Six Memorable H.P. Lovecraft Cameos in Horror Media

Weird fiction may not be quite as popular as more traditional genres like fantasy or even gothic horror, but you’d be surprised with how much of modern media is inspired or at least influenced by the works of authors like Clark Ashton Smith and even August Derleth. Of course, if one man is responsible for codifying Weird Fiction as we know it today, it has to be the father of the Cthulhu Mythos himself, Howard Phillips Lovecraft.

In the century or so since the author first published his stories about fish cults and elder gods, countless other creators have repurposed his particular brand of cosmic horror for everything from satirical splatter films (like those of the late, great Stuart Gordon) to even sanity mechanics in gaming (like those in the Call of Cthulhu tabletop RPG). And with such a vast web of influence, it should come as no surprise that many artists have attempted to pay homage to their idol by including him as a character in their work. With that in mind, we’ve decided to compile six of the most memorable H.P. Lovecraft cameos in horror, as this shy writer has actually popped up in more media than you might initially think.

For the purposes of this list, we’ll be limiting entries exclusively to appearances by the author himself rather than references to his iconic creations like Cthulhu and the Deep Ones. That being said, don’t forget to comment below with your own favorite H.P. Lovecraft cameos if you think we missed a particularly memorable one.

With that out of the way, onto the list.

6. H.P. Hatecraft in Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated (2010)

Mystery Incorporated is my personal favorite incarnation of the Scooby Gang aside from the original series and Zombie Island, and that’s partially because the show’s writing manages to hint at cosmic horror while still remaining true to its humorous and family-friendly roots. And with so much material borrowed from Lovecraft, it makes sense that the showrunners would also want to include a direct reference to one of their biggest influences by bringing him to life as the fan-favorite H.P. Hatecraft!

An obvious satire of Lovecraft, this recurring character is a writer and university professor who likes to hint that he may have actually witnessed some of the otherworldly terror mentioned in his books. And the best part? The grumpy author is played by Jeffrey Combs, a man who happens to know a thing or two about Lovecraft adaptations.

5. The Redeemer in Alan Moore’s Providence (2015)

Alan Moore has always incorporated elements of Weird Fiction into his genre work, and I’d argue that very few writers can compete with his metafictional charms. However, while tentacles and madness are common enough in the English author’s stories, it’s Moore’s inclusion of H.P. Lovecraft as a character in Providence that earns a spot on this list.

A twelve-issue comic-book series, Providence follows a gay, Jewish writer named Robert Black as he travels across the United States in search of occult inspiration for his great American novel. Along the way, Robert gets caught up in an eldritch conspiracy that inevitably leads him to a fellow author who has apparently been ordained to bring about the apocalypse. Naturally, this author is H.P. Lovecraft himself.

While I won’t go into details in order to avoid spoiling the conclusion to this metafictional epic, suffice to say that Moore’s refreshingly honest examination of Lovecraft as a troubled individual who was both deeply prejudiced and deeply gifted remains one of the most interesting entries on this list.

4. H.P. Lovecraft in Supernatural (2005)

I’ve always been of the opinion that Supernatural should have ended with the satisfying conclusion of Season 5 back in 2010, but even I was excited when I heard that the following season would focus on the pre-Adamite “Old Ones” who inhabit the alternate dimension of Purgatory. While I wasn’t a fan of how the showrunners ultimately handled the Leviathan threat, we were fortunate enough to get a surprise homage to H.P. Lovecraft during that year’s two-part season finale.

Once again implying that the author’s literary visions of eldritch terror were actually based in reality, the episodes Let it Bleed and The Man Who Knew Too Much feature flashbacks where Peter Ciuffa portrays H.P. Lovecraft as the leader of a paranormal-obsessed cult attempting to open a portal to another realm. When a dark ritual inevitably backfires, the writer is tragically murdered by an entity that possesses his innocent maid – an amusing idea when you consider that, despite his posthumous success, the real Lovecraft tragically died in poverty.

3. Randolph Carter in Fate/Grand Order (2015)

You wouldn’t expect to see H.P. Lovecraft show up in a free-to-play Gacha spin-off of the Fate/stay night series of videogames, but Fate/Grand Order stands out in this list by effortlessly incorporating the writer into the franchise’s substantial lore while still keeping true to his genre origins.

In this turn-based RPG, players magically command “Servants” from both history and mythology in order to battle the forces of evil. One of these Servants happens to be a time-traveler going by the alias “Randolph Carter,” with this occult-obsessed author dedicating himself to protecting the world from The Outer Gods. Not only is this Servant’s name a reference to Lovecraft’s self-insert character from the Cthulhu Mythos, but his overall design is also based on the writer himself.

2. Beth’s Hallucination in Incident in a Ghostland (2018)

Also referred to as Ghostland in some territories, Pascal Laugier’s 2018 captivity thriller Incident in a Ghostland may not be for everyone, but it’s also the scariest movie on this list by a wide margin. In fact, the surrounding events are so dark that H.P. Lovecraft’s hallucinatory cameo (where he’s played by Paul Titley in heavy prosthetic makeup) comes off as one of the film’s most tender moments. There’s something deeply compelling about watching a traumatized protagonist resort to soothing herself through an imagined conversation with her favorite author.

While I’m a fan of it now, this respectful nod to the master of Cosmic Horror bothered me back in the day due to the fact that the rest of the film doesn’t really resemble the kind of supernatural dread that the author is usually associated with. However, years down the line, I’ve come to realize that Lovecraft’s inclusion in the story is likely meant to show that people can in fact be driven mad by more grounded terrors than eldritch sea gods.

1. H.P. Lovecraft in Necronomicon (1993)

The second Jeffrey Combs performance on this list, H.P. Lovecraft’s appearance in the wraparound segment of the 1993 horror anthology Necronomicon is one of my favorite interpretations of the Providence-borne author in any media. Clad in exaggerated makeup in order to better personify the author, Combs plays Lovecraft as something of an overly serious historian who resents his reputation as a writer of mere fiction.

While the rest of this odd film is something of a mixed bag, even the most jaded fans of Cosmic Horror are likely to appreciate the absurdity of Necronomicon’s action-packed conclusion. After all, you get to watch as Lovecraft concludes his reading session with Abdul Alhazred’s cursed tome by sword-fighting against an eldritch abomination! Now that’s some quality pulp fiction.

The post Six Memorable H.P. Lovecraft Cameos in Horror Media appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.