From The Lurkers

ABOUT H.P. LOVECRAFT

From “H.P. Lovecraft and His Works”

by August Derleth

Howard Phillips Lovecraft was born on August the 20th, 1890, in Providence, Rhode Island. His father, a salesman of English origin, died when Howard was eight years old. His mother’s possessiveness and his frequent illnesses forced him to lead a solitary and withdrawn life, marked by long-lasting visits to his grandfather’s library.

Immersed in books, he established essential links, first as a member of the United Press Amateur Association and then through lengthy letters, with other writers whose work he was interested in. Lovecraft’s imagination was spurred by some clearly specific interests: sciences (astronomy in particular), ancient history of Greece and Rome, “Thousand and One Nights Tales”, 18th century England, and the Gothic novel. His short story “The Alchemist” (1908) was his first published fiction work. Nevertheless, it was not until he was over twenty that he did start to write the stories that would lead him to enjoy a position of prestige among writers specializing in horror stories. In 1917 Lovecraft wrote “Dagon”, the first story in the “Weird Tales” volume (1923). Overwhelmed at that time, particularly by the loss of his mother in 1921 and by the decline of his family fortune, Lovecraft offered his services as a writer of articles signed by others, critic or proofreader, which could barely cover his basic needs.

Since 1923 his writing found a favorable market among amateurs as much as critics. Lovecraft’s stories easily fitted into two main categories, although at times it was a blend of both. They are either fantasy stories as those by Lord Dunsany (“Dagon”, “The Cats of Ulthar”, “The Strange High House in the Mist”, “The Statement of Randolph Carter”) or they are mystery and horror takes referring to a cosmic world beyond, following a pattern after the predominant influence of Machen, Blackwood, Poe, Chambers, and Bierce.

The horror and mystery tales are subdivided into “New England tales” and the “Cthulhu Mythos”, which correspond mainly to the last creative stage of the writer. Among his first tales, we can point out pure horror tales such as “The Rats in the Walls”, “The Outsider”, The Pickman’s Model”, and “The Horror at Red Hook”.

The author did not think out the “Cthulhu Mythos” as a set plan, but when he finally dedicated his efforts to the idea of erecting a pantheon, he invited some colleagues to join him in the task. In this saga, signed by Lovecraft himself, he added titles such as “The Colour Out of Space”, “The Dunwich Horror”, “The Whisperer in Darkness”, “At the Mountains of Madness”, and “The Case of Charles Dexter Ward”.

During the last few years of his life, the diseases that had haunted him during his youth were reflected once more in his ailing health. On March 15th, 1937, Lovecraft died victim of intestinal cancer with chronic nephritis. No one can deny that he was a writer gifted for horror literature. Beyond doubt he was a master of the macabre and had no rivals in the America of his period. By his own will, he was a stranger to the times he lived.