The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.365: ‘You Exude A Cosmic Darkness’

Best Christmas present. Ever.

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.364: More Than One Necronomicon...

More of Allen Koszowski’s marvellous, colourised work in our penultimate Lovecraftian Thing a Day, depicting the Revelations of Glaaki (or, more properly as it should now be, The Revelations of Gla’aki), along with the dreaded Necronomicon.


Speaking of which, give me Koszowski’s illustration any day over another recent purchase: Karl Stone’s edition of the Necronomicon, which problematically ‘borrows’ from both the style and substance of the classic Hay-Wilson version of said tome; I suppose that, at least where the Stone edition is concerned, by purchasing an overpriced ‘talismanic’ paperback, you are at least vouchsafed access to Stone’s ‘sexo-magickal’ formula (whatever that means) for invoking the powers of the Cthulhu mythos; that said, other self-proclaimed occultural experts on the internet seem to think there is some value to Stone’s work, so what do I know...

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.363: Lovecraft Portrait

A signed, colourised print of a Lovecraft portrait by Allen Koszowski, which I purchased from the artist at NecronomiCon 2013.

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.362: In The Yaddith Time illustration.

This original pen-and-ink piece hy Steve Lines was, as I recall, produced as one of the illustrations to Ann K. Schwader’s Lovecraftian sonnet cycle, In The Yaddith Time. Nice.

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.361: An Inhabitant of Innsmouth

This remarkable sculpture of a Deep One hybrid - produced hy the hugely-talented Lovecaftian artist Dave Carson - found its way into my haul of Christmas presents this year. I’ve been accumulating these original pieces of Dave Carson’s work for about a decade now, and I have to say this is one of the most unsettling items in my collection...

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.360: Lovecraftian Tea Mug

As part of ths year’s Christmas haul, I received this very nice tea mug from my sister, inscribed with the classic opening lines from Lovecraft’s masterful survey of weird fiction, Supernatural Horror in Literature. Nice.

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.359: Seasons Greetings

Seasons Greetings - courtesy of The Good Friends of Jackson Elias!

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.358: Await Further Instructions

Horror is often at its best when it is being used for the purpose of social commentary - and that certainly seems to be the case with recent British film Await Further Instructions, which utilises the genre to reflect on the emboldened racism and paranoia that has emerged in the UK in the aftermath of the Brexit vote;  it is also a commentary on our increasing willingness to accept the vision of the world which is communicated to us through mass media; however, on both counts Await Further Instructions takes an unsubtle and heavy-handed approach, which at times come across as patronising to its viewers; it also tends to reproduce the same divisory politics it criticises, relying on the well-worn and problematic trope that being British and working class means that, by default, you are racist - a trope often deployed by the British liberal middle classes to redirect attention away from their more subtle - but structurally more insidious - racism. 

I include the film here because, like yesterday’s Housewife, Await Further Instructions also includes an apocalyptic - and seemingly Lovecraftian - ending. Whilst a better movie than Housewife, and despite the Lovecraftian elements in its final act, Await Further Instructions is not a strong recommend.

The Lovecraftan Thing a Day (2018) No.357: Housewife

Housewife is a recent horror movie by Can Evrenol (director of the acclaimed, Barkeresque Baskin) whose apocalyptic denouement has a distinctly Lovecaftian tenor to it (re: the tentacles on the cover photo above); yet for all the accolades which have been heaped upon Baskin, this it actually a very poor follow-up - specifically on account of the incredibly stilted, unbelievable, and altogether bad performances by the principle cast - more of a curiosity of Lovecaftian film-making than a must see, I’m afraid.

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.356: Downtown Providence Map

As any seasoned weirdster will be aware, it is never too early to begin putting together your convention survival kit; whilst it is a good way off, I’m prepping for NecronomiCon 2019 by reviewing my map of Downtown Providence.

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.355: Dark Adventure Theatre Radio Collector’s Prop Binder

The H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society’s Dark Adventure Radio Theatre has done an outstanding job of producing excellent audio dramatisations of Lovecraft’s own work (as well as original Lovecraft-adjacent pieces and dramatisations of classic Call of Cthulhu rpg scenarios). Notably, the hard-copy cds of these audio productions also come with some quite remarkable thematic props - none of which quite fit back into the cd casings once they have been opened.

Helpfully, the HPLHS now offers an organisational solution to ths problem, with ths very handsome Dark Adventure Radio Theatre Collector’s Prop Binder, which includes themed sleeves in which to store the aforementioned props for all of the 19 currently available Dark Adventure Radio Theatre cds.

Nice.

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.354: Faunus 38 & Machenalia

It’s that time of year again when a soft thud upon the doormat announces the timely pre-Yule arrival of the latest editions of Faunus: The Journal of the Friends of Arthur Machen, and Machenalia, the newsletter of that fine organisation (which reminds me: it is time to renew my annual subscription to The Friends). Notably, this issue of Faunus also includes an investigation into possible sources for Machen’s The White People - considered by many (Lovecraft included) to be one of the finest weird tales ever written.

As per usual, you can join The Friends of Arthur Machen here, for an annual subscription of a mere 19 of your finest (pre-Brexit) British pounds.

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.353: HPLHS Decoder Club

I appear to have inadvertantly joined the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society’s Dark Adventure Radio Decoder Club, which means that, using the rather attractive Dark Pharaoh/Nyarlathotep-styled decoder badge, I can henceforth unravel various secret macabre messages which will be appearing as part of future HPLHS audio releases. Nice.

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.352: An Illustrated Fungi from Yuggoth

Employing disc journal technology and a laser printer, I recently constructed this uniquel copy of Lovecraft’s The Fungi from Yuggoth, using the work of Eric York, whose complete, illustrated version of the sonnet cycle is freely available here. In truth, this is probably a test run, as I’m thinking about printing out another copy, but on cream vellum paper, then binding the sheets in soft black leather covers. Nice.

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.351: Carnacki, The Ghost Finder.

William Hope Hodgson has been rather under-represented here and, given that this year also marks the centenary of his death, it seems apposite to emphasise the importance of his legacy in relation to both the history of the history tale and that of cosmic horror. To this end, today we present one of the first Hodgson books we purchased back in the late 1980s: Carnacki, the Ghost Finder.

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.350: Of Doomful Portent

A festive offering today, by way of Matthew M. Bartlett and Yves Tourigny’s Of Doomful Portent: An Advent Calendar of Grotesque Horrors. I picked this unusual chapbook - which consiss of 25 sealed sections, each of which, when opened up, reveals an illustration and piece of short weird fiction with a seasonal theme. I picked this limited edition up at NecronomiCon 2017, but have only began a readthrough at the start of this December. Readers of this blog will, I imagine, be familiar with Matthew M.Bartlett’s name by way of his tales of aural weird horror (which I think I have characterised elsewhere as a mashup of Lovecaft and William Burroughs). Of Doomful Portent is also available in standard paperback format if you are looking for a dose of festive horror.

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.349: The Three Imposters

71 years ago, Arthur Machen passed into whatever speculative realm lies beyond the material curtain of this world. The fact that the contours of the field of weird fiction as they exist today would have been unrecognisable without Machen’s influence is a testament to his legacy.

Presented here is a copy of Machen’s episodic novel The Three Imposters - published by Everyman, and sporting an Aubrey Beardsley cover which unintentionally (but wonderfully-) evokes the weirdly -sinister character of Miss Lally - and which of course includes two of the classic,  of weird fiction by way of ‘The White Powder’ and ‘The Novel of the Black Seal’.

I bought this copy of The Three Imposters in Camden Lock in the late 1990s - a time during which that particular region of London had yet to be entirely gentrified; such, it still maintained a remnant of the peculiarly Machenesque urban mystique which (in the mind of this reader, at least), had come to define the hidden hieroglyphics of London’s esoteric typography.

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.348: Necronomicon Shot Cup

Today is my last day of teaching until January, so what better way to mark the start of the Yule festival than with a favourite tipple from this collapsible shot cup - which comes with additional warding by way of the (in)famous Simon Necronomicon sigil?

Make mine a cognac!

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.347: Disk Journal Tenacle Bookmark

Disk journals are my newest, stationary-themed obsession; I recently purchased a rather nice red leather disk journal, and wanted to personalise it with a few weird accessories: first up is this disk journal tentacle bookmark, which I cobbled together using various odds and ends which I purchased online. Nice.

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.346: Elder Sign - Omens of the Pharaoh

In today’s post, we come to the final expansion (at least up until now) for the Elder Sign card game produced by Fantasy Flight Games. Omens of the Pharaoh shifts the action to Egypt, where players have the opportunity to investigate the horrors of the Lightless Pyramid, and may find themselves pitted against the resurrected Dark Pharaoh, Nephren Ka.

Nice.

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.345: The Brotherhood of the Black Scorpion

Founded in pre-Dynastic Egypt, the goals of the Brotherhood of the Black Scorpion remain inscrutable to this day - indeed, it is unclear as to which of the monstrous, prehuman entities of the Cthulhu myth-cycle they make obeisance to - some claim that the Black Scorpion was a pre-Dynastic avatar of Nyarlathotep; others speculate that it might be the entity referred to in The Revelations of Gla’aki as Y’golonac.

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No. 344: The Cult of the Black Hand Cloisonne Badge

With this fine-looking cloisonne badge, you can signal you affiliation to the Cult of the Black Hand - an ancient sect of Nyarlathotep worshippers associated with the Hashisheen sect of Hassan-E Sabah (who some suspect may have been one of the Thousand Forms of the Crawling Chaos). Others, on the otherhand, on seeing you wearing this, may attempt to kill you, burn your body, then dissolve the remains in acid...

The Lovecraftian Thng a Day (2018) No.343: Not Safe For Work!

I’ll just leave ths here: the ever-controversial folks over at Lamentations of the Flame Princess offer this Old School Renaissance take on ‘The Shadow Over Innsmouth’. These are the people who also brought you such OSR/D&D magic supplements as Vaginas are Magic and the wonderfully-named Eldritch Cock. Looks like we could do with a little Edward Lee here...

You have been warned!

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.342: The Cult of the Black Pharaoh Cloisonne Badge

The inverted Ankh of the Black Pharaoh Nephren Ka - who some consider to have been the avatar of that monstrous prehuman entity, the name of which is conjectured in certain speculative, occultural sources as Nyarlathotep - is helpfully represented in this rather attractive cloisonne badge.

Nice.

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.341: Lovecraftian Eye-In-The-Pyramid Cloisonne Badge

I’m not sure what from the Cthulhu mythos this tiny, betentacled Eye-In-The-Pyramid cloisonne badge is supposed to represent - my best guess would be Azathoth (or maybe Yog-Sothoth); regardless, it is a rather handsome piece of ornamentation.

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.340: Elder Sign Cloisonne Badge

Yesterday I took possession of this rather fine Elder Sign cloisonne badge (courtesy of Kickstarter). Nice.

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.339: The Blasphemous Tome, Issue 4

Patreons of The Good Friends of Jackson Elias - one of my favourite Lovecraftian/gaming podcasts - have been receiving one of the benefits of their patronage (Patreonage?) in the form of The Blasphemous Tome: their annual fanzine which, harking back to the good old days of gaming zines, is currently only available in hardcopy. You’re probably too late now for issue 4, but if you want to get your hands on issue 5, sign up here to become a Patreon of the show.

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.338: Cthulhu Hack Insanity Dice

The good folks at Cthulhu Hack have produced a new set of insanity dice (which can helpfully be used to resolve one of the game’s key mechanics); whilst I do own the previous iteration of the insanity die, this version is nicer and shinier - so of course I had to pick up a few of them!

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.337: The Case of Charles Dexter Ward

BBC Radio 4 dropped all 10 episodes of The Case of Charles Dexter Ward today - an excellent retelling and updating of Lovecaft’s classic novella in the format of an investigative podcast (along the lines of Limetown, The Black Tapes, and Tanis). Interestingly, this aligns Lovecraft’s tale with the contemporary history of occultism and very modern fringe conspiracy theories involving Nazi contact with extraterrestrials in Antarctica - in which regard, the writers have really done their research in relation to some of the stranger occultural directions into which Lovecraft’s work has recently been funnelled: modenised Lovecraft done right - this is a strong recommend.

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.336: Cthulhu Hack Green Elder Sign Dice.

More gaming tat in today’s post by way of some rather nice Elder Sign-inscribed green dice for the Cthulhu Hack rpg. That is all for now.

The Lovecraftian Thing a Day (2018) No.335: Cthulhu Hack GM’s Screen

Given that Cthulhu Hack is my favourite unplayed Lovecraftian rpg, I was gratified to get my hands on the long-awaited Cthulhu Hack Games Master’s Screen, the cover art for which is a thing of monstrous beauty. This will shortly be added to my Cthulhu Hack Elder Sign boxed set, which currently holds a complete set of Cthulhu Hack material and supplements. Who said gaming can’t be fun!