In many ways

Yep, that's my man, HPL.

I was afraid you were going to quote one of his many racist statements. I realize that no one is perfect, but that is a serious flaw with him. I'm glad you found a quote both colourful and damning.

"In the matter of politics—I don’t go much with the younger crowd. I’m more interested in keeping the present 300-year-old culture-germ in America unharmed, than in trying out any experiments in “social justice”. [Al] Smith, to my mind, is a direct exponent of the newer-immigration element—the decadent & unassimilable hordes from Southern Europe & the East whose presence in large numbers is a direct & profound menace to the continued growth of the Nordic-American nation we know. Some people may like the idea of a mongrel America like the late Roman Empire, but I for one prefer to die in the same America that I was born in. Therefore, I’m against any candidate who talks of letting down the bars to stunted brachycephalic South-Italians & rat-faced half-Mongoloid Russian & Polish Jews, & all that cursed scum! You in the Middle West can’t conceive of the extent of the menace. You ought to see a typical Eastern city crowd—swart, aberrant physiognomies, & gestures & jabbering born of alien instincts."

"The black is vastly inferior. There can be no question of this among contemporary and unsentimental biologists — eminent Europeans for whom the prejudice-problem does not exist. But, it is also a fact that there would be a very grave and very legitimate problem even if the negro were the white man’s equal. For the simple fact is, that two widely dissimilar races, whether equal or not, cannot peaceably coexist in the same territory until they are either uniformly mongrelised or cast in folkways of permanent and traditional personal aloofness. … All told, I think the modern American is pretty well on his guard, at last, against racial and cultural mongrelism. There will be much deterioration, but the Nordic has a fighting chance of coming out on top in the end. (letter of January 1931)"

"Of course they can’t let n******s use the beach at a Southern resort – can you imagine sensitive persons bathing near a pack of greasy chimpanzees? The only thing that makes life endurable where blacks abound is the Jim Crow principle, & I wish they’d apply it in N.Y. both to n*****s & to the more Asiatic type of puffy, rat-faced Jew. Either stow ’em out of sight or kill ’em off – anything so that a white man may walk along the streets without shuddering nausea. (letter of February 1925)"

http://www.jasoncolavito.com/blog/s-t-joshi-people-who-arent-famous-have-no-right-to-criticize-lovecraft-for-racism

http://www.jasoncolavito.com/blog/h-p-lovecraft-and-the-debate-over-scientific-racism

But his description of Republicans was right on the money.

and have never read him. (Screened Reanimator a couple of times.)

Strikes me that your typical RWer reading both these extended quotes here would be at serious risk of exploding head syndrome.

Just found that quote somewhere ans it seemed somehow.. apropos.

mostly during the early decades of the 20th century. His writing style is rather archaic and florid, but he had quite an imagination. He now has a considerable cult following.

both Weird Tales (fantasy) and Astounding Science Fiction Magazine published his stories. His writing can be very scary also but his fans love all that.

Two racists that produced works of art. Fortunately, HPL's fiction is almost 95% racist free.

Being a classical musician, among other things, and having played a number of Wagner operas, and being pretty familiar with most of them. etc etc... there has always been that undercurrent in my relationship with his music. But again, for me, fortunately, the music wins out.

And if one if not fortunate enough to be a musician,
If one is attending Lohengrin at the Met, and sitting in Parterre Box #29, as I was years ago with members of the Japanese Embassy, (don't even ask me how that happened), when those 6-8 "herald" trumpets let loose.... and you realize they are aimed directly at you at eye level, well....that, my friends, is where the rubber meets the road.

It is almost as much of a rush as being a percussionist directly behind the horns at the end of the Mahler 1st Symphony.

Like ,'Dreams in the witch house', and the human faced rat named Brown Jenkin.... many creepy short stories. I did not realize he was such a racist. It's painfully disappointing.

This sounds exactly like the Republicans of today.

He started out as an extremely conservative person, then gradually came to the position Pangaia quoted; yet he always thought of himself as conservative. His appalling bigotry relented somewhat with age and experience, but, alas, never left him. I think some of that was due to xenophobia.
As an artist, his writing became quite good in his later years, losing the flamboyant excesses of his youth...save for when he wanted to have a little fun and parodied his own work!
Personally, I love his writing but dislike his racism. Not to sound like a hipster, but I've been reading him since before he was cool: some time in the early Sixties, when he was out of print and hard to find.
Ia! Shub Niggurath...the Black Goat of the Woods with a thousand young!

I read him in high school back in the 60's as well. I had always been a fan of Horror and SF, but always read it as entertainment. HPL was the first one to actually scare the shit out of me and put me in a feeling of dread. His stories weren't so much about blood and guts but the madness that overcomes one when faced with unspeakable horror that sits on the doorstep and whispers in the dark. (shudder)