HPLinks #45.
* In the latest edition of the journal Castilla: Estudios de Literatura, a review in Spanish of the Spanish book A Traves del Abismo: H.P. Lovecraft y el horror ontologico (2024). (‘Through the abyss: H.P. Lovecraft and ontological horror’). The review is freely available online, under Creative Commons Attribution. The book is also reviewed in the latest 2025 issue of the open-access journal Brumal: Revista de investigacion sobre lo Fantastico.
* A new book-a-journal from Argentina, Ontologia Analeptica IV, H.P. Lovecraft: La Anti-vida y el destino cosmico (2025). (‘H.P. Lovecraft: Anti-Life and Cosmic Destiny’). The book is paid, and is currently available to buy.
Howard Phillips Lovecraft is one of the most decisive writers who speaks to our present moment. With his work he penetrated to the heart of the great civilization changes, progress and modernity that define contemporary times. In doing so he has become a prophet of the future of humanity. Therefore, his work is here analyzed from an eminently philosophical perspective, while also engaging closely with the literature.
* Deep Cuts takes an extensive look at “Lovecraft & Hokusai”, the Japanese print artist. Lovecraft — an appreciator of Japanese screen actors and arts since his teens — saw a 1934 exhibition of his prints in Providence, and heard a lecture on them…
a splendid lecture & special exhibition pertaining to my favourite Hokusai, & the entire [Art Museum, Providence] quarterly bulletin was devoted to the subject of Japanese prints”. (Selected Letters of H.P. Lovecraft, Volume V, page 127)
* Flame Tree Publishing is offering a 2026 Wall Calendar, Lovecraft: Illustrated by Jason Engle.
* The Yog-Blogsoth blog is in the midst of drawing and posting some of the more obscure creatures referenced in the Lovecraft mythos and beyond.
* New on YouTube, the explainer video “What is the Robert E. Howard Foundation?”. Also a fine new Josh Greenwood 84-minute reading of the ancient Irish tale “The Grey God Passes” by Robert E. Howard.
* Adam’s Notes / Eric’s Notes delves into “Robert E. Howard, Grettir the Outlaw, and the origins of two-fisted Weird Fiction”.
* PulpFest surveys “Fifty Years of The Man of Bronze”, anticipating the Doc Savage Doc Con 2025 and PulpFest combo in August 2025. In a fine example of local outreach, note also that the article states… “The general public is welcome to attend our afternoon and evening programming events free of charge”.
* Who knew? A Jack Kirby exhibition in Los Angeles, on now. “Jack Kirby: Heroes and Humanity” is a substantial exhibition at the Skirball Cultural Center, until 1st March 2026.
* The H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival 2025, set for 22nd-24th August 2025 in Providence. No tickets available yet, but it can’t be long now.
* The H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society (HPLHS) announce their forthcoming The H.P. Lovecraft Experience, a sumptuous table-trembling volume of the Joshi-corrected texts, plus… “a reader’s guide to ten of the most significant tales”. Currently pre-ordering.
* Amazon is listing Gou Tanabe’s L’Indicible for release as a French hardcover on 4th September 2025. This appears to be his graphic novel adaptation of Lovecraft’s Randolph Carter tales, presumably minus the Dream Quest. Possibly with some biographical detours(?)…
Gou Tanabe brilliantly gives body to Randolph Carter, Alter Ego of H.P. Lovecraft … and through him express the thoughts and fears of the inventor of the cosmic horror.
* New on Archive.org, a scan of “Bibliography Of H.P. Lovecraft”, which was published in the journal Extrapolation in 1961. Long since superseded as a bibliography, but some may want it as an indicator of what was available to scholars by the early 1960s.
* And finally, need sound FX .WAV files for your project? An Archive.org .torrent has Stable Audio Open 1.0 WebUI Portable for Windows. This AI ingested all the public domain field-recording clips at Freesound, into a prompt-able local AI in a very simple interface. Tested and working on Windows 11. See the review for useful instructions for this standalone portable version. Not to be confused with a very similarly named music-generator.
Multitracking is done in the prompt, e.g. “A balanced mix between a good field recording of a man walking through dry leaves in winter, and a recording of small birds calling plaintively in the surrounding Canadian boreal forest.”
— End-quotes —
“Fine bindings don’t make good text!” — Lovecraft to Kleiner, November 1936.
“Acquire as many books of the right sort as you can afford to house, for ownership means easy and repeated access and permanent usefulness. Don’t be a foppish hoarder of fine bindings and first editions. Get books for what’s in them, and be glad enough of that. Marvellous bargains can be found on the dime counters of second-hand shops, and a really good library can be picked up at surprisingly little cost.” — Lovecraft, “Suggestions for a Reading Guide”.
Though some items may be curiously unobtainable…
“A locked portfolio, bound in tanned human skin, held the unknown and unnamable drawings of Clark Ashton Smith.” — excised from an unpublished typescript for Lovecraft’s “The Hound”, before publication.
And don’t forget to buy some fire insurance…
“The flames devoured the volumes greedily — leaping up in strange colours and emitting indescribably hideous odours as the strangely hieroglyphed leaves and wormy bindings succumbed to the devastating element.” — Lovecraft recounts a dream he had, to Bernard Austin Dwyer in August 1933.