Derleth was usually straightforward about the inspiration and writing of the stories; but THE LURKER AT THE THRESHOLD, for example, is often referred to as a novel left unfinished at Lovecraft's death; and it ain't. The entire novel is composed of Derleth's ideas and writing inspired by two wee chunks of notes by Lovecraft.
I had been wondering about those collaborations... the guy at the bookstore where I bought the ones I have told me they were based on "unused" and "incomplete" Lovecraft stories. So none of them are real? I had a feeling they weren't... but I still love reading most of them :-)
@adrianldk Derleth wrote all of them completely by himself, based usually on entries from Lovecraft's Commonplace Book. He read this: "Man makes appointment with old enemy. Dies. Body keeps appointment." From that he wrote the story "Wentworth's Day," trying to write it in Lovecraft's style, & then he added Lovecraft's name to the story byline. Many of them are enjoyable Cthulhu Mythos tales, but Lovecraft had nothing to do with them.
Derleth was usually straightforward about the inspiration and writing of the stories; but THE LURKER AT THE THRESHOLD, for example, is often referred to as a novel left unfinished at Lovecraft's death; and it ain't. The entire novel is composed of Derleth's ideas and writing inspired by two wee chunks of notes by Lovecraft.
MrWilum 1 year ago
I had been wondering about those collaborations... the guy at the bookstore where I bought the ones I have told me they were based on "unused" and "incomplete" Lovecraft stories. So none of them are real? I had a feeling they weren't... but I still love reading most of them :-)
adrianldk 1 year ago
@adrianldk Derleth wrote all of them completely by himself, based usually on entries from Lovecraft's Commonplace Book. He read this: "Man makes appointment with old enemy. Dies. Body keeps appointment." From that he wrote the story "Wentworth's Day," trying to write it in Lovecraft's style, & then he added Lovecraft's name to the story byline. Many of them are enjoyable Cthulhu Mythos tales, but Lovecraft had nothing to do with them.
MrWilum 1 year ago