Howard Phillips Lovecraft was responsible for creating the Cthulhu Mythos, a cycle of loosely related stories concerning "the Great Ones." These are cosmic beings who took up residence on Earth long before humans inhabited the planet. Now they awaken to wreak havoc upon mankind. Born in 1890 in Providence, Rhode Island, Lovecraft was a sickly child whose parents died insane. When he was 16, he wrote the astronomy column in the Providence Tribune. Between 1908 and 1923, he wrote short stories for Weird Tales magazine, among others. He died in Providence--in poverty--on March 15, 1937. After his death, his colleagues August Derleth and Donald Wandrei collected Lovecraft's stories and made arrangement for their publication. These writings have had a great impact on modern popular culture and have influenced and inspired many other writers, including Robert E. Howard, Clive Barker, Stephen King and Neil Gaiman.