https://padlet.com/2023451/kspj7892393773278 Made with lots of work and effort en-us 2019-02-25 14:24:06 UTC 2019-02-25 14:30:20 UTC hello@padlet.com https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwj_q7ypi9fgAhURNn0KHT40AegQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FH._P._Lovecraft&psig=AOvVaw1cVfnpXDDyvyXSRAAnXFel&ust=1551191107788384 2023451 https://padlet.com/2023451/kspj7892393773278/wish/334859721 H.P. Lovecraft inspired many other writers, like Stephen King, to make cosmic monstrosities of unknowing power. His stories are unlike most horror stories because they leave the reader thinking about what happens to the people that were slowly driven to madness. Lovecraft has an amazing vocabulary. Most words will fly over the heads of modern readers as the vocabulary of the human race changes as generations go by. But since Lovecraft lived during the 20th century, things he writes will be lengthy and extremely descriptive. I recommend these stories to anyone who wants a very challenging read, to expand their vocabulary, and to think about the story even after you finish reading. My book report and summaries don't do him enough justice, though. You will have to read his works yourself if you want the best experience.

(P.S. I think that the blog format is OK but probably not the best. Well, you have to test stuff to find out what is best)]]> 2019-02-25 14:28:02 UTC https://padlet.com/2023451/kspj7892393773278/wish/334859721 2023451 https://padlet.com/2023451/kspj7892393773278/wish/334859991 This story definitely isn't as cryptic as some of his other stories. It's message and meaning are a lot clearer.

Summary:
Our story begins with a man reminiscing on himself, thinking that his past which Lovecraft describes as only bringing "fear and sadness," and stating "wretched is he who looks back upon lone hours in vast and dismal chambers with brown hangings and maddening rows of antique books." This man has a boring dull and uneventful life, just watching time go by and wishing of nothing more to happen, as he says that he is content with this. He knows nothing about where he was born, he was born in a castle that he describes as being "hideous," full of dark passages and full of cobwebs. There was only one accessible tower on that castle, and even that tower was hard to scale because of the stairway being broken. The only way to climb was by climbing up the side, stone by stone. Others with him must've cared for him, yet he couldn't recall anyone else being there. The only perception of a human being that the character has is one of a shriveled and distorted appearance. He was aware of speech and other humans, but he never heard of anyone speak, nor did he. There were no mirrors in the castle so he never knew of his appearance he assumed that he was a youth that he had seen in many of the photos in the books he read. The person would sometimes go outside, lay under a tree and dream about what he saw in the books. Beyond the castle was an endless forest, one couldn't see the end even if he stood atop the highest tower. He tried escaping the forest once, but as he ran farther from the castle, his surroundings darkened and light was drowned out. He had then tried climbing the tower to maybe get a chance at surveying the surrounding area. He climbed the tower feeling for windows of any sort and hit his head on a stone. He pushed a trap door open and continued up the stairs. Then he found a door, tested it, and it was locked. Gathering up all of his strength, he burst through the door and, to his surprise, he found an iron grate with moonlight shining through. He rushed to it and peered outside. to his horror he found that he was about ground level and hadn't climbed that far at all. Nonetheless, he also saw the infinite forest around him and, a small part of the ground with stone and marble slabs covering it with an abandoned church. Quickly he clambered onto the ground and as the moon came out, he craved for more light. He started down a path, not caring if his experience was insanity, dreaming, or magic; he just wanted to gaze upon the brilliancy of that light. He was not aware of himself or his surroundings, but as he tread on, he was becoming more conscious. He continued and found what he was seemingly looking for; a castle with completely open windows and light gleaming through them. He went to one of the towers and peered inside a window to see a gleeful family talking to one another. This being the first time hearing human speech, he could only make out a few words. The rest was foreign. He then stepped into the window and what had happened next was a terrible memory for him. He described it as doing it from "my single bright moment of hope to my blackest convulsion of despair and realization." The demonstration that occurred was one of the most terrifying he had ever conceived. Faces contorted, hands covered eyes and ears and the most terrible screech came from those people. "Flight was universal" and every person fled that room, several fell and were dragged away from their companions. There was a beast in this room. It had scared them off in horror. He had started to search the room and he almost automatically started to sense another presence. He continued down he room and right before he crossed into the next room headed by a golden arch. He saw it. That being of unknowing, inconceivable horror. He couldn't move, he stood still, face to face with the being that caused mass delusion. That terrible horror that was rotting, bone-revealing, tattered clothes. Oh it was terrible. That thing looked directly back at him. He tried to outstretch his hand to ward off that beast, yet his will wouldn't let him. He otherwise stumbled forward and outstretched his arm. He didn't need to scream because the spirits did it for him. He was touching that terrible molding being. But at that time all that horrified him was forgotten. The burst of black memory vanished in a chaos of echoing images. He ran back to the church in the moonlight and tried to move the stone seal, but, to his delight, it didn't budge. He hated the castle anyway. Now instead of living in a castle he drifted with the ghoulish spirits and played during the night, for he knew that the light wasn't for him. He was an outsider, a stranger in that century. For when he had outstretched his arm and touched the beast that day he lied his hand across "a cold and unyielding surface of polished glass."

End:
This story has a more straightforward story path than some of his other cryptic stories. I loved this one nonetheless. ]]> 2019-02-25 14:28:32 UTC https://padlet.com/2023451/kspj7892393773278/wish/334859991 2023451 https://padlet.com/2023451/kspj7892393773278/wish/334860519 This short story is literally 3 pages long. In kindergarten we read longer stories! Nonetheless, I read this story, but I never got it's meaning. I have still been trying to find a good meaning for it. But right now I think that it was just Lovecraft being paranoid about his neighbors. Here is a quick summary.

Summary:
It begins setting the reader up as if this were an old legend. Introducing us to Ulthar, which lies beyond the river Skai, a place where "no man may kill a cat." The cat is an ancient and powerful symbol in Ulthar, so the people love and cherish them all. But there are two people, an old man and his wife, that kill these cats. One day a caravan came to Ulthar, people from the south, and they told of strange and otherworldly tales. A plague had consumed most of their people, so they had to seek refuge at another place. A small boy named Menes was with the caravan. His family had been consumed by the plague, and had only a small black kitten to comfort him. As another day passed, Menes woke up and realized that his cat was gone. He wept and felt sorrow as the native villagers told him of the old couple that, presumably, killed his cat because of the strange noises that they hear coming from that house. Later Menes cheered up a little playing with a grayish cat that was pouncing around and playing. At night the mysterious caravan left the town, but when everyone awoke, all of their cats were gone! Nobody knew what happened, and the leader of the village believed that the caravan stole their cats as revenge for them killing the boy's cat. He had cursed them and wished that they be punished. Some speculated that the old couple were the ones who did it because of their known hatred for cats. The village of Ulthar went to sleep with anger and at dawn they awoken and all of the cats were back! Not one was missing. The town then knew that it was that dark couple who ha did it. But they were still skeptical because most cats that went to that cottage never came back alive. Some noticed that the old couple were doing what seemed like a ritual yesterday. Soon the people gathered up their courage and went over to the cottage in which the old couple resided, but to their dismay, they only saw "two cleanly picked human skeletons on the earthen floor, and a number of singular beetles crawling in the shadowy corners." There was lots of talk about the dark caravan and speculation of that caravan cursing the old couple for killing the boy's cat. But soon the leader passed a law  regarding that no man in Ulthar may kill a cat.

Thoughts on story:
H.P. Lovecraft's stories can either be 3 pages long or up to about 300 pages long. My summary doesn't do his story enough justice, though. His vocabulary is amazing, and I ended looking up many of the words that he wrote because I didn't understand them. I have my own theories on The Cats of Ulthar and what it could mean. Lovecraft is usually purposefully cryptic, but he is so descriptive that it is easy to understand the setting, tone,and mood of his stories. This story may be short, one of his shortest, but it builds the world and shows the problem so greatly, that it will definitely leave the reader asking questions about the old couple and the caravan. If you are looking for an extremely fast mystery read, then this is the one for you.]]> 2019-02-25 14:29:24 UTC https://padlet.com/2023451/kspj7892393773278/wish/334860519 2023451 https://padlet.com/2023451/kspj7892393773278/wish/334860878 When I read most horror books, I mainly see a pattern of, there is a murderer on the loose, a monster that is well known and documented is killing lots of people, and that is generally it. There are some exceptions, like It by Stephen King, as the monster he describes in his book isn't well known and, contrary to most people's beliefs, isn't the clown we all know as "Pennywise." (Spoilers) It is actually an incomprehensible omniscient alien being that can't even be recognized by the human brain. I was interested if any other horror stories like It that existed elsewhere. Low and behold, I found H.P. Lovecraft. I had done some research on Lovecraft and found that he liked to write about beings like the monster in It. He has only made short stories, but these stories can be compiled together in an It-like manner, but instead of the point of view being switched between the kids in It, the point of view would be switched between the points of view of the main characters of each short story. The short stories are all mostly about men or women being influenced by the "Outer Beings," and or horrific and incomprehensible events. Most stories end in those people going insane because of the fear and paranoia of not being able to compute what they are witnessing. H.P. Lovecraft displays a "curiosity killed the cat" mentality in his stories in which somebody hears about the rumors of alien beings and a hidden island, gets curios, bites off more than they can chew, and tries to tell everyone about what they witnessed, but struggles to get anybody to listen to them because they have been driven mad. I will later write entries on two of his short stories specifically. But to anybody who has read horror stories, and wants a different kind of story than the ones currently, then I would suggest reading H.P Lovecraft's works. ]]> 2019-02-25 14:30:03 UTC https://padlet.com/2023451/kspj7892393773278/wish/334860878