Yeah I’ll admit I had to look up the plot to that one because it’s been a decade or so since I read it. That’s probably a better candidate for adaption than most. Dunwich Horror is another one that has a more conventional plot.

The new Del Toro Netflix horror anthology adapts a couple Lovecraft stories, Pickman’s Model and Witch House. They had to add a lot of filler to get to the ~60 min run time. The anthology is decent but those episodes are sort of muddled in my opinion.

I’ve read most of lovecraft’s stuff. He’s one of the most influential horror writers of all time. I’m certainly not putting him down.

It’s just that his stories are hard to adapt because they are more focused on concepts than narratives or characters. And that issue persists even in Lovecraftian stuff that isn’t by him, mainly because it’s hard to have a relatable human drama set in the shadow of Cthulhu. The themes of alienation and human inconsequentialness kind of just squash all the other stuff.

Unknowable alien monstrosities do not make compelling villains for most audiences. There are tons of popular entertainment media universes with Lovecraftian characters/themes (Marvel comics and movies, Warhammer, Elder Scrolls) but a lot of those are more action oriented than horror oriented.

It’s just hard create a relatable central conflict when the antagonist is a slumbering idiot god and your protag has literally no chance of ever beating them.