Urban Archive

Story

H. P. Lovecraft Heads Uptown

Horror writer H. P. Lovecraft visited New York City for a two-month period (August-October) in 1922, staying with his fellow writer and likely secret paramour Sonia H. Greene in her Flatbush apartment. Since Greene worked all day in the fashion industry, Lovecraft spent the majority of his waking hours tramping through the city with his friends.

On repeated occasions, he postponed his return home to Providence, Rhode Island to further discover New York’s “cryptical urban arcana." During this extended stay, Lovecraft began to understand and appreciate the geography, culture, and history of the city. Possibly, he began to imagine a new life for himself in New York.

Story by David J. Goodwin. Goodwin is writing a biography on H. P. Lovecraft and his years in New York City. He is the author of Left Bank of the Hudson: Jersey City and the Artists of 111 1st Street.

ByDavid Goodwin

Start

Always seeking museums and historic sites beyond the everyday tourist checklist, H. P. Lovecraft visited Audubon Terrace and the Hispanic Society in September 1922 with his friends James F. Morton and Frank Belknap Long. He was impressed by its “priceless specimens of Spanish painting, sculpture, cartography, & bookmaking.” Lovecraft and his friends stopped at the adjacent American Numismatic Society. He described that institution as holding “the best collection of ancient & modern coins in the United States.”

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While in Audubon Terrace, Lovecraft and his friends walked through “the Spanish church” in the neighborhood. This was likely Our Lady of Esperanza Church. Although an avowed philosophical materialist and atheist, Lovecraft appreciated the architectural heritage of houses of worship. Unfortunately, his account of Our Lady reveals his deep xenophobia. He described the church as “a strange Popish affair redolent of the Middle Ages & the Inquisition.”

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Lovecraft, Morton, and Long, “the indissoluble triumvirate,” toured the last surviving Dutch homestead in Manhattan -- the Dyckman Farmhouse. Although Lovecraft enjoyed the museum, he bestowed his full attention upon its resident cat (“the most attractive black cat conceivable”). He cradled the feline in his arms throughout his entire tour of the farmhouse.

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The three friends walked through Inwood Forest (today’s Inwood Park). Lovecraft found it to be a magical doorway to New York’s past. “Here is a forest primeval, with winding paths, gigantic trees, and not a mortal in sight.” He feared that development and real estate interests would destroy this remnant of a pastoral Manhattan. Lovecraft hoped that the city would preserve it as a public park.

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While hiking in Inwood Forest, Lovecraft, Morton, and Long spotted fishermen’s nets, huts, and boats on the banks of the Spuyten Duyvil Creek and the Hudson River. Lovecraft imagined that he was in a quiet fishing village: “The pastoral simplicity of the picture is beyond description.” This was not the New York City of subways, skyscrapers, and crowds.

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