In the Mountains of Madness

August 29, 2016
Historian Poole (Vampira: Dark Goddess of Horror) turns his scholarly attention to H.P. Lovecraft (1890â1937) in this highly readable, informal biography, which also surveys the iconic horror writer's place in today's popular culture. Acknowledging the work done on Lovecraft by S.T. Joshi and other critics in recent decades, Poole takes pains to point out where his views differ from theirs. In particular, Poole stresses the importance of the women in Lovecraft's life, notably his mother, Sarah, and his wife, Sonia, to whom he was effectively married for only two years. Sarah may have had a detrimental psychological influence on her son, Poole concedes, but "at every opportunity, she let his imagination run in its wildest directions," encouraging his pursuit of such hobbies as chemistry and astronomy. In addition to putting in a good word for Sonia, Poole cites an anecdote that will be unfamiliar even to those steeped in Lovecraft lore: a document among Sonia's papers at the John Hay Library in Providence, R.I., suggests that Lovecraft enjoyed watching his wife dance to a recording of "Danse Macabre," the Camille Saint-Saëns tone poem. For Lovecraft neophytes wanting to learn more about the man and his work, this is a fine starting point.

July 1, 2016
A deep plunge into the Lovecraft-ian dark side.Poole (History/Coll. of Charleston; Vampira: Dark Goddess of Horror, 2014, etc.) enthusiastically explores how H.P. Lovecraft (1890-1937) influenced modern pop culture. The author's ardent fandom occasionally gets in the way, but he doesn't shy away from being critical when it matters, as when he discusses the "raw sewage of the author's racial theories." Poole reveals how a "strange, sickly, geeky, gawky, weird, impossible Howard" became H.P. Lovecraft, creating "horror tales without precedent and monsters without antecedent." The reclusive writer was lucky to be around when scary ghost stories were the thing; even "high-falutin figures" like Henry James were writing them. Lovecraft's moody "fictional grimoire" found favor with the editors of Weird Tales beginning in 1926 with "The Tomb" (they originally rejected his most famous work, "The Call of Cthulhu"). It gained him an audience but little income. Downplaying the role Poe had on his work and paying particular attention to the role women played in Lovecraft's life, Poole seamlessly weaves biography and criticism as he shows how the fodder of Lovecraft's mental state was transformed into the eerie, occult-infused stories Nail Gaiman calls "where the darkness begins." The rise of interest in Lovecraft after his death at 46 to the "apex of American popular culture's current fascinations form[s] a story as peculiar as his own life." Poole chronicles how writers like Robert E. Howard, August Derleth, and Robert Bloch championed him while Arkham House tirelessly kept his books in print. The "contemporary geek culture" created a "multibillion dollar entertainment juggernaut" consisting of video and board games, films, TV shows, comics, and steampunk that bear the Lovecraft-ian stamp. Poole even chronicles his visits to fantasy conferences interviewing fans who want to talk about the author who "wrote a new American history and a new geography to match it." Poole calls his occasionally flaky biography "unorthodox," but it's also thoroughly enjoyable and highly readable.

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August 1, 2016

Although horror writer H.P. Lovecraft's (1890-1937) oeuvre is widely read, his life and times have been infrequently profiled. Because of its brevity (relative to S.T. Joshi's definitive biography, H.P. Lovecraft: A Life) and engaging style, this work by Poole (history, Coll. of Charleston; Vampira: Dark Goddess of Horror) makes Lovecraft's story accessible to casual readers without forsaking the level of detail expected of a more scholarly work. Poole examines the known events from birth to death, while carefully detailing the people and literature that influenced Lovecraft; his significant stories are also discussed. In other ways, though, this book entertains and surprises, as with Poole's decision to write in the first person--he's a wry and jovial narrator. He also takes pains to explore Lovecraft's influence upon art and popular culture. Likewise, Poole does not shrink from explaining his subject's sexuality, nor does he shirk his duty to discuss Lovecraft's undeniable racism and xenophobia. This interesting biography also provides new perspectives on the author's character that will incense the keepers of Lovecraft's mythos. VERDICT It's hard to argue against acquiring this volume to support a literature collection, though its appeal to readers beyond those fascinated with Lovecraft will be limited.--Chris Wieman, Univ. of the Sciences Libs., Philadelphia

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2016
Decades after passing into obscurity following his death in 1937, H. P. Lovecraft has become a revered icon for horror fans worldwide, inspiring devoted imitators and multiple volumes of literary analysis. Without recycling material from existing biographies, historian and pop-culture expert Poole here focuses primarily on Lovecraft's influence oncontemporary media, from film and television to comics and role-playing games. Poole wryly notes that, as a teetotaler who rarely listened to music, Lovecraft would have been surprised to learn that a New England bar sells craft beers using his image and heavy-metal bands have spun songs from his more gruesome tales. His otherworldly Cthulhu sea creatures were models for the slimy extraterrestrials in the Aliens movies, and even a recent Stephen King novel, Revival (2014), featured malevolent Lovecraftian beings. Poole also makes room, however, for revisiting some of the more controversial aspects of Lovecraft's life, including his racism in his early years and the 2015 decision by World Fantasy Award judges to remove Lovecraft's likeness from the trophy. Must reading for both loyal Lovecraft fans and biography lovers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)