Helo,

What do you think of this author? Last week I read about ten stories by Derleth and my impression is he tried to wrote like his contemporaries (Lovecraft, Howard, Smith etc.) but was not really good at it (at least judging by what I read by him so far).

He is at his best as a regionalist. The best place to start reading his supernatural fiction is probably the collection MR. GEORGE, which consists of stories he wrote under the pseudonym Stephen Grendon, the autobiographical character in his Sac Prairie novels. Most of the stories he wrote as pastiches of Lovecraft, Smith, Marjorie Bowen, M. R. James, L. P. Hartley, etc. second-rate at best.

There is a discussion "seeking an assessment of Derleth, as a writer of fiction" in this forum from August of last year.

Speaking of L.P.Hartley, is he worth reading? Once I read "A Visitor From Down Under" but the life of me I cannot remember what the story was about. :-)

Minicthulhu Wrote:
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> Speaking of L.P.Hartley, is he worth reading? Once
> I read "A Visitor From Down Under" but the life of
> me I cannot remember what the story was about. :-)

Yes! He is a wonderful writer. I reread all of his ghost stories every several years. There is a cruel wit to them and a masterful accumulation of detail that I find irresistible.

Can you recommend what I should start with?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 26 Feb 18 | 12:03PM by Minicthulhu.

Minicthulhu Wrote:
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> Can you recommend what I should start with?


THE TRAVELLING GRAVE AND OTHER STORIES with a new introduction by John Howard, recently published by Valancourt Press, would be safe bet.

Thanks a lot for the tip. I will give it a try.