Info Nugget: The Early Life of H.P. Lovecraft

Like so many prolific writers, Lovecraft’s early life planted the seeds that would later be sowed into a writing career famous for stories of the macabre. Known today as one of the most influential writers of the horror genre, it should come to no surprise that his writing focused on the darker side of the human mind. His first known piece was written at the age of 10 and was an extremely short story (later dubbed “flash fiction”) about walking in on his parents doing it. It reads as follows:

As I lay in bed, I noticed a most awful sound oozing through the walls like some infernal oil yawned from the depths of hell. My blood did not run cold, but it certainly wanted to run. It wanted to push through my pores and run as far as it could from that awful noise. By sheer willpower, I managed to keep myself from transforming into a frightening, bloodless husk of a human being. I should thank God that I did not descend into hysterics but a world where that awful sound exists is certainly a Godless one.

But the sound! Any and all descriptions fall short! Perhaps centuries down the line when such terror at the hands of this noise is more familiar to the human populous a word (or words, for that matter) will be created to aptly describe the sheer gut-wrenchitude. But for now, I am alone both in the literal sense and my ability to recount this occurrence if I survive.

Just as terror can get the best of a man, so can bravery. I left my bedroom and noticed the sound appeared to be projecting from my parent’s quarters. This damnable sound! Is it not content with injecting me with pure fear, or does it also have dark aspirations that leave me orphaned from parents that have died soundlessly in their bed from its terror?

The door was opened a crack, and I pushed forward. What I saw through the modest lighting the moonlight provided was this: a creature most foul with four arms and four legs rhythmically rocking back and forth.

That sound that filled the woodworks of my simple home did not simply come from the beast’s mouth; for it had two mouths… each of them equally responsible for the sound!

This is not a picture of H.P Lovecraft as a child and I'm fairly certain he never played baseball. Not to mention the time in which Lovecraft lived would have made a color photo impossible. But let's face it, all kids look the Goddamn same so this is a good picture as any.

During his primary education, Lovecraft was picked on constantly for his habit of trying to relate everything to giant, underwater cities. Eventually, his theory on sunken cities and the pent-up aggression from repressed memories of bullying manifested itself into the story The Call of Cthulhu, arguably his most chilling tale.

Before he devoted his life to writing, Lovecraft had much trouble holding onto steady employment. He worked many jobs, including a drug store clerk, a stock boy, and a baker’s assistant. The reason these jobs were short lived were all the same: he would not stop making spooky ghost noises.

Ironically enough, when he met his wife, Sonia Greene, at an amateur journalism convention, the reason she fell for him was the fact he would not stop making spooky ghost noises.