Things that freaked H. P. Lovecraft out:
- Geometry
- Stars
- Cool air
- Subways
- Old houses
- Corners of rooms
- Violin music
- Flute music
- The very concept of dreams
- Realistic paintings
It would be easier to list the things that didn't freak Howard out.
this post was submitted on 25 Jan 2025
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Plus everyone who wasn't white and from his home town.
On the Creation of N*ggers
When, long ago, the Gods created Earth, In Jove's fair image Man was shap'd at birth. The beasts for lesser parts were next design'd; Yet were they too remote from humankind. To fill this gap, and join the rest to man, Th'Olympian host conceiv'd a clever plan. A beast they wrought, in semi-human figure, Fill'd it with vice, and call'd the thing a N*GGER.
H.P.LOVECRAFT.
😬😬😬
You’re just taking him out of context. /s
It's just a bad translation, in the original Roman it's a passage about love.
It's well known that he was a socially awkward and autistic.
We should have “a bit of grace” and give the “benefit of the doubt.” ~/s~
I am not surprised that this is actually something he wrote.
Please put something like this behind a spoiler or something; there are those of us who've had that word hurled enough in our daily life that it suddenly appearing while browsing social media is alarm-inducing.
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My favorite way of explaining how racist he was is that his contemporaries over a century ago in the "Birth of a Nation" period of racism were like "Dude - tone down the racism."
- Colors
Of light. But also black people too, but that's not what I meant!
Things that made him cum:
- Gambreled rooftops mostly
Honorable mentions:
- Gables
- Central chimneys
- Providence
- Maine
see also: Stephen King
- his cat
...that's probably it
And his cat's name freaks out all of us
what do you mean, surely it cant be that bad
oh
oh noooooo
Yep, the n-word kitty.
If you are curious, you can read more about the man and find him nearly frightened by his own shadow, thus filled with hate and bias to the brim. His fragile antics are probably why he wrote a lot of foundational horror stories. Guy was clearly unwell in the head department, and although it gave us a lot of creative lit, all of it is stained with things he was himself afraid of.
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Holy shit
Lol, apparently I'm a double threat against H.P.L. I was first chair flute and first chair violin.
Orchestral miscegenation probably also freaked him out
A kender with two different instruments AND two chairs, you say? 🤔
Ummm, my band teacher wouldn't let me play violin in band, so I earned first or second chair in every section of the band out of spite.
I earned first chair violin in university.
Funnily enough bard is my least favorite D&D class....
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Angle of a wall.
Corners of rooms
Is this a mf "Hounds of Tindalos" reference.
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My favorite fact about Lovecraft was that he was so fucking racist, the KKK told him to chill the fuck out on his racism.
Lovecraft being a neurotic mess afraid of everything is probably why his books are so good. He did a great job with filling his books with that sense of existential dread.
neurotic mess
I see I've got something in common with him
"I'm terrified of everything, and you can too!"
Take a shot every time Lovecraft says something is unknowable or indescribable.
No. No, no. No no no no. NO.
We don't need to go through a 40 in ten minutes.
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I'd need another liver or two to complete it on one single short story of his.
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The man was a neurotic anxious mess who was scared of everything around him in his time and checked into the psych ward multiple times. I guess it shows in his writings
Both of his parents were extremely mentally ill from syphilis. That's why the theme of generational curse is so prominent in his work.
As for how racist he was, You just need to know that he wrote a book where the big revelation and last sentence of the book was something along the lines of, "worst of all, she was an n-word". The book's name is Medusa's coil
Yeah he was a homophobe and a racist for sure. But how much more than anyone else from his time. I love the themes he brings in but I think other people have done a good job of showing his ideas without the fear he had in him, Shape of water comes to mind and I think del Toro does a great job in showing those themes of the unknown and all.
There's a video on his (HP) work by HBomberguy which I think is really good.
I didnt know about the reason for his generational curse.. That's pretty cool!
Personally I think Lovecraft having these issues makes him a more fascinating author to me. The fear of otherness is so prevalent in his work, it's like looking directly into his soul
Ooh that's a cool perspective! He was a scared scared man.
A ton more than other people of his time. Like, diehard racists told him to chill out and be less racist.
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I wish we'd gotten to see the rest of Lovecraft's redemption arc.
He died so soon after beginning to realize and acknowledge that his views about the world had been abhorrent.
Edit to add:
If anyone's curious to read an example of the beginnings of his realization, check out this letter, written about a month before his death:
https://github.com/punchmonster/Lovecraft-Letters/blob/master/19370207-Catherine-L-Moore.md
It's a fairly long letter, but the whole thing is interesting. He seems to have been radicalized and was becoming quite critical of capitalism, if not a full blown Marxist. You'll find the following quote in the last paragraph:
I looked around for a 1924 photograph of myself to burn, spit on, or stick pins in! Holy Hades—was I that much of a dub at 33 ... only 13 years ago? There was no getting out of it—I really had thrown all that haughty, complacent, snobbish, self-centered, intolerant bull, & at a mature age when anybody but a perfect damned fool would have known better!
There's more evidence in there than just that passage, but this is already becoming a wall of text!
I once read that Lovecraft went on a big antisemitic rant only to be gently reminded by his wife that she was Jewish.
Most writers or artists of any kind are not as cool as you want them to be. H.P. was essentially a nerdy upper class dandy. He was horribly sheltered and coddled all his life by his mom and her sisters. He'd probably faint if he had to go out in the rain without an umbrella.
I enjoyed his writing but you have to separate the art from the artist. Just like not all action heros are badasses, they just look like that on film.
The only issue with Lovrecraft and separating the art from the artist is that there's a shit ton of bigotry in his art as well.
I will not deny that he was a creative powerhouse with amazing ideas, but he was also a guy who wrote about big-lipped, dark-skinned savages and a cat with a name I shall not repeat.
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The woman is wearing trousers!
A union man too!
:: clutch pearls ::
or sharing an elevator with an Irishman.
The New York Times calls Going Down, "Lovecraft at his spine-chilling best! An Arkham professor of antiquities steps into a lift and gets the ride of his life!"
The great artists are wizards, they bring us magic.
They are insane.
They are not like us.
Judging them is like trees judging frogs.
I've never seen anyone try to sell horror this way, far from enough for it to be a thing.
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