Until the end of April, Netflix will offer subscribers an opportunity to instantly download and watch the 1970 film version of the Dunwich Horror. It’s goofy, and mildly amusing in a campy seventies way, but it has little to do with the original story from which it derives its name. I find that to be unfortunate.

H.P. Lovecraft is a uniquely American author, with a flair for horrifying imaginative fiction. His portrayal of early New England society excited my interest as a kid growing up in Rhode Island. The imaginative power of his cosmology excites my interest and admiration as a grown-up type writer.

You wouldn’t guess from his legacy, but in his lifetime Lovecraft was not a great commercial success.