Lovecraft Across Time: Resonation And Adaptation In The Cthulhu Mythos

This master’s thesis closely examines four adaptations or appropriations of the work of H.P. Lovecraft using Wai Chee Dimock’s theory of resonance. Close examination of Bloodborne by game company FromSoftware, Why We’re Here by Fred Van Lente and Steve Ellis, Who Will Be Eaten First? by Howard Hallis, and The White Tree: A Tale of Inspector Legrasse by Sean Branney reveals a rather upsetting trend. Many adaptations or appropriations of Lovecraft’s work often prioritize the fun of Lovecraft’s monsters, locales, and forbidden artifacts, but sadly at the expense of erasing most (if not all) of Lovecraft’s racism in his stories. While Lovecraft’s racism shouldn’t be considered a required component in order to be considered a ‘true” adaptation of Lovecraft’s work, the erasure of it shouldn’t go unexamined either. Because many new initiates in the H.P. Lovecraft fanbase are being exposed to the writer’s work through his adaptations, and not his original works, this master’s thesis concludes with arguing that further scrutiny is needed in the area of Lovecraft’s adaptations, lest these stories encourage a sort of cultural amnesia where Lovecraft’s racism is forgotten entirely.