H.P. Lovecraft
L'orrore di Lovecraft

THE REVIEW

Lately, there seems to be excitement in Italy regarding the figure of Lovecraft. The late Giuseppe Lippi curated a powerful Mammoth – All the Stories – for Mondadori, which includes his entire production: basically, it combines the 4 volumes previously released in the '90s based on texts established by the scholar S.T. Joshi. Bietti then published a new edition – although it’s more correct to call it a reprint – of Theory of Horror – a book that presents a series of important essays defining the "Lovecraftian" thought where you can also find the famous Supernatural Horror In Literature. Also noteworthy is Oniricon edited by Pietro Guarriello, which includes a series of Lovecraft's letters focused on the "dreamlike" theme.

The Esescifi circle is also very active, which, after the anthology The Universe of Lovecraft, published The Horror of Lovecraft, another collection presenting several stories by Italian authors inspired by Lovecraft's insane universe. For the occasion, 40 of them were selected, along with 4 essays and a new translation of The Dunwich Horror. The quality of the material is varied. However, there are good insights despite a certain tendency to repeat the same "Topos". If I may critique, I believe that 40 stories are too many for a book of this genre. The impression is that quantity is favored over quality. Having said this, there's something good: Andrea Andreoni, with Of the Seas of Raly’Ah-Talàs, writes a science fiction story set on an unknown planet where an ancient deity from HPL's pantheon dwells. Those who consider HPL a science fiction writer (as Fruttero and Lucentini did) will surely be pleased. Matteo Mancini with The Esoteric Order of Imarna takes us from Andreoni's Cosmic tale to Tuscany. Surely bizarre but full of charm is The King of Thrill by Ramses (which is a pseudonym), where the figure of writer H.P. Kings appears, sounding like a tribute to Lovecraft and Stephen King. Despite Stephen King has often acknowledged his debt to the Recluse of Providence, his production, however, has taken another direction and, moreover, he recently hasn't had very kind words about the quality of his writing.

Claudio Foti with The Diary exploits the technique – certainly not very innovative and dating back to the Gothic novel – of finding a diary followed by the disappearance of 2 kids. Big Brother Cthulhu by Cristiano Fighera is amusing but somewhat ends in itself, while Cthulhu@email.com by Giuliano Conconi is well-written and based on a clever idea: the sending of an email from a future where humanity has been destroyed by the Great Old Ones. The Temple by Yuri Abietti is a good piece of "fantarcheology". The 4 essays – The "Inverted" Positivism of H.P. Lovecraft by Stefano Spataro, Lovecraft and the Incommunicability of Materialism by Giacomo De Colle, The "Weird" Music Of H.P. Lovecraft by Cesare Buttaboni and Lovecraft: A Journey into the Unknowable by Daniela Ferraro Pozzer – are stimulating but perhaps deserving of deeper investigation.

The illustrations are by Gino Andrea Carosini, Ferrante, and Sciaccaluga while the cover is the work of Lellinux.
Besides the standard edition, a Deluxe color version of large format for collectors divided into 2 volumes is expected. This edition will include, as mentioned, an unpublished translation of the story The Dunwich Horror, curated by Professor Busnelli Miriam. The Horror of Lovecraft is available at Lulu at the following link: http://www.lulu.com/shop/esescifi-aavv/lorrore-di-lovecraft/paperback/product-23720606.html.

"The Horror of Lovecraft" – Cultural Circle Esescifi – 576 pages – 9780244397005 – 2018 - Euro 21,90