I read "Cujo" when I was 9. While this is obviously not Stephen King's best work, it was the marijuana of Stephen King novels for me, in that it made me want to read more of what he wrote, and I ran right out and bought "The Shining", "The Stand" (which remains my favorite book of all time, in either version), "'Salem's Lot" and "Night Shift". King went on to becomemy favorite writer for more than 25 years.
But recently, I read an intro to a comic book written by John Carpenter, about the influence of H.P. Lovecraft on the genre of horror. he says it's sort of a rite of passage for all young horror writers to write a Lovecraftian story. And the fact that when someone says "Lovecraftian" we know exactly what they mean, the very fact that the man's name has been turned into an adjective. . . . what other writer can we say that about besides Shakespeare and maybe Charles Dickens? Carpenter argues, and I think he's right, that H.P. had more influence on the 20th century genre of horror fiction than any writer before or since.
This reminded me that back in the late 80's my high school geek buddies and I had a D&D campaign going (and I was the DM) for well over a year. I know I'm dating myself, but I have an old "Deities & Demigods" with the Elric, nehwon and Cthulhu chapters in it (they were yanked from subsequent printings for copyright reasons). In the first adventure, they interrupt a sacrificial ritual by the Cthulhu cult in the sewers beneath the city, and are stalked by assassins, Deep Ones and cultists for most of the rest of the campaign. Their ultimate destiny (which we unfortunately didn't reach before we all went our seperate ways to different colleges) was, of course, that they had to stop Cthulhu's return to earth. I suddenly realized that H.P. had even influenced MY most ambitious bit of storytelling, such as it was.
H.P.'s essay on Supernatural Horror writing is also brilliant. I recently found it reprinted in a Barnes & Noble published book in the bargain bin, followed by all the stories he mentioned in the essay. If you ever see this volume, I urge you to pick it up. It is a rich source for historically important literary milestones in our beloved genre. A simply delightful read.
I haven't quite made up my mind about this, but H.P. may very well have displaced Steve as my favorite writer. I have family in Providence, and on a recent visit I located his gravesite in Swan point Cemetery (which is beautiful, BTW, and open to the public) and took a couple photos of and with the modest headstone (my brother joked that if he were a better writer maybe he could've afforded a better stone; "DON'T taunt him!" I warned. That's all I'd need is having to explain to my mother why mike got eaten by invisible demons on the way back to my cousin Linda's baby shower).
Have any of you had similar experiences? have your tastes matured (or at least changed) over your literate lives in a similar manner? Share with the rest of the class, please.
But recently, I read an intro to a comic book written by John Carpenter, about the influence of H.P. Lovecraft on the genre of horror. he says it's sort of a rite of passage for all young horror writers to write a Lovecraftian story. And the fact that when someone says "Lovecraftian" we know exactly what they mean, the very fact that the man's name has been turned into an adjective. . . . what other writer can we say that about besides Shakespeare and maybe Charles Dickens? Carpenter argues, and I think he's right, that H.P. had more influence on the 20th century genre of horror fiction than any writer before or since.
This reminded me that back in the late 80's my high school geek buddies and I had a D&D campaign going (and I was the DM) for well over a year. I know I'm dating myself, but I have an old "Deities & Demigods" with the Elric, nehwon and Cthulhu chapters in it (they were yanked from subsequent printings for copyright reasons). In the first adventure, they interrupt a sacrificial ritual by the Cthulhu cult in the sewers beneath the city, and are stalked by assassins, Deep Ones and cultists for most of the rest of the campaign. Their ultimate destiny (which we unfortunately didn't reach before we all went our seperate ways to different colleges) was, of course, that they had to stop Cthulhu's return to earth. I suddenly realized that H.P. had even influenced MY most ambitious bit of storytelling, such as it was.
H.P.'s essay on Supernatural Horror writing is also brilliant. I recently found it reprinted in a Barnes & Noble published book in the bargain bin, followed by all the stories he mentioned in the essay. If you ever see this volume, I urge you to pick it up. It is a rich source for historically important literary milestones in our beloved genre. A simply delightful read.
I haven't quite made up my mind about this, but H.P. may very well have displaced Steve as my favorite writer. I have family in Providence, and on a recent visit I located his gravesite in Swan point Cemetery (which is beautiful, BTW, and open to the public) and took a couple photos of and with the modest headstone (my brother joked that if he were a better writer maybe he could've afforded a better stone; "DON'T taunt him!" I warned. That's all I'd need is having to explain to my mother why mike got eaten by invisible demons on the way back to my cousin Linda's baby shower).
Have any of you had similar experiences? have your tastes matured (or at least changed) over your literate lives in a similar manner? Share with the rest of the class, please.
