H.P. Lovecraft
Howard Phillips Lovecraft, better known as HP Lovecraft, was an American writer of horror and…well…just…odd fiction, active during the early 20th century. Though he grew up in affluence, Lovecraft was struck early with family tragedy, thus compounded by financial struggles, and while he was never quite the type to make an effort with his studies, Lovecraft’s imagination was built at a very young age due to his beloved Grandfather’s storytelling. In the years before, during, and after WWI, Lovecraft became involved in pulp fiction, writing and publishing stories which focused on his interpretation of humanity’s place in the universe, and these works would of course be supplemented with fantastical, strange, and sometimes horrific elements. His best known work, “The Call of Cthulhu” (khlul-loo) is the one that put him on the map, and despite being virtually unknown during his time, Lovecraft in later years has amassed a cult following including both Stephen King and Neil Gaiman. So just who was this New Englander with a taste for things macabre and strange? Well, he was a man who was the best of friends with Harry Houdini (an odd character as well, to say the least); he rarely went into public during daylight hours (sounds a tad vampiric to me, but probably the result of his consistent night terrors), and on top of disliking sex and being a relatively…uh…lazy individual, Lovecraft was a pretty prejudiced guy, even for the context of the time he was alive, bordering on white supremacist. Legacy is FINALLY back, and we are tackling one of the more controversial writers I have ever covered on the podcast this week with none other than HP motherfucking Lovecraft.