Any Lovecraft fans here? by ecgordon

OTHER SCIENCE FICTION SERIES

Any Lovecraft fans here?

POSTED BY: ECGORDON
UPDATED: Tuesday, May 2, 2006 00:47
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Sunday, March 12, 2006 7:02 AM

There's no place I can be since I found Serenity.

The H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society has recently produced a film - The Call of Cthulhu - and it is now available on dvd. Here's a link to their website - http://www.cthulhulives.org/cocmovie/index.html - although I haven't been able to access it all morning for some reason.

Anyway, my son (who posts here occasionally as Mohr Stoutbeard) recently bought the dvd, and he liked it a lot, and this morning I uploaded his review to our website. Please don't worry that it is a Tripod site, I pay a fee to keep the site ad-free. Check it out.

http://templetongate.tripod.com/call-of-cthulhu.htm

wo men ren ran zai fei xing.

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Sunday, March 12, 2006 7:30 AM

JADEHAND

Hey, I'm a bit familiar with Cthulhu. I haven't really bothered to read much lovecraft though. My friends are really into it and we occassionally explore the world via the RPG. I think the less I understand the more fun it is. However,we played this new (rereleased) board game I think you and your son might enjoy. http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/15987 Call Of Cthulhu Arkham Horror. Similar to Talisman if you've heard of that.

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But you might as well talk to the stones and the trees and the sea
'Cause nobody knows And so few can see
There's only beauty and caring and truth beyond darkness." -Estonia(This Strange Engine) -Marillion

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Sunday, March 12, 2006 7:35 AM

NUCLEARDAY

Sounds quite interesting, thanks for the link to the review (I couldn't get on the actual site, either... possibly being mobbed by ravenous and gibbering truth-seekers?)

There certainly has been a certain... lack of good Lovecraftian movies. (My favorite being the Necronomicon, which was sort of an anthology film; the interstitials showing Lovecraft breaking into some cult temple to steal the famous tome and contains my favorite scene where Lovecraft himself sneaks up on a guard and rips his upper lip up over his skull ;p)

Like I said, though, this sounds interesting at least. Like the idea of doing it as an old silent film, sort of lends itself to the Mythos.

Cthulhu f'taghn!

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You can take my hope when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers.

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Sunday, March 12, 2006 8:40 AM

RELFEXIVE

Iä! Iä! Iä!

Anyways, I like these too:

http://www.hello-cthulhu.com/

http://www.macguff.fr/goomi/unspeakable/

"My God - you're like a trained ape. Without the training."
"Come a day there won't be room for naughty men like us to slip about at all..."
"SUMMER!!"
http://www.theshadowdepository.co.uk/index.htm

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Sunday, March 12, 2006 9:39 AM

REAVERINA1985RIVIERA

Has any one played the Call of Cthulu video game on the Xbox? It's a great game if you're familiar the mythos.

---------------------------------------------
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Two. One to try to put it in and another to find a bigger hammer.

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Sunday, March 12, 2006 10:36 AM

Ooo I love Lovecraft. Yes, the movie adaptations have blown over the years, but this new film you speak of sounds like it's actually trying to pay respects. I just hope the special effects are up to par, I don't want to see a paper mache shoggoth. The silent film idea, or even early talkie style film might be cool, like how A Scanner Darkly is being done as a rotoscoped animated film. Anything to be different from the crowd, and fresh, at least.

Remember, Remember the fifth of November

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Sunday, March 12, 2006 11:16 AM

LIGHTMEDARK

Yeah, the new Cthulhu game on the xbox/ps2 is pretty great. I'm definitely a fan of the Cthulhu mythos. Lovecraft was great, though I'm not the biggest fan of his writing style.

---
http://www.xffx.net/blog <-inching towards daylight

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Sunday, March 12, 2006 11:27 AM

His writing style does consist of basically the entire story being exposition.

Remember, Remember the fifth of November

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Sunday, March 12, 2006 11:59 AM

SINGATE

Lovecraft is easily one of the most underappreciated writers of the 20th century. A lot of it has to do with his writing style and use of some archaic terminology. Of course it wasn't archaic back in the 1920's when he did the bulk of his writing.

A few years ago I picked up the majority of his writings through Arkham House Publishing. It's a set of 3 hardcover books containing what I believe is his best work.

Yes the movies have sucked in a big way. I heard a rumor a few years back that there was going to be a big budget film based on "At the Mountains of Madness". Has anyone heard anything about this recently?

_________________________________________________

We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far.

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Sunday, March 12, 2006 12:47 PM

LIGHTMEDARK

That would definitely be something to see if they "did it right." I've looked at some Lovecraft sets by Arkham House Publishing, haven't bought one yet, though. The style and the terminology don't bother me, it's the whole 90% is exposition thing that gets to me sometimes...still read and enjoy his works, though ;)

---
http://www.xffx.net/blog <-inching towards daylight

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Sunday, March 12, 2006 12:54 PM

SINGATE

One of the things I truly enjoy about his writings is that he leaves so much to the imagination of the reader. This unfortunately is tied in to his use or overuse of exposition. Since many of the stories are narrated by the sole survivor of some bizarre circumstance we are given a tale told solely from that person's point of view. One of Lovecraft's main themes is that whatever the survivor witnessed was so horrible they cannot bear to recount everything that took place. Hence, we do not get a lot of action or description.

_________________________________________________

We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far.

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Sunday, March 12, 2006 1:16 PM

SIMONB

Quote:
Originally posted by ecgordon:
The H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society has recently produced a film - The Call of Cthulhu - and it is now available on dvd. Here's a link to their website - http://www.cthulhulives.org/cocmovie/index.html - although I haven't been able to access it all morning for some reason.

Anyway, my son (who posts here occasionally as Mohr Stoutbeard) recently bought the dvd, and he liked it a lot, and this morning I uploaded his review to our website. Please don't worry that it is a Tripod site, I pay a fee to keep the site ad-free. Check it out.

http://templetongate.tripod.com/call-of-cthulhu.htm

wo men ren ran zai fei xing.

Yes, I'm a huge HPL fan - hate the films (try mostly to pretend they didn't do them) though will check out the link you posted. Love the Old Gentleman's writings - love his writing style (know some people dislike it though) but to me it almost feels like something out of the pages of one of the terrible books he describes, love his imagination, the bleakness of his stories, the brooding horror and the fact that they are genuinely creepy, deep, dark and disturbing!

Have been a HPL fan most of my life. Even run the roleplays!

- Shiny. Let's be bad guys.

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Sunday, March 12, 2006 2:29 PM

OPPYH

Lovecraft, and Robert E. Howard. My cup of tea.

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Sunday, March 12, 2006 3:24 PM

2X2

I'm a Lovecraft fan, mostly through a horror roleplaying game I used to play, and my husband, who is a huge fan....

At one point, we owned about every Lovecraft film there was, and yeah, they almost all sucked... but,there have been a couple of films that have at least captured some of the feel of Lovecraftian work... Dagon, while not the best, still has a very Innsmouth sort of feel to it, and if you like the nasty gore, has a 'wonderful' face skinning scene.

In the Mouth of Madness, while not a Lovecraft film per se, also has elements that give the right atmosphere, also a movie called Dead and Buried, again, not Lovecraft, but reminded me very much of Innsmouth again...

And a tidbit, which is probably widely known anyway, but the original version of the Thing (titled The Thing From Another World if I recall right) was supposedly based on At the Mountains of Madness....Oooh Giant killer Carrot!!

As for games, I've heard the original Arkham Horror is better than the new release as there have been some rule changes, but I can't say as I haven't played either, but two other great games are The Hills Rise Wild, which is a tile based game that is a ton of fun: ( http://www.tccorp.com/pagan/thehillsrisewild/index.html)
I did some playtesting for that game, and it's really fun and silly and a good time.

Also, Cults Across America is a somewhat Risk like game in which you try to dominate the world (or America at least) and become the most poerful cult, start plagues, make cosmic ray guns, and summon all your favourite Lovecraftian monsters... ( http://www.atlas-games.com/product_tables/AG1210.php)Also a really fun time...

Iä Iä Cthulhu Ftagn!!

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Sunday, March 12, 2006 3:37 PM

ECGORDON

There's no place I can be since I found Serenity.

The Thing from Another World was based on the short story "Who Goes There," written by John W. Campbell under the pen-name of Don A. Stuart. It might be possible that Campbell was influenced in some way by Lovecraft.

wo men ren ran zai fei xing.

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Sunday, March 12, 2006 3:40 PM

2X2

Yes.... as I heard it, Who Goes There was based on At The Mountains of Madness, then the fifties Thing was based on Who Goes There... whild John Carpenters The Thing drew on the original source again....

That is how my husband tells me :o)

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Sunday, March 12, 2006 4:58 PM

MOHRSTOUTBEARD

Quote:
Originally posted by ReaverInA1985Riviera:
Has any one played the Call of Cthulu video game on the Xbox?

I've been waiting for it to be released on PC, which it finally is at the end of this month. It's gotten some rather good reviews, so I'm really looking forward to it.

Quote:
Originally posted by V:
I just hope the special effects are up to par, I don't want to see a paper mache shoggoth.

My review discusses this. If you're in it for amazing special effects you'll probably be disappointed.

Quote:
Originally posted by 2x2:
Yes.... as I heard it, Who Goes There was based on At The Mountains of Madness, then the fifties Thing was based on Who Goes There... whild John Carpenters The Thing drew on the original source again....

"At the Mountains of Madness" is one of Lovecraft's stories that I still haven't read, but I do know John Carpenter's The Thing is much more faithful to the original "Who Goes There?" than the 50's The Thing from Another World.

------------------
"Remember, there's a big difference between kneeling down and bending over."

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Monday, March 13, 2006 2:54 AM

NUCLEARDAY

Quote:
Originally posted by singate:
Lovecraft is easily one of the most underappreciated writers of the 20th century. A lot of it has to do with his writing style and use of some archaic terminology. Of course it wasn't archaic back in the 1920's when he did the bulk of his writing.

(Plus getting paid by the page/ word, etc sort of helps to encourage lots of exposition :) I'll agree with the others: Lovecraft wasn't necessarily the greatest writer of that group, at least so far as the technical aspects, etc. (Some of my favorite Mythos stories are from August Derleth (sp) and the others.)

He was best as the idea man, though, sort of drawing in better talents and serving as the focal point for all the Mythos writers. Can't remember where I came across it, but found an interview with him somewhere where he's talking about all these inquiries he's always getting from people looking to buy the Necronomicon from him ;p The genius of that whole group was in being able to create such a detailed pantheon of horrors with all those little details shared among them that to this day people who have never even heard of Lovecraft know about The Book, and often think it may have some basis in reality ;p

Aside: was I the only one who heard about premise of The Ring, and was reminded of The King in Yellow?

________________________________________________
You can take my hope when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers.

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Monday, March 13, 2006 9:32 PM

SINGATE

The weird thing is that not only do people believe in the Necronomicon there are those who also believe that the Great Old One are real. Some actually think Lovecraft was given his ideas in order to spread their influence and hasten their return to power.

I know it sounds like the John Carpenter movie "In the Mouth of Madness" but it is actually true. I remember hearing about some modern writers who were creating new stories based on the Cthulhu Mythos having a press conference where people actually asked them about the return of the real Old Ones! And, no they weren't kidding!

_________________________________________________

We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far.

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Tuesday, March 14, 2006 1:08 PM

LIGHTMEDARK

I could see where people would get that from, really. It's still amusing though.

---
http://www.xffx.net/blog <-inching towards daylight

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Tuesday, March 14, 2006 10:39 PM

FREDGIBLET

I think that it's interesting that so many people here are dissing Lovecraft movies. I live in the Portland, OR area and I went to a Lovecraft film festival a few months ago http://www.hplfilmfestival.com/ that showed a bunch of short films that were mostly very good. There were even a couple of parodies that were quite funny. If you like Lovecraft and live in the area I suggest dropping by, I don't think that you will be disappointed.

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Thursday, March 16, 2006 5:47 AM

GARYPRYKE

My favourite of the short stories I have read is "The Vault". There was only one story I could really call scary and I can't remember the name of it. It's about a guy who's car breaks down and he tries to find a phone. He goes to someones house, the door is open and he see's a book with VERY disturbing pictures in it.

Metallica are big fans and used some of his stuff as lyrics in "The Thing That Should Not Be".

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Friday, March 17, 2006 6:35 AM

NUCLEARDAY

Cant' remember the name, but my favorite short story I've read of his is the one that take place on Venus, I think. Sort of a sci-fi thing, he's trying to make it through and invisible maze... been awhile since I've read up on my Lovecraft come to think of it (have to dig some of my books out of the closet again, I guess.)

Anyways, that was the story where I went like "oh... yeah, he's writing horror, sure. But it's science fiction, really." Turn of the century, fear of mankind's role in the face of new scientific evidence about the nature of the universe... these aren't supernatural beings we're dealing with but aliens from out in the vast reaches of the black. (Okay, so I knew it was aliens before but it took me awhile for it to all sink in.)

Okay, looks like I'm rambling again. (Seem to have a knack for that. :)

________________________________________________
You can take my hope when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers.

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Saturday, March 18, 2006 1:05 PM

SIMONB

Quote:
Originally posted by nuclearday:
Cant' remember the name, but my favorite short story I've read of his is the one that take place on Venus, I think. Sort of a sci-fi thing, he's trying to make it through and invisible maze... been awhile since I've read up on my Lovecraft come to think of it (have to dig some of my books out of the closet again, I guess.)

That one was "In The Walls of Eryx"

- Shiny. Let's be bad guys.

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Tuesday, April 18, 2006 9:28 AM

VERA2529

Quote:
Originally posted by singate:

Yes the movies have sucked in a big way. I heard a rumor a few years back that there was going to be a big budget film based on "At the Mountains of Madness". Has anyone heard anything about this recently?

Well, I read something...in either Rue Morgue mag last month or possibly in Premier (the only two movie things I read regularly) that Guillermo del Toro wants to make an At the Mountains of Madness movie. However, he doubts any studios will do it.

Apologies that I can't cite my source, but I'm at work right now.

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Tuesday, April 18, 2006 9:33 AM

ARIZONAVALENTINE

"DO YOU READ SUTTER CANE?"

The movie comes out next month..

Moi Passepartout

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Tuesday, May 2, 2006 12:47 AM

J6NGO1977

My only experience of Lovecraft is I used to play tabletop Call of Cthulhu. I believe The Unameable is Lovecraft as well. A pretty ropey film

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