On Paths Unknown discussion

Amy (Other Amy) wrote: "No hurry on the Ligotti; I hadn't even put him on my 2016 possibilities shelf. I would love to do a buddy read for it.

Lovecraft is the blandest of bland. The kind of creepiness he is going for re..."

Yes! That's what I didn't like about Lovecraft, I was bored. I kept waiting for something horrible/exciting to happen and then I gave up.

Amy (Other Amy) wrote: " I find Poe's preference for people murdering the jeepers out of each other much more horrifying than Lovecraft's alien gods."

I agree. Poe often seems totally innocuous at first, and just lures you in until you can't find a way out. Lovecraft is scary, but you know it's going to be right from the beginning, and in any case, no alien god we don't know can be half as terrifying as what we already know people are capable of.

Ruth wrote: "Amy (Other Amy) wrote: "I kept waiting for something horrible/exciting to happen and then I gave up."
What I'm finding in the first few stories is either that the horrible thing has already happened or it's all in the narrators head (theoretically), so I think that contributes to the lack of drama as well.

Derek (Guilty of thoughtcrime) wrote: "Lovecraft is scary, but you know it's going to be right from the beginning, and in any case, no alien god we don't know can be half as terrifying as what we already know people are capable of. "

That's it exactly; I think it's why my mind went to characterization. Montresor and Hopfrog could easily be people I have known (or rather, the other way round).

Derek (Guilty of thoughtcrime) wrote: "Amy (Other Amy) wrote: " I find Poe's preference for people murdering the jeepers out of each other much more horrifying than Lovecraft's alien gods."

I agree. Poe often seems totally innocuous at..."

Mmm-hmm. Except for the game I mentioned, I never actually felt scared by anything Lovecraft had written, and in the game, the scary part was how creepy the people were, which Lovecraft never manages to really get across in his writing in a visceral way, I find.