Invoking Lovecraft In a New Way: My MA Thesis
As I've mentioned on several of my Facebook posts, I'm working on my MA thesis for Creative Writing - a novel, a Lovecraftian novel, of all things, and the novel pitch that I've been crafting for another publisher has strong Lovecraftian overtones as well, though that's going to be more of an ubran fantasy novel than anything else. Regardless, I've been dipping deep into the world of Lovecraft, read a lot of his work, even done some research. Not enough to be considered a Lovecraft scholar, but enough to be a bit worried - even a little daunted - at the prospect of invoking his name.
I love his mythos, both his and Derleth's. I also love the concept - that all stories, myths, folk tales, and legends are connected by a common underpinning (as an English teacher, this speaks to me in volumes). I'm less enthusiastic about his nihilistic, often inevitable "descent into madness because I can't comprehend the cosmic horror of it all", but I do - paradoxically enough - like the idea that there ARE things out there so alien and different we can never hope to understand them. Kind of flies in the face of our "information glutted world".
I'm nervous with what to do with Lovecraft, though. I've read a lot of his and Derleth's original work, read the pastiches, the homages, and also even realized how much modern authors - Brian Keene, for one - has re-invoked Lovecraft in such new ways. I feel that is the best place for Lovecraft today, but with a contemporary voice.
In part of my "research", I've been seeking out modern visions of Lovecraft. Of course, I had to get "Lovecraft Unbound", edited by Ellen Datlow. It's been an awesome read, (review forthcoming), but probably the best guide I've come across so far was found in the author afterward of Laird Barron, after his story "Catch Hell":
"Lovecraft's visionary narratives interest me more as a doorway to exploring other modes of the weird and fantastic.." and, with my extension of his thought, the unexplainable? Inexplicable? Unknowable?
This is what I hope for in my MA thesis, (which I believe, if I don't screw it up too badly, will be picked up by the small press, so hopefully you'll be able to read it someday), that I invoke Lovecraft's cosmic horror, his creeping dread of incomprehensible things, but root it in very HUMAN terms: the loss of a child. Actual, diagnosed mental illness. On a greater scale: why must people die? Why must we - as humans - hurt? If I can channel Lovecraft and his mythos to tell THAT kind of story, then I think I might have something unique, maybe even special.
Or, if not, maybe I can at least produce a chilling pastiche that will be decently well-written and fun to read. Either way, I'll be satisfied. Hopefully, you'll get the chance to read it in the near future.