Lovecraft was considered a talented writer, an authority in storytelling and a highly respected erudite, a walking encyclopedia of ancient and modern knowledge. His passion to horror and science fiction was dated back from his childhood, where he used to have a lot of nightmares of monsters, demons and fears. He used them to facilitate his stories and writing later on.
H.P. Lovecraft is known as a "future writer." That's because Lovecraft lived quite a difficult life through severe poverty, illness caused by self-neglect, his wife left him because of financial issues, and all of this despite his talents. Lovecraft was never recognized as a successful writer during his lifetime, because he never published any of his work. He was known only to local communities.
However, Lovecraft was more than just a writer, but a mentor to many successful horror and science fiction writers we know today. Without Lovecraft, people like Ramsey Campbell, Neil Gaiman, Robert Bloch, Clive Barker and Stephen King would never be the same. In fact, Stephen King himself claimed that Lovecraft was his top literary influence among many others.
Thirty years after Lovecraft's death, the writer hit the first peak of his posthumous popularity, because his friends formed a publishing company of his work. Critics compared Lovecraft to Edgar Allan Poe himself, giving credit to his influence on the world of horror fiction decades after his actual death. Unfortunately, H.P. Lovecraft did not enjoy any of the material abundance and fame this life has to offer despite his talents for reasons already mentioned.
H.P. Lovecraft's work was adopted and taken by tabletop game, metal songs, Hollywood movies where some writer's stories remained virtually unknown in mainstream for a decade. The writer's stories were like some buried treasures, hidden gems, or a gold mine of some sort to folks on Hollywood and the entertainment industry, because they were considered as interesting plots for movies. However, one thing will always stand out: without Lovecraft, the modern horror wouldn't be what it is today.
If you want to learn more about Lovecraft's life, the father of Cthulhu, Innsmouth, Escherian alien, Nyarlathotep and many others... grab your copy now!