expository essay

HP Lovecraft 

Howard Phillips Lovecraft was born on August 20, 1890 and died in March 15, 1937 known as H. P. Lovecraft — was an American author of horror, fantasy, poetry and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction.

Lovecraft’s guiding aesthetic and philosophical principle was what he termed “cosmicism” or “cosmic horror”, the idea that life is incomprehensible to human minds and that the universe is fundamental to the interests of humankind. Also his stories express a profound indifference to human beliefs and affairs. Lovecraft is the originator of the Cthulhu Mythos story cycle and the Necronomicon, a fictional magical textbook of rites and forbidden things.

Lovecraft's major inspiration and invention was cosmic horror, the basic premise of which is that the true workings of the universe are beyond human comprehension and that humanity's place in the cosmos is terrifyingly insignificant. A key feature of many of his stories is the existence of powerful, extraterrestrial or supernatural entities that influence or threaten the human world in subtle ways, and whose mere perception by human observers often drives the latter to madness.

Lovecraft had a very unique way for writing, he had a style that used a lot of descriptive adjectives this helps to capture the attention of the readers because he really described what was happening in his short stories with a lot of details. And when he was writing his weird stories, he was always trying to be very careful to achieve the right mood and atmosphere, and place the emphasis where it belongs. One cannot, except in immature pulp charlatan–fiction, present an account of impossible, improbable, or inconceivable phenomena as a commonplace narrative of objective acts and conventional emotions. To achieve Inconceivable events and conditions he stablished realism in every phase of the story.

It is well-known now that Lovecraft had many prejudices that shaped and affected his perceptions; he was a known anti-Semite and racist against the black people. And things like these were the reason why Lovecraft was strongly criticized and this is why some people doesn´t like his works.

Lovecraft's writing, has influenced fiction authors including modern horror and fantasy writers. Stephen King, Ramsey Campbell, Alan Moore and more. These authors have cited Lovecraft as one of their primary influences. Beyond direct adaptation, Lovecraft and his stories have had a profound impact on popular culture.