H. P. Lovecraft

Overview

H.P. Lovecraft was one of the twentieth century's most influential horror writers. He was a major practitioner of "weird horror" and "cosmic horror." Much of his work spoke of humanity's insignificance in the universe as well as the fear of the unknown. He is most famous for his Cthulhu Mythos--loosely connected stories about an ancient race of cosmic entities known as the Great Old Ones.

While other horror writers of the day used Judeo-Christian ideas as the basis of their work, Lovecraft removed these influences from his writing. Instead he came up with his own cosmology. One of the major themes of this work is that there is no loving God or promised afterlife; instead, there is only the cold space. But within that space are entities that human mind cannot fully comprehend, and even a glimpse of what lies out in the void is enough to drive the human mind insane.

Although he died long before video games existed, his impact on the horror genre cannot be overstated. Fantasy fiction and games also often reference Lovecraftian elements, such as the Necronomicon.

Major Cosmic Creatures

• Cthulhu
• Dagon
• Yog-Sothoth
• The Great Race of Yith
• Shub-Niggurath

Selected Major Lovecraft Stories

• Beyond the Wall of Sleep
• The Outsider
• The Lurking Fear
• The Rats in the Walls
• The Call of Cthulhu
• Pickman's Model
• The Colour Out of Space
• The Dunwich Horror
• The Whisperer in the Darkness
• At the Mountains of Madness
• The Shadow Over Innsmouth

Selected Films Based on Lovecraft's Work

• Re-Animator
• Dagon
• Castle Freak
• From Beyond
• Cthulhu
• The Call of Cthulhu
• Dreams in the Witch-House
• The Resurrected