This volume attempts an objective reassessment of the controversial works and life of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. Ignoring secondary accounts and various received truths, Gavin Callaghan goes back to the weird texts themselves, and follows where Lovecraft leads him: into an arcane world of parental giganticism and inverted classicism, in which Lovecraft's parental obsessions were twisted into the all-powerful cosmic monsters of his imaginary cosmology.

H.P. Lovecraft, one of the twentieth century’s most important writers in the genre of horror fiction, famously referred to Edgar Allan Poe as both his “model” and his “God of Fiction.” While scholars and readers of Poe’s and Lovecraft’s work have long recognized the connection between these authors, this collection of essays is the first in-depth study to explore the complex literary relationship between Lovecraft and Poe from a variety of critical perspectives. Of the thirteen essays included in this book, some consider how Poe’s work influenced Lovecraft in important ways. Other essays explore how Lovecraft’s fictional, critical, and poetic reception of Poe irrevocably changed how Poe’s work has been understood by subsequent generations of readers and interpreters. Addressing a variety of topics ranging from the psychology of influence to racial and sexual politics, the essays in this book also consider how Lovecraft’s interpretations of Poe have informed later adaptations of both writers’ works in films by Roger Corman and fiction by Stephen King, Thomas Ligotti, and Caitlin R. Kiernan. This collection is an indispensable resource not only for those who are interested in Poe’s and Lovecraft’s work specifically, but also for readers who wish to learn more about the modern history and evolution of Gothic, horror, and weird fiction.

The Whisperer in Darkness is a 26,000-word novella by American writer H. P. Lovecraft. Written February–September 1930, it was first published in Weird Tales, August 1931.

The Haunter of the Dark is a horror short story by American author H. P. Lovecraft. Lovecraft was writer of weird, science, fantasy, and horror fiction. Excerpt: "The vacant church was in a state of great decrepitude. Some of the high stone buttresses had fallen, and several delicate finials lay half lost among the brown, neglected weeds and grasses. The sooty Gothic windows were largely unbroken, though many of the stone mullions were missing. Blake wondered how the obscurely painted panes could have survived so well, in view of the known habits of small boys the world over. The massive doors were intact and tightly closed. Around the top of the bank wall, fully enclosing the grounds, was a rusty iron fence whose gate—at the head of a flight of steps from the square—was visibly padlocked."

The Haunter of the Dark is a horror short story by American author H. P. Lovecraft, written in 1935 and published in the December 1936 edition of Weird Tales. In Providence, Rhode Island, Robert Blake, a young writer with an interest in the occult, becomes fascinated by a large disused church on Federal Hill which he can see from his lodgings on the city's Upper East side. His researches reveal that the church has a sinister history involving a cult called the Church of Starry Wisdom and is dreaded by the local migrant inhabitants as being haunted by a primeval evil.

In H.P. Lovecraft's Color Out of Space, a rural New England farm becomes the eerie stage for a chilling descent into cosmic horror. When a meteorite crashes onto the property of the Gardner family, it brings with it an inexplicable phenomenon: a color beyond the spectrum of human comprehension. As this otherworldly hue seeps into the land, it infects everything it touches, mutating flora and fauna alike into grotesque, alien forms. Amidst the encroaching horror, the Gardner family and their neighbors struggle to comprehend and combat the insidious influence of the cosmic intruder. But as their sanity unravels and their bodies contort, they realize they are pawns in a cosmic game far beyond their understanding. In a remote farmstead, a meteorite crashes, unleashing an alien entity that defies all comprehension. It spreads like a virulent disease, warping the land with unnatural colors and mutating the life it touches. Farmer Nahum Gardner watches in horror as his crops wither, his animals twist into grotesque parodies of life, and his own family succumbs to the color's maddening influence. Can Gardner escape the corrupting touch of the alien entity, or will he be consumed by the cosmic horror that oozes across the land? Will science unravel the mystery of the color, or will humanity be swept away by a force beyond understanding? In this seminal work of horror fiction, Lovecraft masterfully weaves a tale of existential terror, exploring themes of the unknown, the insignificance of humanity in the face of cosmic forces, and the fragility of sanity when confronted with the incomprehensible. With its vivid imagery, atmospheric tension, and mind-bending premise, "Color Out of Space" remains a haunting and unforgettable journey into the darkest recesses of the human psyche. The story is a chilling tale of cosmic dread by H.P. Lovecraft, master of the weird. Peer into the abyss and confront the terror that lurks beyond the stars. It immerses readers in a world of creeping dread and mounting terror, creating an unforgettable reading experience. "Color Out of Space" is a must-read for fans of horror fiction, as well as anyone interested in exploring the darker corners of the human psyche and the cosmos.

On a slope of Mount Maenalus in Arcadia is an olive grove that grows around a marble tomb and the ruin of an old villa. There, one gigantic tree resembles a frighteningly distorted man, and the roots of the tree have shifted the blocks of the tomb. The narrator explains that the beekeeper who lives next door told him a story about the tree: Two renowned sculptors, Kalos and Musides, lived in the colonnaded villa, which was "resplendent" in its day. Both men created works that were widely known and celebrated. They were devoted friends, but different in disposition: Musides enjoyed the nightlife, while Kalos preferred the quiet of the olive grove. It was there he was said to receive his inspiration.