In addition to his classics of horror fiction, it is estimated that Lovecraft wrote 100,000 letters — or roughly 15 every day of his adult life — ranging from one-page diaries to seventy-page diatribes. Perhaps 20,000 of those letters have survived, in the hands of private collectors and at the John Hay Library in Providence.
In each episode of this podcast, we'll read one of these letters (or part of it) and then discuss it. In his letters HPL reveals an amazing breadth of knowledge of philosophy, science, history, literature, art and many other subjects, and forcefully asserts some highly considered opinions (some of which can be upsetting).
And of course his letters offer a fascinating window into his personal life and times. Although we've been working with Lovecraftian material for over 30 years, we still find interesting new things in his letters, and while we don't claim to be experts we look forward to sharing them with a wider audience.
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RSS Feed- Episode 26
- Posted April 19, 2020
Letters Phantastique
In which HPL writes about space travel, alien life, and the shortcomings of fictional science in a suite of letters to one of the first fans of science fiction: Nils Helmer Frome. PLEASE NOTE: During the recording of this episode, Andrew could not recall the name of the man with whom J.B.S. Haldane corresponded, and referred to him repeatedly — and inaccurately — as a "preacher". The man in question was, in fact, Arnold Lunn, who deserved to be better remembered. Andrew regrets his failure in this matter.
These letters were written between December 1936 and February 1937. Music by Troy Sterling Nies. Our thanks to Hippocampus Press for their Letters to F. Lee Baldwin, Duane W. Rimel, and Nils Frome.
If you want to get into a complicated discussion between two actually smart people, check out the correspondence between Arnold Lunn and J.B.S. Haldane.
The blueprint on the right was the design for the gate to the headquarters of the Theosophical Society in America designed by Claude Fayette Bragdon, the architect who reminded Andrew of Ivo Shandor. Click the blueprint for more info!
Lovecraft didn't care for anthropomorphic aliens like the ones on Star Trek, but our brother podcaster and dear friend Chris Lackey, co-host of The H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast, pointed out an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation that explains why so many alien races in that universe look basically human. It's called "The Chase". Chris and his wonderful wife Rachel Lackey have their own Star Trek podcast that you can check out here!
