Apparently he was one of Lovecraft's proteges, (although that might not be the most precise term). I recently read a short story by him called "The Chain of Aforgomon." I read it on a whim because I heard it featured Yog-Sothoth, but man, I have to say I loved it. I loved his writing even though it got a bit dense at times and I loved the concept.

I'm wondering if anyone here would have any stories and/or poems by him that they would recommend? It seems he produced quite a bit and I don't want to dive in blind. Or perhaps any stories similar to "The Chain of Aforgomon."

Thanks.

Protege not so much. Lovecraft did endorse his work and encourage other people to read it and encourage Farnsworth Wright to buy it for Weird Tales. But Smith was more a protege of poet George Sterling. His passion was poetry, art, and sculpture, but he had a lot of weird tales in his head and selling them was more lucrative.

He and Lovecraft were definitely co-influencers.

I'm one of the podcasters from The Double Shadow, which Genus mentioned.

Stories I recommend are:

"Empire of the Necromancers"
"The Colossus of Ylourgne"
"The Double Shadow"
"The Charnel God"
"The Death of Malygris"
"Return of the Sorcerer"

...so basically overlapping with Genus's list. The rest that he recommends are good too, but these are my favorites of them.

If you like those, you may enjoy hopping onto the podcast (first couple episodes have shakier sound, but we've gotten it working). Smith created entire worlds and settings which make the stories better when you read everything in a particular setting, which is how we've structured the podcast. He's really quite fun to get into.

One of my friends is a librarian who just got this donated to her library.

Ambrose Bierce, great American writer and lycanthrope has been living in exile on an island in Figi hoping to avoid the attention of the evil Saint Germain. His decade of peaceful living is disturbed by the arrival of a biographer, Joyous Jones, and then a horde of zombies. Trapped on an island as the zombie horde closes in, help arrives from an unexpected quarter; the Wildside fey.

She's not planning to add it to the library's collection, so she's sending it to me. I'm so happy!

"A lot of people have been wondering what happened to you," I said, playing along. What the hell--it was a bit loony, but I was on vacation and determined to have a good time.

"I know. But it would have ruined the fun if I told them the truth... then," Ambrose answered, sinking gracefully into a cross-legged squat. His increased proximity amplified the number and size of goosebumps on my arms. "Now would be another matter though. I've been thinking that perhaps people would like to hear about what actually happened. And it should be safe enough with all my nearest and dearest finally dead."

"You were right about keeping quiet, I think. People adore a good mystery. And just disappearing was so much more appropriate literarily, given your choice of material. High school kids that might have forgotten you keep reading your stories as they look for clues about what happened."

Ok...it's not weird, but have you guys read it? I laughed my butt off. I don't think it fit in the original podcast because it's not weird, but it might be a nice interlude at some point.

Finally finishing Imago short stories and Imago itself. Holy crap this is good stuff.

It may end up there, but I desperately need it now. Can't wait!

Also...awesome illustrations http://home.comcast.net/~pamela-c-smith/Lair.html by Pamela Colman Smith (who also illustrated one of the classic tarot decks).

I've been haunting the site for months, ever since they announced the paperback was coming in the winter, and the 2-volume paperback set of I Am Providence is finally available! http://www.hippocampuspress.com/h.p-lovecraft/about-hp-lovecraft/i-am-providence-the-life-and-times-of-h.-p.-lovecraft.

I read this a while back via LibriVox, which made it bearable.

ETA: Yeah, this was the most painfully racist stuff I've read...in ever.

And I adore the bajillions of mongooses that keep getting bought.

I love watching (and yelling at) "Ancient Aliens." I put it on when I'm doing something that lets me have tv in the background and I shout things like "FALSE!" or "logical fallacy!" or "what the fuck does that even MEAN?" at it. ...a lot. This amuses my husband, but I have to pace myself.

I also like listening to Skeptical podcasts, generally of the variety that address conspiracies, like the aptly named "Conspiracy Skeptic" or "Exposing Pseudoastronomy."

I think the most fascinating conspiracy idea is the lizard-people. What would it be like to believe that your world was really like that? I can't even fathom!

I also find cults morbidly fascinating. Cults and conspiracies. People who believe that the world is vastly different than the rest of us experience it.

My Double Shadow co-host Tim is really into conspiracies, too, although I can never tell exactly what he believes about some of them. But this leads to long email chains about them, which is a ton of fun. I'm trying to propagate the theory that the government spies on us through coffee makers.

Maybe she's scribbling on papers on the floor?

It's funny, for all this being a classic I hadn't actually read it until you guys mentioned you'd be doing it on the podcast. Then I read it right away. I find the terror in the verisimilitude.

[isn't]

Pinocchio isn't a horror story? I am skeptical of this claim.

I just finished Devil in the White City, which I was finally motivated to read thanks to this episode. Good book.

More of this, please and thank you!

It reminds me of my favorite parts of lit classes--learning more about the world in which the author was writing!

[quote author=Genus Unknown link=topic=1302.msg13901#msg13901 date=1345827908
Also, regarding the recently-sold church with the bad organist... isn't that a reference to "In the Court of the Dragon?"
[/quote]

I think it must be, although I didn't realize it until listening to this episode. I haven't parsed that story yet, but I love the connection between these two.

If I could, I almost definitely would. I have self control for a lot of things, but not for reading.