Lovecraft Remembered

Lovecraft Remembered Edited by Peter Cannon
Arkham House 1998. ISBN 0870541730
Editor Peter Cannon gathered some of the rarest memoirs and essays ever written on Lovecraft, some of which were never published or had only been published in small amateur press printings, and gave them relative permanence in this hardcover edition. Some fascinating remembrences of the man from his large circle of friends and admirers.

A Few Comments About Lovecraft and Werewolves

"Just before his death Lovecraft spoke to me of an ambitious project reserved
for some period of greater leisure, a sort of dynastic chronicle in fictional
form, dealing with the hereditary mysteries and destinies of generations of an
ancient New England family, tainted and cursed down the diminishing generations
with some grewsome variant of lycanthropy. It was to be his magnum
opus, embodying the results of his profound researches in the occult
legends of that grim and secret country which he knew so well, but apparently
the outline was just beginning to crystallize in his mind, and I doubt if
he left even a rough draft of his plan."

Edkins, Ernest A. "Idiosyncracies of H. P. L." In LOVECRAFT REMEMBERED. Ed. Peter Cannon. (Sauk City, WI: Arkham House, 1998). Pages 94-95.

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Biss, Gerald. THE DOOR OF THE UNREAL. New York and London: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1920First U.S. edition. Werewolf novel, first published in Britain by Eveleigh Nash in 1919, praised by H. P. Lovecraft in his Supernatural Horror in Literature (1945).



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The Door of the Unreal was inspired by Dracula. It features the same plot structure, a group of brave men trying to save a beautiful woman from the clutches of evil monsters.

H. P. Lovecraft wrote of it in "The Superntural Horror in Literature" : "Dracula evoked many similar novels of supernatural horror, among which the best are perhaps The Beetle, by Richard Marsh, Brood of the Witch-Queen, by "Sax Rohmer" (Arthur Sarsfield Ward), and The Door of the Unreal, by Gerald Biss.

Lovecraft's Alleged Head Trauma as a Boy

S T Joshi has reported in a few places, notably in his Lovecraft biographies, that HPL may have had a terrible fall and blow to his head. Harold W. Munro (1) wrote of the incident (2). However, it is a FOAF tale - a friend of a friend. In this case, his wife told Munroe that as a kid (younger than HPL at the time) that, "a new house was going up, which ... intrigued the youth of the neighborhood ... the mystery of it also appealed to little Howard, who never ran with the pack but waited until near darkness when the field was clear for his solo visitations. Then came news that a boy, the Lovecraft boy, had fallen ... and landed on his head ... word followed that ... the injured head was kept packed in ice ..."(3)

Mr. Joshi, whom we must always respect greatly, says this may have led to or contributed to Lovecraft's troubles in high school.

If one deconstructs this annecdote, however, there are some suspect traits. Lovecraft's long walks at night started in his older years. Therefore it appears this may be apocraphal. Munro says Howard never ran with the pack, but we have Lovecraft's testimony that he often played games with his neighboring children. In other remarks, Munro recalled Howard was not athletic, that they argued about athletics, that Howard shunned buying a ticket from one of Munro's athletic buddies, and that Lovecraft's face had lots of ingrown hairs. These tend toward a darker perspective on his memories of Lovecraft. The nature of the story is, on the face of it, a concern. Any youth who fell and struck his head, would be hospitalized. This is a catastrophic issue, and Susan would have immediately sought aid from a number of family members and community doctors. If the blow was slight, then ice might have been used. However, if it was slight, then there is really no story. It seems clear the intention is that the famous Howard was weird, and therefore a weird story is concocted to justify it. At least that is my {CP} suspicion.

1. In an on-line version this was erroneously attributed to Harold Bateman Munroe. The link is not defunct, as best as I can determine. {CP}
2. Munro's quote comes from Joshi's biography (1990) and note 5.6 (page 660) states "Lovecraft, My Childhood Friend", Etchings and Odysseys No,2, 1983, p.104.
3. As best as I {CP} can determine this memory was recorded by Peter Canon in Lovecraft Remembered, and from a 1983 recollection. Mr. Munro would have undoubtedly been in his very late 80's or more likely 93 years old. This does not mean the story is not true, just unverified by a second source.