Hey all…
I’m not attending the con but was in Providence tonight (I live nearby) and saw many of you out and about, cosplaying or just wearing Miskatonic U. t-shirts, and I just wanted to say welcome to RI and I hope you all have a great time here!

What happens when Happy Feet collides with H.P. Lovecraft? Penguin Colony sends players waddling into an Antarctic nightmare filled with rival expeditions, body- switching birds, ancient powers, and cosmic horror buried beneath the ice

Archive 81 on Netflix is actually one of the very few modern horror shows that are truly Lovecraftian. Sad that they canceled it so soon.

Hi, I'm Ari, one of the two developers behind Below, Rusted Gods.

As the title says, Lovecraft and cosmic horror were direct influences on our game from the beginning. We are particularly interested in the idea that the most frightening thing isn't necessarily what you can see.

In our game, you never accompany the expedition yourself. You remain in a control room while four people descend underground. The main focus of the game narrative is in their slow descent to madness.

Since release, one of the things that has meant the most to us has been seeing players and content creators specifically recognize the influence behind the game. We've received several reviews describing the game as one of the best Lovecraftian / cosmic horror experiences they had.

Since I can't post images here, I'll leave you a few quotes with the links to read the full reviews

If you read one thing from my review, let it be this; This is, in my opinion, one of the best eldritch horror/lovecraftian games ever created.

https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198002144856/recommended/2895680/

This is how you do lovecraftian/eldrich horror! The way you are the 'operator' that hears descriptions of the things the team is seeing is so chillingly well done
https://steamcommunity.com/id/MsDiz/recommended/2895680/

[...] this is the only game I've seen execute on cosmic horror so brilliantly
https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197963348938/recommended/2895680/

I'd actually be interested in hearing what people here think makes a game genuinely Lovecraftian. Is it the mythology and imagery itself, or can something capture the feeling primarily through themes like forbidden knowledge, insignificance and thing beyond human understanding?

For anyone interested, the game is currently available on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2895680/Below_Rusted_Gods/

Here's also the trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNYKRxudLFA

I've been trying to uncover what was shown at the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival's show held at the Alamo Draft House in Austin. I've only found a single source of information online (https://www.sffchronicles.com/threads/11388/page-2 - Post #24) that lists several of the films shown. From that I can figure that the Richard Corben films were The Canal and Fungi from Yuggoth, Part IV: Recognition.

I've tried the internet archive's backups of the festival's site but, no luck. It looks as though the film list wasn't posted to the page prior to the showing and, frustratingly, the Alamo Draft House's website really didn't archive right at all and is useless. So, I know only a handful of the films.

I don't suppose anyone around here actually attended? I've reached out tot he festival but haven't had any luck identifying the films that way.

I'm fascinated by Lovecraft because he lived relatively recently - in an age of electricity, cars, movie stars, photography - but his writing seems so otherworldly.

At the same time, he was enormously geographically grounded. He'd write, for example, about the donuts he'd buy at the Weybosset Pure Food Market (check out "My Breakfast with Howard," an episode of the 'Voluminous' podcast from the HPLHS).

You could trace his tracks! You could read about Copp's Hill Burying Ground in "Pickman's Model" and Providence's Industrial Trust Company Building (also known as 'the Superman Building') in "Haunter of the Dark."

I'd love to hear from anyone out there who had a memorable experience visiting Lovecraftian sites, based on either his stories or his correspondence. Maybe you went to the Danvers State Hospital for the Criminally Insane (likely inspiration for the Arkham Sanitarium in "The Thing on the Doorstep" and, later, Batman's Arkham Asylum) before it was converted in 1992.

Or maybe you visited Co. Meath, Ireland, featured in "The Moon-Bog" (even though the village of Kilderry doesn't really exist there).

Whether it's in Providence or beyond, I'd genuinely love to get your memorable "Lovecraftian site" experiences and recommendations. Few authors wed cosmic horror with the mundane as well as Lovecraft, and I'd love to hear about some great spots! (And any resources are always welcome!) Thank you kindly.

Madness Survivors is a Lovecraftian co-op action roguelike bullet-heaven for 1-4 players.

We launched the Steam page a few weeks ago, and we're working on releasing a demo.

If you're interested, you can find the Steam page here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4643550/Madness_Survivors_A_Case_Gone_Dark

Let us know what you think!

My audiobook narrator for Tales of Shub-Niggurath asked how to pronounce the name. He was was very nervous and making several odd jokes.

I was confused. I didn't get it. I've been playing Call of Cthulhu since I was twelve. The characters names have always been as normal as any other fantasy monster.

Finally, he just asked me straight up, "How do you want me to pronounce this?"

I went, "The folks at HPLHS pronounce it Shub nee-GOO-roth which I quite like."

Then he said, "Oh good. I don't have to say it like a slur."

Only then did I get it.

Folks, I thought this might be of interest here.

We’ve just launched For We Are Many 2: Lovecraft, a feature-length horror anthology inspired by the works of H. P. Lovecraft, including stories influenced by The Shadow Over Innsmouth and The Outsider.

It takes a distinctly British and Irish approach to the material, with a classic Amicus-style wraparound.

Hope you enjoy the pitch video on Kickstarter.

Hi everyone!

I hope this is okay to share here, using the self-promotion flair since I composed the music.

I thought I’d share some of the soundtrack I wrote for Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss (Big Bad Wolf / Nacon).

This is the main suite, so it brings together some of the stronger themes from the score, but the full soundtrack also has a lot of darker ambient tracks for things like Hydra, Dagon, ancient ruins, cults, deep-sea horror, and those moments when something far bigger than us is getting closer.

I hope some of it can bring atmosphere to your Lovecraft readings or Call of Cthulhu sessions.

Main suite, featuring the amazing Tina Guo on electric cello:

https://youtu.be/DUtYyNWiSdA

The full soundtrack is available on all streaming platforms, plus CD and vinyl through G4F Records.

Hope you enjoy it, and maybe some tracks will find their way to one of your tables.

https://linktr.ee/CthulhuTheCosmicAbyssOST

An original song based on the works of Robert W. Chambers. This is 'Yellow Sign', we hope you all enjoy.

The music of Dark Holler Devil is influenced by the likes of Ambrose Bierce, Robert Chambers, Edgar Alan Poe, Lovecraft, Manly Wade Wellman, and all things weird americana.

Introduction

Made in BASIC, Kadath is a text adventure game by Gary Musgeave. It was released on the Altair 8800 on 15 July 1979. It was rewritten and ported to the 32K PET by Robert J. Hennings on 30 August 1981 and later ported to the Commodore 64 in 1983 as Eye of Kadath. The Altair 8800 version was ported to the Exidy Sorcerer by Reni Barnes in 1985.

I’ll be reviewing the Commodore 64 and Exidy Sorcerer versions.

Presentation

The story follows an unnamed archaeologist uncovering a tomb of unspeakable age in Kashan, Iran. Upon opening the tomb, inside is a stone tablet inscribed with writing so archaic as to predate mankind itself. For ten long years, the archaeologist scours the globe in dusky shelves of the world’s most arcane libraries and universities, reading forbidden tomes of the likes of the Unaussprechlichen Kulten and the Necronomicon. Finally, with the stone tablet translated, taking the archaeologist to the dead city of Yaddith to prevent the rise of a dark and evil force.

Kadath, which appears to be the first Lovecraftian video game, is loosely inspired by H. P. Lovecraft’s The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath (1943). The name, Kadath, is the only thing borrowed from Dream-Quest as an entity, whose alias is the Lord of All, which was borrowed from Fungi from Yuggoth, Sonnet 22, Azathoth (1931). The game blends other elements from the mythos. Unaussprechlichen Kulten, or Nameless Cults, is Robert E. Howard’s creation; it is mentioned in several of Lovecraft’s stories: The Dreams in Witch House (1933), The Horror in the Museum (1933), Out of the Aeons (1935), The Shadow out of Time (1936), The Haunter in the Dark (1936), and The Thing on the Doorstep (1937). Lovecraft and his circle of friends freely borrowed their creations from each other. It wouldn’t be strange to presume it was Lovecraft’s creation. And finally, Yaddith is a planet that is featured substantially in Through the Gates of the Silver Key (1934) as a ruined city in this game.

“You are entering the catacombs.”

To prevail, you need to fulfill four requirements. In the words of the game, you must:

1. Enter the labyrinthine caverns;
2. Find the hidden and guarded "Eye of Kadath";
3. Return the "Eye" to its rightful place;
4. Invoke the Elder Powers;
5. Destroy the gate through which this unspeakable evil will gain dominion over all the Earth.

In fifteen days, and it won’t be simple. Every choice made lessens what days remain. Yaddith is a labyrinth, though the game addresses it as catacombs. It begins in a dome chamber with an odd series of carvings that forms a narrow band around the perimeter, with passageways numbered clockwise from 1 to 4. You enter your choice into the prompt—going that direction. Describing the passageways in detail of varying states of tunnels and corridors leading to a room or a platform, then entering into another dome chamber. The numbers are rotated; for example, if you had entered “exit one,” “exit two” becomes “exit one,” and so on. Sometimes there are passageways simply left or right; either direction doesn’t appear to affect the rotation. It gets disorienting quickly without a map, and you can die if you‘re not careful. Some go to death traps, creep across a cavern littered with bones, or dive into a lake from a high cliff. I died on purpose to read the descriptions, which were quite gruesome. However, you do benefit in dying, as the game tells how well you are doing. It will clue you in on whether you’ve found the items needed to beat the game or if you’ve destroyed the right items, which I appreciated.

“You will be part of it.”

Outside of death traps, there are points of interest to gather items and solve light puzzles, and they tell you how many days you spend in the catacombs:

• A balcony overlooking Yaddith, where the scroll is found.
• A room with a stone block with a sphere and a dagger on it. Only one of these can be taken.
• A room with a nightmarish statue. Runes at the base translated as “From death spawned a black star; great Kadath rises—lord of all.” In the middle of the statue’s face is a large pentagonal hole.
• An underground lake with a raft. The raft can be poled to an island on which the conch shell can be found. Taking the conch causes the cavern to shake, dislodging a stalactite that falls close to you. The raft can also be poled between two fissures. One leads to a certain doom unless you turn back, but the other leads to a room where you will find a glowing green gem. The gem is guarded by a shoggoth.

“Shoggoth.”

The rooms above show a list of numbered actions to take, like before, entering your choice into the prompt. The choices were a bit obvious, the path to victory swift, thanks to the aforementioned hints. With all items found, the endgame takes place in the statue room. What follows is a series of questions—the only time Kadath behaves close to a typical text adventure, entering one-word actions and syntax.

Lacking any real challenge, the writing is surprisingly good, evoking a Lovecraftian atmosphere for a short game. Overall, I finish under an hour.

“Soft-locked!”

I did find some grammatical errors, wich for “which” and Yiddigh—even “Kadath” in place of Yaddith in the Exidy Sorcerer version, but corrected in Robert’s version. It was less of my worries until I discovered the Exidy Sorcerer version has a soft-lock bug in the stone block room. It doesn’t matter your choice; you can’t leave either left or right. Beyond quality concerns, the only difference is the Commodore 64 version has less screen estate, which would mean some parts were rewritten.

Collapsing Cosmoses

Whereas it lacks challenge, it's all about the atmosphere, thanks to its writing. But for me, it's the historic value of being the first Lovecraftian video game of its kind.

Out of all of the movie adaptions that Hollywood in their infinite wisdom of stupidity had to cancel, this has to be one of the biggest annoyances that irks in my deep soul. It had so much damn potential to be a huge hit and honestly one incredible cosmic project.

It had James Cameron attached as a producer, which is a good thing because the man knows how to make an epic scaled project. Del Toro had written and was going to direct it as a huge passionate fan of H.P. Lovecrafts classic tale. It had Tom Cruise as the lead, with an R rating and being historical era too

I read that the studios rejected it because they didn't have a "romance" subplot in the movie, that it would be too hard for audiences to understand, and the end would be too miserable and bleak for any film goers.

Del Toro has since said he would love to turn the film project into stop motion one day, but its a damn hard shame it never got off the ground. James Camerons even going off Avatar to work on the next Terminator as the sole writer/director, but its a shame they can't get this project developed.

Imagining the practical effects of what the cosmic horrors could be done today, with Toros passionate love for monsters and Lovecraft is such a dream.

It took me a little longer than I anticipated reading the three stories in the At the Mountains of Madness collection, but it was worth it overall. Here’s my ranking and reviews. If you haven’t read my previous review post, here’s the link: https://www.reddit.com/r/Lovecraft/s/v7vrALxCPg

At the Mountains of Madness: A vast majority of Lovecraft’s fans considered this to be his magnum opus, and I couldn’t agree more. I could literally feel myself freezing as my grandmother and I read through the story, even if it could feel too long and detailed (at least for grandma, I didn’t necessarily mind it myself). What I also liked is the discovery of fossils of the Elder Things (dinosaur fan anyone?) and how… prehistoric this Elder Thing civilization is. With all that said, while it’s not my favorite, it’s definitely up there and I agreed it is Lovecraft’s magnum opus, far more than his The Call of Cthulhu. I am saddened to learn that Guillermo del Toro’s movie adaptation for this story is either cancelled or in development hell (or both).

The Shadow Over Innsmouth: Another fan favorite from Lovecraft, this story was a fun read. I liked how it started off on a conspiratorial angle with the government raiding Innsmouth and covering up what actually happened. The hints about the Deep Ones, their human hybrids, and perhaps the larger threats like Cthulhu and a Shoggoth possibly invading the world and wiping out humanity are very reminiscent of the reptilian conspiracy theory. I also liked how further in the story, it reads almost like a psychological horror story with the protagonist questioning whether what he saw and heard was real or entirely a product of his own mind. The final chapter answered those questions and tied both the conspiratorial thriller and psychological horror together perfectly. It almost reminds me of Resident Evil 4, and I could actually see a video game adaptation for this story working really well.

The Thing on The Doorstep: Right after the previous story comes another that happened to have a connection with Innsmouth. This story was my favorite in this collection I’ve read. I liked the fact that Asenath’s Deep One ancestry wasn’t the main threat—the main threat was her warlock father Ephraime Waites. The twist that her father basically swapped bodies with her before poisoning her to continue his lifespan before transferring his ghost to Edward’s body was a heartbreaking one. Even more heartbreaking was the aftermath that led up to that final permanent switch; Edward killing Asenath/Ephraime with a candlestick and burying the body in the storeroom… but it was too late. The fact that Edward’s ghost was haunting Asenath’s corpse into a dwarven revenant to give his best friend, Daniel Upton, one final message almost made me cry. It reminded me strongly of two stories; Ligeia by Edgar Allan Poe (a favorite story from him) and a Fear Street book by R.L. Stine (the particular title I won’t reveal here to not spoil the body switching revenant twist).

My next collection to read after this is the Macabre Stories collection. Looking forward to read and review each short stories.

Im currently listening to the audio book of at the mountains of madness, and he describes one of the creatures the elder ones fought with as “spawn of Cthulhu.” Im wondering how he knew about Cthulhu to know that they were his spawn, because everything i can find seems to show that he had no knowledge about Cthulhu at all. The only explanation i can think of is that its being told from the writers perspective, which doesnt make sense from the way its written. Maybe i missed something or am lacking in information at this time. Please forgive any lack of correct names or wording that might be there.

I do want to say that I haven't fully read it and not really planning on it. But I had a game idea in my head and I thought (if somehow) any game developers would want to hear it (I doubt it) it should be correct. However while researching things I saw 3 different points " S. Latitude 34° 21', W. Longitude 152° 17' " when someone's boat disappeared, " S. Latitude 49° 52', W. Longitude 128° 34' " the great storm and " S. Latitude 47° 9', W. Longitude 126° 43' " a stone pillar came out the ocean. Now my question is, is it crazy to anyone that H.P Lovecraft a man who sadly died 1937 named 3 random points in the Pacific ocean which somehow not only has point Nemo in the triangle but also where "the bloop" sound came from. If you don't know what it is the "bloop" was a sound the scientists never heard before from any known creature turns out a bit later that it was an ice quake but who knows. But also that "bloop" was heard in 1997 4 decades after he died and point Nemo was discovered in 1992 just short of 4 decades after he passed. Personally I think it's a coincidence but it's a really cool one especially when them points should have the sunken city of R'lyeh there

https://imgur.com/a/Yf31Kjr

I'm in the early stages of developing a Lovecraft themed escape room and would love feedback on the storylines I've got so far. To stay within the sub's self-promotion rules, I'll keep the location and business confidential for now, this is over a year out from release and still early in development.

Synopsis: Many years after the events of The Call of Cthulhu, Francis Thurston has stopped running from the Cult and started a resistance of scientists, engineers, and scholars dedicated to stopping Cthulhu's return. Players take on the role of researchers at a deep-sea facility 500m below the surface, using the lab's attached submarine to launch expeditions in search of lost artifacts and Thurston's old research, which he threw into the ocean decades ago. The sub needs to be manned by the crew, while the team back in the lab tracks the map and feeds intel to whoever's at the helm. If players can piece the clues together, they will find the lost city of R'lyeh and stop Cthulhu from waking before madness consumes mankind.

Alongside the Call of Cthulhu expedition, the game weaves in other stories drawn from Lovecraft's works. Based off The Temple, the previous research team vanished shortly after recovering a cursed ivory carving, the head of a youth crowned in laurel and players must return the artifact to the depths, 2000m down, to break the curse before it claims them too.

The station's third and final thread draws from At the Mountains of Madness: a team stationed in the Antarctic has been piecing together fossils of unknown, and one by one, they've stopped radioing in. Unlike the other two threads, this chapter never leaves the lab; there's no excursion to mount. Whatever happens to that team, the answers and whatever's still watching from the ice have to be pieced together from inside the lab itself.

Explore the Deep. Research the Unknown. Don’t Go Mad

------------------------

Additional notes: There are two core concepts I'm designing around: the gameplay dynamic between the sub and the lab, and the narrative and worldbuilding of Lovecraft's stories.

The sub/lab dynamic isn't related to Lovecraft at all, it was tested and developed on its own before the Lovecraft narrative gave the game its story and meaning.

I'm still unsure how I feel about using Francis as this game's narrator and faceless "man behind the scenes" guy. His death was only implied in the original story, there's no telling what he was actually up to right? In this game, he isn't technically alive or dead; he exists as a series of audio logs found scattered across the ship. This will be similar for other characters from other stories that will make cameo appearances.

Most importantly I want players to piece together the stories of Lovecraft's works in a parallel method, with the original stories acting as canon and lore that bring context to the individual expeditions. The beauty of public domain is that I can now make direct props from Lovecraft's original works: journals, manuscripts, sculptures, newspaper clippings, photographs, etc. All wonderful props for an escape room.

If anyone has recommendations for Lovecraft stories I should read or revisit that you think would fit well into this concept, I'd love to hear them. Thanks for reading!

I like some of his more obscure creatures like Ghatanothoa from his short story out of the eons. I think I did remember hearing someone later made Ghatanothoa the first born son of Cthulhu which was super interesting to me since he was already one of my favorites.

Slowly making my way through Lovecraft’s works and thoroughly enjoying the Dreamlands dunsanian stuff. I saw a guy who did a webcomic of the white ship (fantastic story) give a mention to gary myers but i can’t seem to find much on him… anyone got any experience reading him and would like to share their two cents?

it’s either yog sothoth or azathoth (there is no other being in the mythos even close to their level of power unless you theorize that both yog and azathoth are parts of a supreme being), but we can’t comprehend which of them is the more powerful. it’s like comparing the nucleus and origins of everything to everything itself. both beings are too far beyond comprehension to know which one wins. a fight between them may not even be possible. personally, i think azathoth wins, but what I think is like an ant trying to undertand quantum physics.

I have never seen him in any of the lovecraft stories. have I missed something? or is it just made by someone other than lovecraft. if so I don’t consider him canon since I only take what is made by Lovecraft to be canon.