Characters and events are all taking place within the same world and can be self-referential. This is because the majority of Lovecraft’s work operates in a similar style to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Mythos and Cycle are juxtaposed with Unincorporated. You may also guess by the names of the categories listed, that Lovecraftian stories are connected. Lovecraft’s fiction can essentially be divided into three categories: The Cthulhu Mythos, The Dream Cycle, and what I will call Unincorporated Stories.Ĭthulhu is his best-known figure, and if you’ve spent any substantive time on the Internet, you’ve undoubtedly crossed paths with the octopoid monstrosity before. Indeed, a very strong case can be made that Lovecraft invented a genre all his own. His fiction is what he is most known for today and stands almost universally lauded within the genre. īy the time he died, he had written 65 short stories, a near infinity of poems, and scores of miscellaneous texts. Taking an intense interest in both science and mythology, he began re-writing Greco-Roman stories with his own twists as early as age seven. According to family accounts, Lovecraft was reading, speaking, and writing proficiently by the age of three. He also was plagued by vivid nightmares, much of which would inspire his work. Lovecraft teetered on the edge of suicide for much of his life and suffered recurring bouts of extreme anxiety, migraines, insomnia, and muscle spasms.

Lovecraft’s mother would likewise die in the same asylum when her own mental health deteriorated, and she became hallucinogenic. When Lovecraft was eight years old, his father suffered a psychotic breakdown and was committed to an asylum for five years until his death. The course of his days were most often marked by misfortune, illness, and tragedy. He spent the second half of his regrettably short life as an active writer but received exceptionally few accolades until after his death. Lovecraft was born in Rhode Island during the summer of 1890 and died in March of 1937 at the age of 46 of intestinal cancer. Howard Phillips Lovecraft Bert Truesdale, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Or…as I suspect is probably the case, you just don’t know where to begin. Maybe you don’t know enough about him to know why he’s worth your time. It could be that you simply haven’t gotten around to him yet. If you fall into the latter category, there may be several reasons.

But just because you’ve heard of him doesn’t mean you know him, and it certainly doesn’t mean you’ve read him. If you’re on this website, you’ve probably heard of H.P. This article, written and read by Dean Delp, is now available on Horror Obsessive Radio.

The best lovecraft stories