Michael Hitchens, Adam Ruch

Abstract:
World of Warcraft (WoW) represents a melting pot of popular culture myths, taking inspiration from a huge number of existing works and incorporating them together into its own vast lore. Amongst the many influences it draws upon are the works of H. P. Lovecraft, an influential horror writer. Lovecraft’s writing encapsulated a particular pessimistic view of the universe, which stands in contrast to the heroic fantasy of World of Warcraft. This paper examines the presence in World of Warcraft for particular examples of influences from Lovecraft’s writings. More importantly the use of these influences is compared to the underlying philosophy of horror that can be found in Lovecraft’s work. It is our contention that the aspects of World of Warcraft inspired by Lovecraft are not employed in a way congruent with that source material.