Top 20 Stories by H.P. Lovecraft

For me his scariest story because it feels the most believable. Many of the other Lovecraft tales, the narrator’s dated thought system and particular POV feels affected or intrusive and I feel that the mythology and story behind it are better than the telling. The color out of space needs no updating, and the events could have arisen similarly from some particularly nefarious infectious source or radiation... some Phenomena that is simply unknown to the science of the time. So creepy.

A bit different from other Lovecraft tales, it's a very suspenseful and different take on (assumed) alien life.

By far my favorite narrative, the atmosphere is chilling, you become engrossed in the tension of everything. Admittedly, like most of Lovecraft's tales there's a lot of pseudo-scientific jargon as fluff.

Really scary stuff, I read this in junior high and still vividly remember all the stories horror aspects. Great first read of his work

I've read everything on this list, and Innsmouth is my favorite. By the way, the HP Lovecraft Society produced a fantastic audio play of this. I highly reccomend it, or any others from them, if you are a Lovecraft fan. They really do his work justice.

Awesome

Scary stuff, the chase scene will have your heart racing, a must read before "The Thing on the Doorstep".

The scariest part of this story, in my opinion, is when the protagonist looks out at "Devils Reef" and see's a bunch of bobbing heads swimming towards him. I think I got chills then.

This story is to me the scariest of all Lovecraft's work. Imagine being trapped in a small town surrounded by killer fish people.... Anyways a very scary story, and the conclusion was a big shocker.

The Dunwich Horror definitely shocked me when I sat through the Exorcist without batting an eye. The final conflict with the horror and twist ending tap into the annals of human's fear of what lurks beyond what our minds are capable (or willing) to comprehend.

A blend of science-fiction and horror: a story which initially is told through letters exchanged between the protagonist (in his safe urban world) and his contact (who is isolated in a rural backwater which is slowly being encroached upon by sinister forces).

"Rats in the Walls" was the 1st Lovecraft story I encountered and is still my favourite. Very accessible - you don't have to be familiar with Cthulhu mythos to understand it. Yet it still imparts that sense of awe and terror of the unknowable, distant past that characterises his Cthulhu cycle.

This is a great story for fans of the creepy crawly horror with the added bonus of psychological turmoil. Reminds one of Edgar Allen Poe, and indeed, stands up well to anything the other master of horror wrote in his heyday.

This is one of the only Lovecraft works that could actually be its own (somewhat short) novel. The slow build-up creates maddening tension and it has a very satisfying conclusion. This is my favorite Lovecraft story.

This one is a real doozy from Lovecraft for sure, and makes my top five. Much like"Herbert West--Reanimator" there is humor to be found here if you have an eye for it. For instance, Dexter's relationship with his parents is a hilarious exaggeration of the struggles between parents and teen children everywhere in every time.

my favorite lovecraft. possibly the spookiest story i've ever read. it is very slow to build, but the horrible magics described in this story are ingenious.

This wad another of the longer works by l Lovecraft. It's a disturbing tale of a youth obsessed with history and especially his genealogy. He discovered in his hometown that he is related to a wealthy and shunned land owner of Providence who had left Salem and apparently lived for an unaturally long period of time. There is huge twists and turns as his family and their doctor try to unravel just what Charles Dexter Ward has been discovering and practicing in his pursuit of greater knowledge.

A voiceless musician plays his viol not to hear the whispers of insanity, his untold story being one of the best ever written by H.P.L.

Interesting story but it's only about 8 pages long and it spends most of those pages drawing great imagery for a single scene and then rushes through a second scene before concluding. It left much less of an impression than most other Lovecraft stories I've read.

Or swallowed by some huge sea dweller... thing.

My favorite Lovecraft story, along with "The Curse of Yig," because the story's denouement‎ actually lives up to the title. Love the character of Asenath!

A tad bit predictable and samey if you are already familiar with Lovecraft, however

asenath very evil

The Outsider is definitely my favorite H.P Lovecraft story. This is because it tells more than one story. Along with being a horror, I believe it to also be a sad one, following the life of one who died and has come back to realize he is nothing but a ghoul

What's great about this story is that you're not exactly sure how to feel at the end. You want to be scared, but that doesn't seem to be Lovecraft's intent (although it works well in its own right). In my opinion, an author that is able to confuse not the mind, but instead the heart, is a true master of words. ^^ How about them philosophical apples?

Lovecraft shows how futile and powerless the actions of a protagonist are in this short story, when a man fails to believe in local superstition and ascends a tower dedicated to a malign deity.

I hated it, it doesn't feel like a lovecraft story at all!

This is a short and frightful yarn of a young scholar rooming in a house which was originally owned by a woman accused of witchcraft who disappeared during the trial many years before. The scholar begins having strange dreams in his attic room of this house. The dreams affect his nerves and his sanity. As well as pushes the people he resides with to the brink. Read this if you like an unpredictable and thrilling form of horror.

amazing story probably the most imaginative h.p. lovecraft story i've ever read i didn't want it to end. THIS one, not dagon.

Not the easiest of reads and would not, perhaps, be recommended to those unfamiliar with Lovecraft

This was one of his longer works and also took place in the dream cycles. It is a fantasy epic to which I personally see no rival. The depth of the dreamlands along with it's strange landscapes and stranger creatures were all inspired by dreams Lovecraft had. A stupendous read for anyone who enjoys a darker hue of fantasy

A great tale about a man who tries to defeat death and accomplishes his goal only to have the knowledge to drive mad and his own creations go against him

running zombies

shies away from any of lovecraft's scientific or mythological writing(which one can, unfortunately, tire of) to deliver a solid, horrifying depiction of a house in east coast backwaters. i think the psychological depth is far superior to his more well known works. That this work is very short not only makes it very enjoyable, but compliments lovecraft's ability to craft and entire world of sheer terror in just a few pages. Think "texas chainsaw massacre".

A story that is part of his Dream Cycle, depicts his obsession with long lost beauty and belonging. Somewhat influenced by the aestehetics of Greek mythology.

Yes, dream like beauti aside than the fact of the guy actually dying!

One of Lovecraft's stories that isn't really scary, but is instead filled with a dreamlike beauty

My favourite Lovecraft story, quite different from his other works, tense and gross

Anazing

Not bad worth a read for love craft fans

Not a Lovecraft story. This is an August Derleth story published as a "posthumous collaboration."