Category Archives: Scholarly works

Open Lovecraft scholarship

29 Friday Jul 2011

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(Update: Now continued in much expanded form)

My quick unearthing of some of the most recent substantial open Lovecraft dissertations, theses and papers to arrive online (for free):

Matolcsy Kalman. Confronting the Boundless and Hideous Unknown: science, categorization, and naming in H.P. Lovecraft’s fiction. December 2010. In English.

Eric LaFreniere. An Awe-ful Integrity: The Science-Fiction Horror of H. P. Lovecraft. Winner of 2nd prize in the James Madison University Writing Awards. In English. Possibly an undergraduate final-year dissertation?

Kristjon Runar Halldorsson. H.P. Lovecraft: The Enlightenment & connection to the world of Cosmicism. Sept 2010. In English.

Jean Carlo Lavoie Montemiglio. H.P. Lovecraft: etude comparative de recits des origines. August 2009. In French. English summary. [“… a close comparison of similar motifs present in Lovecraft’s novella, At the Mountains of Madness and in Hesiod’s poem, Theogony“]

Cecile Cristofari. “The Tainted Birth in Lovecraft’s Fiction“. Conference paper. Appears to be April 2011.

James Kneale. “Monstrous and Haunted Media: H.P. Lovecraft and Early Twentieth-Century Communications Technology“. Appears to be Feb 2011. His earlier paper “From beyond: H. P. Lovecraft and the place of horror” is also available, originally in Cultural Geographies 13, 1 (2006), pp. 106-126.

New Joshi projects

17 Sunday Jul 2011

Posted by in Historical context, New books, Scholarly works

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S.T. Joshi has a new page on his website, a listing of forthcoming publications he has authored or edited. Looking especially interesting is the Joshi-edited collection of in-depth essays Dissecting Cthulhu: Essays on the Cthulhu Mythos (Miskatonic River Press, announced Spring 2011 and apparently due Fall 2011) which is set to sit nicely alongside his earlier book The Rise and Fall of the Cthulhu Mythos (2008). I’m currently coming to the end of the first volume of Joshi’s Lovecraft biography I Am Providence, but probably won’t be spending that kind of money again on new hardbacks in the near future. But other Joshi books are certainly now on my “wants” list, if I can pick them up cheaply in used form. I think the Joshi-edited Lord Of A Visible World: An Autobiography In Letters seems likely to be my obvious follow-on from I Am Providence.

Kindle edition of Ice Cores

24 Thursday Feb 2011

Posted by in Historical context, New books, Scholarly works

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The new Kindle edition of my Ice Cores: essays on Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness is available now in the UK and in the USA. Slightly revised, and with another four passes of proofreading to correct a few minor niggles from the print edition. Hand coded for the Kindle, with illustrations.

Talking of Kindle / ebook sales, Barnes & Noble’s chief executive William Lynch says…

“we now sell twice as many ebooks as we do physical books at BN.com”

New journal on science fiction

08 Tuesday Feb 2011

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A new Spanish-language journal of science-fiction, Sci-Fdi : Revista de ciencia ficcion. Three issues so far, and the articles include one on Ray Bradbury’s stint with EC’s horror comics, 1951-1954, during which time 27 of Bradbury’s stories were closely adapted by Al (Albert B.) Feldstein. Initially pirated, but Bradbury was a comics fan and so he eventually found out and asked for a fee. He got it, to EC’s credit.

Colby Quarterly

30 Sunday Jan 2011

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The Colby Quarterly may be of interest to those seeking to place Lovecraft in the wider context of New England writers. The full-text of the journal is now online for free, 1943-2003. The journal…

“solicited [articles] on Maine authors and Maine history, including books and authors that had influenced Maine life and letters [and as the journal expanded to cover a wider range of English literature] The special interest in Maine and regional history and literature was maintained, now including the neighboring provinces of Canada”

I Am (in) New York

04 Tuesday Jan 2011

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Sigh. It seems my copy of S.T. Joshi’s magnum opus Lovecraft biography I Am Providence: The Life and Times of H. P. Lovecraft is still in the USA. I had a shipping notification on 28th October 2010, and had hoped it might be in my hands in the UK by Christmas. But I just checked the despatch number, and the system says it’s only just been accepted in the New York depot. Possibly in a crypt in the Red Hook district.

Incidentally, the book is now listed on Amazon USA ($100.00 from Amazon with free shipping). Perhaps it might have been quicker to wait for the Amazon listing, and then (assuming there are copies in their warehouse) rely on Amazon’s generally quite speedy service for the transatlantic shipping.

Weird Fiction Review #1

25 Thursday Nov 2010

Posted by in Historical context, Lovecraftian arts, Scholarly works

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Weird Fiction Review. The first issue is out now…

“The Weird Fiction Review is an annual periodical devoted to the study of weird and supernatural fiction. It is edited by S.T. Joshi. This first issue contains fiction, poetry, and reviews from leading writers and promising newcomers. … Among the articles, there are discussions of a forgotten story by Victorian weird writer R. Murray Gilchrist; Poe’s “The Imp of the Perverse”; Algernon Blackwood’s novella “A Descent into Egypt”; Neil Gaiman’s treatment of the Beowulf story; a 16-page full-color gallery of art by David Ho; and much more.”

Technology and the Horrible

24 Wednesday Nov 2010

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In Media Res is seeking curators for its spring schedule. Among the ‘theme weeks’ for which they are currently seeking proposals for curators include:

Technology and the Horrible

Proposals need not be any longer than a sentence or two. For more information, as well as deadlines for each individual week, please go to: Current Calls.

Curated pieces include a 30-second to 3-minute clip, an image, or a slideshow accompanied by a 300 to 350 word response to/contextualization of the clip, image, or slideshow. In addition to curating your piece, you will be expected to engage with the other pieces presented that week as a means of fostering discussion and further fleshing out the individual topic in relation to the week’s theme.

New H.G. Wells bibliography on The Time Machine

24 Sunday Oct 2010

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Those interested in the possible influence of H.G. Wells on H.P. Lovecraft (Victorian pessimism about the ultimate fate of man in the light of advanced science and the unsustainability of religious belief, degeneration of the race, seamless blendings of horror and science fiction, the uncertainty of perception and world-understanding on the part of the scientific/rational narrator, tentacles, etc) might be interested that I’ve just published a Selected Bibliography of Scholarship on H.G. Wells’s The Time Machine (PDF link, 220Kb). I undertook it as part of creating a new 18,000 word novelette The Time Machine: a sequel for the Amazon Kindle Store.