Supernatural Horror: Stories That Frightened Lovecraft Himself

Howard Phillips Lovecraft wrote hundreds of captivating stories and only one famous article. But what an article! In 1927 he published the essay “Supernatural Horror in Literature,” which he worked on for more than two years. In this study, he formulated the main principle of the horror genre: “In a story about the supernatural, there must be far more than just a cruel murder, bloody bones, or the clanging of ghostly chains. It must carry an atmosphere of boundless and unexplained terror in the face of external and unknown forces. There must be a hint of the most horrible thought a human being can have—that the firm laws of nature, which are our only defense against chaos and demons from beyond the world, might suddenly cease to function!” The monumental work lists all the most terrifying stories published before 1927—and this list is so impressive that, despite nearly a century passing, there’s nothing to add to it (except Lovecraft’s own masterpieces and, perhaps, Stephen King’s). We selected 13 perfect scare-stories that the essay praised highly. From these tales, as Lovecraft admitted even about himself—the old hand at mysticism—there would arise an amazing feeling: “It begins with a mild shiver, like the one that inevitably comes over people talking in whispers by a fireplace—and gradually grows into a paralyzing horror, truly on cosmic scales.” Horror literature often goes against logic and common sense, but it can boast completely unpredictable plots. The authors included in this collection possess unique, even if sometimes painful, imagination. In Lovecraft’s opinion, they will leave no one indifferent. “Children will always be afraid of the dark, and adults—startle at the thought of endless, unexplored spaces somewhere far beyond the stars, where perhaps life is pulsating. Or they will be horrified by monstrous worlds on our own planet, known only to the dead and the mad.” Now these worlds are available to you—dear readers and listeners!