Joseph Payne Brennan

“ The imitative verse is interesting and often competent, but I think the “Fungi” sonnets are far more arresting and effective. A few of the very best of them may survive.
Any criticism of Lovecraft’s work, no matter how brief, would be incomplete if it omitted mention of his famous essay, “Supernatural Horror in Literature.” Even Edmund Wilson concedes that the essay is “a really able piece of work.” In my pamphlet, “H. P. Lovecraft: A Bibliography”, I commented: “The background and evolution of the horror tale—a “must” for anyone seriously interested in the genre.” ”

“ For sheer inhuman horror those twilit grottos under the evil foundations of Exham Priory have yet to be surpassed.
In his introduction to “Best Supernatural Stories of H. P. Lovecraft”, August Derleth states: “It has been said of “The Outsider” that if the manuscript had been put forward as an unpublished tale by Edgar Allan Poe, none would have challenged it.” Perhaps this is not literally true, but I agree with the spirit of it. “The [Pg 6] Outsider” is one of Lovecraft’s finest stories. It possesses the merit of compression ”

“ But it is a masterpiece of its type, and again I can think of no Lovecraft story after "The Music of Erich Zann" which equals it. As a matter of fact, one almost feels that Lovecraft has gone too far in this particular story. Something inside one rebels as the ghastly eldrich grottos reveal their loathsome secrets. Perhaps it is simply that one instinctively refuses to believe that homo sapiens could ever descend to such a hellish sub-level. But this is a philosophical comment, not a criticism of the story. ”

“ Even though his criticism is far too severe--too much of a generalization--Wilson does call attention to two Lovecraft faults which I must reluctantly acknowledge: his frequent prolixity and his tendency to lean on shopworn adjectives such as "terrible", "horrible", "hellish", etc. to achieve eerie effects. In a good horror story, adjectives such as this are best omitted or at least introduced very sparingly. Beyond these criticisms, Wilson emphasizes the essential weakness and lack of verisimilitude of the "Cthulhu Mythos" episodes. ”

“ The “Cthulhu Mythos” has raised a great commotion. Over a period of years, enthusiastic collaborators, imitators, friends and admirers have elevated the Cthulhu myth to a pedestal of importance which it scarcely deserves. ”

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