H.P. Lovecraft’s strange afterlife, From penniless pulp writer to horror icon

Arkham House’s Revival of H.P. Lovecraft’s Legacy

H.P. Lovecraft died broke and unknown in 1937, with just his name added to a family stone at Swan Point Cemetery. Yet his weird tales lived on.

Two loyal friends, August Derleth and Donald Wandrei, couldn’t find a publisher for his work, so they made their own.

They called it Arkham House, after his made-up town. Their first book sold just 150 copies at first but kept going. As years passed, more folks found his stories.

By 1977, fans put up a real headstone with words from his letters: “I AM PROVIDENCE. ” Now his grave draws visitors who leave odd gifts at this horror landmark in Rhode Island.

Lovecraft’s Final Days Left Him Broke and Unknown

Howard Lovecraft died on March 15, 1937, at just 46 years old. Cancer in his gut killed him after months of awful pain.

He spent less than a week in the hospital before dying, showing how long he suffered at home. Lovecraft never trusted doctors and waited until his death.

Though he wrote for Weird Tales magazine, almost nobody knew his name. He lived poor with his aunt in Providence, Rhode Island.

Money problems followed him his whole life, and fame never came.

The Cemetery Barely Noted His Passing

After a tiny funeral with just a few friends, workers buried Lovecraft in Swan Point Cemetery next to his parents. He got no special headstone.

Instead, staff added his name to the Phillips family monument, a tall stone belonging to his mom’s parents.

The back of this family stone listed his parents’ names and dates, with “Howard P. Lovecraft” at the bottom as “Their Son.”

Nothing else told visitors about him or his stories. This made his grave hard to find for the few fans who looked.

Two Friends Refused to Let His Stories Die

Soon after the funeral, August Derleth and Donald Wandrei started working to save Lovecraft’s stories.

These friends had written letters to him for years and knew his work deserved better than pulp magazine pages.

They gathered his scattered stories from various magazines and tried to get them printed as a real book.

The friends asked major publishers to help, hoping someone would like Lovecraft’s cosmic horror tales but most said no.

A New Publishing House Rose From Rejection

Facing all those rejections, Derleth and Wandrei made a bold move in December 1939. They started their own publishing company in Sauk City, Wisconsin.

They named it Arkham House after the spooky fake town Lovecraft created. Derleth paid for it with $5,000 he earned from selling a novel to Redbook magazine.

They wanted to print all of Lovecraft’s writings in hardcover. The friends never planned to build a big company. They just wanted to save their friend’s work.

The First Book Struggled to Find Buyers

The first Arkham House book, “The Outsider and Others,” came out in 1939.

Derleth and Wandrei filled it with most of Lovecraft’s short stories, making a huge 550-page book with tiny print.

They charged $5 but offered an early deal of $3.50 to build interest. Even at this cheap price, only 150 people ordered copies ahead of time.

The book had cover art by Virgil Finlay, who drew pictures for Weird Tales magazine. The collection brought together stories from many pulp magazines.

The Book Sold Slowly But Steadily

The George Banta Company printed 1,268 copies of “The Outsider and Others” in 1939. Sales moved slowly at first, but the book found readers over time.

By 1944, they sold every copy. Derleth made good money from his own writing, which let him keep Arkham House going without needing quick profits.

He could wait while Lovecraft’s name grew slowly. Book experts later called this collection the start of serious horror and fantasy publishing in America.

Arkham House Grew Beyond Its Original Mission

By 1941, Derleth and Wandrei saw a chance to do more than just save Lovecraft’s work.

They started printing other writers, beginning with “Someone in the Dark,” a collection of Derleth’s own scary stories.

Soon Arkham House put out books by Donald Wandrei, Henry Whitehead, and Clark Ashton Smith. A second Lovecraft book, “Beyond the Wall of Sleep,” came out in 1943 as more people got interested in his stories.

Wandrei left during World War II, leaving Derleth to run everything alone.

Famous Writers Joined the Arkham House Family

Arkham House started attracting known authors like J. Sheridan Le Fanu. They also gave young Ray Bradbury his first book deal, years before he got famous.

The company added works by Robert Howard (who created Conan the Barbarian), Clark Ashton Smith, and Robert Bloch (who later wrote “Psycho”).

Despite these big names, the press rarely made money. Derleth used cash from his mainstream writing to keep it going.

In the 1970s, scholars took Lovecraft seriously.

College Professors Started Teaching Lovecraft’s Stories

Over decades of steady promotion by Arkham House and later big publishers, Lovecraft earned respect from book critics.

Colleges added his stories to their reading lists, and professors studied his mix of horror, science fiction, and cosmic fear.

His ideas spread to other writers, musicians, and filmmakers. Bands like Black Sabbath talked about his work and Stephen King openly thanked him for inspiration.

The Cthulhu Mythos, Lovecraft’s world of ancient gods and forbidden knowledge, grew as other writers added their own stories.

Fans Finally Gave Lovecraft His Own Headstone

Forty years after his death, Lovecraft’s growing fan base decided he needed more than a footnote on his family’s stone.

In 1977, scholar Dirk Mosig started a money drive among Lovecraft readers to create a proper marker. They raised enough cash to place a low red granite stone behind the Phillips family monument.

The new headstone spelled out his full name and fixed a mistake on the family stone that listed his death year as 1938 instead of 1937.

They added the phrase “I AM PROVIDENCE” to the stone.

Pilgrims Leave Strange Gifts at His Grave

The man who died poor and unknown now receives tributes from generations of readers who found meaning in his cosmic nightmares.

Fans leave bizarre offerings like spooky gnomes, grimacing tiki figures, guitar picks, pens, skulls, old coins, handwritten notes, and drawn pentagrams.

Swan Point Cemetery staff keep stacks of maps ready for the constant stream of visitors asking for directions to his grave.

The once-forgotten writer now draws more attention than many of the wealthy and powerful people buried nearby.

Every year, fans gather to celebrate his birthday and commemorate his death. The modest grave has become a must-see destination for horror enthusiasts.

Visiting HP Lovecraft’s grave in Providence, Rhode Island

You can visit H. P.

Lovecraft’s famous “I AM PROVIDENCE” headstone at Swan Point Cemetery at 585 Blackstone Boulevard.

The cemetery is free and open 8am-5pm October through March, 8am-7pm April through September. Photography requires written consent from the cemetery.

Find his grave at the intersection of Pond Avenue and Avenue B, near the tall Phillips family obelisk. Use the interactive computer kiosk in the administration building.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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