Dagon

[Grizzgreen711]

I just read Dagon in my new Lovecraft: Complete Fiction. Just wanted to say it's my favorite so far; I'm reading from beginning to end. My imagination was running rampant with ideas during this story!

[j. d. worthington]

'Twould be interesting to hear what those ideas were... and I hope you find the rest as stimulating!

[w h pugmire, esq.]

The Complete Fiction edition is so wonderful. All of the stories have those charming wee introductions by S. T., and the stories are presented in the order that HPL penned them, so one can follow his growth as an author. We can see how "Dagon" grew cyclopean and paved ye way for "The Call of Cthulhu." And "Dagon" is one of many tales (including "The Music of Erich Zann") where one asks, "Did it happen, or was it dream?"

[dask]

As one of Lovecraft's earliest stories (I think) I was genuinely impressed.

[nomadman]

It's definitely one of his better short short stories, with a wonderfully built up atmosphere of eerie horror and nightmarish revelations.

[SPH Young]

A wonderful story. One of my favourites also. Have you read 'A Shadow Over Innsmouth'? He revisits some of the ideas there, but the story is a little longer. If you've not read it yet, you're in for a real treat.

[nomadman]

Out of interest, has anyone seen the Stuart Gordon film of the same name (though based on the plot for Shadow...)? Despite a few changes, and more of an emphasis on action and special effects, it was rather good I thought, with a genuinely nail-biting escape from the "Gilman" hotel and a generally accurate Lovecraftian flavor.

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by nomadman

Out of interest, has anyone seen the Stuart Gordon film of the same name (though based on the plot for Shadow...)? Despite a few changes, and more of an emphasis on action and special effects, it was rather good I thought, with a genuinely nail-biting escape from the "Gilman" hotel and a generally accurate Lovecraftian flavor.

When I first saw the film shortly after it was released, I didn't much care for it. But I found myself revisiting it time and again, and each time it had grown on me more and more, in part because I realized that, despite the divergences from the story, it was actually an extremely faithful adaptation, in a more fundamental sense, rather than that of slavishly following the detailed events of the tale. These days, it has become a favorite film of mine. So, yes, though I was a bit slow to coming to that conclusion, I would agree with your assessment....

[Fried Egg]

I don't know if it's because this was the first Lovecraft story I ever read but I wasn't particularly bowled over with this story and am left quite confused as to why it is as highly regarded and talked about as it is.

[j. d. worthington]

I think that is, in part, due to a few particular points:

1) In this, only the second story of his mature period, he is already introducing many of the major themes he would deal without throughout his career.

2) It is, in some ways, a "dry run" for the final section of "The Call of Cthulhu", with all the implications the two share.

3) His development of atmosphere here is, in some ways, more concentrated because of its brevity; though such a short tale, it nonetheless contains a considerable amount of the horrific (or terrific, if you prefer) content of his later, more developed work.

4) It is a powerfully dream-like story, where he is already blurring the lines between reality and dream so that the reader is never entirely certain which is which.

These are a few of the points which come to mind. There are others, I think, but this may help give an indication of why, despite its flaws, this tale nonetheless continues to raise such interest and respect...

[Fried Egg]

I was aware that it was a kind of forerunner for "The Call of Cthulhu" but that is another of his stories that I think is somewhat over rated, at least it's not among my favourites.

But I do recall "Dagon" being atmospheric and dreamlike. I shall have to re-read it at some point. Indeed, I feel its high time I re-read a number of his stories...