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The Weird: Aesthetic Effect and Power
MJUR 2017, Issue 8 59 The Weird: Aesthetic Effect and Power Lauren Lipski Colorado Mesa University Abstract Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone, Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher,” and The Who’s Tommy have all been called weird, but what makes these texts weird? This paper examines weirdness beyond its use as a value judgment or genre category. Similar to Sianne Ngai’s Our Aesthetic Categories (2012), which describes cute, zany, and interesting as aesthetic effects, my project also describes the weird as an aesthetic effect. By drawing upon its etymology, my project establishes the weird as a term referencing a power, “an effect that holds an audience enthralled.” Occurring either via ruptures of coherency or when distinct boundaries are blurred to create “in-between states,” the weird as a critical term has the potential to examine our contemporary preoccupation with destabilization. My paper poses several questions: Can the weird be reclaimed from a subjective judgment to one of critical application? How is context important in determining what is weird and what is not? How does the weird challenge what society considers normal, logical, and stable? By establishing the weird as an analytical term, my project provides a lens through which to examine texts that perplex and discomfort, yet simultaneously enthrall, an audience. Introduction The term weird can seemingly describe anything. It could categorize the nonsense title and lyrics of Cream’s psychedelic hit, S.W.L.A.B.R., with its title of the invented acronym for “she walked like a bearded rainbow” (Bruce). -
Extraterrestrial Places in the Cthulhu Mythos
Extraterrestrial places in the Cthulhu Mythos 1.1 Abbith A planet that revolves around seven stars beyond Xoth. It is inhabited by metallic brains, wise with the ultimate se- crets of the universe. According to Friedrich von Junzt’s Unaussprechlichen Kulten, Nyarlathotep dwells or is im- prisoned on this world (though other legends differ in this regard). 1.2 Aldebaran Aldebaran is the star of the Great Old One Hastur. 1.3 Algol Double star mentioned by H.P. Lovecraft as sidereal The double star Algol. This infrared imagery comes from the place of a demonic shining entity made of light.[1] The CHARA array. same star is also described in other Mythos stories as a planetary system host (See Ymar). The following fictional celestial bodies figure promi- nently in the Cthulhu Mythos stories of H. P. Lovecraft and other writers. Many of these astronomical bodies 1.4 Arcturus have parallels in the real universe, but are often renamed in the mythos and given fictitious characteristics. In ad- Arcturus is the star from which came Zhar and his “twin” dition to the celestial places created by Lovecraft, the Lloigor. Also Nyogtha is related to this star. mythos draws from a number of other sources, includ- ing the works of August Derleth, Ramsey Campbell, Lin Carter, Brian Lumley, and Clark Ashton Smith. 2 B Overview: 2.1 Bel-Yarnak • Name. The name of the celestial body appears first. See Yarnak. • Description. A brief description follows. • References. Lastly, the stories in which the celes- 3 C tial body makes a significant appearance or other- wise receives important mention appear below the description. -
Lovecraft Research Paper Final Draft
Nagelvoort 1 Chris Nagelvoort Professor Walsh Humanities Core H1CS 13 June 2020 Becoming Anti-Human: How Lovecraftian Horror Philosophically Deconstructs Otherness The most horrifying monster is change. Having the comfort and consistency of normality be thrust into the foreign landscape of difference can be petrifying. The dormant mind can lose its sense of self, security, and, worst of all, control. In the horror genre, this is no different. Monsters are frightening because of the difference they impose on us and our identity. Imagining a world ruled by a zombie apocalypse or a ravenous vampire feasting at night may seem unobtrusive, but when the rabid ghoul trespasses the border of detached fiction into the interior of one’s identity, the cliche skeleton seems almost an afterthought. Much more terrifying than the grotesqueness or typicality of these horror villains is how they can turn one’s sense of self and control inside out. It invites the elusive glance inward, asking the subject to wonder if their pillars of psychological safety—identity, family, belief system, home—are very safe at all. This fear of something different is compartmentalized by the psyche as something so alien, so invasive, that it must be something Other. This effect is explored by the stories of Howard Philips Lovecraft, a horror writer whose stories are so bizarre that the average reader is stripped of all their preconceptions about reality and even their sense of self. This special subgenre of horror was pioneered by Lovecraft and is famously called “Lovecraftian horror” but is well known today as cosmic horror: A mesh of horror and science fiction that “erodes presumptions about the nature of reality” (Cardin 273). -
Ye Bc 3Ke of 2358
YE BC 3KE OF 2358 < The Aniolowsk’i Collection. VOLUME II All About Monstres This volume contains dozens of new races and individual creatures for use with the Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game. Included here are the following categories: Outer Gods, Elder Gods, Great Old Ones, Great Ones, Avatars, Servitor Races, Independent Races, Fabulous Creatures, and Unique Entities. These monstrous creations have been collected from over ten years of favorite Call of Cthulhu scenarios; others have been created specifically for this book. The darkly imagi- native work of a diverse group of authors is represented here. Where possible each entry begins with a quote describing the monster or entity. Where much about the creature is known, there may be an additional description. If discussing a god, Great One, or Great Old One, notice of any human cult comes next. Further notes discuss habit, habitat, or attack. An essential aid for players, investigators, and keepers. “I saw the form waver from sex to sex, dividing itself from itself, and then again reunited. Then I saw the body descend to the beastsSample whence file it ascended, and that which was on the heights go down to the depths, even to the abyss of all being... I The principle of life, which makes organism, always Scott David Aniolowski remained, while the outward form changed. ” (after his apprehensio: by -Arthur Machen, “The Great God Pan” minions of the Mythos) CALL OF CTHULHU is a roleplaying game Chaosium publishes many supplements based on the novels and short stories of H.P. and accessories for CALL OF CTHULHU. -
Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu Rulebook
Beings of ancient and bizarre intelligence, known as Old Ones, are stirring within their vast cosmic prisons. If they awake into the world, it will unleash an age of madness, chaos, and destruction upon the very fabric of reality. Everything you know and love will be destroyed! You are cursed with knowledge that the “sleeping masses” cannot bear: that this Evil exists, and that it must be stopped at all costs. Shadows danced all around the gas street light above you as the pilot flame sputtered a weak yellow light. Even a small pool of light is better than total darkness, you think to yourself. You check your watch again for the third time in the last few minutes. Where was she? Had something happened? The sound of heels clicking on pavement draws your eyes across the street. Slowly, as if the darkness were a cloak around her, a woman comes into view. Her brown hair rests in a neat bun on her head and glasses frame a nervous face. Her hands hold a large manila folder with the words INNSMOUTH stamped on the outside in blocky type lettering. “You’re late,” you say with a note of worry in your voice, taking the folder she is handing you. “I… I tried to get here as soon as I could.” Her voice is tight with fear, high pitched and fast, her eyes moving nervously without pause. “You know how to fix this?” The question in her voice cuts you like a knife. “You can… make IT go away?!” You wince inwardly as her voice raises too loudly at that last bit, a nervous edge of hysteria creeping into her tone. -
This Paper Examines the Role of Media Technologies in the Horror
Monstrous and Haunted Media: H. P. Lovecraft and Early Twentieth-Century Communications Technology James Kneale his paper examines the role of media technologies in the horror fic- tion of the American author H. P. Lovecraft (1890-1937). Historical geographies of media must cover more than questions of the distri- Tbution and diffusion of media objects, or histories of media representations of space and place. Media forms are both durable and portable, extending and mediating social relations in time and space, and as such they allow us to explore histories of time-space experience. After exploring recent work on the closely intertwined histories of science and the occult in late nine- teenth-century America and Europe, the discussion moves on to consider the particular case of those contemporaneous media technologies which became “haunted” almost as soon as they were invented. In many ways these hauntings echo earlier responses to the printed word, something which has been overlooked by historians of recent media. Developing these ideas I then suggest that media can be monstrous because monstrosity is centrally bound up with representation. Horrific and fantastic fictions lend themselves to explorations of these ideas because their narratives revolve around attempts to witness impossible things and to prove their existence, tasks which involve not only the human senses but those technologies de- signed to extend and improve them: the media. The remainder of the paper is comprised of close readings of several of Lovecraft’s stories which sug- gest that mediation allowed Lovecraft to reveal monstrosity but also to hold it at a distance, to hide and to distort it. -
Terror Handouts
TERROR HANDOUTS This supplement is best used with the Call of Cthulhu (7th Edition) roleplaying game, and optionally the Pulp Cthulhu sourcebook, both available separately. Terror Australis © copyright 2018–2020 Chaosium Inc. All rights reserved. Call of Cthulhu © copyright 1981–2020 Chaosium Inc. Pulp Cthulhu © copyright 2016–2020 Chaosium Inc. All rights reserved. Chaosium Arcane Symbol (the Star Elder Sign) © copyright 1983 Chaosium Inc. All rights reserved. Call of Cthulhu, Chaosium Inc., and the Chaosium logo are registered trademarks of Chaosium Inc. Pulp Cthulhu is a trademark of Chaosium Inc. All rights reserved. Ithaqua © copyright 2020 the Estate of August Derleth. Used with permission. Atlach-Nacha and Tsathoggua © copyright 2020 the Estate of Clark Ashton Smith. Used with permission. Chaosium recognizes that credits and copyrights for the Cthulhu Mythos can be difficult to identify, and that some elements of the Mythos may be in the public domain. If you have corrections or additions to any credits given here, please contact us at [email protected]. This is a work of fiction. This book includes descriptions and portrayals of real places, real events, and real people; these may not be presented accurately and with conformity to the real-world nature of these places, people, and events, and are reinterpreted through the lens of the Cthulhu Mythos and the Call of Cthulhu game in general. No offense to anyone living or dead, or to the inhabitants of any of these places, is intended. This material is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Reproduction of this work by any means without written permission of Chaosium Inc., except for the use of short excerpts for the purpose of reviews and the copying of character sheets and handouts for in-game use, is expressly prohibited. -
Catalogue XV 116 Rare Works of Speculative Fiction
Catalogue XV 116 Rare Works Of Speculative Fiction About Catalogue XV Welcome to our 15th catalogue. It seems to be turning into an annual thing, given it was a year since our last catalogue. Well, we have 116 works of speculative fiction. Some real rarities in here, and some books that we’ve had before. There’s no real theme, beyond speculative fiction, so expect a wide range from early taproot texts to modern science fiction. Enjoy. About Us We are sellers of rare books specialising in speculative fiction. Our company was established in 2010 and we are based in Yorkshire in the UK. We are members of ILAB, the A.B.A. and the P.B.F.A. To Order You can order via telephone at +44(0) 7557 652 609, online at www.hyraxia.com, email us or click the links. All orders are shipped for free worldwide. Tracking will be provided for the more expensive items. You can return the books within 30 days of receipt for whatever reason as long as they’re in the same condition as upon receipt. Payment is required in advance except where a previous relationship has been established. Colleagues – the usual arrangement applies. Please bear in mind that by the time you’ve read this some of the books may have sold. All images belong to Hyraxia Books. You can use them, just ask us and we’ll give you a hi-res copy. Please mention this catalogue when ordering. • Toft Cottage, 1 Beverley Road, Hutton Cranswick, UK • +44 (0) 7557 652 609 • • [email protected] • www.hyraxia.com • Aldiss, Brian - The Helliconia Trilogy [comprising] Spring, Summer and Winter [7966] London, Jonathan Cape, 1982-1985. -
RAMSEY CAMPBELL INTERVIEWED RAMSEY CAMPBELL INTERVIEW ^By Brendan Ryder Page 13
ISSUE NO. 76 August 1992 ________ ISSN 0791-3966 RAMSEY CAMPBELL INTERVIEWED RAMSEY CAMPBELL INTERVIEW ^by Brendan Ryder page 13 THE TWILIGHT ZONE How to find your way around by Michael Cullen page 5 OUR SEMI-ANNUAL "MEGA" QUIZ It’s not just a quiz, it's the contents of page 11 MORPHING So how did Arnie turn into Michael Jackson? See on page 12 REGULAR FEATURES News 3 ISFA News 4 Letters 7 Meeting report 8 Movies 9 Videos 10 Book Reviews 15 Comics 18 Drabbles 19 PUBLISHED BY Wc welcome unsolicited manuscripts on the basis that the THE IRISH SCIENCE FICTION ISFA is poor, and if wc don’t actually pay contributors it ASSOCIATION doesn’t mean wc don’t appreciate them. So send us your news. Send us your opinions. Send us your doodles. Send 30, BEVERLY DOWNS us your shorts. But wash ’em first. KNOCKLYON ROAD Take that old dusty Royal out of the wardrobe and type it, TEMPLEOGUE, DUBLIN 16 if you can. If you can’t, well, it’s not the end of the world. FURTHER INFORMATION NOTE: OPINIONS EXPRESSED ARE NOT THOSE OF FROM THIS ADDRESS OR THE ISFA, EXCEPT WHERE STATED AS SUCH PHONE 934712 2 ISFA Newsletter August 1992 NEWS Crypt Creator Dies Wiliam M Gaines, publisher of Mad maga zine and the EC comics line which included Rings, No Strings Weird Science, Tales from the Crypt, and As part of the Galway Arts Festival which ran The Vault of Horror, died in Manhattan in from 15-26 July, the Canadian Theatre Sans June, at the age of 70. -
Cthulhu Monsters a Field Observer's Handbook of Preternatural Entities
--- S. PETERSEN'S FIELD GUIDE TO Cthulhu Monsters A Field Observer's Handbook Of Preternatural Entities Paintings and Descriptions From the Cthulhu Mythos As Created by H.P. Lovecraft, With Augmentations for Today Sandy Petersen Tom Sullivan Lynn Willis with Peter Dannseys E.C. Fallworth L.N. Isinwyll Ivan Mustoll Chaosium Inc. Publication 5105 The 27 Most Frequently Encountered Monsters Howard Phillips Lovecraft 1890 - 1937 t PETERSEN'S Field Guide To Cthulhu :Monsters A Field Observer's Handbook Of Preternatural Entities Sandy Petersen conception and text TOIn Sullivan 27 original paintings, most other drawings Lynn ~illis project, additional text, editorial, layout, production Chaosiurn Inc. 1988 The FIELD GUIDe is p «blished by Chaosium IIIC . • PETERSEN'S FIELD GUIDE TO CfHUU/U MONSTERS is copyrighl e1988 try Chaosium IIIC.; all rights reserved. _ Similarities between characters in lhe FIELD GUIDE and persons living or dead are strictly coincidental . • Brian Lumley first created the ChJhoniwu . • H.P. Lovecraft's works are copyright e 1963, 1964, 1965 by August Derleth and are quoted for purposes of ilIustraJion_ • IflCide ntal monster silhouelles are by Lisa A. Free or Tom SU/livQII, and are copyright try them. Ron Leming drew the illustraJion of H.P. Lovecraft QIId tlu! sketclu!s on p. 25. _ Except in this p«blicaJion and relaJed advertising, artwork. origillalto the FIELD GUIDE remains the property of the artist; all rights reserved . • Tire reproductwn of material within this book. for the purposes of personal. or corporaJe profit, try photographic, electronic, or other methods of retrieval, is prohibited . • Address questions WId commel11s cOlICerning this book. -
Mi-Go 1 Mi-Go
Mi-go 1 Mi-go An interpretation of the Mi-Go by Ruud Dirven Mi-go ("The Abominable Ones") is a Himalayan nickname for a race of extraterrestrials in the Cthulhu Mythos created by H. P. Lovecraft and others. The name was first applied to the creatures in Lovecraft's short story "The Whisperer in Darkness" (1931), elaborating on a reference to 'What fungi sprout in Yuggoth' in his sonnet cycle Fungi from Yuggoth (1929–30) which described the contrasting vegetation on alien dream-worlds. Summary The "Mi-go" are large, pinkish, fungoid, crustacean-like entities the size of a man; where a head would be, they have a "convoluted ellipsoid" composed of pyramided, fleshy rings and covered in antennae. According to two reports in the original short story, their bodies consist of a form of matter that does not occur naturally on Earth; for this reason, they do not register on ordinary photographic film. They are capable of going into suspended animation until softened and reheated by the sun or some other source of heat. They are about five feet (1.5 m) long, and their crustacean-like bodies bear numerous sets of paired appendages. They possess a pair of membranous bat-like wings which are used to fly through the "aether" of outer space (a scientific concept which is now discredited). The wings do not function well on Earth. Several other races in Lovecraft's Mythos also have wings like these. The Mi-go can transport humans from Earth to Pluto (and beyond) and back again by removing the subject's brain and placing it into a "brain cylinder", which can be attached to external devices to allow it to see, hear, and speak. -
Cthulhu Lives!: a Descriptive Study of the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society
CTHULHU LIVES!: A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY OF THE H.P. LOVECRAFT HISTORICAL SOCIETY J. Michael Bestul A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS August 2006 Committee: Dr. Jane Barnette, Advisor Prof. Bradford Clark Dr. Marilyn Motz ii ABSTRACT Dr. Jane Barnette, Advisor Outside of the boom in video game studies, the realm of gaming has barely been scratched by academics and rarely been explored in a scholarly fashion. Despite the rich vein of possibilities for study that tabletop and live-action role-playing games present, few scholars have dug deeply. The goal of this study is to start digging. Operating at the crossroads of art and entertainment, theatre and gaming, work and play, it seeks to add the live-action role-playing game, CTHULHU LIVES, to the discussion of performance studies. As an introduction, this study seeks to describe exactly what CTHULHU LIVES was and has become, and how its existence brought about the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society. Simply as a gaming group which grew into a creative organization that produces artifacts in multiple mediums, the Society is worthy of scholarship. Add its humble beginnings, casual style and non-corporate affiliation, and its recent turn to self- sustainability, and the Society becomes even more interesting. In interviews with the artists behind CTHULHU LIVES, and poring through the archives of their gaming experiences, the picture develops of the journey from a small group of friends to an organization with influences and products on an international scale.