E X T E N S I O N LOVECRAFT S DEBT TO HIS PREDECESSORS The comparison between Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) is almost inevitable. Lovecraft admired Poe and defined him as the illustrious and unfortunate fellowcountryman1 . For Lovecraft it was Poe who gave supreme form and systematic expression to the new subgenre of the weird2 tales. Poe wrote on the dark and spectral themes used in Gothic stories from an impersonal point of view, with a scientific attitude and without giving opinions. He studied the human mind and analyzed the sources3 of terror hidden in every man, giving new intensity to the suspense of his tales. Lovecraft thought that Poe s way of writing was an almost perfect artistic form. Poe and Lovecraft were both New Englanders and shared4 interests like science, English authors and a love of poetry. The horror they created in their tales can be defined as psychological.The main difference between them is that Poe saw fear in man himself, connected to a sense of guilt. The Tell Tale Heart and The Black Cat clearly talk of the demons hidden in man s soul. Lovecraft s stories show that horror is all around man and demons and monsters, which lived on Earth long ago, are still alive in man s memory and nightmares. In Supernatural Horror in Literature (1925-1926), Lovecraft mentions other authors who surely gave him themes and ideas: Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) and Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914). 1. fellow countryman: born in the same country. 2. weird: strange (in this case: fantastic). 3. source: origin. 4. shared: had in common. 5. appeal to: attract. 36