H.P. Lovecraft (August 20, 1890 - March 15, 1937)
Howard Phillips Lovecraft (that's H.P. to you) has been, well at least movies made of his writings have been, the subject of several of my reviews. If those reviews were not... favorable, rest assured that that has been far from H.P.'s fault. Hollywood has the horrific reputation of taking the works of even the most genius of writers old and new and turning it into.... stuff that was far from the original vision of its maker. And yes, there are more movies with his works being used coming up but I thought I'd take a moment to try to briefly explain this genius of a writer and what he's contributed to our culture and mythology. Briefly is hard, because this guy was a massively complex character who did a ton of brilliant work in his short life.
Considering he was not much older than I am when he died, it's pretty awe inspiring. But then again, doesn't it seem the best of the best live short lives? Look at people like Mozart, Edgar Allen Poe, etc. Not long for this world, but so, so much added to our culture. Even a current great such as Stephen King admits that H.P. was a major influence on his decision to write horror fiction.
At first, the world considered H.P. a writer of 'weird fiction'. The term 'horror fiction' developed much later. To describe his life, influences and different things about him would take - well it HAS taken more than a couple of books, movies, hell I think you could even have a small library dedicated just to H.P. So to keep this short, let's get a few things straight. Like most geniuses, he wasn't really recognized as one until decades after his death, and in fact his reputation is not diminishing, but still growing even today. I figure probably 100 years from now people will be regarding him as the greatest writer in history. But I digress. Let's talk just about a couple of major contributions:
The Necronomicon: This book has become so well known, there are those that will defend practically to the death that it is in fact a real book. Sorry, it never has been and continues not to be. If you are ever offered a 'copy' or even a copy of a copy, you're about to be ripped off. It's a pure invention of H.P.'s - he inferred at one point that the idea came to him in a dream. If this is true, he dreamed a hell of a lot more interesting stuff than I ever have. The 'book of the dead' as it is also known as has been used in many other books and movies (Evil Dead anyone?) and is so widely 'referenced' to, the fact that it never existed sometimes gets lost. The influences supposedly presented in 'the book' come from many sources, and is still a constant source of contemplation among the history writers of the world.
Having lost his father at a young age, H.P. was raised primarily by his mother (who was in her 30's when she had him, which was late for that time period), his aunts and his grandfather. As with other geniuses, H.P.'s talents showed as early as three, when he composed his own poetry. It was his grandfather that was his primary influence when it came to reading the classics, and telling him weird stories, stirring his interest in the macabre. Unfortunately, being so young he suffered from, possibly because of the stories, night terrors, which may have influenced his work (and might just be one of the sources of the Necronomicon). He was sick so much (So many of these geniuses have had similar lives, haven't they?) that he didn't have much formal schooling. However, he still managed to become a published author very early and did return to school after recovering his health a bit. Not enough though. While still a teenager he suffered a nervous breakdown and never finished high school. This probably had a lot to do with genetics: His father died early, his grandfather died when he was a teen, his mother had to be committed, and his life was far from idyllic.
His life as a grown man wasn't much better. He couldn't maintain relationships, money was sporadic due to his writings not being well received, and depression and illness tormented him much of his life. It was during his final short years that most of his writings - and the most popular ones - were done. It was almost like he knew he didn't have much time. In fact he was diagnosed with cancer and malnutrition and suffered constant pain until his death.
At first, the world considered H.P. a writer of 'weird fiction'. The term 'horror fiction' developed much later. To describe his life, influences and different things about him would take - well it HAS taken more than a couple of books, movies, hell I think you could even have a small library dedicated just to H.P. So to keep this short, let's get a few things straight. Like most geniuses, he wasn't really recognized as one until decades after his death, and in fact his reputation is not diminishing, but still growing even today. I figure probably 100 years from now people will be regarding him as the greatest writer in history. But I digress. Let's talk just about a couple of major contributions:
The Necronomicon: This book has become so well known, there are those that will defend practically to the death that it is in fact a real book. Sorry, it never has been and continues not to be. If you are ever offered a 'copy' or even a copy of a copy, you're about to be ripped off. It's a pure invention of H.P.'s - he inferred at one point that the idea came to him in a dream. If this is true, he dreamed a hell of a lot more interesting stuff than I ever have. The 'book of the dead' as it is also known as has been used in many other books and movies (Evil Dead anyone?) and is so widely 'referenced' to, the fact that it never existed sometimes gets lost. The influences supposedly presented in 'the book' come from many sources, and is still a constant source of contemplation among the history writers of the world.
Cthulhu: This mythology, also tied in with the Necronomicon is also pure fiction, despite its wide use in current books and movies. It is pure Lovecraft, and so complex in its design I can't even begin to try to describe the many aspects of H.P.'s love of the cosmic complexity of the universe, not willing to settle on 'just' the idea of there being one God and one Devil - he felt there should be much, much more in the way of good and evil than that. To try to break this down would take so much time and space and besides, there are many good sources where you can learn more about this particular myth without having to deal with my inept explanations.
This myth is worshipped under various names by cults amongst both the Eskimos of Greenland and voodoo circles of Louisiana, and in many other parts of the world.
Lovecraft's works are ruled by several distinct groups of deities (actually aliens who are worshipped by humans as deities) who are either indifferent or actively hostile to humanity.
Having lost his father at a young age, H.P. was raised primarily by his mother (who was in her 30's when she had him, which was late for that time period), his aunts and his grandfather. As with other geniuses, H.P.'s talents showed as early as three, when he composed his own poetry. It was his grandfather that was his primary influence when it came to reading the classics, and telling him weird stories, stirring his interest in the macabre. Unfortunately, being so young he suffered from, possibly because of the stories, night terrors, which may have influenced his work (and might just be one of the sources of the Necronomicon). He was sick so much (So many of these geniuses have had similar lives, haven't they?) that he didn't have much formal schooling. However, he still managed to become a published author very early and did return to school after recovering his health a bit. Not enough though. While still a teenager he suffered a nervous breakdown and never finished high school. This probably had a lot to do with genetics: His father died early, his grandfather died when he was a teen, his mother had to be committed, and his life was far from idyllic.His life as a grown man wasn't much better. He couldn't maintain relationships, money was sporadic due to his writings not being well received, and depression and illness tormented him much of his life. It was during his final short years that most of his writings - and the most popular ones - were done. It was almost like he knew he didn't have much time. In fact he was diagnosed with cancer and malnutrition and suffered constant pain until his death.
There are many that consider his works blasphemous, even evil. But H.P. was simply an visionary who's take on life, the universe and everything happened to be massively different than the beliefs of the people of his time, and in fact the generations that follow.
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