I've always been a fan of fantastic genres like Science Fiction and Horror, and in the course of this interest I eventually came across the name of H. P. Lovecraft, an American writer from New England. Although he never published a single book in his lifetime, his work has influenced numerous authors, screenwriters and artists and is now being rediscovered -and re-evaluated- by literary scholars and others.

What I really have some trouble with is the fact, that he was a racist who lived in fear and hate of all folks not fitting into his puritanistic WASP (White-Anglo-Saxon-Protestant) scheme of things. Nonetheless I decided against throwing him out of the window completely, because in his later years he seems to have reformed his views somewhat and the impact of his work as a whole simply can't be dismissed.

Judge for yourself:

You can read almost all of his works online

A biography

While researching the reality of his racist attitudes on the Web I realized another odd thing: How easy one is led from Lovecraft to all sorts of occult websites, mixing his inventions into their demonology or magic recipes. I read some lengthy articles about spellcasting...maybe I will give it a try ;-)

If you like weird over-the-top horror movies for people with strong stomachs and a quirky sense of humor, get a hold of Re-Animator and its sequel "Bride of Re-Animator", both loosely based on a short story by Lovecraft and featuring the great actor Jeffrey Combs -mostly known to fans of B-horror movies but maybe also to Star Trek fans, because he has appeared regularly -wearing heavy makeup- in episodes of almost every series, most recently as an Andorian and a Ferengi in the latest incarnation of Trek "Enterprise".

Update 10/9/02: I've read that there's a third installment in the making called "Beyond Re-Animator".