Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill is pretty creepy. Also, Horns - it's not really scary, but it is slightly disturbing, and very good to boot.

I think The Painted Man by Peter V Brett might actually be a pretty great book for reading around Halloween time.

Obviously, Stephen King must be mentioned: one of his lesser knowns, From a Buick 8, certainly had its moments for me. Probably, Pet Cemetary is scarier, but I haven't read that one yet.

HP Lovecraft's Necronomicon has some weird and disturbing stuff in it.

I haven't read it myself, but the TV show is turning out pretty good: Guillermo del Toro's The Strain.

And of course Mary Shelley's Frankenstein or Bram Stoker's Dracula, the classics. Perhaps something from Edgar Allen Poe (The Raven?), or Charles Dickens' Ghost Stories.

I would suggest The Music of Erich Zann. (you might guess that's one of my faves.)

Also: Beyond the Wall of Sleep is a good one that I don't see mentioned enough.

There are a bunch of his works here. Read at your leisure.


Here are some print collections of his work that you might like if you prefer reading paper instead of a screen.


(and as you noted, the ones in the sidebar are indeed a perfect place to start, they are some of the best.)

I got the Gollancz collection (https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/0575081562). It's not a complete anthology, but does include a map of Arkham, a biography, and by far looks the best in my shelves, and the few stories that are missing are not the best. For a complete set of works, you can either get another book to complete the Gollancz set (Eldritch Tales: A Miscellany of the Macabre), or as I got for general use, the Red Skull Publishing HP Lovecraft Complete Collection. The end of story facts in that one are short but interesting, shedding some light on inspiration and setting.

Gollancz's leatherbound Necronomicon and Eldritch Tales collect everything in two beautiful matching editions.

Have a look at this

There is a collection of Lovecraft Stories called Necronomicon. I nearly bought it myself, it's a great looking tome. I actually have the Conan Books in the same series.

​

This is the one I ended up buying I found it was a more complete collection and in chronological order of when they were written.

​

Amazing stories from an amazing writer. Enjoy!

This is an idea that is dear to my heart and I'm looking forward to running a pirate/naval adventure myself. I've got some inspiration ideas for you!

Books

These books should need no introduction. These are the books that will truly inspire your game.

• Necronomicon: The Best Weird Tales of H. P. Lovecraft
  
• Eldritch Tales
  
• Conan the Barbarian - The Original, Unabridged Adventures of the World's Greatest Fantasy Hero
  
• Grimms Complete Fairy Tales
  
• Tales of Norse Mythology
  
• Iliad and Odyssey
  
  

  TV Shows
  

• Crossbones - This is one of the most underrated TV shows I've ever seen. It got canceled late in it's first season and so the finale was rushed, but despite that it's an amazing show. This show has political intrigue and adventure ideas abound. I'd argue it's damn near required viewing for running any sort of pirate campaign.
  
• Black Sails - This amazing show is written as a prequel to the novel, "Treasure Island". It follows Captain Flint, and a young John Silver as they attempt to make an "honest" living while preparing to thwart the predicted demise of piracy. Swashbuckling adventures, intrigue and more adventure ideas here than I can count. The show is a hell of a ride and I can guarantee you'll get plenty of ideas watching this one.
  
• Vikings - This show is the show that just keeps on giving. The first two or three episodes are a little slow to start, but you'll be on the edge of your seat every episode thereafter. While this show focuses on vikings, there's plenty here to inspire a pirate adventure. It will especially inspire the creation of your villains.
  
• The Musketeers - This isn't that terrible (and oh so amazing) Disney movie from the 90's. This show focuses on the Musketeers you know of, and the Musketeers as a military unit during that time period. If you're focusing on adventures during something similar to the golden age of piracy, you need to watch this show. One of my favorites.
  
  

  Tabletop Books
  

  
  

• The 7th Sea - I am not recommending this as the system you should use, I am recommending it strictly as inspiration for your setting. It easily has the most interesting setting I've ever seen and has some amazing ideas for adventures dealing with curses, the sidhe, naval campaigns, city adventures, etc. Whether this will be useful to you depends entirely on your setting. Are you playing D&D on the high seas? If so, this isn't going to be nearly as useful. Are you playing in a setting reminiscent of the golden age of piracy with some light magical touches (eldritch horrors in the deep sea, curses, magical fey creatures and low magic for the players)? If so, good lord is this book (and the Nations of Theah books) going to be useful to you.
  
• Razor Coast - If you're playing D&D on the high seas, this is the book for you. It's a sandbox setting with a ton of adventures and adventure seeds. It is expensive, but it's worth every penny. Highly recommended.
  
  I can't recommend all of this enough. A lot of this will give you ideas and inspiration for all of your campaigns, naval/pirate or otherwise. Have fun!

Lovecraft's works is public domain now, so sites like hplovecraft.com should have most of his works, if you want something physical try https://www.amazon.com/Necronomicon-Best-Weird-Tales-Lovecraft/dp/0575081562/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1509947794&sr=8-1&keywords=lovecraft+necronomicon

And as for other short stories I can recommend The Outsider and Rats in the Walls, both are equally bone-chilling.

If you really enjoy CoC, you might like the Necronomicon, which is a collection of the cthulhu mythos stories by Lovecraft. Also the name of the bible/spell book in the mythos. I found my copy in a used book store, well worth it.

edit: http://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/0575081562/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?qid=1383257186&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70

Get Necronomicon: the Weird Tales of H.P. Lovecraft , it's pretty much the only one you'll have to buy for a good while!

I might have to pick that up. I have the Necronomicon https://www.amazon.co.uk/Necronomicon-Weird-Lovecraft-Fiction-GOLLANCZ/dp/0575081562 (gorgeous book) which has more stories than the one you mentioned but each is missing some tales that the other has when you compare contents.

I know you already picked one, but I got the hardcover version of the Necronomicon compilation, and I absolutely love it. It's beautifully bound and embossed. I got into Lovecraft not too long ago, and I'm still working my way through it.

Well Amazon has all of them. Yeah sure it's pricy but still. It does have them.
https://www.amazon.com/Necronomicon-Best-Weird-Tales-Lovecraft/dp/0575081562

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Necronomicon-Weird-Lovecraft-Fiction-GOLLANCZ/dp/0575081562

and

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Eldritch-Tales-Miscellany-H-P-Lovecraft/dp/0575099356

First one is your usual suspects, but in a lovely hardback format, second book turns it into a complete works (sans the letters) in two volumes, including fragments, collaborations, poetry and Supernatural Horror in Literature.

Necronomicon: The Best Weird Tales of H.P. Lovecraft aber die gebundene Ausgabe

there you go
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Necronomicon-Weird-Lovecraft-Fiction-GOLLANCZ/dp/0575081562/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1500847926&sr=1-3&keywords=necronomicon

It's not complete, it is missing the poems, and a few stories he did as collaborations. This and this, contain more than the one you've given.

I have all three, the complete fiction is a much, much nicer edition than the two I linked, and while it is missing the poems, it is still a great buy for the price. Also, you should buy the one directly from amazon, not the third party.

Hi, I do custom orders, yes. Would you like for the Necronomicon this one: https://www.amazon.com/Necronomicon-Best-Weird-Tales-Lovecraft/dp/0575081562/ref=sr_1_2?crid=110CH0S77DOPG&keywords=necronomicon&qid=1569028294&s=books&sprefix=necronomicon%2Caps%2C216&sr=1-2

If so, I'll dm you a price quote/turnaround time. Then if you approve, I'd send you an online listing via my website secretsafebooks dot com or my etsy page.

If not, please send me a link to the specific edition you would like, and I'll dm you a price quote/turnaround time.

Thank you!

I have this.

So, you can pretty much disregard u/Independent_Skeptic's contribution here...

HP Lovecraft never wrote a Necronomicon. He only wrote stories about a fictional book he called the Necronomicon. There was also a posthumous collection of HP Lovecraft stories gathered together under the title Necronomicon but that's something else altogether. The same collection of stuff has been assembled by many publishers under many titles.

Hi tmhodge, I got the book rather cheaply from Amazon (here) and, well, the picture is from my study room ;)

I highly recommend this edition, it's a ridiculously massive (880 pages!) & luxuriously bound book with dozens of HPL's stories and fantastic woodcut illustrations.

[Edit: Official 3Quarks4MasterMark endorsement & woodcut scan added]

And if you feel like dropping some coin, Gollancz has put out a couple of really sharp looking collections.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Necronomicon-Weird-Lovecraft-Fiction-GOLLANCZ/dp/0575081562 is what I have, and really, I could do with a slightly more abridged version, there are a bunch of stories inside I don't really care to reread. His work is fairly uneven I would say and certainly his genius doesn't show in all stories.

Which by no mean means you shouldn't get as complete set of his stories if this is what you want. Just pointing out that it might not be worth it.

I think this edition (or something like it) is probably the best way to "get into" Lovecraft; aside, of course, from just grabbing one the excellent free ebook editions already mentioned.

I don't own the Necronomicon edition myself, but started out buying very similar "best of" editions.

Also, I like this interactive app, for a quick taste of Lovecraft.

Edit: Formatting
Edit 2: Addendum:

Saw the Centipede Press edition, thought it looked cool. Be sure to check with this guy first though: It DOES NOT contain the Hound or the Unnameable!

Seriously, there's so much wonderful horrible Lovecraft media out there, just start reading and join the true Darkside.

I'm not sure how complete it is... I did manage to pick up the Necronomicon from a local bookshop, which has his best work in it and trawl through that a few years ago. It looks like they still publish it...

http://www.amazon.com/Necronomicon-Best-Weird-Tales-Lovecraft/dp/0575081562/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=8-5&qid=1372721219

I mean this Necronomicon

I prefer Howard over Lovecraft, however they were actually quite good friends when it came to writing, exchanging letters and admiration between each other. However both died a tragic death, strange?

Anyways for those who are keen on reading the works of these two authors there is a book series that collected their short stories into a book and provided them.

I will simply link to Amazon so you guys can take a look on the books there.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Necronomicon-Weird-Lovecraft-Fiction-GOLLANCZ/dp/0575081562/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377609248&sr=8-1&keywords=lovecraft

> LOL. Wait, when was it published?
>
>
>
> December 14,1988



um... I don't know where you got that date, but it was published in 1946, not 1988

>"A magnificent job of theoretical exposition."

>—Ayn Rand

She's not wrong.

>So to clarify, you recommend two books, one of which is thirty years old

No. much older. The age of a book does not correspond to the quality of said book.

>another which is by man who died in 1937

Yes.

>was virulently racist even by the standards of his own time

True, but that doesn't mean his fiction is any less spectacular. Lots of people back then were racist. It doesn't mean that they can't also be good authors of good fiction. If you're worried that buying a book of his would be financially supporting a racist, he's been dead for 80 years, so you don't have to worry about that. He's not going to get any of the money you may spend on his fiction.

>Gollancz published a compendium of the Mythos and some of his other tales in 2008, called Necromicon : the Best Wierd Tales of HP Lovecraft

Yes, that's the one.

>but Lovecraft never published a book called The Necronomicon

If you want to get technical, Lovecraft never published a single book. He wrote mostly short stories and the longest story he wrote was a novella, not even a full novel, and most of his stuff was published in old pulp magazines.

>Certainly not an 1000+ page one.

Well, it's 900 pages so close enough.

Anthology indeed. Get the Necronomicon.

-There's a follow-up called Eldritch Tales if you want more after that.

I was in the same position last year, i didn't know where to start. So i bought this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Necronomicon-Weird-Lovecraft-Fiction-GOLLANCZ/dp/0575081562/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1341264327&sr=8-1
It's a collection of most of his works and contains all of his more famous stories. It starts with a few of his short stories and as the book progresses the material gets longer. It was a really easy way to ease myself into his works.

I found myself asking the same question not too long ago! His best writing is the series of short stories he wrote for magazines that we collectively know as the Cthulu Mythos. You'll want to check out Necronomicon, which is the compilation of the best and most famous stories.

https://www.amazon.com/Necronomicon-Best-Weird-Tales-Lovecraft/dp/0575081562/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1537458514&sr=8-1&keywords=necronomicon&dpID=51We1j8PEkL&preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch

​

Personally, I got myself the audio book version which is fantastic if you love scary stories. I listen to it in my kitchen while doing dishes. Great stuff. :)

https://www.audible.com/pd/Necronomicon-Audiobook/B00MNQKYNC

​

Oh.....and fair warning. H.P. Lovecraft was kinda racist and it shows in some of his writing. =/

Many people have already answered but I’ll just chime in that the Necronomicon is what I have and it’s great. Haven’t read all the stories yet though. Also Barnes and Noble have multiple (faux) leather bound Lovecraft collections.

Someone elsewhere in the thread recommended Uzumaki by Junji Ito. I’d also recommend Tomie by the same author. It’s not necessarily cosmic horror but it’s definitely an interesting take on horror and it was his first work. Both Uzumaki and Tomie can be found on amazon in a full hardback collection as well as some of his other works.

Is this it? I'd never heard of that particular collection before. Anyone can republish his stories that are in the public domain, which is pretty much all of them.

Check out the sidebar for suggestions on where to begin ------>

For those just looking to get a taste of his works, this was particularly good. If you really get into his work, the Necronomicon is a great purchase.

I started reading Lovecraft with
this.


I'd just start with this.
This has a lot of his short stories, and working through this would give you a great starting point (and would set you through the vast majority of his work tbh)

Si mira, Necronomicon https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/0575081562/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_3Zv1DbAKJ1QH0

Al libro mágico al que te refieres pues por supuesto que no existe.