H.P.Podcraft.com – Episode 111 – The Battle That Ended The Century, Collapsing Cosmoses And Till A’ The Seas
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!
Give Your Child The Gift Of Fear For Their Birthday
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.”
Based out of Lucerne,Switzerland, Dominic Deville was inspired by horrific clowns, more than likely like Stephen Kings “IT”, or Violator from the Spawn comics, or more disturbingly John Wayne Gacy Jr. but Im hoping not the latter of the three.
Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/821591-evil-clown-hired-for-stalking-threats-and-a-pie-in-the-face#ixzz1uOa1dlgT
Shoggoths Of The Sea!
“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.
Childhood Author Of “Where The Wild Things Are” Has Died At Age 83
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.
Maurice Sendak you will be missed.
More Sad News For Lovecraft Fans Anticipating Del Toro’s Adaptation of At The Mountains Of Madness
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.
What are your thoughts?
Unspeakable Gibberer 