Howard Phillips Lovecraft (1890-1937) the well-known American author of horror and weird fiction, lived most of his life in Providence. His past residences and grave site are located there; thousands of his manuscripts and letters are stored at Brown University’s Hay Library.

Besides his many short stories, he is known for his creation of the Cthulhu Mythos involving supernatural, pre-human and extraterrestrial elements. Together we will explore the best of Lovecraft’s tales and ask why Joyce Carol Oates, Stephen King and Guillermo del Toro consider Lovecraft as an influence.

Format: Each week, two students will present and conduct a discussion on a short story selected from the class list or on a related HPL topic. All members are also expected to join in discussions.

Resources/Expenses: Class members may choose to read either of the two anthologies (Library of America, Chartwell) or the annotated Klinger text edition. All are available from Amazon or from local bookstores.

You may also choose to access all stories at the online sources listed below.

H.P. Lovecraft: Tales. Peter Straub, editor. Library of America. Available at Amazon $28, used $10.

The Complete Fiction of H.P. Lovecraft. Chartwell Classics 2016. Available at Amazon for $14.99.

hplovecraft.com/writings/texts

dagonbytes.com/thelibrary/lovecraft

In-depth annotated text edition:
Leslie Klinger. The New Annotated H.P. Lovecraft. 2014.
From $25 used on Amazon. Click here to purchase.

The Klinger anthology contains all but one of the HPL stories that will be assigned as readings in the course. It is cited because it contains valuable information about HPL's life and writings - and, as well, about the genre.

No other expenses besides book.