H. P. Lovecraft

Poetry

Howard Phillips Lovecraft was born on August 20, 1890, in Providence, Rhode Island. His father, Winfield Scott Lovecraft, suffered a psychological breakdown and became delusional when Howard was only three; a history of mental illness runs in the family, H. P. having his own "near-breakdown" at the age of eight, the first of several. He never completed high school, but made up for it by his voracious reading. As he grew Lovecraft published multiple pieces in Weird Tales (see short stories), but his later works did not meet with much success. Lovecraft lived in poverty in his last years of life, dying of intestinal cancer on March 10, 1937 as the age of forty-seven.

People Influenced by H. P. Lovecraft

H. P. Lovecraft was a 20th century writer, most active during the 20s and 30s. Unappreciated during his time, reminiscent of Edgar Allan Poe, who influenced Lovecraft from an early age, his work has been "rediscovered" in popular culture. Now his poetry and fiction are much more present in literary circles.

This pathfinder is on the American horror, science fiction, and fantasy writer Howards Phillips Lovecraft. It focuses on a number of topics, including:1) Lovecraft's life and death2) Lovecraft's poetry3) Lovecraft's short-stories4) People influenced by his writing5) The Cthulhu Mythos6) Key terms7) Articles/resources

Short-Stories

Key Terms

H. P. Lovecraft

Life and Death

Podcast

Overview

Stephen King, authorClive Barker, authorJohn Carpenter, directorGuillermo Del Toro, directorH. R. Giger, artisit

Articles/Resources

http://www.hplovecraft.com/study/articles/ An archive of multiple journal articles on Lovecraft's work.http://www.themorningnews.org/article/h.p.-lovecraft-author-is-dead An article celebrating the 75th anniversary of his death.http://lovecraft.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page The wiki of all things H. P. Lovecraft.

Library Resources

An H. P. Lovecraft Encyclopedia Joshi, S. T.; Schultz, David E. Dewey: 813/5.2Lord Dunsany, H.P. Lovecraft, and Ray Bradbury : Spectral JourneysTouponce, William F. Dewey: 809.3/8766; 809.38766

Lovecraft's first published short-story was "The Alchemist" in 1916. Not until the 20s, however, did he embrace fiction writing as a profession. This led to numerous publications in the pulp magazine Weird Tales. As mentioned, Lovecraft was influenced by Poe at a young age, but another important contributer was Lord Dunsany, and Irish fantasist that enthralled Lovecraft with his alien worlds so removed from earth. These influences breakdown H. P. Lovecraft's fiction into three categories: the Poe-inspired horror stories (1905-1920), the Lord Dunsany-inspired Dream Cycle stories (1920-1927), and, perhaps what he is most known for today, his Cthulhu Mythos (1925-1935). His fiction was also heavily influenced by racsim, non-Anglos represented as barbaric/inferior; also used evolutionary degeneration, inter-breeding between humans and monsters. What saves his work from this bigotry is the twist he puts on human existance and their destruction, humanity nothing in the face of the unknown cosmic powers of the Old Ones, Cthulhu being the most reknowned in modern media, leading to a set of stories focused on these terrifying beings and our inferiority in the face of them.

Lovecraft first started writing poetry at the age of six, the themes of which were often dark and fantastic. Like his short-stories and other writings Lovecraft's poetry did not gain real recognition until after his death. They have become readily available online and in published collectionshttp://hellopoetry.com/hp-lovecraft/

- Necronomicon- Cthulhu- Nyarlathotep- Yog-Sothoth- Azathoth- Dagon- Shub-Niggurath- Abdul AlhazredThe Old Ones were, the Old Ones are, and the Old Ones shall be. Not in the spaces we know, but between them, they walk serene and primal, undimensioned and to us unseen. Yog-Sothoth knows the gate. Yog-Sothoth is the gate. Yog-Sothoth is the key and guardian of the gate. Past, present, future, all are one in Yog-Sothoth."—The Dunwich Horror