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H.P. Lovecraft.

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Press Junketeer
Posts: 414
Joined: 18 Feb 2008

kanada514:
The Lurker on the Threshold, and hmmm, what was it called, the colour fallen from the sky?
The Fallen Color? Something like that, I don't remember.

The Colour Out of Space. That one gave me chills too.

Gone Gonzo
Posts: 2019
Joined: 25 Jun 2008

Arsen:

Jamash:

Cockney Weasel:

If I had a time machine I would travel back, grab him by the lapels and bring him back to our time and show him how wrong he was, point out that his oh-so-saintly father's madness and death was most likely due to syphillis and then dump him back in his own shitty time period where his sort of racism was quietly tolerated.

You know that wouldn't work, you wouldn't be able to change his perception and if anything, it would just confirm his beliefs, he'd only see what he wanted to see.

He would write a story about a man who has a strange dream.....

He'd write about how the sub-human tribes have run amok in society, how they trample each other to death in a derranged mob, fuelled by an evil desire for material poessions(sic), on a day which is so named after those tribes.
...................

If you are talking about the Los Angelos riots then you are correct...

Because that is EXACTLY what happened.

I was actually hypothesising on how H.P. Lovecraft would interpret the recent Black Friday tragedy at Wal-Mart, I don't know too much about the LA riots, but I'm sure he would make an equally bleak interpretation of that too, also the looting after hurricane Katrina.
There's probably lots of modern news stories and tragedies that a man with Lovecraft's opinions & writing talents could twist to support their 'racist views'.

But it's all hypothetical, time machines don't exist & if they are invented, I highly doubt 'Cockney Weasel' will get his hands on one & bring H.P. Lovecraft to the future.

I also want to point out I'm only guessing about what H.P. Lovecraft would think, I don't share these views nor am I trying to make any racial commentary on recent events.

Paperboy
Posts: 18
Joined: 15 Aug 2008

kanada514- The Color (or Colour) Out of Space is what you're probably referring to.

I've loved Lovecraft's work for sometime. I've given up entirely on movies based on his work (until Guillermo makes is which is supposed to be balls out fantastic, but that's pre-producion hype). They're usually amusing but miss the point. Dagon wasn't TOO bad. Not as bad as others. The role playing game (table top) Call of Cthulhu is f*cking brilliant. And Bethesda did an FPS that was (IMO) incredibly well done and depicts Shadow Over Innsmouth and- name escapes me. THe one about time, Shadow Out of Time??? Whatever, the time traveling one about the alien race that has been destroyed but still projects itself into time.

I really loved Lovecraft's bleak look at the world. No romantic subplot, and almost no chance the character(s) will make it out alive or sane. To the Lovecraft fans who have not done so, I'd highly recommend reading into his real life. It explains a bit, his dad was a traveling salesman that died from syphilis, mother committed suicide, and he was interesting in space and astronomy but never made the science or math grades to really pursue it. Anyway, just thowing in my 2 cents.

Gone Gonzo
Posts: 2878
Joined: 6 Mar 2008

Lovecraft rocks. My favorite story of his is probably "The Dreamquest of Unknown Kadath". It's about a man named Randolph Carter who goes into the Dreamlands to find the shining city of Kadath that he glimpsed once in a dream. It's a lot more fantasy than his other stuff, but it still has that awesome, eldritch horror flavor we all know and love. Highly recommended. But I love everything I've read by him.

Gone Gonzo
Posts: 1139
Joined: 26 Nov 2008

All I am saying is that Lovecraft's work is to beautiful to bring up the non-existent detail of his racism. Seriously...it's beyond forgivable in consideration of his talents to the point where it just doesn't even matter.

At all.

Gone Gonzo
Posts: 2019
Joined: 25 Jun 2008

.

Arsen:
All I am saying is that Lovecraft's work is to beautiful to bring up the non-existent detail of his racism. Seriously...it's beyond forgivable in consideration of his talents to the point where it just doesn't even matter.

At all.

I agree.

Has anyone here read any of Brian Lumley's Cthulhu Mythos books? I can highly recommend them to any fans of Lovecraft's work.

Pulitzer Laureate
Posts: 830
Joined: 13 Oct 2007

I've never really noticed too much racism in his short stories. I read his stories for the atmosphere, and the way he writes. He was paid, per word for his writings, so the writing is long and 'wispy' (at least that's the way I see it) and it really adds to the atmosphere.

I'm an avid fan of his writings. Really unsettling to read at 1:00 am.

A friend of mine likes his writings too, he thinks there should be movie adaptations. I wholeheartedly disagree though. Movie adaptations tend to rape what they are trying to adapt. The way Lovecraft writes, he leaves a lot to your imagination.

Infamous Scribbler
Posts: 514
Joined: 17 Sep 2008

At the Mountains of Madness is one of my favorites along with The Case of Charles Dexter Ward. I like most of his writings though.

Now on an ending note: Tekkeli-li

EDIT: Try finding the cd's: A Very Scary Solstice, An Even Scarrier Solstice (Christmas carrols re-written to sout the mythos) and A Shoggoth on the Roof (the music from a musicall). They are made by the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society. You might like them... or go insane.

Artist
Posts: 189
Joined: 24 Jun 2008

I haven't been able to make it past that story he wrote about the lobster people.. e-gads! Most of his stuff is just creepy, but that story just made me lose it. I couldn't continue.

Hopefully some day I will have the balls to pick up his stuff again.

Infamous Scribbler
Posts: 587
Joined: 27 Apr 2008

Jamash:
.

Arsen:
All I am saying is that Lovecraft's work is to beautiful to bring up the non-existent detail of his racism. Seriously...it's beyond forgivable in consideration of his talents to the point where it just doesn't even matter.

At all.

I agree.

Has anyone here read any of Brian Lumley's Cthulhu Mythos books? I can highly recommend them to any fans of Lovecraft's work.

I have read all of the Lumley books, everything he has ever written... But to be honest wouldnt say there any good to Lovecraft purists as he brings in Cthulus brother who is a good giant squid man, Titus Crow who plays out like the central character from a Dennis Wheatley novel and the good guys stand a chance. His shorts are a wee bit more Macabre and his Necroscope books are amazing.

The Bathesda Game is what got my mate into the Mythos he has now caught up with me on Lovecraft and I still run a Call of Cuthulu Table Top game everyweek.

On a related topic "The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets" should get a mention for there a Lovecraft Inspired Rock band who are absolutely superb. All we need now is a decent film adaptation. I am not counting Re-animator!

As to the racism Lovecraft was a Mysoginist, misanthrope so I think he hated everyone that was different to him and that given quite how peculiar he was was just about everyone!

Muckraker
Posts: 241
Joined: 4 Sep 2008

goater24:
Has anybody found the H.P Lovecraft mission within Fallout 3 in Dunwich? An awesome nod in the direction of cthulhu

there is also one in oblivion called "Shadow Over Hackdirt"

On the Record
Posts: 5945
Joined: 7 Feb 2008

ckeymel:
I haven't been able to make it past that story he wrote about the lobster people.. e-gads! Most of his stuff is just creepy, but that story just made me lose it. I couldn't continue.

Hopefully some day I will have the balls to pick up his stuff again.

Lobster People?

Tricky Lobster People? (http://www.drmcninja.com/)

Gone Gonzo
Posts: 1821
Joined: 7 Jul 2008

I keep meaning to read works by Lovecraft because of all the things he inspired that have cropped up in various media including video games (XCom: Terror From the Deep, Fallout 3, elements of Warhammer 40k, those are just a few instances)

Muckraker
Posts: 241
Joined: 4 Sep 2008

molester jester:

goater24:
Has anybody found the H.P Lovecraft mission within Fallout 3 in Dunwich? An awesome nod in the direction of cthulhu

there is also one in oblivion called "Shadow Over Hackdirt"

but too late i notice someone has already mentioned this

On the Record
Posts: 5945
Joined: 7 Feb 2008

AceDiamond:
I keep meaning to read works by Lovecraft because of all the things he inspired that have cropped up in various media including video games (XCom: Terror From the Deep, Fallout 3, elements of Warhammer 40k, those are just a few instances)

As I recall The Lovecraft estate sued TSR over the mindflayers way bad when.

Gone Gonzo
Posts: 2297
Joined: 5 Nov 2008

The first H.P Lovecraft story that I read was the Reanimator. it terrified me.

On the Record
Posts: 5674
Joined: 2 Dec 2007

I'm currently finishing up a few of his novels. I like a lot of his work, though some stories really annoyed me. 'The Doom that Came to Sarnath' was one of them. Doom, doom, doom! We get it, they're doomed. Though Call of Cthulhu, The Hound and The Temple are held to me as some of his greatest works. Especially the latter.

As for him being a racist?
He [the 'Negro'] was a loathsome, gorilla-like thing, with abnormally long arms which I could not help calling fore-legs, and a face that conjured up thoughts of unspeakable Congo secrets and tom-tom poundings under an eerie moon. The body must have looked worse in life - but the world holds many ugly things.
Yeah, I think he was. You know, just a tad.

Gone Gonzo
Posts: 2746
Joined: 21 May 2008

I got interested in H.P Lovecraft. I played the Call of Cthulhu game on xbox. It could have been a better tribute.

Infamous Scribbler
Posts: 587
Joined: 27 Apr 2008

PurpleRain:
I'm currently finishing up a few of his novels. I like a lot of his work, though some stories really annoyed me. 'The Doom that Came to Sarnath' was one of them. Doom, doom, doom! We get it, they're doomed. Though Call of Cthulhu, The Hound and The Temple are held to me as some of his greatest works. Especially the latter.

As for him being a racist?
He [the 'Negro'] was a loathsome, gorilla-like thing, with abnormally long arms which I could not help calling fore-legs, and a face that conjured up thoughts of unspeakable Congo secrets and tom-tom poundings under an eerie moon. The body must have looked worse in life - but the world holds many ugly things.
Yeah, I think he was. You know, just a tad.

And in a horror story he was perhaps going to say "The African American was a lovely, Nubian god, with a fantastic physique and muscular arms, his face conjured up thoughts of being a credit to his well presented community it's white picket fences and the sounds of inoffensive Jazz! All of this despite the fact that he was dead!"

Hes describing a zombie, in a way that it would impact on the psyche of a thirties audiance, Lovecraft was an expert at plunging the psycholgical depths of the human mind. Today his writing would be full of swarthy middle eastern gentlemen with backpacks, Peadophilles and the underclass. You simply cannot make any modern critique of a past work based on current morals.

Imagine a hypothetical, Obama is assainated America is plunged into a race based civil war and African Americans lose but in a final attack nuke Washington, some ten years after the event the US is now once again a racist nation, everything from today's PC age would be viewed in the same incredulous manner as Lovecraft is today!

Gone Gonzo
Posts: 1416
Joined: 19 Jun 2008

kanada514:
The Lurker on the Threshold, and hmmm, what was it called, the colour fallen from the sky?
The Fallen Color? Something like that, I don't remember.

The Colour From Space is the one you're looking for.

Personally, I love all his work, but The King In Yellow has to be my favourite.

Infamous Scribbler
Posts: 634
Joined: 6 Feb 2008

I haven't read him much, but "The Rats in the Walls" and "The Thing on the Doorstep" give me chills.

Gone Gonzo
Posts: 1821
Joined: 7 Jul 2008

PedroSteckecilo:

AceDiamond:
I keep meaning to read works by Lovecraft because of all the things he inspired that have cropped up in various media including video games (XCom: Terror From the Deep, Fallout 3, elements of Warhammer 40k, those are just a few instances)

As I recall The Lovecraft estate sued TSR over the mindflayers way bad when.

Yes that as well.

Artist
Posts: 189
Joined: 24 Jun 2008

PedroSteckecilo:

ckeymel:
I haven't been able to make it past that story he wrote about the lobster people.. e-gads! Most of his stuff is just creepy, but that story just made me lose it. I couldn't continue.

Hopefully some day I will have the balls to pick up his stuff again.

Lobster People?

Tricky Lobster People? (http://www.drmcninja.com/)

Doing a little search, I have found it was called Whisperer in the Darkness.. *shudders* eepy creepy! Although I do love me a velociraptor riding, mustache wearing 10 year old!

Gone Gonzo
Posts: 1331
Joined: 22 Oct 2008

I love Lovecraft's work. Wonderful stuff. Also, Cthulhu had nothing to do with Dunwhich, if i remember correctly.

Copy Clerk
Posts: 68
Joined: 29 Sep 2008

kanada514:
The Lurker on the Threshold, and hmmm, what was it called, the colour fallen from the sky?
The Fallen Color? Something like that, I don't remember.

"The Colour Out Of Space" is what you're looking for.

**EDIT** I should really read the whole thread before replying to a single post >_<

Copy Clerk
Posts: 68
Joined: 29 Sep 2008

Jaythulhu:

Personally, I love all his work, but The King In Yellow has to be my favourite.

Actually, Robert W. Chambers wrote The King In Yellow collection. HPL read it and thought so much of it that he referenced it in several of his own stories.

Its that kind of sharing among authors that built the Cthulhu Mythos and seems to be sadly absent in the modern literary world.

Infamous Scribbler
Posts: 587
Joined: 27 Apr 2008

Even the Barbarian in chief Robert E Howard wrote some cracking Mythos related stuff. Can I also bring attentio to WH Hodgeson my favorite Mythos style writer. He was totally different to Lovecraft as he was a total man of action, seafarer, warrior, martial artist and he was killed on active duty in the first world war! Check him out!

Gone Gonzo
Posts: 1150
Joined: 29 Oct 2008

Arsen:
I think this man is the greatest horror writer of our time,

How old are you..?

Probably best full stop.

I like the story of the glass labyrinth in the field. Brilliant. Any one know the name?

People should check out 'Mark Z. Danielwski - House of Leaves'. It has the same uncomfortable feeling, grab a dictionary though.

Gone Gonzo
Posts: 2712
Joined: 20 Jul 2008

Love that man's work, scares the crap out of me everytime I read it. For any fans of the mytho's you might enjoy this album from a group I like.

http://www.noxarcana.com/necronomicon.html

Beat Writer
Posts: 126
Joined: 6 Aug 2008

I thought Dark Corners of the Earth was one of the best horror games of all time. It's truly scary. And I love Call of Cthulu.

Gone Gonzo
Posts: 1532
Joined: 6 Apr 2008

electric discordian:
Even the Barbarian in chief Robert E Howard wrote some cracking Mythos related stuff. Can I also bring attentio to WH Hodgeson my favorite Mythos style writer. He was totally different to Lovecraft as he was a total man of action, seafarer, warrior, martial artist and he was killed on active duty in the first world war! Check him out!

Speaking of Howard and Mythos elements, The Tower of the Elephant is a particularly good Conan story in that regard. Hmm, I even saw a copy of a leatherbound centennial edition of H.P. Lovecraft's stuff in a store, could be good, I've got the Conan centennial one, pretty awesome :3

Gone Gonzo
Posts: 1139
Joined: 26 Nov 2008

MattKirby:
I thought Dark Corners of the Earth was one of the best horror games of all time. It's truly scary. And I love Call of Cthulu.

You know how there's always that "one puzzle" you can never figure out? It's right there at the beginning.

Gone Gonzo
Posts: 1331
Joined: 22 Oct 2008

MrGFunk:

Arsen:
I think this man is the greatest horror writer of our time,

How old are you..?

Probably best full stop.

I like the story of the glass labyrinth in the field. Brilliant. Any one know the name?

People should check out 'Mark Z. Danielwski - House of Leaves'. It has the same uncomfortable feeling, grab a dictionary though.

And a month or two of your time.

Muckraker
Posts: 305
Joined: 10 Oct 2008

I like H.P. Lovecraft's ideas, really... they're beautiful, but I tried reading "The Mountains of Madness" and I really just couldn't get through it. He describes everything too much, like me. It was really hard just to get through the first 6 pages He's a bad writer, a great idealist, but a terrible writer.

Gone Gonzo
Posts: 2331
Joined: 18 Sep 2008

Hp lovecraft is good.
Not all movie adaptions of his stories are.

Evidence:

The Unnamable (1988)
a.k.a : H. P. Lovecraft's The Unnamable

Back in the 1800's a lady gives birth to a monster. They decide that the baby is too ugly to name, therefore the monster is known as the "Unnamable". The creature brutally slaughters his family, and gets trapped in a vault. (End of the hp lovecraft part, 5 minutes) Go ahead to 1988, and some college students have heard the story about the unnamable and want to check out the vault...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096344/

Terrible movie. Terrible.

Good jugglies though.

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