Write Like Lovecraft

I was just re-reading “Notes on Writing Weird Fiction” by H.P. Lovecraft.

In his essay, he gives three structured frameworks:

1. A 5-part procedure of writing weird stories.
2. The 4 types of stories you can write.
3. How to handle the 5 types of horror elements of a story.

I thought it might be interesting to extract them and clean them up a little.

I fed the essay into DeepSeek R1 and asked it to extract frameworks for modern writers, here’s what I got:

Lovecraft’s 5-Part Framework for Writing Weird Fiction

A Step-by-Step Guide for Modern Authors

1. Conceptualize the Core Horror

Task: Define the “underlying horror” driving your story. This could be a supernatural entity, an uncanny phenomenon, or a cosmic truth that defies natural law.

• Lovecraft’s Insight:

  “The marvel must be treated very impressively and deliberately—with a careful emotional ‘build-up’—else it will seem flat and unconvincing.”

  • Anchor your story in a single, central horror. Ensure it overshadows all other elements.
  • Example: A forbidden book that warps reality, an ancient god sleeping beneath a city.

2. Outline the Story’s Structure

Task: Create two synopses:

• Synopsis 1 (Chronological Order):

  • List events in the order they actually occur (even if hidden from the reader).
  • Detail motivations, causes, and consequences.
  • Example: “Describe with enough fulness to cover all vital points and motivate all incidents planned.”

• Synopsis 2 (Narrative Order):

  • Reorganize events for dramatic impact (e.g., start with a mystery, use flashbacks).
  • Adjust pacing, perspective, and climax placement.
  • Example: Begin with a character discovering a cryptic artifact, then reveal its origins later.

Key Flexibility:

“Never being bound by any previous design. If the development suddenly reveals new opportunities for dramatic effect… add whatever is thought advantageous.”

3. Draft Rapidly with Atmospheric Focus

Task: Write the first draft using Synopsis 2 as a guide. Prioritize mood over action.

• Critical Guidelines:
  • Build Atmosphere: Use sensory details (e.g., eerie sounds, oppressive weather) to evoke dread.

    “Atmosphere, not action, is the great desideratum of weird fiction.”

  • Maintain Realism: Ground characters and settings in believable details—except when depicting the horror.

    “Inconceivable events… must be accomplished through the maintenance of careful realism in every phase of the story except that touching on the one given marvel.”

  • Emotional Intensity: Characters should react to the horror with awe, terror, or existential dread.

    “Never have a wonder taken for granted… weave an air of awe.”

4. Revise Ruthlessly

Task: Refine the draft with attention to language, pacing, and coherence.

• Checklist:
  • Trim Superfluities: Remove redundant scenes, dialogue, or descriptions.

    “Remove all possible superfluities—words, sentences, paragraphs.”

  • Sharpen Transitions: Ensure smooth shifts between slow, detailed scenes and fast-paced action.
  • Climax Polish: Amplify the horror’s impact through layered foreshadowing and symbolic imagery.

    “Prime emphasis should be given to subtle suggestion… shadings of moods and build up a vague illusion of the strange reality of the unreal.”

5. Finalize with Precision

Task: Prepare a clean manuscript, incorporating final tweaks.

• Last Steps:
  • Read aloud to test rhythm and tone.
  • Ensure all plot threads reconcile with the central horror.
  • Example: “Add final revisory touches where they seem in order.”

Lovecraft’s Golden Rules

1. Horror First: Let the uncanny element dominate the narrative.
2. Mood Over Plot: Atmosphere and suggestion trump action sequences.
3. Character Reactions: Even jaded protagonists should feel the weight of the unknown.

   “The characters should shew the same overwhelming emotion… in real life.”

Lovecraft’s 4 Types of Weird Fiction Stories

1. Mood-Driven Stories

Core Focus: Evoke a pervasive emotion or atmosphere (e.g., dread, cosmic awe, existential horror).

Key Elements:

• Prioritize setting and sensory details over plot mechanics.
• Use symbolism and suggestive language to immerse readers in the mood.
• Example: A decaying mansion that embodies despair, or a fog-shrouded town radiating unease.

Development Steps:

1. Identify the Mood: Decide the emotional core (e.g., “inexplicable terror”).
2. Build the Environment: Craft a setting that embodies the mood through vivid descriptions.
3. Minimize Action: Let the atmosphere drive tension rather than overt events.

   “Atmosphere, not action, is the great desideratum of weird fiction.”

2. Pictorial Conception Stories

Core Focus: A striking visual image or tableau (e.g., a monstrous entity, an alien landscape).

Key Elements:

• Begin with a vivid mental image, then construct a narrative around it.
• Use the image as the story’s anchor, explaining its origin or impact.
• Example: A cyclopean city of non-Euclidean geometry, or a living statue that haunts its creators.

Development Steps:

1. Visualize the Image: Define the central visual (e.g., “a writhing mass of eyes in the dark”).
2. Contextualize the Marvel: Explain how the image disrupts reality (e.g., ancient curse, alien artifact).
3. Reveal Gradually: Unfold the image’s significance through character reactions and lore.

   “The marvel must… overshadow the characters and events.”

3. Conceptual/Legendary Stories

Core Focus: Explore a premise rooted in myth, intellectual idea, or hypothetical condition.

Key Elements:

• Base the story on a legend, scientific anomaly, or philosophical dilemma.
• Focus on implications rather than individual characters.
• Example: A town bound by a pact with eldritch gods, or a law of physics that unravels sanity.

Development Steps:

1. Define the Concept: Choose a foundational idea (e.g., “time is a sentient force”).
2. Worldbuild Logically: Create rules for how the concept warps reality.
3. Show Consequences: Depict how characters and settings are transformed by the concept.

   “Conflict with time seems to me the most potent… theme in all human expression.”

4. Climax-Centric Stories

Core Focus: Build toward a singular, devastating revelation or event.

Key Elements:

• Structure the narrative to amplify the climax’s impact.
• Use foreshadowing and pacing to heighten suspense.
• Example: Archaeologists uncovering a forbidden truth, or a ritual’s catastrophic outcome.

Development Steps:

1. Identify the Climax: Decide the pivotal moment (e.g., “the protagonist becomes the monster”).
2. Reverse-Engineer the Plot: Plant clues and symbols that lead inexorably to the climax.
3. Maximize Emotional Payoff: Ensure the climax resonates with existential weight.

   “Prime emphasis should be given to subtle suggestion… to build up a vague illusion of the strange reality of the unreal.”

Universal Principles for All Types

• Maintain Realism: Ground everything except the central marvel in plausibility.
• Character Reactions: Even jaded figures should reflect awe or terror.

  “Never have a wonder taken for granted… weave an air of awe.”

• Revise for Atmosphere: Trim excess plot to preserve mood and symbolic depth.

Lovecraft’s 5 Types of Horror Elements

1. The Underlying Horror (Core Abnormality)

Definition: The foundational source of fear—an entity, condition, or cosmic truth that violates natural law.

How to Use It:

• Define a central horror that is inherently unknowable or inexplicable (e.g., an ancient god, a cursed lineage, a reality-warping force).
• Ensure it transcends mundane understanding to evoke existential dread.

  “The marvel must… overshadow the characters and events.”

Task:

• Write a one-sentence “horror premise” (e.g., “A forbidden tome awakens a dormant entity that devours time.”).

2. General Effects (Broad Consequences)

Definition: The horror’s impact on the world or characters—societal decay, environmental blight, psychological erosion.

How to Use It:

• Show how the horror disrupts normality (e.g., crops failing, madness spreading, laws of physics fracturing).
• Avoid isolated scares; let the horror’s influence permeate everything.

Task:

• List 3-5 systemic consequences of your horror (e.g., “Time loops trap villagers,” “Memories dissolve,” “Architecture shifts unnaturally.”).

3. Mode of Manifestation (Visible Phenomena)

Definition: How the horror physically/materially appears or interacts with the world.

How to Use It:

• Design tangible, sensory manifestations (e.g., grotesque mutations, cryptic symbols, unnatural sounds).
• Ground the horror in specific, eerie details to make it feel real.

  “Use subtle suggestion… to build up a vague illusion of the strange reality of the unreal.”

Task:

• Describe 2-3 visceral phenomena tied to your horror (e.g., “A black sludge oozes from walls,” “Voices whisper in dead languages,” “Shadows move against the light.”).

4. Fear Reactions (Character Responses)

Definition: How characters emotionally and psychologically respond to the horror.

How to Use It:

• Show escalating reactions: curiosity → denial → terror → existential despair.
• Even seasoned characters should grapple with awe or paralysis.

  “Never have a wonder taken for granted… weave an air of awe.”

Task:

• Draft a scene where a character encounters the horror, focusing on their visceral reaction (e.g., trembling, obsessive fixation, fragmented speech).

5. Specific Effects (Tailored Consequences)

Definition: The horror’s unique impact on the story’s particular setting, characters, or plot.

How to Use It:

• Tie the horror’s effects to the story’s context (e.g., a family curse corrupting bloodlines, a scientist’s experiment warping their town).
• Ensure the horror’s “rules” align with the narrative’s internal logic.

Task:

• Define one irreversible consequence of the horror (e.g., “The protagonist’s body slowly crystallizes,” “The town vanishes from maps and memory.”).

Synthesis Example

Premise: A lighthouse keeper discovers an alien organism in the ocean.

1. Underlying Horror: A parasitic cosmic entity that assimilates living matter.
2. General Effects: Marine life mutates, tides stop, townsfolk vanish.
3. Manifestation: Bioluminescent tendrils in the water, distorted animal cries.
4. Fear Reactions: The keeper oscillates between fascination and terror, documenting changes until his notes devolve into frantic scribbles.
5. Specific Effects: The keeper’s skin grows translucent, revealing the entity beneath.

Lovecraft’s Key Insight:

“Inconceivable events… must be accomplished through the maintenance of careful realism in every phase of the story except that touching on the one given marvel.”

Use this framework to ensure your horror feels both inescapable and inexplicable—a shadow that lingers long after the story ends.