![]() To say that atmosphere is important to his work is an understatement: sometimes it’s the entire substance of a story in which very little (from the perspective of plot) actually happens. Even beyond adaptations of specific stories, however, key ideas from Lovecraft’s stories became building blocks for new ones: films as diverse as Alien, Ghostbusters, and the Evil Dead series borrow names, themes, or imagery from the author’s extensive mythos.Īs indicated by the letter quoted above, however, Lovecraft on the page is a different experience from most of the film adaptations of his work. Storylines were frequently changed, saddled with romantic subplots or altered to accommodate shooting locations and special effects budgets. The gothic trappings of many of Lovecraft’s stories-crumbling tombs, secret books, and family curses-aren’t so different from those of Universal’s horror movies, but with his emphasis on indescribable sights and sanity-destroying truths, he might be the original “unfilmable” author.Įventually, decades later, as Lovecraft went from an obscure contributor to Weird Tales and other pulp magazines to the most influential American horror writer since Poe, filmmakers did mine his work for adaptation, at least selectively. A major theme of his stories is the price of knowledge, symbolized most clearly by the Necronomicon, a compilation of Secrets Man Was Not Meant to Know, of which even a casual glimpse can make one’s blood run cold or drive one to madness. Incomprehensibly alien and infinitely powerful beings such as Cthulhu, worshipped as gods by secretive cults, await the time when “the stars are right” and they may return to conquer the earth. Lovecraft’s contribution to the literature of horror was a combination of scientific detachment and deep pessimism: he conceived of humanity as utterly alone and unprepared in a hostile, uncaring universe. Cinemas want action-whereas my one specialty is atmosphere.” Despite his generally anti-modern stance, Lovecraft enjoyed the movies, at least certain kinds: he expressed admiration for Charlie Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., but he saved his highest praise for epics that brought history and mythology to life, like the German silent Siegfried. ![]() “In cold fact,” the reclusive author wrote in a 1931 letter, “nothing of mine could ever be suitable for his purposes. As soon as Wilmarth arrives in Vermont, he begins to suspect that the secret conspiracy is more real and larger than he could have ever expected.After a meeting with a movie industry insider regarding a possible sale of his fiction to Paramount Pictures, H. Ever the realist, Wilmarth finally agrees to go visit an educated correspondent who claims to have proof of the crab-like creatures letters, pictures, audio recordings, and a possible rune covered stone all hint at the actual existence of aliens that have been on the earth for years. “The Whisperer in Darkness” is about Albert Wilmarth, a professor of folk lore at Miskatonic University, who is drawn into a controversy concerning the existence of monstrous creatures living in the mountains of Vermont. The musical score is beautiful and also very reminiscent of the scores of years long past from that era. Adding to the visual atmosphere are the multiple scenes in the rain, which helps create the sensation of isolation and struggle. Shown in black and white, the stark contrasts are used to maximum effect that produces some incredibly gorgeous shots and silhouettes. Lovecraft Historical Society produced this wonderful film in the style of a 1920’s/30’s Universal Studios monster movie.
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