Lovecraftian horror is a sub-genre of horror fiction which emphasizes the psychological horror of the unknown (in some cases, unknowable) over gore or other elements of shock, which may still be present. Fantasy is a Genre that uses magic and other Supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, and/or setting Fantastic art is an art genre The parameters of fantastic art has been fairly rigourously defined in the scholarship on the subject Many Anime TV series movies and OAVs fall into the Fantasy genre Fantasy art is a genre of Art that depicts The definition of a fantasy author is somewhat diffuse and a matter of opinion – Jules Verne considered H A number of Fantasy themed Comic books exist For example Elfquest Monster allergy W A fantasy fiction magazine or fantasy magazine is a Magazine which publishes primarily Fantasy fiction. Fantasy films are films with fantastic themes usually involving magic, Supernatural events make-believe creatures or exotic Fantasy worlds Fantasy literature is Fantasy in written form Historically speaking the majority of fantasy works have been literature Fantasy television is a genre of Television featuring elements of the Fantastic, often including magic, Supernatural forces or exotic Fantasy Though the Fantasy genre in its modern sense is less than two centuries old its antecedents have a long and distinguished history Though The Fantasy Genre has spawned many new Subgenres with no clear counterparts in the myths or Folklore upon which the tradition of fantasy storytelling is The Fantastique is a French term for a literary and cinematic genre that overlaps with Science fiction, horror and Fantasy There are many elements that show up throughout the fantasy genre in different guises This article is about the word for other meanings see Quest (disambiguation A quest is a journey towards a goal used in Mythology A magic item is any object that has magical powers inherent in it There are many elements that show up throughout the fantasy genre in different guises A fantasy world is a type of Imaginary world, part of a Fictional universe used in Fantasy novels and games A legendary creature is a mythological or folkloric creature (often known as "fabulous creatures" in historical literature A magician, wizard, sorcerer or a person known under one of many other possible terms in fiction is someone who uses or practices magic Magic in Fiction is the endowing of Fictional characters or objects with magical powers. Tolkien fandom is an international informal community of fans of the works of J Horror fiction is broadly Fiction in any medium intended to scare unsettle or horrify the audience Fiction is the telling of stories which are not real More specifically fiction is an imaginative form of Narrative, one of the four basic Rhetorical modes. "Psychological horror" is a subgenre of Horror fiction that relies on character fears guilt beliefs and emotional instability to build tension and further the plot ^[1]

Origin

H. P. Lovecraft refined this style of story-telling into his own mythos that involved a set of supernatural, pre-human and extra-terrestrial elements. Howard Phillips Lovecraft ( August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American author of horror, fantasy The Cthulhu Mythos is a Shared universe created in the 1920s by American horror writer H The term supernatural or supranatural ( Latin: super, supra "above" + natura "nature" pertains to entities events See also List of extraterrestrials in fiction In Popular cultures Life forms -especially intelligent life forms that are of extraterrestrial ^[2] His work was informed by and similar to that of previous authors such as Edgar Allan Poe^[3] and Algernon Blackwood. Edgar Allan Poe (January 19 1809 – October 7 1849 was an American poet, short-story Writer, editor and Literary critic, Algernon Henry Blackwood, CBE ( 14 March 1869 &ndash 10 December 1951) was an English writer of Fiction The hallmark of Lovecraft's work was the sense that ordinary life was a thin shell over a reality which was so alien and abstract in comparison that merely contemplating it would damage the sanity of the ordinary person. Sanity considered as a legal term denotes that an individual is of sound mind and therefore can bear Legal responsibility for his or her actions

Lovecraft's work was also steeped in the insular feel of rural New England, and much of the genre continues to maintain this sense that "that which man was not meant to know" might be closer to the surface of ordinary life outside of the crowded cities of modern civilization. History See also History of New England New England's earliest inhabitants were Algonquian -speaking Native Americans including the However, Lovecraftian horror is by no means restricted to the countryside; 'The Horror at Red Hook', for instance, is set in a crowded ethnic ghetto. A ghetto is described as a "portion of a city in which members of a minority group live especially because of social legal or economic pressure

Themes of Lovecraftian horror

Several themes found in Lovecraft's writings are considered to be a component of a "Lovecraftian" work:

• Anti-anthropocentrism, misanthropy in general. Anthropocentrism (from Greek άνθρωπος anthropos, "human being" and κέντρον kentron, "center" Anthropos (the term Misanthropy is a general dislike distrust or hatred of the Human species or a disposition to dislike and/or distrust other people Lovecraft's works tend not to focus on characterization of humans, in line with his view of humanity's insignificant place in the universe, and the general Modernist trend of literature at the time of his writings. UserScottandrewhutchins: http//enwikipediaorg/w/indexphp?title=Characterization&diff=next&oldid=157919139 --> Characterization is a process of conveying Modernism describes an array of Cultural movements rooted in the changes in Western society in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century
• Preoccupation with viscerate texture. The "horror" features of Lovecraft's stories tend to involve semi-gelatinous substances, such as slime, as opposed to standard horror tropes such as blood, bones, or corpses. SLIME, the Superior Lisp Interaction Mode for Emacs, is an Emacs mode for developing Common Lisp applications
• Antiquarian writing style. Even when dealing with up-to-date technology, Lovecraft tended to use anachronisms as well as old-fashioned words when dealing with such things. For example, he used the term "men of science" rather than the modern word, "scientist" and often spelled "show" as "shew".
• Detachment. Lovecraftian heroes (both in original writings and in more modern adaptations) tend to be isolated individuals, usually with an academic or scholarly bent.
• Helplessness and hopelessness. Although Lovecraftian heroes may occasionally deal a "setback" to malignant forces, their victories are temporary, and they usually pay a price for it. Otherwise, subjects often find themselves completely unable to simply run away, instead driven by some other force to their desperate end.
• Unanswered questions. Characters in Lovecraft's stories rarely if ever fully understand what is happening to them, and often go insane if they try. Traditionally insanity or madness is the behaviour whereby a person flouts societal norms and may become a danger to himself and others
• Sanity's fragility and vulnerability when faced with the extraordinary truths witnessed, heard or felt by characters in many of Lovecraft's tales.

Collaborators and followers

Much of Lovecraft's influence is secondary, as he was a friend, inspiration, and correspondent to many authors who would gain fame through their creations. Many of these also worked with Lovecraft on jointly-written stories. His more famous friends and collaborators include Robert Bloch, author of Psycho; Robert E. Howard, creator of Conan the Barbarian; and August Derleth, who codified and added to the Cthulhu Mythos. Robert Albert Bloch (April 5 1917 Chicago – September 23 1994 Los Angeles) was a prolific American Writer, primarily of crime Psycho is a 1959 pulp thriller by Robert Bloch. Plot summary The story is divided (below but not in the actual book into Robert Ervin Howard ( January 22 1906 &ndash June 11 1936) was an American pulp writer of Fantasy, Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian, from the name of his homeland Cimmeria) is a Fictional character often associated with August William Derleth ( February 24 1909 &ndash July 4 1971) was an American writer and anthologist The Cthulhu Mythos is a Shared universe created in the 1920s by American horror writer H

Subsequent horror writers also heavily drew on Lovecraft's work. While many made direct references to elements of Lovecraft's mythos, either to draw on its associations or to acknowledge his influence, many others drew on the feel and tone of his work without specifically referring to mythos elements. Some have said that Lovecraft, along with Edgar Allan Poe, is the most influential author on modern horror. Author Stephen King has said: "Now that time has given us some perspective on his work, I think it is beyond doubt that H. Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American Author, Screenwriter, Musician, Columnist, P. Lovecraft has yet to be surpassed as the Twentieth Century's greatest practitioner of the classic horror tale. "^[4]

By the late 20th century, Lovecraft had become something of a pop-culture icon, resulting in countless reinterpretations of and references to his work. Many of these fall outside the sphere of 'Lovecraftian horror' proper and are not discussed here; see instead Cthulhu Mythos in popular culture.

Literature and art

Lovecraft's work, mostly published in pulp magazines, has never had the same sort of influence on literature as his high-modernist literary contemporaries such as Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald – some of the most influential authors in American history. Pulp magazines (or pulp fiction; often referred to as "the pulps" were inexpensive Fiction magazines Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21 1899 — July 2 1961 was an American novelist short-story writer, and Journalist. Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24 1896 – December 21 1940 was an American writer of Novels and Short stories, whose works are evocative of the However, his impact is still broadly and deeply felt in some of the most celebrated authors of contemporary fiction. ^[5] The fantasias of the Argentinian short story writer and essayist Jorge Luis Borges display a marked resemblance to some of Lovecraft's more dream influenced work,^[6] and Borges dedicated his story, "There Are More Things" to Lovecraft. The controversial French novelist Michel Houellebecq has also cited Lovecraft as an influence and has written a lengthy essay on Lovecraft entitled H. P. Lovecraft: Against the World, Against Life in which he refers to the Cthulhu cycle as "the great texts. Michel Houellebecq (miʃɛl wɛlˈbɛk (born Michel Thomas) born 26 February 1958 (birth certificate or 1956 on the French island of Réunion H P Lovecraft Against the World Against Life is a work of Literary criticism by French author Michel Houellebecq regarding the works of H "

Lovecraft's penchant for dreamscapes and for the biologically macabre has also profoundly influenced visual artists such as Jean "Moebius" Giraud and H.R. Giger. Jean Henri Gaston Giraud (born May 8, 1938) is a French comics artist. Hans Ruedi Giger (ˈɡi ɡɚ (born at Chur, Grisons Canton, February 5, 1940) is an Academy Award -winning Swiss Giger's book of paintings which led directly to many of the designs for the film Alien was named Necronomicon, the name of a fictional book in several of Lovecraft's mythos stories. Dan O'Bannon, the original writer of the Alien screenplay, has also mentioned Lovecraft as a major influence on the film. Dan O'Bannon (born Daniel Thomas O'Bannon on September 30, 1946 in St With Ronald Shusset, he would later write Dead & Buried and Hemoglobin, both of which were admitted pastiches of Lovecraft. Ronald Shusett is a Motion picture Screenwriter and producer, usually in the Science fiction genre Dead & Buried is a 1981 Horror film movie directed by Gary Sherman, starring Melody Anderson and James Farentino. Bleeders (also known as Hemoglobin) is a horror movie released in 1997, based on H The word pastiche describes a literary or other artistic Genre.

Comics

Lovecraft has cast a long shadow across the comic world. This has included not only adaptations of his stories, like H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu: The Whisperer in Darkness, Graphic Classics: H. HP Lovecraft’s Cthulhu The Whisperer in Darkness was a three-part Comic book mini-series published by P. Lovecraft^[7] and MAX's Haunt of Horror,^[8] but also the incorporation of the Mythos into new stories. MAX is an Imprint of Marvel Comics for adult audiences launched in 2001 after Marvel broke with the Comics Code Authority and established its own

Alan Moore has touched on Lovecraftian themes, most obviously in his The Courtyard and Yuggoth Cultures and Other Growths, but also in his Black Dossier. Alan Moore (born November 18 1953 in Northampton) is an English Writer most famous for his influential work in Comics, including the acclaimed Alan Moore's The Courtyard is a 2003 Comic book adaptation of a 1994 prose story written by Alan Moore. Alan Moore's Yuggoth Cultures and Other Growths is a collection of some of Alan Moore 's previously unpublished work as well as adaptations of his performance work The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Black Dossier is an original Graphic novel in the Comic book series The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Gordon Rennie not only used various Lovecraft creations, like Tcho-Tcho, in his Necronauts, but he also included Lovecraft himself as a character, teaming up with an influence of his^[9] Charles Fort, a combination that would occur again in Fort: Prophet of the Unexplained. Gordon Rennie is a former music journalist turned Comics writer responsible for White Trash Moronic Inferno, as well as several Comic strips for The Tcho-Tcho, or Tcho-Tcho people, are a fictional human-like race in the Cthulhu Mythos. Necronauts was a 2000 AD comic strip created by Gordon Rennie and Frazer Irving. Charles Hoy Fort ( 6 August, 1874 &ndash 3 May, 1932) was a Dutch-American writer and researcher into anomalous phenomena Fort Prophet of the Unexplained is a Dark Horse Comics Comic book created by writer Peter Lenkov and artist Frazer Irving. Necronauts wasn't the first appearance of Lovecraftian horror in 2000 AD as Grant Morrison's Zenith involved the eponymous hero trying to stop the Lloigor. Grant Morrison (born January 31 1960 is a Scottish Comic book writer and artist Zenith ( Robert MacDowell) is a British Superhero, who appeared in the Science fiction Comic 2000 AD. The Lloigor are a Fictional race in the Cthulhu Mythos. The beings first appeared

Boom! Studios have also run a number of series based on Cthulhu and other characters from the mythos, including Cthulhu Tales^[10] and Fall of Cthulhu^[11]

The creator of Hellboy, Mike Mignola, has described the books as being influenced primarily by the works of Lovecraft, in addition to those of Robert E. BOOM! Studios is an independent comic book Company. It was founded in June 2005 with Zombie Tales #1 Cthulhu is a giant fictional creature one of the Great Old Ones in H Hellboy is a Fictional character, created by writer-artist Mike Mignola, that first appeared in Comic books published by Dark Horse Comics Mike Joseph Mignola (born September 16, 1960) is an American Comic book Artist and Writer, famous for creating the comic Howard and the legend of Dracula. Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, featuring as its primary Antagonist the vampire Count Dracula. ^[12] This was adapted into the 2004 film Hellboy. The year 2004 in film involved some significant events Major releases of sequels took place Hellboy is a 2004 Supernatural action-thriller film directed by Guillermo del Toro.

Movies and television

With the advent of film, Lovecraftian horror truly became a sub-genre, fueling not only direct adaptations of Poe and Lovecraft, but providing the foundation upon which many of the horror films of the 1950s and 1960s were constructed. One notable movie-maker to dip into the Lovecraftian well was 1960s B-movie maker, Roger Corman, though in 1965 Die, Monster, Die! (an adaptation of The Colour Out of Space so loose that it was nearly unrelated), caused movie makers to re-consider the value of Lovecraftian horror. Roger William Corman (born April 5 1926) sometimes nicknamed "King of the Bs" for his output of B-movies (though he himself rejects this as inaccurate "The Colour Out of Space" is a Short story by American horror writer H

Rod Serling's 1969-73 series, Night Gallery, adapted at least two Lovecraft stories, "Pickman's Model" and "Cool Air". Rodman Edward "Rod" Serling ( December 25, 1924 &ndash June 28, 1975) was an American Screenwriter, best known The episode "Professor Peabody's Last Lecture", concerning the fate of a man who read the Necronomicon, included a student named "Mr. Lovecraft". Another five minute short was called "Ms. Lovecraft Sent Me", about a babysitter and her strange client. Peabody is also a name used by Lovecraft in "At the Mountrains of Madness"

In the late 1970s a revival of the horror movie genre was based on the success of Stephen King and Brian de Palma's Carrie; John Carpenter's Halloween; and Dan O'Bannon and Ridley Scott's Alien. Brian De Palma (born Brian Russell DePalma on September 11 1940 in Newark New Jersey) is an American Film director. John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is an American Film director, Screenwriter, producer, film score Halloween is a 1978 American independent Horror film set in the fictional midwestern town of Haddonfield, Dan O'Bannon (born Daniel Thomas O'Bannon on September 30, 1946 in St Sir Ridley Scott (born November 30 1937 in South Shields, Tyne and Wear) is a British Academy Award Nominated and Golden Globe Emmy Award and BAFTA Award winning Alien is a 1979 science fiction / Horror film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Sigourney Weaver. All three movies bore Lovecraftian influences to one degree or another, and their authors were deeply influenced by Lovecraft's works. As the 1980s and 1990s played out, Lovecraftian horror became a recognizable film staple in such varied films as the self-referential In the Mouth of Madness, the comedic Re-Animator, and Carpenter's Antarctic horror The Thing. In the Mouth of Madness (also known as John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness) is a 1995 Horror film directed by John Carpenter Re-Animator is a 1985 Horror film directed by Stuart Gordon and based on the H The Thing is a 1982 science fiction and Horror film directed by John Carpenter, written by Bill Lancaster and starring

Games

Lovecraft's characters and settings have appeared in many video games and role-playing games. A video game is a Game that involves interaction with a User interface to generate visual feedback on a video device. A role-playing game ( RPG; often roleplaying game) is a Game in which the participants assume the roles of Fictional characters. Some of these used Lovecraft's creations chiefly for 'name value' (again, see also Cthulhu Mythos in popular culture), but others have embraced Lovecraft's characteristic mood and themes.

Roleplaying

In the early 1970s, Dungeons and Dragons drew from many of the most popular fantasy settings including those of some of Lovecraft's contemporaries. Dungeons & Dragons (abbreviated as D&D or DnD) is a Fantasy Role-playing game (RPG originally designed by However, Lovecraftian elements in the game would wait until Dragon magazine issue #12 in 1978 with Robert J. Kuntz's, "The Lovecraftian Mythos in Dungeons & Dragons. Dragon is one of the two official Magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons Role-playing game and associated products Robert J Kuntz (born September 23 1955) is a Game designer and author of Role-playing game publications "^[13] In 1980 a hardcover collection of the various fantasy and historical pantheons available for the game was published under the title, Deities & Demigods. For the article on gods see Deity Deities & Demigods, alternately known as Legends & Lore, is a reference book for The first and second printings contained a version of the Cthulhu mythos, but that section was removed in the third and subsequent printings for copyright reasons. ^[14]

As the game has evolved, many of the creatures (e. g. the illithid) and even gods (e. In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game illithids (commonly known as mind flayers) are monstrous humanoid aberrations g. Tharizdun) that were introduced were inspired by Lovecraft's works; and in October 2004, Dragon magazine published a lengthy article titled "The Shadow Over D&D: H. In the World of Greyhawk Campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons Fantasy Roleplaying game, Tharizdun P. Lovecraft's Influence on Dungeons & Dragons" discussing these influences. ^[13]

Dungeons & Dragons was not the only roleplaying game to incorporate Lovecraftian horror, however. Perhaps the most overt example was published in 1980. Call of Cthulhu is directly based on the Cthulhu mythos. Call of Cthulhu is a Horror fiction Role-playing game based on H In keeping with its source material, and unlike most other role-playing games, characters who attempt to confront its monsters directly are likely to die or be driven insane rather than succeed. This is reinforced by the game's best-known feature, a mechanic by which knowledge about mythos entities can only be gained at a permanent cost to one's sanity. ^[15] Following this roleplaying game into a modern era with an emphasis on military hardware and espionage wetware is Delta Green in which characters fight with the Mythos and its conspiracies more directly. Delta Green is a setting for the ''Call of Cthulhu'' Role-playing game created by Adam Scott Glancy, Dennis Detwiller, and John

Steve Jackson Games' GURPS, a genre-neutral game system, was first published in 1986 and brought diverse elements of fiction and non-fiction together across their lengthy list of published supplements which included Cthulhupunk, a licensed adaptation of Call of Cthulhu into a cyberpunk setting. Steve Jackson Games (SJG is a Game company founded in 1980 by Steve Jackson, that creates and publishes role-playing, board The Generic Universal RolePlaying System, commonly known as GURPS, is a Role-playing game system designed to adapt to any imaginary gaming Cyberpunk is a Science fiction genre noted for its focus on " High tech and low life.

Video games

Video games, like films have a rich history of Lovecraftian elements and adaptations. A video game is a Game that involves interaction with a User interface to generate visual feedback on a video device. ^[16] In 1987, The Lurking Horror was the first to bring the Lovecraftian horror sub-genre to the multiple computer platforms. The Lurking Horror is an Interactive fiction Computer game released by Infocom in 1987 This was a text based adventure game, released by Infocom, who are best known for the Zork series. An adventure game is a type of Video game characterized by investigation exploration puzzle-solving, interaction with game characters and a focus on Narrative Infocom was a Software company, based in Cambridge Massachusetts, that produced numerous works of Interactive fiction. Zork was one of the first Interactive fiction Computer games and an early descendant of Colossal Cave Adventure.

As 3-D computer graphics games developed, so too did the Lovecraftian influences. 3D computer graphics (in contrast to 2D computer graphics) are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer In 1992, Alone in the Dark was published by Infogrames for the PC, claiming to be inspired by the works of Lovecraft on its retail box. Alone in the Dark is a 1992 Survival horror game developed by Infogrames. A personal computer ( PC) is any Computer whose original sales price size and capabilities make it useful for individuals and which is intended to be operated

The same company also published the cult classic graphic adventures "Shadow of the Comet" and "Prisoner of Ice". Shadow of the Comet (later repackaged as Call of Cthulhu Shadow of the Comet) is a Computer game in the Adventure game Prisoner of Ice (also Call of Cthulhu Prisoner of Ice) is a 1995 Computer game based on H

In the seminal 3D first person shooter, Quake in 1996, environments, creatures (including names such as Shub-Niggurath), and the atmosphere of the game emphasized many traditionally Lovecraftian features, with the architecture of the otherworldly dimension resembling many of Lovecraft's descriptions of ancient ruins and alien worlds. A first-person shooter ( FPS) is an action Video game from the Shooter game The initial development of Maze War Quake is a First-person shooter Computer game that was released by Id Software on June 22, 1996. Shub-Niggurath, often associated with the phrase “The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young” is a Deity in the Cthulhu Mythos of H The three sequels, as of 2005, contain no Lovecraftian elements, however, and have opted for a more typical science fiction and mainstream horror approach, whose monsters now include only differing types of androids (mechanised alien species). Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

Eternal Darkness, a 2002 GameCube game by Silicon Knights, was extremely Lovecraftian. Eternal Darkness Sanity's Requiem is a Psychological horror Video game originally planned for the Nintendo 64 but later released exclusively The game focused on the actions of a number of humans, who throughout history had learned of the 'unknowable reality' present in Lovecraft's works, and had fought back against the manipulations of the 'Ancients,' deities very much like Lovecraft's. Monsters drained the sanity of the protagonists, and until the very end of the game, each character ended his or her chapter in seeming failure, providing only minor or temporary setbacks for the Ancients.

The Silent Hill series has been influenced by Lovecraft and shares many similar themes. is a Survival horror Video game franchise developed and published by Konami.

The Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth game for the Xbox and PC in 2005 is directly set in the world of Lovecraft, largely based around the short story "The Shadow Over Innsmouth". Call of Cthulhu Dark Corners of the Earth is a Lovecraftian horror first-person Action/adventure videogame developed by Headfirst Productions The Xbox is a sixth-generation Video game console produced by Microsoft Corporation. The game contains many settings of "Lovecraft Country", as well as alien worlds and planes of existence. Lovecraft Country is the New England setting combining real and fictitious locations used by H "Shadow over Innsmouth" was also referenced in the Xbox 360 and PC game, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, which had a miscellaneous quest entitled "Shadow over Hackdirt" where the player had to rescue a girl from cultists in that town, directly featuring (but never actually showing) creatures called the "Deep Ones", whom the cultists worshiped. The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion is a Single player Fantasy -themed action-oriented Computer role-playing game developed by Bethesda Game Studios .

The Shadow Hearts series draws heavily from Lovecraftian lore. is a Console role-playing game developed by Sacnoth and published by Aruze Corp in Japan and in the United States and Europe by Midway in 2001 The designs of the monsters, as well as the dark and frightful sceneries. H. P. even appears as a character in Shadow Hearts: From the New World. is a Console role-playing game developed by Nautilus and published by XSEED Games in 2005

An independently made interactive fiction text adventure called Anchorhead (game) was based largely on the Cthulhu mythos. Anchorhead is the name of a 1998 Interactive fiction Computer game by Michael S

Notes

References

• Bloch, Robert (August 1973). Robert Albert Bloch (April 5 1917 Chicago – September 23 1994 Los Angeles) was a prolific American Writer, primarily of crime "Poe & Lovecraft". Ambrosia (No. 2).  
• Fassbender, Tom. Interviews: Mike Mignola. Dark Horse.
• Harms, Daniel (2006). The Encyclopedia Cthulhiana: A Guide to Lovecraftian Horror. Chaosium.  
• Jacobs, James (October 2004). For the legal scholar and author at New York University School of Law see James B "The Shadow Over D&D: H. P. Lovecraft's Influence on Dungeons & Dragons". Dragon (#324). Dragon is one of the two official Magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons Role-playing game and associated products  
• Lovecraft, H. P. (1992). Howard Phillips Lovecraft ( August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American author of horror, fantasy Crawling Chaos: Selected works 1920-1935 H. P. Lovecraft, introduction by Colin Wilson, Creation Press.  
• Zenke, Michael. Dreading the Shadows on the Wall. The Escapist.