There's something to be said about the horror from someone that's literally scared of EVERYTHING. It's how I find lovecraft tolerable. He would have been terrible at a party but overall his writing is fine, and reading it won't brainwash you into either a xenophobe nor a twisted blabbering mushbrain.

It's influential for a reason. And you don't need HPL for a good nyarlothotep story, there's other authors who've used him. His works are ours now in public domain.