A Scary Look Behind Aich-Pee-Ell

Scary Books, Kiddies!

 

Lovecraft:  A Look Behind the “Cthulhu Mythos.”  By Lin Carter.  Ballantine, 1972.  Cover art by Gervasio Gallardo.

            When I came across this paperback in 1976 or so, I felt vindicated.  Here at last was proof that ol’ Aich-Pee Ell was worthy of my fascination!  There was a real book written about him!     

            The chapter titles, intentionally Lovecraftian, are:

1.      The Visitor from Outside
2.      Intimations of R’lyeh
3.      The Thing on the Newsstand
4.      The Horrors of Red Hook
5.      The Coming of Cthulhu
6.      Acolytes of the Black Circle
7.      The Gathering of the Shadows
8.      The Spawn of the Old Ones
9.      The Elder Gods
10.  Invaders from Yesterday
11.  The Last Incantation
12.  Beyond the Tomb
13.  The House in the Pines
14.  End of an Epoch
15.  The Last Disciple

            It’s a fun romp through the rising fandom of HPL’s dense, off-putting writing, vocabulary, and personality.

            I first discovered HPL through the blessed Bartlesville (OK) Public Library, then was fortunate enough to find some of Ballantine's reprints at Bartlesville Bookland (which establishment you can also blame my acquaintance with National Lampoon).

See you next time, kiddies!