Re: RARA-AVIS: Noir Horror?

From: Juri Nummelin ( jurnum@utu.fi)
Date: 08 Feb 2000


On Sat, 5 Feb 2000, John & Carrie wrote:

> I'd dare say that
> H.P. Lovecraft at times reminds me somewhat of Woolrich in his ornate and
> decadent prose describing lush, dark settings teeming with hidden with
> unknown dread.

Well.. I did a short lecture once on frontier literature and included Lovecraft as one (besides James Fenimore Cooper and Henry Thoreau and
"Texas Chainsaw Massacre" which, to be picky, isn't literature). I wouldn't say he's noir, because I believe that noir doesn't have anything to do with the supernatural. In noir there is horror, but it comes from the id and the community, not from outer space or dark mountains or deep abysses like in Lovecraft. But maybe, if Lovecraft can be considered frontier, he has links to the HB world, because the professionalism that has been discussed in the list has its roots in the frontier ideology. But since Lovecraft was so influential writer, he certainly has influenced noir writers.

Juri jurnum@utu.fi

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