H.P. Lovecraft: Difference between revisions

The dizzying speed of progress of his time was compounded by an expansion of the unknown. Each new development, instead of reducing the number of questions as had been expected by pre-modern philosophers, instead compounded them exponentially. Leibniz had hoped that the entire world could be described by reason, and that this is the best of all possible worlds -- a possibility utterly abolished during Lovecraft's writing period. Each new discovery only increased humanity's knowledge of its own ignorance and [[Insignificant Little Blue Planet|insignificance]], encouraging a nihilistic atmosphere, and this is perhaps the central theme of Lovecraft's incisive fiction. For fiction done by others in his literary mythos (and the Lovecraftian setting as a whole) see the [[Cthulhu Mythos]].

 

 

=== The stories for which he is remembered include: ===

* [[Alien Invasion]] - The [[Sufficiently Advanced Aliens]] are waiting to reclaim what was rightfully theirs; the others {{spoiler|have been here for millennia, but humans are simply unaware of their presence}}.

* [[Aliens Speaking English]] - played for horror rather than narrative convenience, since most Lovecraftian aliens and fantasy creatures '''don't''' speak English, but often some tongue [[Black Speech|inherently disturbing to human ears]], but when they speak English [[It Got Worse|shit really hits the fan.]]

* [[Ancient Astronauts]]: Perhaps the first use of the trope in fiction. Notable in that {{spoiler|unlike most ancient astronaut stories, the aliens are decidedly ''not'' humanoid}}.

* [[And Then John Was a Zombie]]: Happens in {{spoiler|''Shadow over Innsmouth'', and played with in ''The Whisperer in Darkness'' (Akeley does not actually become one of the creatures, but he does join their community, as it were). Pickman's alluded-to fate (later confirmed in ''The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath'') in ''Pickman's Model'' is an inversion: he does not, in fact, consider it a terrible fate at all.}}

*** That alone may indicate that he did just that. He was writing ''horror'', and the idea would have certainly been horrifying in his mind. Also, there were many scientific discoveries he found distasteful, yet didn't reject out of emotional reasons. He might well have written the story to deal with his own issues in learning about the genetic connection between the Africans and the Caucasians. Not to mention that he had no trouble in writing about degenerate, barbaric white people, and did it with far greater frequency than lauding against the blacks.

*** Actually this counts for an entirely different reason, Lovecraft didnt actually care that much about miscegenation at this point in his life but he inadvertently was correct because he did not research this, the primary belief among biologists who believed evolution thought Humanity originated in Asia at the time.

* [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?]]: Although this usually clashes with Lovecraft's [[Cosmic Horror Story]] message, he used it occasionally: most notably, the monster beneath ''[[The Shunned House]]'' is killed by pouring ''sulfuric acid'' over it.

** There is also the trio of Miskatonic professors, who went and kicked the Dunwhich Horror's ass and sent him crying to his dad. ''Literally''.

* [[Our Monsters Are Weird]]: Most of his aliens who aren't just plain [[Eldritch Abomination|Eldritch Abominations]] fall under this trope.

* [[Our Vampires Are Different]]: The {{spoiler|''enormous''}} vampire from ''The Shunned House'' manifests itself as a cloud of yellowish, man-eating fog.

** And the Whateleys' herd of cows keep getting these weird incisions, and they look kind of anemic.

* [[Perfect Pacifist People]]: Made fun of in the poem,[http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/poetry/p095.asp "Pacifist War Song].

* [[Sealed Evil in A Can]]: Cthulhu, among others. Often self-sealed.

* [[Sensitive Guy and Manly Man]]: Lovecraft himself was the Sensitive Guy (for a given measure of "sensitive") to Robert E. Howard's Manly Man. They never met in person, but became friends via correspondence.

** Robert Blake in ''The Haunter of the Dark'' {{spoiler|doesn't end up well}} -- a playful [[Take That]] from Lovecraft to his young admirer Bloch.

*** To be fair, a character named Howard who is a recluse in Providence ends up dying in one of Bloch's stories. "The Haunter of the Dark" even references that story. Both stories also begin with dedications to the other author.

* [[Sufficiently Advanced Alien]]

* [[Magic From Technology|Sufficiently Advanced Technology]] or, rather, Sufficiently Advanced Science, in "The Dreams in the Witch-House"

* [[Take That]]: New York. Lovecraft ''hated'' New York and made it apparent. If you want to know what he thought of New York, read ''He''.

* [[The Taming of the Grue]]: You can buy Cthulhu plush toys, and there's a meme with a Cthulhu carrying a bouquet of roses captioned "Cthulhu needs love too!" The video [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOHJUrcVdJk Adventures of Li'l Cthulhu], the games "The Stars Are Right", "Munchkin Cthulhu", etc. [[Played for Laughs|plays being driven insane by the touch of the Elder Things]] [[Dude, Not Funny|for laughs.]]