Who's in the Lovecraft Circle?
John Tynes
I'm trying to come up with a list of which authors are considered part of
the original Lovecraft Circle. I mean "authors" as in "people who wrote
stories with Mythos elements," as opposed to "people who corresponded with
Lovecraft but weren't writing fiction." I'm willing to winnow out his
revision clients and other minor contributors. I'm looking for the core
set of a half-dozen or so folks. Offhand I can think of:
Robert Bloch
August Derleth
Robert E. Howard
Frank Belknap Long
Clark Ashton Smith
Who am I missing?
--
John Tynes r...@halcyon.com [] "If he died in Memphis,
http://www.tccorp.com/rev/ [] wouldn't that be cool?"
Pagan Publishing [] -The Replacements,
& Commando Creative Services [] "Alex Chilton"
< \ - + freelance writing, editing, graphic design & HTML + - / >
Daniel Harms
r...@blarg.com (John Tynes) wrote:
>I'm trying to come up with a list of which authors are considered part of
>the original Lovecraft Circle. I mean "authors" as in "people who wrote
>stories with Mythos elements," as opposed to "people who corresponded with
>Lovecraft but weren't writing fiction." I'm willing to winnow out his
>revision clients and other minor contributors. I'm looking for the core
>set of a half-dozen or so folks. Offhand I can think of:
>Robert Bloch
>August Derleth
>Robert E. Howard
>Frank Belknap Long
>Clark Ashton Smith
>Who am I missing?
I'd add:
Henry Kuttner
Fritz Leiber
You might also include James Blish and J.
Vernon Shea, although they could be excluded on the
grounds that their Mythos fiction didn't appear until
long after HPL's death. (Leiber may also be questionable
in this regard, though he did include some Mythos
references in the original MS. of "Adept's Gambit").
Daniel Harms "...red hair and cross eyes
Box 3793 Station B have no symbolic significance
Vanderbilt U. in the composition of the
Nashville, TN 37235 civilization." -- H. P. Lovecraft
har...@ctrvax.vanderbilt.edu
Bruce Baugh
>Robert Bloch
>August Derleth
>Robert E. Howard
>Frank Belknap Long
>Clark Ashton Smith
There are others one could add later (or even posthumously), but I think
that's about it for what I think of as the Circle proper.
--
Bruce Baugh <*> http://www.kenosis.com
Moderator, comp.os.ms-windows.win95.moderated
List manager, Christlib, Christian/libertarian mailing list
Host, new sf by S.M. Stirling and George Alec Effing er
Daniel Harms
r...@blarg.com (John Tynes) wrote:
>I'm trying to come up with a list of which authors are considered part of
>the original Lovecraft Circle. I mean "authors" as in "people who wrote
>stories with Mythos elements," as opposed to "people who corresponded with
>Lovecraft but weren't writing fiction." I'm willing to winnow out his
>revision clients and other minor contributors. I'm looking for the core
>set of a half-dozen or so folks. Offhand I can think of:
>Robert Bloch
>August Derleth
>Robert E. Howard
>Frank Belknap Long
>Clark Ashton Smith
>Who am I missing?
Yes, it's me again. I found a few interesting passages
in David Schultz's "Notes toward a History of the Cthulhu Mythos"
in Crypt of Cthulhu #92. I highly recommend it for anyone who
wants to know more about the Cthulhu Mythos -- or if you need
a reason not to like August Derleth. ;-) Anyway, here are a few
selected quotes that appear within (the underlining is mine):
(Derleth, "H. P. Lovecraft: The Making of a Literary Reputation,
1937-71", Books at Brown 25 (1977)): "Eight other writers added
^^^^^
considerably to the Cthulhu Mythos...These invited contributors were
presently joined by imitators, most of whom Arkham House quickly put
down. Two of them, however, both British, were encouraged to the
extent of ultimate book publication under the Arkham House imprint."
(Wandrei, dustjacket to F. B. Long's _The Rim of the Unknown_, 1972):
"Long has the honor of being one of the six individuals designated by
^^^
Lovecraft at his death with exclusive permission to make use of his
Cthulhu mythos and his idea-book for literary purposes."
Those of you who are interested in this sort of thing should
study these two passages carefully and gain enlightenment thereby.
At any rate, it's fairly clear from this that not even Derleth and
Wandrei could agree on who was in the Lovecraft Circle.
Alyn Miller
I hope you have better source data than I have, this is culled from a
decidedly flawed memory, and you will want to confirm this somehow.
Manly Wade Wellman and Donald Wandrei may have writen some mythos stuff.
I don't know how often, but I believe Manly Wade Wellman and HPL
corresponded to a small extent but I don't know if he wrote any Mythos
stuff. Donald Wandrei may have written some mythos stories also, but IF he
did, I don't know if they were ever published. He collaborated with E.
Hoffman Price on a Randolf Carter story (I think "Through the Gates of the
Silver Key" or something similar.
Lin Carter mentions C.L. Moore and Fritz Lieber as corresondends but also
that they wrote no real mythos stuff. ('Course Cthulhu Mythos is defined
diferently by just about everyone, but I expect he is correct on this.)
Come to think of it, the only names you might really be interested in are
Donald Wandrei and E H Price, and these are both iffy. I think you have
already listed everyone of consequence.
Alyn Miller
John Tynes <r...@blarg.com> wrote in article
<rev-150397...@dialup40.blarg.net>...
> I'm trying to come up with a list of which authors are considered part of
> the original Lovecraft Circle. I mean "authors" as in "people who wrote
> stories with Mythos elements," as opposed to "people who corresponded
with
> Lovecraft but weren't writing fiction." I'm willing to winnow out his
> revision clients and other minor contributors. I'm looking for the core
> set of a half-dozen or so folks. Offhand I can think of:
>
> Robert Bloch
> August Derleth
> Robert E. Howard
> Frank Belknap Long
> Clark Ashton Smith
>
> Who am I missing?
>
Bruce R Turlish
On 18 Mar 1997, Alyn Miller wrote:
> Donald Wandrei may have written some mythos stories also, but IF he
> did, I don't know if they were ever published. He collaborated with E.
Donald Wandrei wrote a novel entitled "The Web of Easter Island," which I
consider to be one of the most interesting and unjustly neglected
fictional works based upon the Cthulhu Mythos. It was published
originally by Arkham House back in the 1940's, I think, and, to the best
of my knowledge, has never been reprinted since. This work definitely
merits a closer look.
Bruce Turlish
b...@efn.org
John Tynes
In article <01bc336c$488e4860$04647392@admiller>, "Alyn Miller"
<admi...@ma.ultranet.com> wrote:
>Come to think of it, the only names you might really be interested in are
>Donald Wandrei and E H Price, and these are both iffy. I think you have
>already listed everyone of consequence.
From comments I've gotten in email, I think you're right. The list I
posted should suffice for my purposes, I guess. Thanks!
Philip J. Rahman
There is reportedly a reprint by a company called Buccaneer Books--the
representative for the estate was unaware of it and it may be a
pirated edition. Fedogan & Bremer is planning to eventually release
WEB OF EASTER ISLAND in an authorized edition, along with Wandrei's
mainstream novel INVISIBLE SUN.
"The Lady in Gray" which was published in Weird Tales, Dec. 1933
(later collected in EYE AND THE FINGER Arkham House 1944) includes
this passage:
"What of the city beneath the sea, all of vermilion marble and
corroded bronze, in whose queerly curved geometry rest the glowing
configuration of things that earth never bore? What of the whisper in
darkness, and the call of Cthulhu? I saw seven deaths of Commoriom,
and the twenty-three sleepers where Hali raises its black spires in
Carcosa. Who else has witness the dead titans waken, or the color our
of space, or the ichor of the stone gods?"
(Note: the original name for WEB OF EASTER ISLAND was DEAD TITANS
WAKEN)
I believe Lin Carter listed "Tree Men of M'Bwa" and "Fire Vampires" as
mythos stories by Wandrei--but the link is tenuous.
Those story, along with thirty-some others will be included in the
forthcoming DON'T DREAM, the collected horror and fantasy of Donald
Wandrei, which is going to the printer this week!
Christophe Thill
On 18 Mar 1997 04:18:51 GMT, "Alyn Miller" <admi...@ma.ultranet.com> wrote:
>I hope you have better source data than I have, this is culled from a
>stuff. Donald Wandrei may have written some mythos stories also, but IF he
>did, I don't know if they were ever published.
Wandrei's "The Web of Easter Island" is sort of Mythos-ish; I mean, you don't
meet the Old Ones inperson but you can feel them lurkin behind the scene. And
there's the Cthulhu statuette. There's also a very macabre story about a lady in
grey with a bit of name-dropping and a giant slug, Chthonian-style.
------
Christophe Thill - Paris, France (c_t...@worldnet.fr)
ArKa/D/ia! Homepage: http://www.worldnet.fr/~c_thill/
HP Lovecraft page: http://www.worldnet.fr/~c_thill/hpl/
"The King in Yellow": http://www.worldnet.fr/~c_thill/chambers/
DAIKAIJU! Les monstres japonais: http://www.worldnet.fr/~c_thill/kaiju/
felixb...@gmail.com
> the original Lovecraft Circle. I mean "authors" as in "people who wrote
> stories with Mythos elements," as opposed to "people who corresponded with
> Lovecraft but weren't writing fiction." I'm willing to winnow out his
> revision clients and other minor contributors. I'm looking for the core
> set of a half-dozen or so folks. Offhand I can think of:
>
> Robert Bloch
> August Derleth
> Robert E. Howard
> Frank Belknap Long
> Clark Ashton Smith
>
> Who am I missing?
>
> John Tynes r...@halcyon.com [] "If he died in Memphis,
> http://www.tccorp.com/rev/ [] wouldn't that be cool?"
> Pagan Publishing [] -The Replacements,
> & Commando Creative Services [] "Alex Chilton"
> < \ - + freelance writing, editing, graphic design & HTML + - / >
http://lovecraftbookclub.wordpress.com/lovecraft-circle/
W. H. Pugmire, Esq.
> I'm trying to come up with a list of which authors are considered part of
> the original Lovecraft Circle. I mean "authors" as in "people who wrote
> stories with Mythos elements," as opposed to "people who corresponded with
> Lovecraft but weren't writing fiction." I'm willing to winnow out his
> revision clients and other minor contributors. I'm looking for the core
> set of a half-dozen or so folks. Offhand I can think of:
>
> Robert Bloch
> August Derleth
> Robert E. Howard
> Frank Belknap Long
> Clark Ashton Smith
>
> Who am I missing?
>
> --
> John Tynes r...@halcyon.com [] "If he died in Memphis,
> http://www.tccorp.com/rev/ [] wouldn't that be cool?"
> Pagan Publishing [] -The Replacements,
> & Commando Creative Services [] "Alex Chilton"
> < \ - + freelance writing, editing, graphic design & HTML + - / >
bruce turlish
"...He was always sad that, before he moved to Tacoma, he BURNED all of his letters from Lovecraft in an effort to get rid of stuff he didn't need."
Sensible guy--at least no one could accuse him of being a hoarder.
Ramsey Campbell
Manly did write "The Terrible Parchment", in which the Necronomicon figures. He told me it was suggested by an incident when as a joke he asked for the book in a bookshop in (I think) New York, and the bookseller said he'd recently sold someone a copy.
