If you've really read more than two of H.P. Lovecraft's stories, you begin to notice some recurring themes. I'll list them for those of you not masochistic enough to read more than one of his vignettes:

-Cosmic horror: specifically the overwhelming insignificance of man in the grand scheme of things, especially when trying to thwart whatever ageless entity is trying to cross the threshold into our world.

-Racism: 'nuff said. It's quasi-prevalent in most of his stories, but especially in The Horror at Redhook (a story possibly inspired by his stay in the ghettos of New York after marrying his soon-to-be ex-wife) and Herbert West: Reanimator (his description of the African American boxer in particular is rather shocking).

-Misogyny: Every protagonist in his stories are older, white males. Women are hardly ever included in his stories save for when a character has a wife or mother that bears mention. Also, in his story The Thing at the Doorstep, the antagonist is female (but even then it's not really her! Her father possessed her body so he could use her youth for his own gain. So women can't even be powerful for good or evil!).

These are just a couple of things that bug me about his writing. Why do I keep reading him? It's partly a grim determination to finish what I started out to do, and finish his stories. It's also because I want to complete reading about the Cthulhu Mythos. It's a very good quasi-pantheon of god and entities, despite being flawed in execution. I've always had a weakspot for mythologies around the world, and Lovecraft's is the most original and elaborate one to ever come out of America.

/nerd rant