Lovecraft and his Array of Monstrous Stories

"The Outsider" reminded me a lot of Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray. This is a very well-written and fast read. I also enjoyed the Gothic elements Lovecraft weaved into it, as he always does with his work. We have an outsider that has never seen himself or had any social interaction. Linking this to an idea of a curse. You know, like the princess is locked away in a tower, the vampire is locked away in a castle without mirrors. The monster here is confusing. We notice that where he stays has no mirrors, he is very agile, but terrifying to those around him. The ending also links to a vampire because if he was locked away in a castle that was not his and he left, the reason he can't get back in is that he must be invited in. Basically, mirrors, castle, moat, and night (he has never seen the day) point slowly to a vampire. However, when he scares the people at the party and sees his own reflection, he touches the paw in the mirror and now runs with the ghouls of the night, which is merely too broad to help us narrow it down. So what is the monster? The narrator has no social interaction and is entirely isolated until he goes down the ruined path. I don't think we are meant to know what monster he is, but just to see that he was becoming one or is one. Is that because of the mirror or because it was time? I love the Gothic mystery Lovecraft left for his readers, but I do wonder, what's up with the mirror and what monster is he? Is the unknown meant to be more terrifying to the reader than knowledge? The whole ignorance is bliss idea? Regardless of the confusion, I thought it was a decent read, written beautifully.

The bizarre tale of Pickman, as told by the narrator, is a beautiful read. We still get plenty of Gothic elements as we did in "The Outsider." Here, instead of dark castles and mirrored reflections, we deal with the idea of Salem, witches, and demons. Pickman is this fabulous artist, according to our narrator. That stays true until the end of Pickman's time (well, he disappears). The readers don't experience a monster through the plot. I should say, they are met with the horrible truth that even the unimaginable and morbid creatures can exist. The narrator is amazed at how clear Pickman makes his artwork. Pickman does not lean towards or use the blur technique that many artists capitalize on. His works are clear and sharp. We follow with plenty of background that Pickman's family comes from a line of witches back in Salem during the famous trials. With such the focus on this, we are left to assume he is the monster, a witch of some kind, and our narrator is doomed when they go into the cellar. Lovecraft plays on your mind because, throughout the story, you know that is going to happen, and then it doesn't. We get a faint noise of what could be our real monster when they are in the cellar, but that is as much action it gives to the plot. The last page was the best one. Don't misread here, the whole story is lovely, but the final page instills realization. As our narrator pulls out the picture and sees the canine-like creature with scales in the same studio clear as day, you sit back and think, "Wow." Then the narrator makes it clear that the image with this monster devouring a human is not just another part of some deprived and horrifying imagination; it is real.

I am sure we have all read "The Call of Cthulhu" or heard of it. This is one of Lovecraft's stamped tales. Regarding this, I have loved Cthulhu's tale; however, the writing of this story is incredibly dragging. I mean, we are introduced to the monster at the start due to a sculpture that looked like an octopus, a dragon, and almost human and the hysteria of people all over. There are plenty of mythical ideas in this story. We have these men that worship the "Great Old Ones." These great ones are supposed to symbolize the life and balance on Earth before humanity. However, they are described as these nonphysical beings that are only active when the stars are right. They lay in their vaults in R'lyeh, waiting to be resurrected by Cthulhu when the stars are right again. It is also noted since they were never living, they cannot be counted as dead; weird, and frightening. Then the narrator gives the readers the mystery of a large number of people seemingly dying on an island with the only witness refusing to cough up the truth. There are these geometric structures in the corpse city of R'lyeh that are incapable of being processed by the human mind. Therefore, the crew starts to go insane. It is fascinating to think of structures that boggle minds to the point they are hypnotized. It is also incredibly horrifying to think you could encounter a shape that drives you out of your mind one day. In their aimless wandering on the island, they release Cthulhu from a portal: who was not supposed to be awakened until the stars were right by his cult so he can wake up the others of his kind from their green slime vaults. The creature ultimately killed all the remaining crew members except Gustaf Johansen and a fellow crew member that tends to laugh like a maniac (he dies later). Johansen describes the monster as a walking mountain. At least two crew were noted to have been killed of fright alone. That is pretty terrifying to think about. Imagine if you are scared of bees, now imagine seeing a bee and dying from fear. Short life. Worth noting that the loyal and intense Cthulhu cult members did not awake the creature when the stars were right as they were supposed to. The sailors wandering aimlessly accidentally woke Cthulhu up.
Aside from the statue and the description of his size, we learn at the end, he also has flabby claws as he swept up three men. Johansen and Briden take the yacht to flee, but the god comes after them in the water. Johansen makes a move to turn the boat back and nails Cthulhu in its head, causing a nastiness to flow out. The corpse city ends up sinking and assuming that Cthulhu in stone with it. I like the eeriness the ending gives off. Is it still in the ocean, waiting? The fear and paranoia of our narrator also helps as he is now worried he will now become a target for knowing the truth.