H.P. Lovecraft: The Master Of Weird Fiction

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There have been many horror writers in the history of literature; Edgar Allan Poe, Stephen King, Clive Barker, Dean Koontz among others. This paper is about the man who innovated the strange fiction and horror genre: H.P. Lovecraft. He certainly wasn't the first horror writer in history, but he was one of the first to write “cosmic horror” about celestial beings and Gods that want nothing more than to scare the hell out of humans, drive them mad and kill them. His legacy lives on today in the writings of King, Barker, and others. Not only is he influential in literature, he has inspired music, movies, comic books and even video games. His Life At 9 a.m. August 20th 1890, writer H.P. Lovecraft was born at his home in Providence, Rhode Island.(1). On this day, the world welcomed the man who would go on to become one of the most prolific horror writers of the 20th century. Lovecraft showed signs of intelligence at an early age, reciting poetry at the age of two, reading at age three, and writing at six or seven.(1) He was a sickly child whose attendance at school was sporadic at best, but that didn't stop him from learning: he soaked up as much information as possible through independent reading. In fact, his earliest known work was written in 1897, “The Poem Of Ulysses” which is an eighty-eight line paraphrase of The Odyssey.(1) There is some dispute about this, as his story “The Nobel Eavesdropper” may date as early as 1896-1897, which would have made his first writing be written when he was six or seven.(2) Around the age of eight, he discovered science. He produced hectographed journals for his friends to read from 1899 to 1907. His first printed work appeared in The Providence Sunday Journal. Bacon 2 It was a letter about astronomy, which he was fascinated by. In fact, Lovecraft would go on to be one of the most prolific letter writers of his
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