The Description in the Deceit

Rotting corpses, strange alien beings, whippoorwills, "An' Gawd in Heaven-that haff face on top!"
Lovecraft certainly knew how to create the atmosphere.

Throughout this semester we have read a few of Lovecraft's stories. The one that really sticks well in my memory is The Dunwich Horror. But it isn't the monster, nor the plot that truly drew me into the story, it was the way the author described everything in the story. Every mountain, every house, every character however insignificant, every hideous abnormality of Wilbur Whateley and his father was described in careful detail. I truly think that the description and art with which an author spins a tale is what determines the quality. But why? Why does the description draw a reader in?

For a lie to be believed, the more detail given the better. When you are making up a fib, if you can create a story with details, you have a better chance of it succeeding. Storytelling is extremely similar. Detail is everything. When one writes a story, he/she becomes the Creator. The author creates the world, the characters, the danger, the smells, sounds, sights, and the plot using only words. With the decisive stroke of a pen, a character can live or die. A few clicks of a keyboard can create a utopia as quickly as they can create a hell.
In short, a world is created. A good author slowly pulls a reader in by describing enough in detail to interest, but leaving enough spaces for the reader's imagination to fill in the blanks. Lovecraft does both. He describes the environment in vivid adjectives and careful detail, but leaves his monsters strangely unknown. I believe that his description of the setting, characters, and environment pull the reader in, and the true horror lies in what the reader's imagination supplies for the monster. An imagination unattended can be a dangerous thing.

Lovecraft's horror lies in his artful use of description and imagination. I theorize that every reader sees Yog-Sothoth as a different monster, and that, is the true horror.