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William Lumley was a late associate of Howard Phillips Lovecraft for whom Lovecraft ghostwrote "The Diary of Alonzo Typer" in 1935. The story was only published after Lovecraft's death, in the February 1938 issue of Weird Tales. Like many of Lovecraft's collaborators, little is known of his life. He is reported to have been from Buffalo, New York, but it is unclear if this was his birthplace. He worked as a watchman for Buffalo's Agrico Chemical Company.[1]
He corresponded with Lovecraft from 1931 until Lovecraft's death, though few of Lovecraft's letters to him survive.[1]
It is additionally unclear at the seriousness of Lumley's statements, but he is reported to have believed that there was truth behind the mythology created by Lovecraft and his fellow writers. His euhemerism (belief that myths have a basis in fact) was in the case of Lumley a possible side effect of his extensive travels as a seaman.
In a 1933 letter to Lovecraft, he stated that Lovecraft and his collaborators were "genuine agents of unseen Powers in distributing hints too dark and profound for human conception or comprehension":[2]
We may think we're writing fiction, and may even (absurd thought!) disbelieve what we write, but at bottom we are telling the truth in spite of ourselves.[1]
While there has been confusion, there is no known relation between William Lumley and Brian Lumley, another horror writer and contributor to the Mythos.
Selected Bibliography[]
Short fiction[]
- "The Diary of Alonzo Typer" (1935)
Poetry[]
- "The Dweller" (1934)
- "Shadows" (1934)
- "The Elder Thing" (1935)
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 An H. P. Lovecraft Encyclopedia, "Lumley, William (1880-1960)," by S. T. Joshi and David E. Schultz (Hippocampus Press, 2004).
- ↑ http://www.popmatters.com/feature/129146-cults-of-an-unwitting-oracle-the-unintended-religious-legacy-of-h.-p/