Cults of Cthulhu - H.P Lovecraft and the Occult Tradition - Fra. Tenebrous

Oct 6, 2026

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Cults of Cthulhu studies H. P. Lovecraft’s life, writings, and the way his fantasy and horror work formed an internally consistent mythology. The text links his dream-world experiences and intuitive impulses to occult forces that remain relevant to the Magical Tradition. It traces key biographical milestones—his upbringing, education, early publications, correspondence, major relationships, and relocation—while highlighting how place-based imaginaries and recurring themes shaped his fiction.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryStory & Novel

FormatPDF

Pages26

Reading Time40 min

AccessFree to download

Cults of Cthulhu

H. P. Lovecraft and the Occult Tradition

Publication and edition notes

Lovecraft’s early life and education

Weird Tales and the development of a mythology

Correspondence, marriage, and later years

Cults of Cthulhu H.P Lovecraft and the Occult Tradition Fra. Tenebrous Cults of Cthulhu H.P Lovecraft and the Occult Tradition by Fra. Tenebrous First published by Daath Press 1987, as a limited edition of 123 copies. Text revised 1993. This on-line edition November 1998 with kind permission of the author. H.P LOVECRAFT “That is not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange aeons even death may die.” H. P. Lovecraft,‘The Nameless City’, 1921 In the 1920’s, an American magazine of fantasy and horror fiction called Weird Tales began to publish stories by a thenunknown author named H. P. Lovecraft. As his contributions to the magazine grew more regular, the stories began to forman internally consistent and self-referential mythology, created from the literary realisation of the author’s dreams and intuitive impulses. Although he outwardly espoused a wholly rational and sceptical view of the universe, his dream-world experiences allowed him glimpses of places and entities beyond the world of mundane reality, and behind his stilted and often excessive prose there lies a vision and an understanding of occult forces which is directly relevant to the Magical Tradition. Howard Phillips Lovecraft was born on August 20, 1890, in Providence, Rhode Island, at 454 Angell Street—the house of his maternal grandfather, Whipple V. Phillips. His parents, Winfield Scott Lovecraft and Sarah Susan Phillips, were of English descent, and throughout his life Lovecraft remained a devoted Anglophile. Winfield Lovecraft, a commercial traveller, spent much of his time away from the family home, and as a result had little influence on the young Lovecraft. Three years after his son’s birth, he was admitted to a psychiatric hospital, where he died in 1898 of’ general paralysis of the insane’, the final stage of syphilis. As a result, Lovecraft spent the remainder of his formative years under the guidance of his mother and two maiden aunts, who shielded him completely from the rigours and demands of everyday life, whilst atthe same time tormenting him because of his supposed ugliness. Lovecraft soon began to show signs of being ‘different’—he could read fluently at the age of four, and would spend hours in his grandfather’s extensive library, studying volumes of history and mythology. His grandfather also introduced him to local folk tales and myths which he would later draw upon in his evocations of the imaginary New England landscapes of Arkham, Dunwich and Innsmouth. He began his formal studies at Hope High School, Providence, but was largely self-educated due to an unstable constitution, which lead to long periods of absence from school. He preferred the company of adults to that of other children, who disliked him because of his delicate nature and precocious intelligence. Instead of joining their juvenile games, he developed his own, interior world of the imagination through writing, and at the age of 15 produced his first horror story,‘The Beast in the Cave’ By 1914, he had submitted a series of articles to the United Amateur Press Association and to local newspapers, ranging in content from astronomy and philosophy, to his early stories of the occult and the supernatural. Also at this time, he began the epistolary communications which were to become one of the main pleasures of his life. (At one time, Lovecraft had over a hundred regular correspondents, and in fact, his extant letters considerably outweigh his fiction-one estimate puts the total number of letters written by Lovecraft at over 100,000.) However, it was not until 1917 that Lovecraft seriously considered writing in earnest. The family had been forced to leave the house in Angell Street due to financial difficulties, and Lovecraft soon discovered that he was incapable of earning a living. (Indeed, he was to spend the best part of his life in a state of financial deprivation and semi-starvation, surviving on as little as 15 dollars a week.) His mother’s mental

FAQs

How does the text connect Lovecraft’s experiences to the occult tradition?

It argues that, despite a rational and skeptical public stance, Lovecraft’s dream-world experiences offered glimpses of places and entities beyond mundane reality, implying an understanding of occult forces relevant to the Magical Tradition.

What role did Weird Tales play in Lovecraft’s development?

Weird Tales began publishing his stories in the 1920s, and as his contributions became more regular, the stories developed into a self-referential mythology with internal consistency.

What biographical events shaped Lovecraft’s later writing focus?

Financial hardship and his mother’s decline, followed by his move back to Providence and a life centered on writing, are presented as key influences on his themes and creative output.

Oct 6, 2026

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