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Blackwood. Mentions of other authors and works that influenced Lovecraft can be found in the entries on individual tales; see the index for references.
General topics relating to Lovecraft could theoretically be covered in an almost infinite range of entries, but we have limited our coverage to such things as Lovecraft’s involvement with amateur journalism (specifically, the two leading amateur press associations of his time, the United Amateur Press Association and the National Amateur Press Association), his use of pseudonyms, his travels, and other major issues. No separate entry on Lovecraft’s philosophical thought is included here, as the topic is too complex for succinct discussion.4
A bibliography listing important primary and secondary works on Lovecraft and a comprehensive index follow.
A word must now be said on what is notincluded in this volume.
One of the most popular aspects of Lovecraft’s work is what has come to be known as the “Cthulhu Mythos” (a term Lovecraft himself never used). His literary pantheon (entities who, in many cases, prove merely to be extraterrestrials from the depths of space) has proved fascinating to readers and writers alike, to the extent that this “mythos” has taken on a life of its own and engendered innumerable imitations and purported sequels to Lovecraft’s own work. We address none of this material in this volume. The “gods” themselves, with rare exceptions, do not figure as “characters” in any meaningful sense in the tales, so there are no entries on them. Similarly, we have provided no entries on writers who have attempted to follow in Lovecraft’s footsteps, even though there is scarcely any writer of horror tales during the past seventy years who has not been influenced in one way or another by Lovecraft. Those interested in this entire subject are referred to Chris JarochaErnst’s A Cthulhu Mythos Bibliography & Concordance(1999).
Film, television, and other media adaptations of Lovecraft’s work are similarly not covered here. Readers can find an abundance of information in Andrew Migliore and John Strysik’s The Lurker in the Lobby: A Guide to the Cinema of H.P.Lovecraft(2000).
As noted, this volume cannot be considered in any sense a thorough proper name index to Lovecraft’s work. For such an index, see S.T.Joshi’s An Index to the Fiction and Poetry of H.P.Lovecraft(1992).
This volume had its origins in a work of substantially different nature planned many years ago but never completed. At that time, several colleagues wrote brief entries (chiefly on Lovecraft’s family and colleagues) that have served as the nucleus for analogous articles included herein. We are grateful to Donald R.Burleson, Kenneth W.Faig, Jr., Will Murray, and Robert M.Price for allowing us to build upon their work. Other individuals, including Scott Connors, Daniel Harms, Donovan K.Loucks, and Christopher O’Brien, have supplied bits of valuable information.
NOTES
1. See Donald R.Burleson, H.P.Lovecraft: A Critical Study(1983); Peter Cannon, H.P.Lovecraft
(1989); S.T.Joshi,
A Subtler Magick: The Writings and Philosophy of H.P.Lovecraft
(1996).
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2. S.T.Joshi, H.P.Lovecraft and Lovecraft Criticism: An Annotated Bibliography(1981).
3. S.T.Joshi, H.P.Lovecraft: A Life(1996); Peter Cannon, ed., Lovecraft Remembered(1998).
4. For two very different discussions of this subject, see S.T.Joshi, H.P.Lovecraft: The Decline of the West(1990) and Timo Airaksinen, The Philosophy of H.P.Lovecraft(1999).
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Chronology
1890 August 20: Born at 454 Angell St. in Providence, R.I.
1890– Resides with parents at various locales in Massachusetts (Dorchester, 1890–92?; Dudley, 93 summer 1892; Auburndale, 1892–93?) as father, Winfield Scott Lovecraft, pursues business
interests.
1893 April 25: Winfield hospitalized at Butler Hospital in Providence; HPL and his mother, Sarah
Susan Lovecraft, return to family home at 454 Angell St.
1897 First writings in fiction (“The Noble Eavesdropper”) and poetry (“The Poem of Ulysses”). 1898 Discovers Edgar Allan Poe. Voluminous writing of stories (“The Secret Cave,” “The Mystery of
the Grave-yard,” “John the Detective”), some inspired by dime novels. Begins study of
chemistry.
July 19: Death of Winfield. HPL and his mother spend summer in Westminster, Mass. 1898– Attends Slater Avenue School.
99,
1902–3
1899 March 4: Begins handwritten journal, The Scientific Gazette(to 1905), largely devoted to
chemistry.
1902 Winter: Discovers astronomy, largely from books in li