 Bennett has been credited as having " the best claim at creating the new genre of dark fantasy " . It has been said that Bennett 's writings influenced both H. P. Lovecraft and A. Merritt , both of whom " <unk> Bennett 's earlier style and themes " . Lovecraft was even said to have praised Bennett 's work . However , there is controversy about whether or not this actually happened and the praise appears to have resulted from letters wrongly attributed to Lovecraft . 
