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Rating: The impact and importance of H.P. Lovecraft on horror literature are not limited to his extraordinary stories but also manifest in his profound essays and his extensive correspondence. Theory of Horror. All the Critical Writings, a volume that collects all essays written by H.P. Lovecraft on fantastic fiction, is thus of fundamental importance for delving into his universe. The book, originally published in 2001 by Castelvecchi, has been reprinted by Edizioni Bietti still edited by Gianfranco De Turris. This edition features an introductory essay by the knowledgeable and legendary American "Lovecraftian" scholar S.T. Joshi.
The translations, notes, and critical apparatus are, as in the previous edition, by the excellent Claudio De Nardi, who unfortunately passed away while the volume was in the printing phase and to whom a dedication is reserved in the initial pages. Of Claudio De Nardi one must remember the beautiful Private Life of H.P. Lovecraft, a splendid volume now out of print but not difficult to find, published by Reverdito. This new edition of Theory of Horror is expanded with a small selection taken from the extensive (comprising more than 100,000 letters) "Lovecraftian" correspondence and a list that includes the best horror stories according to Lovecraft.
Obviously very important is the re-presentation of "The Supernatural Horror in Literature," introduced by a lovely contribution from Claudio De Nardi that retraces the troubled editorial history of this essay in our country. One of the characteristics of HPL's narrative is that it concerns one of the most important emotions of the human being: fear. And it is precisely fear that Lovecraft refers to when introducing this text by writing verbatim that "the oldest and strongest human emotion is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown." "The Supernatural Horror in Literature" traces, from antiquity to the modern age, the appearance of pure horror stories and works containing elements of terror, demonstrating Lovecraft's encyclopedic knowledge of the genre.
Through reading this essay, we learn about the works the author considered important in the fantastic genre and particularly those that influenced his writing and visions, consecrating the recluse of Providence in the eyes of critics as a sort of cosmic Poe. Lovecraft actually had limited admiration for Gothic writers like Horace Walpole and Ann Radcliffe, whom he still considered pioneers of modern horror storytelling. His interest was indeed focused towards authors like M.P. Shiel, Walter de la Mare, Arthur Machen. M.R. James and Lord Dunsany. In particular, the narrative of the recluse of Providence draws from Machen the theme of the presence of a cosmic evil, hidden at the edges of perceptible reality, an evil that constantly threatens to break into our small mundane world. Thus, Machen’s influence was fundamental in shaping the cosmic dimension and universal scale characteristic of his black science fiction.
By reading the other essays contained in Theory of Horror, we have the opportunity to deepen our literary knowledge and the vision of literature according to H.P. Lovecraft. Thus emerges the admiration he had towards William H. Hodgson, an author he discovered late but whose novels strongly influenced him with their cosmic horror. Other essays are dedicated to Clark Ashton Smith, Robert Howard, and Henry Whitehead. Particularly noteworthy is the youthful essay from 1921 "In Defense of Dagon" in which, defending the imaginative aesthetic of his story, Lovecraft formulates for the first time his theories on fantastic fiction that will underpin his "cosmic horror" and his alien mythology.
As mentioned, this new edition of Theory of Horror is more extensive than the previous one: particularly interesting is the presence of "Outlines of Fantastic Stories" where we can read the summaries that Lovecraft made of classic horror stories by Poe, Machen, Blackwood, Ewers, and other writers of the fantastic. The reading of the correspondence reveals instead the breadth of his views and his culture, which spanned with great competence in various fields among which "weird" literature, art, mythology, and eroticism. The translations of the new material presented are curated by Massimo Berruti.
Ultimately, it is a volume of capital importance, a text that everyone, fans of Lovecraft or not, should possess.
H.P. Lovecraft – Theory of Horror. All the Critical Writings edited by Gianfranco De Turris (Edizioni Bietti, 2011, 560 pages, 24 Euro)
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