Your Favourite Lovecraft.

[crow]

The first story that really made an impression on me was The Music of Erich Zann, though it took me some time before I returned to Lovecraft's stories after first reading him.
Others I think of often are Ex Oblivione and The Shunned House. Perhaps not the best examples of his work, but important to me all the same.

[Patrick G.P]

H.P.Lovecraft is the writer that has had the biggest impact on my life, and I re-read his stories quite often. Its hard to pick out just a few stories from his body of work, but here are some of my favorites at the moment:

The Festival - The cold, desolate streets of Kingsport, and the lone wanderer that stumbles upon a terrifying secret about his own past. The mood in this one is just perfect, and I try to re-read it around yuletide!

The Picture in the House - The hideous old man and his picture of a cannibal butcher shop disturbed me greatly the first time I read this. Wonderful backwoods atmosphere!

The Colour out of Space - This is by far my favorite Lovecraft story, the oppressive atmosphere and dread is almost unmatched, one of the few stories that has scared me while I was reading in broad daylight.

The Mound - One of the stories I have read the most as it really captures my imagination with the strange hidden vistas under the earth.

Nyarlatothep - I just read this again for the first time in many years, and it really stood out this time around with its haunting imagery and scenes.

The Dunwich Horror - As others have remarked, the ending is a bit silly and I find it a tad unfulfilling. But the first part, up to the horrifying revelation in the library by Armitage & Co is just outstanding!

The Statement of Randolph Carter - I love the whole buildup in this story, it was completely unlike anything I had read when I first encountered it many moons ago. The part that will stay with me forever as a testament to Lovecraft's genius: «Why certain corpses never decay, but rest firm and fat in their tombs for a thousand years»

The Haunter of the Dark - The decrepit church used for unholy blasphemous rites resonated with my imagination and I love Blake's investigation of the blighted edifice.

The Tomb - Maybe not as good as many of his later stories, but I love this for it's suggestiveness and atmosphere.

[luciferfell]

Patrick.. don't forget The Music of Erich Zann!

The Lovecraft piece that has influenced me the most is Supernatural Horror in Literature. Dictated practically my entire reading for a few years.

Favourite story? Too many.

[Patrick G.P]

Quote Originally Posted by luciferfell

Patrick.. don't forget The Music of Erich Zann!

Indeed! Such a wonderful story, like I said, its really hard to pick out just a few of his tales as favorites.

[marioneta]

It is very hard for me to pick out one story by Lovecraft that is a favorite, but as some have mentioned here already, "The Thing in the Moonlight" comes very close. It has the perfect combination of weird and eerie to give me a rush every time I read it.I have it in The Dream Cycle of H.P. Lovecraft: Dreams of Terror and Death, a Del Rey paperback. The story is hard to find and is not included in most of the standard Lovecraft anthologies.
ill be I go through cycles of rereading Lovecraft. I always go back to him, never tire reading his stories, even the so-called "bad" ones are good, and I always get a rush. Lovecraft is like a drug, and so is Ligotti. You can't go wrong with either one.
Also interesting is Karnos mentioning reading Lovecraft in Spanish the first time, and the impression it had. I have some beautiful editions of Lovecraft in Spanish translation with covers by H.R Giger which I have not read yet. So it seems about time I did to see what the effect will be on my reading experience.

[Robert Adam Gilmour]

Quote Originally Posted by marioneta

It is very hard for me to pick out one story by Lovecraft that is a favorite, but as some have mentioned here already, "The Thing in the Moonlight" comes very close. It has the perfect combination of weird and eerie to give me a rush every time I read it.I have it in The Dream Cycle of H.P. Lovecraft: Dreams of Terror and Death, a Del Rey paperback. The story is hard to find and is not included in most of the standard Lovecraft anthologies.

Must be in one of the Joshi corrected texts book?

I've got it in two books.

[Mr. Veech]

Quote Originally Posted by James

The Lovecraft piece that has influenced me the most is Supernatural Horror in Literature. Dictated practically my entire reading for a few years. Favourite story? Too many.

I just read it not long ago. It's such a glorious piece. I'm glad he mentions Bierce there.

[Robin Davies]

Quote Originally Posted by Robert Adam Gilmour

Quote Originally Posted by marioneta It is very hard for me to pick out one story by Lovecraft that is a favorite, but as some have mentioned here already, "The Thing in the Moonlight" comes very close. It has the perfect combination of weird and eerie to give me a rush every time I read it.I have it in The Dream Cycle of H.P. Lovecraft: Dreams of Terror and Death, a Del Rey paperback. The story is hard to find and is not included in most of the standard Lovecraft anthologies. Must be in one of the Joshi corrected texts book?

I doubt that Joshi would include it because he doesn't consider it a Lovecraft story. There's a side-by-side comparison of the letter and the "story" here:
H.P. Lovecraft's "The Thing in the Moonlight"

[Gnosticangel]

As a lifetime devotee of Lovecraft, this thread has me thinking of something different every time my eyes happen upon it. But today I was reminded of a very short piece, a "collaboration" of his with Winifred Jackson, "The Green Meadow." It has always had a remarkable effect on me, perhaps reminding me of my own dream realms or dreaming consciousness.

"The Green Meadow" by H. P. Lovecraft