• slacktoid
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    2 days ago

    The man was a neurotic anxious mess who was scared of everything around him in his time and checked into the psych ward multiple times. I guess it shows in his writings

    • Diabolo96@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      2 days ago

      Both of his parents were extremely mentally ill from syphilis. That’s why the theme of generational curse is so prominent in his work.

      As for how racist he was, You just need to know that he wrote a book where the big revelation and last sentence of the book was something along the lines of, “worst of all, she was an n-word”. The book’s name is Medusa’s coil

      • slacktoid
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        2 days ago

        Yeah he was a homophobe and a racist for sure. But how much more than anyone else from his time. I love the themes he brings in but I think other people have done a good job of showing his ideas without the fear he had in him, Shape of water comes to mind and I think del Toro does a great job in showing those themes of the unknown and all.

        There’s a video on his (HP) work by HBomberguy which I think is really good.

        I didnt know about the reason for his generational curse… That’s pretty cool!

        • TrousersMcPants@lemmy.world
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          2 days ago

          Personally I think Lovecraft having these issues makes him a more fascinating author to me. The fear of otherness is so prevalent in his work, it’s like looking directly into his soul

          • slacktoid
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            2 days ago

            Ooh that’s a cool perspective! He was a scared scared man.

        • Seleni@lemmy.world
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          2 days ago

          A ton more than other people of his time. Like, diehard racists told him to chill out and be less racist.

        • rumba@lemmy.zip
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          1 day ago

          showing his ideas without the fear he had in him,

          Shadow over Innsmouth, the fish people were his fear of interracial breeding. Once you start applying the lense to his work, it becomes hard to not break the 4th wall even when he’s not spouting the N-word.

          • slacktoid
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            1 day ago

            Yeah which is why I think “Shape of water” is a better Lovecraftian style of work than HP could ever achieve. He was a troubled scared man, who created an entire genre of horror. Hope we may never be as consumed by our fears as he was.