Howard Phillips Lovecraft has posthumously become a pop culture celebrity over the years, for better or worse. The influence of his writing has spread far beyond literature, invading movies, comic-books, video games and even tabletop RPGs. Nowadays, it’s hard to pinpoint any specific piece of media that doesn’t carry at least a pinch of Lovecraftian concepts. While the master of cosmic horror has authored countless chilling tales, he’s most famous for the creation of the infamous Cthulhu Mythos, a literary universe connecting some of his most terrifying work. Now, in 2017, the Mythos is celebrating a whopping one hundred years, and it’s about time that we appreciate that fact.
Back in 1917, Lovecraft had just begun his career as an author, and penned the first Cthulhu Mythos story, Dagon, inspired by a nightmare (which is something of a recurring theme with his best stories). While it probably wasn’t intended to be the start of a terrifying universe of interconnected tales, Dagon sets up a lot of what the Mythos would eventually become. The story of a man driven insane after witnessing an eldritch abomination rise out of the sea to imply mankind’s impending doom contains all of the classic Mythos tropes, and Dagon himself would become a recurring figure in later tales.
From there, the world was soon treated to further tales of Elder Gods and forgotten horrors, though it was only in 1928 that The Call of Cthulhu, Lovecraft’s most famous and influential tale, would see the light of day. The story expanded upon the established mythology (even briefly mentioning the ill-fated narrator of Dagon), and introduced the world to everyone’s favorite octopus-faced Old One, the darkly dreaming Cthulhu.
By his untimely death in 1937, H.P. Lovecraft had amassed quite the pantheon of unfathomable beings that were here long before mankind, and would undoubtedly still be around once we’re gone. Stories like The Shadow Over Innsmouth and At The Mountains Of Madness perfected Lovecraft’s iconic formula for cosmic horror, and are still referenced in modern horror to this day (though everyone is still bitter about Guillermo Del Toro’s failed adaptation of the latter tale).
While the eccentric author never shied away from grotesque monstrosities in his work (hell, he certainly created some of the scariest creatures ever described), what set Lovecraft apart from other horror writers of his time were the disturbing philosophies underlying most of his tales. His belief in an indifferent and uncaring universe resulted in complex stories that avoided the usual trappings of good versus evil and even tapped into relatively modern concepts like existential dread. For example, the Great Old Ones wouldn’t necessarily make it their business to destroy humanity, we’d just be too small and insignificant to survive their inevitable return to this world. There lies the seed of cosmic horror that has frightened so many readers over the last hundred years.
The recurring themes of insanity, suicide and suspicion over humanity’s place as the dominant species of the planet have resonated with many other artists over the years. That’s why it’s no surprise that most people now know Lovecraft from works that reference him, rather than from his original stories. Even before his death, authors like Robert E. Howard (who was a dear friend of the troubled writer) incorporated elements from the Cthulhu Mythos in their own stories, which is why some argue that the Conan the Barbarian tales take place in the same universe.
August Derleth, another one of Howard’s literary friends, went to great lengths to keep the Mythos alive after the author’s passing, going so far as to add his own spin on cosmic horror. It was only after his founding of the Arkham House of publishing that Lovecraft became a household name, as, despite limited critical acclaim, the author had previously never been able to support himself purely through writing. Thanks to Derleth, many other authors and artists gained access to Howard’s tales, which ultimately resulted in the Lovecraftian influence on nearly all facets of modern popular culture.
From Batman’s infamous Arkham Asylum to the terrifying films of John Carpenter and Stuart Gordon, it’s hard to imagine a world without Lovecraft. Could geniuses like Clive Barker or Stephen King even exist without taking lessons from the master of tentacled terror? Even bands like Metallica have devised musical homages to the Mythos’ eldritch abominations. Howard himself almost certainly couldn’t have predicted the impact his imagination would have on media as a whole when he came up with iconic monsters and objects like shoggoths or the Necronomicon.
Nevertheless, it’s important to note that, as a human being, H.P. Lovecraft was an incredibly complicated and controversial figure. It’s clear that he held several racist and xenophobic beliefs, and you couldn’t quite label him as a mentally balanced individual either. Many of these unfortunate ideals bled into his stories, and it’s easy to identify his (sadly all too-contemporary) anxieties surrounding immigration and the “invasion” of foreigners that might eventually replace the American population. However, there is evidence to suggest that, by the end of his life, the author had grown more accepting of diversity and at the very least tolerated the melting pot that the United States had become at the time.
Regardless of his personal flaws, Lovecraft has also been criticized for his overreliance on convoluted wording and repetitive formulas. Some critics even argue that once you’ve read one Lovecraft story, you’ve read them all. These are valid points, to an extent, but these flaws might also be considered some of Howard’s defining attributes. While it’s understandable that some people might be put off by these techniques, complaining about them would be like arguing that slasher movies are too bloody, or that Kubrick’s direction is too meticulous.
Whether or you love him or hate him, there’s no denying Lovecraft’s influence on culture as a whole. Hell, the fact that there are still legions of readers worldwide swearing that Lovecraft’s writings were secretly non-fiction (despite his numerous attempts at explaining otherwise) is a testament to the author’s status as one of the most influential artists of the 20th century. With that in mind, why not re-watch, re-read or even re-play some of our favorite pieces of Cthulhu Mythos media in honor of this most terrifying anniversary? After all, the only side-effect is impending insanity, so what’s the worst that could happen?
