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ChaosChick started a Poe thread. So I though I'd bring up another good author. I'm kind of going through an obsession with Lovecraft. I do that with everyone I like for what they make. I'm reading The Whisperer in Darkness right now because it takes place in Vermont, my state.

Anyone else read him? You might know him because of the Great Cthulhu.

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Oh!—fruit loved of boyhood!—the old days recalling,
When wood-grapes were purpling and brown nuts were falling!
When wild, ugly faces we carved in its skin,
Glaring out through the dark with a candle within!

- John Greenleaf Whittier

I've read some of his stuff. He definitely knew how to build an otherworldly air with his writing. I remember reading somewhere that a lot of the images and story ideas he had came from his dreams and nightmares.

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We're the farmer's scarecrows
We scare away the birds,
We keep the farmer's corn safe
Without any words.
But when Halloween comes
We jump out of the ground
And we scare the boys and girls
When they come walking 'round.

He also borrowed from other writers.

_________________
Oh!—fruit loved of boyhood!—the old days recalling,
When wood-grapes were purpling and brown nuts were falling!
When wild, ugly faces we carved in its skin,
Glaring out through the dark with a candle within!

- John Greenleaf Whittier

He did, certainly, and in some places better than others. To a certain extent though, everybody does that. There's nothing new under the sun. From what I understand, the new Batman movie borrows heavily from "A Tale of Two Cities". But I will say, when it clumsily done, it's cringe inducing.

_________________
We're the farmer's scarecrows
We scare away the birds,
We keep the farmer's corn safe
Without any words.
But when Halloween comes
We jump out of the ground
And we scare the boys and girls
When they come walking 'round.

I started The Shadow Over Innsmouth a while ago now and never finished. Same with a few other books. That tends to happen.

What have you read by him? Any favorites?

_________________
Oh!—fruit loved of boyhood!—the old days recalling,
When wood-grapes were purpling and brown nuts were falling!
When wild, ugly faces we carved in its skin,
Glaring out through the dark with a candle within!

- John Greenleaf Whittier

Sadly, I read him many years ago and memory fades. I read Shadow Over Innsmouth recently. I liked it, but was a bit annoyed due to the fact that it was included in the werewolf anthology I was reading. I didn't really think it fit, though on it's own it wasn't a bad story. I'm pretty sure I read Pickman's Model though I may just be remembering seeing the Night Gallery episode. What I largely remember is the feeling I got reading his stuff. A creepy unease. His stuff didn't scare as much as it unsettled and made you look at the world twice. Or at least it did me.

Though there was one story, can't remember the title, but it was a first person narrative about this guy raised by this horrible looking creature in a subterranean environment. And the creature is always good to the narrator but he wants to see the world. So one day he leaves and goes to the world above. He enters a house and sees a truly horrific monster looking at him. Then on the heels makes a realization that drives him despairing back to the underground. He realizes he's found a mirror and he is in fact the same species as the creature that raised him. The reason the story stuck with me is the narrator is sympathetically written and felt kind of bad for him at the end.

_________________
We're the farmer's scarecrows
We scare away the birds,
We keep the farmer's corn safe
Without any words.
But when Halloween comes
We jump out of the ground
And we scare the boys and girls
When they come walking 'round.

I haven't read that one but I think it's The Outsider.

Pickman's Model, that one is awesome. There's an audio recording I listened to of it. I'll find it for you if you want.

_________________
Oh!—fruit loved of boyhood!—the old days recalling,
When wood-grapes were purpling and brown nuts were falling!
When wild, ugly faces we carved in its skin,
Glaring out through the dark with a candle within!

- John Greenleaf Whittier

That would be really cool. Do you remember who did the recording? I found this amazing rendition of Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven as read by Christopher Walken. I absolutely loved it.

_________________
We're the farmer's scarecrows
We scare away the birds,
We keep the farmer's corn safe
Without any words.
But when Halloween comes
We jump out of the ground
And we scare the boys and girls
When they come walking 'round.

It's by Morgan Scorpion.

http://archive.org/details/PickmansModelByHPLovecraft

_________________
Oh!—fruit loved of boyhood!—the old days recalling,
When wood-grapes were purpling and brown nuts were falling!
When wild, ugly faces we carved in its skin,
Glaring out through the dark with a candle within!

- John Greenleaf Whittier

Thank you for posting it. It's a great story, though the narrator could have been better. I found the voice distracting at points, but not enough to really detract from the story. Thanks again.

_________________
We're the farmer's scarecrows
We scare away the birds,
We keep the farmer's corn safe
Without any words.
But when Halloween comes
We jump out of the ground
And we scare the boys and girls
When they come walking 'round.

I loved the voice. It made it really creepy for me.

_________________
Oh!—fruit loved of boyhood!—the old days recalling,
When wood-grapes were purpling and brown nuts were falling!
When wild, ugly faces we carved in its skin,
Glaring out through the dark with a candle within!

- John Greenleaf Whittier

I listened to it again. I can see your point about how the voice does add to the overall effect, but something about the accent or cadence just kind of takes me out of it. Maybe it's that almost lisp the speaker seems to have.

Though I do wholeheartedly agree with the section where they are talking about the difficulty and art in capturing the essence of fear or the utter feeling of otherness that the really great writers/artists of the macabre can capture. I write a little, but can never quite capture terror. The best I manage is dark fantasy, but true horror escapes me. That's part of what I admire of Lovecraft, among others. The ability to convey that sense of otherness, and wrongness, that can come from well written horror.

_________________
We're the farmer's scarecrows
We scare away the birds,
We keep the farmer's corn safe
Without any words.
But when Halloween comes
We jump out of the ground
And we scare the boys and girls
When they come walking 'round.

It's funny. Lovecraft hasnt really scared me, but creepypasta has.

_________________
Oh!—fruit loved of boyhood!—the old days recalling,
When wood-grapes were purpling and brown nuts were falling!
When wild, ugly faces we carved in its skin,
Glaring out through the dark with a candle within!

- John Greenleaf Whittier

I'd never been to creepypasta before, thanx for the tip. It's a pretty cool site. I like the Slenderman stuff, and the Candle Cove story was creepy. Definitely planning on exploring that one further.

As for Lovecraft, as I said don't find him "balls to the walls" scary. But I find him unnerving, like he's showing a world that's just under the surface and it unsettling. I find that sense of atmosphere to be elusive in my own writing, as well as straight "balls to the walls" horror.

_________________
We're the farmer's scarecrows
We scare away the birds,
We keep the farmer's corn safe
Without any words.
But when Halloween comes
We jump out of the ground
And we scare the boys and girls
When they come walking 'round.

Did you know that there some Slenderman games available?

Here is one... http://www.slendergame.com/

And the search I did...

http://www.bing.com/search?q=slenderman ... orm=MOZSBR

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Masquerade, masquerade, grab your mask and don't be late..In the streets on Halloween, there's something going on. No way to escape the power unknown. In the streets on Halloween, the spirits will arise. Make your choice, it's hell or paradise.