Selected Stories of H.P. Lovecraft Literary Elements

Short story collection, horror fiction

Most of the stories are set in New England in the late 1800's or early 1900's.

Most of the stories are written in the first person singular, using a non-omniscient narrator who is either directly observing something horrifying or describing another man's research, exploration, or experience.

The tone of these stories is dark and foreboding

The narrator or main character is generally the protagonist, whereas the antagonists are generally beings from other planes of existence or human beings who have been mutated into something less than human.

Most of the stories focus on the interaction between the human mind and an incomprehensible, alien evil.

Most of the stories reach their climax when something unexpected happens: the fearsome monster or degenerated ape turns out to have once been a human being, or what appears to be the ramblings of a deranged lunatic turn out to be true. The apparently impossible thing--such as the elixir of youth in "The Alchemist" or the fact that an apparently helpless old man is actually a frightening and powerful individual--is revealed to be not only possible but true.

Much of the foreshadowing in these stories involves the physical, mental, or emotional deterioration of one or more of the characters.

The "unknown" entities from other dimensions are in fact so far outside human cognition and comprehension to be incomprehensible.

The destruction of the house in "The Picture in the House" is a reference to a similar scene from Edgar Allen Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher". The character Nyarlathotep is very similar to the inventor Nikola Tesla, whose traveling science performances were considered by many to be disturbing.

Frequent death imagery permeates Lovecraft's writing. "The Tomb" is set in and around an actual mausoleum. "The Tree" involves a memorial statue and "The Alchemist" focuses on a series of murders.

The characters that interact with cosmic beings are regarded as insane, however when a narrator or an investigating character uncovers the truth behind the "insane" person's delusions, he cannot warn the world of impending danger because he too has now become "insane" enough to lose his credibility.

The physical deterioration of Crawford Tillinghast parallels his moral deterioration as his experiments continue and his servants are killed or taken by the extra-dimensional creatures he is studying.

In "The Street", deteriorating houses develop a collective consciousness and will. The entire street, which is the sum of its diverse individual buildings, collapses with what appears to be intentional timing.

The character Nyarlathotep is a personification of incomprehensible evil.