The Legacy of Cthulhu

The Westin Peachtree 1–2 room, Friday 7PM, was standing-room only for the presentation of “Cthulhu: New Spins on Old Mythos.” The panel consisted of Richard Lee Byers, Kenneth Hite, John Hornor Jacobs, Jonathan Maberry, Michael J. Martinez, and James R. Tuck.

The panel agreed that H. P. Lovecraft had a significant impact on horror fiction. Lovecraft’s creativity put a spin on previous horror fiction and brought it into the pulp market. The Cthulhu mythos is relevant for contemporary audiences.

The guests stated that Lovecraft portrayed people that were not stupid. His use of language and cadence drew the readers in, but not his use of dialogue, since there was not a lot of this in his works. His stories were not full of drama. They were more of the nature of man versus himself rather than other forms of conflict.

Lovecraft, in real life, was scared of everything. He had a history of hardship and illness, as well as paranoia of “foreigners.” He was not really prolific with his writing until the last few years of his life. Those few years made for an eternal path for aspiring horror writers to follow.

Author of the article

Award-winning author Amanda Faith may have been raised in Dayton, but her heart and home is in the South. With a lifelong love of teaching and writing, she had plenty of encouragement from teachers and friends along the way. Loving a good puzzle has always been a fascination, and writing gives her the outlet to put all the pieces together. Being adventurous and loving to try new things, it wasn’t long before her characters found themselves in unusual situations. She loves to put people from two different worlds into new situations and to see how they interact, taking them on journeys they would never have normally experienced. Her current adventure working as a high school English professor turned Media Specialist, writing, and doing paranormal investigations doesn’t slow her down from having a great time with a plethora of hobbies. Her published credits include several short stories, poetry, several journal articles, her doctoral dissertation, and her award-winning book Strength of Spirit. With multiple degrees, she has a passion for learning and exploring new venues. She is a staff writer for The Daily Dragon at Dragon Con. Check out her new website (www.amandafaith.net) or on Instagram (@dramandafaith)