Lovecraft Country 1

Lovecraft Country
Lovecraft Country is a term coined by Keith
Herber for the New England setting, combining real
and fictitious locations, used by H. P. Lovecraft in
many of his weird fiction stories, and later
elaborated by other writers working in the Cthulhu
Mythos. The term was popularized by Chaosium, the
producers of the Lovecraftian role-playing game
Call of Cthulhu. Lovecraft scholar S. T. Joshi refers
to the area as the "Miskatonic region", after its
fictional river and university,[1] while Lovecraft
biographer Lin Carter calls it Miskatonic County,[2]
though Lovecraft indicates that at least some of his
fictional towns were located in the real-life Essex
County of Massachusetts.[3]

In its 1998 supplement Dead Reckonings, Chaosium

defined Lovecraft Country as "a land located in the
northeast of Massachusetts. The most important
portion stretches along the Miskatonic River valley,
from Dunwich in the far west to where it enters the
Atlantic Ocean between Arkham, Kingsport, and
Martin's Beach."[4] If one were to replace Martin's
Beach with another seaside town, Innsmouth, one
would have a list of the most significant locations in Detailed map of Lovecraft Country

Lovecraft Country.

Sometimes the phrase is used in a more inclusive sense, encompassing not only northeastern Massachusetts but also
the southern hills of Vermont (the setting of "The Whisperer in Darkness") as well as Lovecraft's hometown of
Providence, Rhode Island, where he set such works as The Case of Charles Dexter Ward.

Lovecraft's fiction
Lovecraft first used a New England setting
for the 1920 short story "The Terrible Old
Man", set in Kingsport. In the story that first
mentions both Arkham and the Miskatonic
Valley, "The Picture in the House" (written
later in 1920), Lovecraft wrote that "the true
epicure of the terrible, to whom a new thrill
of unutterable ghastliness is the chief end
and justification of existence, esteem most
of all the ancient, lonely farmhouses of
backwoods New England; for there the dark
elements of strength, solitude, Map of Lovecraft country.
Lovecraft Country 2

grotesqueness, and ignorance combine to form the perfection of the hideous."

In a 1930 letter to Robert E. Howard, Lovecraft attempted to explain his fascination with New England as a setting
for weird fiction: "It is the night-black Massachusetts legendary which packs the really macabre 'kick'. Here is
material for a really profound study in group neuroticism; for certainly, none can deny the existence of a profoundly
morbid streak in the Puritan imagination." [5]
Lovecraft first mentioned Arkham's Miskatonic University in Herbert West–Reanimator, written in 1921-1922. He
added Dunwich to his imaginary landscape in 1928's "The Dunwich Horror",[6] and expanded it to include
Innsmouth in 1931's "The Shadow Over Innsmouth".[7]
Other Lovecraft stories that make use of Lovecraft Country settings include "The Festival", "The Colour out of
Space", "The Strange High House in the Mist", "The Dreams in the Witch House", and "The Thing on the Doorstep".

Derleth's additions
August Derleth, Lovecraft's friend and literary executor, discouraged other Cthulhu Mythos writers from setting their
stories in Lovecraft's New England. But he himself attempted to fill in the blanks of the setting, particularly in his
posthumous "collaborations" with Lovecraft — Derleth's stories based on notes or ideas that Lovecraft left behind.
"The Lurker at the Threshold" is set in Billington's Wood, a fictional forest north of Arkham, while "Witch's
Hollow" takes place in the titular valley in the hills to the west of the town. The title of "The Fisherman of Falcon
Point" refers to a promontory on the Atlantic coast south of Innsmouth. "Wentworth's Day" and "The Horror from
the Middle Span" take place in the area north of Dunwich, while "The Gable Window" concerns a house on the
Aylesbury Pike.

Roleplaying games
Between 1990 and 1998, Chaosium released a number of Lovecraft Country gamebooks for the Call of Cthulhu
roleplaying game, series created by author/editor Keith Herber. Most were background supplements which codified
descriptions of Lovecraft's named cities, but there were also a number of adventure books. These included:
• Arkham Unveiled (1990)
• Return to Dunwich (1991)
• Kingsport: The City in the Mist (1991)
• Escape from Innsmouth (1992)
• Adventures in Arkham Country (1993)
• Miskatonic University (1994)
• Tales of the Miskatonic Valley
• Dead Reckonings (1998)
• Before the Fall (1998)
• Children of the Deep (unreleased sequel that explored Innsmouth after its fall described in Escape from
Innsmouth)
Since 1998, the Lovecraft Country name seems to have fallen out of use at Chaosium, though some of the books
have been rereleased in the 2000s (H.P. Lovecraft's Dunwich, H.P. Lovecraft's Arkham, and H.P. Lovecraft's
Kingsport).
Skotos, an online game company, has licensed Chaosium's Lovecraft Country material. They have produced two
games, Lovecraft Country: The Tomb of the Desert God and Lovecraft Country: Arkham by Night, as well as a
comic, Lovecraft Country: Return to Arkham, written by Shannon Appelcline.[8]
In 2008, following Chaosium's expanded licensing program for Call of Cthulhu, Keith Herber and Tom Lynch
established Miskatonic River Press. The publisher's first release, New Tales of the Miskatonic Valley, which marked
both Herber's return to Call of Cthulhu and Lovecraft Country was announced for release in the autumn of 2008.
Lovecraft Country 3

• New Tales of the Miskatonic Valley (2009)

Other uses
The phrase Lovecraft Country is now used outside of the Cthulhu gaming community. Return to Lovecraft Country
was a collection of short stories set in "the New England of H.P. Lovecraft", published by Triad Entertainments in
1996. The editor, Scott David Aniolowski, has also done editorial work for Chaosium. Eternal Lovecraft, a
short-story collection published by Golden Gryphon Press in 1998, has a section called "Lovecraft Country".
The phrase occurs in popular discussions of Lovecraft's connection to the region. The Harvard Law Record used the
phrase in an October 20, 2005 article:
Many Lovecraft stories take place in "Lovecraft Country"--the fictional North Shore towns of Arkham,
Innsmouth, Kingsport, and Dunwich (perhaps fictional equivalents of Ipswich, Salem/Danvers, Marblehead, or
Newburyport).[9]

Notes
[1] More Annotated H. P. Lovecraft, S.T. Joshi and Peter Cannon
[2] Lovecraft: A Look Behind the Cthulhu Mythos, Lin Carter
[3] See "Shadow Over Innsmouth", "Dreams in the Witch House".
[4] Dead Reckonings, Kevin Ross & Shannon Appel eds.
[5] The Annotated Lovecraft, Joshi and Cannon, p. 2
[6] The Dunwich Horror, by H. P. Lovecraft. (http:/ / www. mythostomes. com/ index. php?option=com_content& task=view& id=63&
Itemid=70) Lovecraft's original story featuring Dunwich.
[7] The Shadow Over Innsmouth, by H. P. Lovecraft. (http:/ / www. mythostomes. com/ index. php?option=com_content& task=view& id=61&
Itemid=75) Lovecraft's original story featuring Innsmouth.
[8] Skotos: Lovecraft Country (http:/ / www. lovecraftcountry. com/ comic/ )
[9] "Spirit of Lovecraft Haunts Cambridge, New England", Dan Alban, The Record, October 20, 2005 (http:/ / www. hlrecord. org/ 2. 4462/
spirit-of-lovecraft-haunts-cambridge-new-england-1. 579111)

External links
• "A Short Tour of Lovecraftian New England" (http://www.baharna.com/cmythos/newengl.htm), from The
Cthulhu Mythos: A Guide
• Chaosium's (empty) Lovecraft Country Page (http://chaosium.com/callofcthulhu/lcountry.html)
• Skotos' Lovecraft Country Game Pages (http://www.lovecraftcountry.com/)
• Return to Lovecraft Country Book (ISBN 1-57502-535-3)
• Eternal Lovecraft Book (ISBN 0-9655901-7-8)
• Lovecraftian Sites in New England (http://www.hplovecraft.com/creation/sites/)
Article Sources and Contributors 4

Article Sources and Contributors

Lovecraft Country  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=565689664  Contributors: ***Ria777, 0x539, Alexjohnc3, Aporwitz, Cjs2111, Cmdrjameson, Eldamorie, Epolk,
Hoodinski, JAF1970, Junius49, Midnightblueowl, Mike Selinker, Moncrief, Nappinenä, Nareek, Ncboy2010, NickBush24, Petercorless, Pseudomonas, Quuxplusone, RlyehRising, ShannonA,
Squamate, Therhymenoceros, Tlynch999, 33 anonymous edits

Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors

File:Lovecraft Country.svg  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Lovecraft_Country.svg  License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0  Contributors:
User:Hoodinski
Image:Lovecraft country.jpg  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Lovecraft_country.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Miihkali

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