Loving Lovecraft's Craft

What a title, huh? I'm thinking about deleting it, honestly, but that probably won't happen. I have to think of something else to put in its place, and quite frankly, I'm not going to do that. Despite its innate corniness, I think it says just what I intend to say.

I have just finished reading two short stories by H.P. Lovecraft. The titles of these particular two were "Pickman's Model" and "Cool Air." You may be familiar with them (I am almost positive I've read Pickman once before, from a collection book I own, but this was my first encounter with the other). To come out and say what I'm dying to say, the man's a genius. The twists at the end of his stories are superb, even ausgezeichnet, although some of the punch was lost when I understood what had happened to Dr. Muñoz (from "Cool Air") before he got around to explaining in the letter he left for the narrator. The reason for this was probably because I had just finished reading Pickman, and just kept right on going. When you read enough of Lovecraft's works in a row, you begin to notice patterns and become able to predict the twists (rather like watching movies by M. Night Shyamalan, nicht wahr?).

I think Lovecraft's method in writing must have been to come up with the ending first. Surely it must be so. Everything leads up to that one glorious moment when everything... I can't really say that everything becomes clear, as some of them still confuse me. I can't quite come to grips with "The Music of Erich Zann." I can't explain my quiet confusion without giving away the ending. I can't even explain my theories for fear of hinting at the conclusion. Let's just say I think that "portal" as a synonym for "window" is incredibly accurate. But even then, everything rises in a crashing crescendo. Lovecraft almost delights in destruction. Though you can almost always find a theme, or an underlying metaphor, that final cataclysm that happens with the shocking revelation seems like it's the focal point of the story. Even though it can be boiled down to a simple sentence like... It's a mirror... It's a photograph... It's his father... He's been dead this whole time: a theme both Lovecraft and Shyamalan used - that's a coincidence I hadn't expected... the discovery still seems to be somehow profoundly unexpected.

The ending is the most important thing.