H.P. Lovecraft was an underrated author of his time, not really gaining a following until long after his passing, during which time he gained a cult following. His writing has inspired generations of writers both in the fictional horror and science-fiction subgenres, and he was inspired by the greatest minds that preceded him. The worlds that he imagined have been given of life of their own, although there is an unfortunate lack of movies and other media that have expanded upon his work in order to bring more entertainment to those that follow the horror genre.
“Well—the train sped on, & I experienced silent convulsions of joy in returning step by step to a waking & tri-dimensional life. New Haven—New London—& then quaint Mystic, with its colonial hillside & landlocked cove. Then at last a still subtler magick fill’d the air—nobler roofs & steeples, with the train rushing airily above them on its lofty viaduct—Westerly—in His Majesty’s Province of RHODE-ISLAND & PROVIDENCE-PLANTATIONS! GOD SAVE THE KING!! Intoxication follow’d—Kingston—East Greenwich with its steep Georgian alleys climbing up from the railway—Apponaug & its ancient roofs—Auburn—just outside the city limits—I fumble with bags & wraps in a desperate effort to appear calm—THEN—a delirious marble dome outside the window—a hissing of air brakes—a slackening of speed—surges of ecstasy & dropping of clouds from my eyes & mind—HOME—UNION STATION—PROVIDENCE!!!!“
H.P. Lovecraft (Letter to Frank Belknap Long, 1 May 1926)
Even though Lovecraft was a legendary horror writer, he as actually quite varied on the subjects he tackled. At one point in time, Lovecraft much like his favorite author, Edgar Allan Poe considered himself primarily a poet. By the age of eight, he fell victim to his own mental turmoil, becoming overwhelmed by his own anxieties and intelligence by his early adulthood he had become a recluse. As an American author, he had the unfortunate fate of never having achieved fame for his works during his lifetime, but like many authors who came before him, the resources to spread his talent across the globe didn’t exist as they do today. Perhaps his most prolific writing venture was his habit of writing letters–it is estimated that he wrote over 100,000 letters within his lifetime. Lovecraft died, in effect, unknown to the world at large having only been published in the pulp magazine Weird Tales, before he passed away, in financial ruin. His work stood the test of time, now being regarded as one of the most significant authors of his time within the horror genre.
Most of Lovecraft’s work is in the realm of the Public Domain, much of which can be found here–some of his most popular work has actually been made into audio recordings. YouTube has become an abundant resource on these public domain audiobooks, which means that much of what he has written in the way of fiction.
Take a look at what we’ve collected here for you!
The Dunwich Horror
The Dunwich Horror is a horror short story, written in 1928, published in the April 1929 issue of Weird Tales. It is considered one of the core stories of the Cthulhu Mythos.
The Dunwich Horror tells the tale of the isolated, desolate, and decrepit village (albeit fictional) village of Dunwich, Massachusetts. The story revolves around the strange events that surround the birth and development of Wilbur Whateley–the unsightly son of a deformed, insane albino woman and an unknown father.
Now within the Public Domain, you can download and read this for free!
The Shunned House
A fictional horror novelette, written between October 16–19, 1924. It was first published in the October 1937 issue of Weird Tales.
InThe Shunned House, Lovecraft presents the narrator as Dr. Elihu Whipple–the story follows Whipple and his uncle as they investigate an old dilapidated house with an alarming reputation for causing any occupants to either die a slow, wasting death–or go completely insane.
“On the northeast corner of Bridge Street and Elizabeth Avenue is a terrible old house—a hellish place where night-black deeds must have been done in the early seventeen-hundreds—with a blackish unpainted surface, unnaturally steep roof, and an outside flight of stairs leading to the second story, suffocatingly embowered in a tangle of ivy so dense that one cannot but imagine it accursed or corpse-fed. It reminded me of the Babbit House in Benefit Street…. Later its image came up again with renewed vividness, finally causing me to write a new horror story with its scene in Providence and with the Babbit House as its basis.“
H.P. Lovecraft in a letter on The Shunned House
Now within the Public Domain, you can download and read this for free!
Author. Artist. A little bit Alaskan. Mary lives with her dog in a rural cabin outside of Fairbanks, Alaska. They explore the bounty of the Alaskan wilderness during the summer and cozy up in their log cabin during the winter.