The Eldritch Dark
The Sanctum of Clark Ashton Smith
Clark Ashton Smith (1893-1961), perhaps best known today for his association with H.P Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos, is in his own right a unique master of fantasy, horror and science-fiction. Highly imaginative, his genre-spanning visions of worlds beyond, combined with his profound understanding of the English language, have inspired an ever -increasing legion of fans and admirers.
For most of his life, he lived in physical and intellectual isolation in Auburn, California (USA). Predominantly self-educated with no formal education after grammar school, Smith wore out his local library and delved so deeply into the dictionary that his richly embellished, yet precise, prose leaves one with the sense that they are in the company of a true master of language.
Though Smith primarily considered himself a poet, having turned to prose for the meager financial sum it rewarded, his prose might best be appreciated as a "fleshed" out poetry. In this light, plot and characters are subservient to the milieu of work: a setting of cold quiet reality, which, mixed with the erotic and the exotic, places his work within its own unique, phantasmagoric genre. While he also experimented in painting, sculpture, and translation, it is in his written work that his legacy persists.
During his lifetime, Smith's work appeared commonly in the pulps alongside other masters such H.P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, August Derleth, and E. Hoffmann Price and like many great artists, recognition and appreciation have come posthumously. In recent decades though, a resurgence of interest in his works has lead to numerous reprintings as well as scholarly critiques.
The Eldritch Dark is a site to facilitate both scholars and fans in their appreciation and study of Clark Ashton Smith and his works.
PDF prospectus for The Black Abbot of Puthuum by Clark Ashton Smith
Re: In my 'to be read' pile is...
22 May, 2013 12:44AM by phillipAellis
“The English Assassin Wrote:
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> Yeah, I've got that one... I fancy getting Ritual
> someday...
I've got it, and it's a great read, well worth picking up. I'm planning to pick up two of the Tartarus Machen books in a fortnight, as well as the volume of Mark Valentine's poetry. I correspond with Mark, and have seen… ”
Re: In my 'to be read' pile is...
20 May, 2013 3:27PM by jdworth
“Gavin Callaghan Wrote:
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> Plus, H. P. Lovecraft's PHOTOGRAPH on the back
> covers of the Ballantine paperbacks simply gave me
> the willies. I was a few years before I could
> overcome my fear of that pasty white visage and
> actually look inside the damn books!....
*chuckle* I know what you mean. I first discovered Lovecraft --… ”
Re: In my 'to be read' pile is...
20 May, 2013 3:12PM by Gavin Callaghan
“Plus, H. P. Lovecraft's PHOTOGRAPH on the back covers of the Ballantine paperbacks simply gave me the willies. I was a few years before I could overcome my fear of that pasty white visage and actually look inside the damn books!....… ”
Re: In my 'to be read' pile is...
20 May, 2013 3:08PM by Gavin Callaghan
“Yes. Derleth's stories have more of a nostalgic meaning for me, since it was his works that I first read as an eight year old; aside from "Dagon", which I read first and instantly loved, HPL's vocabulary was simply too much for the younger me to fathom. Derleth's works were a little bit… ”
Re: Less Familiar Weird Literature
19 May, 2013 3:46PM by jdworth
“The English Assassin Wrote:
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> Probably not one of the greats, but I've just
> heard that Basil Copper died a month ago. I very
> much enjoyed The Great White Space and some of his
> short fiction is pretty good.
>
> link -
> copper
I'd have to agree that he isn't "one of the greats" but, as with… ”