The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.
H.P. Lovecraft is the forefather of modern horror.
I was recently exposed to the man and his stories through Filmfax magazine, which peaked my interest.
Unknowingly, my first exposure to Lovecraft was through a Metallica song of which the song title refers to one of his stories. Next, I watched the Re-Animator movie on video back in the 80's. Lovecraft's influence and output of stories goes way beyond those 1st 2 references. I never really knew how much his influence has affected pop culture until I watched this DVD. His stories were limited to pulp magazines while he was alive but after his early death from disease, his friends who recognized his genius, started a book publishing company specifically to publish his work. Many of those stories were overlooked by Lovecraft during his lifetime due to his highly self-critical nature. The book company flourished and went on to publish not only Lovecraft stories but other famous horror authors as well.
If you're a fan of John Carpenter, Stephen King, Guillermo Del Toro, Stuart Gordon, Caitlin Kiernan, Peter Straub, Robert Bloch and Neil Gaiman then you need to watch this documentary on Lovecraft. The DVD goes on to cover his life, his work and his influence on modern horror.
If you know of Lovecraft then this a must see.
www.cinevolvestudios.com