Howard Phillips Lovecraft (August 20, 1890 March 15, 1937) was an American writer of horror, fantasy, and science fiction. Although in life he was an impoverished eccentric whose work was confined exclusively to the lowest brow magazines, after his death he became widely recognized as one of America's most towering literary figures. Beyond the enormous reputation that his written work now enjoys, he continues to exert great influence on genre media more generally.