Skip to main content

TED-Ed

Titan of terror: The dark imagination of H.P. Lovecraft - Silvia Moreno-García

2,510,998 Views

9,099 Questions Answered

TEDEd Animation

Let’s Begin…

Arcane books of forbidden lore, disturbing secrets in the family bloodline, and terrors so unspeakable the very thought of them might drive you mad. These have become standard elements in modern horror stories. But they were largely popularized by a single author: H.P. Lovecraft, whose name has become synonymous with the terror he inspired. Silvia Moreno-García dissects the “Lovecraftian” legacy.

Additional Resources for you to Explore

Most of H.P.Lovecraft’s short stories are available online and Brown University, which houses all of Lovecraft’s papers, has scanned a great deal of his voluminous correspondence along with some of his original manuscripts.

The most noted biography on Lovecraft is I Am Providence by S.T. Joshi.

The Lovecraftian Science blog looks at the scientific elements in Lovecraft’s stories, from astronomy to biology.

There are many essays about Lovecraft’s work and its place in literature like this one, this one, and this one.

Check out the educator’s own thesis, titled “Magna Mater : women and eugenic thought in the work of H.P. Lovecraft,” available here.

Bobby Derie, author of the scholarly Sex and the Cthulhu Mythos, also maintains a blog examining Lovecraftian stories with a focus on the themes of sex, gender and race.

The Lovecraft Re-read is a sprawling series of posts by two modern Lovecraft Mythos writers who discuss a wide variety of stories inspired by Lovecraft’s fiction.

About TED-Ed Animations

TED-Ed Animations feature the words and ideas of educators brought to life by professional animators. Are you an educator or animator interested in creating a TED-Ed Animation? Nominate yourself here »

Meet The Creators

Educator
Silvia Moreno-García
Director
Hernando Bahamon
Narrator
Christina Greer
Art Director
Rocket House
Animator
Jorge Jaramillo
Compositor
Jorge Jaramillo
Sound Designer
Manuel Borda
Composer
Manuel Borda
Director of Production
Gerta Xhelo
Editorial Producer
Alex Rosenthal
Associate Editorial Producer
Dan Kwartler
Associate Producer
Bethany Cutmore-Scott
Script Editor
Alex Gendler
Fact-Checker
Joseph Isaac

More from Reading Between the Lines