Its been a while since I’ve said anything about the H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast! Though I haven’t stopped listening to Chad and Chris, I have seemed to fallen off the wagon (so to speak) when it comes to covering what these guys are up to. Since the last post, in which I covered The Evil Clergyman and The Horror in the Burying-Ground, Chad and Chris have been two busy dudes. Their graphic novel, Deadbeats, is being published by Self Made Hero. They hosted an awesome live show in the UK along with Andrew Leman, and Paul Maclean, and had live music provided by Zeitgeist Zero. In between all of that they have two Lovecraftian adaptations of The Temple, and The Hound in the new Lovecraft Anthology Vol 2, also published by Self Made Hero, and in turn released audio readings of those adaptations for their listeners.
This week we get a triple feature, the first of its kind on this podcast. Read nicely by Chris’s son’s great-grandmother, Agnes Coughnaugton. The stories featured are: The Battle that Ended the Century, Collapsing Cosmoses and Till A’ the Seas, and I have to agree that out of the three Till A’ the Seas is my favorite. Collapsing Cosmoses seemed to short and unfinished though it had some great qualities, while The Battle that Ended the Century seemed like a farce that was mostly written by Barlow with touches of H.P.’s hand here and their. All in all it was a good episode, and it was good to hear the two back at the mic’s!
Dominic Deville has found his niche in children entertainment market: evil birthday clowns. Pioneering on Coulrophobia (fear of clowns), Deville’s services include stalking the young victim the week leading up to the child’s birthday and in the end will track them down and smash a cake in their face. Sounds funny right? Well your kid probably won’t think so. Throughout the terrifying week Deville will consistently text, email, and call the young victim with threats of an emanate attack. The good thing is that is if you don’t want to pay for future therapy sessions, that if the child becomes fearful for their life, or parents get concerned, Deville will call of the attack.
Deville said: “The clown will never break into a residence or show up at work. It’s all in fun and if, at any point, the kids get scared or their parents are concerned, we stop right there… But most kids absolutely love being scared senseless.”
”On land the great reptiles proved highly tractable; but the shoggoths of the sea, reproducing by fission and acquiring a degree of accidental intelligence, presented for a time a formidable problem.” H.P. Lovecraft ~ At The Mountains Of Madness
Well, the ocean is an amazing place, but it still terrifies me. The creatures of the deep have captivated imaginations and have been the topic of speculation for centuries. From ancient sea battles with leviathans and giant squids, to recent discoveries of life at depths that almost back up those mythical claims, the ocean has been a constant realm of fear and fascination.
The two videos below came to my attention via IO9.com, and feature two almost unexplainable creatures. The first has been described as a specimen of the Deepstaria enigmatica, from the jellyfish family. Others speculate that it is simply a free floating whale’s placenta. But upon viewing, as the creature unravels it looks to have a florescent tail, like other deep sea creatures that use florescent appendages to help lure prey. The second video is of a another species of the jellyfish family known as Stygiomedusa gigantea. These creatures have been sighted only 114 times in the last 110 years and have boggled scientists with their meter long umbrella-like bell, and paddle-shaped arms that extend to six meters in length and contain no stinging tentacles.
Either way, while watching these videos I couldn’t help but think of Lovecraft’s Shoggoths. Especially the amorphous creature featured in the first video. The way it moves through the water, and how it seems to show interest in the camera, or maybe the light.
Maurice Sendak, author of 1963 classic “Where the Wild Things Are” has passed away from complications due to a stroke. It is a sad day for those who grew up loving this book. The Caldecott Medal winner has touched hearts and influenced the imagination of many generations and will continue to do so as time goes on.
Sendak, though best known for his work on WTWTA, has had a prestigious life in both theater and literature. Known for other books such as “In the Night Kitchen”, and “Outside, Over There” which won him a National Book Award in 1982. Sendak also worked with the creators of Sesame Street, and on stage with the likes of the Houston Grand Opera and the New York City Opera, as well with Tony Kushner on an English version of the Czech children’s opera “Brundibar”. The illustrated book version, drawn by Sendak, featured text by Kushner and was named one of the 10 best illustrated books of 2003 by the New York Times Book Review.
Maurice Sendak’s own childhood was not an easy one. Losing most of his family during the holocaust, and suffering from health problems that left him bed ridden, Sendak found inspiration and new life after watching Disney’s “Fantasia” at the age of twelve which inspired him to be an illustrator.
Though Unspeakable Gibberer deals mostly with things of a stranger nature, I believe it is important to pay homage to a great person who inevitably help create/build the imaginations of millions. With out him we may never of thought it possible to imagine new worlds that we ourselves could visit in our minds and still return home.
Thanks to a tip from IO9.com I recently read a post by Guillermo Del Toro on his blog in regards to Prometheus,and how the film is most likely the death of At The Mountains Of Madness. April 30th Del Toro enlightened his fans with his thoughts on the new Ridley Scott film. -
“I have been interviewed about this lately and wanted to post my two cents about this:
Prometheus started filming a while ago- right at the time we were in preproduction on PACIFIC RIM. The title itself gave me pause- knowing that ALIEN was heavily influenced by Lovecraft and his novella.
This time, decades later with the budget and place Ridley Scott occupied, I assumed the greek metaphor alluded at the creation aspects of the HPL book. I believe I am right and if so, as a fan, I am delighted to see a new RS science fiction film, but this will probably mark a long pause -if not the demise- of ATMOM.
The sad part is- I have been pursuing ATMOM for over a decade now- and, well, fter Hellboy II two projects I dearly loved were not brought to fruition for me.
The good part is: One project did… And I am loving it and grateful for the blessings I have received.
Onwards.
G”
That one project is, I believe, “Pacific Rim”, a film about an alien invasion that is fought with huge battle robots piloted by humans. Kinda makes me think of the Gundam cartoons.
My feelings are that Prometheus just had more financial backing, and simply beat Del Toro to the punch. When asked further by fans about this he said:
“Same premise. Scenes that would be almost identical.”
Which would explain why making At The Mountains Of Madness so soon after Prometheus might be a bad idea. Though I agree with one of the his fans that with all these ancient alien invasion flicks, wouldn’t now be the best time for the Lovecraft film? It is a tricky question to answer in the vain that no one wants ATMOM to fall in line with with the rest, and not stand alone as a masterpiece, as Lovecraft’s novel is.
So for now, no Shoggoths, Elder Things, or large blind penguins.
A new podcast has enslaved my ears and left my mind craving more. The Double Shadow Podcast, a podcast revolving around the life and works of author Clark Ashton Smith. Lead by Phil, Tim, and Ruth (a.k.a Cthulhu Chick) we learn, in the first episode, about Smith’s career and life, and a little insight on his stories.
The Double Shadow is sort of framed up like the H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast, and shows the same potential for expanding an audience for an author who never got the recognition he deserved. I am a firm believer/supporter in spreading the weird around so when I saw this podcast I jumped to it. I am appreciative that someone is putting this together, and I am very excited to continue listening to what Phil, Tim, and Ruth have to teach me. Listening to things like the H.P. Podcraft and The Double Shadow, make me want a Robert E. Howard, or Frank Belknap Long podcast.
Episode one is up and running over at iTunes, so hurry and check it out! Cheers to these guys.
**If you are interested on learning ahead of the class, then check out The Eldritch Dark: The Sanctum of Clark Ashton Smith, and quest for knowledge of his live and read his works.
Book Description: While staying with his weird great-aunt Kathryn, Evan visits a funky old toy store and buys a dusty can of monster blood. It’s fun to play with at first. And Evan’s dog, Trigger, likes it so much, he eats some!
But then Evan notices something weird about the green, slimy, stuff – it seems to be growing. And growing. And growing. And all that growing has giben the monster blood a monstrous appetite….
Another great entry in the long (and I do mean long) series of Goosebumps books. This is the third book in the original series, and I am happy that I did not decide to journey through all the Goosebumps books that follow the original 62 books. The plot is nonsensical, the characters (except one of them) are terrible, and the ending has got to be the worst ending in the Goosebumps repertoire. So… with that in mind here we go.
The story begins with whiney Evan Ross, who is twelve of course, pleading with his mother to make him stay with his aunt Kathryn, who is eighty years old and deaf. Unable to hear, read lips, or sign with her hands Kathryn greets the two at her front door while gripping a bloody butcher knife she’s using to cook. And at this point I thought, at first, was pretty bad parenting, but then I realized that his folks were smart in dumping the whiney brat on the doorstep of someone who can’t listen to his crap.
After meeting his aunt, Evan is even more convinced that his life sucks and that he and his dog, Trigger, are doomed for the summer. Especially after Kathryn orders Trigger to be tied up outside for the remainder of their stay so that he doesn’t scare her cat, Sarabeth. The cat is an unessential character so just forget about it.
Now left alone with his aunt, Evan takes a tour of the old house and then decides to take Trigger for a walk around the unfamiliar town. Along his tiny journey he meets Andrea, or as her friends call her Andy. Let me just side note that if Stine would have just made Andy the main character, this story would have been 13x more enjoyable. As they get acquainted, calling each other stupid, they head off toward down town so Andy can show Evan around some shops.
In need of a gift for her cousin, Andy leads Evan into one of the two, yes two, local toy stores for a look around. As the two look through the must shelves of Wagner’s Novelties & Sundries the come across something that peaks both their interests. In the back lies a can with the label, ‘MONSTER BLOOD: SURPRISING MIRACLE SUBSTANCE.’ The “substance” intrigues the two so much that they begin to fight over who gets the only one available. At this time the shop owner shows up and sternly tries to dissuade either of them from purchasing the Monster Blood, but breaks down and gives it away to Evan for two dollars.
After leaving the shop, Andy and Evan head back to Kathryn’s house to check out the Monster Blood. Does anyone remember GAK? You know, that stretchy, goopy stuff that Nickelodeon came out with in the 90′s. Well that is monster blood, or at least what it starts off as. As they play around with this stuff they have sort of a Flubber moment and discover it’s extremely bouncy. But it leaves stains on the ceiling and the carpet, so they decide to take it outside, where they begin to toss it back and forth. And of course one of them drops it and the dog Trigger, in a total plot shocker, eats part of the monster blood.
The next morning Evan gets dolled up in his denim cut offs, and a red GAP t-shirt to go see Andy. On the way he comes across the Beymer twins. While being pushed around by the two thugs Andy comes to Evans rescue. Though she seems to not be much help when the two push her in the dirt and steal her bike. To which she calmly replies, “I’ll get it back. They’ve done this before. They’ll leave it somewhere when they’re finished.”
The two take the walk of shame back to their houses, where Evan finds Trigger being strangled by his own collar. It’s clear that the dog has grown as a side effect of devouring the monster blood, but a very concerned Evan kneels down to ask his dog, “What made this collar shrink like that, boy?”
Understanding the dog has grown a little, and may have something wrong with it, Evan does nothing about it. The next morning Evan wakes up and wonders around the town to find Andy trying to let a cat, which had been tortured by the Beymer twins, go. Instead of helping the jerk just stands around and watches, then they head back to Evans room to check out the monster blood.
Upon re-inspection, they see that the blood has grown. It’s no longer gooey, more liquid, and is warm instead of cold. So of course instead of being worried of making a big mess with the stuff they have a monster blood fight. And again we have a couple pages of them playing with it again, which in Goosebumps pages is a chapter sometimes two. When they stop Evan points out the window to show to Andy that Trigger has grown considerably. Suddenly they watch the dog break through the fence and start running down the street. As Evan is running after the dog he sees that it is transforming into a terrifying monster. Then he wakes up. And finds that he himself is way too big for his bed, and has grown like Trigger. Then he wakes up again.
*Side Note*
Im not exactly sure where the dream starts. So for my own amusement I decide to do a little dream analysis for everyone. Andy saving the scared cat is actually how Evan sees himself in Andy’s eyes. As a scardy cat!, and when Trigger gets so big and runs away is a simple comparison of the responsibility that comes with taking care of a dog, and how Evan is not very good at taking care of his. Hence the eating of the foreign substance, and being choked in his collar. But what do I know?
*End Side Note*
Anyway after the dream scare, Evan and Andy take Trigger to the vet, who says that the dog is experiencing a late growth spurt and sends the kids on their way. Andy heads off to piano practice, and Evan buys himself an ice cream. Enter Beymer twins. On a mission to make Evan their bitch, the twins make an attempt to ruffle his feathers. Trigger doesn’t agree with the new attention Evan is getting and begins to hound… sorry chase after the twins.
When Evan finally catches up to Trigger, the twins are gone. Back home he finds he has a bigger problem and calls Andy immediately to meet up at her place. As he shows up Andy is surprised to see how full the bucket is with the monster blood, the stuff is growing. Realizing that the stuff is alive, they figure out, finally, that this must be what’s behind Triggers “growth spurt”. Andy agrees to help and take some. Satisfied Evan leaves only to once again run into the Beymer twins.
Not very happy, and ready to officially execute that bitch owning idea, the Beymer twins actually, in detail, beat up Evan. Now I know no one should be excited when the protagonist gets his ass whooped, but I was clapping at this point. Once again Andy comes to rescue Evan, and the twins run away, further proving that Evan is a pussy cat.
Andy helps Evan scoop the spilled monster blood back into the bucket and comes up with the most amazing plan so far; to go back to the toy shop and inquire about the monster blood. Genius. When Evan gets home he realizes he needs to find something bigger to hold the monster blood. After a little looking he finds a bathtub just sitting in the garage. While filling the tub Sarabeth, the cat, jumps on his back and knocks him into the makeshift vat of monster blood. After a really tense struggle, Evan frees himself from the grasp of the green ooze.
The next morning he tries to tell his aunt about the problem but she just scoffs at him, as would anyone else. Following through with their plan, him and Andy head off to Wagner’s Novelties & Sundries, dragging along two trash bags worth of monster blood. I had to pause at this point again and wonder how many hours have these two spent scooping and placing this stuff in different containers, and how come no one has noticed. In my city that would look pretty suspicious. Bad news though, the store is closed. My guess, one toy store bought out the other. Fail.
Upon their return back at Kathryn’s, Evan sees his mom has sent him a telegram telling him she’s on her way! Evan freaks out and rushes to go tell his dog. When they see Trigger, they see that he is actually doubled in size, and of course he runs away. As he runs away Evan and Andy give chase, and on the way knock over the can that held the monster blood bags. The spilled monster blood begins to chase after Evan and Andy, and while it does the Beymer twins show up again only to be inhaled by the blood. Not slowing down while eating the twins the blood follows the kids, but stops when Kathryn pokes her head out to see what’s up, causing the monster blood to change course toward her.
*Warning This Ending Might Go Fast*
So the kids rush in the house to save Kathryn, and find her backed into a corner. Suddenly she screams that she is responsible for the monster blood, and that it won’t stop till she’s dead. Just to get one last word in, as usual with him, Evan begins to accuse Kathryn of almost killing him and potentially destroying Trigger. Then Kathryn pulls a reverse and says it wasn’t her and points to Sarabeth, the friggin cat. Sigh
And then just like that the damn cat turns into a pretty woman who admits to spell casting the monster blood, and begins to threaten the kids and Kathryn that she will kill them all. Trigger, the still doubled in size, jumps through the door and pushes Sarabeth into the undulating mass of monster blood. Then POOF! and the monster blood shrinks to a puddle and the twins fall out, run away and Trigger turns back to his normal size.
There I got through it, wow the pain.
The twist: As Evan and Andy are saying their good byes, Andy asks to keep some of the monster blood as a souvenir. Evan agrees to it, probably hoping she will use it as a token of remembrance of him, and when they go to collect, they see the monster blood vanished.
So there you have it, that’s Monster Blood. Really. I know when I was a kid I really like this one, as I am sure a lot of other young readers did. Once again, as it will probably be for them all, im sure looking at it from an older perspective changes the way I read these things. I may have been harsh by saying it’s the worst book, or even the worst ending. Even if it IS the worst ending, I’ve still got a long way to go.
Next up on the list is Say Cheese and Die Found the T.V. episode of this book and thought you might like to see some differences.
A cool little video I saw while cruising through iO9 yesterday.
Its crazy to think that three completly different creatures could kind of hang out together. I got a little concerned when the lady behind the camera said ”Mr. Eagle keeps calling me.” I kind of shrugged it off, but then I went to check out some info about the film on YouTube and saw this:
“ …Also, earlier in the day when the fox first came Gizmo my cat went right up to the fox and told him to leave. It was too funny! But the fox came right back!”
So something else has crawled out of the depths of the ocean to land on our shore. Though it looks like something new, and unnamable, the South Carolina sea monster has been identified as a prehistoric Atlantic Sturgeon. Sturgeon have been around for approximately 100 million years. They have survived extinction after extinction, and have been around for most of the big changes our planet has gone through. But even with a hide of stone, these unique creatures have met their match.
For over a century these creatures, who swam with the dinosaurs, have had a lot of trouble with mankind. About a hundred years ago it was common, and very popular, for fisherman to come across one of these plated beasts harvest their eggs for caviar. This was done no other way than to sacrifice the female and harvesting the eggs. This is how Sturgeon began to disappear. Pollution never helps either though. These fish are bottom feeders, so it’s no wonder that when population began to drastically increase, so
These are amazing specimens. Covered in a bone plating called scutes rather than the usual scales seen on your daily catches. The average Atlantic Sturgeon is 10 ft long and weighs in at approximately 300 lbs, however they have been seen, as is the case with the guy above, to grow 15 ft long and 800 lbs.
Here in North Dakota they are trying to thrive in the Missouri River, and from time to time someone might snag one. But, no fisherman is allowed to bring that fish in the boat, on shore, or even touch it. I like that. Other places/states actually have a season to fish for Sturgeon. There are places, like in Maryland, that have been desperately trying to recover the Sturgeon population, but it has been tough.
This is what I have to ask you though. Why all the sudden are we finding all these exotic creatures in our backyards, and on our beaches? Why is it that some of the worlds most well hidden secrets are rising to the surface so to speak? I ask this because I have my own answer but would like to hear others. What do you think?
Yesterday, March 21st, Mike Davis of the Lovecraft eZine posted about some of the hardships that come with running an essentially free online magazine. Since its conception 15 months ago, the Lovecraft eZine has accumulated over 1,000 fans. And in that short time has made strong contacts with the likes of Wilum H. Pugmire, Joseph S. Pulver, and others who I would not know of if I hadn’t come across the eZine. As some may have seen Mike also has an S.T. Joshi seal of approval, which, in the realm of Lovecraft, is a tremendous honor.
To get to the point, Mike and his family have fallen on some shaky times and could use a tentacle or two of help right now. Recently slammed with medical bills that were not expected, Mike was forced to use HIS own money that HE had saved for the magazine to pay authors and artists to help out with his bills. We all have our problems be it medical or mental or social we have them, so instead of thinking that you should take care of yourself first, just think about how it would feel if someone helped you with your problems.
Heres the thing, a pack of smokes, a Starbucks as Mike mentioned in his post, or that bottle of Coke/Pepsi cost anywhere from $1.25 to $12 (considering you’re a coffee junky that drinks quad shots on top of doubles). If you were to save that for one day and throw the eZine a bone, even that small amount will do justice. Every penny makes a sound in the bucket. There are other things you can do as well, like purchase a NEW Lovecraft eZine t-shirt. Me and the wife have one and we like them.
I have been in contact with Mike for about 4-5 months now and I have to say this guy is one of the coolest/nicest people I have had the pleasure of having contact with. He has helped me out with certain things, and has even let me participate in the eZine from time to time. He’s the real deal my friends so please do not only do him and his family a favor, but yourself and the many others how love and will come to love our Lovecraftian family.
