August 14, 2012

A Haunted Mind

A couple of days ago, I received in the mail a copy of Dr. Bob Curran’s new book: A Haunted Mind, which is a study of the life and work of H.P. Lovecraft – with most of the book devoted to addressing the very intriguing theory that much of the man’s fictional work was possibly based on his secret knowledge of all-too-real things malignant, ancient and other-worldly.

And, of course, it could be argued that Lovecraft brought to his readers an incredible body of stories on terrible beasts that, today, we might be very inclined to place into a definitive cryptozoological category. On this same matter, the book contains some fine artwork of the sorts of creatures that inhabited the mind of Lovecraft.

I’m about 50-pages into the book and it’s excellent reading. If you’re already a fan of Lovecraft’s work, are intrigued by the possibility that there might be actual truths behind the fiction, or are new to the man and his writings, Bob’s book is one I definitely recommend!

I’ll be doing a full review of A Haunted Mind right here once I have finished reading it.

PS: On a very refreshing note, Bob does not present Lovecraft as some untouchable god-like writer who is to be revered and praised on bended knee at all times. No. Instead, Bob shows the man as he was: deeply weird, massively flawed, odd, eccentric, racist, asexual, not at all likable, socially-challenged, and someone with an overwhelming and ridiculous sense (an incorrect sense, of course) of his own superiority and importance over others. Yes, Lovecraft was a tremendously gifted writer. But as a man? Well, put it this way: just be content to remember him as a great writer…

Filed under Books, Cryptofiction, Cryptozoology, Lair of the Beasts