The H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society

The H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society was "founded" in 1986 by Sean Branney, when during a LARPing session on a college campus, people who were unaware of what was going on called the campus police. Sean explained the incident away by saying the group was the HPLHS, and from there, it became a real thing, started by himself, Andrew Leman and Phil Bell. Now that you know how they started, here's some of what they have to offer, my personal recommendations and a little bit about their store.

When I visited California last summer, I went to the HPLHS storefront with my boyfriend. The man working that day was very kind. I felt a bit uncomfortable though because we were the only people in the store and I have social anxiety, so I felt...Awkward hanging around, like I was being a nuisance. Again, the man working there couldn't have been nicer and he didn't make me feel that way at all, that's all my brain's fault. The point I'm getting at is, they have so many amazing things in that store, including props from their films, and I really wanted to stay and look around forever, but my brain hates me, so I left pretty fast after purchasing the one DART episode I didn't already own. Even though I was there for such a short time, it was the highlight of my trip.

The HPLHS sells a wide variety of merchandise. Their movies are great (I wish they would film an adaptation of The Shadow Over Innsmouth), and they're filmed as if they were made in the 1920's/1950's. The Call of Cthulhu is a silent film and The Whisperer in Darkness is very reminiscent of 50's sci fi movies.

Where they really shine is their Dark Adventure Radio Theatre episodes. I own all of them (as of the time I'm writing this post) and I enjoyed listening to each of them. The standouts for me are The Shadow Over Innsmouth (of course), The Haunter of the Dark and A Solstice Carol (which includes an adaptation of The Outsider, one of my favorite Lovecraft stories). Each DART episode includes several props and the HPLHS released a really nice binder to store all the props in, with sleeves featuring artwork from each episode. If you need a way to store your CDs, they also have cute old-time radio cases that can fit 4 standard CD cases.

DART prop binder

Newspaper prop from Dagon: War of Worlds

They have also released an audiobook of Lovecraft's complete fiction. These aren't radio plays like the DART episodes, they're just narrating his stories in this collection. The packaging is beautiful, it looks like a library book.

The HPLHS also sells books, replicas of Weird Tales magazine (I believe these come from an outside source, but I'm not sure), Lovecraft inspired albums, apparel (including a varsity jacket that you can buy pins for) and more. You can see how much love the people who run the HPLHS have for Lovecraft's work when you take a look at everything they've worked on.

Decoder pin

They even have memberships available to purchase. You can pay annually ($20 a year) or become a lifetime member, like I am. If you become a lifetime member (a one time payment of $100), in addition to a certificate proclaiming your membership, you'll also receive a "passport-style membership card." For me, it was more than worth it to become a lifetime member of the HPLHS. Their products are such good quality, I wanted to be able to support them and thank them in some way for all they do.

Membership certificate, membership card, varsity pins and membership pin

If you're a fan of H.P. Lovecraft, or horror, or even audiobooks/radio plays, I cannot recommend the HPLHS enough.

(As of the time I'm writing this, a new DART episode, The Lurking Fear, is available for pre-order. DART episodes are no longer going to be released in jewel cases, instead they will now come in cardboard cases and you'll receive a prop sleeve with them. I've already pre-ordered my copy. The Lurking Fear is expected to ship in June.)