Howard Phillips Lovecraft (/ lʌvkræft - ˌkrɑːft / Providence, United States, August 20, 1890 - ibid, March 15, 1937), known as H. P. Lovecraft was an American writer, author of novels and stories of horror and science fiction. He is considered a great innovator tale of terror, which contributed its own mythology (myths of Cthulhu), developed in collaboration with other authors and still effective. His work is a classic of cosmic horror, a stream that departs from the traditional theme of supernatural horror (Satanism, ghosts), incorporating elements of science fiction (alien races, time travel, existence of other dimensions). Lovecraft also wrote poetry, essay and epistolary literature.