August Derleth has been the whipping boy for HPL fans since 1939, when he created Arkham House with Donald Wandrei, a publishing concern specifically created to get the works of H.P. Lovecraft into hardcovers. Like many Mythos fans, I have read the “posthumous collaborations” and find them middling-to-dull.
What I had not known at the time I read them was that August Derleth had written them largely as promotional devices for the Arkham House books, appearing in Weird Tales and other publications where HPL fans would be. The result of these stories was a watered-down of Lovecraft’s vision (as Derleth was clearly a Christian and HPL was not) but also a widening of the Cthulhu Mythos.
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Good analysis. I remain a Derleth fan, however
Me too