[Bagpipes]

Having never read a single thing by this author I figure it's about time I did. What three books of his would you recommend I read first? I'd rather buy individual books instead of collections and omnibuses, which there seem to be a lot of, but I'm open to suggestions.

[ironjade]

HPL wrote mostly short stories/novellas so you'll end up with an anthology whatever you do.
Among his best:
The Dunwich Horror
At the Mountains of Madness
The Call of Cthulhu
The Colour Out of Space
and his masterpiece, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward.
They tend to be very samey after a while but the above are more distinctive than most.
When you're done with those see also Neil Gaiman's A Study in Emerald.

[spiney2]

at the mountains of madness. his best by far. genuinely weird and chilling.

his entire works are free online.

[ironjade]

They can all be downloaded from Feedbooks or Project Gutenberg, free and legal.

[Bagpipes]

Thanks for the suggestions so far. I'll buy the books, I'm old fashioned like that

[Straker]

Originally Posted by Bagpipes

Thanks for the suggestions so far. I'll buy the books, I'm old fashioned like that

Try and get the Arkham House hardbacks. They’re the definitive texts and Lovecraft should be read in hardcover - He’d be aghast at being downloaded!

[stoatie]

Originally Posted by Straker

Try and get the Arkham House hardbacks. They’re the definitive texts and Lovecraft should be read in hardcover - He’d be aghast at being downloaded!

They're lovely editions, as well. Wish I could afford them...

But yeah, Call Of Cthulhu, At The Mountains Of Madness, Case Of Charles Dexter Ward are all key texts. And I love The Thing On The Doorstep, too. Oh, and Dunwich Horror. Can't do without that one.

Bit surprised nobody's said The Shadow Over Innsmouth, to be honest! So I'll say it. The Shadow Over Innsmouth.