At Ladd Observatory in Providence, fans come out for readings and song to celebrate the father of modern horror fiction

PROVIDENCE — "Spring is here and Lovecraft is in the air."

So began this year's tribute to Providence-born horror writer H.P. Lovecraft, under April sunshine so bright and warm it sent a current of melancholy through the black-clad fans of the iconoclastic author gathered at Ladd Observatory.

"I'm always torn by the prospect of a lovely day like this," said author and historian Christian Henry Tobler, one of several readers at the event Sunday. "It doesn't seem like quite the mood we should have with these proceedings."

Fear is a favorite Lovecraftian mood. Alienation is another.

Largely unknown when he died here on March 15, 1937, Lovecraft's fiction and poetry have become increasingly popular in the last few decades, especially in his hometown.

Why Lovecraft?

"He was not a great writer in style or structure, but he was a great storyteller," said Carl Johnson, the organizer and host of the annual observatory tribute. "He considered himself a failure. We don't consider him a failure. 80 years since he died, he is an important figure in world literature."

Meryn Flynn of Foster, who sang a number from a Lovecraft-inspired musical, called him the "father of modern horror," without whom the genre may not have developed for decades.

"Maybe a century," Flynn said.

Casey Cho, 20, who traveled to the tribute from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, said Lovecraft is different from many writers before him because he created a literary universe of monsters and aliens out of whole cloth.

"He had a distinct vision," Cho said. "Most horror writers rely on conventional ideas — such as ghosts, zombies and vampires."

Johnson organized the first Providence Lovecraft tribute in 1987 at the writer's grave in Swan Point Cemetery when he found out that his family was related to Lovecraft.

In 2007, because of increasingly strict cemetery rules, the event was moved to the observatory, where Lovecraft often visited and used the telescope.

The current goal of Providence's Lovecraft community is to erect a statue of the writer in downtown along Waterplace Park near the Rhode Island School of Design Market House.

Despite Lovecraft becoming one of Providence's most well-known native sons, canonizing him is not without controversy. Some of his letters display a xenophobic and racist streak.

"I admire, but do not seek to emulate him," Johnson said about the unsavory side of Lovecraft.

The annual tribute included several readings of his work, as well as writing inspired by it.

One Lovecraft quote featured twice:

"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear and the strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown."

—panderson@providencejournal.com

(401) 277-7384

On Twitter: @PatrickAnderso_