Lovecraftian Thing a Day No.361: The Angell Box

It seems that the measures employed via the Necronomicon and the Elder Sign have only been partially effective. Whilst last night's sleep was not disturbed by the same kind of vivid nightmares previously documented, nonetheless my dreams were filled with vague portents of a great seaweed-strewn city of geometrically-perverse design rising from beneath the ocean depths, and of some frightful and madness-inducing horror awakening within the strangely angled catacombs of that impossible city.

These dreams, it seems, were an intimation of sorts: this morning I found myself recipient of a curious package purporting to be an archival collection of material, pertaining to a case investigated by Prof. George Gammell Angell (of Providence, Rhode Island) in the late 1920s. There is no return address for the package, so its origin remains a mystery. Specifically, the contents document Angell's interest in global reach of the Cthulhu cult, and includes testimony from various sources regarding the threat which this cult represents to the continued sanity (and indeed existence) of humanity:

Most notable in relation to last night's partially-disturbed sleep are these items, produced by the sculptor Henry Wilcox, whose own dream experiences seem to parallel mine in some measure:

These items in particular bear a striking resemblance to some of the vague visions which plagued my dreams last night - such that I cannot but help wonder if what I saw was something more than just a dream. It is likely that tonight I will find out, for this morning my bedroom window was yet again found to be unlocked and open, and the pages from the Necronomicon and Elder Sign amulets documented in yesterday's post are now all inexplicably missing.

Lovecraftian Thing a Day No.360: Leaves from the Necronomicon and Yuletide Horror

In light of recent events, it clear that I am in need of additional protection against whatever occult force or agency that is evidently seeking to invade my dreams (if, indeed, dreams are all they are). Fortunately I have in my possession two leaves purloined, as it happens, from the copy of the John Dee translation of the Necronomicon that rests in the special collection of the Miskatonic University library. With regard to my current predicament, the pages in question pertain to the use of the Elder Sign as an apotropaic ward against the forces of the Outside. Yesterday evening I made use of the powerful formulae found in these leaves, and I am pleased to report that last night was passed in a relatively peaceful and dreamless sleep.

Of note is the fact that the sign takes two different forms, commonly referred to in occult circles as the Star variant and the Tree variant, both of which can be discerned in the image below. Arrayed alongside the leaves themselves are amulets bearing both versions of the Elder Sign (and which have been the focus of previous entries):

On this festive morning, I cannot but help ponder the cojoined significance of the variant forms of the Elder Sign. The Tree and the Star. Given that these two things form the basic symbolic structure of the typical Christmas tree, I wonder if there might be some hidden and archaic meaning behind its display in many households. Is there some darker reason behind the tradition? Why is it that folk typically decorate the tree with a star during a festival that is meant to celebrate the birth of a hybrid being who was the product of a union between a human mother and a father praeternatural provenance - and heralded by the appearance of a new star? Is the tree less the symbol of celebration of birth and everlasting life, than a sign of protection against what such a birth portends at a time when the Stars are Right?

In any case, I wish you all, dear readers, a Merry Christmas. And if peace and goodwill between all people seems a distant prospect, then I wish you all, at least, the brief respite of peace and oblivion that comes from a dreamless sleep.

Lovecraftian Thing a Day No.359: El Profundo, British Honduras

Yet another troubling dream disturbed my sleep last night - and one which was also a protraction of the previous night's fantastical reverie.

On this occasion, I was carried from the island of black rock and ice across tumultuous seas for what seemed an age, finally being set down amongst monolithic limestone ruins on the edge of a lake surrounded by sweltering jungle flora. Still in the same quasi-incapacitated state I experienced in my previous dream, my limited field of vision was forcibly directed (by my still-invisible and nameless emissary) toward a small chipped limestone block etched with a strange design - at which point the lake began to boil and bubble as if from some vast body rising from its depths. Stricken yet again with a sense of premonitionary fright in anticipation of whatever horror I might witness emerging from the lake's turbulent waters, I awoke from the nightmare.

Reflecting on the disturbing content of this latest oneiric excursion, I soon recalled that an an item in my collection was the precise replica of the partially-shattered limestone rock shown to me in the dream. As with the previous two entries, I cannot help but comment on the the fact that this item was also also acquired (through admittedly unconventional means) from the Miskatonic University museum's special collection. Witholding further comment, I note that this piece - of Mayan origin - depicts a figure referred to in the folklore of the (then) local British Honduran populace as El Profundo:

On what might be an unrelated note, my bedroom window was yet again open upon my waking, despite the fact that I made sure to close and lock the offending apperture the night before. I also noticed, whilst examining my haggared visage in tne bathroom mirror during my morning ablutions, what appeared to be a thin - almost microscopically so - scar running along my hairline...

Lovecraftian Thing a Day No.358: South Georgia Island Artefacts

There is still no update on the hacking of my blog, nor on the origin of yesterday's mystery post (as detailed in this Facebook entry). To be honest, I'm currently disinclined to pursue this further given the bad night's sleep I've just had - precipitated by a strange dream in which I was being carried over black, abysmal, boreal seas by something that buzzed and droned as we flew. Curiously, I was completely unaware of my body during the flight, being in some sort of state of complete paralysis. Whilst I was capable of sight and hearing, my field of vision was limited so that I could not even look down to see myself.

Eventually I was brought to an island of black rock, parts of which were covered in thick sheets of ice and snow, and where there stood a crumbling and abandoned installation of antiquitated (but definitely human) construction. I was taken into one of the buildings, which was in a shocking state of disrepair, where my vision was directed to a small idol carved from ivory, and resting on an decrepit wooden table at which set mindless staring the frozen and dessicated body of an old man. The buzzing and droning of the thing which carried me - but which I was never able to see due to my oddly incapacitated state - became more animated at this point in the dream, such that it seemed to be trying to communicate something of importance to me.

The buzzing grew yet more urgent, perhaps as a result of my failure to respond, following which I was carried off yet again, this time from out the building to a nearby outcropping of basaltic rock. At the base of this appeared a wide opening which tunnelled into the nebulous darkness beneath the island. After a space of time travelling through dank, dripping caverns, I was brought by my unseen companion to a cyclopean stairwell hewn into the rock at strange and unexpected angles, leading even to even deeper and darker climes. Strange symbols - some of which I recognised as being of unimaginably vast antiquity -were etched into the wall of the gigantic stairwell in a seemigly random sequence, but one which nonetheless hinted vaguely at cosmic abnormalities hidden below the perceptible surface of things.

As I was about to be carried downward those stairs, I had the horrid intimation that something monstrous lurked in those depths - something neither fully alive nor fully dead, and on the cusp of wakefullness after an aeons-long slumber. Something of which the ivory idol I had been shown earlier was but a crude representation. Thankfully, the state of panicked terror I experienced at this juncture forced me to wakefulness. I was left both chilled and with a throbbing headache, only to realise that I had left my bedroom window open all night (although I don't recall opening it prior to retiring). No doubt the cold breeze coming from without had affected the content of my dream.
In addition to which, other elements of that night's experience can be further rationalised: as a case in point, the small ivory idol that I encountered during my oneiric flight currently forms part of my collection of strange and unearthly ephemera - although suspiciously this item shares with yesterday's  mysterious entry the fact that it forms part of a package of materials taken from the archives of the Miskatonic University. Whilst I only have the vaguest of recollections of having briefly seen yesterday's items, in this instance I have no recollection of receiving the package, nor any idea of who sent it or when. I have the unpleasant feeling that the both these events are intrinsically linked, in a manner which currently I remain unable to discern...

The idol - found at a whaling station on South Georgia Island in the Antarctic - along with details from Miskatonic University museum's catalogue:

A map of the Antarctic region (South Georgia Island is in the top left corner of the map), along with a photos of the idol and the abandoned whaling station:

Finally, this page of script accompanied the idol. It appears to be written in a very archaic form of hieratic Naacal. Whilst I lack fluency in that archaic tongue, The script here relates to what is referred to as 'one of the Great Ancient Ones from the Stars', who rests somewhere beneath 'The Black Island', which is in turn described as 'a distant outposts of strangely-angled 'R'lyeh':

Lovecraftian Thing a Day No.357: The Akeley/Wilmarth Artefacts

Some time back Jason McKittrick of Cryptocurium sent me this package, which he uncovered in the Albert N. Wilmarth archive at the Miskatonic University library:

The package contains two curious artefacts, with accompanying documentation...

...amongst which is a letter from Henry Akeley to Wilmarth regarding the existence of monstrous alien powers supposedly lurking amongst the desolate hills and forests of Vermont. Wilmarth's Miskatonic University ID card is included alongside:

More images of the items found in Vermont pertaining to the Akeley case: a crude representation of the so-called 'Mi-Go' which Akeley claims to have encountered, and a curiously-shaped object made of black stone item (and referred to in one of the documents as the 'Stargazer Stone'):

Also included is this torn page of manuscript - possibly taken from the Miskatonic University's copy of the dreaded Necronomicon. Those familiar with the events surrounding the disappearance of Henry Akeley may recall this ritual liturgy, which Akeley claimed to have heard recited by both human and less-discernable buzzing voices deep in the Vermont woods:
 

Also included in the package is this rather disturbing photograph, taken by Akeley (showing what appears to be some sort of clawed footprint in the vicinty of his property), as well as a drawing by Akeley supposedly depicting one of the Mi-Go or 'Fungi from Yuggoth':

Finally, two telegrams sent to Wilmarth by Akeley - along with a map of the Vermont region - were also found in the package. It was the reception of these telegrams which ultimately led Wilmarth to visit Akeley's property, thus precipitating the purportedly horrifying denounment of the Akeley case:

Needless to say, all of the above should be regarded with a significant degree of suspicion. Akely's claim that monstrous alien beings lurk in and around the dark corners of the earth can be readily dismissed as the ravings of a lunatic - as can his other urgent injunction that humanity needs to closely watch Pluto for signs of anomalous activity. Wilmarth himself later became entangled in a number of other disreputable incidences which call into question the veracity of his claims regarding the Akely affair; again, those familiar with the case may recall Wilmarth's admission of the fact that, during his overnight stay at the Akely homestead, he did not actually view anything resembling concrete, material evidence in support of his outlandish claims regarding what caused him to flee that place. Whilst we may never find out the truth of the matter, I am also convinced that it most certainly is not 'out there'.

 

Lovecraftian Thing a Day No.356: Starr Creek

Having finished John Langan's excellent The Fisherman, I've now moved on to another recent release, Nathan Carson's Starr Creek. Think Stranger Things - complete with D&D-playing adolescents and an extra dose of Lovecraftian horror - but on drugs. Literally. I mean, the cover pretty much says it all. In any case, I'm about 50 pages in and it really is the good stuff. Starr Creek can currently be purchased from Amazon UK for the appropriately devilish price of £6.66.

Lovecraftian Thing a Day No.355: More NecronomiCon Miscellany

These are my pin badges from NecronomiCon 2015 - my Silver Key badge, and also my Guest badge, as I ended up presenting a paper at the Armitage Symposium and appearing on a panel about Lovecraft and the occult (though to be honest I didn't really consider myself as worthy of the honour given some of the luminaries I shared the stage with). I'm pretty busy with work and trying to fit in Xmas shopping, so the entries from the last few days haven't been terribly impressive, but I'm building up to a more interesting selection for the final ten days of this series, starting from Thursday this week.

Lovecraftian Thing a Day No.354: NecronomiCon 2015 Miscellany

As we are approaching the end of the Lovecraftian Thing a Day - at least as far as 2016 is concerned - I have some special treats lined up for the final 10 entries. For now, however, I leave you with some bits and bobs which I picked up during NecronomiCon 2015: The Cthulhu Commune fanzine, and a flyer announcing the S.T. Joshi Endowed Fellowship at Brown University.

Lovecraftian Thing a Day No.353: I Won NecronomiCon 2015!

Today's item is a limited edition print which was awarded to me - by Pete Rawlik of Reanimators and Lovecraft eZine fame - for leading my team to victory at the NecronomiCon 2015 trivia quiz. Whilst it was a team effort, I have no shame in admitting that I provided most of the answers. Below is me celebrating the victory. This was the second Lovecraftian quiz from which I have emerged victorious. That is becase I am awesome.

Lovecraftian Thing a Day No.352: Miscellaneous Postcards

Just a quick entry today, as I am still recovering from last night's unexpected booze-related shennanigans (resulting in the rather vague late posting of yesterday's entry): a miscellany of Lovecraftian postcards, purchased from Lovecraft Arts & Sciences in Providence during NecronomiCon 2015. Nice.

Lovecraftian Thing a Day No.351: Rougarou and Carnevale

Posting this one late due to unexpected pre-Xmas drinks: a Cthulhuvian Christmas treat courtesy of Fantasy Flight Games which appeared on my doorstep this morning.

Lovecraftian Thing a Day No.350: Cthulhu Christmas Card

This Christmas card popped through my door this morning, from Matt Danderson, Scott Dorward and Paul Fricker of The Good Friends of Jackson Elias podcast - one of the rewards of being a patreon of the 'cast. Nice.

Lovecraftian Thing a Day No.349: The Fisherman

John Langan's The Fisherman has been receiving numerous accolades, and for good reason: although I've not yet completed reading it, Langan manages to artfully nest a subtle and sublime sense of cosmic horror within a quieter tale of grief and loss in a manner that makes for a compelling read. In brief, The Fisherman makes for a timely reminder that the default setting for cosmic horror need not be the Cthulhu Mythos. You can get your copy from Amazon, or order direct from Word Horde.

Lovecraftian Thing a Day No.348: A Lonely & Curious Country

More reminisences of NecronomiCons past with today's offering: A Lonely And Curious Country, edited by Matthew Carpenter. I first met Matt at NecronomiCon 2013, and got him to sign this at NecronomiCon 2015, where it debuted. I think we are going to try and meet for lunch at NecronomiCon 2017. Matt is also a regular panelist on the Lovecraft eZine vidcast, so you can catch him there most weeks. A Lonely And Curious Country is an excellent collection which takes Lovecraftian regionalism as its general theme, and can be purchased in vatious formats from Amazon or directly from the publisher, Ulthar Press.

Lovecraftian Thing a Day No.347: Achtung! Cthulhu Skirmish

I picked up Modiphius' Achtung! Cthulhu Skirmish miniatures game at Dragonmeet 2016 the other week. As this is going to appear under the Christmas tree for the Yule festivities, I have yet to survey its contents; regardless, a game that offers the opportunity to kick Cthulhu-worshipping Nazi butt can't be all that bad (although I'm also hoping that it will be easily soloable).

Lovecraftian Thing a Day No.346: Lovecraftian Pewter Pendants

Talented artist, sculpter, and one-time Games Workshop 'Eavy Metal miniature painter Tammy Haye kindly gifted me with these impressive pewter pendants at the Lovecraft Scholars' Yule social event in London yesterday. The three pendants displayed are a Chthonian Yin-Yang pendant (my personal favourite), an Elder Sign pendant, and a Cthulhu pendant. I will be giving these away as prizes at the next Lovecraft Scholars event (hopefully in early 2017), but was so impressed by these that I have already purchased a couple more from Tammy's  Subversive Constructs Etsy page. These are limited editions, so grab them before they are gone!

Lovecraftian Thing a Day No.345: Mound Builder Cthulhu

This item was forwarded to me by Professor Joseph Broers of the Miskatonic University's Department of Archaeology, who found it amongst the effects of Sir Albert Arnold Mill subsequent to that notable's mysterious disappearance. According to the catalogue notes provided to me by Prof. Broers, 'Mill acquired the figure in 1933 from an amateur archaeologist...who had uncovered it on a construction site west of the Cahokia Mounds area in Illinois in 1926.' Whilst little else is know about the item, its purported resemblance to a number of other archaeological artefacts (distributed across a wide range of cultural milieux and historical periods) has elicited claims of association with the questionable 'Cthulhu' myth-cycle (whose existence as a genuine body of myth or folklore is disputed by most reputable academics). Knowing of my esoteric predilictions, Prof. Broers sent the artefact to me for safekeeping following an incident involving a visiting research fellow at Miskatonic University who had taken an unhealthy interest in the object, noting as an aside that an unholy stench lingered about the corpse of said unfortunate for some days after his demise.

Lovecraftian Thing a Day 344: The Horror! The Horror! Programme

2012 was a good year for Lovecraftian theatre in the UK. The Theatre of the Damned's The Horror! The Horror! was part of the London Horror Festival that year, and was certainly one of the more unique entries in being a piece of participatory theatre in which the audience were led through Wilton's Music Hall (in London's East End) to experience a series of linked interactive vignettes. The setting was apposite, given that the show was concerned with the troupe of a 1920s London music hall seeking to employ desperate measures - ultimately involving Nyarlathotep and the forces of the Cthulhu Mythos - on the eve of what might be their very final performance. Great stuff, and a unique theatrical experience.

Lovecraftian Thing a Day No.343: Drowning Rock Programme

Drowning Rock was a production - funded via Kickstarter, if I remember correctly - which played a few years back at a small theatre not far from Conway Hall in London. I recall it being a rather folktale-styled spin on the themes of The Shadow Over Innsmouth and, whilst not quite as enjoyable as the staging of The Dunwich Horror I mentioned a few days ago, it was nonetheless quite a solid piece which managed to effectively evoke a sense of quiet, claustrophobic dread. Sadly, I haven't heard anything else sbout it since its initial (and very short) run.

Lovecraftian Thing a Day No.342: Imagine Call of Cthulhu Special Edition

This is one from the vaults: TSR's attempt to challenge Games Workshop's monopoly on the UK tabletop gaming magazine market with the short-lived Imagine. This issue was (largely) dedicated to the Call of Cthulhu rpg, with articles about gaming in Lovecraft's worlds, a CoC scenario, and a Cthulhu Mythos tale by Brian Lumley. Whilst Imagine failed to make the grade in relation to GW's superlative White Dwarf, at least the front cover is an interesting corrective to chainmail bikini-clad amazonian warrior-women typical of much fantasy fare at the time. I'm presuming it is supposed to be a (somewhat pumped) avatar of Nyarlathotep.

Lovecraftian Thing a Day No.341: Cthulhu Hack Dice

As if I don't already own enough tat as it is, here's more Cthulhuvian dice - this time Cthulhu Hack-themed dice. The only reason I don't also own a Cthulhu Hack dice try into which I won't be rolling dice for a game which I'm unlikely to play is because the Cthulhu Hack stall at Dragonmeet had sold out of them.

Lovecraftian Thing a Day No.340: Cthulhu Hack Deep One Box

I was at Dragonmeet - an annual gaming convention held in London - this Saturday just gone, where I picked up the Cthulhu Hack Deep One box set. Cthulhu Hack is a rules-lite rpg based on The Black Hack (a D&D retro-clone), and is published by Just Crunch Games. This Elder Sign-emblazoned box contains their complete line of printed Cthulhu Hack products, and comes in regular and Deep One sizes (the latter leaving space for additional supplements as they are published). Nice. You can buy yours here.

Lovecraftian Thing a Day No.339: The Dunwich Horror Programme

Today's offering is the programme for a theatrical version of The Dunwich Horror that ran as part of the first London Horror Festival in 2011 (I believe I blogged a review of the show back in tne day - in any case, it was very good). I've bern a supporter of the London Horror Festival since its inception, usually attending between 7-10 shows each year. Not only has it been something of a highlight of the Hallowe'en season, but Lovecraft has been generally well-represented in the various theatrical offerings.

This year, however, I failed to attend any of the festival's offerings. This was, in part, due to being very busy during tne two weeks in October over which the festival usually runs; the truth of the matter, though, is that I was put off by the fact that the majority of this year's presentations were horror comedies. There was an intimation of this in 2015, when approximately half of the offerings wete comedic in nature.

I don't have an issue with horror comedy per se - indeed, The Monster Hunters (who debuted I at the 2011 festival) is one of my favourites of this hybrid genre. However, my experience of 2015's comedic offerings was lest than positive, such that many of the producers of that year's entries had no real love for horror, but rather saw it as something that could be played for a few cheap laughs. Or so it seemed to me. Regardless, I'll be giving the festival another chance next year, but here's hoping that there will be more in the way of 'serious' horror in 2017.

Lovecraftian Thing a Day No.338: NecronomiCon 2013 R'lyeh Tote Bag

Just a quick one for today: I picked this R'lyeh tote bag up at NecronomiCon 2013, and shall be bringing it along to the forthcoming Lovecraft Scholars Yule social on Saturday 10th December as an identifier for those who haven't met the LS Facebook page moderators before. If you haven't received an invite and are interested in coming along, leave a message in the comments or pm me via Facebook. See you there.

Lovecraftian Thing a Day No.337: Strange Monolithic Fragment in the Woods

Earlier today I was conducting some field research at a site that I was aware of having been used, over a decade ago, for occult rituals of a distinctly Lovecraftian flavour. Whilst surveying the locale, I came across this rather strange looking sculptural remnant. This was located very plainly at a spot I have been long familiar with; yet I have no recollection of seeing anything like this in the vicinity in years past. Not only that, but the stone fragment seems to have a tentacular or wormy and segmented cast to it. I certainly can't seem to give form to the larger whole of which it is presumably part. But thinking on the exact nature of the cosmically abnormal rites which might have brought this forth from out beneath the earth, it is probably best not to dwell too long upon such things.

Lovecraftian Thing a Day No.336: At the Mountains of Madness

Arkham House seems to have resumed operations (of a sort), and whilst I'm pondering whether or not to pick up a fresh set of Lovecraft Arkham House editions, here's my copy of the mid-1980s revised edition of At the Mountains of Madness. Nice tome, but shit when it comes to bibliomancy it seems.