He was the best horror fiction writer that ever lived. One of the best writers overall to be born in America.
EAP? Stephen King? Nothing matches the eternal horrors HPL put on paper.
Lovecraft was one of the best storytellers. His writing itself was not exceptional. But some of the best writers can't tell a decent story. His stories were exceptional. King is similar but lost the ability to tell a good story decades ago. Now he just sucks.
To illustrate my point better, Mervyn Peake was a truly exceptional writer. Gormenghast is no Lord of the Rings though.
In my opinion, Robert E Howard and Gene Wolfe are the best of both.
King is a compulsive writer. He'll write anything, no matter how absurd. It makes for a large pile of trash littered with tiny gems.
My favorite short of his is about toy soldiers coming to life and fighting a war in some guy's house. Stupid idea, but he just runs with it. The man is stupified as he is hit with tiny bullets. Eventually they set off a tiny nuke. End of story.
He was only good when he was on drugs and didn't think he was hot shit yet.
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