This biography relates a paradoxical, ironic literary life--that of Howard Phillips Lovecraft, who never had a book of his stories published in his lifetime, but who became a best-selling author after his death; who died in poverty and obscurity, convinced of his failure, but who is today hailed as one of the most important writers of the twentieth century; who was a self-proclaimed misanthrope, but who collected a circle of devoted friends who remember him fondly as one of the kindest and most delightful people they ever knew. The author relates Lovecraft's peculiar upbringing, his bizarre habits and preferences, his tragicomic careers, his role in the development of science fiction, and his posthumous triumph--revealing how this strange and neurotic man transformed his nightmares into the wonderful stories that have made him one of our most influential and important literary figures.