|
SARAtonin
Violent Dreams


Registered: 09/28/11
Posts: 15,911
Loc: Deutschland
|
H.P. Lovecraft Book Club 1
#23549909 - 08/17/16 01:01 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
|
|
Hello friends, I'm going to be organizing a H.P. Lovecraft book club!
If you haven't heard his name by now, you've certainly heard of his works. H.P. Lovecraft was a short story writer best known for his comprehensive "Cthulhu Mythos," and for pioneering the literary genre "Cosmic Horror" also known as "Lovecraftian Horror." Over the years Lovecraft has developed an enormous cult following so much so you can't even go into your local comic shop anymore without running into a Cthulhu plush toy.
As a short story writer I figured Lovecraft would be the perfect focus for our book group because not only can most his stories be read in a short 10-20 minutes, but his literature primarily focuses on fear of the unknowable so each story would all be able to generate lively debate and discussion.
I figured each week we would vote for a different short story, read it, then simply discuss it with one another, simple as that! I thought this would be a nice fun way to bring people together and hopefully get some of you reading again.
Depending on intrest I was planning on starting things off next Monday with "The Beast in the Cave." H.P. Lovecrafts first stort, written when he was only 14!
The sub-forum for this book club can be found here. https://www.shroomery.org/forums/postlist.php/Board/302
Please comment with intrest!
PS: If you are afraid of reading I will also be providing audiobooks of each story chosen, so no excuses! PPS: All Lovecrafts work is available for free online for those who aren't afraid of reading.
-------------------- God kills indiscriminately and so shall we. For no creatures under God are as we are none so like him as ourselves. Want to join a cult? Click for details…
Edited by SARAtonin (08/17/16 06:32 PM)
|
Patlal
You ask too many questions


Registered: 10/09/10
Posts: 44,797
Loc: Ottawa
Last seen: 13 hours, 15 minutes
|
Re: H.P. Lovecraft Book Club [Re: SARAtonin]
#23549923 - 08/17/16 01:09 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
|
|
I keep selling copies of Necronomicons all the time and I still haven't read his stuff even though everybody says it's amazing.
I guess I'm in!
--------------------
|
idiotek


Registered: 02/06/04
Posts: 40,728
|
Re: H.P. Lovecraft Book Club [Re: Patlal]
#23549943 - 08/17/16 01:16 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
|
|
It's all public domain now so you can get his work for free. I have it on my phone Kindle app.
At The Mountains of Madness is a really fucking good novella.
|
Tantrika
Miss Ann Thrope




Registered: 03/26/12
Posts: 17,138
Loc: Lashed to the pyre
|
Re: H.P. Lovecraft Book Club [Re: SARAtonin]
#23549957 - 08/17/16 01:21 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
|
|
Would be up for dusting off the ole Necronomicon.
Maybe Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family would be a good follow up.
Just kidding, maybe The Colour Out of Space
|
clock_of_omens
razzle them dazzle them


Registered: 04/10/14
Posts: 4,097
Last seen: 1 year, 1 month
|
Re: H.P. Lovecraft Book Club [Re: idiotek]
#23549970 - 08/17/16 01:23 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
|
|
I'll read them shits.
|
SARAtonin
Violent Dreams


Registered: 09/28/11
Posts: 15,911
Loc: Deutschland
|
|
Awesome! I wasn't too sure what intrest would be like so this is great to see! Thanks guys!
@Patal You sell the Necronomicon but you've never read Lovecraft? 
@Geoff ATMoM is amazing, but Everytime I think about it I get sad Guillermo Del Toro reconsidered against adapting it into a movie.
-------------------- God kills indiscriminately and so shall we. For no creatures under God are as we are none so like him as ourselves. Want to join a cult? Click for details…
|
idiotek


Registered: 02/06/04
Posts: 40,728
|
Re: H.P. Lovecraft Book Club [Re: SARAtonin]
#23550011 - 08/17/16 01:39 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
|
|
I felt that way at first but I'm sort of glad it hasn't been brought into the mainstream recently. It's nice to find an old gem like that which hasn't been exploited by shitty Hollywood screen adaptations.
His writing style was so very unique and he had a very solid grasp of the concepts of suspense and horror. Sometimes, though, he can get a little bit too verbose and esoteric. Kind of like akira_akuma thinks he is.
|
Moonshoe
Blue Mantis


Registered: 05/28/04
Posts: 27,202
Loc: Iceland
|
Re: H.P. Lovecraft Book Club [Re: SARAtonin]
#23550042 - 08/17/16 01:52 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
|
|
I adore Howard Phillips lovecraft and his numerous excellent books and stories .
I plan to buy his complete works anthology.
So many great great stories , so unique, so trippy and so influential.
Wonderful stuff, highly recommend.
I can't really choose a favorite there was one about Christmas called like "Yule tide" or something and it was Awesome, so many great works.
Not just scary but fun, interesting and bizarre, with deeply intriguing concepts and ideas.
--------------------
Everything I post is fiction.
|
Burke Dennings
baby merchant

Registered: 11/29/04
Posts: 81,641
|
Re: H.P. Lovecraft Book Club [Re: SARAtonin]
#23550050 - 08/17/16 01:59 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
|
|
I may be interested in this, I love Lovecraft. It's been years since I've read anything by him, so it'd be nice to get back into his stories.
|
Seriously_trippin
Cosmic Guru Ganesh



Registered: 07/12/13
Posts: 14,473
Last seen: 3 hours, 24 minutes
|
|
Never have read lovecraft but Sara is like Oprah except I'd actually follow Sara's book recs
-------------------- R.I.P Zombi3, Blue Helix Modest Mouse Zappa Slothie That Kid With The face ShLong Le Canard split_by_nine & Big Worm Forever Etched in the sands of time in the shroomery and ever so beloved and deeply missed by many
|
clock_of_omens
razzle them dazzle them


Registered: 04/10/14
Posts: 4,097
Last seen: 1 year, 1 month
|
|
A couple years ago I started reading his stories chronologically and got about a couple dozen in. The Picture in the House was probably my favorite.
Quote:
Seriously_trippin said: Sara is like Oprah
Damn Saratonin, are you going to take that?
|
musiclover420
psychonaut



Registered: 11/06/12
Posts: 19,563
Loc: PNW
Last seen: 2 years, 5 months
|
Re: H.P. Lovecraft Book Club [Re: idiotek]
#23550120 - 08/17/16 02:25 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
|
|
Quote:
Geoff Peterson said: At The Mountains of Madness is a really fucking good novella.
It is also a song by a band called HP Lovecraft:
Anyways count me in, Lovecraft is easily one of my top 5 favorite authors right along PK Dick and Poe.
I second The Color Out Of Space, also what is the story about the winged aliens? I only vaguely remember it but it starts as letters back and forth from two people that slowly get stranger and more alarming til one travels to go check in on the other. Don't want to give away the crazy twist I vaguely remember but that is a eerie story!
Quote:
Geoff Peterson said: I felt that way at first but I'm sort of glad it hasn't been brought into the mainstream recently. It's nice to find an old gem like that which hasn't been exploited by shitty Hollywood screen adaptations.
Have any of you watched the black and white silent Cthulu film adaption? So fucking weird its been years since I watched it though.
-------------------- Don't worry about me, I've got all that I need. And I'm singing my song to the sky You know how it feels, With the breeze of the sun in your eyes. Not minding that time's passing by I've got all and more, My smile, just as before. Is all that I carry with me I talk to myself, I need nobody else. I'm lost and I'm mine, yes I'm free
|
SARAtonin
Violent Dreams


Registered: 09/28/11
Posts: 15,911
Loc: Deutschland
|
|
Damn, well if Burke's in I better close registration now before his harem of fan girls show up and start swooning.
-------------------- God kills indiscriminately and so shall we. For no creatures under God are as we are none so like him as ourselves. Want to join a cult? Click for details…
|
SARAtonin
Violent Dreams


Registered: 09/28/11
Posts: 15,911
Loc: Deutschland
|
Re: H.P. Lovecraft Book Club [Re: SARAtonin]
#23550785 - 08/17/16 06:30 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
|
|
I've set up a first draft of the sub-forum, I'll do more work on it tomorrow.
https://www.shroomery.org/forums/postlist.php/Board/302
-------------------- God kills indiscriminately and so shall we. For no creatures under God are as we are none so like him as ourselves. Want to join a cult? Click for details…
|
SARAtonin
Violent Dreams


Registered: 09/28/11
Posts: 15,911
Loc: Deutschland
|
Re: H.P. Lovecraft Book Club [Re: SARAtonin]
#23553204 - 08/18/16 12:22 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
|
|
Bump for awareness.
-------------------- God kills indiscriminately and so shall we. For no creatures under God are as we are none so like him as ourselves. Want to join a cult? Click for details…
|
SARAtonin
Violent Dreams


Registered: 09/28/11
Posts: 15,911
Loc: Deutschland
|
Re: H.P. Lovecraft Book Club [Re: SARAtonin]
#23586480 - 08/28/16 10:45 AM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
|
|
Week ones story "The Beast in the Cave" has been posted here:
https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/23586465
Discussion will start tonight at midnight MST.
-------------------- God kills indiscriminately and so shall we. For no creatures under God are as we are none so like him as ourselves. Want to join a cult? Click for details…
|
Patlal
You ask too many questions


Registered: 10/09/10
Posts: 44,797
Loc: Ottawa
Last seen: 13 hours, 15 minutes
|
Re: H.P. Lovecraft Book Club [Re: SARAtonin]
#23586485 - 08/28/16 10:46 AM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
|
|
Oh shit. I completely forgot about this! Thanks for the remeinder. I'll rea it today.
--------------------
|
LeningradCowboy
Yes, my name is you?



Registered: 08/01/15
Posts: 1,962
Loc: Siperia underground
Last seen: 20 days, 16 hours
|
Re: H.P. Lovecraft Book Club [Re: Patlal]
#23586522 - 08/28/16 11:02 AM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
|
|
Like his work, have his complete writings. One of the best mythos created by writer.
-------------------- From tundra with love!
FREE HAMHEAD 2020!
|
Larrythescaryrex
teardrop on the fire



Registered: 07/19/00
Posts: 11,004
Loc: further down the spiral
Last seen: 1 year, 1 month
|
|
My favorite is the Strange Case of Charles Dexter Ward.
#nolivesmatter
-------------------- RIP Acidic_Sloth Sunset_Mission said: "larry the scary rex verily scary when thoroughly vexed invoke the shadows and dust, cast a hex mercifully massacring memories masterfully relocate from Ur to 8th density and become a cosmic bully mulder and scully couldn't decipher his glyphs invoke the shadows and dust, smoke infernal spliffs" April 24th 2011
|
something super extreme
NIGGA YOU A FUCK NIGGA!


Registered: 10/29/12
Posts: 17,397
Loc: TURNT UP!
|
Re: H.P. Lovecraft Book Club [Re: SARAtonin]
#23586949 - 08/28/16 01:19 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
|
|
hp lovecraft was a boring autistic shut in who was afraid of black people and you have a penis
|
Moonshoe
Blue Mantis


Registered: 05/28/04
Posts: 27,202
Loc: Iceland
|
|
Have there been any truly worthy films based on or inspired by love craft ?
I feel like it's high time for a Netflix original / HBO game of thrones level Cthulhu mythos tv series , or at least a high budget blockbuster horror film.
Imagine the badass CGI Cthulhu scenes they could do now !
--------------------
Everything I post is fiction.
|
Patlal
You ask too many questions


Registered: 10/09/10
Posts: 44,797
Loc: Ottawa
Last seen: 13 hours, 15 minutes
|
Re: H.P. Lovecraft Book Club [Re: Moonshoe]
#23586962 - 08/28/16 01:25 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
|
|
Why can't we comment in the discussion right now? Why wait till midnight?
--------------------
|
Satyr604
Stranger



Registered: 05/19/15
Posts: 268
Last seen: 2 months, 12 days
|
Re: H.P. Lovecraft Book Club [Re: Patlal]
#23587012 - 08/28/16 01:49 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
|
|
I want in! Holy fuck, do I want in!
I love (lel) his works. Might I recommend to anyone and everyone even remotely interested in Lovecraft and audiobooks, to listen to Mike Bennett's renditions of a few of his short stories? He does a phenomenal job.
I even put one of his readings to music inspired by Lovecraft: giant sounding, scary and dark, monumental, ominous, brooding.. Tried to emulate washing up of waves as well. Also loud. Really damned loud. Be warned, it's not for everyone.
http://www83.zippyshare.com/v/5IQxpJyH/file.html
-------------------- To do: sclerotia, DMT, mushrooms, LSA, mescaline.
|
Tantrika
Miss Ann Thrope




Registered: 03/26/12
Posts: 17,138
Loc: Lashed to the pyre
|
Re: H.P. Lovecraft Book Club [Re: Moonshoe]
#23587014 - 08/28/16 01:50 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
|
|
Quote:
Moonshoe said: Have there been any truly worthy films based on or inspired by love craft ?
I feel like it's high time for a Netflix original / HBO game of thrones level Cthulhu mythos tv series , or at least a high budget blockbuster horror film.
Imagine the badass CGI Cthulhu scenes they could do now !
Am not certain I can picture it working as a CGI Cthulhu sort of thing. A lot of where Lovecraft's work succeeds is on building of suspense, and efforts to build a sense of connection to characters struggling with the unknown. Things start to feel creepy because they go unseen, rather than based out of the reveal. Remember once watching a video on why Cthulhu fails in videogames, it made a good point that the terrifying effect of Cthulhu is more about the presence and concept, rather than the creature.
A lot of The Call of Cthulhu sells itself with how weird the lead-up is -- know personally the idea of R'lyeh with it's non-euclidian geometry struck me more than the description of Cthulhu's size and design. I actually had a cat I named R'lyeh because of it.
|
Tantrika
Miss Ann Thrope




Registered: 03/26/12
Posts: 17,138
Loc: Lashed to the pyre
|
|
Quote:
musiclover420 said: ... I second The Color Out Of Space, also what is the story about the winged aliens? I only vaguely remember it but it starts as letters back and forth from two people that slowly get stranger and more alarming til one travels to go check in on the other. Don't want to give away the crazy twist I vaguely remember but that is a eerie story! ...
Took me a while to recall/check this, but pretty sure you were referring to The Whisperer in Darkness which was creepy in its execution.
It also brings up a point about why I feel his stories have had such a staying power -- there is something about the way the journal entries and letters are written that provides almost a sense of authenticity to the stories, despite how fantastical they feel. The brief glimmer of a moment where I have to remind myself that it's a story, not a documentation.
|
Satyr604
Stranger



Registered: 05/19/15
Posts: 268
Last seen: 2 months, 12 days
|
Re: H.P. Lovecraft Book Club [Re: Tantrika] 1
#23587046 - 08/28/16 02:01 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
|
|
Quote:
SweetLeafSamadhi said:
Quote:
Moonshoe said: Have there been any truly worthy films based on or inspired by love craft ?
I feel like it's high time for a Netflix original / HBO game of thrones level Cthulhu mythos tv series , or at least a high budget blockbuster horror film.
Imagine the badass CGI Cthulhu scenes they could do now !
Am not certain I can picture it working as a CGI Cthulhu sort of thing. A lot of where Lovecraft's work succeeds is on building of suspense, and efforts to build a sense of connection to characters struggling with the unknown. Things start to feel creepy because they go unseen, rather than based out of the reveal. Remember once watching a video on why Cthulhu fails in videogames, it made a good point that the terrifying effect of Cthulhu is more about the presence and concept, rather than the creature.
A lot of The Call of Cthulhu sells itself with how weird the lead-up is -- know personally the idea of R'lyeh with it's non-euclidian geometry struck me more than the description of Cthulhu's size and design. I actually had a cat I named R'lyeh because of it. 
Exactly!
The horror of Lovecraft lies not in the creepiness of the monsters, creatures and gods. I mean, they're there, obviously. But the ugliness and cruelty of the creatures aren't the source of the horror. It's the possibility of them being there and of them being so 'out of reach' and way above our simple human understanding that our puny minds would be driven insane. The horror described in Lovecraft's work is of mankind wanting to learn too much and then learning something that's better left unknown for our own sakes. Of the horrors always being here, but that there bliss in our ignorance.
"From Beyond" is a perfect example of this: a scientist invents a machine that allows him to see a different dimension, only to discover that this different dimension, in which we exist as well, is inhabited by (malicious) creatures. It's not the creatures that drives him mad, but the realization that they are always present, wherever he turns. Even when he turns of this machine, they are there. It is knowing that they are present that ultimately drives him mad.
I think that's a very difficult idea to translate onto a moviescreen. It's possible, but it's contrary to everything the average (horror) moviegoer expects. It's sure to fail, commercially speaking.
-------------------- To do: sclerotia, DMT, mushrooms, LSA, mescaline.
|
Burke Dennings
baby merchant

Registered: 11/29/04
Posts: 81,641
|
Re: H.P. Lovecraft Book Club [Re: Moonshoe]
#23587065 - 08/28/16 02:07 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
|
|
There's a movie in production called 'The Void' that's based on several premises of HP Lovecraft stories. The trailer doesn't reveal really any of the actual story, but it looks like they're putting in some real work. There's very little CGI in this one, nearly all effects are done in practicality. Here's the proof of concept vid:
I know I'm probably in the minority, but I liked another movie that was a hodgepodge of Lovecraft ideas called 'In the Mouth of Madness'. I might not have seen it since the 90s though, so I could feel differently about it now. Stars Sam Neill.
The best screen adaptation of the Cthulhu Mythos was the one South Park did in those 3 part "Coon" episodes.
|
California
A E S T H E T I C S A T A N


Registered: 12/27/04
Posts: 72,118
Loc: H A U N T E D H O U S E
|
|
The Void looks good.
'In the Mouth of Madness' was fun. JC!
|
Burke Dennings
baby merchant

Registered: 11/29/04
Posts: 81,641
|
Re: H.P. Lovecraft Book Club [Re: California]
#23587114 - 08/28/16 02:24 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
|
|
Now I really want to watch it again, but revisiting movies I liked as a kid/teen is a mixed bag. Some I like the same, like 'Event Horizon', a rare few I like more ('Dark City'), and a ton I'm like "WTF I liked this?" Lol. But I remember thinking 'In the Mouth of Madness' was a good story; if I was only impressed by the effects, I probably wouldn't try.
And yeah, I'm looking forward to The Void. The production team has a ton of experience, and the producers seem really dedicated to releasing a well crafted movie. I'm pulling for them. The art they've revealed for it so far is fantastic.
|
California
A E S T H E T I C S A T A N


Registered: 12/27/04
Posts: 72,118
Loc: H A U N T E D H O U S E
|
|
Yet another Sam Neil vehicle, but I disliked Event Horizon. ItMoM was a good story.
The Void had me at the bloody axe.
|
something super extreme
NIGGA YOU A FUCK NIGGA!


Registered: 10/29/12
Posts: 17,397
Loc: TURNT UP!
|
Re: H.P. Lovecraft Book Club [Re: California]
#23587205 - 08/28/16 02:53 PM (7 years, 5 months ago) |
|
|
The theatrical release of Event Horizon was shit but the versions floating around with the removed footage are a more interesting movie, at least as far as special effects and set design go. It's still a boring ass movie.
|
Larrythescaryrex
teardrop on the fire



Registered: 07/19/00
Posts: 11,004
Loc: further down the spiral
Last seen: 1 year, 1 month
|
|
The Syfy channel made a movie called Dagon, which was sorta based off the story "The Shadow over Innsmouth."
-------------------- RIP Acidic_Sloth Sunset_Mission said: "larry the scary rex verily scary when thoroughly vexed invoke the shadows and dust, cast a hex mercifully massacring memories masterfully relocate from Ur to 8th density and become a cosmic bully mulder and scully couldn't decipher his glyphs invoke the shadows and dust, smoke infernal spliffs" April 24th 2011
|
Burke Dennings
baby merchant

Registered: 11/29/04
Posts: 81,641
|
|
Sometimes, I have terrible taste in movies. Can't help it. I tend to not watch movies as a whole, I like to look at all the little components. So if there's something I really enjoy in an otherwise awful movie, I'll walk away from it liking the film. And I try to look for at least one thing I like in every movie, even if it's 'Stealth' starring Jamie Foxx.
|
Moonshoe
Blue Mantis


Registered: 05/28/04
Posts: 27,202
Loc: Iceland
|
|
Quote:
Burke Dennings said: Sometimes, I have terrible taste in movies. Can't help it.
I am glad you recognize and admit that, but it's funny to me because you got so butthurt when I said the exact same thing (that some of the movies you recommended to me were terrible)
--------------------
Everything I post is fiction.
|
SARAtonin
Violent Dreams


Registered: 09/28/11
Posts: 15,911
Loc: Deutschland
|
Re: H.P. Lovecraft Book Club [Re: Moonshoe]
#23589955 - 08/29/16 12:52 PM (7 years, 4 months ago) |
|
|
-------------------- God kills indiscriminately and so shall we. For no creatures under God are as we are none so like him as ourselves. Want to join a cult? Click for details…
|
|