An interesting aspect of translating #Lovecraft is that he used extremely rare words in the full expectation that his Weird Tales audience wouldn't understand them. He could have written scaly and wrinkled, but he chose squamous and rugose for horrific effect. His horrors were indescribable to such an extent that he didn't even want the reader to understand his descriptions. And this is part of the translator's task too.
Replying to @mrundkvist@archaeo.social
@mrundkvist This goes also for his penpal Clark Ashton Smith, who in his turn inspired the master stylist Jack Vance. Smith lived in a cabin and had no higher education but pored over the Oxford dictionary and the Encyclopaedia Britannica instead. Apart from using archaisms, Vance often used invented but likely terms or words used intentionally wrong to create his desired effect.
Replying to @mrundkvist@archaeo.social
@mrundkvist Gene Wolfe is another master of hard words. None of characters would ever travel by boat, if a xebec is available.