# Dear Lord, H.P. Lovecraft was one freaky looking guy. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 30, 2008, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-lord-h-p-lovecraft-was-one-freaky-looking-guy/470325 "2008-10-30T21:25:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-lord-h-p-lovecraft-was-one-freaky-looking-guy/470325/21 "2008-10-31T19:53:10Z")
Reminds me of [Woodrow Wilson](http://www.archives.gov/calendar/images/woodrow-wilson.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-lord-h-p-lovecraft-was-one-freaky-looking-guy/470325/22 "2008-10-31T20:09:50Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I’ve long thought that Lovecraft looks weird. But he’s not the only one. As **Ivan Astikov** points out, Poe looks pretty damned weird, too. > So, for that matter, does **stephen King**. They tried to hide it by having him angle his head and cup his chin in his hand for the dust jackret photo for **The Shining** , but King’s face looks a bit odd. > > Of course, so does mine. I’ve written a few horror stories in my time. Maybe I just have a high facial tolerance or something, but I don’t think you’re odd looking, except for the beard - but then, we don’t really know what’s under the beard. If it’s hiding a second face or something, that would be odd. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-lord-h-p-lovecraft-was-one-freaky-looking-guy/470325/23 "2008-10-31T20:20:15Z")
Thanks for the tale, Cal. Reading it makes me feel as though I’ve done something to acknowledge Halloween properly (besides inhaling that king-size Three Musketeers bar, that is). I admire Mr. King deeply, but never have I been able to convince myself for one moment that he’s an attractive man. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-lord-h-p-lovecraft-was-one-freaky-looking-guy/470325/24 "2008-10-31T20:24:25Z")
Maybe I’m not calibrated properly, but not one of the pictures posted here has looked weird to me. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-lord-h-p-lovecraft-was-one-freaky-looking-guy/470325/25 "2008-10-31T20:30:08Z")
> [@](#): > > Maybe I’m not calibrated properly, but not one of the pictures posted here has looked weird to me. Stephen King pictures: [http://www.stephenkingshop.com/imagegallery.htm](http://www.stephenkingshop.com/imagegallery.htm) [http://www.monstropedia.org/index.php?title=Image:Skheadshot.jpg](http://www.monstropedia.org/index.php?title=Image:Skheadshot.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-lord-h-p-lovecraft-was-one-freaky-looking-guy/470325/26 "2008-10-31T20:35:53Z")
Some “what celebrity do you look like” site [spit out](http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f295/bedgyro/HPgnu.jpg) Lovecraft for me. The picture they used looks more normal than the freakishly elongated head picture in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-lord-h-p-lovecraft-was-one-freaky-looking-guy/470325/27 "2008-10-31T21:41:40Z")
That’s my housemate! ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-lord-h-p-lovecraft-was-one-freaky-looking-guy/470325/28 "2008-10-31T23:26:07Z")
He looks like some mash-up between [Stephen Fry](http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3480588288/nm0000410) and [John Hurt](http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1576311552/nm0000457). I say, if I were casting an HPL biopic, I’d have [Paul Reubens](http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2709494272/nm0000607) and [Matthew Modine](http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1778030592/nm0000546) on the list. Work wonders with a little cotton or prosthesis for an underbite. I’d probably call up one of my best friends from childhood, however. He looks just like him. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-lord-h-p-lovecraft-was-one-freaky-looking-guy/470325/29 "2008-10-31T23:39:00Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > He looks like some mash-up between [Stephen Fry](http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3480588288/nm0000410) and [John Hurt](http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1576311552/nm0000457). > > I say, if I were casting an HPL biopic, I’d have [Paul Reubens](http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2709494272/nm0000607) and [Matthew Modine](http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1778030592/nm0000546) on the list. Work wonders with a little cotton or prosthesis for an underbite. > > I’d probably call up one of my best friends from childhood, however. He looks just like him. Younger Lovecraft- Crispin Glover, older Lovecraft- Jeremy Irons. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-lord-h-p-lovecraft-was-one-freaky-looking-guy/470325/30 "2008-10-31T23:59:39Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > I’d probably call up one of my best friends from childhood, however. He looks just like him. I just **knew** HPL could not be defeated by death as we know it . . . ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2008, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-lord-h-p-lovecraft-was-one-freaky-looking-guy/470325/31 "2008-11-01T00:12:14Z")
BTW, for a brief and entertaining account of HPL’s life story, see [_Literary Swordsmen and Sorcerers,_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literary_Swordsmen_and_Sorcerers) by L. Sprague de Camp (who also wrote a [full-length biography](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovecraft:_a_Biography) of Lovecraft, which I have not read). ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2008, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-lord-h-p-lovecraft-was-one-freaky-looking-guy/470325/32 "2008-11-01T03:05:18Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > It looks like he has a big wad of chew behind his lower lip. That’s exactly what I thought the instant I saw that pic. ---
**Author:** ![BrassyPhrase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea666f/32.png) [@BrassyPhrase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrassyPhrase)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2008, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-lord-h-p-lovecraft-was-one-freaky-looking-guy/470325/33 "2008-11-01T03:08:56Z")
I thought when I saw that pic (in an homage to MST3K) “Michael Phelps! No!” ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2008, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-lord-h-p-lovecraft-was-one-freaky-looking-guy/470325/34 "2008-11-01T03:17:30Z")
The photo of him in the OP makes me think of what a pissed off [Jim Nabors](http://www.penndelts.com/images/famous/delts-distinguished-nabors-jim.jpg) would look like. Kind of hard to be creeped out by a guy who says, “And then, Shazam! There was cthulhu!” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2008, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-lord-h-p-lovecraft-was-one-freaky-looking-guy/470325/35 "2008-11-01T03:25:31Z")
Jim Nabors. Another bump in the lower lip. What causes that? Is it extra flesh on the upper part of the chin or is it something going on with gums and teeth? Michele Obama has a little bit of that too. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2008, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-lord-h-p-lovecraft-was-one-freaky-looking-guy/470325/36 "2008-11-01T03:32:14Z")
OP photo = a pissed off confused [Adam Sandler](http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2391775232/nm0001191). ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2008, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-lord-h-p-lovecraft-was-one-freaky-looking-guy/470325/37 "2008-11-01T03:39:41Z")
I’m definitely seeing some [Adam Sandler](http://www.nndb.com/people/705/000022639/) in there too. On an unrelated note, Adam Sandler must be the happiest freakin’ guy on the planet. You know how hard it is to find a decent picture of him where he’s not grinning? But if he ever stopped smiling, he’d look a lot like H.P Lovecraft. Just saying. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2008, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-lord-h-p-lovecraft-was-one-freaky-looking-guy/470325/38 "2008-11-01T03:41:26Z")
> [@TWDuke](#): > > Not really seeing the freakiness. He’s got a long face, but so what? I voted for Kerry. A lot of '30s photographs look rather grim; it was a more formal time. His hair is slicked down which may not look right to us now but was the fashion of the time. I don’t think his actual features are too unusual. That bump under his lower lip and his prominent ears would prevent him from being considered conventionally handsome, but plenty of men aren’t very handsome. His facial _expression_ is pretty creepy, though. If he looked relaxed and had a cheerful smile I don’t think he’d be particularly odd looking. But in the OP’s picture Lovecraft looks like a man who’s been suppressing homicidal rage for a long time and may or may not be able to keep doing so much longer. He’s like a mild-mannered civil servant who’ll one day snap and shoot everyone in his office. Specifically I’d say it looks like his jaw is clenched, his are lips pressed together tightly, and his forehead is tense. His eyebrows also appear to be lowered in a scowl, although judging from the other photos I think he actually just has shadows under his eyebrows in the OP’s picture. In the OPs picture it also looks like his eyes aren’t quite aligned. His left eye (the viewer’s right) seems to be turned slightly outward while his right is pointed straight ahead. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2008, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-lord-h-p-lovecraft-was-one-freaky-looking-guy/470325/39 "2008-11-01T05:13:20Z")
Besides it all, he remains youthful in appearance even into late age. That is his gene, the diaphony of the gibbonous fish folk. He does remain Youth. The Youth of the the Knowing, that which only ochre words and insane chatters, can ward hoariness. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2008, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-lord-h-p-lovecraft-was-one-freaky-looking-guy/470325/40 "2008-11-01T05:36:03Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > I don’t think his actual features are too unusual. That bump under his lower lip and his prominent ears would prevent him from being considered conventionally handsome, but plenty of men aren’t very handsome. > > His facial _expression_ is pretty creepy, though. If he looked relaxed and had a cheerful smile I don’t think he’d be particularly odd looking. But in the OP’s picture Lovecraft looks like a man who’s been suppressing homicidal rage for a long time and may or may not be able to keep doing so much longer. He’s like a mild-mannered civil servant who’ll one day snap and shoot everyone in his office. > > Specifically I’d say it looks like his jaw is clenched, his are lips pressed together tightly, and his forehead is tense. His eyebrows also appear to be lowered in a scowl, although judging from the other photos I think he actually just has shadows under his eyebrows in the OP’s picture. In the OPs picture it also looks like his eyes aren’t quite aligned. His left eye (the viewer’s right) seems to be turned slightly outward while his right is pointed straight ahead. It’s because through his elderich knowledge he foresaw that one day someone would make “The Dunwich Horror” starring Dean Stockwell. I’d be pissed too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-lord-h-p-lovecraft-was-one-freaky-looking-guy/470325.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-lord-h-p-lovecraft-was-one-freaky-looking-guy/470325.md?page=3)