On this day in 1937, Howard Phillips Lovecraft passed away.
Quite unintentionally, Lovecraft created a multiverse we now call the Cthulhu Mythos. He encouraged fellow writers to contribute, from Robert Bloch and Clark Ashton Smith to C.L. Moore and Robert E. Howard. Lovecraft influenced Stephen King, Ramsey Campbell and many other writers. The Cthulhu Mythos can be found in RPGs, comics and films too.
The Old Gent will no doubt inspire others as time goes by.
Lovecraft is problematic; Robert E. Howard is the same. Edgar Rice Burroughs has raised some issues as well.
Poe had his share of baggage.
People have talked about HPL's antisemitism yet at the same time, his wife Sonia Greene was Jewish, which upset Lovecraft's aunts; Robert Bloch, who was Jewish, had a very close relationship with HPL and considered him as a friend and mentor.
Thousands of Lovecraft's correspondence with friends and fellow writers have been collected over the years; yes, some of the letters reveal his deplorable views -- but it's also been noted that as Lovecraft traveled more and more, from Florida to Quebec, increased contact with other ethnicities slowly changed his views.
Plus, many in the Lovecraft Circle held more progressive views and their communication with Lovecraft, bit by bit, eroded his views. Again, change was slow.
The HP Lovecraft Historical Society addresses the subject:
'We recognize that Lovecraft was racist in his personal views, and grapple constantly with the challenge of reconciling apprehensions about the man with appreciation for his artistic creations. We strive to recontextualize those creations for a new era. We fully agree that Black lives matter. We can’t change Lovecraft, but we can help change our world. We must evaluate the past unflinchingly, see the present honestly, and embrace changes to create a future that brings justice and equality to everyone. To pursue that change, the HPLHS donates a portion of its profits to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Further, we do our best to work with a diverse team of artists to ensure that the products we make are inclusive and welcoming to all."
Chaosium, who publishes the now classic Call of Cthulhu RPG -- now in its seventh edition and still responsible for introducing Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos to many -- share a similar response:
Q: Wasn't H.P. Lovecraft a terrible racist?
A: Yes, he was. Lovecraft was a complex and troubled person in life. He was a wonderful writer with a wondrous imagination, a friend to many, and part of a corresponding group of writers (that included Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, and others) that created the genres of horror and heroic fantasy as we know it. He also wrote things that were racist, and anti-Semitic, and probably misogynistic as well. His fear of the "Other", "infecting" the body of "old stock" definitely influenced his writing, and can be seen in things like Shadows Over Innsmouth, The Horror at Red Hook, and The Thing on the Doorstep. But these were also major anxieties of his time, shared by many others—Lovecraft's horror is many of the deep fears of the modern world (and includes the fear that not only is there no benevolent God but that the "gods" are outright malevolent and hate us). Lovecraft's cosmos is a howling abyss and none dare stare too long into it without becoming a monster.
The world back then was darker as open displays of racism and antisemitism were not only acceptable but even encouraged. Segregation and even eugenics were legal throughout the United States.
Today, we value the Constitution yet we have to remind ourselves that the Founding Fathers themselves didn't have progressive views. We have to remember that Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and other suffragists held racist views as well.
Today, many people who read and love the Cthulhu Mythos and even write it are also Jewish, LGBTQ, POC -- Lovecraft events draw a wildly diverse group of fans, scholars and writers.
I agree with the views from the HPLHS.
Lovecraft and others who wrote Cthulhu Mythos stories have been a big influence on my own writing. I love those stories. But I don't forget that Lovecraft and Howard had some beliefs I strongly disagree with.
