New Critical Essays on H. P. Lovecraft

"H. P. Lovecraft, the amateur, anti-Modern horror writer from Providence, Rhode Island, is no longer a marginal footnote in American literary history but an increasingly important figure. His influence now slithers everywhere, from film to philosophy, from protest politics to ecology. Cthulhu is arisen! Quite how, why, and when this happened is the subject of this collection of illuminating essays. Pooling leading Lovecraft scholars with emerging voices (even, heaven forfend, some women!), Simmons gives us the tools to examine Lovecraft's extraordinary fiction. Frames include slime, time, abjection, geographical exploration, and the female uncanny - a toolbox to explore a vital writer who speaks urgently to our desperate era." - Roger Luckhurst, Professor, Birkbeck University of London, UK and editor of H.P. Lovecraft, Classic Horror Tales "Timely and provocative, Simmons's collection moves Lovecraft from the outer space of the margins to the centre of current cultural debate. Topics include Lovecraft's ethnic and gender paranoia, his response to modernism, and his philosophical speculation. The shaping influence of Lovecraft's eldritch tales on comics and rock music, as well as 'New Weird' literature is expertly opened up in this highly readable book." - Anna Powell, editor of Teaching the Gothic"This anthology is the most significant book on Lovecraft ever written. Especially noteworthy are the elucidations of Lovecraft in relation to the female Gothic and in the context of popular culture." - Darryl Hattenhauer, Associate Professor of English, Arizona State University, USA