February is the month of Valentine's Day, the day of love. Would that make it the month of love? Should I do a list of love? Why not! Let’s talk about the works of a man with love in name only.

🦑 Howard Phillips Lovecraft 🦑

Let’s just get this out of the way now, HP Lovecraft was a complicated man. He had major flaws: racism, sexism, paranoia, and a phobia of doctors being just a few of them. And even with these flaws, he managed to become one of the most celebrated authors of horror and weird fiction. But he gained fame decades after he passed away at age 46. He was the definition of a tragic and troubled genius of literature.

I love this guy's work. His prose is just so damn good. His description of horrible and unnamable things gives me goosebumps and inspirational nightmares. His execution of atmosphere paints an engrossing portrait of sinister settings. His dark and dank view of the world is like the eldritch black ink from some monstrous, tentacled deity of forgotten eons!

In short, he’s a pretty good author.

I have mentioned my fascination with the world and monsters HPL created in past blogs. There are many works of fiction inspired by his library of macabre and cosmic horror. Chaosium’s “The Call of Cthulhu” RPG is just a taste of what his works have inspired. Heck, many famous authors have been inspired by HP Lovecraft, the likes of Stephen King, Ramsey Campbell, and even my favorite author, Terry Pratchett.

A whole genre of literature was named after the man: LOVECRAFTIAN HORROR! And as an aspiring author, I too have found inspiration from Hit-Points Lovecraft. So, I feel like I should make a list of my recommended picks from Lovecraft’s library.

And since most (if not all) of his works are in the public domain, I can link to the stories in full for you to check them out yourself. Shoutouts to “The H.P. Lovecraft Archive” site for providing full text of the author’s work online. And more! There is so much HPL here on this site that I could spend hours here. Thank you!

Links to the site and relevant stories will be provided when you see this here button:

"HP Lovecraft Archives"

I am also limiting this list to works Lovecraft had written on his own. There are so many collaborations with other writers and other works he did, such as poems and nonfiction essays, all of it could fill more lists. It is absolute madness!

I would like to give a shout out to the “HP Lovecraft Historical Society” who made a series of USBs with audiobooks of HP Lovecraft’s Library. A friend of mine actually got one of the USBs for me when they were at GenCon. And it is the most awesome thing on my bookshelf.

With this USB, I am going to give HP Lovecraft’s works a re-listened. Because, well, why not? And after looking over a list of Lovecraft’s works, I managed to get to ten choices for my list of ten. So much of his work is available on the HPLHS USB its brain-shattering.

You can check out the HP Lovecraft Historical Society here:

https://www.hplhs.org/

I also will be organizing the list in two sections, in different parts because this article got really big and needs to be broken down. I will be separating Short Stories and Novellas for organization purposes.

First we will be looking at my “Top 6 Recommended Short Stories by HPL”. Then we will take a longer look at “My Top 4 Recommended Novellas by HPL”. I wanted to mix things up a little and have a few more short stories than novellas since there are many short stories in HPL’s body of work. But he only wrote a few novellas.

I also have some Honorable Mentions that will be featured first before getting into the list proper.

Speaking of which, let's see what my Honorable Mentions are . . .

0.1# “The Call of Cthulhu”

Okay, I will get this off my chest now, this is one of HPL’s best written short stories. Cthulhu has merged into the zeitgeist of pop culture to the point that he is inescapable. I would be a fool not to at least mention this story. But here is the thing, being the most popular story, I feel like I do not need to put it on the list.

See, my logic is this: Jimi Hendrix was one of the greatest guitarists who ever lived. So, seeing him at number one on any list of greatest guitarists is almost expected. Which is why I would not put Hendrix at number one on my personal list (that spot belongs to Buck Dharma).

I would certainly give Hendrix an honorable mention because he was a pioneer and has been praised so much that many other guitarists during his time (and since) are overshadowed. “Call of Cthulhu” is HP Lovecraft’s best work, it is the most recognized and celebrated from his library for good reason, and it is well deserving of the praise and recognition.

And that is why I reserve the ten spots on my list for my own personal taste. There are aspects of the ten on the list that I personally connected with and find inspiration from. And they are the most memorable of the stories too, for me at least. If a story sticks with you long after you have read it, even after years have passed, then it must have been a work that spoke to you.

I remember “Call of Cthulhu” and was tempted to put it on the list. But, nope, I would rather give some of HPL’s other works a chance to shine. These are my own personal favorites after all. But by all means, give “The Call of Cthulhu” a read. It is well worth your time and a true masterpiece of horror literature.

“Call of Cthulhu”

0.2# “Azathoth”

This one breaks my heart. And let me tell you why.

Azathoth is my favorite Lovecraft invented god. It is a mass of just chaos and unknown shapes at the center of the universe. And apparently, all of our reality is this thing’s dream. And if it wakes up, all of the universe would be destroyed. It is “the Zeus” of Lovecraft’s pantheon, Cthulhu and even Darkness itself has lineage from this all powerful “Blind Idiot God.”

This thing is a badass!

And HPL was going to write a full novel on Azathoth. And he never finished it. There are barely a couple pages to this story. And the opening is pretty damn cool. But, that’s all we get. HPL does mention Azathoth in many of his works, which is good and as a fan of the “Daemon Sultan”, I’ll take what I can get.

There is a bunch of Azathoth fiction out there written by other authors. I have yet to read any of them but I am down to check out others’ interpretation of the “Nuclear Chaos”. Oh, and the Call of Cthulhu RPG has an expansion called “Spawns of Azathoth” which just sounds like an all around good time.

Anyway, since this story was not finished, I could not see putting it on the list. It gets an honorable mention though because it was going to focus on my favorite Lovecraftian Deity. In a way, the lack of a story adds to the monster’s mystique. So enjoy this brief taste.

“Azathoth”

Tastes like coconut. 🥥

0.3# “Supernatural Horror In Literature”

So this last honorable mention is not a story but an essay that HPL did discussing many, many works of fiction that had inspired him. This is his most well regarded and recognized essay of the many he did on literary critique. It’s essentially his list of recommended stories which include works by Edgar Allen Poe, Algernon Blackwood, Lord Dunsany, M. R. James and many more.

I recommend this not only because I’m being meta and cheeky, recommending a list of recommendations, but it is a genuinely interesting essay regarding horror fiction. I personally recommend it to anyone who is interested in horror literature, as a writer or a reader. I would have never discovered the likes of Algernon Blackwood otherwise, the “Wendigo” being one of my favorites in classic literature, all thanks to HPL.

“Supernatural Horror In Literature”

And with those honorable mentions concluded, “My 6 Recommended Short Stories by HP Lovecraft” can now begin in earnest! Enjoy!

10# “The Hound”

I have a thing for horror stories that feature giant dogs or wolves hunting down the characters. I had a dog growing up and the thought of him being a hunting horror was kind of awesome. I actually imagined a monster version of him with bat wings, which the monster in this story supposedly has.

This story features two grave-robbers who are really full of themselves and fancy themselves adventures. They live their best life and even have a secret museum filled with the relics they procured from many, many graves. It is all fun and games until they pilfer something from one coffin that they should not have.

A jade amulet which by robbing from the grave seals their doom.

The build up in this story is just fantastic. The narrator hears the beast in the distance, outside the doors, and sees glimpses of its shadow as it vanishes into the night. You feel his paranoia and fear, his dread and despair, the hopelessness of escaping something that is wholly unknown and unwavering. But its intent against the narrator is made very clear.

So, I listened to “The Statement of Randolph Carter” and this story since they both had potential for the number ten spot. But after listening to both, this to me is the stronger of the two. The horror in “The Hound” feels more personal as the narrator experiences and feels the horror stalking and hunting him. Randolph Carter gets the horror second hand and while that is suspenseful in its own way, I just like the delivery of horror better in “The Hound.”

And also “The Hound” really highlights HPL’s expansive vocabulary. Seriously, there are many, many words people today would never use in casual conversation. Thankfully, HPL uses the words in such a way that even the more obscure ones most readers could guess and understand their meaning. “Impious” and “charnel” are two examples of words that I had to look up. If anything, a short story by HPL makes for an interesting Google Search.

Honestly, someone could make a list of vocab words used in HPL’s stories not used today. Hmmm, maybe that will be a list for a future article? Perhaps.

Anyway, that is a nice start. I know, only three honorable mentions and one entry for today’s part but this became a very long article and I want to deliver it in tiny bursts. For your sanity and mine. Check back next week for more of my recommendations of HP Lovecraft’s library.

******End of Part One******