Lovecraft (timeline)

A biographical timeline of known events in Lovecraft's life:

Timeline

• 1880s and before
  • 1883 - Sonia Haft Shafirkin (Lovecraft's future wife) is borne in Ukraine.
• 1890s
  • 1890 - (Aug 20) Lovecraft is born in his family home at 454 (then 194) Angell Street, Providence, RI
  • 1892? - Lovecraft's father, Winfield Scott Lovecraft, begins acting strangely and saying disturbing things.
  • 1893 - (Apr) Winfield Scott Lovecraft falls acutely insane in Chicago, Illinois during a business trip, and will spend the rest of his life institutionalized.
  • 1894? - Lovecraft is raised by his aunts and grandparents Robie and Whipple Van Buren Phillips in the family home until the grandfather's death. By all accounts, Lovecraft is a prodigy: reciting poetry and reading and writing by age 2.
  • 1896 - Lovecraft's maternal grandmother Robie Phillips dies, sending the family into "a gloom from which it never recovered". Lovecraft begins having nightmares about "Nightgaunts"
  • 1897 - Lovecraft writes "The Little Glass Bottle (fiction)"
  • 1897? - Lovecraft writes "The Noble Eavesdropper (fiction" (lost, believed nonextant)
  • 1898 - Winfield Scott Lovecraft dies, diagnosed with general paresis (late stage syphilis).
  • 1898 - Young Lovecraft has discovered the sciences, and is particularly fascinated by chemistry and astronomy; his exploration of anatomy, and human sexuality, leaves him revolted by the subject.
  • 1898 - Young Lovecraft writes "The Mystery of the Grave-Yard (fiction)"
  • 1898 - Young Lovecraft writes "The Secret Cave or John Lees Adventure (fiction)"
  • 1898-1902 - Young Lovecraft writes "The Haunted House (fiction)" (lost, believed nonextant)
  • 1898-1902 - Young Lovecraft writes "John, the Detective (fiction)" (lost, believed nonextant)
  • 1898-1902 - Young Lovecraft writes "The Secret of the Grave (fiction)" (lost, believed nonextant)
  • 1899 - Sonia Haft Shafirkin marries Samuel Greene, reputedly a "brutish" character.
• 1900s
  • 1890s-1900s? - Lovecraft's health is reputedly shaky, leaving him absent from school through much of his childhood. Lovecraft does seem to enjoy school, and does have close friends, with whom he is said to have played games of Arabian Nights (in which he would take the name "Abdul Alhazred"), and cops and robbers (in which Lovecraft apparently played with a real - unloaded - revolver). Acquaintances of the family describe Lovecraft's mother as overprotective and overindulgent.
  • 1900 - Whipple's businesses begin to suffer, perhaps due in part to Whipple's depression and declining health. Whipple is forced to begin dismissing servants.
  • 1902 - Young Lovecraft, fascinated by astronomy, delves into the world of amateur journalism, publishing articles in his own self-published astronomy newsletter.
  • 1902 - Young Lovecraft writes "The Mysterious Ship (fiction)"
  • 1902 - Florence Carol Greene (later Carol Weld), Lovecraft's step-daughter, is borne.
  • 1904 - Whipple's businesses, already struggling, suffer catastrophic failures. Whipple Van Buren Phillips dies, and the family, discovering the extent of the estate's mismanagement, is forced to move to a cheaper house down the street to 598 Angell Street. Lovecraft would later describe this as one of the darkest times of his life, a point where he saw no use in living any more.
  • 1904-1908 - Lovecraft continues to report health problems that prevent him from attending high school regularly, though he claims to enjoy school, and reportedly has a group of close friends. Lovecraft would resume amateur journalism, self-publishing journals of astronomy and chemistry.
  • 1905 - Lovecraft writes "The Beast in the Cave (fiction)".
  • 1907 - Lovecraft writes "The Picture (fiction)" (lost, believed nonextant)
  • 1908 - Lovecraft writes "The Alchemist (fiction)".
  • 1908 - Lovecraft suffers a nervous breakdown and withdraws from school, his hopes of attending Brown University dashed. The exact nature of the breakdown is unknown, but a combination of depression and physical illness are believed likely.
  • 1908-1913 - Not much is known about this period of Lovecraft's life. Acquaintances of the family say that Lovecraft's mother Susie describes young Lovecraft as "so hideous that he hid from everyone and did not like to walk upon the streets where people could gaze on him." Lovecraft claims to the contrary that she is "a positive marvel of consideration"; one acquaintance claims that what might seem like loud nocturnal quarrels between mother and son were actually reenactments of scenes from Shakespeare, which the Lovecrafts apparently enjoyed together. Susie apparently would be frequently seen riding through Providence by streetcar, and seems to have attended women's suffrage meetings during this period.
• 1910s
  • 1911 - Lovecraft takes an interest in pulp literature and criticism, an interest that appears to have pulled Lovecraft back into the public. His letters to editors begin appearing in pulp magazines such as Argosy.
  • 1912 - Lovecraft's first professionally published poem, "Providence in 2000 A.D.", is written and published. Lovecraft's writing in this period seems to have taken an Anglophilic and xenophobic turn.
  • 1913 - Lovecraft begins a protracted "flame war" in the Argosy editorial page in which Lovecraft appears to have enjoyed "trolling" then prominent writer Fred Jackson and his supporters, particularly enjoying exchanges with John Russell, who would write rebuttals to Lovecraft in verse.
  • 1914 - Lovecraft's editorials attract the attention of the United Amateur Press Association (UAPA), which invites Lovecraft to join; Lovecraft accepts the invitation. Lovecraft in this period develops a taste for "Amateur Publication" vs. "Commercial Publication", and Lovecraft's xenophobia heavily influences his criticism of "low-brow" literature, slang, and Americanisms in writing, in favor of classical forms of British English.
  • 1915 - Lovecraft is elected to first vice-president of the UAPA.
  • 1916 - Samuel Greene dies, apparently by suicide. Sonia Green joins the independent middle class as a successful milliner.
  • 1916 - "The Alchemist" is published in an amateur journal.
  • 1917 - Lovecraft writes "A Reminiscence of Dr. Samuel Johnson (fiction)"
  • 1917 - Lovecraft writes "Sweet Ermengarde (fiction)"
  • 1917 - Lovecraft writes "The Tomb (fiction)" and "Dagon (fiction)" and publishes them in amateur journals.
  • 1917 - Lovecraft's critical/editorial writing has taken a political turn with the beginning of World War I, and he begins criticizing American reluctance to join the war in support of England. Lovecraft attempts to join the Army, and passes the physical requirements, but his mother Susie intervenes.
  • 1918 - Lovecraft writes "The Mystery of Murdon Grange (fiction)" (lost, believed nonextant)
  • 1918 - (May?) Lovecraft writes "Polaris (fiction)"
  • 1918 - Lovecraft's term as vice-president at UAPA ends, and Lovecraft begins a position as Chairman of the Department of Public Criticism for the organization.
  • 1918+? - Carol Weld eventually becomes a successful journalist, marries, and drifts out of Sonia Greene's life after a tense relationship; Sonia Greene would rarely mention her.
  • 1918-1919 - (Winter) Lovecraft's mother, Susie, appears to have suffered a nervous breakdown, reportedly becoming disoriented and excited, seeing "weird and fantastic creatures that rushed out from behind buildings and from corners at dark." The exact nature of her illness is unclear, but probably involve severe depression and strain from the family's financial situation. By March 1919, Susie is committed to the same hospital where her husband is institutionalized, and Lovecraft, learning that she would likely never be released, is devastated, reporting another dark time in his life at which he saw little use in living; Lovecraft would visit and write letters to her often.
  • 1918-1919 - Lovecraft writes "The Green Meadow (fiction)" with Winifred V. Jackson
  • 1919 - Lovecraft seems to have become more outgoing following his mother's hospitalization, and would begin taking trips to meet the friends he made in amateur journalism; During this period, Lovecraft travels to Boston MA to attend a reading by Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron Dunsany.
  • 1919 - Lovecraft writes "Beyond the Wall of Sleep (fiction)"
  • 1919 - Lovecraft writes "Memory (fiction)"
  • 1919 - Lovecraft writes "Old Bugs (fiction)"
  • 1919 - (Sep 16) Lovecraft writes "The Transition of Juan Romero (fiction)"
  • 1919 - (Nov) Lovecraft writes "The White Ship (fiction)"
  • 1919 - (Dec 3) Lovecraft writes "The Doom that Came to Sarnath (fiction)"
  • 1919 - (Dec) Lovecraft writes "(The Statement of Randolph Carter (fiction)"
• 1920s
  • 1920 - Lovecraft meets Frank Belknap Long at an amateur writer's convention.
  • 1920 - (Jan 28) Lovecraft writes "The Terrible Old Man (fiction)"
  • 1920? - Lovecraft writes "The Street (fiction)"
  • 1920? - Lovecraft writes "Life and Death (fiction)" (lost, believed nonextant)
  • 1920 - Lovecraft writes "Facts concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family (fiction)"
  • 1920 - Lovecraft writes "The Tree (fiction)"
  • 1920 - Lovecraft writes "Poetry and the Gods (fiction)" with Anna Helen Crofts
  • 1920 - Lovecraft writes "The Temple (fiction)"
  • 1920 - (Jun 15) Lovecraft writes "The Cats of Ulthar (fiction)".
  • 1920 - (early Nov) Lovecraft writes "Celephaïs".
  • 1920 - (16 Nov) Lovecraft writes "From Beyond (fiction)"
  • 1920 - (early Dec) Lovecraft writes "Nyarlathotep (fiction)"
  • 1920 - (Dec 12) Lovecraft writes "The Picture in the House (fiction)"
  • 1920-1921 - Lovecraft writes "The Crawling Chaos (fiction) with Winifred V. Jackson
  • 1920-1921 - Lovecraft writes "Ex Oblivione (fiction)"
  • 1921 - Lovecraft writes "The Outsider (fiction)"
  • 1921 - (Jan) Lovecraft writes "The Nameless City (fiction)"
  • 1921 - (Feb 28) Lovecraft writes "The Quest of Iranon (fiction)"
  • 1921 - (Mar) Lovecraft writes "The Moon-Bog (fiction)"
  • 1921 - (May 24) Susie Lovecraft dies from complications during gall-bladder surgery.
  • 1921 - (Aug) Lovecraft writes "The Other Gods (fiction)"
  • 1921-1922 (Sep–mid) Lovecraft writes "Herbert West - Reanimator (fiction)"
  • 1921 - (Dec) Lovecraft writes "The Music of Erich Zann (fiction)"
  • 1922 - (Mar) Lovecraft writes "Hypnos (fiction)"
  • 1922 - (Jun 5) Lovecraft writes "What the Moon Brings (fiction)"
  • 1922 - (Jun) Lovecraft writes "Azathoth (fiction)"
  • 1922 - (Jun) Sonia Greene begins writing "The Horror at Martin's Beach (fiction)"; completes it with Lovecraft.
  • 1922 - (Jul) Lovecraft attends an amateur writer's convention in Boston MA, and meets Sonia Greene.
  • 1922 - (Sep) Lovecraft writes "The Hound (fiction)"
  • 1922 - (Nov) Lovecraft writes "The Lurking Fear (fiction)"
  • 1922 - Sonia Greene begins writing "Four O'Clock (fiction)" at Lovecraft's suggestion.
  • 1923 - Lovecraft writes "Ashes (fiction)", "The Loved Dead (fiction)", and "The Ghost-Eater (fiction)" with C.M. Eddy, jr.
  • 1923 - Lovecraft's first professionally published story, "Dagon (fiction)", appears in Weird Tales". The informal "Lovecraft Circle" begins to form as Lovecraft begins correspondence with other amateur writers of fiction.
  • 1923 - (Aug–Sep) Lovecraft writes "(The Rats in the Walls (fiction)"
  • 1923 - (Sep) Lovecraft writes "The Unnamable (fiction)"
  • 1923 - (Oct) Lovecraft writes "The Festival (fiction)"
  • 1923 - (Nov) after revisions by Lovecraft, Sonia Greene Lovecraft publishes "The Horror at Martin's Beach" in Weird Tales.
  • 1924 - (Feb) Lovecraft writes "Under the Pyramids (fiction)" for Harry Houdini, but loses the text.
  • 1924 - (Mar 3) Lovecraft marries Sonia, honeymoons in Philadelphia PA, and moves to 793 Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn NY. Sonia will spend the honeymoon with Lovecraft, retyping "Under the Pyramids".
  • 1924 - Lovecraft makes diverse new friends in New York, who encourage his writing, including the so-called "Kalem Club", and a number of Lovecraft's stories, notably the Dreamlands stories, are published in Weird Tales.
  • 1924 - (Oct 16–19) Lovecraft writes "The Shunned House (fiction)"
  • 1924? - Lovecraft writes "Deaf, Dumb, and Blind (fiction)" with C.M. Eddy, jr.
  • 1920s? - Sonia falls ill, loses her shop, and the Lovecrafts fall on financial difficulties.
  • 1925 - (Jan 1) Sonia moves to Cincinnati OH and then Cleveland OH for new employment, and would soon work on the road, rarely returning to New York. Lovecraft, unable to find work and barely able to afford food, moves into a tiny, cheap apartment at 169 Clinton Street, Brooklyn NY on the edge of Red Hook; shortly after his arrival, Lovecraft returns to his apartment to discover a robbery leaving him only the clothes he was wearing, fueling Lovecraft's resentment of New York. Lovecraft would spend the remainder of his time in New York supported by the remnants of a small inheritance and a small weekly allowance from Sonia, barely sufficient to avoid starvation; Sonia would spend a night or two every month with Lovecraft. The marriage has begun disintegrating by this time.
  • 1925 (Aug 1-2) Lovecraft writes "The Horror at Red Hook (fiction)"
  • 1925 (Aug 11) Lovecraft writes "He (fiction)"
  • 1925 (Sep 18) Lovecraft writes "In the Vault (fiction)"
  • 1926 - (Mar) Lovecraft writes "Cool Air (fiction)"
  • 1926 - (Summer) Lovecraft writes "The Call of Cthulhu (fiction)"
  • 1926 - (Jul-Oct) Lovecraft writes "Two Black Bottles (fiction)" with Wilfred Blanch Talman
  • 1926 - Lovecraft writes "Pickman's Model (fiction)"
  • 1926 - Lovecraft writes "The Silver Key (fiction)"
  • 1926? - Lovecraft writes "The Descendant (fiction)"
  • 1926 - Lovecraft abandons New York, returning to Providence, moving to 10 Barnes Street Providence RI until 1933.
  • 1926 - (Oct 31) Harry Houdini dies.
  • 1926 - (Nov 9) Lovecraft writes "The Strange High House in the Mist (fiction)"
  • 1926-1927? - (Autumn? 1926–22 January 1927) Lovecraft writes "The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath (fiction)"
  • 1927 - Lovecraft writes "History of the Necronomicon (fiction)"
  • 1927 - (Jan-Mar) Lovecraft writes "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward (fiction)"
  • 1927 - (Mar) Lovecraft writes "The Colour out of Space (fiction)"
  • 1927 - Lovecraft writes "The Last Test (fiction)" with Adolphe de Castro
  • 1927 - Lovecraft writes a fragment of "The Thing in the Moonlight (fiction)" in a letter to Donald Wandrei; the fragment would be "completed" with a short framing device by J. Chapman Miske in 1941.
  • 1927 - (Nov 2) Lovecraft writes "The Very Old Folk (fiction)"
  • 1928? - Lovecraft writes "Ibid (fiction)"
  • 1928 - Lovecraft writes "The Curse of Yig" with Zealia Bishop
  • 1928 - (Summer) Lovecraft writes "The Dunwich Horror (fiction)"
  • 1929 - Lovecraft writes "The Electric Executioner (fiction)" with Adolphe de Castro
  • 1929-1930 - (Dec-early) Lovecraft writes "The Mound (fiction)" with Zealia Bishop
• 1930s
  • 1930s? - Lovecraft asks Sonia for an amicable divorce; Sonia agrees. Lovecraft fails to sign the papers.
  • 1930 Lovecraft writes "Medusa's Coil (fiction)" with Zealia Bishop
  • 1931 - (Feb-Mar) Lovecraft writes At the Mountains of Madness (fiction)
  • 1930 - (Feb-Sep) Lovecraft writes "The Whisperer in Darkness (fiction)"
  • 1931 - (late) Lovecraft writes "The Trap (fiction)" with Henry S. Whitehead
  • 1931 - (Nov-Dec) Lovecraft writes "The Shadow over Innsmouth (fiction)"
  • 1932 - (Jan–Feb) Lovecraft writes "The Dreams in the Witch House (fiction)"
  • 1932 - Lovecraft writes "The Man of Stone (fiction)" with Hazel Heald
  • 1932 - (Oct) Lovecraft writes "The Horror in the Museum (fiction)" with Hazel Heald
  • 1932-1933 - (Oct-Apr) Lovecraft writes "Through the Gates of the Silver Key (fiction)" with E. Hoffmann Price
  • 1933 - Sonia moves to California.
  • 1933 - Lovecraft writes "Out of the Aeons (fiction)" and "Winged Death (fiction)" with Hazel Heald
  • 1933 - Lovecraft writes "The Hoard of the Wizard-Beast (fiction)" and "The Slaying of the Monster (fiction)" with R.H. Barlow
  • 1933 - (Aug 21–24) Lovecraft writes "The Thing on the Doorstep (fiction)"
  • 1933 - (Oct) Lovecraft writes "The Evil Clergyman (fiction)"
  • 1933 - (late) Lovecraft writes "The Book (fiction)"
  • 1934 - (May) Lovecraft writes "The Tree on the Hill (fiction)" with Duane W. Rimel
  • 1934 - (Jun) Lovecraft writes "The Battle that Ended the Century (fiction)" with R.H. Barlowe
  • 1933-1935 - Lovecraft writes "The Horror in the Burying-Ground (fiction)" with Hazel Heald
  • 1934-1935 - (Nov–Mar) Lovecraft writes "The Shadow out of Time (fiction)"
  • 1935 - (Jan) Lovecraft writes "Till A' the Seas (fiction)" with R.H. Barlow
  • 1935 - (Jun) Lovecraft writes "Collapsing Cosmoses (fiction)" with R.H. Barlow
  • 1935 - (Aug) Lovecraft writes "The Challenge from Beyond (fiction)" with C.L. Moore; A. Merritt; Robert E. Howard, and Frank Belknap Long.
  • 1935 - (Sep) Lovecraft writes "The Disinterment (fiction)" with Duane W. Rimel
  • 1935 - (Oct) Lovecraft writes "The Diary of Alonzo Typer (fiction)" with William Lumley
  • 1935 - (Nov) Lovecraft writes "The Haunter of the Dark (fiction)"
  • 1936 - (Jan) Lovecraft writes "In the Walls of Eryx (fiction)" with Kenneth Sterling
  • 1936 - (Autumn) Lovecraft writes "The Night Ocean (fiction)" with R.H. Barlow
  • 1936 - Sonia remarries Dr. Nathaniel Abraham Davis, as Sonia Haft Davis.
  • 1937 - (early) Lovecraft falls ill and is diagnosed with intestinal cancer.
  • 1937 - (Mar 15) Lovecraft dies from intestinal cancer complicated by malnutrition.
• 1940s
  • 1945 Sonia hears of Lovecraft's death.
  • 1946 Sonia's third husband dies. Sonia would eventually learn of Lovecraft's failure to sign the divorce papers, and discover to her horror that her third marriage was technically bigamous.
• 1950s and beyond
  • 1972 - Sonia H. Davis dies in an LA rest home.