(no subject)
Recently I published a review of Marc Laidlaw's excellent short story "The Boy Who Followed Lovecraft" on Fantastic Worlds. Laidlaw's story was in my opinion inspired by two particular Lovecraft stories: "Medusa's Coil" for one of its themes and "The Outsider" for its other.
I was not particularly surprised that some people had never read "Medusa's Coil." It was a collaboration between Lovecraft and Zealia Bishop (1897-1968), published two years after Lovecraft's death under Bishop's name: what's more, its final revelation is horrifying (to a modern audience) for reasons which I suspect Lovecraft never intended it to be. But "The Outsider" is one of the greatest horror short stories ever written, and its final revelation is brilliant.
Nevertheless, I urge people to read both, as between them they show Lovecraft at his best and at his worst, both as a writer and as a human being. So I reprinted them both on Fantastic Worlds. Here are the links ...
"The Outsider" (1926)
and
"Medusa's Coil" (1939).
Enjoy.
I was not particularly surprised that some people had never read "Medusa's Coil." It was a collaboration between Lovecraft and Zealia Bishop (1897-1968), published two years after Lovecraft's death under Bishop's name: what's more, its final revelation is horrifying (to a modern audience) for reasons which I suspect Lovecraft never intended it to be. But "The Outsider" is one of the greatest horror short stories ever written, and its final revelation is brilliant.
Nevertheless, I urge people to read both, as between them they show Lovecraft at his best and at his worst, both as a writer and as a human being. So I reprinted them both on Fantastic Worlds. Here are the links ...
"The Outsider" (1926)
and
"Medusa's Coil" (1939).
Enjoy.