[bouvin]

I am a longtime devotee of Lovecraft. For a deep dive into the man's life, I direct your attention to the Voluminous podcast [1], which covers a bit of H.P. Lovecraft's extensive correspondence. He was a fascinating character, simultaneously infuriating, repugnant, intellectual, sympathetic, and kind. When he wrote at his best, he was exceptionally good.

I lean more towards the belief that what was created between Lovecraft and his friends regarding their shared universe while Lovecraft was alive is superior to what came later. Subsequent revisions introduced elements like order, good vs. evil, etc., which, in my opinion, are fundamentally at odds with the incomprehensibility of cosmic horror.

These days, of course, Cthulhu seems more suited to a pair of plush slippers.

[1] https://www.hplhs.org/voluminous.php

[momentoftop]

The article mentions ST Joshi a few times, who I think deserves credit not just as the foremost scholar of Lovecraft, but possibly for bringing attention to Lovecraft in the 60s and 70s. I thoroughly enjoyed his "Decline of the West", which pores over Lovecraft's correspondences trying to get a broad handle on his philosophy and aesthetics. He strikes me as a pretty complicated individual, with his early bigotry and his later slightly less malignant cultural chauvinism always being at odds with his cosmicism. And I think his nostalgic, escapist fantasy might generally have been at odds with his uncompromisingly scientific realism, perhaps contributing to his somewhat bitter and bleak view of the sciences (each straining in their own direction).

(I once owned one of those cute green Cthulhu plushies)

[ndsipa_pomu]

S.T. Joshi is well known in cultist circles. He features in the Exegesis Lovecraft documentary: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt20869650/

[ndsipa_pomu]

As you mention a podcast, I'd better mention BBC's The Lovecraft Investigations as they are a modern interpretation and most excellent.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06spb8w

[throwanem]

I thought the most recent season fell off a little, but you're not wrong that it's quite good overall, and very much in the "mythos" character given Simpson's prior work in audio drama.