Whisperer in the Darkness: H.P. Lovecraft and His Influence on Horror

This essay was adapted from a recent episode of the Coffee Before Pants podcast

H.P. Lovecraft.   You may not have even heard of him or read any of his fiction, but I’m sure you have encountered books or movies that were inspired by him. Although denied any notoriety or recognition while he was still alive, he has over the last 80 or so years become a great influence on literature.  Horror literature, specifically. He has inspired many writers, artists, and filmmakers.

Yes, H.P. Lovecraft.  He is one of my favorite writers of the horror genre.  In fact, I am in the process of reading his complete fiction.  And trust me, that is no small feat.  He was an incredibly prolific writer, especially given his short time on this Earth.

Howard Phillips Lovecraft was an American writer of weird, science, fantasy, and horror fiction. He is best known for his creation of the Cthulhu Mythos.  Born in Providence, Rhode Island, Lovecraft spent most of his life in New England. After his father's institutionalization in 1893, he lived affluently until his family's wealth dissipated after the death of his grandfather. Lovecraft then lived with his mother, in reduced financial security, until her institutionalization in 1919. He began to write essays for the United Amateur Press Association, and in 1913 wrote a critical letter to a pulp magazine that ultimately led to his involvement in pulp fiction. He became active in the speculative fiction community and was published in several pulp magazines.

Lovecraft moved to New York City, marrying Sonia Greene in 1924, and later became the center of a wider group of authors known as the "Lovecraft Circle". They introduced him to Weird Tales, which became his most prominent publisher. Lovecraft's time in New York took a toll on his mental state and financial conditions. He returned to Providence in 1926 and produced some of his most popular works, including The Call of Cthulhu, At the Mountains of Madness, The Shadow over Innsmouth, and The Shadow Out of Time. He remained active as a writer for 11 years until his death from intestinal cancer at the age of 46.

Lovecraft's literary corpus is rooted in cosmicism, which was simultaneously his personal philosophy and the main theme of his fiction. Cosmicism posits that humanity is an insignificant part of the cosmos and could be swept away at any moment. He incorporated fantasy and science fiction elements into his stories, representing the perceived fragility of anthropocentrism. This was tied to his ambivalent views on knowledge. His works were largely set in a fictionalized version of New England. Civilizational decline also plays a major role in his works, as he believed that the West was in decline during his lifetime. Lovecraft's early political views were conservative and traditionalist; additionally, he held a number of racist views for much of his adult life. Following the Great Depression, Lovecraft's political views became more socialist while still remaining elitist and aristocratic.

Throughout his adult life, Lovecraft was never able to support himself from his earnings as an author and editor. He was virtually unknown during his lifetime and was almost exclusively published in pulp magazines before his death. A scholarly revival of Lovecraft's work began in the 1970s, and he is now regarded as one of the most significant 20th-century authors of supernatural horror fiction. Many direct adaptations and spiritual successors followed. Works inspired by Lovecraft, adaptations or original works, began to form the basis of the Cthulhu Mythos, which utilizes Lovecraft's characters, setting, and themes.

Lovecraft and other writers of weird fiction brought horror into more modern times and settings.  Prior to this, most horror was Gothic (like Dracula, Frankenstein, Carmilla with it’s castles and foreboding landscapes.  Lovecraft and his contemporaries set their stories in early 20th century, contemporary to when they were alive. That being said, Lovecraft’s stories did display some influence from Poe, Folk Horror, and Gothic horror, but brought it to his time.

As I mentioned before, Lovecraft would have never imagined his post mortem popularity with readers and the influence he had over later writers. His fiction was, in all likelihood, hard to accept by many general readers.  His writing could be wordy and dry, to be honest.  Still, his influence on many writers and other creators cannot be denied.

Horror author Stephen King cites Lovecraft as a major influence on his own work.  The short story “Jerusalem’s Lot” a prequel of sorts to King’s second novel Salem’s Lot, was definitely an homage to Lovecraft. King’ story The Mist, with its creatures from another dimension not usually seen my mortals, was also heavily influenced by Lovecraft.  King himself has said that even Randall Flagg, the antagonist from The Stand, and Pennywise from It were based on and inspired by Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos. I would venture to say that the Cthulhu Mythos is an inspiration for King’s The Dark Tower universe.

Author Neil Gaiman also cites Lovecraft as a considerable influence on his own work. Gaiman is quoted saying "The interesting thing is in Lovecraft, people don't do the wrong thing in the way that you normally do in horror fiction. In horror fiction, you do the wrong thing: you go into the shop and you buy that cat-headed object you probably shouldn't, or whatever, and everything goes bad. In Lovecraft, you simply get a room in a wrong place, move to the wrong town, read the wrong story. You're just screwed."

Gaiman wrote several short stories based on Lovecraft, as well as interviewed about Lovecraft’s influence, in the documentary The Eldritch Influence: The Life, Vision and Phenomenon of H.P. Lovecraft, which is available on DVD.  Gaiman’s Lovecraft-inspired short fictions include Only the End of the World Again, Shoggoth’s Old Peculiar, both of which are included in Gaiman’s short story collection, Smoke and Mirrors.

Brian Lumley was an incredibly prolific English author of horror fiction. He came to prominence in the 1970s writing in the Cthulhu Mythos created by American writer H. P. Lovecraft but featuring the new character Titus Crow.  Lumley also  created new “Elder Gods” inspired by Lovecraft’s mythos. He later went on to greater fame in the 1980s with the best-selling Necroscope series, initially centered on character Harry Keogh, who can communicate with the spirits of the dead. And now he is another author added to the Onerous and Ever Growing To Be Read List. It never ends, does it?

I also have to mention Colin Wilson. Wilson was a British philosopher and author.  Readers of H.P. Lovecraft are more that just slightly familiar with the book titled Necronomicon, written by the “mad Arab Abdul Ahazred.” In my years of working at different bookstores, there were often people who came searching for this book.  Yes, there is a book titled Necronomicon.  One will occasionally run across this title, and sure enough, it shows the author as being good old Abdul. I hope I don’t ruin anyone’s day by saying this, but the book you might find at a second-hand bookstore is not the actual Necronomicon.  That’s because it never really existed.  The book that one would find was written by none other than Colin Wilson as a hoax. The Necronomicon, before Colin Wilson came along, was a product of H.P. Lovecraft’s wild imagination. 

In case you are wondering why you have heard of Colin Wilson, he was also the author of The Space Vampires, the basis of Tobe Hooper’s abysmal 1985 film "Lifeforce.”

There are also filmmakers that have been inspired by Lovecraft.  In the 60’s and early 70s there were several films loosely based on Lovecraft’s writings.  A few of them produced by none other than Roger Corman. The Dunwich Horror, Die,Monster,Die (based on The Colour Out of Space) and The Shuttered Room. Corman also produced The Haunted Palace, which was presented as from Edgar Allan Poe, but the story was quite loosely based on Lovecraft’s The Case of Charles Dexter Ward and The Shadow Over Innsmouth.

A more contemporary director, Guillermo Del Toro is also inspired by H.P. Lovecraft. Although the source material is Mike Mignola’s, there is definitely some Lovecraft influence in at least the first film.
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When most people think of John Carpenter and Lovecraft’s influence on him, they usually go to In the Mouth of Madness.  And they’re not wrong.  I would say, although the basic story is based on John W Campbell’s short story “Who Goes There?”  John Carpenter’s 1982 masterpiece, (yes, MASTERPIECE) The Thing is basically a Lovecraft movie, no less than that of Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead.

And those who are old enough to remember Rod Serling’s Night Gallery, there were a few episodes that featured adaptations of Lovecraft stories, namely “Pickman’s Model” and “Cool Air,” I will have you know that Pickman’s Model gave me at least a few weeks of nightmares.  It also was my first step toward being a fan of H.P. Lovecraft.

Finally, I have to say this. Lovecraft’s detractors seem to focus less on his writing, which yes can be verbose, and more on his personal and political prejudices.  Yes, H.P. Lovecraft was racist, anti-Semitic, and xenophobic.  And yes, it does come through, albeit vaguely, in his writing.  That does not negate his talent or imagination. And oh man, he was prolific. I recommend Lovecraft become part of your to-be-read list.  His books are not hard to find at all. One of the reasons for this, sadly enough, is that Lovecraft’s fiction fell into the public domain some time ago.  He’s everywhere….

You can find several editions of H.P. Lovecraft’s Complete Fiction, both in print and as Kindle Books.  As far as the Kindle books go, read the reviews.  I’ve seen some reviews that state that the book is not as complete as they say.  That’s the drawback of a book being in the public domain.

Want to learn more about H.P. Lovecraft?  Here is a video H.P. Lovecraft: Fear of the Unknown