Lansdale , Alan Moore , Junji Ito , F. Paul Wilson , Brian Lumley , Caitlín R. Kiernan , and Neil Gaiman , have cited Lovecraft as one of their primary influences. Beyond direct adaptation, Lovecraft and his stories have had a profound impact on popular culture. Some influence was direct, as he was a friend, inspiration, and correspondent to many of his contemporaries, such as August Derleth, Robert E. Howard, Robert Bloch and Fritz Leiber . Many later figures were influenced by Lovecraft's works, including author and artist Clive Barker , prolific horror writer Stephen King, comics writers Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman and Mike Mignola , film directors John Carpenter , Stuart Gordon , Guillermo Del Toro and artist H. R. Giger . [ 52 ] Japan has also been significantly inspired and terrified by Lovecraft’s creations and thus even entered the manga and anime media. Chiaki J. Konaka is an acknowledged Lovecraft disciple and has participated in Cthulhu Mythos, expanding several Japanese versions. [ 53 ] Aside being writer, he is an anime scriptwriter who tends to add horror elements and is credited for spreading the popularity of Lovecraft among anime base. [ 54 ] Manga artist Junji Ito is also inspired by Lovecraft. [ 55 ] Lovecraft's fictional Mythos has influenced a number of musicians. The psychedelic rock band H. P. Lovecraft (who shortened their name to Lovecraft and then Love Craft in the 1970s) released the H. P. Lovecraft and H. P. Lovecraft II albums in