The Call of Cthulhu

New Warhorn Media post by Nathan Alberson:

The guy who’s favorite book is War and Peace thinks the Call of Cthulhu is too long…

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

I appreciated this ep. Lovecraft cosmology is worth giving a little thought to imo. Everyone believes in something. I for one am glad the cosmos is not the dream of a blind idiot-god.

The uncanniness of the odd geometry and colors (esp in his Colour Out of Space) strikes a chord for me. When I was a kid there was a certain “speed” that felt dreamlike and terrifying to me. Its hard to explain this speed. It is very slow - probably decelerating but without actually slowing down. People in my dreams would move at this speed, but never in real life. It’s weird I know but it feels, in retrospect, positively Lovecraftian.

Also, in my opinion, the fact that he is American and spelled “color” as “colour” is all you need to know about his writing being “purple.” You can stomach it or not. I’ve probably read too much Lovecraft but if anyone was interested and I was going to recommend more I would say The Shunned House, The Shadow Over Innsmouth and The Colour Out of Space would give a pretty good taste - esp along with the Call and Outsider which the Bookening has already done.

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Lovecraft did tap into something uncanny that still haunts me. Just the idea of realms beyond our understanding, just down the wrong alleyway.

Nathan,

Have you all ever done an episode on Arthur Machen? The White People and The Great God Pan both stuck with me more than Lovecraft (though I definitely went through a Lovecraft phase). Machen was a major influence for Lovecraft, and unlike Lovecraft who succumbed to nihlistic atheism, Machen maintained his Anglican faith, and I think it shows.

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I like a lot of weird fiction but Machen leaves me cold for some reason. I’m not quite sure why. It’s not for lack of trying though.

I think you mentioned enjoying “The Willows” by Blackwood. If so, I recommend this podcast/monologue by Robert Harrison: Robert Harrison on willows and thresholds | Entitled Opinions (stanford.edu)

Edit to add: If you haven’t heard Entitled Opinions before, then it might be a shock to the system. But stick it out for some interesting insights.

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Nice, thanks for the recommendation. Will check it out.