The Lurking Fear (1922)

...The enclosed published series, Herbert West—Reanimator, represents my poorest work—stuff done to order for a vulgar magazine, & written down to the herd's level. This is a good way to pick up an odd dollar now & then—I am about to start another hell-raiser for it, entitled The Lurking Fear. Having noticed that you sell your drawings, I ventured to give the editor your name & address—since he wants illustrations for the things. If you & he can strike an acceptable bargin, I will show you the story when written & suggest what scenes might best lend themselves to illustration—though on second thought I fancy you could decide this better than I. One need not be ashamed to write or draw for such magazines—Poe & Bierce, I believe, used to write for any old thing.

To Clark Ashton Smith From H. P. Lovecraft (12 November 1922).

I decided to wait till the whole story (The Lurking Fear) was done before sending you anything, since it would hardly be fair to ask you to draw before you have the whole atmosphere & scene to base your conceptions on. I wish I had a better story to offer—this one is frighfully wooden & mechanical because of Houtain's demand that each section be of 2000 words & posses an horrific & suspenseful climax. The conditions were really impossible—he wanted something of short story length, yet with essentially the plan & technic of the novel. ..... You are a genius in conceiving & rendering noxious, baleful, poisonous vegetation, & I veritably believe my descriptions were excited by some of your drawings which Loveman shewed me...

To Clark Ashton Smith From H. P. Lovecraft (2 December 1922).

Juré que nunca volvería a escribir un cuento bajo demanda; y cedí en el caso de "El horror oculto" solo porque Houtain me permitió renunciar a la forma de serial y presentar el relato como una serie regular. La perspectiva de las ilustraciones de Smith era otro cebo, aunque al final resultaron muy por debajo de su usual promedio pictórico. Pero "El horror oculto" nunca me satisfizo, porque traté imprudentemente de seguir el deseo de Houtain de emplear partes del relato de igual medida —independientemente de los valores dramáticos— y de un aplastante subclímax al final de cada entrega. El resultado de todo aquello fue una cierta artificialidad y esfuerzo, y una redundancia de incidentes en muchas de las entregas.

Carta dirigida a J. C. Henneberger. 2 de febrero de 1924 (2018, Derivada)