WI: Lovecraft more popular than Tolkien?

[Andrela]

What would have to happen to make the works of H.P. Lovecraft more popular than the works of J.R.R. Tolkien?

I of course mean the Cthulhu Mythos and the Middle Earth series respectively.

We will be assuming that the POD does not involve actually changing said works, they have to be the same as in OTL.

So basically, Cosmic Horrors becomes popular instead of Fantasy Elves.

Additionally, how would later pop culture be affected by this change?

 

[alter]

An earlier Great Recession, around 1998 for example, could make the general mood of the population more gloomy and find more entertainment in the Lovecraftian Horrors rather than the High Fantasy that was popular in the early 2000s like LoTR and Harry Potter.

An effect of this on later pop culture would be that the currently popular "gritty" style that many series seem to take (Revolution and Stargate Universe for example) could come earlier as it would better suit the mood of the population. The Matrix Trilogy would also be a bigger hit than in OTL.

 

[Glen]

Oooh...Led Zepplin writing Cthulhu inspired songs!

A strange outbreaking of naming children Ward and Pickman and such in the 1960s?

The odd Rankin Bass cartoon version of the Dunwich Horror (with music) and its follow on cartoon version of Call of Cthulhu - the Japanese based animation is quite trippy at times.

The Ralph Bakshi animated Call of Cthulhu is much more respected however.

The Roger Corman Hobbit and Lord of the Rings B movies have a small cult following.

George Lucas' Shadow of the Willow starring Val Kilmer is considered a semi-successful homage to Lovecraft.

The Peter Jackson/Guillermo del Toro Cthulhu Cycle movie series collaboration of course is considered the epitome of the genre.