Lost HP Lovecraft work commissioned by Houdini escapes shackles of history

In short: 31 pages of a work that Harry Houdini commissioned HP Lovecraft to write on “The Cancer of Superstition” was found in a closed-down magic shop, and is now up for auction. It’s unclear how much – if any – of the work is actually by Lovecraft; chances are he might have only contributed a small amount, with the rest written by another writer.

I hope this gets published, because even though it’s 90 years old, the bits and pieces quoted make it sound entirely relevant today. The three sections included are “The Genesis of Superstition”, “The Expansion of Superstition”, and “The Fallacy of Superstition.”

the document explores everything from worship of the dead to werewolves and cannibalism, theorising that superstition is an “inborn inclination” that “persists only through mental indolence of those who reject modern science”.

“Most of us are heathens in the innermost recesses of our hearts,” it concludes.

It’s sad to think that superstition, from stuff HPL and Houdini would have recognized such as astrology and mediums and ghost hunters and creationism and socialism to all-new BS like flying saucers are probably just as popular today as they were back then.