Fiendish Lovecraftian New Year’s Eve Trivia Quiz: the answers…

1. What was the name of the talented Lovecraft correspondent who went on to write Green Lantern comic book stories in the 1940s?

   A: Henry Kuttner, who took over writing Green Lantern when Alfred Bester departed DC Comics. Kuttner was credited as “Lewis Padgett” by DC (somewhat similar to Lovecraft’s own pseudonyms Lewis Theobald and Henry Paget-Lowe, though there is evidence to suggest the similarity was a co-incidence).

2. What was the name of the long-lived street cat Lovecraft often met, when he walked into the centre of Providence?

   A: “Old Man”. “I first knew him as a youngish cat in 1906” wrote Lovecraft. His Commonplace Book of story ideas recorded an unused 1928 story germ featuring Old Man: “153. Black cat on hill near dark gulf of ancient inn yard. Mew hoarsely — invites artist to nighted mysteries beyond. Finally dies at advanced age. Haunts dreams of artist — lures him to follow — strange outcome (never wakes up? or makes bizarre discovery of an elder world outside 3-dimensioned space?)”.

3. What was Lovecraft’s membership-card number for the UAPA?

   A: 1945c.

4. In 1935 Lovecraft and Barlow designed faux letterhead stationery, for which fictional Lovecraft character?

   A: Randolph Carter.

5. Lovecraft once received in the mail a copy of the Fourty-Sixth Anniversary edition of the journal “The Lovecrafter” (1936). When did this journal start its run?

   A: 1936, as that was the only issue, it being a 46th birthday present to Lovecraft from Shepherd and Wollheim.

6. The convivial Kappa Alpha Tau society, for which Lovecraft composed poetry and song, regularly met together at which prestigious venue in Providence?

   A: A large shed roof in or near the garden of The Arsdale (formerly the Paxton) at 53 Waterman Street, a retirement home that backed onto 66 College St. Lovecraft often “borrowed” some of the many cats that sunned themselves on this shed roof, and named them the Kappa Alpha Tau (KAT), a humourous allusion to an adjacent Brown University fraternity house.

Fiendish Lovecraftian New Year’s Eve Trivia Quiz:

1. What was the name of the talented Lovecraft correspondent who went on to write Green Lantern comic book stories in the 1940s?

2. What was the name of the long-lived street cat Lovecraft often met, when he walked into the centre of Providence?

3. What was Lovecraft’s membership-card number for the UAPA?

4. In 1935 Lovecraft and Barlow designed faux letterhead stationery, for which fictional Lovecraft character?

5. In 1936 Lovecraft received in the mail a copy of the Forty-sixth Anniversary edition of the journal The Lovecrafter. When did this journal start its run?

6. The convivial Kappa Alpha Tau society, for which Lovecraft composed poetry and song, regularly met together at which prestigious venue in Providence?

Grand prize for those with all-correct answers: a copy of The S.T. Joshi Guide to Overcoming Writer’s Block: You Too Can Write 40 Books a Year (Hamster Wheel Media, 2014).