HP Lovecraft fans?

I don't think that H.P. Lovecraft was any more racist than any other New England WASP of his day. People were just more racist in general in the '20s and HPL wasn't all that different than most in that regard.
 
Candace said:

And I will add my vote to the idea that "Darkness of the Hillside Thickets" is sadly ignored by mainstream consumer music fans.
I've been tempted to get one of their CD's. I take it they are actually good? One of the guys in the band is and illustrator for RPG books too. He's a good artist.
 
The case for HP's racism towards blacks or Jews rests only on the fact that he never mentioned either of them.

He does actually mention them frequently in his letters and says quite a number of very unpleasant things about them. Of course, his attitudes as expressed in his letters were hardly unusual or odd for that time.

I've been tempted to get one of their CD's. I take it they are actually good?
I think so. "The Innsmouth Look" is a classic for the ages. ("Obed Marsh sailed the seven seas. He made love to the fish. He made love to the fishies!")
 
Keziah Mason said:
"The Innsmouth Look" is a classic for the ages. Obed Marsh...

Obed Marsh made fun of folks for going to regular church, as I recall. Not unlike us JREF types. :p

"Everything cleaned up in the mornin' - but they was traces ... Obed he kinder takes charge an' says things is goin' to be changed ... others'll worship with us at meetin'-time, an' sarten haouses hez got to entertin guests ... they wanted to mix like they done with the Kanakys, an' he for one didn't feel baound to stop 'em. Far gone, was Obed ... jest like a crazy man on the subjeck. He says they brung us fish an' treasure, an' shud hev what they hankered after ..."

Folks should worship a God that brings 'em fish.
 
Keziah Mason said:
He does actually mention them frequently in his letters and says quite a number of very unpleasant things about them. Of course, his attitudes as expressed in his letters were hardly unusual or odd for that time.

I have read only HP's published stories. Where can I get his letters? I'm really interested.
 
I have read only HP's published stories. Where can I get his letters? I'm really interested.

The "standard" sets are the Arkham House Selected Letters Volumes 1-5. Some of those volumes are now out of print but can be found in used book stores.

If you don't want to jump right in with all five volumes, there's a good "autobiography" in letters that was put together by Lovecraft scholar ST Joshi Lord of a Visible World. I would recommend this one highly as not only is it a good example of his letters but it also is a good look at his life and thoughts.

Lovecraft at Last is a loving look at HPL through the eyes of a young boy who corresponded with him just before he died.

Hippocampus Press has published Letters to Alfred Galpin, which I have not yet read.

Night Shade Books is starting a collection of Lovecraft letters. The first was Mysteries of Time and Spirit which collects the correspondence between HPL and Donald Wandrei. I wasn't too interested in Wandrei's letters, to be honest. The next volume looks more interesting as it contains letters written while HPL was in New York.

That's all I can think of now, except for a few chapbooks put out by Necronomicon Press. I'd recommend starting with Lord of a Visible World and then trying Lovecraft at Last. If you like what you've read, then by all means track down the full set of Selected Letters.
 
Folks should worship a God that brings 'em fish.

Not only fish, but gold too. And Dagon really delivers on the eternal life part, unlike some other gods who say you have to die first in order to get it.

Say, has anyone seen Stuart Gordon's Dagon? It's a moderately faithful adaptation of Shadow Over Innsmouth. It's set in Spain, not Massachussetts, and the Deep One look is a bit different than I generally picture, but overall I really enjoyed it. The town of Imboca has got the perfect look for Innsmouth and there's a lot of general creepiness going on. There's a great flashback to an Obed Marsh character bursting into the local church trying to convince the townfolk to start worshipping the god who brings gold and fish.
 
Hexxenhammer said:
I've been tempted to get one of their CD's. I take it they are actually good? One of the guys in the band is and illustrator for RPG books too. He's a good artist.

Er.... well, perhaps it depends on your opinion of GOOD, per se.
They can play their instruments, so they're better than The Shaggs. They're about on the level of Hawkwind - the references in the songs are what you're really listening to.
 
Keziah Mason said:
Say, has anyone seen Stuart Gordon's Dagon? It's a moderately faithful adaptation of Shadow Over Innsmouth. It's set in Spain, not Massachussetts, and the Deep One look is a bit different than I generally picture, but overall I really enjoyed it. The town of Imboca has got the perfect look for Innsmouth and there's a lot of general creepiness going on. There's a great flashback to an Obed Marsh character bursting into the local church trying to convince the townfolk to start worshipping the god who brings gold and fish.
Dagon was a great movie. Yeah, the townspeople all just turned kinda sea-creaturey, not just fishy. Hence the hot tentacle legged girl. Only problem was understanding what the old fisherman was saying while he was telling his story.

I've got Bride of Reanimator on the way from Netflix. Can't wait.
Er.... well, perhaps it depends on your opinion of GOOD, per se.
They can play their instruments, so they're better than The Shaggs. They're about on the level of Hawkwind - the references in the songs are what you're really listening to.
Noted.
 
i enjoy lovecraft a great deal, a couple of my tattoos reflect this
i went to his 100th b-day party celebration
and have played CoC for more than 20 years
 
Giz said:


Now comes the real test - who's played the roleplaying game?

I have played it, but it wasn't my favorite RPG. Unfortunately, I have the whole feel of what is the point when everything is going to suck in the end anyway. Also, I got tired of my own party members killing us all because they lost to much sanity.

Although my GM would probably love to play it again, I think the rest of our group would lynch him. We usually don't vote down the GM, but there are occasions when something is just universally unliked, and the GM is wise enough not to bring it back for another round. :)
 
SH!T! I was reading The Case of Charles Dexter Ward(Which I highly recommend) on the HP Lovecraft library site, and had to stop because it was very late. It so happens I was unable to return for a couple of days, and now the site is down. :(

Does anyone know of any other places where this story is hosted?
 
Chanileslie said:


I have played it, but it wasn't my favorite RPG. Unfortunately, I have the whole feel of what is the point when everything is going to suck in the end anyway. Also, I got tired of my own party members killing us all because they lost to much sanity.

Although my GM would probably love to play it again, I think the rest of our group would lynch him. We usually don't vote down the GM, but there are occasions when something is just universally unliked, and the GM is wise enough not to bring it back for another round. :)

the new version, by WotC, is great. montecook.com is a great place to get info, since he wrote it and there is a large forum on his site. my biggest problem with the game is that nobody gets over about level 7 before being eaten, or some such. the next time i venture into CoC territory, i think i'll use the D20 Modern rules and use CoC as a campaign setting. i think the D20 Modern characters would live a hell of a lot longer.
 
Just chiming in as another HPL fan. Since I have an excuse, I'll engage in blatant self-promotion by including a link to a picture I made:

http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=441181&Start=1&Artist=salvius&ByArtist=Yes

Also, since music has been mentioned, I'll point out that one of my favorite Halloween songs is "Providence", by King Crimson (on the album "Red"). And yes, I do believe the title is a reference to HPL, and although it's all instrumental, I think it evokes the feeling of his writing.
 
EdipisReks said:


the new version, by WotC, is great. montecook.com is a great place to get info, since he wrote it and there is a large forum on his site. my biggest problem with the game is that nobody gets over about level 7 before being eaten, or some such. the next time i venture into CoC territory, i think i'll use the D20 Modern rules and use CoC as a campaign setting. i think the D20 Modern characters would live a hell of a lot longer.

Ditto on that. Just insert the insanity system. Or alternatively you could use the insanity system from Monte Cook's Return to the Temple of Elemental evil.

Also, with d20 modern, if a character goes insane and starts trying to kill the rest of the party, he has all those cool powers and feats to use on his friends. BWAH HA HA HA HA HA!
 
sorgoth said:
SH!T! I was reading The Case of Charles Dexter Ward(Which I highly recommend) on the HP Lovecraft library site, and had to stop because it was very late. It so happens I was unable to return for a couple of days, and now the site is down. :(

The word going around on a few Lovecraft mailing lists is that Arkham House asked for the website to be taken down.
 
EdipisReks said:


the new version, by WotC, is great. montecook.com is a great place to get info, since he wrote it and there is a large forum on his site. my biggest problem with the game is that nobody gets over about level 7 before being eaten, or some such. the next time i venture into CoC territory, i think i'll use the D20 Modern rules and use CoC as a campaign setting. i think the D20 Modern characters would live a hell of a lot longer.

I disagree about it being great. And you made it to level 7????? You lucky b@st@rd!!! I don't think we made it past level 3 before we were killed off by a fellow party member.
 

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