The Life and Times of H.P. Lovecraft

Howard Philips Lovecraft was born on August 20, 1890, in Providence, Rhode Island. Lovecraft had an unusual childhood. When he was about three years old, his father a traveling salesman and former blacksmith, developed a mental disorder as the result of untreated syphilis. In 1893, his father became a patient at the Butler Hospital in Providence where he remained untilhis death in 1898.

            HPL was a sickly child and, as a result, spent most of his school years at home. He was extremely recluse and even called “an abomination” by his own mother. However, as a product of his reclusive nature, HP turned to books and  became an avid reader.  He read the works of a variety of authors and aquired an affinity for the works of Edgar Allan Poe.  HP also developed a deep interest in astronomy. As a teenager, HP attended Hope High School but suffered a debilitating nervous breakdown before he could earn his diploma. Lovecraft became even more reclusive, choosing to stay up late studying, reading, and writing and then sleeping late into the day. During this period of solitary study HP managed to publish a few articles about astronomy in local newspapers.

            A short time later Lovecraft struck out as a would-be journalist and, in 1941, joined the United Amateur Press Association. While he reportedly dabbled in fiction early on, in early 1917 HP became more serious about story writing. Many of his works from this period were influenced by the writings of Lord Dunsany, an Irish author of fantasy tales, as well as Lovecraft's favorite writer, the American author, Edgar Allan Poe.

In early 1923 the horror magazine “Weird Tales” purchased and published several of Lovecraft's stories providing his first taste of literary success. The following year he married Sonia Greene. The couple lived in New York City for two years but split up each going in separate directions. After his marriage failed, Lovecraft returned to Rhode Island and began work on some of his best stories.  In 1928 "The Call of Cthulhu" was published  in Weird Tales. This haunting tale illustrated Lovecraft's unique ability to create an otherworldly type of terror. According to American Heritage magazine, Lovecraft once wrote, "all of my tales are based on the fundamental premise that common human laws and emotions have no validity or significance in the cosmos-at-large." HP returned to imaginary stories of alien beings and galactic civilizaitons throughout his literary career.

Lovecraft was barely able to support himself during his final years. Poverty compelled him to work editing and ghostwriting to try to make ends meet. H. P. Lovecraft died of cancer on March 15, 1937, in Providence, Rhode Island. He left behind more than 60 short stories and a few novels and novellas. In spite of his reclusive nature his passing was mourned by his colleagues.  Shortly after his passing two members of his narrow circle of friends, August Derleth and Donald Wandrei, formed a publishing company, named Arkham House, dedicated to preserving and promoting Lovecraft's works of fiction. Their publishing house inspired the Arkham Asylum of the Batman comic book series.

Ironically after Lovecraft’s death his work became extremely famous, selling millions upon millions of books. These works would come to inspire many who wished to write such macabre stories like his own.