Synopsis The twentieth centurys greatest practitioner of the classic horror tale Stephen King about H. P. Lovecraft H. P. Lovecrafts fiction reveals a universe that is vaster, darker, and stranger than anything previously imagined. His cosmic horror reflects a peculiarly modern philosophical belief system in which human beings are regarded as insignificant in light of the vastness of time and space. The especially Lovecraftian twist on this apocalyptic premise is that it is alien forces and powers at work in the universe that possess the potential for the ultimate destruction of mankind. Reprinted here are many of Lovecrafts most famous works, including The Call of Cthulhu (1928), The Dunwich Horror (1929), and The Shadow Over Innsmouth (1936). These stories will introduce readers to Lovecrafts pantheon of gods, his characteristic themes, his fictitious New England geography and, of course, the Necronomicon, Lovecrafts famous invented book of occult secrets. Biography Howard Phillips Lovecraft was born on August 20, 1890, in Providence, Rhode Island. When Lovecraft was three, his father was admitted to an insane asylum, and by the time he was eight he suffered his own near-breakdown. The year before that, he had begun writing short horror tales.