HP Lovecraft's Cthulu - where to start?

[Reaper]

I am curious as to what anthologies might be available that have all of Lovecraft's Cthulu writings in them or where I would go to find out such things. I figure those works of his are so highly regarded that I owe it to myself to read them.

Even noting some of the best Cthulu books you've read might be helpful. ;)

[Micki!]

I recently bought a book by HP Lovecraft called 'At the mountain of Madness'
I't translated into danish, and i only got it from a few days from now, and haven't read it yet...

Inside the book it also mentions 'The haunter of the Dark' -appearantly tied together with this book have...
It's still taking place in the same universe as the whole Cthulhu mythology he made up it says, so i hope it'll be a good read, the book isn't very big either...

[Dave-ros]

"The Call of Cthulhu" is the classic place to start :D

Rather than buying anthologies, this (http://www.dagonbytes.com/thelibrary/lovecraft/index.html) website will be of interest (obviously don't go there if Lovecraft's stories aren't officially out of copyright in your country :p), and Wikipedia seems to have the text of a lot of stories too ;)

[NutWrench]

http://www.hplovecraft.com/

[Klaus Kinski]

Yeah, I'd start with some short stories and save up "Mountain" for the end. I hink you'll appreciate the book a bit more although most elements will be very well known by then.
I recommend not limiting yourself only to his CThulu mythology stuff as the other short stories of his are awesome as well, among my favourites are of course "Herbert West, Re-Animator" and "Cool Air".
EDIT: And "Pickmann's Model"! That one is outstanding too!

[hiob]

I must say one of the stories I liked the most from Lovecraft is "The Colour Out of Space". But I haven't read many of his stories yet.

on-topic: From what I heard "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" is a good place to start.

[Micki!]

Hmm, check out this book...
Scroll further down to read previews of the actual pages inside...

http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/WEBSITE/WWW/WEBPAGES/showbook.php?id=0141182342

I might have to get this :o

[Reaper]

Thanks for the links and suggestions, guys. :)
I recommend not limiting yourself only to his CThulu mythology stuff as the other short stories of his are awesome as well,
Yeah, I figured someone would say that. ;) We'll see how deep I get into Cthulu and then I'll consider his other works.

[Klaus Kinski]

Actually I really don't think you can simply categorize most of his work into "Cthulu stuff" and "Non Cthulu stuff". Some stories like "The Color From Outer Space" are not at all related to the mythology and in their themes very different but the themes, ideas and moods that are often associated with Cthulu can be found in most of his ork. A good example is "The Walls of Eryx" which is a rather classic sci-fi story that has lots of classic Lovecraftian themes (being stuck in a labyrinth, going insane, exotic and at the same time horrible otherworldlyness).

[Duke's New Chainsaw]

Hmm, check out this book...
Scroll further down to read previews of the actual pages inside...

http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/WEBSITE/WWW/WEBPAGES/showbook.php?id=0141182342

I might have to get this :o

I have that and the other two. I suggest them all.

[Micki!]

Nice price too, guess i'll get it next time i need a good read then :)

[Dave-ros]

I can also recommend some anthologies of Lovecraftian stories written years later:

- The Children of Cthulhu;
- The New Lovecraft Circle;
- And, best of all, Shadows Over Baker Street -- I'm sure you can work out who that's a crossover with :D

[Opus131]

I am curious as to what anthologies might be available that have all of Lovecraft's Cthulu writings in them or where I would go to find out such things. I figure those works of his are so highly regarded that I owe it to myself to read them.

Even noting some of the best Cthulu books you've read might be helpful. ;)

Forget about Cthulu, just get anything written by the original author.

[Ecmaster76]

Get this collection:

http://www.amazon.com/H-P-Lovecraft-Library-America/dp/1931082723/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1225183383&sr=1-2

Pricy, but you'll be glad you did. Some of the stories can be skipped, but be careful: many have Cthulu tidbits you wouldn't expect. So read them all.