Studi Lovecraftiani
Studi Lovecraftiani 20

THE REVIEW

Finally, after a long break, the legendary magazine Studi Lovecraftiani from Dagon Press by Pietro Guarriello returns. The spectacular cover is the work of Pietro Rotelli, Deus Ex Machina of the fanzine Voci da R’lyeh.

This issue 20 is promising right from the initial article by Jari Padoan The Call of Lovecraft: Some Reflections on the Cultural Legacy of the Dreamer of Providence. Padoan’s arguments are largely agreeable: it is highlighted how Lovecraft's was "a decidedly peculiar kind of fantastic narrative for the average American audience of the twenties and thirties, and in its originality and innovation, in its personal 'theory of horror' it was mostly deemed abstruse." Lovecraft, in fact, while drawing from Edgar Allan Poe, diverged from him by proposing a "cosmic" and anti-anthropocentric type of horror. Rightly, the importance of August Derleth and Donal Wandrei (via the Arkham House publishing) in spreading the “Lovecraftian” legacy is underlined. Padoan then discusses the spread of Lovecraft's narrative in Italy (behind France where, already in the '50s, he had become a cult figure). The Rats in the Walls, which appeared in the anthology A Century of Terror by Sugar Co., is cited as Italy’s first translation of a Lovecraft story curated by the late Bruno Tasso. Actually, the first Italian translation of H.P. Lovecraft is The Outsider, first published in Pandora, A. II, n. 1, Rome, January 1954. Pandora was not a fantasy or weird magazine, but a mainstream story monthly, edited by the art critic Alessandro Ronzon. Subsequently, the same translation of The Outsider was reprinted in Novels and Stories by Sadea-Sansoni in Florence. Very interesting is the final part of this essay where it talks about Lovecraft as a philosopher and conservative: his figure is juxtaposed with those of authors apparently very distant from him like Cesare Pavese, William Butler Yeats, Yukio Mishima and Pierre Drieu La Rochelle, Ezra Pound, and even the late Pasolini.

Davide Arecco instead talks to us about Cursed Grimoires and Impossible Books in Lovecraftian Literature. It is highlighted how the source of the infamous Necronomicon should be sought in the Sauthenerom (The Book of the Law of Death), a tome that first spoke about the cult of the ancient Star Gods. Undeniably stimulating, in my opinion, is the article by Miranda Gurzo Lovecraft and the Bible. It may seem strange that the materialist and atheist Lovecraft drew among his sources of inspiration precisely from this text, yet he strongly recommended the reading of The King James Bible “to aspiring writers.” His famous story Dagon (in retrospect the forerunner of Cthulhu mythology) is based precisely on the deity Dagon, “widely worshipped in the Middle East and mentioned in the biblical text as the patron of the Philistines” and “depicted with fish-like features.” Also, The Colour Out of Space has been associated with themes concerning the Bible so much that it has been called Lovecraft’s Book of Job.

The Monsters of Lovecraft between Metaphor and Psychology is another article full of interesting insights authored by Francesca Wastavino, who discusses Lovecraftian monsters as a psychological metaphor. For film enthusiasts, there is an interview with Richard Stanley, director of The Colour Out Of Space, while Umberto Sisia has written a study "on the abstraction of corporeality in HPL’s narrative." But for followers and admirers of the Recluse of Providence, we find 3 of his unpublished texts, including Notes for The Shadow Over Innsmouth, where we can read his notes for the famous story The Shadow Over Innsmouth, considered by many to be his masterpiece. Additionally, a critique by Lovecraft against S. Eliot and his The Waste Land is also published. Lovecraft criticized "modernism" and also distanced himself from James Joyce (whom he admired). There’s also room for a recollection of his school days. The magazine closes with 2 stories by 2 young authors, namely The Forgotten Idol and The Star Seal by Roberta Galluzzo and Leonardo Cerasi.

Studi Lovecraftiani 20 – Dagon Press – Year XVI- Winter 2002 – pages 143 – 2022 – ISBN 9798795122830