Long Lost H.P. Lovecraft Manuscript Discovered In Magic Shop Collection

The weird horror stories written by H.P. Lovecraft were largely unappreciated while he was alive, but nowadays they're a geeky fan favorite and serve as inspiration for comics, games and toys of all kind.

But one thing Lovecraft fans weren't expecting to hear about some eighty years after Howard's death is a long lost manuscript, especially one Lovecraft had ghostwritten for Harry Houdini.

[ image could not be processed - please retry - src was http://www.neatorama.com/plugin/ajaximgupload/previewimg/visimgupload-1/1459330961?u=0.70 ]/>The Cancer Of Superstition was part of a memorabilia collection discovered in a magic shop, which seems like a very appropriate place to stash a Lovecraft manuscript, but this one's different than his other written works.

For this essay was written as a diatribe against spiritualism and superstition, and even though it has been in various collections since Houdini;s passing the essay's significance was only recently understood:

The collection bounced around after Beatrice Houdini’s death in 1943 and was never truly catalogued or ‘mined’ in all that time. The papers were never researched or inventoried,” said Potter & Potter president Gabe Fajuri. “In all that time, no one seemed to realise the significance of the manuscript.”

Fajuri said the collection was recently bought privately, and when “the new owner began sorting through the mountain of paperwork, he began putting the pieces together, and in the process discovered the manuscript and its significance”

-Via Boing Boing