Howard Phillips Lovecraft

A cura di C. Aira, A. Finotto e J. Pignet 
 Five short stories by the great American writer of fantasy and horror fiction, who was E.A. Poe's follower and Stephen King's main inspirer: The Alchemist (his first tale written when he was 18), The Color Out of Space (one of the most famous short stories of cosmic horror), The Outsider (considered his best short story by many critics), The Thing on the Doorstep (shocking story of occultism and body transmigration), Imprisoned with the Pharaohs (commissioned by Houdini, the great illusionist famous for his apparently impossible escapes).
 The reader is accompanied by in-depth analyses on Lovecraft's themes (among which supernatural horror), his debt to his predecessors (Poe, Hawthorne, Bierce, Stoker), the gothic novel and the 'double', as well as his influence on writers, cinema, music and games. 
 
 Teacher's Resources available online: Answer Key - Audioscripts - Summing-up Activities
 
 Cinque short-stories del grande scrittore americano della narrativa fantastica e horror, epigono di E.A. Poe e ispiratore di Stephen King: The Alchemist (il primo racconto scritto all’età di 18 anni), The Colour Out of Space (uno dei più famosi racconti di orrore cosmico), The Outsider (da molti considerato il suo più bel racconto), The Thing on the Doorstep (allucinante storia di occultismo e trasmigrazione dei corpi), Imprisoned with the Pharahos (dedicato a Houdini, il grande illusionista famoso per le sue fughe impossibili).

Lovecraft’s Themes

Story 1 - The Color Out of Space

Extension: Supernatural horror

Story 2 - The Outsider

Extension: Lovecraft’s debt to his predecessors

Story 3 - The Thing on the Doorstep

Extension: The double

Story 4 – The Alchemist

Extension: H.P. Lovecraft’s influence and fortune

Story 5 – Imprisoned with the Pharaohs

Extension: Films, games and music inspired by Lovecraft’s works

Summing-up activities

Glossary

1 The Colour Out of Space BEFORE READING Story 1 Tick the correct answer. a. What is a spectroscope? An instrument for detecting ghosts. detecting colors. measuring speed. measuring warmth. b. What is a spectrum? The colors light can be separated into. A ghost from space. A quality of metal. A kind of reflecting glass. c. How many colors are there in a spectrum? Ten Three Eleven Seven 2 Match the following words to the appropriate pictures. bucket dog horse bud fox rabbit cat hammer squirrel cow hen well 3 Match each adjective (column A) with its synonym (column B). A a. dark b. old c. bizarre d. blasted e. artificial B 1. unnatural 2. strange 3. obscure 4. ancient 5. dried up 8 

Weird Stories The Colour Out of Space Story 1 This tale was written in 1927. Here Lovecraft describes what a meteor from space can do to vegetation, animals and humans. West of Arkham the hills are wild and the valleys are covered with dark, old woods. On the hills there are ancient farms, with low, moss-coated1 cottages which seem to keep New England s secrets. Many of the old people have gone away and foreigners do not like to live there. Only Ammi Pierce speaks of the  strange days . Before a new road was built, there was a road over the hills and through the valleys crossing the blasted heath2. The heath and the road will be flooded3 to make the new artificial lake, and the secrets of the  strange days  will be part of the secrets of the lake. When I went into the hills and valleys to explore the place for a new artificial lake, they told me the place was evil4. I thought it was just a legend which was part of the Puritan folklore, but when I saw the place, I felt that the trees grew too thickly and there was too much silence. The atmosphere of oppression made it unreal and grotesque. The blasted heath seemed to be the result of a fire, an area eaten by acid where no vegetation had ever grown. I saw the ruins of a house and an abandoned well full of stagnant vapors, which strangely mixed with the colors of the sunlight. That evening I asked local people about the blasted heath and the  strange days . They told me it had all happened in the eighties, when a family had disappeared or had been killed. It was better not to listen to Ammi Pierce s strange tales because he was a little bizarre. 3. flooded: covered with water. 4. evil: bad, with malevolent effects. 1. moss-coated: covered with furry green vegetation. 2. blasted heath: dried up open land. 9 

Esplora 5 short-stories di Lovecraft: The Alchemist, The Colour Out of Space, The Outsider, The Thing on the Doorstep, Imprisoned with the Pharaohs.

Weird Stories Collana RAINBOWS

Level B1 • Pre-Intermediate - Collana RAINBOWS

Weird Stories

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