Howard Phillips Lovecraft, known as H. P. Lovecraft, was an American writer of weird, science, fantasy, and horror fiction. He is best known for his creation of the Cthulhu Mythos. Born in Providence, Rhode Island, Lovecraft spent most of his life in New England.

After his father's institutionalization in 1893, he lived affluently until his family's wealth dissipated following the death of his grandfather. Lovecraft then lived with his mother, in reduced financial circumstances, until her institutionalization in 1919. He began to write essays for the United Amateur Press Association, and in 1913 wrote a critical letter to a pulp magazine that ultimately led to his involvement in pulp fiction.

Lovecraft married Sonia Greene in 1924 and later moved to New York City, becoming the center of a wider group of authors known as the Lovecraft Circle. However, his time in New York took a toll on his mental and financial state. He returned to Providence in 1926 and produced some of his most popular works, such as The Call of Cthulhu, At the Mountains of Madness, The Shadow over Innsmouth, and The Shadow Out of Time.

Lovecraft's literary corpus is based around the idea of cosmicism, his personal philosophy and the main theme of his fiction, positing that humanity is an insignificant part of the cosmos. His works were largely set in a fictionalized version of New England and often dealt with civilizational decline, a reflection of his belief that the West was in decline during his lifetime.

Throughout his life, Lovecraft was unable to support himself from his earnings as an author and editor. He was virtually unknown during his lifetime and was published in pulp magazines before his death. A scholarly revival of Lovecraft's work began in the 1970s, and he is now regarded as one of the most significant 20th-century authors of supernatural horror fiction.