HP Lovecraft fans?

[Abdul Alhazred]

Do you like the works of HP Lovecraft?

There is a link to lots of good information including many of his works on line HERE (http://www.gizmology.net/lovecraft/works/index.htm)

If you've never read him, I recommend you start with The Call of Cthulhu (http://www.gizmology.net/lovecraft/works/cthulhu.htm). It's not his first or necessarily his best, but it's the most well-known and in some way the most typical.

There are two kinds of hard-core Lovecraft fans. Folks like me who think that it's the most screamingly funny send-up of woo-wooism ever, and hard-core woo-woos who don't know when they are being got at.

For a description of such woo-woos see THIS (http://www.gizmology.net/lovecraft/reading.htm#10).

I have no connection with the linked site besides liking it.

[Uther]

I'm a big Lovecraft fan; note ol' squidface in my avatar. My personal favorite story is probably the Color out of Space. It's not necessarily his best work story-wise, but stylistically it's hard to top.

-Uther

[Nyarlathotep]

Originally posted by Uther
I'm a big Lovecraft fan; note ol' squidface in my avatar. My personal favorite story is probably the Color out of Space. It's not necessarily his best work story-wise, but stylistically it's hard to top.

-Uther

I think my opinion of Lovecraft is pretty self evident, given my screenname and avatar.

Another good work for first time Lovecraft readers is The Dunwich Horror (http://www.gizmology.net/lovecraft/works/dunwich.htm). It is structured a bit more like a conventional horror story than many of Lovecrafts other works, but still has a lot of elements that are Typical Lovecraft. I think that this makes it a bit more accessible than some of his other works, and a good bridge between conventional horror fiction and his weirder stuff.

[Peach Jr.]

I've come to enjoy Lovecraft. The Mr. has been a huge fan of his for a long time. "The Dunwich Horror" is a great story to start with, I agree. It's the one the Mr. gave me to read, and it got me hooked.

Right now I'm reading a collection of all the Dream Cycle stories, "Dreams of Terror and Death". It's kind of cool to read them all together like this. One of my favorites of these is "The Doom That came to Sarnath". It reads as quite a cautionary tale.

Lovecraft does seem to attract quite a few nuts. The Mr. and I aren't among them, but we do know some personally. We haven't had the heart to tell them about Chthulu - or Santa, for that matter.

[Giz]

I preferred "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" and "The Shadow Over Innsmouth".

The most Lovecraftian lovecraft story must be "The Un-nameable" - practically a send up of his own powers of description (ie grab a bag of melodramatic adjectives and pour). (Make that a BIG bag).

I did know someone at University that thought a friend of his had a Greek copy of the Necronomicon!!! Wouldn't believe it was a hoax, kept looking at me as if I was mad!

Now comes the real test - who's played the roleplaying game?

[Nyarlathotep]

Originally posted by Giz

Now comes the real test - who's played the roleplaying game?

Me, though the rest of my gaming group didn't like it so we only played it a few times. The final straw came, I think, when one of my players went insane, decided that the rest of the group was monsters in disguise and grabbed the groups only gun (a high powered hunting rifle) and blew everyone else away.

[Nyarlathotep]

The REAL big question is, who has read any of the Cthulhu mythos stories by authors other than Lovecraft, such as August Derleth.

I have read a few, but so far, none have been as good. A couple of Derleths stories were passable, but most were Cr@p

[LFTKBS]

Love the Mythos - I have plush Cthulhu overlooking the office. I also made some "Cthulhu Tested - Mother Approved" magnets I when I used to work in a sign shop.

Derleth is boring, tho'.

[Giz]

The big problem with Derleth is that he turns the unknowable (aliens? whatever?) into elementals. And then assumes there are counter balancing (Good-aligned) Elder Gods. Jeez, talk about not quite sharing Lovecrafts vision of a fragile humanity alone in a dark universe with no protectors, where what we term sanity is really ignorance.

[Rosencrantz]

Okay, yeah, but do you have a copy of A Shoggoth On The Roof (http://www.cthulhulives.org/Shoggoth/) or the new A Very Scary Solstice (http://www.cthulhulives.org/solstice/)?

"A Shoggoth on the roof! Sounds crazy, I know. Certifiably insane! But here in our little town of Arkham, every one of us has a Shoggoth on the roof... and I'm not speaking metaphorically!" :)

[Marc]

I've NPCed a one shot Live Cthulhu role playing game. Pretty interesting. The best part was one of the players was playing John Edward, who started to see some of his phony mediumship skills becomming real. I got to play the spirit of the Mad Arab that he contacted. The best advice for his predicament? Kill yourself now!


Quote from MST3K

Crow: I one time had a Call of Cthulhu character that survived three whole days!

Tom: Oh please, that was only because you hid all the dice.

Crow: I know, but he lived three whole days!!

[Bikewer]

Been a fan of ol' HP for many years. One of my faves is The Lurker at the Threshhold...Possibly due to the fact that I read it alone down in the country, with the accompanyment of bullfrogs and whipporwills....(read to see why!)

Several of Lovecraft's stories were adapted for TV, mostly the the Night Gallery. I recall them doing Pickman's Model, for one.

For some reason, in the numerous film adaptations, they kept changing titles around. As I recall, they did The Case of Charles Dexter Ward with Vincent Price, but titled it something different. (The Dunwich Horror?)


I created a series of small, impressionistic sculptures based on the Mythos, and whenever I show em' at local art shows, I get a lot of confused looks and questions. I even made up an information sheet to go with em'. The only one I've sold to date is a recreation of the figurine that's central to "The Call of Cthulu".

Most sci-fi and horror writers have at least taken a stab at a Mythos story, one of my favorites is T.E.D. Klien, who wrote a couple of stories and one novel, The Ceremonies. It's out of print, according to Amazon, but available from libraries.

[Ravenwood]

Originally posted by Bikewer
information sheet to go with em'. The only one I've sold to date is a recreation of the figurine that's central to "The Call of Cthulu".
[/B]
If it is the Bronze of Cthulu on the dias w/ all the glyphs & the nasty green patinia, I now own it... :D
I'm a big fan of the mythos, except for anything written by Lumley (he really lost HPL's concepts) My favorites are "The Temple", "The strange tale of Arthur Jermyn" & "the shadow over Innsmouth", & yes, I play COC...

[LibraryFox]

Neil Gaiman did a few bits of Mythos Stuff that works pretty well, as far as non-Lovecraft stuff goes. I think their in his Smoke and Mirrors short story collection.
-LF

[Abdul Alhazred]

Originally posted by Ravenwood

If it is the Bronze of Cthulu on the dias w/ all the glyphs & the nasty green patinia, I now own it... :D
I'm a big fan of the mythos, except for anything written by Lumley (he really lost HPL's concepts) My favorites are "The Temple", "The strange tale of Arthur Jermyn" & "the shadow over Innsmouth", & yes, I play COC...

The Strange Tale of Arthur Jermyn and especially The Shadow Over Innsmouth are my favorites, even though these are not strictly part of the Cthulu mythos.

Never heard of the role playing game, but that sort of thing doesn't appeal to me anyway. Still, somehow I like the fact that it exists.

[Lanius]

Originally posted by Nyarlathotep


Me, though the rest of my gaming group didn't like it so we only played it a few times. The final straw came, I think, when one of my players went insane, decided that the rest of the group was monsters in disguise and grabbed the groups only gun (a high powered hunting rifle) and blew everyone else away.
I hate my first post to this board to be pedantic like this, but I just have to point out the use of the word player above where you probably meant character.

The humor in one of the players going insane and blowing everyone else away is just too much to ignore given that you're playing Call of Cthulhu. Of course, if you're still around to tell the story, then who else could have done it? *backing away slowly*

Oh, and so this isn't totally off topic, I too am a big fan of Lovecraft's work. I think I'll have to go with "The Dunwich Horror" as my favorite for now.

[Candace]

Originally posted by Giz
...snip...

Now comes the real test - who's played the roleplaying game?

shamefacedly raises hand...

Not just played it, mind you, but....







DM-ed it.
And added mythos references to other systems. Like WhiteWolf...

[Candace]

Somewhere back in all the discussion, the question of tribute or pastiche stories was raised. Has anyone seen Shadow Over Baker Street yet? Lovecraft's Great Old Ones meet Sherlock Holmes. I read over some of it at Borders (yes, I am that cheap...) tonight and some of it's actually very good. Neil Gaiman starts out with a rousing tale called "A Study in Emerald", which has some not unexpected plot twists.

Derleth is kind of a love/hate case for me; I have to respect the fact that he carried the torch when the Elder Gentleman from Providence wasn't known and popular, however, the Great Old Ones/ Elder Gods clash is not protypical good v. evil. I would give several body parts for one copy of The Outsider and Others, with the distinctive black and gold Arkham House cover, but that's about as likely as walking into a used bookstore and finding a strangely bound copy of an old Arabic text that translates itself... heh...

[jj]

Originally posted by Candace


shamefacedly raises hand...

Not just played it, mind you, but....







DM-ed it.
And added mythos references to other systems. Like WhiteWolf...

Oh!

Did any of your characters go insane? :D :D :D :D

[SteveW]

Originally posted by Bikewer
For some reason, in the numerous film adaptations, they kept changing titles around. As I recall, they did The Case of Charles Dexter Ward with Vincent Price, but titled it something different. (The Dunwich Horror?)




The Vincent Price movie you are referring to was The Haunted Palace (one of the best Corman's I think). The Dunwich Horror was a B grade movie with as I recall Dean Stockwell and Sandra Dee.

[Candace]

Originally posted by jj


Oh!

Did any of your characters go insane? :D :D :D :D

Isn't that the point of the game?

:D

One of my players found out he had Innsmouth Blood - he did end up going insane, but at least he's immortal!
Another investigator is confined to Arkham Sanitarium right now, muttering "The birds, the birds...they're after Calvin Cooledge..." over and over.
I usually play the 1920's version, since the firepower isn't quite so deadly, if anyone just goes postal it's a lot harder to kill the rest of the group with a .38 revolver than it is a fully automatic AK-47. And it really cuts down on the whole "I call so-and-so on my cell phone while I google for the bad guy's company name on my computer," kind of gaming.

[Uther]

I've played and DM'ed CoC games, I own a copy of Shoggoth on the Roof, I have a Miskatonic University sticker for my car... my name's Uther, and I'm a nerd.

-Uther

[Nyarlathotep]

Originally posted by Lanius

I hate my first post to this board to be pedantic like this, but I just have to point out the use of the word player above where you probably meant character.

The humor in one of the players going insane and blowing everyone else away is just too much to ignore given that you're playing Call of Cthulhu. Of course, if you're still around to tell the story, then who else could have done it? *backing away slowly*

Oh, and so this isn't totally off topic, I too am a big fan of Lovecraft's work. I think I'll have to go with "The Dunwich Horror" as my favorite for now.

Okay, you got me.

Of course I wouldn't suggest that you go digging in my back yard and as for that report of five people missing from a roleplaying game in Carson CIty, Nevada. Well, that wasn't me.....

[Abdul Alhazred]

Originally posted by Lanius

I hate my first post to this board to be pedantic like this, but I just have to point out the use of the word player above where you probably meant character.

Not pedantic, just wrong. The unspeakable one was summoned. :p

[Nyarlathotep]

Originally posted by Abdul Alhazred


Not pedantic, just wrong. The unspeakable one was summoned. :p

Well, you know what they say about those eeeeeevil roleplaying games. Int he case of Call of Cthulhu, they're ALL TRUE!!!!!!!!!!

IA! CTHULHU F'TAGHN!

Oops, sorry, lost control of myself for a second, it won't happen again...

[Hand Bent Spoon]

What's with his racism? "Degenerate Eskimo"? :rr:

Quite an excellent writer, though.

[Chaos]

Originally posted by Nyarlathotep


Well, you know what they say about those eeeeeevil roleplaying games. Int he case of Call of Cthulhu, they're ALL TRUE!!!!!!!!!!

IA! CTHULHU F'TAGHN!

Oops, sorry, lost control of myself for a second, it won't happen again...

Now I must be pedantic.

It is:

IA! IA! CTHULU F´TAGHN!

Two IA! - get it?

[Bikewer]

I read a bio of ol' HP, and he was not a particularly pleasant individual, apparently. Racist, white-supremacist, and perhaps "rather more dependent on mum than one should be".

His books are full of descriptions of "half-caste Laskars", sub-men, degenerates, and so forth....

Of course, that may be the product of the times, there was still more than a bit of thought to the effect that the White European Male was the epitome of evolution....

[Abdul Alhazred]

Originally posted by Bikewer
Of course, that may be the product of the times, there was still more than a bit of thought to the effect that the White European Male was the epitome of evolution...

... except for Arthur Jermyn. :p

[Hexxenhammer]

Big fan here. I'd have to say that "The Whisperer in Darkness" is my favorite. A genuinely scary story that gave me the creeps.

Ia! Ia! Shubniggurath the black goat of the woods with a thousand young!

[Ossai]

My favorite is "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" with the Dream cycles following close behind.

Giz
Now comes the real test - who's played the roleplaying game? I've played both major editions (Chaosium and the new WotC - Chaosium is better in that it sticks to the feel of the stories more)
For more info try Cthuugle.com (http://cthuugle.com/)

I've played, DM'ed and co-opted HPs stuff for a number of other games.

Now speaking of movies check out Dagon, based mainly on "The Shadow Over Innsmouth".

Ossai

[lofgoernost]

I've never played the game.

Hell, I have yet to make it through "The Shadow Out of Time," let alone At The Mountains of Madness.

I have spent a day following in the steps of Charles Dexter Ward along Benefit and Jenckes streets, admiring the mansard roofs and those four haunting spires atop the church of St. John. Also entered the Atheneum, where I was surprised to find only one Lovecraft book. Maybe the rest were on display somewhere, or maybe they're all at Brown.

[azidhak]

Hah I've played through most of the major CoC campaigns and I'm still not mad I tell you!!!HAHAHA Favourite short story: The Haunter of the Dark. Favourite CoC campaign: The Masks Of Nyarlathotep. Favourite not HPL Mythos writer: Richard L. Tierney and his Simon Magus series.
Haakon

[Checkmite]

Originally posted by Bikewer
I read a bio of ol' HP, and he was not a particularly pleasant individual, apparently. Racist, white-supremacist, and perhaps "rather more dependent on mum than one should be".

His books are full of descriptions of "half-caste Laskars", sub-men, degenerates, and so forth....

Of course, that may be the product of the times, there was still more than a bit of thought to the effect that the White European Male was the epitome of evolution....

Yes H.P was racist, though he seems to have recovered slightly and eventually married a Jewish wife. As for being dependent on his mother - I'm not so sure about that. After moving out when he failed to graduate high school, Lovecraft seemed to make a point of regularly sending letters to his mother, even though her house was definitely within walking distance. When she became hospitalized, he never visited her.

[Nyarlathotep]

Originally posted by azidhak
. Favourite CoC campaign: The Masks Of Nyarlathotep.
Haakon

When people see me at TAM2 they'll WISH I was wearing a mask.

[Keziah Mason]

Yeah, I'm a huge Lovecraft fan. ( You know how hard it is to find a decent female name in HPL's works? ) I've never played the game, though.

My favorites are The Call of Cthulhu, Shadow Over Innsmouth and Whisperer in Darkness.


Folks like me who think that it's the most screamingly funny send-up of woo-wooism ever, and hard-core woo-woos who don't know when they are being got at.


The woo-woos surrounding HPL go all the way back to HPL's time. He had a correspondent and revision client by the name of William Lumley (no relation to Brian Lumley) who believed the Mythos was real. This is what HPL had to say about him to Clark Ashton Smith:

"He is firmly convinced that all our gang—you, Two-Gun Bob, Sonny Belknap, Grandpa E'ch-Pi-El, and the rest—are genuine agents of unseen Powers in distributing hints too dark and profound for human conception or comprehension. We may think we're writing fiction, and may even (absurd thought!) disbelieve what we write, but at bottom we are telling the truth in spite of ourselves—serving unwittingly as mouthpieces of Tsathoggua, Crom, Cthulhu, and other pleasant Outside gentry. Indeed—Bill tells me that he has fully identified my Cthulhu and Nyarlathotep . . . . . . . so that he can tell me more about 'em than I know myself! With a little encouragement, good old Bill would unfold limitless chronicles from beyond the border—but I like the old boy so well that I never make fun of him. "

(Edit: I just wanted to add that I do have those two CDs that Rosencrantz mentioned. I've been singing along to the demented genius of 'A Very Scary Solstice' all week. It is absolutely bloody amazing.)

[Candace]

Wow, Keziah, a shallower Lovecraft fan would have picked Asenath Upton or Lavinnia Whateley for a female name. You grabbed a semi obscure one! Good job!

I wonder what the Gentleman of Providence would have thought had he lived long enough to have gone to a convention or two?

"Mr. Lovecraft, could you read my mythos story? It has Cthulhu and Cthuga fighting the X-men with an army of furrie Tcho-tcho people!!! Like my costume? I made it myself!!! I've read all your books!!! Even, like, the long ones!!! One thing, though, could you like, use smaller words, 'cause my friends and I don't know what eldritch ichor means ... is it like Extacy or somethin'?"

And then Cthulhu eats them...

And I will add my vote to the idea that "Darkness of the Hillside Thickets" is sadly ignored by mainstream consumer music fans.

[Giz]

Originally posted by Candace

And I will add my vote to the idea that "Darkness of the Hillside Thickets" is sadly ignored by mainstream consumer music fans.

Probably due to the lack of big names, but don't fret... one day when the stars are right!

[Abdul Alhazred]

Originally posted by Joshua Korosi


Yes H.P was racist, though he seems to have recovered slightly and eventually married a Jewish wife.


HP wasn't a racist in the modern sense of hating some group of people or advocating enslavement or extermination.

Furthermore, an alleged racist of the unpigmented persuasion such as HP is not necessarily a general practitioner of racism.

These days hatred of Jews is the thing internationally. Hatred of blacks is specifically the thing here in the USA.

But one can suppose oneself genetically or culturally superior to "Lascars" without hating Jews or blacks or whomever.

The case for HP's racism towards blacks or Jews rests only on the fact that he never mentioned either of them.

I'd call him a race-snob, not a racist in the modern sense. Not nice, but not an opressor.

[Hexxenhammer]

HPL was no more racist than Robert E Howard. They both wrote things like "ape-like negro" and such. HPL I think in Herbert West: Reanimator in regards to a boxer that they reanimate, and Howard in a bunch of those Soloman Kane stories that take place in Africa. They were products of their time. But they were writers also, so we still see the reflection of their society. We can't put it all on them personally. Doesn't mean it was right, but also doesn't mean they were bad.

[Nyarlathotep]

I don't think that H.P. Lovecraft was any more racist than any other New England WASP of his day. People were just more racist in general in the '20s and HPL wasn't all that different than most in that regard.

[Hexxenhammer]

Originally posted by Candace

And I will add my vote to the idea that "Darkness of the Hillside Thickets" is sadly ignored by mainstream consumer music fans. I've been tempted to get one of their CD's. I take it they are actually good? One of the guys in the band is and illustrator for RPG books too. He's a good artist.

[Keziah Mason]

The case for HP's racism towards blacks or Jews rests only on the fact that he never mentioned either of them.


He does actually mention them frequently in his letters and says quite a number of very unpleasant things about them. Of course, his attitudes as expressed in his letters were hardly unusual or odd for that time.


I've been tempted to get one of their CD's. I take it they are actually good?

I think so. "The Innsmouth Look" is a classic for the ages. ("Obed Marsh sailed the seven seas. He made love to the fish. He made love to the fishies!")

[Abdul Alhazred]

Originally posted by Keziah Mason
"The Innsmouth Look" is a classic for the ages. Obed Marsh...

Obed Marsh made fun of folks for going to regular church, as I recall. Not unlike us JREF types. :p

"Everything cleaned up in the mornin' - but they was traces ... Obed he kinder takes charge an' says things is goin' to be changed ... others'll worship with us at meetin'-time, an' sarten haouses hez got to entertin guests ... they wanted to mix like they done with the Kanakys, an' he for one didn't feel baound to stop 'em. Far gone, was Obed ... jest like a crazy man on the subjeck. He says they brung us fish an' treasure, an' shud hev what they hankered after ..."

Folks should worship a God that brings 'em fish (http://www.gizmology.net/lovecraft/works/innsmouth.htm).

[Abdul Alhazred]

Originally posted by Keziah Mason
He does actually mention them frequently in his letters and says quite a number of very unpleasant things about them. Of course, his attitudes as expressed in his letters were hardly unusual or odd for that time.

I have read only HP's published stories. Where can I get his letters? I'm really interested.

[EdipisReks]

ia! ia!

[Keziah Mason]

I have read only HP's published stories. Where can I get his letters? I'm really interested.


The "standard" sets are the Arkham House Selected Letters Volumes 1-5. Some of those volumes are now out of print but can be found in used book stores.

If you don't want to jump right in with all five volumes, there's a good "autobiography" in letters that was put together by Lovecraft scholar ST Joshi Lord of a Visible World. I would recommend this one highly as not only is it a good example of his letters but it also is a good look at his life and thoughts.

Lovecraft at Last is a loving look at HPL through the eyes of a young boy who corresponded with him just before he died.

Hippocampus Press has published Letters to Alfred Galpin, which I have not yet read.

Night Shade Books is starting a collection of Lovecraft letters. The first was Mysteries of Time and Spirit which collects the correspondence between HPL and Donald Wandrei. I wasn't too interested in Wandrei's letters, to be honest. The next volume looks more interesting as it contains letters written while HPL was in New York.

That's all I can think of now, except for a few chapbooks put out by Necronomicon Press. I'd recommend starting with Lord of a Visible World and then trying Lovecraft at Last. If you like what you've read, then by all means track down the full set of Selected Letters.

[Keziah Mason]

Folks should worship a God that brings 'em fish.


Not only fish, but gold too. And Dagon really delivers on the eternal life part, unlike some other gods who say you have to die first in order to get it.

Say, has anyone seen Stuart Gordon's Dagon? It's a moderately faithful adaptation of Shadow Over Innsmouth. It's set in Spain, not Massachussetts, and the Deep One look is a bit different than I generally picture, but overall I really enjoyed it. The town of Imboca has got the perfect look for Innsmouth and there's a lot of general creepiness going on. There's a great flashback to an Obed Marsh character bursting into the local church trying to convince the townfolk to start worshipping the god who brings gold and fish.

[Candace]

Originally posted by Hexxenhammer
I've been tempted to get one of their CD's. I take it they are actually good? One of the guys in the band is and illustrator for RPG books too. He's a good artist.

Er.... well, perhaps it depends on your opinion of GOOD, per se.
They can play their instruments, so they're better than The Shaggs. They're about on the level of Hawkwind - the references in the songs are what you're really listening to.

[Hexxenhammer]

Originally posted by Keziah Mason
Say, has anyone seen Stuart Gordon's Dagon? It's a moderately faithful adaptation of Shadow Over Innsmouth. It's set in Spain, not Massachussetts, and the Deep One look is a bit different than I generally picture, but overall I really enjoyed it. The town of Imboca has got the perfect look for Innsmouth and there's a lot of general creepiness going on. There's a great flashback to an Obed Marsh character bursting into the local church trying to convince the townfolk to start worshipping the god who brings gold and fish. Dagon was a great movie. Yeah, the townspeople all just turned kinda sea-creaturey, not just fishy. Hence the hot tentacle legged girl. Only problem was understanding what the old fisherman was saying while he was telling his story.

I've got Bride of Reanimator on the way from Netflix. Can't wait.
Er.... well, perhaps it depends on your opinion of GOOD, per se.
They can play their instruments, so they're better than The Shaggs. They're about on the level of Hawkwind - the references in the songs are what you're really listening to.
Noted.

[Paul C. Anagnostopoulos]

Not only is the author excellent, but the '60s rock group of the same name was great.

http://www.scaruffi.com/vol2/hplovecr.html

~~ Paul

[nyarltep]

i enjoy lovecraft a great deal, a couple of my tattoos reflect this
i went to his 100th b-day party celebration
and have played CoC for more than 20 years

[Chanileslie]

Originally posted by Giz


Now comes the real test - who's played the roleplaying game?

I have played it, but it wasn't my favorite RPG. Unfortunately, I have the whole feel of what is the point when everything is going to suck in the end anyway. Also, I got tired of my own party members killing us all because they lost to much sanity.

Although my GM would probably love to play it again, I think the rest of our group would lynch him. We usually don't vote down the GM, but there are occasions when something is just universally unliked, and the GM is wise enough not to bring it back for another round. :)

[sorgoth]

*****! I was reading The Case of Charles Dexter Ward(Which I highly recommend) on the HP Lovecraft library site, and had to stop because it was very late. It so happens I was unable to return for a couple of days, and now the site is down. :(

Does anyone know of any other places where this story is hosted?

[nyarltep]

i have all of lovecrafts stories in .doc form
if you want them let me know

[EdipisReks]

Originally posted by Chanileslie


I have played it, but it wasn't my favorite RPG. Unfortunately, I have the whole feel of what is the point when everything is going to suck in the end anyway. Also, I got tired of my own party members killing us all because they lost to much sanity.

Although my GM would probably love to play it again, I think the rest of our group would lynch him. We usually don't vote down the GM, but there are occasions when something is just universally unliked, and the GM is wise enough not to bring it back for another round. :)

the new version, by WotC, is great. montecook.com is a great place to get info, since he wrote it and there is a large forum on his site. my biggest problem with the game is that nobody gets over about level 7 before being eaten, or some such. the next time i venture into CoC territory, i think i'll use the D20 Modern rules and use CoC as a campaign setting. i think the D20 Modern characters would live a hell of a lot longer.

[Salvius]

Just chiming in as another HPL fan. Since I have an excuse, I'll engage in blatant self-promotion by including a link to a picture I made:

http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=441181&Start=1&Artist=salvius&ByArtist=Yes

Also, since music has been mentioned, I'll point out that one of my favorite Halloween songs is "Providence", by King Crimson (on the album "Red"). And yes, I do believe the title is a reference to HPL, and although it's all instrumental, I think it evokes the feeling of his writing.

[Hexxenhammer]

Originally posted by EdipisReks


the new version, by WotC, is great. montecook.com is a great place to get info, since he wrote it and there is a large forum on his site. my biggest problem with the game is that nobody gets over about level 7 before being eaten, or some such. the next time i venture into CoC territory, i think i'll use the D20 Modern rules and use CoC as a campaign setting. i think the D20 Modern characters would live a hell of a lot longer.

Ditto on that. Just insert the insanity system. Or alternatively you could use the insanity system from Monte Cook's Return to the Temple of Elemental evil.

Also, with d20 modern, if a character goes insane and starts trying to kill the rest of the party, he has all those cool powers and feats to use on his friends. BWAH HA HA HA HA HA!

[Keziah Mason]

Originally posted by sorgoth
*****! I was reading The Case of Charles Dexter Ward(Which I highly recommend) on the HP Lovecraft library site, and had to stop because it was very late. It so happens I was unable to return for a couple of days, and now the site is down. :(


The word going around on a few Lovecraft mailing lists is that Arkham House asked for the website to be taken down.

[Chanileslie]

Originally posted by EdipisReks


the new version, by WotC, is great. montecook.com is a great place to get info, since he wrote it and there is a large forum on his site. my biggest problem with the game is that nobody gets over about level 7 before being eaten, or some such. the next time i venture into CoC territory, i think i'll use the D20 Modern rules and use CoC as a campaign setting. i think the D20 Modern characters would live a hell of a lot longer.

I disagree about it being great. And you made it to level 7????? You lucky b@st@rd!!! I don't think we made it past level 3 before we were killed off by a fellow party member.

[Azathoth]

I blame my work.


Anyway, I am certainly a big fan of the Old Gent from Providence, despite his flaws.
As for whether I 'play the game'... let's just say that my name appears in the rulebook.
I also helped write some of the lyrics to a couple Thickets' songs.

Yes, you may BOW DOWN AND WORSHIP AZATHOTH, THE DAEMON SULTAN!

[Father Dagon]

I did know someone at University that thought a friend of his had a Greek copy of the Necronomicon!!! Wouldn't believe it was a hoax, kept looking at me as if I was mad!Show him the Simon Necronomicon.

Besides, I've been collecting the Penguin editions for some time. The other day I bought the third. They are supposed to have the most correct texts and there's interesting notes.

The omnibus editions should be avoided at any cost. Partly beacuse of the mangled texts and partly beacuse of the totally un-lovecraftian cover art. Like splatter for senile demented 12-year olds?

[leon_heller]

I've always like The Shadow out of Time. I've seen it described somewhere as one of the best science fiction stories ever written, but I can't remember where - it must have been about 50 years ago.

With the CGI facilities available now, they could make some good films from Lovecraft's stories.

I can remember looking through library catalogues for the Necronomicon, not that I believed it existed but to see if anyone had managed to insert a card for it without it being detected by the library. It would be difficult these days with computerised records, of course.

Leon

[leon_heller]

I read a bio of ol' HP, and he was not a particularly pleasant individual, apparently. Racist, white-supremacist, and perhaps "rather more dependent on mum than one should be".

His books are full of descriptions of "half-caste Laskars", sub-men, degenerates, and so forth....

Of course, that may be the product of the times, there was still more than a bit of thought to the effect that the White European Male was the epitome of evolution....

He was quite liberal compared to a lot of popular writers of the time.

Leon

[Father Dagon]

He was quite liberal compared to a lot of popular writers of the time.

LeonBut did they let basis of racism, i.e. fear, fuel the art with the same beautiful results as Lovecraft? ;) And the Dunwich Horror sports truly degenerated anglosaxons. I doubt that Lovecrafts more or less aristocratic longings wouldn't made him popular with the white supremacists of today that still can't get their act together.

I recommend Houllebecq's H. P. Lovecraft: Against the World, Against Life (http://www.amazon.com/H-P-Lovecraft-Against-World/dp/1932416188).

[Bee]

All this talk of Lovecraft has made me wish I never traded in my computer game of Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth.

So when I saw it secondhand today in our local game shop I couldn't resist buying it and it's just as good as I remember from playing it the first time around :D.

[PixyMisa]

Been a fan of ol' HP for many years. One of my faves is The Lurker at the Threshhold...Possibly due to the fact that I read it alone down in the country, with the accompanyment of bullfrogs and whipporwills....(read to see why!)
I think I was 12 when I read that. The more unearthly stories didn't bother me that much, but that one seriously creeped me out.

[cambion]

Well, this thread is a bit aged, but I just finished reading ST Joshi's Lovecraft: A Life and felt like talking about HPL. I've never found another writer who's stories ranged so much in quality. It's hard to believe the same guy who wrote melodramatic, wooden, racist trash like "The Horror at Red Hook" also made great stuff like "The Colour Out of Space" and "The Music of Erich Zann".

The main thing I like about his writing is the underlying philosophy of Cosmic Indifferentism. There was no fiction writer before him (that I know of) who so mocked the idea that humans are the center of the universe. In Lovecraft, humans mistakenly worship alien beings who don't care about them at all as gods. In one story life on earth was created by a race of superior beings as a joke. It's interesting stuff, and definitely ahead of it's time.

[arthwollipot]

Father Dagon called this thread up from the depths of hell itself! A stinking, fetid stench accompanied its rise and all had to turn away or retch in fear. Gradually it faded, but cambion called it up once more to wreak its evil havoc on this corrupt and fetid world.

Ah crap! I used "fetid" twice. Damn!

[Gord_in_Toronto]

Father Dagon called this thread up from the depths of hell itself! A stinking, fetid stench accompanied its rise and all had to turn away or retch in fear. Gradually it faded, but cambion called it up once more to wreak its evil havoc on this corrupt and fetid world.

Ah crap! I used "fetid" twice. Damn!

I find that rather eldritch!

[Mrs. Hmmphries]

I LOVE Lovecraft!!

[dudalb]

Being a Lovecraft fan has one advantage:
Cthuluhu will eat you last.

[tomwaits]

Great threat resurrections, batman!

I must say that I am a big fan of Lovecraft. "The Rats in the Walls" is my favorite. His stories are the one thing I can point to and say that Theosophy did something good: it influenced his writing.

His over-the-top racism throughout the stories is a bit cringeworthy, especially to modern sensibilities. However, I can forgive him for it because he was such an imaginative writer.

[Achán hiNidráne]

A big Lovecraft fan here. If you've got a local Barnes & Noble, stop by and look into a copy of H. P. Lovecraft: The Fiction where you will find EVERY story by HPL penned for the princely sum of 13 bucks!

Oh, and get ahold of The Call Of Cthulhu silent movie (http://www.cthulhulives.org/cocmovie/index.html)! The H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society (http://www.cthulhulives.org/toc.html) also has produced a series of Old-Time-Radio-Style adaptations of At the Mountains of Madness, The Dunwich Horror, and a couple of others. That, and they're working on a film version of "A Whisper In Darkness." (http://www.cthulhulives.org/Whisperer/trailer.html)

[fuelair]

On the racism thing - I have no way of knowing whether any of the gentlman spoken of were racist, but can give loads of examples of others who wrote the same type of thing. One reason could be th rest of the pop culture of the times containing bundles of those stereotypes - many of which were used to avoid trouble by those being stereotyped (like big grin, shuffle, "yassuh , suh" and equivalents for Blacks/AAs). Thorne Smith used them in his comic fantasies and - to a lesser extent, Seabury Quinn in his not-at-all comic ones (Jules de Grassin IIRC) and they were even seen in films made by Blacks for Blacks. ([period referred to here is mid 19-teens to mid/late 30s])

[quarky]

Not only is the author excellent, but the '60s rock group of the same name was great.

http://www.scaruffi.com/vol2/hplovecr.html

~~ Paul

2nd that! Wish i still had their first 2 albums. Good 3 part harmonies, as I recall, and an interesting cover of "Get together", that hippy anthem made popular by the Youngbloods. You're the first person I've ever heard a mention of them from.

(Damn, you must be old!)

[fuelair]

As a side note, Seabury Quinn was a forerunner to Ghostbusters - his protagonist applied science to dealing with the supernatural fiends that infested the town in which he was living - as Ghostbusters did much later.

[cambion]

On the racism thing - I have no way of knowing whether any of the gentlman spoken of were racist, but can give loads of examples of others who wrote the same type of thing. One reason could be th rest of the pop culture of the times containing bundles of those stereotypes - many of which were used to avoid trouble by those being stereotyped (like big grin, shuffle, "yassuh , suh" and equivalents for Blacks/AAs). Thorne Smith used them in his comic fantasies and - to a lesser extent, Seabury Quinn in his not-at-all comic ones (Jules de Grassin IIRC) and they were even seen in films made by Blacks for Blacks. ([period referred to here is mid 19-teens to mid/late 30s])

The problem with Lovecraft is that his racism was even considered excessive in his time. Some of his correspondence and poems are particularly cringeworthy ("On the Creation of *******" is one of the most vile things I've ever read). He even remained a staunch anti-Semite when three of his best friends AND HIS WIFE were all Jewish. It's bizarre.

But at the end of the day, I forgive the guy. His writing makes up for that one personality flaw.

[Dr H]

Ah crap! I used "fetid" twice. Damn!

Hey, if the stench fits . . .

[ParrotPirate]

I think that's going to be next on my list. Never actually read any HPL. I did get to hear a pretty good adaptation of The Dunwich Horror over Halloween weekend,though. The public radio station in my area plays old radio drama shows on Satuday and Sunday nights,and that was run.

[arthwollipot]

OK, seriously. I'm a fan. I've loved his work for many years. I think The Strange Case of Charles Dexter Ward is probably my favourite, partially for the actual story, and partly because of the vivid descriptions of the location (although for the life of me I still don't know what a "gambrel roof" looks like).

I once bought an anthology of his poetry, but I left it on the windowledge during a rainstorm and it went a little mouldy. I thought that was very appropriate. I don't know where it is now.

[ThatSoundAgain]

arth, I have Charles Dexter Ward tied with Pickman's Model and the Whisperer in Darkness. Or I just can't decide which I like better.

In the case of Dexter Ward, there's actually some black wizard versus impromptu militia action which is part of the backstory, but especially that bit is told masterfully vaguely, through the reports of people who weren't even there. Last time through, I read that passage multiple times, and it's both hard to determine exactly what's going on, and makes for a great set up for the following reveals. Really creepy and shows how well it can work when he held back on the adjective soup.

Here's a link to the mentioned (rather decent) radio adaptation of the Colour out of Space (http://artcpodcast.org/index.php?post_id=167517).

There's something appropriate about discussing HPL in a thread this much back from the dead.

[arthwollipot]

I have always liked The Colour out of Space. It's a lovely exploration of a non-standard source of horror. What is the colour? Is it a lifeform of some kind? An occult influence? No-one knows!

[P.J. Denyer]

Say, has anyone seen Stuart Gordon's Dagon? It's a moderately faithful adaptation of Shadow Over Innsmouth. It's set in Spain, not Massachussetts, and the Deep One look is a bit different than I generally picture, but overall I really enjoyed it. The town of Imboca has got the perfect look for Innsmouth and there's a lot of general creepiness going on. There's a great flashback to an Obed Marsh character bursting into the local church trying to convince the townfolk to start worshipping the god who brings gold and fish.

Yeah, I have to admit I only watched it once and found it quite disturbing, it really caught the HPL atmosphere of hopelessness. I found the skinning scene particually unpleasant, I like horror movies, but I'm no fan of the torture-porn genre and that was a little close (although I would argue it was justified by the plot).

Used to ref a game of CoC. Great fun. Almost had one player in tears once through sheer confusion (it was an on the fly adaptation of the Shining).

[fuelair]

OK, seriously. I'm a fan. I've loved his work for many years. I think The Strange Case of Charles Dexter Ward is probably my favourite, partially for the actual story, and partly because of the vivid descriptions of the location (although for the life of me I still don't know what a "gambrel roof" looks like).

I once bought an anthology of his poetry, but I left it on the windowledge during a rainstorm and it went a little mouldy. I thought that was very appropriate. I don't know where it is now.

Now you can know: http://www.buffaloah.com/a/DCTNRY/g/gambrel.html

[Lonewulf]

The problem with Lovecraft is that his racism was even considered excessive in his time. Some of his correspondence and poems are particularly cringeworthy ("On the Creation of *******" is one of the most vile things I've ever read). He even remained a staunch anti-Semite when three of his best friends AND HIS WIFE were all Jewish. It's bizarre.

But at the end of the day, I forgive the guy. His writing makes up for that one personality flaw.

Thanks for the tip. I found The Creation of ******* (http://everything2.com/node/1915264), notably this analysis of it, very enlightening.

I like Lovecraft's fiction, not his beliefs. But it's interesting to see how his beliefs affect his fiction.

Heck, the Old Ones seem to be actual gods from various pantheons, twisted into a whole new form... Shub Niggurath, for instance, uses all the fertility symbols (trees, goat-like creatures, etc.) He also seemed to have a few other interesting beliefs, including that crimes of your ancestors can pass down and corrupt you (if I'm not mistaken), and a few other things.

EDIT: Ah, here's a good bit from the above link.

This brings up another common Lovecraftian theme: that people can never escape the sins of their ancestors (one of these great sins being to mingle blood with one's social and racial inferiors).

[dafydd]

"Behind The Wall Of Sleep" was good.
I've always thought of his work as comical,and I'm always surpised to come across people who take it seriously.

[lofgoernost]

Now you can know: http://www.buffaloah.com/a/DCTNRY/g/gambrel.html

A couple more here (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/LightningVolt_Barn.jpg) and here (http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://lh5.ggpht.com/_dSgifb2_V7M/R0iIpvIuu9I/AAAAAAAADQM/0z1z_4MgGII/IMG_0403.JPG&imgrefurl=http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/ru_PA07XxFr6JdHGc1Zyrg&usg=__ZNpEtd0RGI0Wc0I1PKYemQMZdwA=&h=1200&w=1600&sz=12&hl=en&start=3&um=1&tbnid=lmvGq7O69xEVeM:&tbnh=113&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dgambrel%2Broof%2Bnew%2Bengland%26um%3 D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DN). Those are still far from the Dunwich decrepitude.

A gambrel roof I've admired many times is on the Oracle House (http://farm1.static.flickr.com/26/56370904_9927f84e2b.jpg?v=0). I'm pretty sure Lovecraft visited Portsmouth, NH and likely would've paused to appreciate its architecture.

[Denver]

I think that's going to be next on my list. Never actually read any HPL. I did get to hear a pretty good adaptation of The Dunwich Horror over Halloween weekend,though. The public radio station in my area plays old radio drama shows on Satuday and Sunday nights,and that was run.

If you're looking for a first book, I would suggest H. P. Lovecraft: Tales (Library of America) (http://www.amazon.com/H-P-Lovecraft-Library-America/dp/1931082723/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233154875&sr=8-1).
It has a great selection of stories, in a great order.

[tomwaits]

Or, you could always read his stuff online:

http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0600031h.html#05

[kbm99]

(although for the life of me I still don't know what a "gambrel roof" looks like).

Like a barn roof.

Or, more visually, like this (http://www.ttgnet.com/daynotes/2002/2002-16.html).

"The Thing on the Doorstep," "The Shadow Out of Time," and "The Lurking Fear" are three of my favorites.

[Mrs. Hmmphries]

A big Lovecraft fan here. If you've got a local Barnes & Noble, stop by and look into a copy of H. P. Lovecraft: The Fiction where you will find EVERY story by HPL penned for the princely sum of 13 bucks!

Seriously?!
Watch out Barnes & Noble, here I come!!

[arthwollipot]

Thanks for the pictures. I see these all the time, but I've never known that that's what they were called.

[cj.23]

Guess i'm a Lovecraft fan, or even semi-pro, in that I have edited a fanzine, written a few mythos cycle short stories and also books for Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu rpg and material for Fantasy Flight Games Cthulhu Live. I have a rather vast collection of Lovecraft related books, that I should add to Library Thing. Somewhere I also have some amusing pictures of the year of my life I dedicated to live roleplaying Lovecraftian Horror in the 1920's with a couple of dozen good friends, in costume - 2000 it was, a great year, but I probabaly can't afford the time or money to do it again just yet. Maybe 2012. :)

Hey, I never do things by halves. :)

cj x

[Madalch]

I just discovered an interesting webcomic:

http://www.lovecraftismissing.com

[cambion]

Seriously?!
Watch out Barnes & Noble, here I come!!

If you don't find it you might want to wait a few months. The first edition had TONS of errors in it, and it already went out of print anyway. BUT, I happened to bump into the person who's revising it on a different message board. They posted all the stuff they're fixing, and said the new addition would be out later this year.

[Polaris]

What's with his racism? "Degenerate Eskimo"? :rr:

Quite an excellent writer, though.

The narrator's cat in "The Rats in the Walls" had a...colorful name.

Lovecraft is great. I first picked up an old compilation based around "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" after reading about him in Danse Macabre, figuring that anybody who could creep out Stephen King went to the top of my list.

Seems H.P. was a big influence on the creators of Silent Hill, to my endless gratitude, and "Innsmouth" and the movie Dagon* ** (inspired by that story, and another one of the same name) was a heavy influence on Resident Evil 4 (killing murderous, former-human peasants in rural Spain). Could be a coincidence, but at one point in the latter game there was a well you pass by with a spire of color coming out of it (from an item to grab).

Once in a while when I'm driving around, I'll see a "Miskatonic University" bumper sticker on a car.

*Probably the most faithful Lovecraft film adaptations (notoriously hard to do), and maybe the only one to use the famous chant. Great nude scene too, but the latter half of the movie is not for the squeamish.

[tomwaits]

This thread has a very Cyclopean style.

[Bikewer]

But it's based on a non-Euclidean geometry....

[tomwaits]

Lovecraft's literature is introduced into school education. (http://www.theonion.com/content/news/lovecraftian_school_board_member?utm_source=a-section)

[dudalb]

Lovecraft's literature is introduced into school education. (http://www.theonion.com/content/news/lovecraftian_school_board_member?utm_source=a-section)


Cthulhu is pleased.

[Ysidro]

Hmm, I've now learned the roof of the building I live in is a gambrel roof. Fortunatly, there are no unusual angles for me to worry about.

My grandparents' old house is another matter though. *shudder*

[arthwollipot]

Lovecraft's literature is introduced into school education. (http://www.theonion.com/content/news/lovecraftian_school_board_member?utm_source=a-section)I used "The Outsider" for one of my high school English projects. Got decent marks for it, too.

[Father Dagon]

The narrator's cat in "The Rats in the Walls" had a...colorful name.Yeah, but it is a brave cat.

[cj.23]

Yeah, but it is a brave cat.

It was the name of one of HPL's own much loved cats. I nearly called Crowley that but was reminded by then girlfriend it might cause offence.

cj x

[dudalb]

According to a news item at C.H.U.D.
www.chud.com Ron Howard is planning on directing a film based on the Lovecraft Mythos.:jaw-dropp:jaw-dropp:jaw-dropp.

I can see it now "How Cthulhu Stole Christmas".

[Father Dagon]

It was the name of one of HPL's own much loved cats. I nearly called Crowley that but was reminded by then girlfriend it might cause offence.

cj xFrom one subject to another. Lovecraft started with poetry. Something that you can tell when reading the passages where he simply lets himself go. It's not just random expressions of madness. It got pace and rhythm. See my signature, for instance.

[RobRoy]

Lovecraft's literature is introduced into school education. (http://www.theonion.com/content/news/lovecraftian_school_board_member?utm_source=a-section)


West has served on the school board since 1997, when he defeated 89-year-old incumbent Doris Pesce by promising to enforce dress codes and refer repeat disciplinary cases to the three-lobed burning eye. He has run unopposed ever since.

:bigclap

[Kthulhut Fhtagn]

Since some people in here have played it I'd figure I'd go ahead and ask. Does anybody know a website or program that I could download that would allow me to play CoC over the internet? I've attempted to get some friends together to play but there is literally no one here into RPGs.

That said I'm a huge H.P. Lovecraft fan. Someone posted a link earlier to a very good collection of his works and I've resolved to sit down and read all of them, including the one's I've already read. :D

[cj.23]

I've run CoC using MSN Messenger, but a chat room might work. There are some programmes designed to do this, asking the question at www.rpg.net/forums best place. You might also want to check out http://www.yog-sothoth.com/

Some sad news. "Doc" Keith Herber died about ten days back. He was well known in the HPL community, and was author of a number of Chaosium Cthulhu supplements (especially Fungi From Yuggoth aka Day of the Beast), and the Miskatonic Valley series. Like most writers in Cthulhu circles he struggled to get paid by some companies, and his family are now struggling too. In that spirit -- if any of you knew the man or his work - http://www.fundable.com/groupactions/groupaction.2009-03-14.8857145180 is a great cause. The obituary is here http://www.legacy.com/theledger/Obituaries.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonId=125208040

cj x

[Psi Baba]

OK, seriously. I'm a fan. I've loved his work for many years. I think The Strange Case of Charles Dexter Ward is probably my favourite, partially for the actual story, and partly because of the vivid descriptions of the location (although for the life of me I still don't know what a "gambrel roof" looks like).
Arth, have you seen the film, The Resurrected with Chris Sarandon? Based on "Ward", IMO, it's the single best Lovecraft adaptation around. It's not flawless, but very well done, especially the laboratory/catacomb scenes.

About once a year I read through the entire collection of stories. I never grow tired of rereading his stuff. My favorites are
"The Shunned House"
"The Music of Eric Zann"
"The Shadow Over Innsmouth"
"Cool Air"
"The Colour Out of Space"
"The Whisperer in Darkness"
"The Dunwich Horror"
"The Festival"

[Kthulhut Fhtagn]

I've run CoC using MSN Messenger, but a chat room might work. There are some programmes designed to do this, asking the question at www.rpg.net/forums best place. You might also want to check out http://www.yog-sothoth.com/

Thanks for the info CJ, your rpg.net link didn't work though. I'll check out yog-sothoth but I've sent out some invites to friends for playing an MSN or chatroom game of CoC. :)

[ThatSoundAgain]

I've run CoC using MSN Messenger, but a chat room might work. There are some programmes designed to do this, asking the question at www.rpg.net/forums best place. You might also want to check out http://www.yog-sothoth.com/

Some sad news. "Doc" Keith Herber died about ten days back. He was well known in the HPL community, and was author of a number of Chaosium Cthulhu supplements (especially Fungi From Yuggoth aka Day of the Beast), and the Miskatonic Valley series. Like most writers in Cthulhu circles he struggled to get paid by some companies, and his family are now struggling too. In that spirit -- if any of you knew the man or his work - http://www.fundable.com/groupactions/groupaction.2009-03-14.8857145180 is a great cause. The obituary is here http://www.legacy.com/theledger/Obituaries.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonId=125208040

cj x

Sad news indeed. I was lucky enough to meet him briefly at a con some years back.

[Mr Clingford]

This makes me laugh:The Cthulhu Chick Tract (http://rubbersuitstudios.com/ptcct.htm)

[Malkuth]

I remember reading a lot of Lovecraft's stuff in high school, some friends who I played d&d with back then were all over it and as soon as I started reading it I was hooked on the darker side of literature.

Some may cry sacrilege, but I also very much enjoyed Brian Lumley's mythos related stuff. Titus Crow, Clock of Dreams, Ithaqua the Wind-Walker, Dreamland and Primal Land stuff, Dagon's Bell etc.

[Kthulhut Fhtagn]

This makes me laugh:The Cthulhu Chick Tract (http://rubbersuitstudios.com/ptcct.htm)

Oh god, such a classic! :D