HP Lovecraft: No Privacy for the Dead

Many admirers and scholars correctly point out that H.P. Lovecraft's life is one of the best preserved of any figure in the 20th century. His voluminous letters, essays, and manuscripts have left general impressions about his life at any given stage, if not specific details about where he was and what he was doing on specific dates. This has allowed Lovecraft students like S.T. Joshi to write a book like I am Providence: The Life and Times of H.P. Lovecraft, a biography as thick and detailed as one about any President or adventurer. However, besides being a literary mummy, H.P. Lovecraft is one of the finest illustrations that the dead have no right to privacy.

But why should they have this liberty? It seems a constant throughout the West, conscious or otherwise, that the dead forfeit all right to conceal their old lives. We allow them the privilege of having their moldering bodies tucked away from public view, but that's more for our benefit than their own. Like walking time capsules, it seems everything about us will be uncorked after the brainwaves cease, and even the obscure fame enjoyed by someone like Lovecraft at the time of his death means every word will be preserved as a precious relic.

Books like Lord of a Visible World and the Selected Letters series from Arkham House shed enormous light on Lovecraft's worldview, literary opinions, writing habits, reactions to events in his day, and diet. Other sources have commented on his sickly constitution, racism, and sexuality, all of which are recorded and available for ongoing awkward discussions until the last Lovecraft aficionado joins the author in the great beyond. With so much known about his life, it's actually remarkable that his biography and fiction remains as debatable as it is.

Lovecraft's posthumous record also stands as a cautionary tale to living authors, particularly those in the weird horror community, who think (or hope) they will inspire a cult following beyond the grave: burn every unsavory detail you would rather consign to the secrets of eternity, or it will come out. Unless writers and artists start censoring their lives beforehand, or entrust a family member or friend to do it upon death, then literary agents, auctioneers, and fans will come looking for the juicy stuff. Of course, disappearing the life of tomorrow's great writers would be a loss to scholars and admirers, but it's still within the rights of the living. There are times when mystery instead of concrete knowledge is just as fascinating as well.

-Grim Blogger