Lovecraft and Leiber

Fritz Leiber in the horror film The Equinox: A Journey Into the Supernatural

Much has been made of the correspondence between H. P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard, but Lovecraft corresponded with more writers, including a young Fritz Leiber, Jr. Leiber is the person who coined the term “sword and sorcery” and, with the exception of Robert E. Howard, probably the most important writer in that genre.

His work bears much influence of the Gent from Providence and Lovecraft was somewhat of a literary mentor of Leiber. Leiber’s first wife Jonquil wrote to Lovecraft and sent him an early draft of “Adept’s Gambit,” the first of Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser stories, beginning a short but pivotal correspondence between the two. Lovecraft responded to the letter and gave praise and some minor criticisms to “Adept’s Gambit.” Interesting, one of the things that Lovecraft suggested changing was the removal of references to Cthulhu and Yog-Sothoth.

“Adept’s Gambit” is unusual in that, unlike every other Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser story, it is set on Earth sometime after the death of Alexander the Great and not in the fantasy world of Nehwon. The creation of Nehwon as the primary setting of the story was, unintentionally, due to Lovecraft. Leiber’s original plan for his two heroes was to have them have adventures in different time periods of Earth’s history. (Apparently, through reincarnation, but it isn’t clear.) The second of the stories was to be set in Ancient Rome. Lovecraft, who was an enthusiastic admirer of the Romans, sent Leiber a long reading list for research on the topic. The list was so extensive that it intimidated Leiber; so, instead, he created a fictional world for his heroes to adventure in much as Howard created the Hyborian Age for his Conan stories.

Unfortunately, Lovecraft had not long to live and their correspondence was short. However, Leiber always remembered Lovecraft’s mentorship. Strands of Lovecraft’s influence can be seen throughout Leiber’s work including the Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser stories. In such stories as “The Cloud of Hate,” “The Seven Black Priests,” and “Claws in the Night” the Twain battle strange cults reminiscent of the many that appeared in Lovecraft’s fiction. In “The Sunken Land,” they visit Simorgya, an island that periodically rises up from underneath the sea much as R’lyeh rises up at the climax of “The Call of Cthulhu.” Leiber understood that sword and sorcery is often at its best when it contains a strong element of supernatural horror.

It is also notable that Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser often seemed to be preyed upon by forces larger than themselves. The personification of Death itself often tries to deliver the Twain into the Shadowland in stories like “The Bleak Shore” and “The Sadness of the Executioner.” Even their “patron” wizards, Sheelba and Ningauble, use them as pawns. The Twain often survive these games only by their wit and luck.

Lovecraft’s influence is only one of many strands in the Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser stories, which include large elements of adventure and comedy. Where Lovecraft’s influence is strongest is in Leiber’s contemporary horror stories. These stories did much to bring the genre into the modern, urban world. Particularly noteworthy of this regard is Our Lady of Darkness which transforms sunny San Francisco into a nightmare land of cosmic horror. What is interesting is that it not only is it cosmic horror set in a major city instead of an isolated town like Dunwhich, but that the urban setting is such an essential element to the story that it could not be told otherwise. Not every horror story Leiber wrote is set in a city, though. Just as Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser occasionally ventured out of Lankhmar, Leiber would venture into less urban settings. In “A Piece of the Dark World,” Leiber records an encounter between guests in a country home and a strange inexplicable phenomenon. That it is never made clear what exactly the phenomenon is only makes the story more eerie. The story begins with a discussion of if horror stories are relevant to the modern world. It then goes and proves that they are.

Leiber wrote two stories set in the Cthulhu Mythos. The first, “To Arkham and the Stars,” serves as a sequel to much of Lovecraft’s work. Characters from several of Lovecraft’s stories convene at Miskatonic University. There they plan to use the knowledge they gained from their experiences to open new frontiers of exploration. It is an oddly optimistic story in a setting known for its extreme pessimism. It points out that what is horrific from one point of view can be seen as wonderful from another.

The second story, “The Terror from the Depths,” is more traditionally Lovecraftian. It uses many of Lovecraft’s staples: reclusive narrators, false documents (a diary and two letters), and a slow build up of tension. Like “To Arkham and the Stars,” it brings together many elements from various stories by Lovecraft. It also states that Lovecraft based his stories on real events. Like Lovecraft in certain stories, Leiber uses elements of realism to make the horror more believable.

Leiber also wrote a number of essays on Lovecraft. While not completely uncritical, Leiber defended Lovecraft at a time when there was much criticism of his stories. (“To Arkham and the Stars,” in fact takes a swipe at Colin Wilson, Edmund Wilson, Avram Davidson and Damon Knight, all of whom heavily criticized Lovecraft.) Leiber makes an interesting point about Lovecraft’s work. In “A Literary Copernicus,” Leiber points out that Lovecraft uses the literary device of confirmation rather than revelation. (Leiber acknowledges the phrase came from Henry Kuttner.) By this Leiber meant that both the reader and the main characters suspect what is going on early in the story, but at the climax of the story it is given evidence of it being true.

Also, Leiber goes on to prove that Lovecraft used various techniques to conjure fear, including a tendency for the last line to have great effect. Think “The Statement of Randolph Carter” with its final line “You fool! Warren is dead!”

Leiber also recognizes that Lovecraft’s use of the techniques of realism give credibility to the horror. Many of the stories are made up of fake documents. Doing so makes the stories feel more real.

The thing both writers had in common is that they modernized the horror story. Lovecraft through using science and science fiction devices to make the horror real. Leiber by setting it in the modern urban environment.

In the end, though Leiber was certainly his own writer, Lovecraft seems to have cast his shadow over Leiber’s oeuvre.