>>911791What was the original description we got? Something along the lines of; "a shapeless congeries of protoplasmic bubbles, faintly self-luminous, with temporary eyes...", and that it was roughly the size of the tunnel or something. Even now, when reading that, I'm not terribly engaged. What comes to mind isn't some horror beyond horrors, but instead just a big, gray goop that may or may not have an eyeball here or there. It doesn't conjure the best image. But then you seen it drawn out and suddenly the whole thing changes. Look at this fucking thing.
What gets me is that this isn't the only Old One/creature that Lovecraft came up with that follows this same basic principle in design, and yet people somehow have endless love for the guy and I don't really understand why. The creatures aren't terrible, but they aren't the most interesting either.
I think it's because, back at that time when he was writing, most authors kept their stories more grounded with Earth. Then suddenly here comes a fellow who brings up the idea of there being many Gods, and they are not beautiful or heavenly. And they hate us. I think that's the reason he stands out. Does that make it necessarily good? No. Not really. It doesn't make it bad either, but it doesn't make it "the best." Same goes for Herbert West. I enjoyed that, don't get me wrong, but I have a suspicion that the only reason why it's remembered fondly is because he threw science into the mix. I can't stand how some people (for whatever stupid reason) credit him for being one of the first authors to make zombies a thing. Zombie stories have been around long before him. The zombies were either because of a curse, a disease, or whatever restless spirited reason a former-living human could have. But with Herbert West. And that's the ONLY thing that truly stands out.
