H. P. Lovecraft

Years ago, while browsing through the local public library's paperback horror offerings, I came upon a well-worn book of horror short stories. Being in the mood for some short story reading, I checked it out. The title was The Dunwich Horror and Others by H.P. Lovecraft.   Right from the first story, I was pulled in and taken for a wild ride into the darkest depths of madness. From that point on I was hooked. I hunted down and read all that I could find by this brilliant author. The stories put a twist on the traditional horror story and brought them to a whole new level. The imagery these tales provoked lingered long after the stories ended.

Born on August 20, 1890, in Providence, Rhode Island, Lovecraft was the son of Sarah Susan Phillips Lovecraft and Winfield Scott Lovecraft. At the age of three, his father suffered a nervous breakdown, and was admitted to a hospital. He remained there until his death five years later.

From a very early age, Lovecraft showed a strong interest in reading and writing. By the age of six, Lovecraft was already writing, and had a strong interest in Greek Mythology. Later, he also developed an affinity for astronomy, and began writing journals and columns on astronomy.

Lovecraft's earliest horror tale was 1905's "The Beast in the Cave," which showed great promise in the future of a horror fiction career. In 1917, the beginnings of the Mythos appeared: "The Tomb," and "Dagon" were written in the summer of that year. From that time on, Lovecraft began to write regularly, including much poetry early on.

Soon after the death of his mother in 1921, Lovecraft met his later-to-be wife Sonia Haft Greene. Initially, the couple's lives were that of contentment, H.P. then having stories published in Weird Tales, a very popular magazine in the early 1920s, and Sonia running a very successful New York hat shop. Unfortunately, the good life was all too short-lived. The hat shop went into financial ruin, and Lovecraft found it very difficult to secure a job. Sonia was forced to move away to find work in 1925, and the couple was divorced in 1929.

The true beginnings of H.P. Lovecraft's brilliance was during the final ten years of his life, when he moved back to the city of his birth in 1926. During that year, Lovecraft wrote "The Call of Cthulhu." During the following years, more great works were penned, including At the Mountains of Madness, The Shadow over Innsmouth, and many other short stories and novels.  Also during these years, H.P. Lovecraft met other writers that would be important names in the genre: August Derleth, Robert Bloch, Robert E. Howard and Fritz Leiber.   Lovecraft penned The Necronomicon as a companion book to the Cthulhu Mythos. The primary figure in this work, Abdul Alhazred (a.k.a. "The Mad Arab") traces back to his youth, when he was fascinated by the book Arabian Nights. To this day, the arguments continue as to whether this book is a creation purely from the mind or Lovecraft, or a rewrite of an ancient grimoire. Many letters to August Derleth state that the book is merely a tongue-in-cheek work of fiction, but it still the debate continues.

Howard Phillips Lovecraft died on March 20, 1937 after an agonizing, year-long battle with intestinal cancer. He was buried at Swan Point Cemetery on March 18, 1937.

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H.P. Lovecraft and Cthulhu Mythos Resources
The Cthulhu Mythos: A Guide - This should be your first stop on the Web for information on H.P. Lovecraft. Pretty much everything you're looking for should be here.
The H.P. Lovecraft Archive - Another excellent resource for information and history on the author.
De Web Mysteriis (AJL Cthulhu Pages) - Point your browser here to search the Web for all that is the Cthulhu Mythos.
The Weird Fiction Research Library - An excellent resource for Cthulhu Mythos fans can be found here. The Glossary of Cthulhu Mythos Terms is a database of nearly 6,000 terms and characters from various authors relating to the Cthulhu Mythos.

© 1999, Marie Lillian Plasse

"This article was originally published on Suite101.com.

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