"Haunted" and H.P. Lovecraft

I haven't posted in a while due to a busy schedule of school work and what not. I've also been addicted to this book I've been reading. I just finished it last night before bed. The book is "Haunted" by author Chuck Palahniuk who also wrote "Fight Club".
For a review of this book, which will probably not do it justice, click here. This is his latest book and I think his best. It is really strong and well written. It's more of a horror story than his past books. Usually I'm not interested in the horror or sci-fi genre with the exception of "The Dark Tower" series by Steven King. Recently however, thanks to my friend Mike, my interest in the horror genre has increased due to a lent copy of a few of H.P. Lovecraft's audiobooks. (If you are interested in obtaining a copy of one of these audiobooks email me at latentimage@unleadedlogic.com)

So now that I have listened to these audiobooks, my favorite being "The Rats in the Walls", I am really getting into the horror genre again. "Haunted" is a book that helped push me deeper into this genre. The good thing about H.P. Lovecraft and Chuck Palahniuk is that they're so far above other cheesy horror authors. So you'll never see something like this in their books:
"and then the man walked down the dark stairs into the basement and from the corner of the room he saw a ghost and it said: 'BOO!'.
No no no. Their stuff is intelligent, not something stupid like Goosebumps by R.L. Stine (although I did read several when I was in fourth grade). Their stuff is so good that it's starting to inspire my artwork.

I'm starting to enjoy these darker images, although I've always had an affinity for dark, creepy or depressing sort of images. A few years ago, in fact I made a book entitled "Depression and Anxiety" for a final project in a Color Photography class. This book consisted of depressing images coupled with a depressing dialogue. For a while after I made it I felt that it was pretentious but looking back I can see why I made it; I actually enjoy making these images because they are personal to me and a part of who I am. You can't deny who you are when you are working creatively or else your work will suffer. This is not to say that I don't enjoy making the occassional "beautiful" image too. Images that are dark or gloomy can be beautiful too.