1900-1950s Weirdcore and gothic horror thread?

Anyone read Clark Ashton Smith?
I'm interested in his Hyperborean-cycle collection.

>>9600910
Have you ever actually read anything from Weird Tales? It was basically a workshop for amateur writers who didn't have any industry connections. Think of it like a really shitty 1940s Soundcloud. 95% of its published stories were boring, sloppy, or just plain stupid.

>>9600945
I've read some of its stories. I'm not an expert on him by any stretch, but the few things I've read have been beautifully written and quite imaginative, even if it lacks the utter bleak weirdness of Lovecraft. Much better writter than Lovecraft in terms of prose, tho. Really beautiful, at least, like I said, the few things I've read.

>>9600950
Didn't they publish a whole shitload of Lovecraft's stuff?

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>>9600910
The House On The Borderland is probably the best weird tale ever written Also look into Algernon Blackwood.

>>9600945

I've been meaning to, I'm working on Dracula right now and was going to read him after.

>>9601001
They published the bulk of Lovecraft's work -- it wasn't until after his death that any large scale publications of his work's took place.

We have Weird Tales to thank for not only Lovecraft, but the likes of Clark Ashton Smith and Robert E. Howard.

Though it is certainly a fair point that much of what was actually published in Weird Tales was quickly written and forgettable. Nonetheless, it's numerous editions brought forth some of the most influential horror/fiction authors in history.

>>9600961
>even if it lacks the utter bleak weirdness of Lovecraft. Much better writter than Lovecraft in terms of prose, tho. Really beautiful, at least, like I said, the few things I've read.

CAS is several times bleaker than Lovecraft. At least Lovecraft's characters generally live boring, quiet lives. CAS's characters don't even get a breath of fresh air. Their societies, politicians, wildlife, plants, monsters, and so on, are trying to screw over anyone and everyone.

>>9600945
He's my personal favorite among the original Weird collective. He has an exquisitely evocative use of language, with strong emotional and tonal resonance for me. He might have needed the depth of Nabokov or Dostoevsky, but all in all he's practically perfect for me.

Not too interested in Lovecraftian fiction post-Lovecraft. I picked up a collection one time of "Lovecraftian" writers and it was all abominably horrendous shit. The only effective writers I've encountered in that tradition have been Klein, KEW, and early Ligotti.

Lately I've really enjoyed the stories of Arthur Machen. They feel more melancholic than horrific to me, though, like really capturing the loss of a sense of mysticism in the modern age.

>>9601244
Clark Ashton Smith was praised by Lovecraft himself, you should give it a try.

>>9601010
>The House On The Borderland
I wish that book would have had a more satisfying ending. It was great at painting pictures and interesting, but then it's like Hodgson just doesn't know where to go with it or how to explain it so he just ends it.

It's a damn shame because it really keeps your interest up till the end where it drops you off.

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>>9600910
why does "weird" always mean "tentacles"?

why not have machine elves or other dmt inspired elements?

>>9603410
because theyre not faggots with terrible ideas

>>9603430
seems like you have a low level of novelty in your timewave. maybe you should go visit a shaman?

It's strange how just a few decades manage to produce this stuff and then it becomes impossible to replicate without sounding phoney or ridiculous.

>>9603451
maybe you should kys you incoherent beta fgt

Weird Tales threw up a lot of good writers apart from Lovecraft. Of this group, Clark Ashton Smith is most worth reading. He is like Lovecraft but more morbid and poetic. There is a Penguin Classics volume that collects short stories, prose-poetry and poetry.

C.L. Moore wrote one remarkably good novelette, Shambleau, about a space smuggler who is seduced by a Medusa-like alien creature. Her other stories are ok: her female warrior Jirel Of Joiry mixes Conan with Lovecraftian horror, but the stories tend to follow the same formula of the protag going through a portal, observing the environment, and overcoming obstacles with willpower rather than violence. Moore was in her twenties when she wrote these stories. She matured after Weird Tales and wrote some brilliant science fiction stories ('No Woman Born').

I find Robert Howard's Conan fun only if I'm in the right mood. There are times I can't read him without rolling my eyes at the exuberant and adjective-laden prose. He has some good non-fantasy stories which can be found in themed collections.