As Lovecraft lay dying in a Providence hospital in the spring or 1937, he felt that his work would be forgotten. Though the nascent science fiction and fantasy community idolized him, they were few in number; his stories had only appeared in pulp magazines, primarily Weird Tales, or else in amateur publications with print runs of as little as twelve copies. Partly from lack of real effort --an 'artist' didn't involve himself in crass commerce-- and partly because of the general disdain for weird fiction, no collections of his stories were issued in his lifetime.
In 1939, Arkham House rectified that oversight with their initial offering, The Outsider and Others, containing most of Lovecraft's best stories. Only 1,218 copies were printed, yet it still took years to sell out. Obscurity did indeed seem to be Lovecraft's fate.
Today, however, Lovecraft is considered a seminal author, with a worldwide reputation; no anthology of classic horror would be complete without one of his tales, and his entire ouevre is available from multiple publishers in many languages. There are revised versions, annotated versions, ebooks, countless pastiches, critical studies, comic book and movie adaptations, role playing games and t-shirts directly descended from his fiction.At least two publishing companies exist solely to publish works related to the horror master.
Lovecraft Conquers the Web
With such a wide audience to begin with, it is no surprise that Lovecraftian sites abound on the web, as any search for 'lovecraft' will attest. Almost every message horror and dark fantasy message board has a thread devoted to Lovecraft, as fans discuss the impact he has had on their lives.
The variety of dedicated sites is staggering. Respecting Lovecraft as one of the most influential writers in American literature, sites like Horrormasters.com and Dagonbytes offer downloads of most of Lovecraft's fiction. Detailed academic sites feature mini-essays and FAQs on his life, stories and creations, plus numerous links to other relevant, often more detailed sites. Most prominent among these is the H. P, Lovecraft Archives .
Chris Perridas's blog, H. P. Lovecraft & his Legacy, covers a wide swath of topics, tracking down pictures of rare and obscure Lovecraftiana such as original letters, rare publications and even his high school yearbook, plus updates and announcements of current activities by fans and professionals alike.
The unusual H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society is devoted to all sorts of Lovecraftian media, to the extent that they produced their own film version of "The Call of Cthulhu." The film was shot as a silent movie, as if it were contemporary with Lovecraft's original 1926 story.
Lovecraftian Sites in New England features photos of actual locations used in Lovecraft's weird tales; Temple of Dagon focuses on the Cthulhu Mythos; Yog-Sothoth.com podcasts gaming news and interviews with weird fiction experts; InkNerd has a photo page of Cthulhu tatoos.
Lovecraftian Web Comics
Lovecraft-inspired webcomcis, both original stories and adaptations, are also popular, including Lovecraft Country, Lovecraft is Missing, and The Strange High House in the Mist.
And despite his reputation for shivers and chills, there are several popular and long running humorous Lovecraftian webcomics.
El Joven Lovecraft (Young Lovecraft) by Jose Oliver and Bart Torres is a Spanish strip, for which the authors also supply an English translation. They reference elements of the author's life, but the facts take a back seat to quirky humor and art as they follow the adventures of an odd little boy and his cosmic imagination.
In France , Francois Launet, aka Goomi, has been writing and illustrating The Unspeakable Vault of Doom since 2003. Looking like children's plush toys, Ktulu, Yogzotot and the rest are monsters of a softer, gentler, and decidedly funnier kind.
All in all, Lovecraft has achieved a level of success and recognition accorded to few writers. In its heyday, Weird Tales had a circulation of about 50,000 copies per month, and not every issue had a Lovecraft submission. With hundreds of millions viewers scouring the web each day, even a very small percentage of them connecting with Lovecraft's legacy would provide far greater exposure than he or his friends could ever have imagined.
As he lay dying , he had no idea that he was on the brink of immortality.
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