Current Events > Lovecraft was pretty racist, yeah?

(+) Yeah! (+)

brestugo posted...

Not simply by today's standards, Lovecraft was considered extremely racist for his time. Robert E. Howard (Conan) and others tried to get him to tone it down and tried to help him get published but he wouldn't change. He was basically broke when he died (ill health and mental illness didn't help either).

Shame because when he stuck to 'cosmic horror' - a genre he created - there's some good stuff there.

He actually did seem to be improving from what I understand, but his entire life was incredibly miserable, with some close friends later on really helping improve it but too little too late.

Horrorbooksguy posted...

Yup. In fairness to him, he had a truly miserable life with racist parents, and he did seem to be improving somewhat towards the end. But yeah, racist af, way more than normal for the time. Though iirc, the infamously named cat was actually named by his parents, not him.

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brestugo posted...

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I try! Though I'm honestly not a huge lovecraft fan , I love good lovecraftian horror from other sources. His writing style just does not work for me in most cases.

Horrorbooksguy posted...

I try! Though I'm honestly not a huge lovecraft fan , I love good lovecraftian horror from other sources. His writing style just does not work for me in most cases.

I actually took the 'Lovecraft Tour' in Providence, RI once. A lot of places and events around that area ended up in his work. I also appreciated that they didn't dance around the fact that he was racist and that it hurt his career.

So have you played Bloodborne?

You think Cthulhu mutters racial slurs in his language?

brestugo posted...

Not simply by today's standards, Lovecraft was considered extremely racist for his time. Robert E. Howard (Conan) and others tried to get him to tone it down and tried to help him get published but he wouldn't change. He was basically broke when he died (ill health and mental illness didn't help either).

Shame because when he stuck to 'cosmic horror' - a genre he created - there's some good stuff there.

It's insanely funny to me that Robert E Howard of all people was made uncomfortable by it because the original Conan is some of the most uncomfortable stuff I've ever read with regards to race. Modern Conan media largely abandoned the worst aspects, but in its initial stages Hyborian Age was basically a gigantic race war, everyone's behavior was dictated by their race and there are even allusions to less fair skinned people being the descendants of ancient demons

Lovecraft was on a pathological level with it though. A weird combination of new england backwardness crashing into whatever mental problems he had and creating something awful

To a point that I honestly don't give a shit about his contributions to horror.

Fuck that stupid squid-headed giant. Godzilla would fuck his shit up anyway.

I'm not going full "book burning." If you enjoy reading his works, that's fine. You do you.

I'm just saying that I don't need the works of a man with a cat named n-wordman taking up space in my head. I'd rather commit the local weather report to memory.

FortuneCookie posted...

I'm not going full "book burning." If you enjoy reading his works, that's fine. You do you.

I'm just saying that I don't need the works of a man with a cat named n-wordman taking up space in my head. I'd rather commit the local weather report to memory.

I think that's the stance most have taken with Lovecraft: "Good for what it is and if you enjoy it, then enjoy it."

But he could have been great and you have to wonder if that world of horror he created was really based on a fear of racial integration and the unknown.