Lonesome Places | Literary Precedents

Lonesome Places Literary Precedents

Although Derleth criticism never mentions precedents for Derleth's "Weird Stuff," the work of Edgar Allen Poe is obviously influential in all who practice the craft of ghost stories. Derleth has used Poe's declared principles of keeping his stories brief so that they can be read in a single sitting; often featuring the death of an attractive person (for Poe it was usually a beautiful woman; for Derleth more frequently a child); and using graphic description to set up a place where horror is likely to happen. The other logical precedent for Derleth's weird fiction is his mentor, H. P. Lovecraft. While Derleth wrote much in direct imitation of Lovecraft, critics agree that his mentorship worked best when Derleth wrote as himself in the Lovecraft tradition — as he did in Lonesome Places and the related titles listed below. While these are not precedents, it should be mentioned that Derleth has...
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