This one is more of a general ponderable than anything specific. The thing I’m wondering… if someone was to write a serious tale set in the present day (or the future) that involves, say, Cthulhu rising from the depths or Yog Sothoth wandering around downtown… is that a world in which Lovecraft exists?
Lemme explain.
In Howard Phillip Lovecrafts’ story “The Call of Cthulhu,” one day in the early 1920s a whole bunch of artsy types all around the world start going buggo. Some have bad dreams, some go downright “I do believe Bernie Sanders has wise economic notions” level insane. This is because there has been an earthquake in the south Pacific, with the result being that an island has *briefly* been brought to the surface, allowing for a short day-trip for a vast interstellar monstrosity that has been slumbering for eons, trapped beneath the waves. Cthulhu, as it turns out, is telepathic and can touch the noodles of some men, specifically the artsy “sensitive” types. The island slips back beneath the waves, Cthulhu goes back to napping and everything returns to normal, except for all the proto-Warhols who have been driven nuts.
It is a popular tale, and many people have written their own sequels to it (and to many other of Lovecraft’s stories). Now, I have no plans on writing my own Cthulhu tales. While some yarns I’ve done and some I plan may attempt to tap into his notions of cosmic horror, I’m not planning on incorporating any of his specific characters or concepts. But the thing I’ve wondered about is, if I did, should Lovecraft get a mention?
Let’s say the stars are right, there’s another earthquake and Cthulhu rises again, this time for good. He starts stomping around Australia, hipsters around the world start barking like dogs, Cthulhu worshiping cults pop up all over the place, civilization totters. Would the characters in the story go “hey, this is just like in that story ‘The Call of Cthulhu’ by Lovecraft,” or would it be better if this was an alternate reality where Lovecraft never was? Because if a giant winged squidfaced anthropoid space-thingie rose from the waves and started a ruckus, *my* first thought would be “Hey! I know that story!” Just like if a giant bipedal reptile rose from the Pacific and started stomping around Tokyo breathing radioactive death-beams from its mouth, I’m pretty sure a whole lot of folks are gonna say “Oh no, there goes Tokyo go go Godzilla.”
The idea applies across the board. If Dracula or Frankensteins monster show up, they’d be recognized as such. And people would thus wonder how Stoker and Shelley got their information without getting torn limb from limb.