What actual locations did Lovecraft base his fictional ones on?
Four major towns and suggested real-life equivalents are: Arkham: Salem (with a pinch of Providence, RI) Dunwich: Wilbraham, Monson, and Hampden Innsmouth: Gloucester and Newburyport Kingsport: Marblehead It is probably wrong to take these equivalents too literally, since Lovecraft was never averse to using real-life locations in his tales (e.g. “The Case of Charles Dexter Ward” is set mainly in Providence, RI), and would have had good reason for making his fictional towns significantly different from real locations.
