Home » Posts tagged "H. P. Lovecraft" (Page 8)

Monster Movie Month: At the Movies with H.P. Lovecraft

Howard Philips Lovecraft, known as H.P. Lovecraft, was a writer of weird fiction- tales with a supernatural bent- and a defining influence on the horror genre. He was born on August 20, 1890, and died at age 46 on March 15, 1937.

Lovecraft is best known for his invention of the Cthulu mythos- a cycle of loosely-related stories that concerned the “Great Old Ones,” beings from outer space who took up residence on Earth to cause total destruction. After Lovecraft’s death other authors, including August Derleth and Robert E. Howard, took up writing stories using the Cthulu mythos, and writers continue to use and find inspiration in his ideas and mythos today . The subgenre of Lovecraftian horror uses the concept of cosmicism. According to Wikipedia, that can be defined as “the sense that ordinary life is a thin shell over a reality which is so alien and abstract in comparison that merely contemplating it would damage the sanity of the ordinary person”.

The Cthulu mythos and Lovecraftian horror have taken hold in popular culture in interesting ways. There’s a roleplaying game, Call of Cthulhu; a band called H.P. Lovecraft; and a zillion products for your favorite cultists, including a cuddly plush Cthulu, perfect for baby showers(and yes, I did receive not one, but two of these at mine). And, of course, there are movies.

Click here to see a review and suggested read-alikes for the newest Lovecraft-inspired movie, Cabin in the Woods, and check out this one-sheet readers advisory handout for the newest Lovecraft-inspired movie, from reviewer Benjamin Franz.

For a list of Lovecraft-inspired and Lovecraftian movies, check out this page from the H.P.Lovecraft Archives or this filmography from IMdb.

If you’re interested in building your Lovecraft collection, take a moment to visit Jamie Blackman’s H.P. Lovecraft Collection Development Guide at MonsterLibrarian.com, and check out our Cthulu Mythos page for reviews of works of Lovecraftian horror.

 

Posted on July 3, 2012 by , Reply

Why Read The Classics?

Well, for one thing, they’re available. The Brevard County Library System in Florida pulled the erotic bestseller Fifty Shades of Grey from its shelves this week after determining that it didn’t meet the library system’s selection criteria. Library services director Cathy Schweinsberg said,

“Nobody asked us to take it off the shelves. But we bought some copies before we realized what it was. We looked at it, because it’s been called ‘mommy porn’ and ‘soft porn.’ We don’t collect porn.”

What I find most interesting about this is that the intrepid reporter covering the story (click here to see it) did a little browsing in the library catalog, and found a variety of well-known erotic titles, including The Complete Kama Sutra, Fanny Hill, Lolita, Tropic of Cancer, Lady Chatterly’s Lover, and Fear of Flying (if she ever leaves journalism, she could have a bright future as a readers advisory librarian). When the library director was asked why these titles, with content of a similar nature, were on the shelves, she said:

“I think because those other books were written years ago and became classics because of the quality of the writing… This is not a classic.”

(I wonder if they own Twilight?)

So if I want to check out erotica from the Brevard County Libraries, it has to be well-aged, and well-written. (I guess it’s a good thing that I don’t live in Brevard County). But this whole incident raises an interesting point. There are many who look down on the horror genre- on post 1974 horror in particular (to use Becky Siegel Spratford’s demarcation) and who wouldn’t dream of having those nasty covers, those possibly badly written books, anywhere nearby, because they’re not old enough and haven’t been canonized yet. And a lot of books ARE badly written and never will become classics. But people want them. They want that feeling. It’s not fair to dismiss the desires of your readers and users, whether those desires involve erotic Twilight fanfiction or ravening zombies.

If you happen to have a library that doesn’t have the horror fiction you are looking for, it doesn’t mean you’re out of luck. They are in disguise, lurking in the depths of the library- Edgar Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, Ray Bradbury, Shirley Jackson… Jekyll and Hyde, Dorian Gray, Dracula, Victor Frankenstein. If you can’t find the latest, try out the early greats. And then harass your librarian to get you the new stuff while you read… the classics.

Posted on May 5, 2012 by , Reply

Women in Horror Month: Silvia Moreno-Garcia and New Visions of Lovecraft

So, I’m noodling around on the Internet looking at what comes up when I search for “women writers and horror” and trip across Broad Universe, which is an organization that promotes women writers of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. I’ve been there before, but not in a while, so I decided to explore a little and soon I discovered a blog entry by someone whose name seemed familiar. Silvia Moreno-Garcia, who runs horror micro-publisher Innsmouth Free Press, wrote about new ways of approaching Lovecraft. She wrote:

“Lovecraft does not need to be all lily-white New England gentlemen cloned from one of his stories, any more than an epic fantasy needs to include hobbits”.

With Innsmouth Free Press she is approaching Lovecraft in new ways. Not that long ago, we reviewed Historical Lovecraft: Tales of Horror Through Time, an anthology produced by Innsmouth Free Press that explored Lovecraft’s universe through a variety of times and cultures (you can check out the review here). I like seeing that even the old white dead guys can escape the restraints of their time and place, with a little push from the right person. Not every woman involved in the horror genre is a big name, but there are many, like Silvia Moreno-Garcia, who put a lot of time, money, and love into making it what it is, not just for women, but for anyone interested.

(For the record, I don’t know Silvia Moreno-Garcia beyond our contact regarding the review mentioned above. I just like what she said).

Posted on February 16, 2012 by , Reply
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