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Originally Posted by Johnny Tremaine 
King had a short story in one of his recent collections that was an obvious modern take on a Lovecraft story, about a guy who thinks he's saving the world and keeping some unspeakable, giant eyed creature at bay in another dimension, by repeating a meaningless task in a remote Maine field.
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That was "N." from the "Just After Sunset" collection.
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| I thought his take on Lovecraft was better than the actual Lovecraft stories I read. |
That's because it was Lovecraft filtered through modern sensibilities and, let's face it, King's far easier to digest prose (in my humble opinion, obviously).
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| Oh, and the anthology I picked out was, not sure of the publisher, but the really thick hardcover editions in all black and a b&w photo of the author on the cover. They have collection editions for every writer. |
And, if you're not completely put off a second attempt, can I recommend "The Best of H.P. Lovecraft: Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Macabre"? It's one of Ballantine's Lovecraft books that truly is a greatest hits. Yeah, the prose is clunky and Lovecraft is a bit racist and overly found of phrases like "eldritch horror", but the stories themselves are gems. "Pickman's Model" (a personal favorite), "Dreams in the Witch House" (another favorite), "The Call of Cthulhu", "The Whisperer in Darkness", etc. etc. What's more, it will truly help you appreciate the massive impact Lovecraft has had on horror and science fiction in the last 100 years or so.