Just got done reading this story today. For some reason, this story makes me think of the 1978 film Halloween early on in this novel. Some flashbacks were a little confusing but after taking my time with this one I can see why it's an enjoyable read. The reason why I saw some similarities between Halloween with this story Charles ward takes the role of Michael Myers and Dr. Willett takes the role of Dr. Loomis in some ways while adding some horrific flare to the novel. With all the science/alchemy moments.
I struggle to say which is my favourite Lovecraft story - they are all so good. I guess if I had to choose it would be The Dunwich Horror or on the other hand maybe its.... seriously. thankyou for post always love popping by..
The More He learns the better the Story gets👍😁👍 All I can say is it was very entertaining 2 Me. I believe We can tear apart any story by anyone if We really want 2. Great Review, and Video 👍😁👍
Much better than my brief review of this book, of course. I really wonder what this story would have looked like if it had been thoroughly revised and edited. When it gets good, it's really good. It's just a shame it took so long to get there and (for me, anyway) it really dragged through the first half. I think it could have been a little shorter. But I loved the twist at the end! Surprisingly, I didn't necessarily predict the ending despite having already read many of his stories, lol.
I think Lovecraft saw a lot of the same shortcomings that you did in the story. It’s too bad he was so hard on himself when it came to his own work. The fact that this is a first draft that he just wrote by hand is remarkable.
Great discussion, as always. For some reason, listening to all this necromancy talk reminded me of back over a decade ago playing The Sims 2 with the electrifying object that could turn your character into a forever playable zombie. So much fun!
It's been ages since I read HPL! I quickly read Memory in July/August which is only 2 paragraphs 😄 I'll start again in January. This sounds really interesting
Interesting! I think my impression was distinctly different from yours, since I feel like there's only one twist in the story and it's so fiendishly obscure that I almost missed it entirely. I think the obvious parts are meant to be obvious to get the reader into the habit of thinking one or two steps ahead of Willett and drawing their own inferences from the information presented so that they can come to the "real" final conclusion despite it never being spelled out directly, which was incredibly ambitious of Lovecraft if that was in fact what he was doing. It's a bit like a sleuth story, only it's being told from the perspective of the mediocre policeman who gets the ending wrong and the reader is meant to be the sleuth. Or I'm horribly mistaken... but either way it's a great book.
Up until now I’ve not delved deeply into the world of Lovecraft because of the man himself. Sure I read The Call of Cthulhu and it was fine, and At the Mountains of Madness has been on my shelf for 14 years, unread. You’ve made this story sound interesting enough that I will add it to my wishlist for shopping after my book buying ban is over (currently read 7/50).
I try to not let a dead person’s stupid ideas keep me from reading their work. I guess there are exceptions, but so many people back in the day had pretty awful prejudices.
There is something about Lovecraft that should be said. He had racist tendencies. But it is absent from his work. I know all about the contemporary critique that he made an Other in his writing. But in the worst cases like Dunwich, they are white. The problem with racism in Lovecraft's works is that modern critiques add concepts from outside to his body of works to find racism. If you are someone like me reading his works in IRAN with no background you can't find racism except the cat's name or some hints in Red Hook. And for the 1920s that's not that much. But when you read his criticisms and compare them to what philosophical concepts are in fashion in contemporary times you understand that what his critiques did, was to borrow political-philosophical concepts that are not so sound, and pretend that these frameworks are the truth finders and equal to the word of God. then applied them to his works and found horrible racist writings that they wanted to find. I have a problem with that because these frameworks are meant to find racism. Even worse they add concepts to stories or artworks to prove their points. They are like psychoanalysis, adding concepts to dreams to extract meanings from them. So my point is even Lovecraft himself had racist tendencies and you can find some hints in stories like The Red Hook, his body of work as a whole both in Mythos and Dream Cycle doesn't show his racism, and if they were written by somebody else nobody would ever find any racist concepts in them. You can find way more racist stuff in that period than in Charl Dexter Ward or Mythos World. The contemporary framework for finding racism in literature and Arts, in general, is not philosophically sound and is more suitable for political hit jobs, and that is what they are created for. So if you are enjoying his works there is nothing wrong with your understanding nor you are not racist.
![POLYCAT - ข้อความรูปยิ้ม :) [Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/lBhIgPGCgbI/mqdefault.jpg)
Just got done reading this story today. For some reason, this story makes me think of the 1978 film Halloween early on in this novel. Some flashbacks were a little confusing but after taking my time with this one I can see why it's an enjoyable read. The reason why I saw some similarities between Halloween with this story Charles ward takes the role of Michael Myers and Dr. Willett takes the role of Dr. Loomis in some ways while adding some horrific flare to the novel. With all the science/alchemy moments.
I struggle to say which is my favourite Lovecraft story - they are all so good. I guess if I had to choose it would be The Dunwich Horror or on the other hand maybe its.... seriously. thankyou for post always love popping by..
Always great to have you stop by the Manor!
The More He learns the better the Story gets👍😁👍
All I can say is it was very entertaining 2 Me. I believe We can tear apart any story by anyone if We really want 2.
Great Review, and Video 👍😁👍
Thanks! I have a great appreciation for this story. And yeah, the more he learns…
@@michaelk.vaughan8617 👍😁👍
Much better than my brief review of this book, of course. I really wonder what this story would have looked like if it had been thoroughly revised and edited. When it gets good, it's really good. It's just a shame it took so long to get there and (for me, anyway) it really dragged through the first half. I think it could have been a little shorter. But I loved the twist at the end! Surprisingly, I didn't necessarily predict the ending despite having already read many of his stories, lol.
I think Lovecraft saw a lot of the same shortcomings that you did in the story. It’s too bad he was so hard on himself when it came to his own work. The fact that this is a first draft that he just wrote by hand is remarkable.
Farms are terrifying. I used to have nightmares about them.
They are! Yes!
Great discussion, as always. For some reason, listening to all this necromancy talk reminded me of back over a decade ago playing The Sims 2 with the electrifying object that could turn your character into a forever playable zombie. So much fun!
This could be the only time this story has been compared to The Sims 2!
Great analysis
OMG This one sounds so cool! I think this will be my next Lovecraft read 👀
It’s a good one!
It's been ages since I read HPL! I quickly read Memory in July/August which is only 2 paragraphs 😄 I'll start again in January. This sounds really interesting
I look forward to seeing more of your HPL videos!
This sounds like it may be up my alley, especially because of the length 😜
You probably would like this one.
Well, what are those strengths and shortcomings?
Solid book channel.
Thanks Scully!
Interesting! I think my impression was distinctly different from yours, since I feel like there's only one twist in the story and it's so fiendishly obscure that I almost missed it entirely. I think the obvious parts are meant to be obvious to get the reader into the habit of thinking one or two steps ahead of Willett and drawing their own inferences from the information presented so that they can come to the "real" final conclusion despite it never being spelled out directly, which was incredibly ambitious of Lovecraft if that was in fact what he was doing. It's a bit like a sleuth story, only it's being told from the perspective of the mediocre policeman who gets the ending wrong and the reader is meant to be the sleuth. Or I'm horribly mistaken... but either way it's a great book.
Does sound like an interesting story. 👍
It really is!
Hmmmm....
Up until now I’ve not delved deeply into the world of Lovecraft because of the man himself. Sure I read The Call of Cthulhu and it was fine, and At the Mountains of Madness has been on my shelf for 14 years, unread. You’ve made this story sound interesting enough that I will add it to my wishlist for shopping after my book buying ban is over (currently read 7/50).
I try to not let a dead person’s stupid ideas keep me from reading their work. I guess there are exceptions, but so many people back in the day had pretty awful prejudices.
There is something about Lovecraft that should be said. He had racist tendencies. But it is absent from his work. I know all about the contemporary critique that he made an Other in his writing. But in the worst cases like Dunwich, they are white. The problem with racism in Lovecraft's works is that modern critiques add concepts from outside to his body of works to find racism. If you are someone like me reading his works in IRAN with no background you can't find racism except the cat's name or some hints in Red Hook. And for the 1920s that's not that much. But when you read his criticisms and compare them to what philosophical concepts are in fashion in contemporary times you understand that what his critiques did, was to borrow political-philosophical concepts that are not so sound, and pretend that these frameworks are the truth finders and equal to the word of God. then applied them to his works and found horrible racist writings that they wanted to find. I have a problem with that because these frameworks are meant to find racism. Even worse they add concepts to stories or artworks to prove their points. They are like psychoanalysis, adding concepts to dreams to extract meanings from them. So my point is even Lovecraft himself had racist tendencies and you can find some hints in stories like The Red Hook, his body of work as a whole both in Mythos and Dream Cycle doesn't show his racism, and if they were written by somebody else nobody would ever find any racist concepts in them. You can find way more racist stuff in that period than in Charl Dexter Ward or Mythos World. The contemporary framework for finding racism in literature and Arts, in general, is not philosophically sound and is more suitable for political hit jobs, and that is what they are created for. So if you are enjoying his works there is nothing wrong with your understanding nor you are not racist.