Tag Archives: H. P. Lovecraft

Brief Reflections on August Derleth

August Derleth

Today, February 24, marks the birth of August Derleth (1909-1971). He founded Arkham House publisher to keep the work of H. P. Lovecraft in print. For this we all owe him a great debt of gratitude. Derleth was something of a controversial figure in the field for the way he handled the literary estate of H. P. Lovecraft, especially his “posthumous collaborations” in which he completed some stories Lovecraft left unfinished at his death.

My purpose with this post is not to focus on Arkham House, but on an aspect of Derleth’s legacy that is sadly neglected today, and that’s his work as a writer of weird fiction.

It’s been over a decade since there was a collection of Derleth’s work published. I did a quick check online, and the starting price for a collection of his ghost stories was $200. Too rich for my blood.

I was going to review a couple of short pieces I have in anthologies, “Muggeridge’s Aunt” and “The Shuttered House”. Both were fairly standard ghost stories. While not rising to the level of a James or Wakefield, they were still well told and provided a pleasant way to while away a few spare minutes. The problem is the former isn’t readily available in either electronic or print format, and the latter is only in a facsimile of The Avon Fantasy Reader Number 1. For these birthday posts, I’m not going to review stories that aren’t readily available.

I would hope some ambitious publisher would take a chance and produce an inexpensive collection, or better yet a set, of Derleth’s weird fiction.

C. M. Eddy, Jr.’s Notorious Love

The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard: “Pigeons From Hell”

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“Pigeons From Hell”
The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard
Originally published in Weird Tales, May 1938

And so we come to what is arguably the greatest horror story of Robert E. Howard. Although it wasn’t published until nearly two years after his death, “Pigeons From Hell” has remained one of Howard’s most popular nonseries stories.

It’s a Southern Gothic that contains some truly chilling scenes. I’ve read it at least twice before, but it’s been probably a decade since the last time. It had lost none of its power when I reread it earlier this evening. Continue reading →

Reflections on H. P. Lovecraft

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As I promised in the previous post, here’s one devoted to someone who has had an important role in my life and who has a birthday today. My mother-in-law. Happy birthday, June.

Wait, what? Oh, sorry about that. Got confused for a minute.

I want to talk about H. P. Lovecraft on his birthday (August 20). I’m gong to vent my spleen a bit.

A day or two ago a link came across my Twitter feed to an article ranting about Lovecraft’s racism. Yeah, that again.

Let me make something clear for everyone who didn’t quit reading at the last paragraph. I do not condone, subscribe to, or approve of Lovecraft’s views on race. Period. Full stop.

That does not mean I don’t enjoy his work. Do certain aspects of it bother me? Sure. But I’m a big boy. I can handle viewpoints that aren’t the same as mine. I can even handle viewpoints I find offensive.

What I get tired of are people who continually judge writers from other periods in history by today’s standards. For some reason those writers are always found wanting. If you don’t want to read an author because of their views on race/politics/religion/how they pronounce tomato, that’s fine. Just don’t tell me I can’t or shouldn’t read those authors. There’s a tendency to go beyond that and try to shame people who enjoy certain authors whose views aren’t politically correct. And people who do this have been awfully loud lately.

I’ll read what I damn well want to, and I don’t need anyone’s approval to do so. Certainly not the approval of some shrill scold, regardless of whether I agree with their point or not. If the fact I like Lovecraft, or Haggard, or Howard, or Burroughs, or any other writer offends you, then you can go pound sand.

Me, I’m going to read some Lovecraft in honor of his birthday. Hmm… “The Dunwich Horror” is looking pretty good. I think I’ll try that one.

A Quick Look at E. Hoffmann Price

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Pulp writer E. Hoffmann Price was born on this date, July 3, in 1898. He passed away in 1988 at the age of 89 a few weeks prior to his birthday. Price graduated from West Point, served in the American Expeditionary Force in World War I, as well as in the Philippines and Mexico. A student of the orient, he drew on these interests for much of his fiction.

Price wrote for a variety of pulps, especially adventure, detective, and western, but he is best remembered these days for his weird fiction. A correspondent of H. P. Lovecraft, they collaborated on “Through the Gates of the Silver Key”. I believe he is the only pulp writer to have met Robert E. Howard in person, on two different occasions, IIRC. He is also the only known person to have Howard, Lovecraft, and Clark Ashton Smith. Price met many of the pulp writers, including Edmond Hamilton, Jack Williamson, and L. Sprague de Camp.

Price experienced a resurgence in his career in the late 70’s and early 80’s, publishing several fantasy and science fiction novels.

We just got back from vacation last night, so I’m playing catch-up today. If I get a chance, I’ll read one of his short stories this evening.

Henry S. Whitehead

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Today (March 5) marks the birth of Henry S. Whitehead. He was born in 1882 and passed away in November of 1932. Whitehead was a contributor of Weird Tales and a correspondent of H.P. Lovecraft. The year before Whitehead died, Lovecraft visited him at his Florida home and quite liked him. Had he not died so young, Whitehead would have been a major author of the weird and fantastic. I consider him to be so, and I’m sure I’m not alone in that.

Whitehead served for a time as the Archdeacon for the Episcopal Church in the Virgin Islands. This posting would become a major influence on his fiction, as most of it dealt with voodoo and other fantastic aspects of Caribbean life.

Whitehead wrote no novels, but his short fiction is worth seeking out. I reviewed “Seven Turns in a Hangman’s Rope” a few years ago. Fortunately, his work is available in electronic format. If I get a chance, I’ll try to read something else by him.

You’re Offended?

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I’m gonna rant.

There was a post the other day that I’m not going to link to because I don’t want to give the site the clicks. Fortunately someone archived it.

TL;DR version:

The author, one Matt Mikalatos, laments that rereading a childhood favorite (The Once and Future King by T. H. White) didn’t live up to his expectations, specifically there were some things said that he found to be racially insensitive. I’ve never read the book, so I can’t say for sure. He’s specific enough that I’m willing to give him the benefit of doubt. Continue reading →

Pre-Tolkien Fantasy: H. P. Lovecraft in Observance of His Birthday

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H. P. Lovecraft

I’d intended to post my next review for the Pre-Tolkien Fantasy Challenge over the weekend, but I was a lazy bum. Since today is Lovecraft’s birthday (also my mother-in-law’s), I postponed that post to discuss Lovecraft and Tolkien in general terms.

First, their similarities. They are arguably the two most influential writers of the fantastic of the previous century. Their influence is considerable decades after their deaths. Much of what is written in fantasy today, especially in the epic fantasy, multiple volume “trilogy” format is a reaction/rebellion to Tolkien. Much Lovecraftian fiction is in reaction to Lovecraft’s work, whether stylistically or in response to some attitude Lovecraft held. Continue reading →

Of Editorial Greatness

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Earlier today I was reading a post on a site I don’t normally read these days (I was lured by the temptation of a free ebook). The post made the argument that John Campbell was the greatest editor the science fiction and fantasy fields have seen.

That got me to thinking, which usually gets me in trouble. I began wondering who would be the greatest editor, greater being defined as having the most impact over time. The original post didn’t include fantasy other than a passing reference to Unknown. So I thought I’d throw the question open to anyone who wanted to voice an opinion. Below is a list I compiled off the top of my head. I didn’t include any living editors. If I had, Ellen Datlow would be on it. My rationale is that the impact of living editors on the can’t be accurately assessed because they are still having an influence and their greatest influences may still be to come.

So in alphabetical order are ten editors. I’ll provide a brief explanation as to why they have been included. Some will be quickly eliminated. Others, not so much. Continue reading →

Robert Bloch at 101

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Today, April 5, is Robert Bloch’s birthday. He was born in 1917. For those of you who are poor at math, not sure what day/year it is, or didn’t read the title of the post, that would make him 101 today if he were still alive.

Bloch was one of the most influential writers of horror, crime, and science fiction of the last century. He wrote a number of novels, the most famous being Psycho. And while the Hitchcock film is deservedly considered a classic, you should give the book a try if you haven’t read it. There are some differences. Bloch’s written sequels have nothing to do with the film sequels.

In my mind, though, Bloch was better as a short story writer. The reason I think that may be in part because I’ve a fondness for short fiction. He started writing for Weird Tales when he was just 17, IIRC. While is early stuff is pretty rough around the edges, it was no worse that what Farnsworth Wright was buying at the time, and soon became better than much of the stuff by authors long forgotten. Bloch was an earlier correspondent of Lovecraft. Much of his early work was lovecraftian pastiche. He soon developed his own voice and went on to write some great horror and dark fantasy fiction, such as “Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper”, “The Man Who Collected Poe”, and the Hugo Award winning “The Hell-Bound Train”. If Bloch had any faults, it was that he couldn’t stand Robert E. Howard’s Conan. (That’s a pretty big fault, if you ask me, but Bloch’s body of work is sufficiently good that I’m willing to overlook it.)

Over the last few years I’ve gotten into the habit of blogging about an author’s work on their birthday. At the moment, I’m swamped with the day job and slowly going under. That’s why it’s been like a ghost town around here lately. I’ve either not had the time to write (blog posts or fiction) or not had the energy when I had the time. So, no, I’m not dead. (Sorry to disappoint some of you.) I’ve just been dealing with Real Life.

I’m hoping to read something short this evening. If so, I’ll try to post about it here once I get this mountain of exams graded. I hope to do that, but I may not be able to pull it off.

But don’t let that stop you from raising a glass is Robert Bloch’s memory and celebrating his work by reading a short story or two.

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