H.P. Lovecraft and the Cthulhu mythos

[JD]

At the time, American-International Pictures was churning out a string of profitable Poe movies starring Price. This eventually led them to start slapping Poe's name and titles on Vincent Price movies that had nothing to do with Poe. (See also THE CONQUEROR WORM and CRY OF THE BANSHEE.)

But, yes, "Edgar Allan Poe's THE HAUNTED PALACE, based 'The Case of Charles Dexter Ward' by H.P. Lovecraft" is bizarre even by Hollywood adaptation standards.

I guess Lovecraft was not considered a marquee name back in 1963.

And speaking of Lovecraftian fiction:

http://www.tor.com/2016/05/24/reprints-those-who-watch-ruthanna-emrys/

It seems like he's gotten a big boost in recognition in the last few years. I'd never heard of him until recently, and now he or at least his influence seems to be popping up all over the place.
Wow, I just read through the bio for him on Wikipedia, and it's sad that someone who has gone on to become so influential had such a hard life. But then again, I guess if he had things easier then he wouldn't have written the kinds of stuff that he did.

 

[The Lensman]

JD, here's a good edition for the Cthulu stuff if you have a Barnes and Noble near you:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the...les-hp-lovecraft/1115399083?ean=9781435162556

 

[RJDiogenes]

There are a ton of Lovecraftian anthologies around these days, many of them themed-- period pieces, modern settings, post-Cthulhu Apocalypse worlds. Chaosium is a good publisher for that sort of thing. Also, if you have a Kindle, there are a couple of cheap Megapacks with lots of Mythos tales.

What's the overall opinion on the movie Dagon? I came across it streaming on Netflix shortly after I first became aware of Lovecraft and I enjoyed it.

I liked that one. It really captured the Lovecraftian atmosphere.

What about Boom! Studios' Fall of Cthulu comic book series?

Never heard of that one.

If you end up getting into Lovecraft you might also enjoy looking into Clark Ashton Smith.

I love Clark Ashton Smith, too.

I love those films.

Yeah, I hope they make some more.

 

[Greg Cox]

It seems like he's gotten a big boost in recognition in the last few years. I'd never heard of him until recently, and now he or at least his influence seems to be popping up all over the place.
.

He was already legendary in horror circles back when I was growing up in the seventies, at least if you were somebody who read lots of horror anthologies and non-fiction books and articles on the genre. The first big biography of him, by L. Sprague de Camp, came out in 1975 and his stories were readily available in various paperback collections. (I remember reading them at the dentist's as a kid.)

But he probably wasn't as well known as Poe to the average moviegoer.

 

[Redfern]

I was going to note there seemed a surge of interest in the 70s, but I figured that was due mainly to my developing an interest in reading and noticing paperbacks with 'distinctive" covers. Not familiar with the author, I found it utterly bizarre someone named Lovecraft would have books with covers depicting skulls blowing their brains as though it was steam through holes bored in the top of their craniums, or heads with the lower half melted away in a green goo as shards of glass pierce their scalps. Just what kind of "love" was that?!

 

[Reverend]

It seems like he's gotten a big boost in recognition in the last few years. I'd never heard of him until recently, and now he or at least his influence seems to be popping up all over the place.

His influence has been prevalent for decades (for children of the 80's, I present Exhibit A), it's just one of those things where you might not necessarily have realised what you were seeing was a HPL homage. (See Also: every horror story written by Stephen King ever.)

I sort of equate it to Edgar Rice Burroughs's Barsoom books. Everyone knows Star Wars and has probably at least heard of Flash Gordon and even Buck Rogers, but unless you're a real genre fan (or one of the 3 people who actually went to see the Disney film a few years back) you's probably have no idea that they were all inspired by 'A Princess of Mars'.

 

[Greg Cox]

It wasn't just Lovecraft. In general, there seems to have been a resurgence of interest in that whole Weird Tales generation of writers--Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, C.L. Moore, etc.--back in the seventies, which is when they first started getting reprinted in cheap, mass-market paperback editions.

As I understand it, prior to that, Lovecraft (and Howard) could only be found in limited editions published by small specialty presses--or in moldering back issues of old pulp magazines read only by the most avid collectors. But then mass-market paperback publishing discovered Lovercraft and Co. and suddenly you could pick up cheap paperback editions of Lovecraft at your neighborhood drug store or mall, which must of sold well enough to justify even more such collections.

Not sure what was the chicken and what was the egg here. Did the explosion of paperbacks make Lovecraft more popular, or did we get all the paperbacks because Lovecraft was growing more popular? Or was it just that the folks who grew up reading his work in the thirties eventually ended running publishing companies in the seventies and were in a position to reprint their old favorites?

Along the same lines, the reason you're seeing a lot more Lovecraft today is probably because those of us who discovered him in the seventies, devouring all those old paperback collections at an impressionable age, are now old enough to be writing and editing our own books, making our own movies, creating our own games and comics, resulting in a newer and bigger wave of Lovecraftian material.

It's a slo-motion, generational avalanche, growing and gathering speed.

 

[JD]

JD, here's a good edition for the Cthulu stuff if you have a Barnes and Noble near you:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the...les-hp-lovecraft/1115399083?ean=9781435162556

The e-book version looks like a good collection for a nice price, so I might have to go with that one instead of the Penguin Classics one.

 

[Redfern]

Someone at Deviant Art combined the faces on the Ballantine paperback covers into a single image. This is what I remember as a kid.

http://www.deviantart.com/art/H-P-Lovecraft-90098948

Greg? I was not aware that Lovecraft was not mass printed in paperback until the 70s. I figured I simply wasn't yet born (1962) to witness earlier surges of popularity. But, yeah, young readers growing up to have positions of influence (2 generational cycles at this point) makes a lot of sense.

 

[Greg Cox]

Someone at Deviant Art combined the faces on the Ballantine paperback covers into a single image. This is what I remember as a kid.

http://www.deviantart.com/art/H-P-Lovecraft-90098948

Greg? I was not aware that Lovecraft was not mass printed in paperback until the 70s. I figured I simply wasn't yet born (1962) to witness earlier surges of popularity. But, yeah, young readers growing up to have positions of influence (2 generational cycles at this point) makes a lot of sense.

Yep. Those old Ballantine covers are the ones I remember! Thanks for posting that. Talk about an eldritch stroll down Memory Lane.

Mind you, I can't confirm that Lovecraft didn't see heavy paperback exposure until the seventies, but that's my understanding. Before that, you're mostly talking reprints from Arkham House, Gnome Press, and other small presses. And note that, as far as I know, 1960s anthology shows like The Twilight Zone or Thriller weren't adapting his stories, which implies that he wasn't really on Hollywood's radar yet.

Lovecraft's history with Hollywood is spotty overall. Even the best-known Lovecraft films are mostly cult horror films; there are no big A-list motion pictures based on is work, even though a lot of his ideas have filtered into horror fiction in general. BUFFY, for example, takes as given that Elder Gods and demons once ruled the Earth, which is a fundamentally Lovecraftian premise, even the show didn't explicitly reference Cthulhu and such.

Burrough's "Mars" novels are a good comparison. Barsoom's DNA can be found in every subsequent space-fantasy adventure series, from FLASH GORDON to STAR WARS, even if the world if full of STAR WARS fans who have never read A Princess of Mars and its sequels. Similarly, Lovecraft's influence can be seen in countless movies and books and comics that aren't explicitly based on his work.

 

[JD]

Now that you mention Buffy, I noticed a while back that Ilyria's original form (seen here and here) seemed pretty Lovecraftian.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Babylon 5's first ones were Lovecraft influenced, although much more cuddly and funny.

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[Silvercrest]

... those of us who discovered him in the seventies, devouring all those old paperback collections at an impressionable age, are now old enough to be writing and editing our own books, making our own movies, creating our own games and comics, resulting in a newer and bigger wave of Lovecraftian material.

It's a slo-motion, generational avalanche, growing and gathering speed.

Or it's a subliminal takeover by the Old Ones. Did you devour the novels, or did they devour you?

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

If we dance and amuse them, they might keep the simulation running.

 

[Silvercrest]

Hmm ... it would be less than amusing if I danced. The world would end a little sooner, I think. Maybe I should work on the ol' stand-up routine.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

They're not at all fond of knock-knock jokes.

 

[Silvercrest]

Dang! Then I'm running out of material already.

 

[Reverend]

Now that you mention Buffy, I noticed a while back that Ilyria's original form (seen here and here) seemed pretty Lovecraftian.

This kind of influence crops up more often than you might think. Here's a particularly striking one from the old Justice League cartoon. 'Thirdspace' also leaps to mind. Even 'Event Horizon' to a certain extent.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Supernatural also had Big Bad called The Leviathans which were clearly Lovecraftian in inspiration, but that season didn't work out too well.

Just what kind of "love" was that?!

The crafty kind.

Or was it just that the folks who grew up reading his work in the thirties eventually ended running publishing companies in the seventies and were in a position to reprint their old favorites?

I think it was something like this, although it was probably more like the generation after that. I heard most about Lovecraft (and his ilk) from nostalgic references in horror magazine and monster movie magazines, and those guys weren't quite that old.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Given the depths of obscure crap that gets plumbed it is pretty amazing how untapped this is on the big screen.