The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.243: NecronomiCon 2013 Pass

I’m surprised that this hasn’t already appeared on the blog: my Silver Key pass from my very first NecronomiCon back in 2013, and my third visit to Providence (the first back in 2001, and then 10 years later in 2011). Good times.

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.242: Eibon of Hyperborea

Today’s offering is another artefact unearthed by Prof. Broers of Miskatonic University, purpotedly depicting the Hyperborean sorcerer Eibon - a worshipper of the monstrous toad-thing Tsathoggua, author of notorious grimoire The Book of Eibon, and who, it is said, disappeared under highly suspect and mysterious circumstances. The statuette itself is supposedly of Hyperborean origin, and at certain mystically-auspicious seasons is given to exuding a strange aura which is deeply unsettling to those sensitive to such things.

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.241:Pete Von Sholly’s Lovecraft Illustrated

It has been something of a week of kickstarters - today, my signed copy of Pete Von Sholly’s Lovecraft Illustrated turned up in the post, which documents - in the artist’s unique comic-book style - pretty much all of Lovecraft’s fiction. I was also interested to learn from the volume of Von Sholly’s long career as a storyboard artist, including work on The Shawshank Redemption, Darkman, and The Mist. In any case, Pete Von Sholly’s Lovecraft Illustrated is a fine addition to any collection of Lovecraftian art.

The Lovecaftian Thing a Day (2018) No.240: Von Unaussprechlichen Kulten

A comanion piece to Strange Aeons by Uncle Mike’s Worldwide, Von Unaussprechlichen Kulten is described as ‘a miniature skirmish game of mindless violence and soul destroying evil’. Which is nice.

I kickstarted this last year, and the pdf rulebook has just arrived in my inbox. The game reminds me a little of of The Hills Rise Wild, in that both share something by the way of a comedic but Lovecraftian take on ‘Hillbilly Horror’ tropes; like that earlier game, Von Unassprechlichen Kulten pits gangs of cultists, ghouls, Deep Ones, and degenerate Yog Sothoth-worshipping hillfolk against one another for...reasons. This looks like great fun, though, and is fully compatible with Strange Aeons (which I hope to get to the table soon).

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.239: Sacrificial Whistle of Yig

This ritual implement is ensconced in my cabinet of curiosities, where it has been carefully warded by protective sigils. Discovered during an archaeological dig in Central America supervised by Prof. Joseph Broers of Miskatonic Unversity, the item is one of a number of anomalous artefacts which appear to have been produced by a hitherto unknown - yet vastly ancient (and possibly prehuman) - civilization. In light of which, Prof. Broers has subsequently remarked that the object resembles ritual implements described in certain spurious tomes of arcane lore currently held under lock-and-key in the special collections of the Miskatonic Unversity Library.

Prof Broers also informs me that the item may well have been used in acts of ritual sacrifice in honour of the primordial snake-deity Yig, supposedly worshipped by (and progenitor of) the fabled Serpent Folk of lost Valusia. Whatever the truth of the matter, when the aperture at the back of the head of the item’s snake-like visage is blown through, it produces a strange and sibilant hissing noise. People who hear that sound claim to have been haunted for days afterward by dreams of lithe, scaly, and serpentine things, long buried in a state of hibernation deep beneath the earth, but coming to a state of wakefulness, and seeking to reclaim the surface world which, untold millions of years previously, they called home...

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.238: In The Dust Of This Planet

Eugene Thacker’s In The Dust Of This Planet explores the literature of cosmic horror and antinatalism with a view to presenting an examination of that which is seen as philosophically unimaginable: the inevitability of humanity’s eventual extinction - apposite in relation to this recent Guardian piece of Mayer Hillman, in light of which recent critiques of antinatalism within the weird fiction seem trite; indeed, Hillman’s predictions would seem to indicate that, at this point in human history, any philosophical or ideological orientation that doesn’t include an element of antinatalsm is just a form of magical thinking: there is most likely no miracle cure to the environmental collapse which will our children and grandchildren are going to inherit and which, within a few centuries, will probably leave this planet uninhabitable for humans.

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.237: GURPS Cthulhupunk

Whilst Delta Green constitutes the apex of contemporary Lovecraftian conspiratorial gaming, GURPS Cybercthulhu was another, early attempt at transporting the Cthulhu mythos and Lovecaftian horror to a modern/near-future setting (whilst Cthulhupunk predates the original Delta Green sourcebook by a couple of years, Delta Green as a concept made its first appearance three years previous to Cthulhupunk in issue 7 of The Unspeakable Oath). Although cyberpunk these days is rather passe, in that we are pretty much living in the dystopian, corporate-run future it predicted, the Cthulhupunk setting does seem to have prefigured some of the ways in which later contributors to the Cthulhu mythos would imagine Lovecraftian horror being intertwined into the digital realm of that self-same dystopian-corporate modernity. As such this book remains, for me, an important early iteration of what would become the mythos’ oppressive futurity.

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.236: Eldritch Tales

The Old School Renaissance (OSR) has gained traction over the last decade or so, producing contemporary rpg rulesets which are rewrites, reinterpretations or reimplementations of early roleplaying games, typically ‘Original’ Dungeons and Dragons. This ‘Old School’ sensibility has also increasingly shaped more culturally-mainstream and commercial products - Goodman Games’ Dungeon Crawl Classics rpg being one example. Another key element of OSR stuff is that it often seeks, thematically, to offer a reconstructed view of the literary roots of modern fantasy rpgs - one in which Tolkien’s Middle Earth (or some variant thereof) is not treated as the default exemplar of a fantasy setting. OSR products instead turn to the ‘weirder’ roots of fantasy literature by way of the more cynical, morally-ambivalent exoticisms of Howard, Smith and Lovecraft, as well as Leiber, Vance, and Moorcock (to name but a few)

It is unsurprising, then, that in name checking some of the writers who were central to the early construction of the Cthulhu mythos that OSR creators have not only  overtly used the mythos in their games, but have also attempted to use something akin to the Original D&D rules as the basis for investigative games set in Lovecaft’s fictional New England. Whilst Eldritch Tales is not the first of these, but it is the most recent and perhaps the most thorough and intriguing attempt to reconfigure the Call of Cthulhu rpg to OSR mechanics. I have only had the opportunity to go through Eldritch Tales briefly, but not only does it sport solid production values and lovely interior illustrations (despite a couple of uneccessarily oversexualised portrayals of women), it looks like a rather innovative adaption of OSR mechanics to the kind of narrative play for which gaming in the worlds of Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos is perhaps best-suited. As such we at Ghooric Zone central endorse Eldritch Tales. You can purchase a copy here.

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.235: Pickman’s Gallery

Pickman’s Gallery - edited by friend of the Ghooric Zone Matthew Carpenter - arrived on my office desk earlier today. Whilst I haven’t yet had the chance to properly delve into this tome, the name of Pickman constitutes a not-insignificant thread running through a number of tales relevant to the Cthulhu mythos, so I am very much looking forward to digging more deeply into the artistically-decadent and ghoulish subterrenean lore which no doubt lurks between the covers of this volume.

You can purchase Pickman’s Gallery here

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.234: Call of Catthul Book 2 - Unaussprechlichen Katzen

Unaussprechlichen Katzen introduces players to the expanded world of The Call of Catthulhu, where we encounter the monstrous Hastpurr, Phatphroggua, Great Catthulhu, as well as the Catnip Out Of Space, the Mew-Go, and Doggone the Fish God (who is depicted on the cover). Whilst I rather liked some of the elements in the first book of The Call of Catthulhu, these comedic elements don’t quite do it for me - roleplaying a cat in Lovecraft’s universe reflects a level of whimsy which Lovecaft himself incorporated into his fictional worlds, but here the comedy feels like it is going too far against the grain of the source material.

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.233: The Call of Catthulhu

Not to be confused with Cathulhu, The Call of Catthulhu nonetheless invites you to participate in the imaginary dream worlds of Lovecraftian felines. Unlike Cathulhu, The Call of Catthulhu is not a supplement to the Call of Cthulhu rpg (still following at the back?), but uses ts own unique, indie-style rpg system. Whimsy is probably more front-and-centre here than in Cathulhu, with the cat player characters receiving rewards by way of Treats and being Petted by a sympathetic human; the downside is that this first volume is primarily concerned with the mechanics of the game, such that the Lovecaftian elements of the setting are dealt with in an extremely cursory manner - for more of that, however, return to the site tomorrow...

The LovecraftianThing a Day (2018) No.232: Happy Birthday HPL!

In celebration of his 128th birthday, today we present the bust of a perwigged Howard Philips Lovecraft - modelled on Virgil Finlay’s classic illustration of Grandpa Theobald, and crafted by the extremely-talented Joe Broers. Of all the Lovecraftian object d’art I currently own, this is, without doubt, one of my favourite pieces. You can purchase the bust here.

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.231: Cathulhu

Insofar as Lovecraft was enamoured of cats, that inscrutable species plays a not-insignificant role in tales such as ‘The Cats of Ulthar’, ‘The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath’ and others; unsurprisingly, thsis has manfested in the tabletop rpg arena in the form of a number of feline-themed Lovecraftian games; Cathulhu by Sixtystone Press is one such - an iteration of the Call of Cthulhu rpg engine, which allows players to take on the role of cats intent on protecting humanity from the terrible forces of the Cthulhu mythos - presumably receiving a good head-scratch and a generous portion on catnip as reward for their endeavours...

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.230: Colonial Gothic - Lovecraft

Colonial Gothic began life as a Colonial era supplement fo the Call of Cthulhu rpg, before mutating into its own unique system and setting, but minus the elements of Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos. Given the centrality of the Amercan Colonial period to Lovecraft’s aesthetic sensibilities (even if - the historical elements and architectural details in The Case of Charles Dexter Ward excepted - it is not often a focal point of his fiction), it is surprising that we haven’t seen much by way of a Lovecraftian rpg setting for this period. 

Colonal Gothic - Lovecraft tries to rectify this - albeit not entirely successfully: whilst a worthy attempt, with some nice illustrations, this tends towards the mechanical moreso than the fluff, such that it is pretty much the bestiary, tomes, and magic of the Call of Cthulhu rpg converted into Colonial Gothic stats, with a modicum of setting details. Not a bad effort, but the definitive Colonial setting for Lovecraftian tabletop gaming is, I think, yet to be written.

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.229: The King in Yellow CD

Produced by The Society of the Yellow Sign, and released by Rainfall Records, The King in Yellow is a concept album exploring the mythos created by Robert W. Chambers around the eponymous, fictive play. Whilst I have owned this for some years, I have only just realised that I have never actually listened to it - indeed, I’m sure that, like many collectors of things Lovecraftian, far too many of our books or cds remain unread or unplayed these days.

However, for the purposes of this post, I have dipped into a few tracks - and suitably lush, ethereal folk-psychedelic rock appears to form the foundation of the piece; to which I might add I do rather like what I have thusfar listened to, and mean to give the entire album a spin over the weekend. Hopefully immersion into the decadent madness of the black stars which hover watchfully over Carcosa will also help me forget briefly the rather nasty case of conjunctivitis that has been afflicting me these past days...

The King in Yellow also come with a rather nice insert, and includes a cover illustration by Steve Lines.

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.228: Heroes and Hobgoblins

I think I’ve been largely unaware of L.Sprague de Camp’s weird poetry: as I understan it, Heroes and Hobgoblins collects the majority of contents of the four of five short volumes of de Camp’s verse which have been published over the years, and contains a number of poems themed around the Cthulhu mythos. This has now been added to my ever-expanding pile of weird poetry, all of which will, I hope, one day be read.

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.227: Subterrenean Horror

Today’s offering is another original piece of Steve Lines’ art - again, I can’t quite remember the title of this, but I have a feeling it may have appeared as an illustration to Ann K. Schwader’s weird sonnet cycle In the Yaddith Time. For the moment, though, I refer to this piece as ‘Subterrenean Horror’. Nice.

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.226: The Elder Pharos?

Today’s offering is another original piece of Steve Lines’ artwork - I can’t recall what this one is titled, but I find the imagery intensely evocative of two speculative zones of abyssal horror found in Lovecraft’s work: Kadath in the Cold Waste, and the Plateau of Leng (which supposedly borders the former region); indeed, the image reminds me of the description of Leng found in ‘The Elder Pharos’, the 27th sonnet of Lovecraft’s The Fungi from Yuggoth sonnet cycle:

From Leng, where rocky peaks climb bleak and bare
Under cold stars obscure to human sight,
There shoots at dusk a single beam of light
Whose far blue rays make shepherds whine in prayer.
They say (though none has been there) that it comes
Out of a pharos in a tower of stone,
Where the last Elder One lives on alone,
Talking to Chaos with the beat of drums.

The Thing, they whisper, wears a silken mask
Of yellow, whose queer folds appear to hide
A face not of this earth, though none dares ask
Just what those features are, which bulge inside.
Many, in man’s first youth, sought out that glow,
But what they found, no one will ever know.

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.225: Necronomicon Lapel Pin

A final piece of lapel-related Lovecraftian ephemera: the Necronomicon cloisonne badge, bearing the now-almost ubiquitous rendering of the Elder Sign by Khem Caigan, which made is first appearance in the controversial Simon Necronomicon. Whilst no reflection on the artist’s ability to produce an interesting-looking sigil, I’ve never really warmed to Caigan’s iteration of the Elder Sign, as it resonates too closely with the aesthetics of (Eurocentric) Golden Dawn-inflected Western occultures, (rather than with what I imagine the alien symbology of Lovecraft’s extraterrestrial sorceries to be); indeed, for all of its invocations of inconcevable Lovecraftian horror, I find the Simon Necronomicon itself far too wedded to the cosy parochialism, hierarchical elitism, and dubiously colonialist, crypto-fascistic primordialism of Western magickal traditions for my liking.

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.224: The King in Yellow

Today’s offering is an original illustration of the King in Yellow (and probably one of my favourite represenations of that inscrutable entity) by Steve Lines, who also runs Rainfall Books - a UK-based small press which regularly produces Lovecaftian and weird fiction chapbooks; indeed, a colourised version of the above image was used as the cover of one of Rainfall Books early chapbook collections (Yellow Sign #1).

You can pick up a wide range of Rainfall Book’s Lovecraftian chapbooks for very reasonable prices here.

The Lovecraftian Thing a DAy (2018) No.223: Carpe Diem Death Poems Cloisonne Badge

The ‘Carpe Diem’ cloisonne badge which came with the Durtro first edition of Thomas Ligotti’s Death Poems.

There seems to have been a bit of noise within the weird fiction community recently regarding the philosophical shortcomings of Ligotti’s antinatalism, none of which actually seem to address in a clear or direct manner what the objections are (other than various moralistically fallacious iterations of the statement that ‘obviously antinatalism is a bad thing’, or ill-thought-out out equivocations with the worst kind of eugenics). Personally, the idea that you might want to purposefully bring into a state of sentience a being who, as a consequence of that act, is then going to suffer the day-to-day reality of the ongoing struggle for existence - coupled with the even-worse existential horror they have to confront daily in face of the knowledge of their ultimate, inevitable demise - sounds like an act of utter insanity. There is good reason why Victor Frankenstein actually is the monster.

Whilst not wanting to aggrevate divisions in the weird fiction community, I would argue - specifically in relation to Laird Barron’s claim that Ligotti is turning mental illness into an ideology - that if you are participant in the writing or appreciation of cosmic horror without seriously considering the possibility that the fundamentals of its worldview constitute an absolute ontological reality, that you may be engaging in an act of artistic bad faith.

But then Ligotti himself has stated that horror is nothing if it is not entertainment, so what do I know?

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.222: The Unfortunate Father Sevich

In an act of what many would probably consider an act of vandalism if not downright sacrilege, I tore this illustration by Dave Carson of the hapless Father Sevich from pages of issue 22/23 of Dagon, where Thomas Ligotti’s The Library of Byzantium - a tale recounting the most strange and inscrutable end to which that unfortunate priest ultimately succumbed - made its first appearance.

There is something downright unsettling about this image (one of my favourite Dave Carson pieces), such that I occasionally like to use it as a means for meditating upon the terrible fate which awaits us all.

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.221: A Boxful of Brimstone

Kickstarter informs me that I made my all-in pledge for Shadows of Brimstone - the minatures-based dungeoncrawling game of Lovecraftian horror set in the Old West (yes, you heard that correctly) - sometime in 2013. I receivd the core games in 2016, and close to 5 years afer the makng the original pledge, this huge box arrived, containing about 20 or so expansions for the game and a shedload of miniatures. Needless to say, the two core games have sat unplayed in a cupboard for the best part of two years, so it s anyone’s guess when this lot’ll hit the gaming table...

A couple of data sheets for two of the Lovecraftian miniatures which came in the box.

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.220: Cultes des Goules Cloisonne Badge

Comte D’Erlette’s Cultes des Goules is another monstrous tome immortalised in a fetching series of cloisonne badges - although the cover image looks more goat-like than ghoulish, but there you go!

The Lovecaftian Thing a Day (2018) No.2019: King in Yellow Enamel Cloisonne Badge

A little bit of ‘Lovecraftian’ ephemera today by way of a King in Yellow enamel cloissone badge - part of a series of such badges depicting classic Cthulhu mythos tomes. Robert W. Chambers’ eponymous collection of short stories has gained in popularity in recent years as a consequence of it forming a part of the mythology of True Detective season one, and a couple of the tales in that collection which actually deal directly with The King in Yellow have been recognised as classics of the weird/cosmic horror genre, I’m with Joe Pulver as treating Chambers’ fictive universe as somethng separate from and largely unattached to Lovecraft’s own mythos.

Whilst the Yellow Sign, Carcosa, Hali and Hastur are indeed all mentioned in Lovecraft’s The Whisperer in Darkness, these are passing references framed by little or no context, and the addition of Hastur to the ever growing pantheon of Old Ones, Elder Gods and Great Old Ones largely hinges on Derleth’s own skewed (mis)-interpretation of the Cthulhu mythos. In addition to which, some modern iteration of Hastur have come across as a little too ‘mystical’, and thus counter to the secular demythologisation which Lovecraft subjects his own creations to in his later work (including The Whisperer in Darkness).

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.218: The Cthulhu Wars by Kenneth Hite

The Cthulhu Wars is a faux-/alternative history of US military actions against various Cthulhu mythos threats as they have historically intersected with various conflicts, ranging from the American Revolutionary War up to and including the War on Terror.

Written by Kenneth Hite (whose Lovecraftian credentials hardly need mentioning), The Cthulhu Wars is also published by Osprey, who are best known as the specialst publisher of extensvely illustrated mlitary history books. In recent years, Osprey have expanded their range to encompass miniature wargaming rules and sourcebooks, of which this is presumably one; that said, this is a bit of a curiosity in terms of who its intended readers are, as it doesn’t seem to be specifically aimed at wargamers; if nothing else, a publication such as this seems to further evidence the degree to which the Cthulhu ‘brand’ has acquired significant pop-cultural cache, such that it is a go-to for a specialist publisher seeking to diversify and attract new audiences.

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.217: Harlem Unbound

Congratulations to Chris Spivey whose Harlem Unbound won ENnie Gold awards for Best Writing, Best Setting and Best Cover Art. Harlem Unbound is perhaps the most important setting book for Call of Cthulhu (and other Lovecraftian rpgs) in recent years, subverting assumptions regarding the default whiteness of most Call of Cthulhu scenarios, and confronting the racism of Lovecraft and his fictional worlds head on in the context of the contemporary rpg scene. To this end, Harlem Unbound is unequivocal in its clarion call for greater diversity and inclusivity in gaming both as an activity and also in terms of the content which gamers and game designers produce. Set within the context of the Harlem Renaissance, Harlem Unbound thus has players taking on the role of characters from African American or migrant backgrounds, investigating the threats of the Cthulhu mythos whilst also dealing with the daily struggle against the insidious and pervasive racism of early 20th Century New York.

This is a book which warrants every gamers’ attention. It is currently available in pdf format here, and Chaosium have just announced that they will be publishing a second edition of the supplement. Buy it now.

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.216: Cthulhu Mash

Cthulhu Mash is one of the odder items in my gaming collection, not least because it is an ugly beast with artwork which looks like the product of an artistically-talented, Lovecraft-obsessed twelve year old child let loose on a box of  colour pencils.

In brief, Cthulhu Mash is an attempt to replicate classic Doom-style first-person shooter video games in a tabletop format, but with a Cthulhu/Lovecraftian skin. I played it once about six or seven years ago, and recall it being rather fiddly; as a consequence, I’m not sure why - other than its solitaire playability - it remains in my collection - perhaps, to paraphrase Hunter S. Thompson, Cthulhu Mash falls within that curious liminal zone of being too weird to keep, yet too unique to throw in the bin...

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.215: The Life of Arthur Machen by John Gawsworth

Whilst Arthur Machen hasn’t attained quite the same literary and pop-cultural status as Lovecraft, there has been greater recognition of his work over the past few decades - and rightly so, as Machen is a giant of weird fiction and one of the early progentors of cosmc horror.

At the forefront of the Machen renaissance has been Tartarus Press who, since 1990 have been producing very handsome editions of Machen’s work (as well as that of other weird fiction writers whose work warrants greater recognition). In 2005, Tartarus also published a new Machen biography: John Gawsworth’s The Life of Arthur Machen, which they reprinted more recently - the paperback edition of which landed on my doorstep this very day. Nice.

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.214: Iot Sotot Issue 1

Today I received issue 1 of Iot Sotot - the new fanzine for patrons of yog sothoth.com. The zine is about A6 size, so it also fits in the bespoke yog sothoth.com notebook which is also available from the site. It also seems I have received the very last copy of an extremely limited print-run of the first issue, which comes with separate handouts for one of the Call of Cthulhu scenarios to be found therein.

Due to production difficulties, I understand that later issues of Iot Sotot will be produced in a larger, different format - which is a shame, as I like the idea of a zine which fits into my yog sothoth.com notebook; on the positive side, later issues will be more widely available (not just for patrons of the site).

As something of an aside, I was rather pleased to discover the classic Lovecraft silhouette decorating the postage label of the envelope in which Iot Sotot was sent. Nice.

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.213: The Hills Rise Wild

I was going through some stuff today when I came across this old copy of The Hills Rise Wild, Pagan Publshing’s miniature-style game (with cadboard standees instead of actual miniatures), described on the box as ‘a frenzied fury of hillbilly horror’. The game pitches four Lovecraftian factions - the Whately clan, ghouls, Deep Ones, and mutant cultists - against each other, trying to gain control (if I remember correctly) over a copy of the Necronomcon. I think I only ever played this once, and it might now end up on ebay, but it is of interest as being the very first Cthulhu mythos-inspired tactical miniatures game. I think expansions were planned for The Hills Rise Wild, which would have added Herbert West, as well as Mi-Go t the mix, but sadly these never materialised.