H.P. Lovecraft, one of the twentieth centurys most important writers in the genre of horror fiction, famously referred to Edgar Allan Poe as both his model and his God of Fiction. While scholars and readers of Poes and Lovecrafts work have long recognized the connection between these authors, this collection of essays is the first in-depth study to explore the complex literary relationship between Lovecraft and Poe from a variety of critical perspectives. Of the thirteen essays included in this book, some consider how Poes work influenced Lovecraft in important ways. Other essays explore how Lovecrafts fictional, critical, and poetic reception of Poe irrevocably changed how Poes work has been understood by subsequent generations of readers and interpreters. Addressing a variety of topics ranging from the psychology of influence to racial and sexual politics, the essays in this book also consider how Lovecrafts interpretations of Poe have informed later adaptations of both writers works in films by Roger Corman and fiction by Stephen King, Thomas Ligotti, and Caitlin R. Kiernan. This collection is an indispensable resource not only for those who are interested in Poes and Lovecrafts work specifically, but also for readers who wish to learn more about the modern history and evolution of Gothic, horror, and weird fiction.
