H.P. Lovecraft
Teoria dell'orrore

The impact of H.P. Lovecraft on horror literature is not limited to his extraordinary stories but is also manifested in his essays and vast correspondence. The reprint of Theory of Horror. All the Critical Writings, a volume that gathers all the essays written by H.P. Lovecraft on fantastic fiction, is therefore of fundamental importance for delving deeper into his universe. The book, originally published in 2001 by Castelvecchi and immediately withdrawn from the market, is now reprinted by Edizioni Bietti, still edited by Gianfranco De Turris, and features an introductory essay by the knowledgeable and legendary American "Lovecraftian" scholar S.T. Joshi. The volume, initially published in 2011, was then reprinted in an identical version in 2018.

The translations, notes, and critical apparatus are, as in the previous edition, by the excellent Claudio De Nardi, unfortunately deceased (possibly by suicide) while the volume was in the printing phase and to whom a dedication is reserved in the initial pages. One must remember Claudio De Nardi's beautiful book, Private Life of H.P. Lovecraft, a splendid volume now out of print that appeared for Reverdito. This new edition of Theory of Horror is expanded with a small selection taken from the vast (composed of over 100,000 letters) "Lovecraftian" correspondence and a list that includes the best horror stories according to Lovecraft.

Of course, important is the re-proposal of Supernatural Horror in Literature, introduced by a fine contribution from Claudio De Nardi that retraces the troubled editorial history of this essay in our country. The beginning of this text, in which HPL writes that "the oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown", is memorable. Supernatural Horror in Literature traces, from antiquity to modern times, the appearance of pure horror stories and works containing elements of terror, demonstrating that Lovecraft had an encyclopedic knowledge of the genre.

The essay In Defense of Dagon is then emblematic: his defense of his own conception of how a horror story should be written is textbook material: here one begins to understand his "anti-anthropocentric" point of view. Authors such as Lord Dunsany - initially his point of reference, Clark Ashton Smith - about whom Lovecraft discusses his poem Ebony And Crystal -, Henry Whitehead, William Hope Hodgson, and Robert E. Howard are then examined in depth. In particular, the narrative of the "Solitary of Providence" draws from Machen the theme of the presence of hidden evil lurking within the folds of perceivable reality, an evil that constantly threatens to break into our daily lives. Therefore, Machen's influence was crucial - as also highlighted by Borges - in shaping the cosmic dimension and universal scale characteristic of his dark science fiction. But it was probably the cosmic perspective of William Hope Hodgson, author of masterpiece novels like The House on the Borderland and The Night Land, that had a fundamental importance in the development of the final "Lovecraftian" production.

Reading the chapter Some Notes on Interplanetary Fiction turns out to be very interesting, where Lovecraft distances himself from the science fiction of his time - with the exception of H.G. Wells - which he considered sloppy and lacking "artistic-literary dignity" - referring to writers like Edgar Rice Burroughs.

In Plot Outlines of Fantastic Stories, we can instead read the summaries that Lovecraft made of classic horror stories by Poe, Machen, Blackwood, Ewers, and other writers of horror fiction.

The reading of a small excerpt from the correspondence - which consists of over 100,000 letters - reveals the breadth of his views and his culture, which competently spanned various fields including "weird" literature, art, mythology, and eroticism.

Ultimately, it is a volume of great importance, a text that everyone, Lovecraft enthusiasts or not, should own.