Episode 65: We're Officially Done with Lovecraft and Campbell
A still from the film Call of Cthulhu, based on one of Lovecraft’s most famous short stories.
H.P. Lovecraft and John W. Campbell were writers and editors who ruled science fiction in the mid-twentieth century. Their names graced some of the genre's biggest awards. They ran influential magazines. And they were also racist, authoritarian jerkwads who alienated generations of writers and fans. We talk about the rise and fall of these two men, and how to deal with their legacies. Joining us is Alec Nevala-Lee, author of a new book about Campbell and his circle called Astounding.
Notes, Citations, & Etc.
Alec Nevala-Lee, Astounding: John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard, and the Golden Age of Science Fiction
If you want to know why Annalee read so much Lovecraft, it was for her dissertation — which later became a book called Pretend We’re Dead: Capitalist Monsters in American Pop Culture.
For more on Lovecraft’s writing and editing career, see S.T. Joshi, H.P. Lovecraft: A Life.
H.P. Lovecraft described his dedication to racism in his essay collection, The Supernatural in Literature.
August Derleth, founder of Arkham House press, brought out new editions of Lovecraft’s work starting in 1939. But in 1969, he published a collection of stories by Lovecraft and others called Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos, which is likely what launched Lovecraftiana back into the limelight. Derleth is the person who coined the phrase “Cthulhu Mythos.”
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