The Lovecraftian Poe

H.P. Lovecraft, one of the twentieth century's most important writers in the genre of horror fiction, famously referred to Edgar Allan Poe as both his "model" and his "God of Fiction." While scholars and readers of Poe's and Lovecraft's work have long recognized the connection between these authors, this collection of essays is the first in-depth study to explore the complex literary relationship between Lovecraft and Poe from a variety of critical perspectives. Of the thirteen essays included in this book, some consider how Poe's work influenced Lovecraft in important ways. Other essays explore how Lovecraft's fictional, critical, and poetic reception of Poe irrevocably changed how Poe's work has been understood by subsequent generations of readers and interpreters. Addressing a variety of topics ranging from the psychology of influence to racial and sexual politics, the essays in this book also consider how Lovecraft's interpretations of Poe have informed later adaptations of both writers' works in films by Roger Corman and fiction by Stephen King, Thomas Ligotti, and Caitlin R. Kiernan. This collection is an indispensable resource not only for those who are interested in Poe's and Lovecraft's work specifically, but also for readers who wish to learn more about the modern history and evolution of Gothic, horror, and weird fiction.

AcknowledgementsForeword: Poe and Lovecraft by S.T. JoshiIntroduction: Poe After Lovecraft, or Beyond the Flaming Walls of the World by Sean MorelandChapter 1: 'The Strangeness of My Heritage': Lovecraft's Poe and the Anxiety of Influence by Brian JohnsonChapter 2: The Call of Ligeia: Influence and Effect in Poe and Lovecraft by Dan ClintonChapter 3: 'Tekeli-li!' Poe, Lovecraft, and the Suspicion of Sameness by Jeffrey Andrew WeinstockChapter 4: Cosmic Horror and the Supernatural in Poe and Lovecraft by Michael CiscoChapter 5: Descending spirits: ideological implications of the vertical movements in Poe and Lovecraft by Juan L. Pérez-de-LuqueChapter 6: The Fiery Eyes: The Black Cats of Poe and Lovecraft by Robert H. WaughChapter 7: Lovecraft's Poetry and Poe's Poetics by Slawomir StudniarzChapter 8: Rarebit Dreamers: the Poetics of Lovecraft, Poe, and Winsor McCay by Miles TittleChapter 9: Poe/Lovecraft/Corman: The Case of The Haunted Palace (1963) by Murray LeederChapter 10: 'You Fancy Me Mad:' The Unreliable Narrator's Defense in Poe, Lovecraft, and King by Alissa BurgerChapter 11: The Killing Crowd: Poe and the Deep Crime of the Media by Ben WoodardChapter 12: 'Not like any thing of ours:' Waking Poe and Lovecraft in Kiernan's The Drowning Girl by Sean MorelandChapter 13: Conversations Among the Dead: Thoughts on Poe, Lovecraft, and Influence by John LanganAfterword: The Tomahawk Man and the Gentleman from Providence by Caitlín R. Kiernan