Howard Phillips Lovecraft is considered to be one of the most prominent innovators of the horror genre. By taking an analytical look at three short stories pertaining to his Cthulhu Mythos, namely The Call of Cthulhu, The Shadow over Innsmouth and The Dunwich Horror, one can easily see the lengths the author went to in order to facilitate the seemingly simple task of frightening his readership. By carefully rooting his stories in certain horror clichés and even Gothic traditions, as well as being readily aware of literary innovations of the time, such as Ann Radcliffes theory of horror and terror and Freuds theories of the uncanny, Lovecraft seemingly made sure his stories would appeal to audiences both traditional and modern in taste. What made his works stand out from others of its era, however, was the prodigious amount of originality and personality he managed to imbue them with, in the process creating a universe wholly his own and thereby cementing once and for all his capability of combining multiple sources of inspiration in order to produce something truly unique and timeless.