After a friend introduced me to Lovecraft, I immediately became hooked. I began with The Lurking Fear and Other Stories, and then I picked up The Case of Charles Dexter Ward. I hadn't planned on it, but I ended up reading late into the night to finish it (I tend to avoid reading Lovecraft at night, and I wouldn't read "The Lurking Fear" during a thunder storm for love nor money). It was a warm summer night so I had my window open, and just as Willett confronted Curwen, two cats decided to have a fight under my window. The sound of a catfight is blood-curdling by itself, but hearing it while reading the denouement of a Lovecraft story...I'm surprised I didn't have a heart attack.
Another memorable read occurred while flying to England. I'd bought The Best of H. P. Lovecraft from Del Rey specifically for the long flight. After the in-flight dinner, I cracked open the book and turned to The Call of Cthulhu. In the darkened cabin, I read for the first time of the sunken city of R'lyeh, and of Cthulhu, who was sleeping under the waves and dreaming of his return. As I did so, I glanced out of the window at the vast ocean beneath the plane. The ocean really was big enough to hide a sunken city and a monstrous, malevolent alien. A distinct feeling of uneasiness swept over me.
That ability to evoke dread and fear is Lovecraft at his best and the reason why we're still reading him today. His intent was not to make you jump out of your seat, but rather to make you uneasy looking out at the ocean. Despite his sometimes florid prose, Lovecraft created a very believable world that has the power to haunt our dreams and our waking hours.
Do you have a favorite experience reading Lovecraft? Have you ever read "The Lurking Fear" during a thunder storm? Ever read The Call of Cthulhu while on a boat in the ocean (or any body of water)?