Vacation Necronomicon School, summer 2010 reading assignment for 6th August 2010: “Recommending Lovecraft”.

“Your assignment for today is [ to] explain which story you would recommend to someone unfamiliar with Lovecraft’s [ literary ] work. Which story seems most accessible to the new reader? Which do you think makes a good introduction, and why? Explain in 200 words or less.”

TASK ELEVEN: 6th August 2010.

“The Cats of Ulthar”: written 15th June 1920.

I would probably recommend the short story “The Cats of Ulthar”, for a newcomer to Lovecraft and to “weird horror”. This perfectly-formed early tale is in Lovecraft’s dream-cycle, and was one of his personal favourites. And can one possibly be a Lovecraft reader if one dislikes or detests cats? Affinity for the Felidae is surely the litmus-test Lovecraft himself would have applied to his readers — had Weird Tales ever been printed on a sort of “psychic paper” or somesuch. The story’s geography has a faint Tolkien flavour, and the medieval swamp-gothic atmosphere is somewhat akin to the fantasy RPG videogame The Witcher (PC, 2008). These are surely factors which might encourage a new reader coming to Lovecraft from a diet of quality fantasy media. The story is also short, the language is clear, and the ending is memorable. And did I mention it features cats? Lots of cats. The mountain-sized unspeakable mountains of slime and wings, and the tentacle-tangles of eldritch language, can all come later on in a reader’s encounter with Lovecraft. Bring on the kitties!