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H.P. Lovecraft: Nightmare Countries: The Master of Cosmic Horror
Coffeetable format biography of H.P. Lovecraft, with photos.
Introduction
A Genuine Pagan
Eccentric Recluse
A Renewed Will to Live
New York Exile
The Creation of Cthulhu
A Shadow Over Life
The Mythos Grows
Author Biography
Image Credits
Introduction
A Genuine Pagan
Eccentric Recluse
A Renewed Will to Live
New York Exile
The Creation of Cthulhu
A Shadow Over Life
The Mythos Grows
Author Biography
Image Credits
160 pages, Hardcover
First published August 27, 2012
4 people are currently reading
101 people want to read
About the author
S.T. Joshi
793 books453 followersSunand Tryambak Joshi is an Indian American literary scholar, and a leading figure in the study of Howard Phillips Lovecraft and other authors. Besides what some critics consider to be the definitive biography of Lovecraft (H. P. Lovecraft: A Life, 1996), Joshi has written about Ambrose Bierce, H. L. Mencken, Lord Dunsany, and M.R. James, and has edited collections of their works.
His literary criticism is notable for its emphases upon readability and the dominant worldviews of the authors in question; his The Weird Tale looks at six acknowledged masters of horror and fantasy (namely Arthur Machen, Algernon Blackwood, Dunsany, M. R. James, Bierce and Lovecraft), and discusses their respective worldviews in depth and with authority. A follow-up volume, The Modern Weird Tale, examines the work of modern writers, including Shirley Jackson, Ramsey Campbell, Stephen King, Robert Aickman, Thomas Ligotti, T. E. D. Klein and others, from a similar philosophically oriented viewpoint. The Evolution of the Weird Tale (2004) includes essays on Dennis Etchison, L. P. Hartley, Les Daniels, E. F. Benson, Rudyard Kipling, David J. Schow, Robert Bloch, L. P. Davies, Edward Lucas White, Rod Serling, Poppy Z. Brite and others.
Joshi is the editor of the small-press literary journals Lovecraft Studies and Studies in Weird Fiction, published by Necronomicon Press. He is also the editor of Lovecraft Annual and co-editor of Dead Reckonings, both small-press journals published by Hippocampus Press.
In addition to literary criticism, Joshi has also edited books on atheism and social relations, including Documents of American Prejudice (1999), an annotated collection of American racist writings; In Her Place (2006), which collects written examples of prejudice against women; and Atheism: A Reader (2000), which collects atheistic writings by such people as Antony Flew, George Eliot, Bertrand Russell, Emma Goldman, Gore Vidal and Carl Sagan, among others. An Agnostic Reader, collecting pieces by such writers as Isaac Asimov, John William Draper, Albert Einstein, Frederic Harrison, Thomas Henry Huxley, Robert Ingersoll, Corliss Lamont, Arthur Schopenhauer and Edward Westermarck, was published in 2007.
Joshi is also the author of God's Defenders: What They Believe and Why They Are Wrong (2003), an anti-religious polemic against various writers including C. S. Lewis, G. K. Chesterton, T. S. Eliot, William F. Buckley, Jr., William James, Stephen L. Carter, Annie Dillard, Reynolds Price, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, Guenter Lewy, Neale Donald Walsch and Jerry Falwell, which is dedicated to theologian and fellow Lovecraft critic Robert M. Price.
In 2006 he published The Angry Right: Why Conservatives Keep Getting It Wrong, which criticised the political writings of such commentators as William F. Buckley, Jr., Russell Kirk, David and Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Phyllis Schlafly, William Bennett, Gertrude Himmelfarb and Irving and William Kristol, arguing that, despite the efforts of right-wing polemicists, the values of the American people have become steadily more liberal over time.
Joshi, who lives with his wife in Moravia, New York, has stated on his website that his most noteworthy achievements thus far have been his biography of Lovecraft, H. P. Lovecraft: A Life and The Weird Tale.
His literary criticism is notable for its emphases upon readability and the dominant worldviews of the authors in question; his The Weird Tale looks at six acknowledged masters of horror and fantasy (namely Arthur Machen, Algernon Blackwood, Dunsany, M. R. James, Bierce and Lovecraft), and discusses their respective worldviews in depth and with authority. A follow-up volume, The Modern Weird Tale, examines the work of modern writers, including Shirley Jackson, Ramsey Campbell, Stephen King, Robert Aickman, Thomas Ligotti, T. E. D. Klein and others, from a similar philosophically oriented viewpoint. The Evolution of the Weird Tale (2004) includes essays on Dennis Etchison, L. P. Hartley, Les Daniels, E. F. Benson, Rudyard Kipling, David J. Schow, Robert Bloch, L. P. Davies, Edward Lucas White, Rod Serling, Poppy Z. Brite and others.
Joshi is the editor of the small-press literary journals Lovecraft Studies and Studies in Weird Fiction, published by Necronomicon Press. He is also the editor of Lovecraft Annual and co-editor of Dead Reckonings, both small-press journals published by Hippocampus Press.
In addition to literary criticism, Joshi has also edited books on atheism and social relations, including Documents of American Prejudice (1999), an annotated collection of American racist writings; In Her Place (2006), which collects written examples of prejudice against women; and Atheism: A Reader (2000), which collects atheistic writings by such people as Antony Flew, George Eliot, Bertrand Russell, Emma Goldman, Gore Vidal and Carl Sagan, among others. An Agnostic Reader, collecting pieces by such writers as Isaac Asimov, John William Draper, Albert Einstein, Frederic Harrison, Thomas Henry Huxley, Robert Ingersoll, Corliss Lamont, Arthur Schopenhauer and Edward Westermarck, was published in 2007.
Joshi is also the author of God's Defenders: What They Believe and Why They Are Wrong (2003), an anti-religious polemic against various writers including C. S. Lewis, G. K. Chesterton, T. S. Eliot, William F. Buckley, Jr., William James, Stephen L. Carter, Annie Dillard, Reynolds Price, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, Guenter Lewy, Neale Donald Walsch and Jerry Falwell, which is dedicated to theologian and fellow Lovecraft critic Robert M. Price.
In 2006 he published The Angry Right: Why Conservatives Keep Getting It Wrong, which criticised the political writings of such commentators as William F. Buckley, Jr., Russell Kirk, David and Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Phyllis Schlafly, William Bennett, Gertrude Himmelfarb and Irving and William Kristol, arguing that, despite the efforts of right-wing polemicists, the values of the American people have become steadily more liberal over time.
Joshi, who lives with his wife in Moravia, New York, has stated on his website that his most noteworthy achievements thus far have been his biography of Lovecraft, H. P. Lovecraft: A Life and The Weird Tale.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
November 11, 2014
For a coffee table book, this delivers a lot of content. S.T. Joshi is the go-to scholar in the field of Lovecraft studies, and while this eye-catching volume offers nothing close to the depth and detail of Joshi's 700+-page H.P. Lovecraft: A Life (or its two-volume ancestor I Am Providence: The Life and Times of H. P. Lovecraft), it's a densely-packed and reader-friendly look at Lovecraft and his work. A few editing errors crept into the book (I think someone somewhere accidentally deleted all "]" for example), but on the whole this is a gorgeous volume enhanced by lovely layout, photos, and artwork. Even if the Lovecraft aficionado finds nothing particularly new here, the presentation makes this well worth a look.
November 5, 2019
I didn't know a lot about H.P. Lovecraft (well, except that I enjoy the mythos he created, I like the stories of his I've read, and that he was racist) so when I found this hardcover coffee table book at Half Price Books, I thought it would be worth a go. It's an enjoyable read. I'm not sure the book totally justifies it's format. Don't get me wrong, I do like the imagery presented here, but I don't think the design is all that interesting. it's repetitive, with the same cosmic motif taking up a good inch and half of either spread on both sides without any real purpose, even graphically. The imagery ranges from the intriguing (Lovecraft's sketch of the Cthulhu statue, images of his original writings) to the arguably tangental but interesting (period cityscapes) to the slightly banal (portraits of literary figures that Lovecraft admired).
There's a wealth of Lovecraft artwork out there. I wish the text here had been paired with more of that art, both vintage and new. Images of his published works. the overall presentation here feels like a book done on a budget, frankly. That's not to say it's a bad book, but just not quite what it could be. As for the text itself, I found it an informative overview of the man's life. It presents Lovecraft as a complicated human being, which I appreciated. I appreciated a little less the way it tackled his racism. It does acknowledge it in, and certainly doesn't justify it. But perhaps, to my taste, it's a little too eager to sweep it aside. I appreciate if the author didn't want to make it a large focus of this work. But, especially in the later chapters that deal with his legacy, I think more could have been done here to talk to how modern viewers contextualize his works.
There's a wealth of Lovecraft artwork out there. I wish the text here had been paired with more of that art, both vintage and new. Images of his published works. the overall presentation here feels like a book done on a budget, frankly. That's not to say it's a bad book, but just not quite what it could be. As for the text itself, I found it an informative overview of the man's life. It presents Lovecraft as a complicated human being, which I appreciated. I appreciated a little less the way it tackled his racism. It does acknowledge it in, and certainly doesn't justify it. But perhaps, to my taste, it's a little too eager to sweep it aside. I appreciate if the author didn't want to make it a large focus of this work. But, especially in the later chapters that deal with his legacy, I think more could have been done here to talk to how modern viewers contextualize his works.
February 13, 2020
There is a lot of information crammed into these 160 pages, especially considering this is more or less a coffee table book, flush with photographs and pages devoted to illustrated chapter breaks. From his childhood to his death, and the legacy he left behind, Nightmare Countries does an admirable job of giving the reader a feel for Lovecraft, as a person. At times deeply troubled, eccentric, and distressingly bigoted, he's also shown to have been a loyal friend, and a dedicated mentor.
If you have any interest in the man behind the Mythos, this is a good place to start. It's a fast read, without skimping on details, and at least touches on most of the important events of Lovecraft's life.
If you have any interest in the man behind the Mythos, this is a good place to start. It's a fast read, without skimping on details, and at least touches on most of the important events of Lovecraft's life.
June 13, 2023
I am a huge Lovecraft fan, so I enjoyed this book, with its photographs of the places that helped shape him, and in which so many of his stories are set. I disagreed with some of the author's opinions of various stories - I liked some a lot more than he did, and was less excited about others that he thought sublime but that's only natural.
April 10, 2013
Interview with H.P. Lovecraft about Nightmare Countries
Setting the scene-We are sitting in a small, windowless, airtight space. Lovecraft is dressed in a cream coloured suit and I am poised to begin this interview.
Lovecraft-What a fascinating, archaic space we inhabit. Only the horror I've seen in dreams can compare to this warehouse.
Me-Thank you Lovecraft. Well, I assume you know where we're at. And why we're here?
Lovecraft-I must confess that I have no idea, but that I'm deeply intrigued and measurabky disturbed in equal measure at the situation I unwittingly find myself. Where am I?
Me-You're in my brain.
L-Oh for Shoggoth's sake, this is horrible. A mental teleportation trick? Aunt Annie, help. (whisper)
Me-Shh. Don't get too excited. You'll have a nervous attack. And Aunt Annie isn't here.
L-Why am I here?
Me-I just read a facinating autobiography about you called NIGHTMARE COUNTRIES and reconstructed you using fragments I've gleaned from my reading....
L-Someone wrote a book about me? What sort of madness froths from your lips?
Me-Escuse me? Well, yes they did. And you are sorta famous. You creep a lot of people out, and some worship you. You should know that the ones that like you...they're obsessed.
Lovecraft appears to be having heart palpitations....
L-Aunt Lillian, Auntie Anne, mummy...I cannot believe such a concept.
Me-(pushes book, Nightmare Country, to the quivering Lovecraft)
L-flips through book.) Oh no, oh no they didn't. I didn't wear girl's clothes until I was 6. My love life...Cthculu's beard!! Could it be though that Providence is finally smiling on me?
Me-Millions know about you now. You're fascinating. Hence, this wonderful book, which tells everything from your obsession with cats, to your lonely boyhood and life in Providence, your move to New York, and your struggle to break into the literary world. And it had pictures, as well as a transcript of your surprisingly bad report card from grade school.
Lovecraft is about to speak when there's a horrifying trumpeting followed by thumps against the wall.
Me-Sorry. Gotta go. My brain's getting distracted and you're about to evaporate. I think some unamble thing is about to break into my thoughts. Here take the book!
AND OUTSIDE THE WAREHOUSE WAS THE ELDER ONE, CTCHULU, and in a language that was so old, yet soulchilling, it said- THIS INTERVIEW IS OVER.
And the ending was almost as horrifying cheesy as the "shocking" end to a Lovecraft story. Otherwords, it was perfection.
Setting the scene-We are sitting in a small, windowless, airtight space. Lovecraft is dressed in a cream coloured suit and I am poised to begin this interview.
Lovecraft-What a fascinating, archaic space we inhabit. Only the horror I've seen in dreams can compare to this warehouse.
Me-Thank you Lovecraft. Well, I assume you know where we're at. And why we're here?
Lovecraft-I must confess that I have no idea, but that I'm deeply intrigued and measurabky disturbed in equal measure at the situation I unwittingly find myself. Where am I?
Me-You're in my brain.
L-Oh for Shoggoth's sake, this is horrible. A mental teleportation trick? Aunt Annie, help. (whisper)
Me-Shh. Don't get too excited. You'll have a nervous attack. And Aunt Annie isn't here.
L-Why am I here?
Me-I just read a facinating autobiography about you called NIGHTMARE COUNTRIES and reconstructed you using fragments I've gleaned from my reading....
L-Someone wrote a book about me? What sort of madness froths from your lips?
Me-Escuse me? Well, yes they did. And you are sorta famous. You creep a lot of people out, and some worship you. You should know that the ones that like you...they're obsessed.
Lovecraft appears to be having heart palpitations....
L-Aunt Lillian, Auntie Anne, mummy...I cannot believe such a concept.
Me-(pushes book, Nightmare Country, to the quivering Lovecraft)
L-flips through book.) Oh no, oh no they didn't. I didn't wear girl's clothes until I was 6. My love life...Cthculu's beard!! Could it be though that Providence is finally smiling on me?
Me-Millions know about you now. You're fascinating. Hence, this wonderful book, which tells everything from your obsession with cats, to your lonely boyhood and life in Providence, your move to New York, and your struggle to break into the literary world. And it had pictures, as well as a transcript of your surprisingly bad report card from grade school.
Lovecraft is about to speak when there's a horrifying trumpeting followed by thumps against the wall.
Me-Sorry. Gotta go. My brain's getting distracted and you're about to evaporate. I think some unamble thing is about to break into my thoughts. Here take the book!
AND OUTSIDE THE WAREHOUSE WAS THE ELDER ONE, CTCHULU, and in a language that was so old, yet soulchilling, it said- THIS INTERVIEW IS OVER.
And the ending was almost as horrifying cheesy as the "shocking" end to a Lovecraft story. Otherwords, it was perfection.
November 29, 2016
3.5 stars
This is an interesting mix of coffee table book and biography. As such, it doesn't give you a detailed look into Lovecraft's life and works, but has tons of interesting facts along with fascinating reproduced documents. Everything from the astronomy journal he printed as a child to a handful of letters he wrote to his will and death certificate. And the real illustration of Cthulhu! Most of his stories are also discussed, with insights into how and why they were written. Though obviously, huge spoilers if you haven't read all of his stories.
While I loved 99% of the book, I found the last chapter (which discusses Lovecraft's impact on the literary scene) a bit lacking. For example, Joshi states that Stephen King is kind of the anti-Lovecraft (in terms of writing style) and really only has one Lovecraftian story. Anyone who knows King knows that Randall Flagg is literally Nyarlathotep, and there are dozens of Lovecraft references peppered throughout his books and stories. So... that was kind of weird. But very worth reading if you're a Lovecraft fan.
This is an interesting mix of coffee table book and biography. As such, it doesn't give you a detailed look into Lovecraft's life and works, but has tons of interesting facts along with fascinating reproduced documents. Everything from the astronomy journal he printed as a child to a handful of letters he wrote to his will and death certificate. And the real illustration of Cthulhu! Most of his stories are also discussed, with insights into how and why they were written. Though obviously, huge spoilers if you haven't read all of his stories.
While I loved 99% of the book, I found the last chapter (which discusses Lovecraft's impact on the literary scene) a bit lacking. For example, Joshi states that Stephen King is kind of the anti-Lovecraft (in terms of writing style) and really only has one Lovecraftian story. Anyone who knows King knows that Randall Flagg is literally Nyarlathotep, and there are dozens of Lovecraft references peppered throughout his books and stories. So... that was kind of weird. But very worth reading if you're a Lovecraft fan.
April 8, 2013
This oversized book contains a basic, yet comprehensive, overview of H.P. Lovecraft's life and work. This is the first book I've read about Lovecraft and it gave me a good introduction as to what to look for, theme- and mood-wise, when I do delve into his stories.
The photographs, illustrations and pictures of Lovecraft's handwritten letters, drafts and notes, as well as photographs of his contemporaries and family and pictures of several magazines in which he was published enlivened the prose and seemingly brought the author to life.
As an adolescent reader, my favorite genre of fiction to read was horror/suspense. So, perhaps I can rekindle that interest today by reading H.P. Lovecraft's work.
The photographs, illustrations and pictures of Lovecraft's handwritten letters, drafts and notes, as well as photographs of his contemporaries and family and pictures of several magazines in which he was published enlivened the prose and seemingly brought the author to life.
As an adolescent reader, my favorite genre of fiction to read was horror/suspense. So, perhaps I can rekindle that interest today by reading H.P. Lovecraft's work.
September 5, 2013
It's a beautiful book, though I find its odd size to be inconvenient and more than a little pretentious. Its a nice overview of Lovecraft's life, though its pretty sparse with the details and pretty free with the critiques of his works. Often it felt like I was reading a book more compiled than written, as if the author had not read the stories he was so free in offering opinions on - but as it turns out Mr. Joshi has written quite a bit on HPL so that is obviously a misinterpretation on my part.
In the end I simply felt it was too cursory an overview and relied too much on its beautiful art, pictures, and examples of Lovecraft's written draft pages. I will treasure it forever, but it was a tad disappointing to a fan such as myself.
In the end I simply felt it was too cursory an overview and relied too much on its beautiful art, pictures, and examples of Lovecraft's written draft pages. I will treasure it forever, but it was a tad disappointing to a fan such as myself.
April 9, 2014
There are more comprehensive biographies of Lovecraft out there. In fact, Joshi has written one and another book on Lovecraft's work. But, as a quick read biography goes, this was interesting and probably a pretty good overview. The writing is occasionally droll and Joshi isn't shy about offering critical opinions about Lovecraft and some of his writing. What makes this volume work though (and I'd really give it 3.5 starts if I could) is that it's really, really pretty. This is an over-sized coffee-table book with some lovely decorative elements and a lot of neat illustrations, including pages from Lovecraft's handwritten manuscripts, covers from some of the magazines in which his works appeared, and photos of people and places influential in his life and work.
June 12, 2013
I read De Camp's biography of Lovecraft a decade or so ago. This book served as an engrossing refresher, describing the broad lineaments of the author's life as well as providing capsule summaries of many of his stories. Joshi writes well and knows his subject. The great disappointment was as regards the illustrations occupying so much space in the book. Such few photographs as there were were familiar ones, the rest of the pictures were mere fill. The only really interesting illustrations were reproductions of some of Lovecraft's drawings and holographs.
November 21, 2012
Short biography of the master of weird, including photos and reproductions of original hand-written pages.
H.P. never knew the influence he would exert over the horror genre. Never able to break out of the early pulps, Lovecraft struggled to survive on as little as $15 a week, A sad man in many ways, he displayed moments of enduring brilliance.
A must read for any fan of weird literature and early horror.
H.P. never knew the influence he would exert over the horror genre. Never able to break out of the early pulps, Lovecraft struggled to survive on as little as $15 a week, A sad man in many ways, he displayed moments of enduring brilliance.
A must read for any fan of weird literature and early horror.
December 12, 2012
Awesome format - really works well to add a little atmosphere to a biography about Lovecraft. Beautiful book in its physical presentation... really happy i got it. There's a not a lot of new stuff here, but its probably the best book i have seen to present the life of Lovecraft to those unfamiliar with it. To truly test that, i'd have to go back through my other biographical works on him, but honestly... this one sticks out as the most approachable and the one I would recommend most.
January 3, 2016
Tom lent me this ages ago (2014!) when we started our HP Lovecraft reading group but I had trouble diving in (I always have a hard time getting into these coffee-table sized books). Turns out that's a good thing because it was chock full of spoilers. Heh. But once I settled into reading it I enjoyed the broad overview (i.e. it wasn't too detailed for a dilettante such as myself) and learned just a few things (not that I really, really wanted to know about his marriage, but whatever).
July 20, 2013
S T Joshi is by far my favorite H. P. Lovecraft biographer. This brief telling of his life was tantalizing enough that I will have to invest in his two volume, 'I Am Providence' biography. My only criticism is the inclusion of period pictures that were nice by didn’t add anything to the experience.
March 11, 2013
A rather quaint, informative coffee-table book about H.P. Lovecraft and his work. From the impeccable pen of noted Lovecraft scholar S.T. Joshi, this is a work I am proud to display on my coffee table!
February 15, 2013
A great overview of the life and work of H.P. Lovecraft. This coffee table book also features some great pics of Lovecraft, copies of letters and sketches and more. Well worth a read.
September 11, 2013
I enjoyed it but felt that Joshi was holding back on his massive knowledge of Lovecraft.
April 21, 2015
A more concise bio than Joshi's "I Am Providence", in a coffee-table sized book. Well illustrated.
December 3, 2015
An excellent primer on Lovecraft's life and work, with plenty of fascinating documents and pictures included in a coffee-table format.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews