Sometimes, I close my eyes and try my hardest to imagine a world where Lovecraft had abandoned his love of the archaic and abominable and instead had pursued with as much fervor a life dedicated to the literary essay. I would have liked that guy much more. I think it's funny how he puts down works with a narrow vocabulary as being monotonous because of that limitation, whereas with his own works his superfluous writing itself can drag through the mud. But I still love the stuff! Haha
I don't think I would like this world very much if Lovecraft pursued essays. First off, a lot of my favorite video games wouldn't exist without the inspiration that Lovecraft gave the developers. Second, I don't think horror would be where it is today without the help of Lovecraft. His stories are downright terrifying. While I don't agree with you that his works drag through the mud because of his vocabulary, I do understand the fact that if you are unfamiliar with it, the words will really lose a lot of their meaning.
I get that. But I was just never into the branches of work that Lovecraft's stories reverberated in. I never played the board games or read the comics. I don't think I could ever get into Steven King. And I'm going to have to take your word for it that horror is where it is today because of H.P. So it's just easier for me to say that I would have liked to see more of a lterary-inclined Lovecraft because that's where his influence has rested for me. As far as me having to pull myself at times through his stories, it wasn't a shortage of understanding because of his vocabulary -- I have dictionaries. It was because his forcing of all of these outdated words by even the standards of his day just because he liked to use them that made it difficult to trudge through some his stuff. I started The Dream Quest last spring and never finished it because it couldn't hold my interest. His efforts to convey the wonders of Carter's night journeys was just too bogged down by the wordiness of it all. I just stopped caring about Unknown Kadath. With that story, as well as a couple others, reading got in the way of the story itself, which is kinda my point.