What makes something Lovecraftian?

[JamesEightBitStar]

I've read a bunch of Lovecraft's stories but I still can't put my finger on what exactly defines "Lovecraftian." I guess that shows just how good he is--he can't be pigeonholed.

[JCBoney]

Great question. Hmmm.

Ok, in Lovecraft stories, there's sense of helplessness communicated by the narrator or main character. Man is helpless in the face of unknown evils so great that most go insane at the very sight of such a thing. Even if the hero manages to defeat the evil and get away, he's forever changed and often writes his experiences down before offing himself or otherwise expiring.

This translated well into Chaosium's CoC with an Insanity score... odds are you will eventually go mad.

Other factors: Lovecraft had a descriptive style that simply has never been matched. He made you reach for the dictionary, and the only other author who has recently done that to me is William Faulkner. Not only that, he had a talent for describing unusual things and making you see things that you just normally wouldn't imagine.

There are other things, but those two stand out for me.

[PapersAndPaychecks]

The descriptive style is distinctive, but I think the essence of Lovecraft is the combination of a truly warped, yet very confident, imagination combined with a sense of existential despair about the essential triviality and irrelevance of mankind in an uncaring universe.