As a young and sickly child, young Howard was encouraged by his maternal grandfather, Whipple Van Buren Phillips, to have an appreciation of literature, especially classical literature, and English poetry. He read to him many tales including original weird fiction, likely inspired by the likes of Walpole or Radcliffe.
This book contains a carefully curated collection of the stories young Phillip read, and the likes which were read to him by his grandfather, each introduced by words from the man himself. Works like Ambrose Bierce's
An Inhabitant of Carcosa
, the complete
King in Yellow
by Robert W. Chambers, and
The Great God Pan
from fellow Welshman, Arthur Machen, and more, are presented here in as close to their original formatting as possible. As such, they retain archaic words, spellings, grammar, and layout wherever possible in an effort to preserve authenticity. Each is introduced by Lovecraft's own words, as taken from his
Supernatural Horror in Literature
essays.
To put it simply, if you've ever wondered what kind of tales were told to the man who made Cthulhu, what can create such a dark imagination, then you have selected the correct book.