Call of Catthulhu, Book I: The Nekonomikon by Joel Sparks

While laden with allusions to the works of Lovecraft, this rule book focuses on simulating cats in the liminal zone between realistic and fantastical, very definitely giving it the feel of Eliot not Ulthar. The world faces many threats, from the mundane dog to the eldritch Snarlyhotep and Phatproggua. While saving civilisation from these threats …

Cosmic Laughter

Many people allege cosmicism is bleak; however, this is to ignore the Prophet Lovecraft’s dictum that the universe is comedy. In glimpse of this, yesterday I found a Yog-Sothothic joke roiling in my mind; whether this shift in my mental state is a sign I am overcoming the slight foulness I acquired from Tenebrae or …

Once There Was

Art is strange. Wonderful. Tragic. Beautiful. But strange. Much like this performance of Nina McNeely's contemporary dance piece “Once There Was III”. https://www.ted.com/talks/nina_mcneely_once_there_was_iii_a_mesmerizing_blend_of_dance_animation_and_tech The seven-minute piece is... well, what is it? Babylonian myth reset in the modern age? Cyberpunk? McNeely gives a few minutes of explanation after but is that what the piece is? Certainly …

Whispering the Darkness

As perspicacious readers might have inferred despite my reticence in openly discussing the matter, I am not unfond of Lovecraft's work and cosmic dread in general. So, I was most joyous to discover Matt Hundley's film-length adaptation of The Whisperer in Darkness; while it is not perfect, it inclines strongly toward my preferred approach in …

Alchemical Divorce

Over the weekend, I re-encountered the theory that Lovecraft's fiction is a thin veil of fantasy over occult secrets shared with him by Aleister Crowley. While I am greatly fond of the mythos surrounding both men, so would feel joyous if this were true, I find it sadly implausible. Lovecraft's letters, the primary source for …

Behind Superficial Mutability

On Saturday, I played through Bit Golem's Dagon game. As some of you will know, I am a casual player of computer games rather than one who seeks to speed run them or plays into the early hours of the morning; so my having completed the game the same day I started (in fact within …

Yog-Sothoth Doesn’t Play Ball Games

Commentary on Lovecraftian horror often takes a fixed stance on Lovecraft's racism (was he a racist; is his work racist; does liking Lovecraft make you a racist) so this video by Athena Productions on whether art can be separated from artist was a pleasant surprise to my nuance-seeking mind. However, I noticed one critical factor …

Proceeding in an Orderly Fashion

Earlier, I came across a theory that Inspector Legrasse suffered mental health issues following the Bayou raid, either from the raid itself, having the Cthulhu statue in his possession, or the cult attempting to recover the statue. While popular perception is that all Lovecraft's heroes go insane, I didn't recall Legrasse suffering a collapse. Rereading …

Happy Deathday to HP Lovecraft

What better soundtrack for the day the misanthrope died than a playlist of all the songs featured in Harlem Smoke, a novel that blends Lovecraft and music? The answer is potentially a great many things: however James Champagne's choices for songs to feature do provide a pleasing change from the three threads of dark ambient, …

Giant Ball of Fun?

Could one keep a shoggoth as a pet? The authorities in their blindness make no reference even to their existence, so there is certainly no legal barrier. But is there a practical one? The answer depends on which sort of shoggoth one speaks of. Whilst the most well-known shoggoths are those described in Lovecraft’s At …