The Non-Euclidean Gothic: Weird Expeditions into Higher Dimensions and Hyper-Matter with H.P. Lovecraft

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This article explores the significance of higher-dimensional and Non-Euclidean geometries in the weird horror fiction of H.P. Lovecraft, particularly in "The Dreams in the Witch House" (1933) and "From Beyond" (1934). Charting a new direction for studies of geometry in Lovecraft's fiction, this article argues that said tales speculate on the role higher dimensions play in the qualities, capacities, and tendencies of physical matter, all the while emphasizing the need for topological investigations that examine the interrelations of time, space, and matter in Lovecraft's weird cosmos. The first part of the paper reviews the suite of mathematical and scientific discoveries informing Lovecraft's treatment of higher-dimensional and Non-Euclidean geometries in his mythos. Focusing on alien artifacts made of unknown chemical elements from higher dimensions, the second part of the paper underscores how matter is a site of onto-epistemological crisis for Lovecraft, owing to the way that it behaves with both lawful regularity and startling unpredictability. The final part of the paper uses the philosophies of Graham Harman and Reza Negarestani—two contemporary thinkers explicitly influenced by Lovecraft—to bring the weird writer's own brand of speculative, higher-dimensional (hyper-)materialism into relief, in ways that not only expose the fundamental rifts in matter but also those tensions that characterize Lovecraft's intellect itself.