I want to immerse myself in his work. Other than a handful of his stories - this was back in high school - I'm not really familiar with his work. What would you recommend me as a starting point? Preferably something I could order off Amazon.
Unless you become a hardcore fan, there isn't really need for a starting point, as he wrote mostly short stories. There's a B&N edition which includes all of his fiction (well, major fiction - I think it excludes some juvenilia and most of the stories he ghostwrote for others) in a single volume, but it's out of print right now (you can still get a copy for around forty bucks on amazon, though - the title is H. P. Lovecraft: The Fiction). Alternatively, get these three: [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Thing-Doorstep-Stories-Penguin-Classics/dp/0142180033/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b"]Amazon.com: The Thing on the Doorstep and Other Weird Stories (Penguin Classics) (9780142180037): H. P. Lovecraft, S. T. Joshi: Books[/ame] [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Cthulhu-Stories-Penguin-Twentieth-Century-Classics/dp/0141182342/ref=pd_cp_b_2"]Amazon.com: The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics) (9780141182346): Howard Phillips Lovecraft, S. T. Joshi: Books[/ame] [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Dreams-Witch-House-Stories-Classics/dp/0142437956/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_c"]Amazon.com: The Dreams in the Witch House: And Other Weird Stories (Penguin Classics) (9780142437957): H. P. Lovecraft, S. T. Joshi: Books[/ame] I'd recommend The Thing... first. You can start with basically any story, though - except for the Dream Cycle stories there's no real continuity (unlike later writers who took elements from his stories, Lovecraft wasn't really concerned with that).
No problem . In those three volumes you get pretty much all major stories which were published during his lifetime. What's missing are his amateur writings, unpublished and unfinished stories and collaborations. But that's all stuff I wouldn't recommend until someone has become seriously interested.
They arrived yesterday and are next in my reading stack. Should be able to start sometime this weekend. I'll report back here.
I heard that HP lovecraft. Has afraid of the underground and hated water. They said that he believed creatures lived underground and that he would stay away from any type of water area. Anyone else heard about this?
He had a phobia of fish, amphibians and the like. Well, actually he probably had too many phobias to mention. But he didn't really believe in monsters or anything.
My son was thinking about attending Miskatonic University next year. Anyone have any reviews or experience?