H. P. Lovecraft And His Legacy

Howard Lovecraft and the Undersea Kingdom

2012-01-19T23:26:00.001-05:00

Howard Lovecraft and the Undersea Kingdom was sent to me as a preview copy. Please be aware that this "Lovecraft" is a horror-fantasy character, so if you just read Mr. Joshi's magnum opus biography of HPL you might be a little confused.

In this alternate reality, Howard is maybe about 6 years old (his father is still alive) and the mighty sleeping one Cthulhu is named "Spot" by little Howard. The images drawn by Thomas Boatwright are a radical mixture of minimalism, pastels, and abstraction. The writers, Brown and McPherson are clever with asides and wit - like one might have in an old "What's Up, Doc" Chuck Jones cartoon. It is not all whimsy, there is also a deadly and Lovecraftian seriousness about this graphic novel. These characters could be killed, or suffer a madness that would be much worse than death. The evil food chain ascends eldritchly upward so that even the devils themselves could be consumed if they fail in their unstated mission.

This is Lovecraft, so there is always a "book". Whether the book is a book, or the book is a metaphor, it is immediately critical to the plot and the devil's missions. But in this case, He Who Dreams and Should Not Be Named, is quite tame and kind of sweet. The world is somehow very wrong, and this little boy, Howard, must somehow make it right. That's quite a task, if this were really a little boy, but it seems that the boy is also a paradigm of wisdom and enlightenment.

How this plays out is not hinted at the end of chapter one, but rest assured the next chapters are equally entertaining. However, here are a few hints of the energetic fun and horror in the next chapters.

In chapter two a very interesting character appears, one who would be perfect had he been a real actor in an old Basil Rathbone movie. You may find the character funny, or eerie, but I found this character one of my favorites. Then "Spot" gets himself in – well – a spot. Will he escape in time to save Howard? We wonder if Howard's father is mad, or is he as sly as a warped Yukon Cornelius? Then before chapter two ends, some very Innsmouthian manifestations occur. And oh, my, what they do to good old 454 Angell Street!

In chapter three, as a cat lover, I cringed at what might happen to Howard's little black cat. Then come the "bubbles". Very clever of the artistic maestro to think of that! Whether the writers or the artists are responsible for the many sound effects, kudos to each who had a part. I live in the part of the country that has cicadas. I hate 'em. But I'd take a pack of them before I would that horrid winged thing that attacks our beloved team. (I do believe in spooks, I do, I do!) Then as we close in on the end of the last chapter, we suddenly understand the title of the graphic novel!

I enjoyed the full panel scenes, and the way that the story boards were not just rectilinear predictability, but kept me on my toes. I loved the small homages to many very old movies, or if that was unintended I suppose I'm showing my age and love of old films.

Bruce Brown and Dwight McPherson are masters of writing. E. T. Dollman's lettering is clean, readable, and artistic in its own way. Thomas Boatwright so captivated me, I had to go online and see more. What I saw confirmed what I initially thought: Not only can he do classic illustration, but he has a style all his own. If he continues, hymns will be written about his artistic career.

The Undersea Kingdom is in this months "Previews" and can be ordered from comic shops right now.

T-shirt, three days only

2012-01-13T21:08:00.002-05:00

If you happen to be a collector, here is a timed announcement.

Steve dropped me a note, and says that a t-shirt is being printed for 3 days only (shirt shows up at 12 a.m. Saturday). He says it will be a limited edition, never to be printed again.

Here are the links for you to check out.

http://www.theyetee.com/

At Steve Thomas there is a discussion of this iconography.

The New Death and Others by James Hutchings

2012-01-11T08:22:00.001-05:00

A copy of The New Death and Others was made available to me, Chrispy. This is one of the better of "old school" Mythos and I appreciated the way it was written. I count 66 short stories and poems which can be savored individually, or all at once.

In "How the Isle of Cats Got its Name", it begins wonderfully with "Death stalked the cats of Tekelee." This pretty much explains the blend of the Poe, Lovecraft and RE Howard style throughout. It is adventurous, thoughtful, and yet Mr. Hastings allows himself the freedom to express himself as James Hastings, and not be trapped inside some preconceived notion of what the Mythos should be or not be.

A brief portion of "If My Life was Filmed" goes "...someone famous once / would have the role of me / and if five stars meant 'excellent' / you'd give it two or three ...", which to me I find refreshingly self-deprecating yet closeted in a desire to shine. This too, is a bit Lovecraftian in the best sense, as Lovecraft strove to excellence, yet always under-appreciated himself.

Fun of Sword and Sorcery exudes in "The Mirror of Tuzun Thune", "Un-numbered years ago it came to pass / that desolation settled on King Kull / His throne of gleaming gold seemed tarnished brass / and soft and subtle silk seemed rough and dull ...", and goes on to elaborate the dynamics of the conflict between Kull and Thune in 12 epic stanzas.

James Hutchings is selling on both Amazon and Smashwords at a very reduced and bargain value. The links are below.

Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/New-Death-others-ebook/dp/B005Q8Q8DY

Smashwords:

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/92126

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

2011-12-24T06:47:00.001-05:00

T Peter Park Update

2011-12-17T19:11:00.001-05:00

Peter, I am told, is fine now. I am trying to make contact with him.Thank you, each of you, who wrote to me about him. I will certainly tell him, when I reach him, that people still care deeply for him.

T Peter Park

2011-12-12T13:25:00.003-05:00

I'm not sure where else to post, so I am back at the HPL blog. Peter and I spent many emails over the years discussing HPL, and his own mythic beliefs and theories. Of that, I am not unique, as many care deeply for Mr. Park and his legacy and interests.However, since his serious illness in late 2010, I have not found anyone who has an update on his condition of whereabouts. I fear the worst and hope for the best.If you do know of Mr. Park's condition, whatever that may be, could you drop me a line at chrisperridas@yahoo.com?Thank you.

Yuggothian Driven Computer

2011-11-08T13:29:00.000-05:00

Fungi interact with computer to make Cyborg!

Ia !!

Scientists have succeeded in forming a "feedback loop" between a computer and a common yeast to precisely control the switching on and off of specific genes.Full Story here.

Wonderful Weird Tales Site

2011-09-29T09:46:00.000-04:00

Tellers of Weird TalesThis tells the story: "Welcome to Tellers of Weird Tales, a compilation of biography and bibliography on the men and women, writers and artists, who contributed to Weird Tales magazine and its companion titles, Oriental Stories and The Magic Carpet Magazine, from their founding in the 1920s and '30s until the revivals of the 1970s and '80s."

Friday's entry was on Mary McEnnery Erhard (ca. 1885-?), and many more! Check it out.

Did Cthulhu get hit by satellite?

2011-09-28T07:58:00.000-04:00

From the Call of Cthulhu:... heavily armed steam yacht Alert of Dunedin, N. Z., which was sighted April 12th in S. Latitude 34° 21', W. Longitude 152° 17' with one living and one dead man aboard. ... The Emma, he says, was delayed and thrown widely south of her course by the great storm of March 1st, and on March 22nd, in S. Latitude 49° 51', W. Longitude 128° 34', encountered the Alert, manned by a queer and evil-looking crew of Kanakas and half-castes. ... and in S. Latitude 47° 9', W. Longitude 126° 43' come upon a coast-line of mingled mud, ooze, and weedy Cyclopean masonry which can be nothing less than the tangible substance of earth’s supreme terror—the nightmare corpse-city of R’lyeh...

While we are uncertain of the precise locations of Cthulhu, it is likely that the creature is both mobile when it wants to be, and its domain extends over a wide swath of territory. As in the recent Cloverfield movie, a satellite awakens a great beast when it falls into its domain.

Nasa's UARS spacecraft fell to Earth north-east of the Samoan islands.

Orbital tracking experts have now established that the defunct satellite entered the atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean at 14.1 degrees South latitude and 170.2 degrees West longitude. Any debris that survived Saturday's fiery descent would have plunged into open water, the US space agency says.

Yuggoth Update: A new Planet "X" Uncovered?

2011-09-27T14:38:00.000-04:00

A computer simulation has shown that our solar system couldn't have formed without an extra planet. But if that theory is true, what happened to it?

Yuggoth Article

David Nesvorny from Colorado’s Southwest Research Institute reached the conclusion after performing around 6,000 computer simulations about the formation of the solar system, nearly all of which required the extra planet .. The computer simulations also explain the fifth planet's fate ... the five gas giants begin tightly wound together. But soon the lighter planets of Neptune and Uranus get pushed into a further orbit by Jupiter and Saturn, and the fifth planet gets ejected from the solar system ... somewhere out there, there may still be a solo gas giant ... floating aimlessly through space.

Fungus Among Us: Patagonian Galls

2011-09-26T22:13:00.001-04:00

Dateline Patagonia, 23 August 2011.

Lovecraft's Fungi From Yuggoth may have been horrific, but German lager would not exist without a boost from the yeast of Patagonian beech tree galls. The entire article can be found here.

Buy Books at Miskatonic Books

2011-09-20T23:50:00.001-04:00

Fellow lover of weird fiction,

For the past several months we’ve been busy building our new site at www.miskatonicbooks.com to better service all our customers who love weird tales, ghost, mythos and dark fantasy.

We have only scratched the surface of our inventory and will be adding hundreds of more books from your favorite genre authors and publishers daily so check back often. Check out our featured author page here FEATURED AUTHORS

Like our old bookstore, our new site will cater to Lovecraftian fiction and weird tales in general. You’ll find our new site is easier to navigate, quicker checkout, and faster page loads. You’ll also get $5 media rate shipping on any size order that ships in the US and 5% back in points to be used on future purchases for anything at www.miskatonicbooks.com

If you’ve ordered a book through our store at Horror-Mall your order is still valid and there is no reason to reorder on the new site. All orders placed through Horror-Mall will be filled as usual.

If you have any questions please feel free to email me at miskatonicbooks@me.com

Please click the banner below to check out our new site and be sure to subscribe to this blog to stay up to date on all the new titles at www.miskatonicbooks.com and our own publications through our Arcane Wisdom imprint.

Thanks so much for your continued support!

Ufo's?

2011-09-20T08:45:00.002-04:00

Lovecraft wrote often about "aliens on Earth" in a fictional manner, and much of what he wrote has seeped into Fortean and cult interpretations.

Unless one counts the 1890's reports, it has been nearly 2/3 of a century since the modern flying saucer phenomenon swept the Cold War world. Surely we have learned something since then?

In fact there is a lot we know, but not what we might have suspected. Beginning shortly after the WWII victory in Europe by the allies, an immediate cold war began inciting rampant paranoia in the United States not seen again since shortly after the 9/11 attacks. Unbelievably vast sums of money were expended to create clandestine organizations - most who did not even know each other existed - and they immediately set about to create spectacularly frightening and innovative technological marvels.

We also learned that humans are remarkably observant and equally poor at interpretation of those observations. Many of the clandestine airborne objects were sighted and reported setting off a frenzy in the government. Some thought this evidence that the Soviets were ahead in technology, not understanding they originated from sister, yet clandestine, organizations. Others were shocked that defense strategies were impotent to see or stop “something” that thousands were seeing. Retaliation was not analysis, but threats to civilians to shut up, and later to discredit vocal individuals with ridicule or with other socio-psychological techniques.

However, once the threat was perceived as relatively non-existant, a second wave of “cover-up” began. First, recruiting scientific types to counter observations and reports, then to coerce media to ignore or ridicule observations, and finally to simply ignore any reports.

Thousands of amateur civilians began to suspect something was strange, and since true scientific inquiry was marginalized by government pressure, they began to take their own reports and go down numerous blind alleys. Often, psychologically impaired individuals muddied the water, but by the 21st century some answers were forthcoming. Freedom of information acts also assisted in discovering that the intelligence agencies were mostly clueless as well for most of this time.

Humans experience complex reactions. An ordinary object perceived through extraordinary circumstances prompts layers of interpretation by the brain. A candle seen through a greasy window does not look much like a candle, but under usual circumstances we know it is a candle. But not when we are tired, have experienced collateral trauma of some sort, or are in a dream-state, or influenced by disease, or drugs, adrenaline, or other chemical modifications.

As hundreds of thousands of reports flooded into amateur organizations, they quickly began to see a wide range of phenomenology that did not fit well into “alien invasions”. Some did try to categorize a plethora of alien species based on innumerable reports, but one may as well categorize things based on dreams and nightmares. This is not the first time organizations faced this problem. Scholarly, but paranoid clergy once tried the same thing with demons, fairies, and in other cultures, other categorizations. This, in turn, corrupted the input because people began to read written descriptions of other reports and reinterpret what they experienced through those filters. A sort of cult-feedback loop happened, well-known to folklorists. Instead of reporting what they experienced, they put on a primary filter using language extracted and influenced by those who were actually taking the reports.

It took a great while to recognize this, and again, true academic and scientific researchers were unavailable due to self-exile. Real examination of this phenomenology might have made theses and jump-started careers, but no, they ran. A notable exception was Carl Sagan who tried for a short time, until he also seemed to either become exasperated or began to feel marginalized by colleagues and perhaps worried it might impact his career and income.

In any event, our world may have indeed been invaded by some aliens. There seems some solid evidence that alien microbes are here, and maybe at least once or twice a ship or probe may have landed. But with all the hoopla we would never know it for certain, and the leaders of our governments might be the last to know. It has taken most of sixty-years to begin to divide the paranormal experiences from the real experiences. When real experiences are uncovered, and examined carefully, a large number of these have been found to be clandestine government objects, devices, and activities - most by errant sub-contractors with the military quick to cover it up. Other observations have been found to be meteors, space debris disintegrating in the atmosphere, electrical or electro-magnetic effects, and so forth. This validates the keen observation ability by humans, and documents how poorly we can interpret phenomenon out of our ordinary experience. These same observations have been attributed to aliens, conspiratorial agents, ghosts, alternate-dimensions, devils, visions, deities, or angels.

It should be about time for experts and professionals to assist those who labor part-time as amateur investigators. Yet even as investigators close in on answers, our government is broken and dysfunctional, and professionals (such as scientists) are more than ever marginalized and fearful for their positions.

Kappa Alpha Tau Report: Willow

2011-09-15T13:24:00.004-04:00

Dateline: NEW YORK (15 September 2011) — A calico cat named Willow disappeared from a home near the Rocky Mountains five years ago. Willow escaped when contractors left a door open during a home renovation. Willow was suddenly found Wednesday on a Manhattan street, identified by an implanted chip, and will soon be returned.

How she got to New York, nearly 1,800 miles away, no one knows. Whatever happened, Willow dodged coyotes and owls in Colorado, life on New York streets, and everything in between. Willow was just five and a half pounds.

A Kappa Alpha Tau Lovecraftian Salute to Willow!

interlude

2011-09-15T09:50:00.001-04:00

Today: Not about Lovecraft, but still funny ...

“Remember, amateurs built the ark. Professionals built the Titanic.” Attributed to Jack Benny.

By the Light of a Gibbous Moon

2011-08-31T14:02:00.004-04:00

(Art from "I Think I Went Mad" blog).

Here is an interesting new book out. It contains short fiction inspired by HP Lovecraft and is now released as a Kindle book. House of Yig is one of those stories, and this can be found free here (click).

It begins:

House of Yig
I, Father John Marylebone, have promised to record the statement of the Pocumtuck Indian called ‘Blind Crow’ exactly as spoken. This particular Pocumtuck is a fine reader of the English language, and has some letters as well, but he insists that his tale be recorded by a more learned man. He has done much work with the Church as we help the Pocumtuck people come into the Light of Christ, so I am happy to oblige.
Firstly I must set down, at my subject’s grave insistence, that he is not called ‘Blind Crow’ because he is old and sightless. It is an affectionate jibe chosen for him because of his clumsiness with tools and, I speculate, also because of his croaking laugh. It is a laugh unheard in Deerfield Township for many a long month now.

More.

Welcome to Cluthu Country

2011-08-31T09:29:00.003-04:00

That is not a typo, Lovecraftians. Salute !! to our brothers and sisters of New Zealand, and highlight on:

Situated in the Cluthu River valley on highway 1 and Cluthu Valley Road lies the rural New Zealand paradise featuring the town of Balcluthu.

What more could a Lovecraftian want for relaxation?

The heritage of Clutha Country is rich and diverse. From Early Maori to European exploration, right through to the days of the gold rush and the hum of industry, the story of Clutha makes for a good yarn. Here's a quick rundown on our little slice of history...

Clutha Country’s rivers flow from inland mountains and lakes, creating fertile plains and verdant valleys. The magnificent coastline rich with sea life provided Clutha Country’s first great industry, and introduced the first colonial era. In Captain Cook’s 1770 journal, he wrote of a wealth of whales and seals as well as a safe harbour at Waikawa. However, a cartographer of the admiralty erroneously applied the name of Port Molyneux to this safe harbour, which was near the mouth of the Clutha River. The information contained in the entry still had dramatic consequences on the social history of coastal South Otago.

Taking back the blog!

2011-08-28T15:51:00.002-04:00

Sort of. Mr. Lovecraft has had this blog for many years now. But he and I must make a new deal - from time to time, Chrispy will hold center court.

News: Status of my proposed books. I am 2/3 of the way through the tentatively titled "Lovecraft's Grandfather: The Business Life of Whipple Van Buren Phillips". It is not peer reviewed, but I have showed it to one or two people. Their feedback, believe it or not, was that it was worthy of publication (I have a publisher if I finish by the way) and if I proceed to make it scholarly, I had flubbed the footnote formats badly. It has been many years (decades) since college term papers, so I admit I am very rusty. I am a scientist, but I am not an historian, nor a biographer, so I am learning new skills in order to attempt this. Wish Chrispy luck.

I am completed with "Young Lovecraft" to mid 1892. It is not to my satisfaction, but it certainly shows that what has been said about Lovecraft's first 2 years has much more to be stated. I can never praise Mr Faig enough, but by others these critical first two years have been given short shrift especially in light of new primary documents that have come to light on Miss Guiney, the Auburndale, MA. speculative real estate development between 1888 and 1893, and Winfield's expansive sales trips per his hotel announcements.

Don't hold your breath. Things could go south on these books. I am currently 55 years old, and this is very much a part time development that has to fit my very limited time. I have determined that if I do publish, it will most certainly not be for financial gain - unlike other Lovecraft endeavors. The sheer lack of interest in these subjects (perhaps 2,000 people out of 7 billion?) means that this is a labor of personal interest and for scholarship, though I hope some money might eventually be made and given to some charity or other. It is payment to Mr Lovecraft for the hours of entertainment he has given me since 2002.

What else is Chrispy doing?

If you don't see me on Facebook, or playing some Zynga game (curse you psychologist-demons of Zynga) that meas I am at work, church, or blogging over at Miskatonic books. I am rapidly losing touch with my old T-12 gang and old Horror Mall friends who are deeply into their own endeavors in and out of horror. I wish them good luck!

I am not writing horror as much as I used to, and I already see that my skills are rusting. So I may start up again. I have dozens of unfinished projects that would take me into my old age if I choose.

I feel toward our US government much as I do toward the governors of Kentucky. Each election I say, "How can we get worse candidates than these? How can any governor be this bad?" Yet I have watched wacky governors and presidents (of both parties) enrich themselves and their friends, while doing nothing to stop inevitable disaster. All I can say is I suppose we are getting what we deserve, and I will continue to complain, but expect no better.

This leads me to my next diatribe. I am no fan of Richard Dawkins. Today, I saw that he had his own pontificating windbaggish lambast of America, Texas, Republicans, and specifically governor Perry. Perry was clearly baiting political targets, and Dawkins fell for the bait, though one wonders why? He seems not to "have a dog in the hunt" in American politics, but loses little opportunity to sell his books. Or should I say one panderer should recognize another?

Ivory towerists never see the real populist reasons for things. It has been a while since I took biology, thank you, and I did major in chemistry, but if I recall Darwin's ideas, they were specifically stated in a way that I might paraphrase: When natural environments change they cause biological organisms to rapidly adapt to them.

I know almost no creationist, scientist, molecular biologist, or even CSISCOP's to object to this. We see it every day in every way, particularly with new dog breeds and Franken-crops. However, there is much to object to the catch-all term 'evolution', particularly as usurped and practiced by the British elites, Nazis, American medical staffs, and others who proposed social-Darwinism for political and elitist gain. Why one must denigrate people of faith - Buddhist, Muslim, or Christian for the sake of selling books on a THEORY I don't understand.

There are millions of scientists and engineers who are people of faith and practitioners of hope, love, and charity. They seem not to have an issue with living their lives peacefully, and do not get in the face of their brothers and sisters, grind axes, or descend to calling names. If only ivory towerists would do the same. And this should apply to name-callers on either side of this issue.

Lastly, what is wrong with horror?

I can sort of summarize my feelings a few ways. First, high expectations. We might think a return to the Stephen King/Anne Rice days is normal. THAT was the aberration. We are in a very normal sales volume for horror based on 20th century norms.

We insist of horror being in novel form. Horror is best practiced as short story. So what happened? Corporations pay by the word for some insane reason, so today's writers pad their works to get maximum gain for the least effort. They must type a minimum of three novels a year to maintain their B-list rankings, and be able to pay bills. Or they must hire assistants to type their books form outlines they provide and hope the imitations are sufficient to maintain their minimal fan base.

Please, bring back short story horror and pay a living wage to writers for it.

Alas, I fear that the days of Poe and Lovecraft writing a few short stories of quality each year, or even Charles Schultz doing every word, every line, every drawing, and every ink is as passe as, well, playing defense or the two-point shot in basketball.

Horror is corporate, and corporations - this may come as a big surprise - maximize profits at the expense of the least amount of outlay to employees. Karl Marx had the wrong solution, but he stated the problem correctly. Profit is good, but greed is bad, and absolute greed corrupts absolutely and is what we have today.

This is precisely the battle between E Hoffman Price and H P Lovecraft. Price stated that only in writing was the amateur held up as better than the professional. Lovecraft countered that selling stories for only money will always end up in mediocre work and hack work. They talked past one another, and neither made very much money. The middle ground ends up one of two ways. Very lucky talented writers write what they want and the audience finds them and supports them. Very unlucky talented writers end up poor and their stories in the garbage after they die.

I will guarantee there are wonderful, talented, horror writers you have never read because they did not attract a corporate backer, were unable to advance through the hurdles placed before them, and gave up. Or they chose to write something else to pay bills - say like Max Brand writing westerns, or Conan Doyle writing Sherlock Holmes. I guess that is back to natural selection.

Horror is a two-way street. You must meet it half-way. We have the worst economy in our lives, and the real unemployment is closer to 20%, and we have no confidence in anyone. We have to stop the merry-go-round and break the cycle of mistrust. If you are lucky enough to have a job, and inspired enough to enjoy horror, find a wayward writer and support that person. Take a chance on someone new. Buy their book, or support a trustworthy publisher (there are a few left) who is trying to help new talent. Do your homework, and while you may purchase a few duds, you will find a writer who resonates with you in the independent press.

OK, Mr Lovecraft, thank you for letting me have these few minutes on the HPL blog.

Lovecraft alphabetic letters

2011-08-28T08:47:00.003-04:00

This was sent to me by Paul, and as we post all things Lovecraftian, you may want to check this out. I do not know what the fundraiser is for, so check it out if you are so inclined. The link is above and here

For those who've been following the hints on our Twitter account this is the new Yoggie project - Lovecraftian Letters! Yes, now you can create your own Lovecraftian miniature tales and share your dark wisdom with everyone in your kitchen with over 500 Lovecraft-inspired magnetic words!

We've set up a fundraiser preorder via IndieGoGo to help get this unique item into production. The preorder comes with a variety of additional benefits and exclusives and we anticipate that sets will start shipping very shortly after the fundraiser closes in early October.

Lovecraftian Letters - we think "Grandpa Theobald" would approve. (Well, we hope. )

Based on H.P. Lovecraft's unique lexicon, Lovecraftian Letters contains over 500 words and word fragments that allow anyone to create phrases and tell miniature tales of eldritch horror. The handsome set comes in a metal tin you can use to try out your squamous combinations before putting them on your fridge (or brain cylinder).

There's never been anything quite like it and it's only from YSDC.

The fundraiser/preorder closes on the 10th October and all orders include prepaid worldwide shipping. It's something a little different from us and we're hoping you like it.

Giant Lobster

2011-08-22T08:31:00.003-04:00

Lovecraft mingled folklore, real events, and his imagination into some of the spookiest stories. Hoping to keep that spirit of newness and excitement alive, we frequently discuss weird beasts with slight Lovecraftian imagery to your attention.

What people thought they saw were organic shapes not quite like any they had ever seen before. Naturally, there were many human bodies washed along by the streams in that tragic period; but those who described these strange shapes felt quite sure that they were not human, despite some superficial resemblances in size and general outline. Nor, said the witnesses, could they have been any kind of animal known to Vermont. They were pinkish things about five feet long; with crustaceous bodies bearing vast pairs of dorsal fins or membraneous wings and several sets of articulated limbs, and with a sort of convoluted ellipsoid, covered with multitudes of very short antennae, where a head would ordinarily be.

August 2011:

According to the Wildlife Conservation Society, the general formula to estimate a lobster's age is its weight in pounds times four, plus three. That makes Coney Island's Big Red is an astounding 75 years old and still growing.

New England Lobster's bookkeeper, Jennifer Vargas, set out to save the giant creature when it was received on the West Coast. "This seemed like a [lousy] way to go," she told the Daily News. "A lot of the customers were interested in him -- the problem was, they didn't have a pot big enough."

The New York Aquarium in Coney Island, run by the Wildlife Conservation Society, responded to an online posting, and the 18-pounder was shipped back East.

Young Lovecraft and Astronomy

2011-08-19T08:34:00.003-04:00

For this post, Chrispy will cast modesty aside. In earlier posts, Chrispy uncovered nearly the exact dates that Lovecraft almost died early in 1910. This was based on an obscure and sudden comet appearance, Comet 1910A.

He lost a great deal of weight, likely due to complications from measles and lung infection. He made a slow recovery, but was feeling well enough by the time of Halley's comet to go out at night by trolley and view it with his telescope and sketch it. With the help of several friends, mainly Steve and Dave, the precise point where he did his sketches was determined.

The articles below show the hysteria over Halley's comet which only phased Lovecraft in that he would have been appalled by what he would call ignorance. Note the "Comet pills" in the article below.

He went back and forth on Percival Lowell and his theory. This parallels public articles. Lowell was a powerful, popular figure and astronomers did not cross him lightly. However, as new telescopes went on line, Lowell's power faded, and astronomers were more vocal. This echoes the articles Lovecraft did in newspapers, as he mostly responded to the breaking news of astronomy.

What is becoming clear is that Lovecraft adored astronomy, but somehow he had a disconnect. He was a reasonably good observer, and a reasonably good writer conveying astronomical knowledge, but he did not become a good theoretician. Even with all the data he accumulated from hours of observations, Chrispy has not yet detected one original theory has been found in his writing - not even a bad one.

(His presentation of the theory of a ninth planet was bold, but it was a belief that many held based on a number of theories of the time. Lovecraft poeticized his Yuggoth, his near-contemporary Clyde Tombaugh searched for it.)

Can one fault his telescope? Not really. He read copious articles in professional and amateur journals. He associated with the staff at Ladd observatory, even using it from time to time. If he volunteered to crunch data, no evidence has been found.

This is not meant to be critical, as Lovecraft had a stack of issues between 1904 and 1911 that were daunting. He fell quickly behind in math comprehension - not a natural proclivity - and never recovered. He grasped other people's ideas rapidly, but could not use them to create his own. This may be an inherited Phillips trait, as all his successful Phillips' ancestors and relatives appeared to do just this. They were excellent managers (Chief Operating Officers of today) such as Theodore W Phillips and his adopted son also Theodore, or his grandfather who took other people's ideas and created wealth from them, or sadly, like Edwin his Uncle, saw opportunity but could not capitalize on it.

The articles below should expand into more readable views if you click them.

To Walter Coates, 1926

2011-08-09T00:01:00.001-04:00

Note from Chrispy.

I have tried to make the blog as family friendly as possible. Thousands of people wander by, some addicted to HPL, some only tangentially interested in the topic. The absolute bombastic sentiments of this letter I can't agree with, and it is part of Lovecraft's personality that makes me cringe. I can't make him different, and I am also uncomfortable censoring him a centruy later.

If you do read onward, be prepared for the worst.

_____

H. P. Lovecraft. Autograph Letter Signed "HPL".
Two pages, 5.5" x 9", n.p.
[Providence, Rhode Island], n.d.
["Tuesday", perhaps 1926], to Walter J. Coates, plain paper, ink.

The text of the letter reads, in full:

"My dear Coates: - I wasn't especially defending Emily Dickinson, but was merely pointing out the multiplicity of the causes - & the soundness of a few of them - which impel occasional revaluations of literature from age to age.

The present case is not unique, as you may easily see by following the reputation of any varied assortment of authors through a space of several centuries. It is a mistake, too, to single out Victorian opinion as a basis of comparison.

In many ways the middle 19th century formed a naive & curious Dark Age of taste in all the arts - I hardly need point out its architectural barbarities. If we want to formulate a norm for the Anglo-Saxon main stream, we must consider the average massed opinion all the way down from Chaucer's time.

The Elizabethan age represented a far truer flowering of our racial impulses than did the Victorian. However - as I said on my card, your main thesis seems to me perfectly sound & well taken.

Undeniably - all apart from the effects of natural change and altered philosophic-scientific-psychological perspective - the world of American taste & opinion is distinctly & lamentably Jew-ridden as a result of the control of publicity media by New York Semitic groups. Some of this influence certainly seeps into Anglo-Saxon critical & creative writing to an unfortunate extent; so that we have a real problem of literary & aesthetic fumigation on our hands. The causes are many - but I think the worst factor is a sheer callous indifference which holds the native mind down to mere commercialism & size & speed worship, allowing the restless & ambitious alien to claim the centre of the intellectual stage by default.

In a commercialised civilization, publicity & fame are determined by economic causes alone - & there is where the special talents of Messrs. Cohen & Levi count. Before we can put them in their place, we must de-commercialise the culture - & that, alas, is a full-sized man's job!

Some progress could be made, though, if all the universities could get together & insist on strictly Aryan standards of taste. They could do much, in a quiet & subtle way, by cutting down the Semite percentage in faculty & student body alike.

It is really amusing how we simple Western Europeans have allowed Orientals to trample over our brains for 1500 years & more - ever since we let them saddle us with the sickly Jew slave-religion of Christus instead of our own virile, healthy, Aryan polytheistic paganism. In this matter of religion, though, we are coming back - for the Jew-Christian tradition will be extinct in the Western world in two or three more generations, save for the nominal Catholic ritualism of the eternal rabble.

We are getting back to the same Aryan philosophy & paganism which are naturally ours by right of blood & instinct. However - that isn't what we were discussing. As for literature - you'll find that the causes for contemporary change are many & complex, & that Semitisation is only one contributing influence.

Let Great Britain, still largely un-Semitised, be your index of comparison. Scientific thought in England is pretty straight Anglo-Saxon stuff - Bertrand Russell, Aldous & Julian Huxley, H. G. Wells, Sir J. Jeans, Eddington, &c. &c. - but we find the forces of change emphatically at work.

It was out of Ireland - where Jews are almost as happily scarce as snakes - that James Joyce's "Ulysses" came. The causes of our cultural changes, be they renaissances or decadences, are buried deep in complex historical & psychological phenomena. Our present convulsion - which is probably a renaissance in some phases & a decadence in others - is far too big an affair to be traced to any single origin. Roughly speaking, the thing is due to the effect of sudden new doses of knowledge, & of sensationally rapid changes in ways of living, travelling, earning money, & making things.

Personally, I think we're losing more than we're gaining; for of all the current changes only the matter of added knowledge & intellectual liberation seems really good to me. Weiss & Harris write very interestingly - especially Harris, who is refreshingly intelligent despite a narrow aesthetic horizon. He'll expand with the years, I think.Rather cool autumn hereabouts, so that I haven't been outdoors as much as last fall.

I don't envy you up in the Arctic regions! Best wishes - & I eagerly await your second article on literary transvaluations.

Yr obt servt
HPL

P.S. Is the magazine you want The American Poetry Magazine, edited by Clara Catherine Prince, 358 Western Ave., Wauwautosa [sic], Wisconsin? The man who prints that is a friend of a friend of mine, & is thinking of founding a pedagogical publishing house. If he does, I shall probably be his chief reviser.
_____
"Walter J. Coates was a fellow amateur journalist and small-time publisher introduced to Lovecraft, most likely, through W. Paul Cook (later to publish Lovecraft's The Shunned House). Coates' and Lovecraft's friendship developed over a mutual love for New England and poetry.

Coates published a great amount of Lovecraft's writing in his regional magazine Driftwind, beginning with HPL's essay "The Materialist Today" in October 1926. Later, Coates would print a good amount of Lovecraft's poetry in the same periodical.

The most striking content in this particular letter from Lovecraft to Coates is the former's bald articulation of an obvious anti-Semitism.

In the midst of a letter discussing Emily Dickinson and socio-literary issues, and amongst discourse on writers such as Russell, Huxley, Wells, and Harris (most likely his friend Woodburn Harris, to whom he had probably been introduced by Coates) Lovecraft launches into a diatribe on a culture he sees as "Jew-ridden as a result of the control of publicity media by New York Semitic groups."

Lovecraft's view of Jewish people is a most curious aspect of his personality. In many letters to friends and associates, Lovecraft espoused a similar opinion of Jewish people as he articulates here. Yet, he had numerous Jewish friends, and in his one marriage, betrothed himself to a Jewish woman, Sonia Greene.

Debate rages over the depth and degree to which Lovecraft actually felt his own anti-Semitism, but there can be no doubt that "the gentleman of Providence" held a viewpoint that is quite unpopular and out of vogue in current times.

Frank Belknap Long attempted to contextualize or rationalize Lovecraft's apparent racism in a letter to L. Sprague de Camp which appears in the latter's Lovecraft: A Biography. Whether or not one believes Long is his or her choice, for certainly enough evidence can be found from Lovecraft's own pen to support a charge of anti-Semitism.

Still, Long attempts to come to the aid of an old friend: "This may be hard for you to believe. But during the entire NY period, in all the meetings and conversations I had with him, he never once displayed any actual hostility toward 'non-Nordics' - to use the term to which he was most addicted - in my presence, either in the subway or anywhere else...If one of them had been in distress he would have been the first to rush to his or her aid. Emotionally he was kindliness personified. It was all rhetorical - the kind of verbal overkill that so many of the hippie underground-press writers engaged in in the sixties.

It was a sickness in him, if you wish - the verbalization part - but it wasn't characteristic of him in a deep, basic way."

This letter is in remarkable shape, with usual mailing folds, one small crease at the bottom right corner, and a barely noticeable fingernail nick along the right edge.

The page has toned slightly, but is overall in very fine condition.
(S. T. Joshi, H. P. Lovecraft: A Life 427)
From the Robert and Diane Yaspan Collection.

Shipping: Flat Material, Small (view shipping information) Auction Location:
3500 Maple Avenue, 1st Floor Gallery, Dallas, Texas, United States

Science Fiction

2011-08-06T23:17:00.003-04:00

Here is an image (click to expand) of Google Insight's tracking of the term science fiction. There is a notable decline in interest in the term. Astonishingly, Northwest Africa seems to rate high in searches for the term.

Hola! Lovecraft

2011-08-04T16:46:00.003-04:00

(Click Image and it should expand to be more readable)

Google Insights is a statistical tool to track trends. Since 2004 Lovecraft has plummeted in interest. One hopes that Chrispy's blog did not bore people away from HPL. :)

However, look at the global map. Spanish speaking nations score high in Lovecraft interest, while the USA is quite low.

The decline in Lovecraft trends proportionately to the rapid lack of interest in traditional science fiction.

There is a slight uptick in interest in Lovecraft lately, and one hopes it will continue.

HPL Walking Tour 20 August 2011

2011-08-03T08:04:00.002-04:00

Celebrate the 121st birthday of America's master of the strange and macabre. Author of "The Thing on the Doorstep" and "The Call of Cthulhu," H.P. Lovecraft was born in Providence in 1890. Join us on a walking tour which explores the College Hill neighborhood where Lovecraft drew literary inspiration and where he called home.

H.P. Lovecraft:
A Literary Walking Tour
Saturday, August 20
11:00 a.m.
Tour departs from the John Brown House Museum
52 Power Street
Providence, RI
Contact Barbara Barnes: (401) 273-7507 x62 or bbarnes@rihs.org