Poe vs. Lovecraft

[SoftShocks]

Seeing that Halloween is just on the horizon, I have been rereading Poe's and Lovecraft's works.
I'm curious to see who you all prefer; Poe or Lovecraft. I have a bias towards Poe.

[tetsuo]

I like the novels of both and bboth feature things I like, a specific sense for humour and horror and suspense. Wanna cross Cthulu with the raven. ;-)

[SoftShocks]

Originally Posted by tetsuo

I like the novels of both and bboth feature things I like, a specific sense for humour and horror and suspense. Wanna cross Cthulu with the raven. ;-)

Yes, I completely agree. Well, I think a crossover would be a fabulous idea.

[BloodFlow]

Poe, I like the imagery better, and I find that stuff that's too fantastical loses emotional resonance for me. Lovecraft is great, though. It's just that Poe is more powerful to me.

Actually, Poe was a huge influence on Lovecraft, to the extent that Lovecraft was frustrated by some of his early stories because he felt he was following Poe's style too closely. Just an interesting fact, I don't mean to imply that this makes Poe better than Lovecraft in any way - everyone has their influences. Poe was an obsessive fan of Byron, himself.

[Ilefidoz]

I have been reading Edgar Allan Poe's short stories and even though this might be too off topic... I have found many of them every difficult to understand without me looking up summaries of many of his short stories online.

I am wondering if anyone else finds Poe's writings significantly more difficult to read than modern fiction. With the words in languages that are foreign to me along with many vocabulary words that I am not familiar with I often have a difficult time understanding what I am reading.

In my defense, my strengths in academics have always been with literature and forms of writing. Reading comprehension is probably my strongest area. I am wondering if many if not most of Poe's short stories are harder for me to comprehend upon my initial reading because of the fact that it is not modern fiction? Many years have past since Poe wrote and maybe the change in the way people deliver language has changed significantly since the 1800's. I am assuming it has.

Also, Poe being a genius makes it a lot more difficult to understand his writings as well for me at least.

I am wondering if anyone has any thoughts on this. I do love Poe, and I have not ever heard of Lovecraft until coming across this thread and reading its contents.

Hopefully this isn't too of topic.

[deathsdj]

I lean towards Lovecraft.

[Ilefidoz]

I have never read anything by Lovecraft. I might look into reading some of his or her works after I finish reading Edgar Allan Poe's short stories.

deathsdj, what is it about Lovecraft that inclines you to prefer that writer's work more? I am curious, because I have never heard of Lovecraft, and I'm interested to know what you think. You said you leaned towards Lovecraft, so I'm guessing you enjoy Poe's work a lot as well.

[deathsdj]

While I enjoy both authors I lean to Lovecraft for his more science fiction feel. Something I am a big fan of. No disrespect to Poe at all as sometimes I find myself in a mood where only his work will do.

[TheLonelyGhost]

I'm a fan of Poe. I just recently learned about Lovecraft believe it or not cause my boyfriend is a fan of Lovecraft. I knew about Poe when I was growing up and loved his poetry and short stories.

[Alex Scully]

I would argue that they are two different animals entirely. Poe dealt largely in the esoteric, psychological dark fiction side. Lovecraft, almost a century later (give or take a decade or two ), was far more into the monster themes. Lovecraft even once said he was not as interested in characters as he was monsters. Poe was all character study amidst the terrors. I like them both for different reasons, and when you read them together in certain themed anthologies, they actually can compliment one another!

[oscariswild]

I honestly like both, but I think I prefer Poe. I've been reading him longer.

[Benjamin Andrew]

They are very different in my opinion. Both are excellent writers.

[DarkSaber]

I have only read one of Poe's works and I cant say that I remember it well. I'm now reading Lovecraft's work and I enjoy it greatly! He is now my second favorite writer next only to JRR Tolkien.