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Reader and Collector, v. 3, issue 6, January 1946
Page 22
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22. essay on "Supernatural Horror in Literature," republished in The Outsider and Beyond the Wall of Sleep by the Arkham House Publishing Company, which was founded for this purpose. Lovecraft himself is presented to the reader by means of a short, four-page autobiography, an introduction, and an appreciation by W. Paul Cook, a friend and fellow writer. In these descriptive pages Lovecraft appears much as he might be envisioned from his stories; a strange combination of courage and shyness, humor and morbidity. His self-education was extensive. He spent periods on geography, history, astronomy, science, and literature, but so centered in the pursuit of the mysterious was he, that these varied topics were merged into a single study. Born in 1890 in Providence, Rhode Island, he came from the stock of old Americans whom he was to celebrate, in Baccanalian style, in his works. Upon few other authors do we find the influence of surroundings, of environment more fully apparent. The scenes of his childhood, the primitive landscapes, the brooding trees and sparsely scattered, weathered farm houses, the aura of oldness and mysterious force, so deeply endeared themselves to him, that not a single story or poem is without some mention of them and of their meaning. He was in poor health all his youth, and had few playmates. This left him in a world in which he imagined himself at five, for he was what is known as precocious, an Arab, Abdul Alhazred. This name he was later to use as that of the author of the imaginary, yet beautifully substantiated book of ancient wisdom, the Necronomicon, which has been used by the whole American fantastic group as a reference book in their tales. At six he became a Roman, having been seduced from Arabia by the more plentiful myths of Greece and Rome. At this point he writes of himself: The imaginative stimulus was immense, and for a time I actually thought I glimpsed fauns and dryads in certain venerable groves. I used to build altars and offer sacrifices to Pan, Diana, Apollo, and Minerva.2 ___________________ 2. Lovecraft, The Outsider and Others.
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22. essay on "Supernatural Horror in Literature," republished in The Outsider and Beyond the Wall of Sleep by the Arkham House Publishing Company, which was founded for this purpose. Lovecraft himself is presented to the reader by means of a short, four-page autobiography, an introduction, and an appreciation by W. Paul Cook, a friend and fellow writer. In these descriptive pages Lovecraft appears much as he might be envisioned from his stories; a strange combination of courage and shyness, humor and morbidity. His self-education was extensive. He spent periods on geography, history, astronomy, science, and literature, but so centered in the pursuit of the mysterious was he, that these varied topics were merged into a single study. Born in 1890 in Providence, Rhode Island, he came from the stock of old Americans whom he was to celebrate, in Baccanalian style, in his works. Upon few other authors do we find the influence of surroundings, of environment more fully apparent. The scenes of his childhood, the primitive landscapes, the brooding trees and sparsely scattered, weathered farm houses, the aura of oldness and mysterious force, so deeply endeared themselves to him, that not a single story or poem is without some mention of them and of their meaning. He was in poor health all his youth, and had few playmates. This left him in a world in which he imagined himself at five, for he was what is known as precocious, an Arab, Abdul Alhazred. This name he was later to use as that of the author of the imaginary, yet beautifully substantiated book of ancient wisdom, the Necronomicon, which has been used by the whole American fantastic group as a reference book in their tales. At six he became a Roman, having been seduced from Arabia by the more plentiful myths of Greece and Rome. At this point he writes of himself: The imaginative stimulus was immense, and for a time I actually thought I glimpsed fauns and dryads in certain venerable groves. I used to build altars and offer sacrifices to Pan, Diana, Apollo, and Minerva.2 ___________________ 2. Lovecraft, The Outsider and Others.
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