It seems that here at Zombie Popcorn we are always talking about H.P. Lovecraft. So I thought I would broaden our horizons a little more and take one step away from Lovecraft and introduce, Clark Ashton Smith. (For some of the readers it maybe a re-introduction.)

Clark Ashton Smith (1893-1961), perhaps best known today for his association with H.P Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos, is in his own right a unique master of fantasy, horror and science-fiction. While he considered himself primarily a poet, and wrote over 700 poems and prose poems, it is for his short stories that he is best known today. Clark Ashton Smith was also a self-taught artist whose paintings, drawings and sculptures reflect the phantasmagoric worlds of his fiction.

Smith’s history is as interesting as his writings.

He suffered from psycholological disorders as a child and only attended eight years of grammar school. After leaving school, he taught himself Spanish and French. It has been said that he had a near-photographic memory.

Smith began writing stories at the age of eleven. Smith became the protégé of the San Francisco poet George Sterling, who helped him to publish his first volume of poems, The Star-Treader and Other Poems, at the age of nineteen.

After the publication of Ebony and Crystal in 1922, Smith recieved a fan letter from H.P. Lovecraft – which was the beginning of the 15 years of friendship between the two.  You can read those letters here.

Smith has a long list of poems, stories and art and I recommend everyone to take time to read and check out. The Eldritch Dark is a site that has a huge resource of  Clark Ashton Smith’s poems, art and short stories.  So if you want to read up on his work, head over there.

Clark Ashton Smith died in his sleep on 14 August 1961.