You too can be a Lovecraftian scholar...

I am a huge fan of H.P. Lovecraft, and over the years, I’ve had a chance to read most of his fiction with the exception of a handful of some of his older, more obscure stories.

Imagine my surprise a few weeks ago when I ran across a rare edition of Lovecraftian stories called “The Survivor & Others” while perusing the shelves at the “Treasures on the Corner” store in Evergreen.

Originally published in 1957 by Arkham House, this book contains seven short fantasy and horror stories written by Lovecraft’s close friend, August Derleth, who was inspired by notes that Lovecraft left behind when he died. (The edition of the book that I found in Evergreen is a softcover edition printed by Ballantine Books in February 1971.)

Stories in the book include “The Survivor,” “Wentworth’s Day,” “The Peabody Heritage,” “The Gable Window,” “The Ancestor,” “The Shadow Out of Space” and “The Lamp of Alhazred.” Derleth completed each of these stories from Lovecraft’s notes and outlines, which were discovered among the papers of the late R.H. Barlow. Barlow was a longtime friend of Lovecraft’s, who aided in preserving many of Lovecraft’s manuscripts.

The back cover of “The Survivor & Others” sums these stories up nicely: Seven magnificent tales in which Great Cthulhu walks again, the Dunwich-Arkham country lives once more, and in a final allegory, Lovecraft himself is portrayed in a quasi-autobiographical manner. The last, rare stories of a master craftsman.

Fans of Lovecraft owe much to Derleth. Interestingly, the two contemporary writers never met, but they knew each other by way of numerous letters over a period of years. Despite having some of his stories published in pulp magazines like “Weird Tales,” Lovecraft died in 1937 and was virtually unknown. His stories would have likely faded into obscurity if not for his friend Derleth.

In 1939, Derleth and writer Donald Wandrei founded Arkham House Publishing for the sole purpose of publishing a huge collection of Lovecraft’s stories, “The Outsider and Others,” in 1941.

Now, Derleth, who died in 1971, is best remembered for being the person chiefly responsible for keeping Lovecraft’s literary legacy alive and popularizing his stories, which have had a major influence on such individuals as Clive Barker, Stephen King, Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Mike Mignola, John Carpenter, Guillermo Del Toro and Joyce Carol Oates.

I enjoyed “The Survivor & Others,” and if I had to pick a favorite story from the book, I’d probably go with “Wentworth’s Day,” with “The Ancestor” coming in a close second.

Interestingly, despite Derleth’s death nearly 40 years ago, Arkham House Publishing is still going strong. Since 1939, the publishing house has produced over 200 books with Lovecraft’s work dominating their bulk of their output. For more information about Arkham House, visit its Web site at www.arkhamhouse.com.