Horror author H. P. Lovecraft has for years been a misunderstood figure, portrayed by other writers as a misanthrope or neurotic. In 1936, responding to a letter from young fan Willis Conover, Lovecraft engaged in a correspondence that continued through the last year of his life. Conover collected and edited the letters, producing a rare book that showed the writer in a new light. The Lovecraft that emerges from these pages is humorous, garrulous, and candid.