Cthulhu f'tagn

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I've been a Lovecraft fan for more years than I care to admit. In that time I've read all his published fiction (and much of the mythos material contributed by others) and seen more than one bad (or worse) film adaptation. So far, the best film is probably the misleadingly titled Dagon (based not on the story of that name but on A Shadow Over Innsmouth). There was also a recent HBO offering, the name of which temporarily escapes me.

Nowadays, of course, the web is crawling with Lovecraftian stuff, much of it rehashing endlessly the same few lines of his work. However, there are a few gems out there:

The HP Lovecraft Historical Society (http://www.cthulhulives.org). A group of truely dedicated lunatics who have produced a wonderful b&w silent adaptation of The Call of Cthulhu (http://www.cthulhulives.org/cocmovie/trailer.html) (I have this on DVD - recommended) as well as a Lovecraftian musical A Shoggoth on the Roof and a disk of musical pastiche including I saw mommy kissing Yog Sothoth. They also sell period props and aids for anyone attempting to put on Lovecraft based drama.

Lurker Films (http://www.lurkerfilms.com). Purveyor of much Lovecraft-inspired material including DVDs of the various Lovecraft Film Festivals. I've ordered the first of these so I'll report back later on its quality (or otherwise).

Chaosium (http:/catalog.chaosium.com) is not entirely Lovecraft but they have some interesting items including the Wayne June audiobooks of some of the better short stories. (Currently the home page is an apache default display!)

Finally, for fellow insomniacs who like to lay in the dark and listen to horror stories (the best way to appreciate them, IMHO) you could try sffAudio (http://www.sffaudio.com/) who have an interesting selection of sci-fi and horror on various audio media (including some free downloadable mp3s).

Anyone have any other recommendations?

[Thuriniel]

Heh, I just listened to the Cast Recording of A Shoggoth on the Roof a month ago, and I had myself a good time chuckling over all of the time and effort it took to rewrite Fiddler's lyrics, and then perform it to that high standard. The H.P.L. Historical Society are definitely fanatics. Good stuff.

I've been playing Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth from Bethesda. It's based upon many different parts of the Lovecraft Mythos. RIght now my character is exploring Innsmouth, along with all it's degenerate townsfolk. The control is sometimes finicky, and I'm not to big on the save system (you can only save at certain points in the game), but it's still a wonderfully creepy and immersive ride into Lovecraft's world. There is no interface to speak of, adding to it's immersiveness, and it uses an "insanity" system, so that the more your character is over-exposed to horrifying and impossible imagery, the more likely he is to suffer from audio and visual hallucinations, and if it gets too bad (and he's armed), he exits the game via a self-inflicted coup-de-grace. It hasn't happened to my char (yet), but he did spend 6 years in an institution after an early run in with the Old Ones. :lowlol:

I also just watched a so-so '90s movie adaptation of The Case of Charles Dexter Ward (one of my favorite H.P.L. stories) renamed The Resurrected, changing the protagonist from the family physician into a Private Eye.

That's all I've got for right now.

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Hah, I picked up that game cut price over the weekend but haven't had a chance to play it yet. The Resurrected was the film I was attempting to remember, but I'm not sure what made me think it was an HBO offering. It was not great, but it was significantly better than the previous adaptation of that book (also one of my favourite) which was filmed as Edgar Allen Poe's Haunted Palace and starred Vincent Price. Has to be one of the worst names in cinema history.