quite good.

Also , The Earth Brain by Edmond Hamilton.

 

[hitmouse]

Dreams in the Witch House, or CDW.

 

[Guttersnipe]

I like "The Colour Out of Space." I enjoy it because it's not about his usual lore. Honestly, most of his work upsets me because of his provinciality is so apparent despite his having an imagination.

 

[BAYLOR]

I like "The Colour Out of Space." I enjoy it because it's not about his usual lore. Honestly, most of his work upsets me because of his provinciality is so apparent despite his having an imagination.

He had a tremendous imagination. What he did, impacted horror , science fiction and fantasy . I think had lived longer , he would gone beyond his limitations.

 

[Fiberglass Cyborg]

"The Rats in the Walls" is my favourite. There's something terrifying about literally burrowing deeper and deeper down to uncover a secret best left untouched.... OK, the secret itself is pretty standard Lovecraft, but the journey is exceptionally good.

I can't remember the title, but there's a Brian Lumley story that's always stuck with me. It's about a Yorkshireman who discovers he's got the Innsmouth look. So, with characteristic Yorkshire common sense, he sets off to meet his future neighbours!