In this blog post, we’ll examine what philosophical questions and perceptions of reality Lovecraft’s bizarre world encompasses beyond mere horror, and explore its significance.
Five Works That Define Lovecraft’s World
The works I reviewed this time are “The Outsider,” “The Rats in the Walls,” “The Call of Cthulhu,” “The Whisperer in the Darkness,” and “The Color Out of Space”—five stories in total. It might seem a bit presumptuous to discuss Lovecraft based on just five stories out of his vast body of work. However, if I briefly explain why I chose each of these stories, I believe it will shed light on what kind of body of work Lovecraft was striving to create.
First, “The Call of Cthulhu” is an unavoidable choice. Could one truly discuss Lovecraft’s literary universe without including this story? This tale, which marked the beginning of the “Cthulhu Mythos” and laid the foundation for his cosmology, also offers a glimpse into the unique nature of the horror he sought to create—a strange horror that appears supernatural yet is by no means unscientific. Cthulhu is a being with mysterious and spiritual influence, but strictly speaking, he is an alien from distant space. This is precisely why Lovecraft cannot be confined to the categories of horror or science fiction.
“The Whisperer in Darkness” is a work that reaffirms the fact that Lovecraft cannot be pigeonholed into any specific genre. The narrator—a folklorist who, from a scientific and rational perspective, used to scoff at superstitions and myths as falsehoods—gradually finds himself in a situation where he can no longer do so. Paradoxically, however, the deeper he is drawn into this situation, the more the horror he experiences becomes subject to scientific and rational explanation. This is because the presence of extraterrestrial beings is implied, and their advanced technology comes into play. As in “The Call of Cthulhu,” Lovecraft demands a choice from the reader. They must decide whether, as humans living on Earth who firmly believe this is the only real world, they will refuse to accept other worlds in the universe as part of reality—or whether they will embrace entirely different worlds and otherworldly beings, boldly abandoning a worldview bound to the Earth. For those who choose the former, Cthulhu is a fantastical “myth”; for the latter, it is a reality akin to myth.
The protagonist of ‘The Outsider’ is a character who must make precisely that choice; in a sense, he could be said to represent the reader of Lovecraft’s works. Having spent his entire life confined within the walls of the city, the protagonist now faces a completely new world. In this world—so different yet so captivating—he is always an outsider, and to him, the people of this world are nothing more than outsiders as well. The two worlds coexist within a single universe yet can never become one. Will he explore this new world while accepting his status as an outsider, or will he refuse to be an outsider and return to his own world? The protagonist of “The Outsider” makes his own choice, and the narrator of “The Whisperer in the Darkness” makes a choice as well. Yet their choices appear to be diametrically opposed. Whose choice is the right one? Lovecraft’s universe is a place where choices are endlessly presented in this way.
But how freely can we actually choose? And when we make a choice, how significant a role do our own innate or acquired capabilities—such as free will, social or economic status, or knowledge—play? According to Lovecraft’s mysterious cosmology, it is a world where extraterrestrial beings, including Cthulhu, have exerted latent influence since ancient times. In such a world, how free are humans? “The Rats in the Walls” is a work that offers a glimpse into his answer to these questions. The protagonist, a descendant of a family that moved to the United States to escape the stigma of their ancestors and even changed their family name, returns by chance to live in the British mansion where his ancestors once lived. While experiencing strange events there, he eventually realizes that these experiences stem from his continued connection to that family. However, he gradually comes to realize that his family is actually part of an ancient race that predates them by far. Despite the passage of immense time—and the changes in civilization, history, and society that have occurred in the meantime—the protagonist remains bound by something. That something is heredity from antiquity.
If “The Rats in the Walls” reveals Lovecraft’s thoughts on eugenics and, by extension, genetics, “The Color Out of Space” shifts the focus from heredity back to the cosmos. This is because heredity alone cannot explain selection. However, this time, the story deals with changes caused by something present in the here and now, rather than the ancient extraterrestrial entities that appear in “The Call of Cthulhu” or “The Whisperer in Darkness.” Entities that have exerted influence for a very long time have become virtually indistinguishable from genetics. Yet the unnamed extraterrestrial entity in “The Color Out of Space” reveals that such changes are still possible today. Therefore, it is a misconception to assume that Lovecraft’s cosmology is filled solely with ancient beings. Whether dealing with ancient extraterrestrial entities or our ancestors, what truly interests him is the present.
From the World to Literature
What kind of world did Lovecraft himself live in? He was born in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1890 and died there in 1937. Although he lived in New York for a time, he returned to his hometown in his later years and, as a result, spent most of his life in New England. It therefore seems natural that his works are generally set in this same region. However, as can be seen in “The Call of Cthulhu,” just because the setting is New England does not mean the story takes place only there. This may be because ancient extraterrestrial entities have always exerted influence over the entire world, but above all, it is because the world Lovecraft inhabits is more closely interconnected than any previous era.
His works are filled with references to the forces that brought about this change. Thanks to scientific and technological advancements—newspapers, telegraphs, trains, and even steamships—that allowed people to instantly access news from distant places and travel there directly, the world of that era seemed to be becoming one. Paradoxically, it was precisely this unification that led the world to experience, for the first time, the horror of a world war.
Living in an era when a single world seemed to be taking shape, Lovecraft’s literary universe is where he expands this concept—through his imagination—into the framework of a single cosmos. Therefore, the space of New England is by no means limited; this is because the people there and the events that unfold there all carry cosmic significance. Perhaps 21st-century readers, accustomed to terms that unite the world—such as “one world,” “global village,” and “global economy”—will not only find Lovecraft’s worldview familiar but will also feel no anxiety toward it. But was this also true for Lovecraft, who lived in the early 20th century? Might the anxiety and terror conveyed in his works have been a reaction to the changes unfolding right before his eyes, rather than the result of imagining unknown and terrifying entities? Might the extraterrestrial beings he imagined have been his way, as a writer, of coping with the anxieties and fears of his time?
Lovecraft was also deeply interested in politics. Early on, like his forebears, he was a conservative who supported the Republican Party, but after the Great Depression, he is known to have supported socialism. He was an ardent supporter of President Theodore Roosevelt and even briefly supported Adolf Hitler. Above all, as mentioned earlier, he believed in eugenics and anti-Semitism. Believing in eugenics does not simply mean believing in a specific science. Many people viewed eugenics as the solution because they believed that the expansion of Western imperialism had led to the mixing of various races, and as a result, Western society was declining due to the extinction of “pure bloodlines” by the late 19th century. And, naturally, racial prejudice led to a new wave of hatred toward Jews, who had long been the targets of racial persecution throughout Western civilization. As is well known, the movement to suspect and ostracize Jews eventually led to the Nazi genocide of Jews during World War II. In light of these political sentiments in the early 20th century, Lovecraft was by no means an exception.
Lovecraft and the Bizarre
In this regard, Lovecraft is undeniably an intriguing writer. This is evident even from the language and structure through which his imagination operates. Triggered by the anxieties and fears of the era, his language and structure are far too complex to be dismissed as merely the product of personal prejudice. Why did he create the cosmic framework of the Cthulhu Mythos and imagine beings that defy proper description, rendering language incapable of fulfilling its role? Did he refuse to express his political views clearly in a more realistic manner, instead wrapping them layer upon layer within the Cthulhu Mythos? Was there an intention to express something beyond reality? In this process, were his prejudices further reinforced, or were they transformed? If they were transformed, were they truly as he had intended and planned? The reason Lovecraft’s works—which vividly demonstrate the complexity and serendipity of the process by which reality and imagination converge to give birth to literature—are so important to literary scholars and discerning readers is self-evident. While prejudice is personal, a work of literature is shared by all; and because of that prejudice, his works consistently demand our critical scrutiny all the more earnestly.
What kind of criticism do Lovecraft’s works demand of us today? On the one hand, they seem to demand that we point out his political and ethical issues and expose the traces of prejudice hidden within his works. On the other hand, however, they also ask us to read his works in a way that is appropriate for the present—that is, the 21st century. It is precisely for this reason that interest in Lovecraft is growing anew.
This is particularly true within the realm of literature. As the genre known as “weird fiction” gains attention, Lovecraft is recognized as a pioneer of the genre. Lovecraft himself stated that “a truly weird story must… evoke in the reader a profound sense of dread concerning contact with unknown realms and forces.” Mark Fisher, a philosopher and cultural critic who has written extensively on the uncanny, defines Lovecraft’s uncanniness as “fascination mixed with astonishment,” noting that the uncanny “must both repel and inevitably draw in our attention.”
“Weird fiction” literally refers to novels containing strange content. However, it is distinct from the traditions of existing fantasy, horror, science fiction, and crime fiction, which deal with unfamiliar and unrealistic characters and plots. Of course, it is true that weird fiction has its roots in these traditional genres. Furthermore, Lovecraft is still frequently classified as a horror writer, which, strictly speaking, isn’t incorrect. The problem is that when you read his works with that classification in mind, you discover elements that differ from your expectations.
Lovecraft’s works incorporate elements of science fiction, such as extraterrestrial beings and technology, while the Cthulhu Mythos can read like the mythology found in fantasy novels. It is difficult to confine works with such hybrid characteristics to a single established genre. Weird fiction acknowledges these limitations and embraces hybridity as a defining feature of the genre, making it a perfect fit for Lovecraft’s works.
Genre blending is not the sole defining feature of Weird Fiction. Rather, it is a natural byproduct of the process of exploring the content and themes that Weird Fiction pursues. The content and themes in question can be summarized as “strangeness.” Something strange and bizarre occurs, blurring the line between reality and fantasy. However, this does not mean the works consist entirely of fantasy; if that were the case, they would be closer to fantasy literature. Because strangeness reveals its oddity while retaining a certain degree of realism, it actually creates an even more intense sense of alienation.
Attempts to understand and explain this strangeness can sometimes lead to rational explanations or scientific analysis. Thus, while it may sometimes resemble science fiction, a rational or scientific worldview cannot dominate because the strangeness is never fully resolved. In this way, the “weird” naturally leads to genre blending, and weird fiction demands that we view the world differently from beyond the blurred boundary between reality and fantasy.
It is only relatively recently that weird fiction has been discussed as a distinct genre. However, various writers from earlier eras—particularly those from the 19th and 20th centuries who were difficult to categorize within traditional genres—are now being grouped under the umbrella of weird fiction. Notably, E. T. A. Hoffmann of Gothic literature and Edgar Allan Poe, who wrote horror and science fiction, are cited as pioneers of weird fiction. Meanwhile, scholars who have thoroughly studied weird fiction sometimes regard Poe—who added psychological depth and suggestive language to the existing Gothic tradition—as the “true founder” of the genre.
Franz Kafka is also a key figure in this context. In ‘The Metamorphosis’, Gregor Samsa—who turns into a bug overnight—attempts to rationally make sense of his bizarre situation, and this very effort makes the story even more eerie. Since the mid-20th century, authors such as J. G. Ballard and China Miéville have been cited as leading figures in weird fiction. And, of course, the writer widely recognized as having established the weird genre is Lovecraft.
Weird Literature for a Weird Reality
Graham Harman, a philosopher who—unusually for his field—has written a book on Lovecraft, states that there are two types of philosophers. One group consists of those who create systems and principles to eliminate what is not understood or explained in the world—what Harman calls “the gaps in the universe.” He refers to them as “reductionists.” In contrast, the other group of philosophers sets out to find these “gaps in the universe,” seeking to make the world we are familiar with seem less familiar and more wondrous. Harman calls these philosophers “productivists.”
Harman clearly views Lovecraft as a “productivist” writer. He argues that Lovecraft was a writer who was perplexed by the gap between an object and the power of the language used to describe it, or between an object and its inherent properties. Even if he does not appear to have many philosophical interests at first glance, Lovecraft is assessed as an implicit philosopher who vehemently opposes idealism.
In this way, by examining Lovecraft as a writer who continually produces “gaps in the universe,” Harman reflected on the philosophical significance of his work, and the result is this book that intertwines Lovecraft and philosophy.
The reason Lovecraft has recently been receiving renewed attention is, above all, due to the philosophical implications of his work. Personally, I too have been drawn to Lovecraft not so much from a literary perspective as from a philosophical one—specifically, from the perspective of speculative realism. Simply put, speculative realism holds that the reality beyond observable phenomena is so complex and contingent that it cannot be fully grasped through existing scientific inquiry or philosophical principles. The “reality” referred to here is not a metaphysically separate world but something that exists within reality itself, albeit something difficult to comprehend. Therefore, this reality becomes the object of speculation. It is the view that reality must be approached as if it were imagined, while simultaneously acknowledging that it is not fiction.
One reason speculative realism has garnered attention in the 21st century is that our reality feels like such a reality. For example, the climate crisis clearly exists, but there are aspects of it that are difficult to pinpoint scientifically or understand systematically. Consequently, while it is undeniably present, it remains a subject of debate. Since such phenomena are difficult to explain using existing scientific and philosophical frameworks, those who share Harman’s perspective sometimes employ the concept of “mega-things” to account for phenomena like the climate crisis. In Harman’s terms, there is a “gap” between the object—the climate crisis—and the language used to describe it. Speculation acknowledges this gap and takes as its starting point the fact that objects like the climate crisis cannot be discussed using conventional methods.
Lovecraft prompts us to ponder how to speculate about bizarre objects. Not only the characters within his works but also readers outside them must engage in such reflection. His works tend to blur the distinction between the inside and the outside. A world that initially appears to be preposterous fantasy may feel distant from the reader’s reality, but upon closer reading, careful reflection on its meaning, and a speculative approach, one realizes this is not the case. This remains true even if the real Cthulhu cannot exist, or if the horrific Ancients do not actually exist. Whether such beings exist or not, Lovecraft’s world is far stranger than it appears, and it prompts us to reflect on the fact that the reality we live in is also filled with strange realities.
