I'm a HUGE H.P. Lovecraft fan, and by default a fan of lots of the authors that inspired and were inspired by him. Robert Chambers was an influence on Lovecraft, and The Pallid Mask is a character from his "King in Yellow" mythology, which I've been crazy obsessed with for decades. I don't know when I first started using "pallidmask" as a screen name, but it's pretty much the only one I ever use on message boards.