Ia Ia Cthulhu Fthagn! The Lovecraft thread

[becca69]

That's really cool. Just watched the Cthulhu South Park episode - pretty hysterical!

Wait... I've always wanted to use this -

[Brice]

Cthulhu South Park ep??? Tell me more. I didn't know there was one and as you will learn if you don't know already I'm a bit fanatical about Lovecraft.

[mystima]

here is a fan made video from the 4 part episodes....yes they did 4 episodes....lol

http://youtu.be/riSt9lJz2vQ

[Brice]

[becca69]

Yes, it is made of awesome!

[Brice]

I MUST see the full eps. *goes to look on netflix*

[BROWNINGS CHILDE]

Just read The Horror in the Museum. I haven't read a lot of Lovecraft yet, but this has been my favorite so far.

[Shannon]

Can someone educate me on what a Cthulhu is? I see it and and i know it had something to do with a squid monster thing.

[becca69]

I just copied this:
Cthulhu is a monstrous entity who lies "dead but dreaming" in the city of R'lyeh, a place of non-Euclidean madness presently (and mercifully) sunken below the depths of the Pacific Ocean. Cthulhu appears in various monstrous and demonic forms in early myths of the human race. Racial memory preserves Him as humanity's most basic nightmare. Cthulhu is the high priest of the Great Old Ones, unnatural alien beings who ruled the Earth before humanity formed, worshipped as gods by some misguided people. It is said that They will return, causing worldwide insanity and mindless violence before finally displacing humanity forever.

It represented a monster of vaguely anthropoid outline, but with an octopuslike head whose face was a mass of feelers, a scaly, rubbery-looking body, prodigious claws on hind and fore feet, and long, narrow wings behind.

[Brice]

Oh, yes...and he like hugs.

[ur2ndbiggestfan]

There is also a Lovecraft NIGHT GALLERY episode, but you probably already knew that.

EDIT - I'm referring to the funny one with Carl Reiner, not the serious ones.

[beam*seeker]

Have any of you Lovecraft fans read this? (I was thinking of getting it)

http://www.amazon.com/Am-Providence-...ref=pd_sim_b_9

[becca69]

There was also a Supernatural Lovecraft episode recently. I don't remember if it was season 6 or 7.

[Brice]

There is also a Lovecraft NIGHT GALLERY episode, but you probably already knew that.

EDIT - I'm referring to the funny one with Carl Reiner, not the serious ones.

I believe I saw that one years back, but I'm not positive.

Have any of you Lovecraft fans read this? (I was thinking of getting it)

http://www.amazon.com/Am-Providence-...ref=pd_sim_b_9

Fantasstic book! One of my more recent reads. Simply the best lovecraft bio ever. Get it! You will not be disappointed.

There was also a Supernatural Lovecraft episode recently. I don't remember if it was season 6 or 7.

I've never seen Supernatural so I missed that.

[Dan]

Recommend a good intro to Lovecraft book, please. I've been reading mystery novels so many years and have only really gotten into horror in the last year.

[Brice]

Hmmm... that's kinda' difficult. You can really start almost anywhere.

[Merlin1958]

Oh, OK. I'm in on this thread if only for the "South Park" episode, which was "epic". I have enjoyed Lovecraft to a degree, but he is by no means on my top ten list. Sorry, Brice I know that's Blasphemy, but I have to be honest. One caveat, I really enjoyed "In the Mouth of Madness".

[OchrisO]

Dan, there are a bunch of Lovecraft collection books in most book stores, so you can have a bunch of short stories to read(that's mostly what he wrote).

Some of my favorite short stories are:

The Call of Cthulhu(of course)
The Dunwich Horror
The Whisperer in Darkness
The Shadow Over Innsmouth
The Rats in the Walls
Herbert West–Reanimator
Nyarlathotep(because I love Crawling Chaos)
Dagon

One thing you should know if you are new to Lovecraft is that he was writing these in the very early part of the 1900s and the works are very much a product of their time. As a result, he uses a lot of racist terminology. Here is a bit copied from Wikipedia about it behind the spoiler tag. It is just something you should be aware of going in so it doesn't take you by surprise.

Spoiler:

Race, ethnicity, and class

Racism is the most controversial aspect of Lovecraft’s works which “does not endear Lovecraft to the modern reader” and comes across through many disparaging remarks against the various non-Anglo-Saxon races and cultures within his work. Lovecraft did not seem to hold all White people in high regard, but rather he held English people and people of English descent above all others.[24][25][26] While his racist perspective is undeniable, some critics argue that it does not necessarily detract from his ability to create compelling philosophical worlds which have inspired many artists and readers.[12][26] In his writings and personal life he argued for a strong color line for the purpose of preserving race and culture.[12][24][25][27] These arguments occurred either through direct statements against different races in his work and personal correspondence,[10][12][24][25][26] or allegorically in his work using non-human races.[17][24][28][29] Reading Lovecraft's work, his racial attitude was seen as more cultural than biological, showing sympathy to others who assimilated into the western culture and even marrying a Jew whom he viewed as "well assimilated".[12][24][25][29] While Lovecraft's racial attitude has been seen as directly influenced by the time, a reflection of the New England society he grew up in,[24][25][26][30][31] this racism appeared stronger than the popular viewpoints held at that time.[26][29] Some researchers note that his views failed to change in the face of increased scientific and social change of that time which invalidated many of his strongly held views.[12][24]

A friend bought me this for Christmas a few years ago and I put this picture on facebook with the tag "Cthulhu says your Santa Claus tasted good with ketchup.



Have you ever seen this Brice? I own it, but have only ever played it once. It has a bit of a learning curve and takes forever to set up, but it is fun. There are expansions and such for it now as well.
http://new.fantasyflightgames.com/ed...rkham%20Horror

There are also some amazingly good comics that are based on Lovecraft's mythos that I LOVE called Fall of Cthulhu:
http://comics.wikia.com/wiki/The_Fall_of_Cthulhu

[Brice]

Oh, OK. I'm in on this thread if only for the "South Park" episode, which was "epic". I have enjoyed Lovecraft to a degree, but he is by no means on my top ten list. Sorry, Brice I know that's Blasphemy, but I have to be honest. One caveat, I really enjoyed "In the Mouth of Madness".

Well, the ONLY real advantage to loving Lovecraft (aside from some brilliant stories) is this guy puts your soul a little furthur down on the menu. As a long time acolyte I will be one of the last to go. That doesn't mean I won't go too...just that I'll get to watch the rest of the fuckers get eaten first. In The Mouth Of Madness is brilliant. Lovecraft adaptations are rarely so good...or even close.

Dan, there are a bunch of Lovecraft collection books in most book stores, so you can have a bunch of short stories to read(that's mostly what he wrote).

Some of my favorite short stories are:

The Call of Cthulhu(of course)
The Dunwich Horror
The Whisperer in Darkness
The Shadow Over Innsmouth
The Rats in the Walls
Herbert West–Reanimator
Nyarlathotep(because I love Crawling Chaos)
Dagon

Some of my favorites are definitely there too...although there is a soft part in my heart for even his worst writing. Ok, some of the poetry and amateur journalism stuff just blows, but generally.

One thing you should know if you are new to Lovecraft is that he was writing these in the very early part of the 1900s and the works are very much a product of their time. As a result, he uses a lot of racist terminology. Here is a bit copied from Wikipedia about it behind the spoiler tag. It is just something you should be aware of going in so it doesn't take you by surprise.

Spoiler:

Race, ethnicity, and class

Racism is the most controversial aspect of Lovecraft’s works which “does not endear Lovecraft to the modern reader” and comes across through many disparaging remarks against the various non-Anglo-Saxon races and cultures within his work. Lovecraft did not seem to hold all White people in high regard, but rather he held English people and people of English descent above all others.[24][25][26] While his racist perspective is undeniable, some critics argue that it does not necessarily detract from his ability to create compelling philosophical worlds which have inspired many artists and readers.[12][26] In his writings and personal life he argued for a strong color line for the purpose of preserving race and culture.[12][24][25][27] These arguments occurred either through direct statements against different races in his work and personal correspondence,[10][12][24][25][26] or allegorically in his work using non-human races.[17][24][28][29] Reading Lovecraft's work, his racial attitude was seen as more cultural than biological, showing sympathy to others who assimilated into the western culture and even marrying a Jew whom he viewed as "well assimilated".[12][24][25][29] While Lovecraft's racial attitude has been seen as directly influenced by the time, a reflection of the New England society he grew up in,[24][25][26][30][31] this racism appeared stronger than the popular viewpoints held at that time.[26][29] Some researchers note that his views failed to change in the face of increased scientific and social change of that time which invalidated many of his strongly held views.[12][24]

Enough has been written about Lovecraft's racial views and personally I think it's best dealt with by S.T. Joshii's writing in the earlier mentioned biography. Throughout his life it was always there (and it certainly was a product of it's time) though some more enlightened folk managed to avoid it altogether. If you read his writing based on when it was written he seems to cling to those ideas less and less for the most part. Basically he never let go of these ideas, but it seems he was growing away from them some, imo. I don't apologize for his ignorance, but he grew to where he clung less adamantly to these and similar ideas.

A friend bought me this for Christmas a few years ago and I put this picture on facebook with the tag "Cthulhu says your Santa Claus tasted good with ketchup.

One of the Toy Vault toys, right? See this? http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...itted-ski-mask

Have you ever seen this Brice? I own it, but have only ever played it once. It has a bit of a learning curve and takes forever to set up, but it is fun. There are expansions and such for it now as well.
http://new.fantasyflightgames.com/ed...rkham%20Horror

I've seen and heard of it, but never played.

There are also some amazingly good comics that are based on Lovecraft's mythos that I LOVE called Fall of Cthulhu:
http://comics.wikia.com/wiki/The_Fall_of_Cthulhu

I am not a huge fan of comics (though I love some) I would definitely be interested in these. I may have to check them out.

[Jean]

You can really start almost anywhere.

this is true.

[Dan]

Thanks for info! This forum has really opened me up to authors/books I don't think I would have ever even removed from the shelf before. I think I will look around for a Lovecraft book or short story collection so I can join in on the conversation.

[Brice]

Get the Barnes & Nobles (fake) leatherbound collection with all his fiction. It's only 20-25 dollars.

[mystima]

this was in another thread but thought it would be fitting here.

http://youtu.be/Xc90UhV6hJA

[Dan]

I listened to The Colour Out Of Space. Very good story! Super creepy! This is my first Lovecraft story. I have a short collections book and will be delving into it soon.

[Jean]

Anyhow I purposely didn't put this in the book or movie forums any as my hope is that it be for ALL things Lovecraftian.

this is actually what Mansion forum is for; do you mind if I move this thread there?