Even Beyonder Than That
May 5, 2016 8:37 AM Subscribe
HP Lovecraft Literary Podcast host Chris Lackey (previously 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) is celebrating his birthday today by releasing, along with co-creator Greig Johnson (previously), a new Lovecraftian comedy short: From Beyond the Beyond.
In the spirit of Lovecraft comedy, this is a little something that I secretly gifted to the good people of the "Lovecraft Arts & Sciences" store in the Arcade in Providence, RI, on the morning of April Fools' Day this year:
posted by wenestvedt at 11:32 AM on May 5, 2016
https://flic.kr/p/GtnqXSThey haven't taken it down yet, either, which is awesome.
posted by wenestvedt at 11:32 AM on May 5, 2016
This is pretty great.
"When presented with the indescribable the unscientific brain . . "
"Pink see through worms. There, described."
Nope, the words unspeakable, unnameable, indescribable, etc. did not mean what Lovecraft thought they meant.
Lovecraft himself is on the list of "cultural phenomena I should like but can't get into." I love Neil Gaiman's riffs on him, the Arkham Horror boardgame, Fritz Leiber, Mall of Cthulhu, MeFi's own cstross and the The Laundry Files, Lucy Snyder's short story where an ancient one gets tossed in a stew, Andrew Leman's silent movie, and pretty much everything else inspired by him. But the writing itself (with the single exception of Shadows over Innsmouth): Meh.
Continuing the trend, hpppodcraft guys are so self-deprecating, realistic about the quality of Lovecraft's work, and generally dorky and charming that I consumed most of the free stuff a year or two ago and keep meaning to through a few bucks their way. This on a podcast devoted to an author I will no longer read! I still remember one intro that went into a long spiel about "irony" and Alanis Morissette and misusing the word and how its not really that complicated, irony is just something contrary to expectations or intention, and the payoff "This is a very ironic story. Lovecraft intend it to be scary, and it's just not."
posted by mark k at 9:24 PM on May 5, 2016
"When presented with the indescribable the unscientific brain . . "
"Pink see through worms. There, described."
Nope, the words unspeakable, unnameable, indescribable, etc. did not mean what Lovecraft thought they meant.
Lovecraft himself is on the list of "cultural phenomena I should like but can't get into." I love Neil Gaiman's riffs on him, the Arkham Horror boardgame, Fritz Leiber, Mall of Cthulhu, MeFi's own cstross and the The Laundry Files, Lucy Snyder's short story where an ancient one gets tossed in a stew, Andrew Leman's silent movie, and pretty much everything else inspired by him. But the writing itself (with the single exception of Shadows over Innsmouth): Meh.
Continuing the trend, hpppodcraft guys are so self-deprecating, realistic about the quality of Lovecraft's work, and generally dorky and charming that I consumed most of the free stuff a year or two ago and keep meaning to through a few bucks their way. This on a podcast devoted to an author I will no longer read! I still remember one intro that went into a long spiel about "irony" and Alanis Morissette and misusing the word and how its not really that complicated, irony is just something contrary to expectations or intention, and the payoff "This is a very ironic story. Lovecraft intend it to be scary, and it's just not."
posted by mark k at 9:24 PM on May 5, 2016
the writing itself (with the single exception of Shadows over Innsmouth): Meh.
Please (re)read The Colour Out of Space, which is possibly the saddest and greatest piece of weird fiction ever written. That description of the family descending into madness...
"He let the boy run about for a week until he began stumbling and hurting himself, and then he shut him in an attic room across the hall from his mother's. The way they screamed at each other from behind their locked doors was very terrible..."
It makes me feel sick just thinking about that image, an image that, in itself, forms the foundation stone of entire careers in American horror. Yes, of course it is drawing on Gilman, but Lovecraft adds levels of visceral horror and nihilist bleakness that make it hurt even more. Which is to say nothing of the brilliance that makes up every other aspect in The Colour Out of Space.
Not everything is for everyone, of course, but I urge everyone to give that story, at least, a decent amount of their attention.
posted by howfar at 3:45 PM on May 6, 2016 [2 favorites]
Please (re)read The Colour Out of Space, which is possibly the saddest and greatest piece of weird fiction ever written. That description of the family descending into madness...
"He let the boy run about for a week until he began stumbling and hurting himself, and then he shut him in an attic room across the hall from his mother's. The way they screamed at each other from behind their locked doors was very terrible..."
It makes me feel sick just thinking about that image, an image that, in itself, forms the foundation stone of entire careers in American horror. Yes, of course it is drawing on Gilman, but Lovecraft adds levels of visceral horror and nihilist bleakness that make it hurt even more. Which is to say nothing of the brilliance that makes up every other aspect in The Colour Out of Space.
Not everything is for everyone, of course, but I urge everyone to give that story, at least, a decent amount of their attention.
posted by howfar at 3:45 PM on May 6, 2016 [2 favorites]
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posted by KingEdRa at 9:16 AM on May 5, 2016