Taking a break from Lovecraft, although I'll be back to start reading some of the many volumes of letters and correspondences he had between like-minded authors of his day such as Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith etc. I'm under the impression that his fiction really tells only half the story, and when one starts delving into his many letters (apparently there are over 10,000, many of them already published in numerous volumes)a whole new understanding of the man comes to the forefront.
In the meantime, I'm alternating between a collection of short stories by Algernon Blackwood called "Tales of Terror and the Unknown" and another collection of shorts by C.L. Moore called "Black Gods and Scarlet Dreams". The former has a couple of his most famous pieces, i.e. "The Willows" and "The Wendigo", and having just finished "The Willows" my mind is further convinced that A. Blackwood is one of the finest conjurers of the weird of his time. One of his favorite themes is the exploration of nature and the elemental forces that are bound by it and how these forces interact, or should I say "run in" to the puny, inconsequential species of mankind. This idea was, of course a prime influence on Lovecraft maybe a decade later or so. His stories are all about atmosphere, and his prose is just descriptive enough to let the mind build it's own tableau of the events and surroundings.
I've only read one story by Moore so far, one of her Jirel of Joiry pieces and, what started as seemingly young-adult-ish standard sword and sorcery fare quickly elevated itself to something quite dark and definitely weird. Very much fantasy, but VERY well written and VERY odd at times...I'm looking forward to more. The edition I'm reading collects all her Jirel stories and all her Northwest Smith stories.
Oh, and briefly, I'm also listening to an audio book on my commute to work..."The Passage" by Justin Cronin...loving it...apocalypse/post apocalypse/bio crisis/ripping good story!!!. Hear they are planning a movie with Ridley Scott signed on. This is only the first part of a projected trilogy and the book is doorstop level in length...but it goes by super quick...excellent stuff!
best
Michael
)
