Cthulhu Comes to Quincy: The Curious Friendship of H. P. Lovecraft & Edward H. Cole

One of the most influential – and infamous – horror writers of the 20th century was Howard Phillips Lovecraft. His works, typically falling under the subgenre of “cosmic horror”, feature otherworldly monsters and play upon the themes of madness, occultism, fear of the unknown and unknowable. His stories, originally published in pulp magazines in the 1920s and ‘30s, have inspired writers, game developers, and filmmakers, such as Stephen King, Jordan Peele, and Guillermo Del Toro. Lovecraft was also notoriously reclusive and misanthropic – going so far as to describe himself as “very peculiar”. However, he maintained close correspondence with a number of other writers and individuals, including Quincy resident Edward H. Cole.

Edward Cole was a teacher at the Chauncy Hall School in Boston, and a charter member of the Harvard Club in Quincy. However, it was his hobby of amateur journalism that put him in contact with Lovecraft. The friendship became close enough that Lovecraft ventured to Quincy a number of times to visit, despite his deep dislike of leaving his hometown of Providence. Cole and his wife were also some of the very few to attend Lovecraft’s funeral in 1937.

This program will discuss the unlikely friendship between these two men, and the excursions they took that may have had an influence on Lovecraft’s fiction.

This event is open to all and free to attend!

Will Murray, a North Quincy High graduate, is the author of scores of novels and short stories, featuring such classic pulp fiction stalwarts as Doc Savage, King Kong, Tarzan, and the Phantom. For Marvel Comics, he is the co-creator, with Steve Ditko, of the fan-favorite Squirrel Girl. As a journalist and pop-culture historian, Murray is a recognized authority on the pulp magazine era. He has reported for Starlog magazine and in this capacity covered the sets of many major action movies from the 1980s through the early 2000s.