November 18, 2004

Was H.P. Lovecraft a believer in the paranormal? - Lovecraft has been called the most influential horror writer of the 20th Century, & that is arguably true. To what extent did Lovecraft actually understand the Occult? And is the only logical answer to this 'Ia! Ia! Cthulhu Fthagn! Ph’nglui mglw’nfah Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn'? Fortean Times has the answer.
posted by Nostrildamus 20 years ago
  • The answer is no, he wasn't.
  • I'm glad I didn't read the article, then.
  • Yeah, I'm terrible like that.
  • pssst! Rosebud was the sled.
  • Darth Vader is Luke's father.
  • Claude Raines impression: I'm shocked, shocked to find that a horror fiction author might have believed in the paranormal!
  • He was just making fun of the Welsh language. Doesn't require any belief in nonsense, just a willingness to poke fun at it.
  • I'm thinking I found a nice Christmas/Kwanzaa/Channukah/Festivus gift for Nostril!
  • ooh! the lunchbox is great. it would look so cute next to my plush stuffed "baby cthulhu" doll!
  • 'Rosebud' was the sled?? You bastard! *throws DVD in trash*
  • Darth Vader is Luke's father.
  • "In 'The Dreams in the Witch-House', a witch named Keziah Mason is imprisoned in the Salem jail, but escapes the authorities by drawing a curious design in blood on the wall of her cell. Such a magical diagram is a common motif in supernatural fiction, but Mason’s mastery of space and time is not due to any knowledge of ‘magic’ in the traditional sense. Rather, she enters other dimensions through her use of advanced mathematics and geometry, and creeps back to our world centuries later to find converts and sacrifices. She decides that a young mathematics student would be the perfect acolyte, and uses her powers and those of her familiar – the rat-like Brown Jenkin – to draw him into her sorcery. As fantasy author Fritz Leiber pointed out, this was one of the first uses of the mathematical concept of hyperspace in fiction." This is one of the things I like about Lovecraft. Rather than relying on vague machinations of "magic", he bases most "weird" phenomena on some sort of science. Similarly in "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward", Curwen is reanimating the dead not through mystical necromancy, but through chemical manipulation of physical remains.
  • Darth Vader is Luke's father. ...and that ain't all! [warning: spoilers, to put it mildly]
  • nostrildamus, tnx for the lovecraftian link. on a related note, the amazing michel houellebecq is coming out with his study of lovecraft in april of next year
  • Cool. Thx. I'll check that out.
  • Robots are wacky.
  • *points squiddy next door*
  • As a Lovecraft lover (Lovecrafter? Lovercraft?), I found the article quite interesting and informative, despite intense spoilage by the hairless apes who will be eaten first with the dead-but-dreaming awake. ;E BTW, off topic, but what do you recommend as a starting point for Houellebecq for someone who's unfamiliar, elykcooks? I've heard of him, and understand he's infamous and imminently bannable by libraries over the country, which makes me want to hunt him up and give him a go. Plus, I like dirty stories.
  • with s/b "when" Ia. Ia. Oy.
  • Daniel Harms (the author) also compiled the Encyclopedia Cthulhiana, if memory serves.