Howard Phillips Lovecraft, one of the masters of horror/gothic literature – the creator of indescribable monsters and worlds. The first time i've heard this name I was 15 years old and to be honest, wasn't very interested in gothic literature with it's use of flowery words. Although I remember I read in somewhere that his style was not like the others, that his stories were way beyond it's time. I wanted to know more so I decided to read some of his stories. Some of them I liked, some I did not even understood back then. But there was always something in his stories, in his worlds that attracted me. When I saw some of stories on the list, I decided to take the opportunity of jumping into his mystical worlds again, this time with it's original language for the first time.(it had been 3 years since I read a Lovecraft story).
I read the two short stories on the list ( the unnamable and what the moon brings). And I must say I used the dictionary a lot and I think I am going to read them again. I don't want to write about the stories individually here. What I want to write about is that why I enjoy reading Lovecraft (even though having a tough time when I read of his works) and what is the relation between Lovecraft horror and Japanese Horror.
When I read a book, the first things I notice and pay attention to are the characters and the use of language, it's accessibility (like everybody). I must say none of those elements in Lovecraft's stories are enjoyable for me ; completely boring and passive characters, no dialogues, complicated and long descriptions. But once you get the picture that he describes... You don't need anything. You don't need to know the rest of the story, or it's ending. Everything is in that moment, in that place that you create in your mind. I think Lovecraft stories let their readers to figure things out on their own most of the time. He only shows some hints and then gives the rest to you. That old house and it's broken windows, and that “unnamable” demon for instance (in the short story, the unnamable). I sometimes ask myself the question of is it the power of my imagination or the power of the stories but I can almost smell the things that Lovecraft describes.
The connection between j-horror and lovecraft
In Japanese horror stories, things go slow, usually. Like it's discussed in the class, J-horror is very much like a rollercoaster that's heading towards to it's peak. I think same thing can be said about Lovecraft's style. They may not be similar in terms of settings, characters (popularity of women characters in J-horror can't be found in any Lovecraft story for instance) and culture but they still share the same techniques. In addition, the amount of intensity of horrific elements are almost at the same level in both styles and when compared to hollywood productions, there is a big difference In terms of that level of intensity.
H.P Lovecraft says that “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.” And I think the fear of the unknown is the strongest element in J-horror.
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