H.P. Lovecraft
(1890-1937)
• Daniel Steele
• Eng 205
Themes
Monsters
Madness
Mortal Man vs. Cosmic power
Stories of the Mythos
• The Call of Cthulhu
– Francis Wayland Thurston looking through his
deceased granduncle’s notes discovers information
about a cult that worships “The Great One” Cthulhu
• The Dunwich Horror
– Disfigured Wilbur Whateley and his sorcerer
grandfather attempt to summon the Old Ones to this
world by feeding their harbinger Yog-Sothoth
• The Shadow Out of Time
– Nathaniel Wingate Peaslee, possessed by a member of
The Great Race of Yith, is viewed as insane by those
around him but has been shown awesome things and
places by the being controlling him
Quotes
• “Now all my tales are based on the fundamental
premise that common human laws and interests and
emotions have no validity or significance in the vast
cosmos-at-large” –H.P. Lovecraft
• “It seemed to be a sort of monster, or symbol
representing a monster, of a form which only a
diseased fancy could conceive.” –The Call of
Cthulhu
• “…I concluded that their intelligence was
enormously greater than man’s.” –The Shadow Out
of Time
Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu
R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn