I love the supernatural. From zombies to ESP and everything in between I eat up that stuff like candy. So it is natural to see a post about my two favorite authors in terms of comparison. Even though Lovecraft died in general obscurity and Stephen King is one of the greats of horror fiction- they are very similar. This is going to be a "short piece" so I will try to direct you to different books if you are interested. Cause I could talk about these things for a really long time but I am trying to be brief. (As brief as I can be. It also helps that a lot of Lovecraft's work is free of copyright and is pretty easily found through internet search.)
First of all is the choice of locations. Both Lovecraft and King write what they know. Be it locations or characterizations. Most of King's works are in a Maine landscape scattered with small locations with characters that are using some sort of dialect that is set around the Northeast U.S. Be it Derry, Castle Rock, or any other small town he makes us feel a connection to the characters. His worldview is much less bleak with mentions of a higher power in the Dark Tower series and Insomnia.
Lovecraft is in a similar vein. He populates his vision of the northeast (mainly Massachusetts) with places like Innsmouth, Arkham, Kingsport, and Dunwich. Not to mention countless others. His characters were scientists and intellectuals who faced down horrors that made them go crazy. Most of his stories end with the death or insanity of his characters.
Now for the monsters. Stephen King's most well known monster it seems is It. (Pennywise or Mr. Bob Gray the Dancing Clown) It takes a lot of cues from the most prominent part of the Lovecraftian worldview. Not a bleak end of the protagonists or insanity, but the idea of aliens that our human brains cannot comprehend: the Great Old Ones.
Now for an explanation of what the "Great Old Ones" are. There are a few different pantheons in the Lovecraftian worldview. The Great Old Ones, the Outer Gods, the Elder Gods, and the Great Ones. The problem about the Elder Gods is that they were mostly added to by other authors and introduced a good vs. evil idea into the Cthulhu Mythos. In the actual Lovecraftian canon there is no real good or evil in the alien beings because they are too far removed from humans that human morals are not enough to understand their minds.
And out of the three types of alien beings left that I will be talking about there is little that Lovecraft actually said in his writings to actually split them into well defined categories. The Great Ones are the next easiest to split off into their own category because they are the gods of the Dreamlands- a very surreal place because it is controlled by the dreams of the sleeping. They aren't that smart and are protected by the other Gods. (For more on the Dreamlands; see the multiple stories with Randolph Carter in them.)
Lovecraftian scholars have issues with the Great Old Ones and the Outer Gods. They really only differ in terms of influence. The Great Old Ones (like Cthulhu) are stuck on many different worlds and they worship the Outer Gods. (Because, to them, they are Godlike.) The Outer Gods are able to affect the world on a cosmic scale.
And there are a whole lot of other alien races that I haven't even brought up. (My personal favorites: the Elder Things, the Flying Polyps, and The Great Race of Yith) Other things he used were psychic vampires, witches, warlocks, fish-people, and cults.
King himself used similar things as well. The vampires of 'Salem's Lot, the pyrokinetics of Firestarter, Randall Flagg of The Stand (still my favorite miniseries of King's work and not just because it was directed in 1994.) the future visions of his Richard Bachman phase. (The Long Walk and The Running Man- both about some form of game shows.)
Even some of their plots are similar (which makes sense since Lovecraft was writing from the c.1920-1936. He died in 1937 from cancer.) Aliens are prominent in both of their works Lovecraft's The Color Out of Space, At the Mountains of Madness, etc.; King's Tommyknockers, It, Under the Dome,etc.)
Lovecraft's work has tinges of racism as well. This was caused by his upbringing in a well off family. (His family could trace their ancestry back to the Middle Ages- 1600's thereabouts.) He also had a strong dislike for foreigners (see The Street or The Terrible Old Man for reference among others.) His racism and xenophobia was lessened as time went on (around 1928) and he leaned more towards the Cthulhu Mythos. It was just the times.
I'm signing off for now cause its 10:30 and I'm tired but I'd reply to any comments, if you need clarifications, longer explanations, or any questions that you guys have. (Just give me a while to reply back.)
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