2010-01-05 - Lovecraft: Fear of the Unknown

What do you know about one of horror's most influential writers? Jabcuga examines the documentary LOVECRAFT: FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN

Howard Phillips Lovecraft, better known as H.P. Lovecraft, was a downright strange man who wrote strange and weird fiction. Sure, that may sound like me or some of my friends, but Lovecraft was a trailblazer whose work still resonates to this very day. If there were a Mt. Rushmore of horror, yes, there would be a strong case for his inclusion. A writer responsible for timeless tales like "The Call of Cthulhu," "At the Mountains of Madness," "Pickman's Model" and "The Dunwich Horror," to name a few, Lovecraft more or less created his own subgenre of horror literature. Indeed, these days films or books are often described as "Lovecraftian."

LOVECRAFT: FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN, directed by Frank H. Woodward, looks at the life, work, and phenomenon of H.P. Lovecraft. By doing so, Woodward provides viewers with a look at some of horror's strongest roots. Later generations would harvest the seeds planted by Poe and Lovecraft, strange fruit that ripens and rots to the delight of many to this very day.

Sadly, Lovecraft died very much an unknown commodity, never enjoying the fame or renown that he greatly deserved. Even to this day, I don't believe Lovecraft gets the recognition his work warrants. Various horror heavyweights, a who's who in modern pop culture, cite Lovecraft as a prime influence on their own work. Names like Guillermo Del Toro, Neil Gaiman, Stuart Gordon, Peter Straub, and John Carpenter. They all appear in the documentary. The HELLBOY films, lovingly and masterfully directed by Del Toro, and for that matter, the HELLBOY comics, created by Mike Mignola, owe much to the imagination of Lovecraft. So it's no surprise to see Del Toro in full-on fanboy mode while interviewed for the documentary, and his exuberance for Lovecraft is genuine and infectious. Gaiman points out that Lovecraft's work, while not always technically sound, is superb in creating and capturing what has become Lovecraft's trademark freaky-deaky tone and mood, if the plots themselves frequently leave something to be desired. Gaiman proves his fondness for the author by reciting passages from memory. He's even written a tribute, called "I Cthulhu or What's A Tentacle-Faced Thing Like Me Doing In A Sunken City Like This (Latitude 47° 9' S, Longitude 126° 43' W)?", available at his own Web site.



Lovecraft is very much a product of his time, and the documentary points out that he often felt alienated. It explores his upbringing and his relationships, which were often cold and nearly clinical. H.P. Lovecraft was a pioneer during the days of pulp fiction, and corresponded to friends and future greats such as Robert Bloch, writing pages upon pages of letters, often offering them incisively detailed constructive criticism. As the old saying goes, the greatest teacher is often the greatest student, so perhaps these penpal tutorials benefited Lovecraft as well. If anything, they opened up a channel to the outside world, one where his words might not be strangled in silence or obscurity. The world has never had a shortage of outsiders. It just feels that way sometimes. Maybe Lovecraft wrote as a means to comprehend his own fears, to put things in context, or as an attempt to deal with his isolation. Fortunately, his work lives on, if not from his own pen, then from that of his descendents and some may even call them disciples (of the Cult of Cthulhu), ranging from Caitlin Kiernan and Ramsey Campbell to H.R. Giger and Clive Barker. And that's just scratching the surface of the darkness. LOVECRAFT: FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN is recommended to fans of Lovecraft, and for those looking to broaden their understanding of some of horror's fundamentals.

Joshua Jabcuga is the author of two comic-book series, SCARFACE: DEVIL IN DISGUISE, and THE MUMMY: THE RISE & FALL OF XANGO'S AX, both available from IDW Publishing. He's currently feeding his inner-Cthulhu. His online column, Squib Central, is available exclusively for Scott Tipton's www.Comics101.com.

"Josh Jabcuga can take the 26 measly letters of our crude alphabet and capture the bi-polar soul of all that is classically yet disturbingly American. Then, when his typewriter is left to cool, he can turn right around...completely ready to trounce any drunk punk that's got me backed into a corner." -- The Colonel J.D. Wilkes of The Legendary Shack*Shakers, currently appearing on the soundtrack to HBO's hit series, TRUE BLOOD.