A nod to Lovecraft - then forgotten!

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sjaykahn

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Dec 2, 2015
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I've read through most (but not all) of the comments and fail to find any acknowledgement of the Lovecraft inspiration. King was clearly inspired by the mythos character Nyarlathotep in the guise of The Dark Man, yet dropped the obvious candidate for the creatures appearance and moved on without further comment. The ending was Lovecraftian in its way, but you had to get through a rather awkward scene full of name-dropping filled with references to Mary Shelley. I still loved the story, but these were two aspects of the story that I was rather disappointed with.
 

Sundrop

Sunny the Great & Wonderful
Jun 12, 2008
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I've never read a thing written by Lovecraft, so I can't make any comparisons. I really never look for influences from other writers, because more often than not, I'm not familiar enough with them to know the difference. I just read and enjoy the ride. It's worked for me so far.
 

doowopgirl

very avid fan
Aug 7, 2009
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I've never read a thing written by Lovecraft, so I can't make any comparisons. I really never look for influences from other writers, because more often than not, I'm not familiar enough with them to know the difference. I just read and enjoy the ride. It's worked for me so far.
I just read, too. Unless something is actually mentioned such as a character name. Otherwise I just look for the King.
 

GNTLGNT

The idiot is IN
Jun 15, 2007
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I've never read a thing written by Lovecraft, so I can't make any comparisons. I really never look for influences from other writers, because more often than not, I'm not familiar enough with them to know the difference. I just read and enjoy the ride. It's worked for me so far.
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sjaykahn

Member
Dec 2, 2015
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sjaykahn Have you read SK's short story Crouch End? It originally appeared in an anthology titled New Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos. The story is also included in Nightmares & Dreamscapes. I like SK's Lovecraftian stories better than Lovecraft's stories :)

I'm not for sure but I think the critters may have been a nod to H G Wells.

I have read it. In the intro King specifically calls 'Crouch End' as a mythos story. Also, in his memoir 'On Writing' he cites Lovecraft as an early inspiration for his imagination, pointing out that Lovecraft wrote wonderfully alien prose (my words) but that he failed utterly in making the characters speak like real people. A result, he mused (and I agree) possibly of Lovecrafts genius and education trapped inside an introverted personality. Lovecraft communicated best in writing and barely in interpersonal speech.
 

doowopgirl

very avid fan
Aug 7, 2009
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King, in various sources, mentions or alludes to mythos influences in 'The Myst' and 'From A Buick 8'. He specifically states that 'Crouch End' is a mythos story. There may be more, but those are the ones I remember.
Yes, when he mentions influences thats fair enough. But I don't look for them.
 
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lowman

Well-Known Member
Mar 9, 2015
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Im trying to get all of kings and his son books read i dont have time to read anyone else just yet.i still have a way to go. Lol
 
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