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Post by Mmm Yog-Sothoth on Nov 1, 2010 11:50:09 GMT -8
'Cause the greatest horror writer of the 20th century definitely needs his own thread here, yo. Discuss favorite stories/cycles/characters/demi-gods/other Cthulhu Mythos authors or whatever Lovecraft-related discussion comes to mind. Without warning came those deep, cracked, raucous vocal sounds which will never leave the memory of the stricken group who heard them. Not from any human throat were they born, for the organs of man can yield no such acoustic perversions. Rather would one have said they came from the pit itself, had not their source been so unmistakably the altar-stone on the peak. It is almost erroneous to call them sounds at all, since so much of their ghastly, infra-bass timbre spoke to dim seats of consciousness and terror far subtler than the ear; yet one must do so, since their form was indisputably though vaguely that of half-articulate words. They were loud—loud as the rumblings and the thunder above which they echoed—yet did they come from no visible being. And because imagination might suggest a conjectural source in the world of non-visible beings, the huddled crowd at the mountain's base huddled still closer, and winced as if in expectation of a blow. That will always be the single-best horror passage ever written to me, jah.
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Post by Iron Maiden on Nov 2, 2010 19:57:13 GMT -8
Love his stuff. Especially Re-animator(that, and the movie).
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Post by Mmm Yog-Sothoth on Nov 2, 2010 23:15:33 GMT -8
Love his stuff. Especially Re-animator(that, and the movie). I absolutely love both "Herbert West: Re-animator" and the movie "Re-animator." I think Lovecraft himself hated that story at first even though it was one of his best-selling, but I do think it's good campy fun with some great gory visuals and language thrown in for good measure, and one of Lovecraft's few non-heavy-handed pieces (nothing wrong with most of his pieces being heavy-handed, ftr, he's one of the few authors that gets away with it everytime just 'cause he's the boss). The movie is different enough from the book in details, but at it's heart it's the same campy horror awesomeness that made the short stories so great, and it's easily one of my favorite horror movies of all-time. It's a shame it's so unheard of outside of 80's horror circles.
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Post by strangeworld15 on Nov 6, 2010 22:11:50 GMT -8
Ah, Lovecraft. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be so much of a horror enthusiast as I am today. I mean, his writing is so detailed and exaggerated, that there's now wonder how popularity exceeds him, even after his death. I thank him for persenting such a horrifying, yet amazing universe; and I hope his works will survive as years roll by, leading into the new age.
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dragonfire5000
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Post by dragonfire5000 on Nov 9, 2010 19:14:53 GMT -8
I'm still trying not to laugh over the idea that a lot of his stories were possibly based on his fear of seafood or the sea or something like that.
Maybe he got the idea for Cthulhu when he ate some seafood that disagreed with him and gave him nightmares of being attacked by a monstrous octopus beast rising from the seas like some nightmarish god?
On a more serious side though, I really liked the idea of uncaring deities that treats humanity like insects in that they are something to be ignored or swatted. The horror elements that come from the idea that there are much bigger things out there that make humanity seem insignificant is one that I feel affects a lot of people.
Though I wonder, how come some of his characters keep on writing even as they're being eaten or killed?
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Post by Mmm Yog-Sothoth on Nov 10, 2010 12:47:06 GMT -8
I'm still trying not to laugh over the idea that a lot of his stories were possibly based on his fear of seafood or the sea or something like that. Maybe he got the idea for Cthulhu when he ate some seafood that disagreed with him and gave him nightmares of being attacked by a monstrous octopus beast rising from the seas like some nightmarish god? On a more serious side though, I really liked the idea of uncaring deities that treats humanity like insects in that they are something to be ignored or swatted. The horror elements that come from the idea that there are much bigger things out there that make humanity seem insignificant is one that I feel affects a lot of people. Though I wonder, how come some of his characters keep on writing even as they're being eaten or killed? Which characters would you be talking about? I can think of a couple short stories that are kind of suicide notes of sorts, but not any that were written after the narrator had been killed off the top of my head... And yeah, the idea that there are much bigger things out there that we don't matter to and can't hope to comprehend is scary as hell. As the man himself said, "The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown."
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 30, 2010 19:09:13 GMT -8
Lovecraft is definitely my favorite horror author. I can't wait to try the Cthulhu mythos.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 1, 2010 1:26:02 GMT -8
He wrote some 100,000 letters. It is said they are better written then his published work. I wouldn't honestly know because I have not read any of them.
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Post by Iron Maiden on Dec 22, 2010 8:06:18 GMT -8
I read the The Cats of Ulthar recently.
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Chibithulhu
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Post by Chibithulhu on Jan 19, 2011 19:59:31 GMT -8
I know Call of Cthulhu was based off a dream he had about the urn scene, chapter one. Actually, apparently he had serious night terrors his whole life, that was the base of Nyarlathotep, too.
Yeah, despite my username (though that's more Munchkin Cthulhu), my favorites are more "Dagon" and "The Color Out of Space". They just do horror better than Cthulhu, I suppose.
Then again, I have eldritch plush toys. Not a serious person, self.
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Post by RaisingDead on Jan 21, 2011 18:09:16 GMT -8
We have to do this poetry project for my school, getting 3 poems from famous authors and making 3 poems ourselves that revolve around a theme we chose, and then we have to analyze them. I'm hoping to put H. P. Lovecraft's "The Cats" in as one of the poems.
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Post by Lil' Raskol LobLaw on Jan 30, 2011 13:31:45 GMT -8
I've never actually read any of his stuff, but I heard he's good at what he does. Any recommendations?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2011 3:10:39 GMT -8
*has actually read quite a bit of lovecraft online, soo...it's safe to say i've been a pretty big fan of him, anf even done a bit of research too* Nyalathotep was...interesting, and this one about dreams with a gate. A bit tired to remember some names.... Lovecraft based vidya games are pretty cool too...Like Call of Cthulhu and this well....other game I may of mensioned in the games board thats known for it's 'cuteness'...*cough* Try reading Hello Cthulhu sometime---Seeing an Elder God being sickened by an adorablely mouthless white cat while having the hugest crush ever on her is just....morbidly funny in all the strongest and stupidest ways. It's a rather stupid webcomic, but it's also pretty awesome~ Lovecraft's favorite planets were Pluto and Venus. Well! Smell ya later peeps *haz leftif teh buildin'nao..~~<3*
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Post by Iron Maiden on Feb 18, 2011 23:41:23 GMT -8
I recently bought a book containing some of his stories(Re-animator, Nyalathotep, The Colour out of space, etc).
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Post by RaisingDead on Feb 22, 2011 13:45:21 GMT -8
^ Wouldn't happen to be this book right? If so, I too have it And speaking about the game, I was playing it recently and was about to go through the famous Escape The Hotel scene in Innsmouth. Oh my God, my heart was beating so hard through all of that. I could just feel the whole town catching up with me . And despite how difficult people claim it to be, I managed to get past it on the 4th try.
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Post by Iron Maiden on Mar 22, 2011 21:51:30 GMT -8
And speaking about the game, I was playing it recently and was about to go through the famous Escape The Hotel scene in Innsmouth. Oh my God, my heart was beating so hard through all of that. I could just feel the whole town catching up with me . And despite how difficult people claim it to be, I managed to get past it on the 4th try. I watched a walkthrough of that game. Wow.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 7, 2012 17:15:16 GMT -8
Not to long ago, I finished the Rats in the Walls, and thus far it's my favourite. The eeriness and the feel of unease just overwhelms you! Also, the climax is one of the best I have ever read! When I get time I'm going to start working on At The Mountains of Madness.
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Madaraki
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Post by Madaraki on Nov 29, 2012 19:32:58 GMT -8
Because it's relevant for this time of year.
Anyway, I've got a book (Barnes and Noble, I love thee) that contains ALL of his fiction, so it's pretty much been the best $20 I've ever spent at the store.
Favorite stories are:
The Dunwich Horror (Because of reasons.) The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath (Epic trolling within.) The Case of Charles Dexter Ward (THIS MUST BE A MOVIE.) Sweet Ermengarde (When your main character in the story is "Jack Manly"...) The Shadow Over Innsmouth
(Related. Contains spoilers.)
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Post by Ozymandias II on Nov 29, 2012 20:50:06 GMT -8
Anyway, I've got a book (Barnes and Noble, I love thee) that contains ALL of his fiction, so it's pretty much been the best $20 I've ever spent at the store. Favorite stories are: The Dunwich Horror (Because of reasons.) The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath (Epic trolling within.) The Case of Charles Dexter Ward (THIS MUST BE A MOVIE.) Sweet Ermengarde (When your main character in the story is "Jack Manly"...) The Shadow Over Innsmouth I got the same big honkin' volume that you did just a few days ago (the hardcover version with the purple ribbon bookmark and silver-lined pages, right?). 'Tis awesome. While on the topic of Cthulhu Mythos based music... Fiddler on the Roof...with extra tentacly horror!
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Madaraki
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Post by Madaraki on Nov 29, 2012 21:16:42 GMT -8
I got the same big honkin' volume that you did just a few days ago (the hardcover version with the purple ribbon bookmark and silver-lined pages, right?). 'Tis awesome. While on the topic of Cthulhu Mythos based music... Fiddler on the Roof...with extra tentacly horror! Mine has gold-lined pages. They all did when I got it last year. For some reason the newer releases have silver pages though.
Ah yes, Shoggoth on the Roof. They've actually got all of the songs for it, but apparently because of legal issues, they've never been able to put on an official performance.
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makoeyes
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Post by makoeyes on Feb 23, 2013 14:43:32 GMT -8
I love Lovecraft. I recently bought a book with a lot of his short stories. My favorite so far has definitely been The Dreams In the Witch House. Just the descriptions of the fantastic shapes and colors feels like written scenery porn to me. Next to that was The Colour Out of Space. Partially because it's about a color that doesn't exist in our world, and I thought it was the scariest out of all of them I've read so far.
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Madaraki
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Post by Madaraki on Feb 23, 2013 15:02:52 GMT -8
I have mixed feelings on Colour Out of Space. On one hand; it is damn creepy in how the stuff works. Most authors try to come up with some cause for why whatever something from space does what it does. Lovecraft's other beings just tend to exist and do without any real regard for humanity. It's a rather scary perspective that I haven't seen other writers take.
On the other hand, describing something as something that can't be described does (at times) feel like a bit of a cop-out.
Will post pics later tonight; I finally got my Nyarlathotep figure the other day.
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Post by Ozymandias II on Feb 23, 2013 16:44:04 GMT -8
Anyone else ever hear of Nyarko-san? AKA the anime with Nyarlathotep as a cute schoolgirl.
Dammit, Crawling Chaos! Will you stop at nothing to drive us all mad?!
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makoeyes
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Post by makoeyes on Feb 23, 2013 17:29:23 GMT -8
^Just read about it? Is it annoying for the way it uses the Mythos?I have mixed feelings on Colour Out of Space. On one hand; it is damn creepy in how the stuff works. Most authors try to come up with some cause for why whatever something from space does what it does. Lovecraft's other beings just tend to exist and do without any real regard for humanity. It's a rather scary perspective that I haven't seen other writers take.
On the other hand, describing something as something that can't be described does (at times) feel like a bit of a cop-out.
Will post pics later tonight; I finally got my Nyarlathotep figure the other day. I just like the use of impossible colors, even if he doesn't describe it. Both my universes use them. Some parts of the main character in my fantasy series is a color that doesn't naturally exist in their universe, described as a crimsonish green.
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Post by candypants on Feb 23, 2013 18:47:11 GMT -8
I just started reading Eldritch Tales and I'm almost finished with the first story, The Alchemist. I have to say that I'm enjoying it.
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Madaraki
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Post by Madaraki on Feb 23, 2013 19:52:09 GMT -8
I just started reading Eldritch Tales and I'm almost finished with the first story, The Alchemist. I have to say that I'm enjoying it.
Which other stories does that one have?
Also; Nyaruko.
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Post by candypants on Feb 23, 2013 21:27:34 GMT -8
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Madaraki
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Post by Madaraki on Feb 23, 2013 22:27:53 GMT -8
I'll have to do some reading here. "The Complete Fiction", now that I look at it, seems to be all of his solo fiction work, and there are several collaborations here that I haven't read yet.
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makoeyes
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Post by makoeyes on Feb 27, 2013 19:54:51 GMT -8
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