Waking Up Screaming : Haunting Tales of Terror

Rating:
Summary: A Unique Talent
Review: Lovecraft's contribution to supernatural horror in literature was not primarily as a writer-it was his creation of what is usually called "The Cthulu Mythos"-a fictional connection between the stories he wrote.He created a mythology involving creatures that might be aliens or might be demons,who are worshipped by an intensely secret, violent cult."The Call of Cthulu" takes up loose ends from happenings literally all over the world and weaves them into a rope that will eventually hang the fictional writer of the story.I loaned several collections of Lovecraft's books to a friend. After he returned them, I asked "Have you noticed that there is no dialogue in any of these stories?" The answer was no.Lovecrafts' dialogue,when it appears,is awful. The pep talk that the main charector in "The Dunwich Horror" gives his men is ludicrous.But his power as a storyteller and the amazing mythology he develops are so powerful that the reader simply doesn't notice that none of the charecors ever say anything. One of his best works is an essay on horror fiction called "Supernatural Horror in Literature." Anyone interested in fiction-any kind of fiction-should read this brilliant essay. Lovecraft was a deeply troubled man, a racist,usually broke, and a writer who was simply incapable of writing believable dialogue. He was also a towering figure who's ability to leap from writing horror stories to creating a completely convincing cult based on supernatural creatures stranded on earth remains breathtaking. A complicated man who demands study