Measuring HP Lovecraft's Influence on Other Writers

Is it really possible to measure the exact influence exerted by H.P. Lovecraft upon writers he collaborated with during his lifetime, and those who carried on his dark tradition after death? There will probably never be a precise science for doing this, but the My Elves Are Different blog has compiled an interesting table, beginning with the original "Lovecraft Circle" of HPL's collaborators, friends, and clients:

0. H. P. Lovecraft

1. R. H. Barlow (The Hoard of the Wizard-Beast)
Zealia Bishop (The Curse of Yig)
Adolphe de Castro (The Electric Executioner)
Sonia Greene (The Invisible Monster)
Harry Houdini (Imprisoned with the Pharaohs)
Robert E. Howard (The Challenge from Beyond)
Frank Belknap Long (The Challenge from Beyond)
William Lumley (The Diary of Alonzo Typer)
A. Merritt (The Challenge from Beyond)
Duane W. Rimel (The Tree on the Hill)
Henry S. Whitehead (The Trap)

In my observation, this system, which was derived from an earlier method of tracking Isaac Asimov disciples, does an excellent job at tracking those touched by the living Lovecraft. Unfortunately, it becomes much harder to extend after that. This is partially due to today's many sub-genres filled with writers claiming Lovecraftian heritage. Weird fiction may seem the most legitimate heir to H.P. Lovecraft in style and purpose, but various types of fantasy and science fiction have also staked their claims.

Although experiments in "literary geology" are fascinating, their usefulness in serious Lovecraftian scholarship is dubious. But no more so than the way most are exposed to Lovecraft's literary descendants, in anthologies like Tales of the Lovecraft Mythos and The New Lovecraft Circle, which try to group "Lovecraftian" writers from different eras. This is particularly troublesome with books like The New Lovecraft Circle, where writers as distinct as Thomas Ligotti, Brian Lumley, and Ramsey Campbell are placed under one Lovecraftian umbrella. These are all Lovecraftian writers of a sort, true. However, no anthology grouping or degree chart can measure the character of Lovecraft's literary influence on these authors. And in the end, isn't that what really matters?

-Grim Blogger