With a name like Lovecraft, I'd think you're almost certain to become a writer when you grow up. But, perhaps there's that infamous horror writer who was hardly known but for his pulp-fiction writing in magazines.
Yep, there's H.P. Lovecraft. Even the classy use of initials in his first name makes him seem somehow more literary. And, his life appears to have offered quite a bit of fodder for his dark, macabre imagination. He was born Howard Phillips Lovecraft into an eccentric, aristocratic family. That in itself may just have given him a complex, but his father was institutionalized (psychotic) when H.P. was 3, and then died when the boy was 5. Add to that the fact that he was a sickly child--prone to nightmares, his grandfather's unusual brand of storytelling, and his fixation on Edgar Allan and the like... You've got the makings of a potentially great writer (even if he isn't recognized as such during his lifetime).
He was a brooding teen, ended formal education after a few years of high school, was unable to enlist in the Army, and would pour over his writings at home, where he lived with his aunts and his mother (who ultimately died in the same mental institution as his father).
So, what are your thoughts of H.P. Lovecraft? Is his reputation warranted? Have you read anything by him? Which was your favorite? (If you haven't yet had a chance, take a look at the extraordinary collection by Library of America, with Editor Peter Straub).
Comments
We can thank Lovecraft for inventing the Necronomicon, which has been used extensively in other books and movies. I read a few of his Cthulhu stories, but truthfully found them rather pedestrian. Then one remembers that he was writing in an era when true horror was not yet perfected, even though the predecessor, Castle of Otranto, was published 150 years before. August Derleth really tried to elevate Lovecraft’s popularity with some limited success. I much prefer another writer, James Branch Cabell, who was a peer and more inventive. His Cream of the Jest is entertaining and not as depressing as Lovecraft’s dark world. Lovecraft’s stories probably appeal more to teens because many of them really love dark and depressing comics and computer games. I think Lovecraft’s stories would make great computer games.
To hear what his life was like, is it any wonder his writing style was depressing? How could he NOT be depressed? No loving wife/children, insanity/death running through his family, living with his Mom and aunts all of his life? Sheesh. What a sad life of nothingness
At least he could get some of it out of himself through his writing.
I ‘ve always had a kind of affection for Lovecraft. Mainly, I think it’s because his over-the-top exaggerations of his mythical horror-beasts made me laugh. His “secret” really was that he used the Ancient Greek Medusa Legend to create beasts so fearsome that just seeing them drove victims insane.
I believe that horror stories help us cope with fears we may have about real life. I grew up in a rural area and we kids used to spend hours in the woods at night trying to scare ourselves silly. I also had a very imaginative uncle who specialized in telling scary stories to us kids – usually on nights we were “camping out” in our yard.
I hope everyone notices that the late Ray Bradbury had a similar dark side – and was raised by an over-protective mother. Bradbury had a superior (somewhat poetic) writing style but many of his most successful stories (Something Wicked THis Way Comes) were dark and threatening. Everything from his Moby Dick screenplay to The Illustrated Man were fraught with threatening figures and dark possibilities – and dark, horrific endings.
Lovecraft just went a little too far – and could have done better if he’d not spent time writing 100,000 personal letters during his lifetime. Hail to Lovecraft and Bradbury and King – they may scare us but in the end they throw us the lifesaver float to save us from drowning in our own fears.
I have read all his stories, but the ones that really stick out for me are the Re-Animator tales. I am not too much of a fan of the Cthullu tales and the mythos as they seem a bit too predictable and up to a point, rather samey.