H.P. LOVECRAFT WALKING TOUR RETURNS IN OCTOBER

The life and work of Providence’s best-known fantasy and horror author, Howard Phillips Lovecraft, provides the backdrop for this walking tour. The tour lasts 90 minutes.

The tour departs from the John Brown House at 52 Power Street, Providence.

Cost: Tickets are $22 per person, includes a ticket to the Horror Festival and can be purchased online. The Walking Tour can be purchased in advance by calling the RIIFF offices at 401.861.4445 or ordered directly online at http://www.film-festival.org/HPLovecraft.php

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – For the past 12 years, Providence native and cult horror writer H.P. Lovecraft has been the subject of a popular annual walking tour and film series conducted by the RI Historical Society presented as part of the Flickers’ Vortex Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror Film Festival (Vortex). This year’s Festival runs October 19-27, 2019 and the Lovecraft Tour returns for four very special days.

The life and work of Providence’s best-known fantasy and horror author, Howard Phillips Lovecraft, will provide the backdrop for the tour, which will be led by the Rhode Island Historical Society. Lovecraft’s “Providence stories” (written between 1924 and 1935) are the inspiration behind the walk. Lovecraft wrote eloquently, and in great detail, about such landmarks as Prospect Terrace, the First Baptist Church, and Benefit Street houses.  Participants will see the site of his former home, as well as locales mentioned in The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, The Haunter of the Dark, The Shunned House, and The Call of Cthulhu.

The tours will be offered over four afternoons this year, on Saturday, October 19^th, Sunday, October 20^th, Saturday, October 26^th and Sunday, October 27^th. All tours will begin at Noon. Following the tour, which lasts for approximately 90 minutes, participants will be treated to a ticket to see an international collection of short films inspired by Lovecraft. The screenings will be held in collaboration with the Brown University Film Forum (BUFF) and on the University Campus (https://blogs.brown.edu/buff/about-us/).

Tickets for the walking tour are $22 per person, can be purchased online at http://www.film-festival.org/HPLovecraft.php, and includes a ticket to the film screenings. The Walking Tour can also be purchased in advance by calling the RIIFF offices at 401.861.4445.

“This walking tour is a wonderful opportunity for fans of H.P. Lovecraft to connect with the man behind the writer, and for others to discover his genius,” said Shawn Drywa, Vortex Program Director.

“Lovecraft’s horror writing continues to resonate with audiences from across the globe and provide inspiration for some of the most chilling and terrifying stories in the sci-fi, fantasy and horror genres,” commented Shawn Quirk, RIIFF Program Director. “His work has become the corner stone in weird fiction and has influenced countless writers and artists in today’s popular culture.  His frightfully uncanny literature set right here in Providence serves as our essential historical link between Edgar Allen Poe and Steven King.”

This year’s Festival is sponsored in part by the Rhode Island Film & Television Office and the Providence Tourism Council.