No formal course in fiction-writing can equal a close and observant perusal of the stories of Edgar Allan Poe or Ambrose Bierce. — H. P. Lovecraft Copy Share Image
Cosmic terror appears as an ingredient of the earliest folklore of all races and is crystallised in the most archaic ballads, chronicles,… — H. P. Lovecraft Copy Share Image
In writing a weird story, I always try very carefully to achieve the right mood and atmosphere and place the emphasis where… — H. P. Lovecraft Copy Share Image
I could not write about 'ordinary people' because I am not in the least interested in them. — H. P. Lovecraft Copy Share Image
I am well-nigh resolv'd to write no more tales but merely to dream when I have a mind to, not stopping to… — H. P. Lovecraft Copy Share Image
There are probably seven persons, in all, who really like my work; and they are enough. I should write even if I… — H. P. Lovecraft Copy Share Image
A page of Addison or of Irving will teach more of style than a whole manual of rules, whilst a story of… — H. P. Lovecraft Copy Share Image
An excellent habit to cultivate is the analytical study of the King James Bible. For simple yet rich and forceful English, this… — H. P. Lovecraft Copy Share Image
Despite my solitary life, I have found infinite joy in books and writing, and am by far too much interested in the… — H. P. Lovecraft Copy Share Image
Write out the story - rapidly, fluently, and not too critically - following the second or narrative-order synopsis. Change incidents and plot… — H. P. Lovecraft Copy Share Image
For correct writing, the cultivation of patience and mental accuracy is essential. Throughout the young author's period of apprenticeship, he must keep… — H. P. Lovecraft Copy Share Image
My reason for writing stories is to give myself the satisfaction of visualising more clearly and detailedly and stably the vague, elusive,… — H. P. Lovecraft Copy Share Image
It would not be amiss for the novice to write the last paragraph of his story first, once a synopsis of the… — H. P. Lovecraft Copy Share Image
When I say that I can write nothing but weird fiction, I am not trying to exalt that medium but am merely… — H. P. Lovecraft Copy Share Image
One can't write a weird story of real power without perfect psychological detachment from the human scene, and a magic prism of… — H. P. Lovecraft Copy Share Image
It is the night-black Massachusetts legendry which packs the really macabre "kick". Here is material for a really profound study in group-neuroticism; for certainly,… — H. P. Lovecraft Copy Share Image
“Sounds—possibly musical—heard in the night from other worlds or realms of being.” — H. P. Lovecraft Copy Share Image
Very few minds are strictly normal, and all religious fanatics are marked with abnormalities of various sorts. — H. P. Lovecraft Copy Share Image
It's not a bad idea to call this Cthulhuism & Yog-Sothothery of mine "The Mythology of Hastur" - although it was really from Machen… — H. P. Lovecraft Copy Share Image
The appeal of the spectrally macabre is generally narrow because it demands from the reader a certain degree of imagination and a capacity for… — H. P. Lovecraft Copy Share Image
There are probably seven persons, in all, who really like my work; and they are enough. I should write even if I were the… — H. P. Lovecraft Copy Share Image
Nothing is really typical of my efforts... I'm simply casting about for better ways to crystallise and capture certain strong impressions (involving the elements… — H. P. Lovecraft Copy Share Image
Thus I began my systematic though half-bewildered tour of Innsmouth's narrow, shadow-blighted ways. Crossing the bridge and turning toward the roar of the lower… — H. P. Lovecraft Copy Share Image
Of what use is it to please the herd? They are simply coarse animals - for all that is admirable in man is the… — H. P. Lovecraft Copy Share Image
“How little does the earth self know life and its extent! How little, indeed, ought it to know for its own tranquility!” — H. P. Lovecraft Copy Share Image
The trees grew too thickly, and their trunks were too big for any healthy New England wood. There was too much silence in the… — H. P. Lovecraft Copy Share Image
Plots may be simple or complex, but suspense, and climactic progress from one incident to another, are essential. Every incident in a fictional work… — H. P. Lovecraft Copy Share Image
