Poe Vs. Lovecraft

Poe, hands down. Lovecraft only comes close in "At The Mountains of Madness", which would be my my favourite of him, were it not for "The Music of Erich Zann", which is a masterpiece, in my opinion, because in essence nothing more happens in it but an old man playing violin, but that's just what I love about it: How Lovecraft twists that into a tale of horror.
If you like it dark, I recommend Lautréamont, by the way (pseudonym for Isidore Lucien Ducasse). His only work, "Les Chants de Maldoror" ("The Songs of Maldoror"), is perhaps the darkest book ever wrtten. This book would have been forgotten if the surrealists had not rediscovered it. The famous phrase "'as beautiful as a chance meeting of a sewing machine and an umbrella on a dissection table", used as a motto by the surrealists, is from this book.
Another excellent book for those who love it dark: "Die andere Seite" ("The Other Side") by Austiran graphic artist Alfred Kubin. Best to be read in the German original, if you master the language. "Maldoror" should of course be read in French too, but alas!, I don't master that language, so I have to go with a translation.
And a third one which lovers of the phantastic may like: "Malpertuis" by Belgian author Jean Ray.
Oh, and 2 more Austrian authors of the phantastic come to my mind: Leo Perutz and Gustav Meyrink. Of Perutz I highly recommend "Die Dritte Kugel" ("The Third Bullet"), "Der Judas des Leonardo" ("The Judas of Leonardo") or "Nachts unter der steinernen Brücke" ("By Night Under the Stone Bridge"). The latter has one of the most interesting structures I ever came across in a novel; while reading it it seems to be no more than a collection of stories settled in Prague; sometimes characters appear in two or more of these stories, but otherwise there is no real connection. Only with the last chapter (or "story") of the book everything suddenly falls into place, and it becomes a novel.
Of Meyrink defintely "Der Golem" ("The Golem"), "Der Engel vom westlichen Fenster" ("The Angel of the West Window") and "Walpurgisnacht" (a term for which no translation exists; "Beltaine" comes closest and is indeed on the same day, but "Beltaine" is a Celtic tradition, while "Walpurgisnacht" is a Germanic one. The English translation of the novel uses the original title).


Edited by BaldFriede

I've read all his novels....absolutly amazing!!!!!!!!!!!I think it is one of the most important writer in the history!!!! The best novel I think is "The pit and the pendulum"!!!

Both great, both well worth reading, but Poe was the pioneering grand master who blazed the trail. It's worth noting than when I took a short story course in university, Poe was in there, but HPL was not.  I learned that Poe did not just write short stories, but wrote about how they should be written. He advanced the idea that in a short story (as opposed to a novel) EVERY single word had to count, and help to advance the mood and plot of the story -- absolutely no padding. He was a brilliant writer and literary theorist, and all horror writers who followed (including HPL), were/are in his debt.

Neither writer needed to rub blood, guts and gore in the reader's face -- the real horror lay in the creepy, increasing sense of dread -- the reader was made to use his or her imagination (our own worst fears were played upon) to achieve the effect. A horror of the mind -- of sound, shadow and paranoia.

Most modern horror writers and movies simply bludgeon the reader/viewer with gore -- nothing left to the imagination -- and I find that far less effective than the work of the old masters.

Good thread!

Edited by Peter

BaldFriede wrote: Peter wrote: Most modern horror writers and movies simply bludgeon the reader/viewer with gore -- nothing left to the imagination -- and I find that far less effective than the work of the old masters. Good thread! Indeed they do, that's why I recommended the books I did. They are definitely different. "Les Chants de Maldoror" is probably the most "evil" book ever written; Lautréamont started wrting on a "good" counterpart, but died of tuberculosis at the age of 23 before he could finish.

Sounds very interesting.

Yeah, I find most modern horror writing/movies to be simply DUMB -- 95% blood and special effects, 5% plot and atmosphere. Atmosphere/mood was priority # 1 for Poe. Special effects and graphic violence are no substitute for good writing!

In the classic horror films, it was the sense of expectation/dread (plus the music and lighting, etc.) that supplied most of the "horror." You only got to see the monster at the very end. Today, it's all about instant gratification (precious little attention span or patience in the modern viewer/reader), and grossing out a desensitized audience raised on a steady diet of gore. Just plain juvenile, sickening, and, for me, usually completely unbelievable and ineffective.

Nice talking to you!

NEVERMORE!

Musically , HP Lovecraft was much more progressive than APP's Tales Of EA Poe

I happen to like Lovecraft a bit more. I also think they're pretty different as writers, Lovecraft had a "cosmic" thing that Poe didn't have. It's a pretty different style. I think they shine equally but in different fields: Poe's work was probably more stretched in themes, while Lovecraft was pretty much into this sci-fi mood, which is really great in my opinion. It's great to feel the horror coming not much from the things you read about, like the monsters, the entities and so on, but more from the realization that the universe is an infinite dark and misterious place. I think that's what Lovecraft was all about, and I think it's great.

We have the complete writings of Poe and Lovecraft in our library. Lovecraft's whole oeuvre fits into 3 books of around 300 pages each. Poe's work, including letters and literary critiques, needs 10 books.

Edited by BaldFriede

Peter wrote: Most modern horror writers and movies simply bludgeon the reader/viewer with gore -- nothing left to the imagination -- and I find that far less effective than the work of the old masters.

American Psycho...

E.A. Poe, easily!