Questions about H. P. Lovecraft
Short answers, pulled from the story.
Who was H. P. Lovecraft and what is he known for?
H. P. Lovecraft was an American writer of weird, horror, fantasy, and science fiction, born on the 20th of August 1890 in Providence, Rhode Island, and died on the 15th of March 1937. He is best known for creating the Cthulhu Mythos and for developing a literary philosophy called cosmicism, which holds that humanity is an insignificant force in an indifferent universe. Stephen King called him the twentieth century's greatest practitioner of the classic horror tale.
What is the Cthulhu Mythos that H. P. Lovecraft created?
The Cthulhu Mythos is a shared fictional universe encompassing Lovecraft's stories that share recurring entities, settings, and the central theme of cosmic insignificance. The term was coined by later authors after Lovecraft's death; Lovecraft himself jokingly called his fictional mythology "Yog-Sothothery" in his letters. Key stories include "The Call of Cthulhu", "The Nameless City", and At the Mountains of Madness.
Why was H. P. Lovecraft largely unknown during his lifetime?
Lovecraft was published almost exclusively in pulp magazines such as Weird Tales and was never able to support himself from his earnings as a writer. He was known to give up selling a story after a single rejection, ignored interested publishers, and left major works like The Case of Charles Dexter Ward untyped. A scholarly revival of his work did not begin until the 1970s.
What were H. P. Lovecraft's racist views and how did they affect his legacy?
Lovecraft was a white supremacist who published racist poetry and embedded racial fears in his fiction, most explicitly in The Shadow over Innsmouth, where human interbreeding with the Deep Ones is framed as miscegenation. His views moderated somewhat by the 1930s as his travels exposed him to different cultures, but they remained part of his work. In November 2015 it was announced that the World Fantasy Award trophy, a bust of Lovecraft nicknamed the "Howard", would no longer be modeled on him in response to his racial views.
How did H. P. Lovecraft's political views change over his life?
Lovecraft began as a conservative Tory and Anglophile who opposed democracy, admired the British monarchy, and supported Prohibition. As a result of the Great Depression, he shifted toward socialism, supporting Franklin D. Roosevelt and decrying his earlier beliefs, while still envisioning rule by an intellectual aristocracy. His ideal political system is outlined in his 1933 essay "Some Repetitions on the Times".
Which writers and filmmakers has H. P. Lovecraft influenced?
Stephen King credited Lovecraft as the largest influence on his writing, stating in Danse Macabre that Lovecraft was responsible for his fascination with horror and the macabre. Film directors John Carpenter and Guillermo del Toro incorporated direct references and Lovecraftian aesthetics into their films. In comics, Alan Moore described Lovecraft as a formative influence on his graphic novels.