The Necronomicon. Cthulu, The Unnamable. The cursed town of Arkham. These icons of horror sprang from the imagination of H. P. Lovecraft. But consider this: what if the imaginary terrors that Lovecraft wrote about were not imaginary at all?

In the original graphic novel Lovecraft, screenwriter Hans Rodionoff (Man-Thing, The Hollow), comics legend Keith Giffen (Lobo, Mars Attacks), and acclaimed Argentinean artist Enrique Breccia (Batman Black and White) follow the life of Howard Phillips Lovecraft from his bizarre childhood (where his mother dressed him as a girl) to the dissolution of his marriage. Lovecraft comes to believe that he is the guardian of the Necronomicon, the accursed book that is the doorway to the beyond. Was he insane? Or was he a hero?

Lovecraft is a 144-page Vertigo original hardcover graphic novel and is suggested for mature readers.

"Inspired by a Rodionoff screenplay that assumes the 'reality' of the alien monsters invented by H.P. Lovecraft (1890-1937), Argentine artist Breccia and DC writer Giffen (Lobo) take a surreal, psychosexual look at the American horror master's life story. The book focuses on the graphics, notably lurid, dialogue-free sequences depicting Cthulhu and his tentacled kin assaulting helpless humans, starting with HPL's father, Winfield, shown in bed with a woman not his wife in a Chicago hotel. Like the actual philandering father, who contracted syphilis, this Winfield dies in an insane asylum in Lovecraft's native Providence, R.I., though not before passing on the family copy of Abdul Alhazred's Necronomicon to his young son. The story's remainder concerns Lovecraft's repetitive attempts, in childhood and adulthood, to ward off a series of repellent creatures (perhaps the evil offspring of the dreaded magical tome, or just the product of his sick imagination). Those familiar with the five volumes of Lovecraft's Selected Letters or S.T. Joshi's 1996 biography may be dismayed to find only caricature. In typical Hollywood fashion, the authors make Lovecraft's one-time wife Sonia Greene a generic heroine (prettier and slimmer than the original), whom he meets in a hospital where he's recovering from an assault by an unclothed Wilbur Whateley. The child Lovecraft has the pronounced lantern jaw that he developed only in maturity. Still, Cthulhu Mythos fans who aren't pedantic nitpickers will enjoy the way the book blends bits of biographical detail with Lovecraft's frightening fictional concepts to create a grotesque and disturbing visual experience. (Mar. 1) Forecast: An introduction by John Carpenter and a blurb by Clive Barker help reinforce the Hollywood connection, and should boost sales." Publishers Weekly (Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"Thanks to Keith Giffen, who recast Rodionoff's screenplay as a graphic novel that Argentine artist Enrique Breccia makes a spectacle of melting colors and sharp-featured figures, Lovecraft's misfortunes are our creepy pleasures." Ray Olson, Booklist

"Lovecraft is a genuinely disturbing creation: an elegantly conceived and lovingly crafted evocation of a world of cosmic dread and a fear so profound the only escape from it is insanity." Clive Barker

"In reading Lovecraft's literary legacy one can't help but wonder, 'What if..?' Well, contained within the terse lines and imaginative writing of this book lies the answer to that question. Get ready for a fun, scary ride." Guillermo del Toro, director of Blade 2 and Hellboy

"Rodionoff, Breccia and Giffen have crafted a beautiful, nightmarish homage. Reading between the lines of Lovecraft's work, they have managed to fabricate a secret history that every H.P. fan wishes were true." David S. Goyer, screenwriter of Dark City and Blade

A fascinating but disturbing study of one of America's greatest horror writers, the intense Lovecraft examines the bizarre life of author and recluse Howard Phillips Lovecraft. Since his early childhood in the late 1800s, Lovecraft was haunted with dark visions of demons and death. Trapped in a world of macabre creatures and grotesque thoughts, the writer found escape only by weaving his living nightmares into fictional blood curling horror stones. An uncensored tour into a troubled mind, this beautifully painted hardcover edition traces the toils of a man considered both mentally ill and genius as he stumbles across the fine line between reality and insanity. SUGGESTED FOR MATURE READERS.

Hans Rodionoff found a copy of the Necronomicon in his early childhood and was never the same. Growing up in Innsmouth, he spent his days lifeguarding and surfing his local break of Dagon Point. But secretly, in the darkest recesses of his heart, he wanted to be a comic book artist. While studying illustration at Miskatonic University, he took an introductory film class and fell in love with celluloid. Since that time he has devoted himself to screenwriting, collaborating with horror maestros such as John Carpenter and Clive Barker.

A self-taught artist, Enrique Breccia has been drawing comics for over 20 years, his work having been published in Europe, America, and his homeland, Argentina. Stateside, his work for DC Comics includes Batman Black and White and Legion Worlds. Today, he lives with his second wife and youngest son in Mar del Sur, 600 km from the Capital City of Argentina.

Keith Giffen kicked off his two-and-a-half decade career in the comic book field by working alongside writer Paul Levitz to energize DC Comics' Legion of Super-Heroes into a franchise property. Later in the '80s, he and writer J. M. DeMatteis revitalized Justice League of America, turning it into DC's top-selling book. In the '90s, he co-created Lobo with writer Roger Slifer, generating one of the most successful comic book characters in the past thirty years. Giffen, who is currently writing Reign of the Zodiac and Lobo Unbound for DC Comics, presently resides in New Jersey.