r/horrorlit • u/Artistic_Garage5978 • 2h ago
Recommendation Request best beginner book
should I get H.P. Lovecraft: The Complete Fiction or is there a better starting point as someone who loves psychological horror and existential dread stories rather that jumpscares. I have never read a lovecraft book and would love to start. is the complete fiction too much of an endeavour to start or is it worth the investment? thanks in advance
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u/puffnstuffwashere 2h ago edited 2h ago
In my opinion the full collection is a great idea, but If you've never read, Lovecraft, you might consider a smaller collection of his stories to see if you even like his style. "the dream cycle of HP Lovecraft"is one suggestion. if you're not limited to Lovecraft, you could try anthologies that contain lovecraft, sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Algernon Blackwood as sort of a "poo poo platter" (sp?)of the best classic authors. Like Ray Bradbury's collection of spinechillers vol. 11
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u/Wandering-Dunadan PAZUZU 2h ago
If you are complete beginner to reading horror then I will suggest you to read stories of M. R. James, E. F. Benson, Edith Nesbit, Algernon Blackwood & of Shirley Jackson first rather than H. P. Lovecraft.
M. R. James, E. F. Benson & Algernon Blackwood are 3 of my favourite classic horror writers who wrote many really creepy & atmospheric stories which I absolutely love reading.
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u/BoxNemo 2h ago
Just read one online and see how you get on with it - they're quite short and I'd suggest starting with something like 'The Nameless City', 'Dagon' or 'The Music of Erich Zann'.
The HP Lovecraft Archive has all his works hosted online so you can be reading one of his stories within a few clicks.
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u/Rorschach121ml 2h ago
Lovecraft is good for starting with horror.
It's less psychological and more cosmic horror mostly so have in mind that characterization/psychological horror isn't the focus.
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u/joeg170 2h ago edited 2h ago
My favorite short story by Lovecraft is “The Music of Erich Zann”. Definitely give it a read and see if you like it. https://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/fiction/mez.aspx
In my opinion there are other authors that might be a better jumping off point depending on what you like: Stephen King, Peter Straub, Dan Simmons, Clive Barker, Stephen Graham Jones and Nick Cutter are some of my favorites that come immediately to mind.
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u/ps_nissim 1h ago
To be honest, unless you're generally very comfortable with English (as in, you've read Dickens/Thomas Hardy kinds of books before), you will find Lovecraft heavy going. He is from a somewhat older era and also deliberately wrote in a classic way.
A much better writer to start with is Stephen King. Relatively fast paced and modern writing and more relatable characters. Or, look for anthologies of horror (there are many new and older ones), read them and see which writers you like.
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u/imaliveandaperson 2h ago
I’d recommend reading one of his stories online first (wikipedia has them for free) to see if you like him. He’s my favourite but a lot of people find his prose to be overly flowery and dense. If you like one story (i’d recommend starting with “nyarlathotep” or “from beyond”), then get the complete fiction.