Herbert West—Reanimator by H.P. Lovecraft

Although Lovecraft’s interest in atmospheric effects often mars “The Lurking Fear”’s humorous tone, “Herbert West” is unharmed by any serious horror. This story, like H.P.’s subsequent work “The Lurking Fear,” was written to-order as a serial publication for the humor magazine Home Brew. Lovecraft stories don't usually make me think of Mel Brooks and Bruce Campbell, but 'Herbert West' is definitely an exception.

He is now commonly regarded as one of the most influential horror writers of the 20th Century, exerting widespread and indirect influence, and frequently compared to Edgar Allan Poe. Lovecraft's protagonists usually achieve the mirror-opposite of traditional gnosis and mysticism by momentarily glimpsing the horror of ultimate reality.Īlthough Lovecraft's readership was limited during his life, his reputation has grown over the decades. His works were deeply pessimistic and cynical, challenging the values of the Enlightenment, Romanticism and Christianity. Lovecraft has developed a cult following for his Cthulhu Mythos, a series of loosely interconnected fictions featuring a pantheon of human-nullifying entities, as well as the Necronomicon, a fictional grimoire of magical rites and forbidden lore.

Those who genuinely reason, like his protagonists, gamble with sanity. Lovecraft's major inspiration and invention was cosmic horror: life is incomprehensible to human minds and the universe is fundamentally alien. Howard Phillips Lovecraft, of Providence, Rhode Island, was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction.

Herbert West—Reanimator by H.P. Lovecraft