Charles Hoffman is known for his contributions to the Cthulhu Mythos, particularly through works like "Herbert West—Reanimated," which serves as a sequel to H.P. Lovecraft's "Herbert West—Reanimator." His writing often explores themes of horror and the supernatural within this shared universe. He was a prolific contributor to Crypt of Cthulhu as well as contributing many online essays related to Conan and the Robert E. Howard universes.
Whilst Hoffman was an obvious fan of Lovecraft's fiction, he was also outspoken, even against popular apologists, about Lovecraft's racism and unflinchingly brought criticism of it and exposure of its details to any debate.
Hoffman co-wrote with Marc A. Cerasini a major article providing criticism and examination of Colin Wilson entitled “The Transition of Colin Wilson,” which also fed into Hoffman's ongoing critique of the views of Lovecraft and of the need to clearly differentiate writers from their work. One of the ongoing themes of Hoffman's cultural and artistic criticism is the contrast between the optimistic or existential writers such as August Derleth or Wilson and the pessimism, Cosmicism and outright hatefulness he sees behind the writings of Lovecraft, and the middle ground shot through with sexuality of some of Wilson's work and of the writings of Clark Ashton Smith. It is clear that Hoffman prefers the lusty and existential adventure storytelling of Robert E. Howard but it is also clear that despite his brutal honesty about his views on Lovecraft's character he finds much to admire in the man's work.
In more recent years he has drifted out of Mythos related work entirely, focusing on writing "dark erotic fiction" instead.
External Links[]
- Charles Hoffman entry at ISFDB