WELCOME TO THIS SPECIAL ISSUE of the Lovecraft eZine. Women have not traditionally had a huge place in Lovecraftian fiction. Lovecraft certainly did not give us many heroines, though one might argue – as Renzo Giorgetti does in Lovecraftian Archetypes: the eternal feminine – that the female appears concealed and transformed in his narratives.
Nevertheless, though Lovecraft did collaborate with several women on a number of stories (“The Curse of Yig” with Zealia Bishop is one example) and though he was not unfamiliar with female writers of the time period (C.L.Moore) women have, for many decades, been absent from Lovecraftian narratives. I recall reading many an anthology with not a single female writer or a single female character. This is now changing with the work of writers like Caitlín R. Kiernan (The Red Tree) and Ann K. Schwader (In the Yaddith Time). It also extends to other corners of the fandom, with comic book artists like Robyn Seale (The Watcher of Yaathagggu), editor and publisher Carrie Cuinn (Dagan Books), the plucky knitter/e-book maven Cthulhu Chick and Galen Dara (her art graces the cover of this issue).
This issue of the Lovecraft eZine is further proof that female creators are continuing to grow and explore Lovecraftian shores. The further inclusion of women into this sub-genre benefits all of us not only because of the different perspectives they bring to it, but because it expands the fan base and ensures that Lovecraftian fiction continues to be artistically relevant and commercially successful in the 21st century. In short: We’ve just opened the door and many wonders lay beyond the threshold.
Many thanks to Mike Davis for letting me pen this editorial and to all of you for reading it. Without further ado, enjoy issue 14.
Publisher & Editor, Innsmouth Free Press
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