Now you have me longing to know what your fandoms were! "Not very good" and full of character betrayal, eh? Hmmm...;)
Mythos stuff is pretty much at the level of "shared world" at this point, and wasn't Lovecraft ok with that?
Fine with his friends doing it, definitely--Clar Kash Ton and Wild Bob Howard, etc. But then again, I don't think he was ever as possessive of his own work as some people are today; it was a way to make money out of the slightly embarrassing extrusions of his own subconscious, and while he seemed pretty grateful for it, I don't think he ever ran it like a business, per se.
I mean..."Red Goat, Black Goat" does seem Lovecraftian to me, and not just because of where I read it: Forgotten gods, devouring intelligences, transformations and curses. The goat references might have a soupcon de "Dunwich Horror" about them, like you might be able to squint and see "The Terror at Red Hook" in "Marya Nox"...or not. I'm fine with that, either way.
Oh, and I read "Jerusalem's Lot" before "Rats in the Walls" too! There's a lot I love about "Rats", though the racism kind of slapped me across the face so hard I was left dazed for half my first encounter with it. Then I realized it was far more xenophobia crossed with misanthropy, and settled in to enjoy myself.;))
Re: long comment became long, sorry
Mythos stuff is pretty much at the level of "shared world" at this point, and wasn't Lovecraft ok with that?
Fine with his friends doing it, definitely--Clar Kash Ton and Wild Bob Howard, etc. But then again, I don't think he was ever as possessive of his own work as some people are today; it was a way to make money out of the slightly embarrassing extrusions of his own subconscious, and while he seemed pretty grateful for it, I don't think he ever ran it like a business, per se.
I mean..."Red Goat, Black Goat" does seem Lovecraftian to me, and not just because of where I read it: Forgotten gods, devouring intelligences, transformations and curses. The goat references might have a soupcon de "Dunwich Horror" about them, like you might be able to squint and see "The Terror at Red Hook" in "Marya Nox"...or not. I'm fine with that, either way.
Oh, and I read "Jerusalem's Lot" before "Rats in the Walls" too! There's a lot I love about "Rats", though the racism kind of slapped me across the face so hard I was left dazed for half my first encounter with it. Then I realized it was far more xenophobia crossed with misanthropy, and settled in to enjoy myself.;))