We Need to Talk About Lovecraft…

November 25, 2024

Night

If you are a horror and science fiction fan, you are most likely familiar with Howard Phillip Lovecraft. His singular brand of proto-horror-meets-science fiction was a breakthrough in the genre (if largely unappreciated at the time). He created the Cthulhu mythos and so doing, spawned a whole universe of horror fiction. He openly invited others to use his creations and build upon the mythology he created, and many authors did.

H. P. Lovecraft
Image curtesy of Wikipedia

In this piece, we will set aside his contribution to literature and focus on the man himself. H.P. Lovecraft was a racist. Some of his early forays into writing include racial slurs in the title (“On the Creation of N***s” for example). He named his cat a racial slur because he thought it was funny. Some passages of his stories seemed to make his views on immigrants and racial mixing clear.

Knowing this, then, can we still enjoy his fiction in the same way, or at all? Can we separate his racism from his work? Can the art be separated from the artist? It’s a complicated question to some and a straightforward answer for others.

It’s also a very personal question that a person’s background and life experience informs. Surely someone who has had to endure the wounds of racism will answer this question differently than someone who has been spared that indignity. However, as will be discussed, the sides of this debate are not drawn up on racial lines as much as one may assume. After all, people are different and think differently, and despite what Howard may have thought at one point, we’re all people and equally capable of making up our own minds.

His Early Life

H. P. Lovecraft was born on August 20th, 1890 in Providence, Rhode Island. His early childhood was seemingly pleasant. He was a happy boy and showed a natural proclivity for language. He was reciting poems at two years old and reading at the age of three. (Joshi)

However, at the age of three his father, Winfield Scott Lovecraft, was admitted to Butler Hospital after a nervous breakdown while on the road for his job as a traveling silver salesman. He was a patient there for five years. He died five years later in 1898. For those five years, Howard was told that his father was paralyzed and in a comatose state. (Joshi)

HP with his parents Sarah andWnfield.
Image courtesy of thecollector.com

After his father’s death H.P.’s mother, his two aunts, and his grandfather raised him. His grandfather was the industrialist Whipple Van Burn Phillips. This afforded H.P. a comfortable life. However, it was not a life untouched by problems. Howard was often plagued by illnesses. These illnesses were speculated to be mentally induced.

He went to school but was often kept at home due to poor health. This may have explained why he had few friends and was a fairly isolated child. However, he did not cease to learn. Howard was an avid reader and absorbed much of his scientific knowledge from the books he read.

It was also perhaps his early, comfortable lifestyle that led to his love of the English aristocracy and classist views. Much of his influences harkened back to the age of nobility of earlier English history. He read books by Algernon Blackwood, Poe, Chambers, and the like. Certainly, his writing style is a throwback to that period of writing.

Another influence on his writing was certainly his love of The Arabian Nights. Seeing as The Necronomicon, an evil book written by a mad Arabian man is a testament to this. Also, many of his stories are set in the deserts of the Arabian peninsula or have ties to that area.

Howard would be jarred from his plush life with the death of his grandfather. It seems Whipple had not managed the family’s accounts properly and squandered away his fortune. This caused Howard, his mother, and his two aunts to move into smaller quarters. This drove him into a deep, suicidal depression. He could not bear the loss of his birthplace and his aristocratic-esque life.

What drove him through all of this was learning. He had a deep love of science. In 1908, however, it would seem Lovecraft would be doomed to share his father’s fate. He suffered a mental breakdown and was forced to leave school without his high school diploma. He then also failed to gain acceptance into Brown University. This was a cause of shame for Lovecraft throughout his life. (Joshi)

This drove Howard into further isolation. He was a recluse for five years. He wrote a great deal of poetry during this time and he studied astronomy as well. This period was also where strains in his relationship with his mother formed. Sarah Susan Philips was still mourning the death of Winfield Lovecraft and it caused her to both love and resent Howard.

Emergence

H.P. Lovecraft would come out of his isolation uniquely. He had taken to reading pulp magazines during his period of reclusiveness. He became disgusted with the love stories of Fred Jackson and wrote an opinionated, poetic, letter to the editors of the magazine in which Jackson’s stories were published.You see, Benadryl Challenges comprise but a fraction of the sightings of this ethereal being. Many others see him whilst coming out of a deep sleep. Some see him wide awake. Some see him in their bedroom, and a few have even allegedly seen him out and about.

The critique was so well written that in 1913, The Argosy (the magazine in question) published the letter. This created a firestorm of upset Jackson fans. The ensuing debate between Lovecraft and Jackson’s fans was so daftly done that Edward F. Daas took notice of Howard. Daas was the president of the United Amateur Press Association.

The UAPA was a collective of amateur writers who self-published their works and magazines. Daas invited Lovecraft to join the UAPA and Howard accepted. Howard published 13 issues of his magazine The Conservative between 1915 and 1923. (Joshi)

During this period he was also publishing poetry and other works in various separate journals. The quantity of which is vast. It was also during this time that he resumed writing fiction. He had not done so since 1908. He penned some of his most notable works during this period; “The Tomb” and “Dagon” being two examples.

In 1919 Lovecraft’s mother suffered a mental breakdown and was admitted to Butler Hospital. She, like Howard’s father, would never leave. She died in 1921 from a botched gallbladder operation. This, of course, crushed H.P. However he seemed to gather himself quickly as he was able to attend a convention two weeks later. This is where he met his wife, a Russian Jew named Sonia Haft Green

They were married in 1924 and moved to New York where Green had a thriving hat shop on 5th Avenue. They moved to Sonia’s Brooklyn apartment. Things seemed to be on the up for the Lovecrafts. Sonia’s hat shop was doing well and Howard had established his writing career with the publication of several of his short works in Weird Tales, a magazine he would remain closely associated with.

However, the good times did not last. The hat shop closed and Howard had refused a job as an editor to a magazine associated with Weird Tales because it would have taken him away to Chicago. Sonia soon suffered her own mental illness and was committed to a sanitarium in New Jersey for a time. Howard had tried to find work, but he was 34 and had very little actual work experience. This caused him to be undesirable to the place he sought out.

Eventually, Sonia would take a job in Cleveland. Howard would remain behind and move into a small apartment in Red Hook (the inspiration for one of his more infamously racist works). Lovecraft grew depressed by his isolation and disgusted at the influx of immigrants in Red Hook.

Early Signs of Racism

The first page of The Horror at Red Hook from Weird Tales Jan. 1927.
By H. P. Lovecraft/ G. O. Olinick - https://archive.org/details/WeirdTalesV09N01192701, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=101801141

It was during his time in Red Hook that he penned some of his more xenophobic and dark works. He wrote “The Horror at Red Hook” and “He” in 1924.

While Howard’s racial attitudes were known by then, this work is a classic, early example and one pointed to when discussing the themes of racism and xenophobia in Lovecraft’s work. “The Horror at Red Hook” is largely panned for its racist and bigoted views of both the poorer classes and the various immigrant populations that lived there.

Its plot concerns a detective Named Thomas F. Malone. Malone is tasked with investigating some strange happenings in the Red Hook neighborhood. During his investigation, he discovers Robert Suydam, a wealthy man living in the neighborhood. As would become a common theme in Lovecraft’s work, Suydam becomes involved in occult rituals and cults that worship ancient, and evil beings analagous to demons. The story concludes in typical Lovecraftian fashion, with Malone facing unimaginable horrors and cosmic beings.

The criticisms of this story involve Lovecraft’s handling of cultural diversity. It is clear that he viewed this as a negative thing. He also penned racially stereotypical descriptions of the residents of Red Hook.

He also wrote in his view that immigration and cultural “invasion” was undesirable and dangerous. He did so through arguably negative and what is now viewed (rightly so) as harmful portrayals of the various cultures in the story. Neurologist Olaf Blanke was conducting a study trying to find the source of epileptic seizures of a 23-year-old epileptic woman. When stimulating the TPJ with a mild electric current, the patient informed Blanke she was feeling the presence of someone behind her. She described a shadow person to a tee. The shadow figure mimicked her actions as if it were a reflection.

Through the narrative Lovecraft borrows and appropriates much from various religious practices and cultures. This is seen as furthering misunderstanding and cultural insensitivity. It can be argued that “orientalism” and the fad of Egyptology may have played into this as Lovecraft was acutely interested in these areas. This does not excuse what was written, however.

The Cthulhu Mythos is Born

Eventually, Lovecraft would return to his beloved Providence, Rhode Island. It caused a rift in his marriage to Sonia and they divorced in 1929. He lived in Providence from 1926 until the end of his life on March 15th, 1937. He suffered intestinal cancer and succumbed to it in Brown Memorial Hospital. He was buried in Swan Point Cemetery on March 18th of that year.

It was during this stay in Providence that he would write some of his most famous work. In 1926 he wrote “The Call of Cthulhu”, thus birthing one of the greatest monsters in horror. In 1931 he wrote “At the Mountains of Madness”, adding to the Cthulhu mythos. From 1934 to 1935 he wrote “The Shadow Out of Time”. These are, at least in my mind, required reading for any horror fan.

He also became one of the most prolific writers of letters in American History during this period. He would correspond with young writers such as August Derleth, Robert Bloch, and others. He also wrote to contemporaries, family, and friends. It is an odd thing to think of this reclusive and, yes, racist and xenophobic man as someone who would always take the time to write to a fan or nurture a young author. But we all contain multitudes after all.

Can We Excuse It?

This is one of the main points I, personally, would like to submit for review. While H.P. Lovecraft, definitely wrote and said some appalling things. He was also kind and a fast friend to those he considered friends. Does this, however, excuse his behavior? No, of course not. It should be stated that even by the standards of the day which weren’t great, he was abnormally racist; at least in his earlier years. He was also classist and would remain so to a degree until his death.

He had a fondness, as has been stated, for aristocracy and nobility that colored his view on, what he would consider, the lower classes. This, in my mind, colors his fiction more often than does his racism, not to say racism never does.

When we hear quotes such as: “Here his only visible servants, farmers, and caretakers were a sullen pair of aged Narragansett Indians; the husband dumb and curiously scarred, and the wife of a very repulsive cast of countenance, probably due to a mixture of negro blood,” it can be difficult to not take this as racism. That’s because it is. This quote, by the way, is from “Herbert West: Reanimator”. In this same story, he goes on with unfavorable descriptions of black people, likening them to gorillas.

In the aforementioned “The Horror at Red Hook”, things get a bit murkier to me. While some antiquated and insensitive terms, such as “Squinting Orientals,”, and “Negroid mouth”, etc. are used. I do feel it could be chalked up to the insensitive terms that were just thrown around. It’s harder to do this given Lovecraft’s known racial attitudes, however, I think a case could be made.

Also in the Red Hook story, he describes the detestable nature of the neighborhood. In this section, he notes the “…blackest and most vicious criminals of Red Hook’s devious lanes…”. This is not pointing out the race or color of the individuals in question. “Blackest” simply means the most evil or ruthless, I.e. “the blackness of men’s hearts”. In this section he does go on to use the term “slant-eyed”, so there’s that.

There is also evidence to suggest that his views changed and his racism and xenophobia lessened over time. There is still some racist language in his later works, however, so the degree to which his views changed is unknown. He did show a degree of self-awareness and growth in some of his later personal letters.

Back to the question: what do we do this? Some call for the complete banishment of Lovecraft. However, this can’t be done. His influence over the horror, science fiction, and weird fiction genres is so great that you would have to remove many key elements and thus fundamentally change these genres. They would become unrecognizable.

Maybe we should get rid of the cosmic horror genre entirely. This is equally ridiculous. That would be throwing the baby out with the bathwater, so to speak.

What is the Solution?

Let me put forth a question. Have you ever been listening to a favorite pop punk, or other 1990s-era song and realized that it didn’t age very well and wouldn’t fly today? Has your favorite actor or musician ever said anything that you find disagreeable? I think we have all been in these situations.

Some might say “Well, I’m done with that person, or that song, or that band,”. I have done that myself (Marilyn Manson comes to mind). That is, of course, one’s own decision. It’s a valid choice. Taking a zero-tolerance policy on things that are morally reprehensible is a good stance and the correct one.

Some chose to say “Well, Lovecraft lived in the 20s and 30s. They were all racist back then,” and chose to ignore it. I find this flawed. Firstly, one of his acquaintances and correspondents was James F. Mortan, an anti-racist lecturer who detested Lovecraft’s views on race. He even gave a famous lecture which is still available in pamphlet form titled “The Curse of Race Prejudice. Several other friends of Lovecraft’t likewise did not take kindly to his racism. So you see, there was a strong anti-racist movement even back then.

Even amongst the founding fathers of the United States, the argument for and against slavery was a heated one. So the argument of HP being a product of his time falls short.

What is my solution? We need to admit it, talk about it, and point out its wrongness. Every time Lovecraft is mentioned, we need to acknowledge his views. I think we can do this and still enjoy his work for what it is. We can read these offensive passages and understand the wrongness of them, but we can also still read the story. I don’t think we need to be giving out awards in his name or with his image, but he was an influential writer like many of the other deeply flawed and problematic American Classic authors.

Truman Capote was a noted narcissist. Harland Ellison was notorious for being off-putting, rude, and extremely contentious. Mark Twain is often under fire for his flagrant use of racial slurs and stereotypical racial depictions. However, you cannot argue those authors’ significance.

So again, what is my solution? I have thought hard about this. I have been torn about the subject for a long time (as I was about the aforementioned Marilyn Manson). Manson’s music was extremely influential on my social outlook, my general aesthetic, and my musical tastes. However, I refuse to listen to his new music or buy any merchandise. I do the same for J.K. Rowling. I may still listen to stuff I already own, as I may read the Harry Potter books as I already own them.

My solution to these people who have been set aside for their problematic and abhorrent behavior and views, is to not support them financially or praise them publicly. I do not platform them. The reason for this piece is to shed light on the subject and throw in my two cents on the matter.

If the person in question is dead and no more profit can go to them, I don’t see an issue with enjoying their work in private. In the end, you must do what you feel is right. However, if you cannot separate the art from the artist, that is understandable. I do not laud HP Lovecraft as a person. I do not think he is someone who needs to be revered especially. However I do love the mythos he created and the many stories he wrote (sans Red Hook).

Lovecraft is long dead. Some of his works are in public domain. Many other authors adapted and expanded on the Cthulhu mythos. One shining example of this is Lovecraft Country, created by Misha Green based on the novel by Matt Ruff. So if you love the mythos but can’t bring yourself to read Lovecraft directly, there are certainly other options.

H.P. Lovecraft was a racist. He was xenophobic and elitist as well. He was the product of a troublesome past and ill circumstances. That does not excuse his views. Many have endured similarly vile situations and have turned out relatively ok.

Do you banish him completely, keep him at an arm’s length, or just enjoy his stories for what they are?

That, as unsatisfactory as it may seem, is entirely up to you.

Sources:

Wikipedia Article on Red Hook: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Horror_at_Red_Hook

The Shadow Over Lovecraft: Interrogating H.P. Lovecraft’s Racism (NYC). (n.d.). https://miskatonicinstitute.com/events/the-shadow-over-lovecraft-interrogating-h-p-lovecrafts-racism-nyc/

Wikipedia contributors. (2024, November 20). H. P. Lovecraft. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._P._Lovecraft