"If you don't (at least try) to defeat the deep ones, you will die or be subjugated to their will. Even if it's hopeless... you have to try." That perfectly describes my mindset
NOTE: Something maybe I didn't make clear in my video. One of the reasons I prefer the 20s and 30s, in my very subjective opinion, is the general aesthetics of the era. The clothes, the music, the look of the cities, the traditionalism. It feels to me like nostalgia for an era I am 70 years away from. Some people like cyberpunk and transhumanism and the sci-fi world. For me, I look to the past.
My thoughts - The settings kind of default to the early part of the twentieth century, purely because that was the era in which Lovecraft was writing. However, I would argue there is no time period best suited, or least well suited, to Lovecraftian fiction, for the very reason that Lovecraftian fiction exemplifies the insignificance of Earth and Humanity, so time as conceived by Humanity is as much a trivial insignificance as anything else.
Since I'm writing a lovecraftian horror book set in a cyberpunk era(specifically in the year 2987), this video has given me a given ideas on how to to it properly. Thanks! love your videos
Could work. The Soviets sent up landers to Venus. What if the reason they were so hush-hush about their programs is that... they found something there?
I love that film, no exaggeration. Everything is great: visuals, the music, the violence, those epic slow-mo scenes and Karl Urban as Dredd. Don't quote me as fact but I read on a facebook group about Dredd that a TV series is being planned and Karl Urban will return.
As an independent filmmaker, creating a period piece was out of the question for me. Though we tend to think "Lovecraftian" best fits the 20s and 30s, I feel a modern setting opens new doors, in terms of addressing contemporary issues (climate change, terrorism, etc.), all of which fit nicely into the Mythos.
Eh. I think a setting in the Victorian era or early 20th century work the best. Everything you mentioned is why I don't believe it fits. It is very subjective.
The time period can definitely influence the tone of a story, and there's no doubting that Lovecraft's work captured the sense of wonderment and mystery of the 1930s, but the general tone of horrors beyond comprehension can be applied to just about any scenario. Eternal Darkness does a decent job of adapting the themes of Lovecraft to different points of history ranging from Roman, to Colonial, to Modern times, keeping the same horror and insanity driven tone, even if the mechanics may be at ends with it at times. In the end there's always room for expansion and in the same way that Lovecraft took influence from Poe and Chambers others can take influence from Lovecraft's work and create new horrors that put a unique spin on our interpretations of indescribable entities. A modern interpretation of the insanity could be that human brains have a biological hardcap of processing power and trying to comprehend something that exists in multiple spacial dimensions overwhelms the senses on a cognitive level, further explaining how futile we are in the grand scheme of the cosmos. Also, there's a strangely large overlap with Lovecraft fans and /pol/. Probably the work of (((Eldritch Horrors))).
All good point. No disagreement from me. And if you consider that Lovecraftian horror is all about finding out horrific truths... isn't that a type of red pill? Haha.
Very nice video! (but gotta admit, I kinda live for "fidget spinner" and "shitting designated streets" moments!!! You are so funny while being able to elaborate well on the topic. Absolutely loving it!)
8:45 I agree overall with your theories, but as a gunnut I’d be remiss if I failed to mention Inspector LeGrasse’s raid in the bayou of Louisiana. A small group of cops with heavy firepower took out or captured a much larger group of cultists. Guns may not do anything to the big bad guys like Cthulhu or Hastur, but for every big baddie there are a thousand human cultists with flesh and blood who can be felled by a tommy gun with a 50 round drum of big .45acp balls, a browning automatic rifle with a 20 round mag of .30 high power ammo, an 1898 12g trench gun with a half dozen shells of buckshot, and even a stick of tnt which was already decades old technology in the 1920’s. Townspeople with the innsmouth look are mortal to firearms. An army of migo are held at by in the whisperer in darkness. A mob of federal hill boys use sheer numbers to completely eradicate the sect of starry wisdom in the haunter of the dark. In the lurking fear the protagonists uses an automatic pistol to actually slay a ghoul with a single shot. Even reading excerpts about elder things perishing from being ripped apart by shoggoth, or evil egyptian tour guides being vulnerable to fist fights, and of course a big enough dog can destroy a spawn of yog sothoth like in the dunwich horror, all these things mean that guns are useless half of the time , but against the flesh and bone cultists, servants, and lesser monsters of the mythos there is a great deal of comfort to be found in 1920’s era weaponry.
As I stated there I listed the "big guys" as the ones where guns are useless. There is no doubt of their use against the lesser types: Migo, deep ones, elder things too with a strong enough calibre, and so on. Guns are popping up enough times in his tales too. Off the top of my head is the Innsmouth tale, Thing on the Doorstep, Cthulhu, and so on. In the Dunwich Horror Wilbur Whateley is mauled to death by a dog so surely a gun is sufficient. In short yeah they do work but only on lesser entities. Against the big ones, forget it. So perhaps I should have said guns, and by that implication violence that humans could feasibly manifest, are inefficient in dealing with the existential threat we face in the Mythos tales. Good comment.
This was another great video from you, man. I agree with what you are saying completely. Lovecraftian horror can work well in any time period, but I really think it depends on what context its presented in (like Alien or The Thing). I also prefer it in the "Lovecraft era" though for the exact reasons you pointed out. The strongest one for me being that while things were definitely more modern, they still had a quaintness to them that really makes his kind of horror shine through.
Chaosium Inc. came up with a response to the “What Happens When We Nuc’ Cthulhu?” question. It was in a modern rules book for “Call Of Cthulhu.” They said simply, “He reforms in 15 minutes, but now he’s radioactive.”
The nature of the weapon means that it could continuously burn a target. Once the gun stops attacking, He reforms in 15 minutes. The only way to "Destroy" Cthulhu is to remove him from the surface of the world. Even this won't last for long.
Rodney Kelly well the sun gun that the Nazis proposed was theorized to be able to BOIL the ocean and reduce an entire city that's bigger then Manhattan to ash, so even if this weapon doesn't kill Cthulhu it'll definitely hold him back long enough for us to either create something that will kill him or just plain leave the earth and find a new home for us to live on (preferably one that doesn't have entities that look like they came out of a hentai on it)
I have a little lovecraftian story in my mind. Set in medieval Prussia, more specifically during the christianization by the teutonic knights, about a group of inquisitors, knights and local monks investigating mysterious murders in the surroundings of a recently conquered pagan village. Just concepts for now, but I have plans to put everything down on paper.
I feel like a Stone Age setting would compliment Lovecraftian themes really well, considering that it's one of the few periods in history were humans truly had no control and almost everything in the world could kill them easily.
Red pills aren't just about politics. I've made some realizations in life. And it's nice to see you commenting again. I'm starting to remember some of the regular viewers. Hope you're well.
Agreed red pills are about a way of life. My motto (or one of them anyways) is that everything comes with a price. Again, love your channel and hope you continue it.
In the social realm, your comment about Innsmouth reminded me how "complaints from many liberal organizations" were raised after the Innsmouth raids, but they became "surprisingly passive and reticent" after some visits to prisons and camps. That might make a good Lovecraftian story: a dedicated social crusader feels his or her ideals crashing against cold, uncaring cosmicism reality upon seeing Innsmouth hybrids and maybe a Deep One specimen. And I do agree that Lovecraft's brand of horror does seem to work best in the early 20th Century or even earlier. Just feels right.
Just feels right, yes exactly. Like how Spider-Man belongs in NYC. I think though that the leftists of today could be faced with any horror and they would still stick with their narrative.
I like to think that, because of their origins and their age, that the Lovecraftian entities encountered and survived the many of the vast cosmic phenomena that permeate through the universe. Not to mention, they seem to have survived global extinctions as well, of which a couple made nuclear weapons look like firecrackers. I agree that I would feel better fighting them now, rather than back in those days, but in the end I feel that it would be useless. Either way, I love toying with the idea.
11:14 - This was a damn good video. Not only do I get to see someone's vision of metal as both WW2 soldiers and samurai are fighting against a Shoggoth like a boss in Metal Slug, but I have to agree, that German Shepard is an absolute unit. As for the subject of the video itself, I'd applaud any writer that COULD give us Lovecraftian horror in a modern or even futuristic setting, but as far as themes, atmosphere, geopolitical climate, tone, and overall aesthetic go, I think you've basically cracked the code, good sir. I mean an Eldritch apocalypse would be good fun in basically any era, but it should be noted that humanity has actually been around a LONG while. For like, hundreds of thousands of years, pretty much. And we've only JUST made all these revolutionary jumps in technology and science in the last like hundred years and some change. Which is basically the starting line of where Lovecraftian horror began. With all that said though, I think there is hope for some actual futuristic Lovecraftian horror that would be genuinely good. After all, for anyone that's heard of the Fermi Paradox, any author with a working imagination could come up with any number of explanations to work around that concept. But moreover, space in itself is basically just another sea. And it's quite a bit more dangerous to navigate than earth's own oceans. In a sense, we're basically undergoing a 1920s reset of all the themes that made Lovecraftian horror feel so organic, except now it's on a much grander scale. On that note, have you ever played Prey, Arkham Reporter?
In The T.V. Show "NIGHT GALLERY", They Made A Production Of "PICKMAN"S MODEL," Setting It In The Victorian Era Instead Of The Early 1920's (As Was In The Original Story.) A Book About The History Of Rod Serling's Work ("TWILIGHT ZONE," "NIGHT GALLERY," And All His T.V. Plays Before Them, ) It Says That The T.V. Producers Decided To Save Money By Using An Already-Available Supply Of Victorian Costumes Than Make New Items Of The1920's-Era!
It's funny you mention nuking Cthulhu, a lot of people must've had that exact thought. Personally I've had a story rattling around in my brain for awhile now where it turns out that Lovecraft himself had his mind touched by the great one but instead of turning into a cultist he resisted the call and mistakenly interpreted the visions like a muse for his writing. Set in a present day where 'thulu cults and worshipers start to spring up investigators begin to examine the books and his private correspondences for clues, original Arabic copies of Al Azif are uncovered in a Syria. The world is united in a brutal effort to stomp out the terrorists/cultists with everything culminating in a suicide commando raid on R'lyeh where the place is rigged to explode with nukes. It would be a dumb almost Independence Day-like story where humans can make the supposedly eldritch horrors bleed.
Well, nukes are our most powerful weapons so surely that is our go-to option. I have read a couple stories that use your premise, sorry to tell you. Not in such detail but the general idea that HPL was actually trying to get the truth out there because he knew about them for X reasons. I loved Independence Day so it sounds enjoyable even though it contravenes basic Mythos logic.
I have no doubt I'm late to the party in that regard. If I ever actually wrote a story I bet the response would be similar to "Simpsons already did it" in that South Park episode.Also, "The humans actually kill 'thulu-kun?! Get out REEEEEEE!" ;)
Just because "the Simpsons already did it" doesn't mean you shouldn't make the effort of the story. How many awesome songs are just based on the typical 4 chord pattern? How many fun films are just copy/pasting the gist from other films? Sometimes style over substance is valid.
In the mouth of madness takes perfect advantage of being set in a modern age. Lovecraftian tales work best for me when set in the modern era where it seems science has demystified the world . But couldn't be more wrong. I think that is exactly why Lovecraft set his stories in the present tense. God and science won't help you. You are stripped of hope for yourself and then humanity being left broken or pushed to a last act of defiance. Truly the scariest of scary stuff.
Hey, AR, thanks for your content. :) While agree with you that the Mythos works at any point in history, there was a post-war existential crisis that happened throughout western culture. I studied it with regards to literature--a loss of faith in country and righteousness--but I'm sure evidence could be found in other aspects of culture. This interbellum nihilism runs parallel to much of the Mythos' tropes. It's not necessary, but perhaps helps explain many people's choice to focus in the 20s and 30s. :)
True. Obviously HPL wrote in his time, so it was present day for him. Also including the "breaking news" of his day like the discovery of Pluto influencing "Whisperer in Darkness". Nonetheless there is a definite cozy aesthetic about this time he was from. I still maintain the spirit of man then... exploration, discoveries, new inventions, etc. works well with the formula of man stepping outside into realms better left untouched. Still, technically, cosmic horror can be set in the stone age or on a space ship.
On the subject though of: "We now know how the Universe works" I respectfully disagree. Really people have a general idea of what goes on but that doesn't mean that they know how it works or will ever 100% understand it. Science isn't trying to uncover the truth, it's translating the Universe into something that could be understood to us. Part of what made Lovecraft's writing perfect is that no matter how far we get, we will never truly understand what the Grand Scale of the Universe is, and that's still apt today in modern society. No matter how fast our internet is or how explosive our bombs are, we're still no match to an Ancient and Timeless Monstrosity that could destroy star systems just by sneezing. Great video though!
On LibriVox you can find a free recording of a short story called yog-sothoth's box. It's set in our era. While it starts out as your typical lovecraftian tale, it ends by using technology in an innovative way to further yog's goals in a way his original creation never could. It's a very interesting read. That said, I am a traditionalist in that I like my Lovecraft stories set in the twentieth century, preferably the first half of it.
The game Sundered has the narrator (Trapezehedron - I'm not sure about the spelling) combine his eldritch powers with human technology to be used as tools for the protagonist - the narrator's vessel - to achieve his goal.
Excellent points. Before the video even began, I was already thinking of all the points you made in this video. But, I do agree that it can be set in any time period. I mean, Bloodborne was set in a Victorian gothic styled horror era and the game gradually evolved from Bram Stoker type of horror to full blown Lovecraftian horror. Also, manga like Berserk, which contains some Lovecraftian elements, is set in a fantasy version of medieval Europe. And it still works great! Just wish there was a good cyberpunk Lovecraftian horror. Set in a cyberpunk world like that of Ghost In The Shell or something like that.
I quite like cyberpunk stuff. I think there is potential there, just like how there's potential in the 1920s. If I know my cyberpunk it's often about pushing the boundaries of humanity and making technological breakthroughs, something that revolutionizes the society (for example, cybernetic enhancements in Ghost in the Shell). The only thing is that for me cyberpunk is very visual so I would prefer this hypothetical story to not just be a text.
Very true. If it also wanted to set a great atmosphere it could be done in a similar manner to Ergo Proxy. That series gave a somewhat supernatural kind of vibe to it's depiction of a cyberpunk dystopia and literally was one mind fuck after another. Especially with most of the characters going mad towards the end in a sense. Obviously Ergo Proxy isn't Lovecraftian, but, if done in a similar way to it, the atmospheric elements of Lovecraft's work can be done right both visually and musically.
Space is still unknown place since we don't know where it begins or ends or is there life beside ours. We also don't know our own brains and how they exactly work. I would LOVE a Lovecraftian horror story about brains.
Martin Ellis How about the earthquake in the stroy wasn't the result R'lyeh rising, but some massive earthquake that caused R'lyeh or part of it to rise prematurely? What if Cthulhu was bested by a steamboat because the stars simply _weren't right yet_ ?! If it was time, can we say that a modern nuke wouldn't be more than an after dinner mint? I can easily see ways to make modern settings work.
scaper8 scaper8 scaper8 think of Cthulhu as an antenna of sorts, that doesn't only receive information but also broadcasts it. His purpose being to stoke the flames of madness within the likes of man every once and a while. Why would he do this? Well that's because he's not in control, he's dead but not dead. A mere instrument of greater beings. Who feeds on madness? Not Cthulhu, but Nyarlathotep. Why does Nyarlathotep need to feed of the madness of men? Idk, but it probably has something to do with keeping a certain blind idiot in a state of constant slumber. After all, we all exist in a dream of Azathoth and when the dreamer wakes everything comes to an end. I feel the man himself said it best, right? "That is not dead which can eternal lie. And with strange aeons even death may die." Notice: "That is NOT dead which can ETERNAL lie" Cthulhu is dead, and least partially, and he's very much confined to his corpse city. So perhaps this famous quote from "Call" isn't truly about Cthulhu, but rather a hint at some larger. "And with STRANGE AEONS even DEATH may DIE." Cthulhu is old, but strange aeons suggests and time-based concepts that would be completely incomprehensible to us, a concept of time in which death, a concept/reality of our universe, may die. Think about that. Death may die. That's bigger than Cthulhu, it's bigger than all existence.
Martin Ellis That's not a bad idea. Sort of Cthulhu awoke just to fuck with our heads for a few days. If he stayed wake, great! If not, it will come. I can see that working.
I think "the three body problem" it's a good example of a modern story with lovecraftian elements on it. But personally my all time favourite era for setting a lovecraftian story would be the late 1800s to the early 1900s.
I'm using New World of Darkness rulebook for a contemporary setting with some lovecraftian horror, set in 2002. It's really hard to manage atmospheres, it's hard to find "dark corners of the earth", so i settled for using some "strange angled" reality pokets in wich dark entities still survive with whole landscapes and buildings wich are echoes of memories and dreams. The mind of the characters themselves are not safe this way and entering phisically into a "mental" space exposes them to loss of control of reasoning, bodies etc.
In regards to weapon technology: "Pistols put holes in things. Rifles put holes through things. Shotguns, at the right range with the right load, will physically remove a chunk of shit off your opponent and throw that shit on the floor."
I agree with you on the time period, basically second half of 19th century up to 1930s and then far future deep in space like "voices of the void" by David V. Stewart
Lovecraftian stories seem so much more quaint set in the early 20th century, I feel so much more insane pondering the cults of Yog Sothoth and Cthulhu while looking past my drywall only to be brought back to the mundane by my phone buzzing.
For me the main reasons are that both travel and communication are getting faster but are still relatively slow. Making more of the world accessible and yet keeping a feeling of isolation.
I would agree that the early 20th century is one of the better settings (mostly do to the idea f the world being more unknown) I also like Lovecraftian horror in far future settings as seeing humans venture out into the unforgiving universe and finding the horrors out there to be just as good, also because alien is one of my favorite movies
I think you make some interesting points. I do think stories/films like ALIEN or for that matter Brian Lumleys NECROSCOPE novels make Lovecraftian horror work in other periods by re-invoking the elements of which you speak. Look at ALIEN for example--hard to get more "into the unknown" than deep space, all alone, a bunch of space age blue collar workers trying to fend of this kind of horror which touches all kinds of bases (such as male rape) Lovecraft never went near. That film did an excellent job of echoing the uselessness of technology, no matter how advanced, and the sense of an orderly world interrupted by something totally unknown and chaotic. Seems to me that one can bring some more contemporary elements into the "classic" Lovecraftian era or re-imagine those "classic" elements into the present, but it would be nigh impossible to do both. Of course an obvious place for such a modern story might well be a deep sea submersible. Likewise telling a 1920s Lovecraftian tale from the POV of the minorities that so terrified him can add an extra layer of nuance to the whole tale.
Ah, yeah, ALIEN. I'm not the Lovecraft authority or anything but I just don't equate it with Lovecraft. I know on paper it checks all the boxes. I just think films like The Thing do it better. Not saying anything you said is wrong because I'm in the minority of Lovecraftians regarding ALIEN. >"Likewise telling a 1920s Lovecraftian tale from the POV of the minorities that so terrified him can add an extra layer of nuance to the whole tale." Care to elaborate? Why would their position in 1920s society matter considering that humanity as a whole was the focus of Lovecraft's tales?
A theme/element in Lovecraft is the limitations of human experience and ability to deal with parts of the world so many of us simply do not wish to think upon. Consider, though, how much more isolated a hero in a Lovecraftian tale if they literally have nowhere to turn? A mulatto or Asian American might seek to alert authorities or institutions of a danger, but unlike (for example) Prof. Armitage of Miskatonic U. who would at least be treated politely, a non-white witness seeking to help others find themselves treated as less-than-human -- as if THEY were the threat to society or human sanity. You may well refer to threats to all of humanity in SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH but it is the narrator who engages our interest. Ditto AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS and CALL OF CTHULHU. A description of something which threatens us all in the abstract simply does not have th storytelling power of feeling/seeing this threat aimed at a single individual with whom we sympathize.
You changed my mind a bit I must be honest. I agree with those points. It would add an added sense of alienage. But what if it was not set in the USA? An Asian version of Prof. Armitage, would he not be treated the same in Shanghai University? Or the same for a black professor in an African university?
Valid area of digression and study, IMHO. It would be very much like translating a classic into a new culture, much as THRONE OF BLOOD is a Japanese MACBETH, while THE HANDMAIDEN is basically a Korean retelling of FINGERSMITH and for that matter what is Perrault's BELLE ET LE BETE but a French version of the Hellenistic myth of Eros and Psyche? Depends on finding in context the same buttons, the same themes, etc.
I think that it's because man knowledge was more limited. Like news weren't at your finger tip like it is now if that make sense. If someone took a picture of Cthulhu with their phone then it would be worldwide news though that would be an interesting story
I think it's also a lot harder to write about Old Gods existing alongside humans and able to be kept secret but it's not impossible. There's a reason why so many people believe in Conspiracy Theories after all.
Couple of months ago, something fell through our solar system dubbed Moumaumau which is utterly bizarre. It is certain the first known interstellar object to enter our solar system. Given its trajectory, it must have been at rest to the rest of the galaxy. How did THAT happen? It was thin and tumbling. It changed direction and speed for no known reason. Best guess is that this object might well have been intergalactic in origin, and be older than the sun.
Id argue aearly 2000s and the early internet could make for a fascinating lovecraftian setting. There was quite a bit of mysterious and creepy pictures and stories posted on the internet, and people were given freedom to find any and all info they wanted to that way.
For me the era between the 1880s-the start of world war 1 is just pure magical. At this time period people can simultaneously believe in Science and technology but there was still enough mystery left in the world that people could also believe in Magic, demons, monsters witchcraft
In a reddit post, I wrote that that one pet peeves is that too much of the Cosmic Horror stories take place in the 1920s-1930s because it's convenient. But I thing it makes much of the work seem limited and I feel like one could expand on the stories by setting them at any time from a few decades after the 30s, to now, to even the future. There's no way any of else will know the whole truth of the Universe, so superb fiction like this is limitless for us to tell stories about.
I think there are some really interesting subtleties between relatively short distances in dark fiction settings. The intervals between the mid 19th century of Poe to the late 19th of M.R. James to the early 20th of Lovecraft are similar but each unique in their own right.
I remember read somewhere a Lovecraftian history set in the future, where the monster was the size of the Galaxy, there are algo Amazing Lovecraftian set in the future like the one the in the movie where they opened a portal to hell
Discovery of gravitational waves and the Higgs-Boson particle and Dark Matter, not to mention all those exoplanets have been quite monumental even if we don't know the full import of their discovery.
WarlockofWords Channel Indeed. If something like Pluto can be connected with Yuggoth, imagine what whole solar systems of new exoplanets could be used for?!
I agree that the early 20th century is the best overall setting for Lovecraftian stories, and for many of the same reasons you stated. Several of Lovecraft's stories revolve around his revulsion of mixing races, which many would not see as an issue today. Because of this, I believe Lovecraft would have many issues with a character like Mr Spock of Star Trek, because of his mixed Vulcan-Human ancestry or the fact that the communications officer (and head of her department) was not only a woman, but black. The very idea of having crews from different alien species would be appalling to a man like Lovecraft. The themes in Lovecraft's stories centered around the fear of the unknown, the alien and the foreign. All the bad things that came into the world was because of alien eldritch monstrosities or from non-White Anglo-Saxon Protestant people groups or individuals. Because of the ease of finding information is so easy today, and the fact the world is more global in its culture, setting a Lovecraft story in the 21st century would seem out of place or not even horrifying let alone appropriate.
I think the time period, unknown environment, technology of early 20th century is so popular, because most people is used to imagine this picture. H.P. Lovecraft had learnt us to see this picture of now half forgotten and exotic time period. We have no H.P. Lovecraft's guidelines for how should by narrated cosmic horror in our time period. It needs only few good autors to set the cosmic horror in to the new modern enviroment. There are still mysterious things and places, but we are not so used to see them or think about them. It's a matter of habit.
While I agree Lovecraftian Horror seems to work best when set in HPL's era. I also believe it still work well when set in other time periods (when done correctly.) Some examples in film are "The Evil Dead' trilogy by Sam Raimi, some John Carpenter films like 1982"s "The Thing" & 193"s 'in the Mouth of Madness. Or in Cthullu or Dagon's case if done sorta like a well made 1950s giant monster movie style: Gojira (1954). Legedary/WB"s Monsterverse movies play off this idea well.
Mass Effect (not the sequels) is a Lovecraftian horror. My dream movie, would be Horror at Red Hook shot as a dystopian cyber noir. It would be almost too easy.
there was a really good Lovecraftian story I read once that I can't recall the name of it had a post-apocalyptic setting and it had some really weird warping of time.
That's the thing about the old ones and all the Lovecraftian creatures. Are they physical beings or an embodiment of psychology? If they're embodiments of psychology, they're apparitions then basically - so it makes sense that weapons do not work on them. On the other hand, if they are physical, I can't see why weapons don't work on them (forgoing the obvious idea that it defeats the story). Is there any canon/in story explanation behind this?
All are physical but don't think this makes them all like the physical matter we see on Earth. You have your Mi-Go, Elder Things and the Deep Ones. All are as physical as any human or animal and can be killed. In the stories this is stated as fact in one way or another. Deep Ones can be killed by any sort of violence. Mi-Go bodies were found washed up in Vermont rivers. Elder Things were dissected in an autopsy. In the story From Beyond the two human protagonists use a device which allows them to see and interact with beings which are otherwise invisible and intangible normally (meaning they might as well not even exist). But they physically harm and kill one of the characters. Now, you do have other entities, the more difficult ones. Cthulhu was rammed with a ship and his head exploded. But he reformed moments later as if nothing happened. Therefore he is physical but his composition and the material that makes up his body is unearthly. Beings like Azathoth, Yog-Sothoth, et al are, in my opinion, literal physical beings BUT the stuff that makes up their bodies is from a different dimension and vastly superior than an Earth animals body of bone, flesh, blood, etc. In The Dunwich Horror, Lavenia Whateley gets impregnated by Yog-Sothoth. To be crude Yog-Sothoth had to get her pregnant and so obviously has some sort of an appendage acting as a dick. I seriously doubt Lovecraft would have chosen the old biblical immaculate conception as a plot device. So you can decide. But I wholeheartedly believe with everything I know of the Mythos that these entities are real and not just in the head.
Arkham Reporter Great explanation, and I agree they are real in the stories. What I meant by a psychological entity is something akin to the concept of force ghosts in Star Wars, they're there, but if you throw a rock at one it will go right through them.
Ahaaa. I know a bit about Star Wars lore. Off the top of my head everything Lovecraft created would see the rock bouncing. Except maybe the things in the dreamlands because they're dreams, right? Never thought of this much to be honest.
Thanks. Weapons. Will Azathoth survive an attack of the Death Star in "Star Wars"... Hehe, I read a Russian story in a book that consisted of contemporary Russian writers trying to continue HPL traditions (published in about 2005-2010). Some I liked, some not. But in that story a Soviet Navy nuclear submarine armed with nuclear missiles and torpedoes in late 1989 picked up an American sailor from a recently perished US Navy ship in the very cold Barents Sea. The guy was like mad and kept repeating "Ya, ya... ftagn...Cthulhu". The Soviet Commander was at a total loss, but a young lieutenant-interpreter admitted he secretly had read some "decadent" stories by "a mad American writer Lovecraft". And then some bad things started happening. The sub's radars found some huge mass underwater that had not been there before. And it moved. Something weird was happening with equipment... The last line in the story - the Soviet sub's Commander commanded to the mike: "Torpedoes ready!" and added with a smirk "Well, let's see how this capitalist Cthulhu will be able to resist our Soviet weapons".
I'd like to see lovecraft fiction set in prehistory like millions or billions of years ago and the very far future millions and billions of years ahead because of the whole deep time aspect of cosmic horror.
If a modern author is writing Lovecraftian fiction and setting it in the 1920s-30s then they're basically 'playing to the audience' - deliberately doing so in order to appeal to readers who want the comfort of nostalgia, to be taken back to the time when they first read Lovecraft. I'd say once you've read Lovecraft, then sure, read stories from his collaborators to stretch out from the centre, but keep trying to find fiction that replicates his themes and ideas, not his writing style and settings. If anything our reliance on technology can make Lovecraftian horror even more intense. We've got this crutch that we lean on now, and when it's kicked away we fall down harder than ever before - when the mobile has no signal, when the computer virus is used to show people images that drive them insane... Or even the technology is what finally lets the outside in: the Event Horizon, in travelling through wormholes, goes straight through Azathoth's dimension, or a quantum computer works out the angles which unlock the door through which Yog-Sothoth may pass. If Lovecraft's work is hinged on the emerging knowledge of other dimensions and of outer space, then as time passes the opportunities for putting ourselves in great danger only increases. So if authors believe that the 1920s-30s are best for Lovecraft because its themes rely on the zeitgeist of that era, they are mistaken. I've often enjoyed stories based in a far future, after an apocalypse brought about by Lovecraft's gods. Seek out Basil Copper's Shaft no. 247, or more recently TE Grau's Free Fireworks. Being shown the awful consequences of all that this pantheon threatens is a chilling thrill indeed. But there's nothing, nothing worse, more hateful, than authors who attempt to humanise monsters. The point of horror is to feel horrified, not to find solace in identifying with monsters. Anne Rice and her contemporaries ruined vampires for a generation which culminated in shit like True Blood, Vampire Diaries, and the Twilight series. Before they were like a crossbreed of ghost and shark; afterwards they were emos with superpowers. It's idiotic to try doing the same with the minions of Cthulhu; slime and fishstink can't ever be sexy.
Wow, this essay, and after I've enjoyed so much vodka?! I will try answer... well HPL is guilty of playing the audience then too because he intentionally used anachronistic terminology even in the 1920s. He had a serious love of the previous centuries and even admitted in a letter his mannerisms of speaking in outdated terms. It seems that if we in the 21st century set our stories back in the 1920s it could be comparable. But yes, it would be a shameful thing to feed into a trope that we would only do because that is what the cliche is. I love your description of the crutch. That is exactly what makes the fall of humanity so much better. Our smugness gets rubbed in our faces. I think I pointed out the pride of the human race back then. Somehow though it feels like western society is going through a nihilistic phase though. Thank you for mentioning these works. I will add them to the ever-growing list of literature I need to look at. And I cannot appreciate your comment enough when you talk of humanizing monsters. It is something that constantly irks me whenever I see the latest productions from Hollywood or the latest literature. When it comes to vampires (since you made that reference) I must admit that the horror really does disappear when you could actually accept becoming one. I must also admit that vampire fiction of this kind is a guilty pleasure. I pointed that out in one of my previous videos. Vampires ceased being horror years ago. HOWEVER... Guillermo del Toro (a big fan of HPL) wrote a series of books and produced a TV series where the vampires are nothing you would want to touch. They are the monsters we should rightly fear. Check this series out. After all Del Toro is one of us: a Lovecraftian.
Best Lovecraftian work of last decade, From software's Bloodborne was set in early Victorian era. I'm more into 1930 or before than 1930+. Modernity make horror less scary.
It doesn't matter to me when or where a lovecraftian story takes place, you just have to move the horrors into places of the unknown, or have unknown things from those places come to the human characters etc.... Also make sure that characters in the tale can't do anything at all to effect those horrors, ensuring that it's all hopeless for them.
"Alcohol and insomnia"... I laughed out loud given that I am partaking of a bottle of Patron Reposado as I watch this video. I think if the story is well written, any period in time can work, but I do like the 1920's and 30's for those very reasons you listed.
Well since I am writing lovecraftian horror in the modern world I would say you can set it anywhere and at anytime. I think it just depends on your preference for when you want your cosmic horror set. For me I have to find a real desolate location nearby to set my stories and then come up with hideous monstrosity’s to fill in the voids.
Actually, the one thing I differ with is that stories that deal not so much with the big cosmic gods, like SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH could provide for some interesting stories about racism, or discussions about the very nature of evolution, genetic engineering and, yes, rights, that the Lovecraft era would havv been ignorant of, or couldn't imagine. That sort of thing could be very enriching from a realism standpoint, and not just a form of fantasy escapism. Or simply ignored and told in the old-fashioned original Lovecraft way.. But, at least with a few of his stories you'd have a wider range of choices. (I'm more a fan of his "bigger" stories tho, like DUNWICH, COLOUR and CALL OF.... His stories like SHADOW, RE-ANIMATOR, or even HORROR AT RED HOOK are a bit too ordinary for me, so what is done with those kinds of stories is neither here nor there as far as I'm concerned (as if anyone cares!!! ha ;-7
I really laughed at the choice of name for the Polish-Hungarian knight in The Black Stone by Howard. Boris? Really? For Howard every Slav was a Boris, apparently
I agree about #4. If the Old Ones came, much of mankind would bow down. Just look at how Europe is celebrating its own extinction. I know Google, twitter & Facebook would back it.
@@ArkhamReporter It reminds me of the movie "The Bridge Over The River Kwai" Alec Guinness's character and his help building the bridge. I used to think it was a dumb movie because I didn't think anyone could be that stupid but I look at Europe and even how here in the US we are thoughtlessly giving everything away, I realize now I was the foolish one.
@@ArkhamReporter does "own erasure" mean immigrants and foreigners? verily, i think not that cultural diversity is always an evil, nor the abandoning of certain traditions(did cultures not always intermingle and evolve in to something new, better?. on the other hand, i miss some aspects of from the time, when lovecraft lived, whereas some ideas of that time i despise, such as: the racism, the antisemitism and the snobism of the new england gentry, who thought, only because of there "pure" anglo-saxon heritage, that they where eliviated above the "common dregs, the barbarous hordes" of immigrants and foreigners. lovecraft was raised in such a milleu, which shows in some of his works (in some more, and in some less) especially in some of his earlier poems. that said, i am against a revising of his work, to suit the modern tastes;
A skilled writer can create a Lovecraftian story in any time period, if that person understands what makes story Lovecraftian. usually a person slowly unraveling a series of events to have man's utter meaningless exposed by the existence of the Old Ones. oh so existential !!!
It can be equally at home anywhere - Mass Effect 1-3 are, obviously, the future, but just look at those large, squid/etc-like monsters from the darker space outside the rim of the galaxy that drive any mortal close to them "insane" or whatever. Anyway - you can take "wonder of the world and new exploration and globalization and blah-blah-blah" and map it very nicely to space and space travel. BTW - one correction to the video, we have NOT really mapped out our own solar system, there are still many planets out in and past the Kuiper Belt that he still do not know about, and there is still MUCH wrt to planets and moons we do know about that we still need to learn much, MUCH more about. The Ort Cloud science is also based more on assumption than direct data (well, that is selling it short to some degree, but you get the idea). I can see a fictional explorer in the future finding much somewhere in your own solar system that is believable enough for that fiction (suspension of disbelief). Anyway, you jumped off the edge went into that "the es-jay-dubbya's are coming" thought process - so I am glad to give you one less sub to whine to.
Mass Effect I tried playing but I didn't find it very captivating. It had a generic feeling sci-fi shooter feel. I prefer fantasy. Dead Space was quite fun though. Obviously the future setting can work very well with Lovecraft horror. Alien and Europa Report are two good example even if they're films and not literature. While I do realize that we have not mapped out our immediate solar system perfectly it still seems to me, perhaps do to cynicism, that everything between the Sun and Pluto holds no amazing alien life forms or eons dead civilizations like in a HPL story. A pity that you feel the need to leave because one thing in a 14 minute irked you. Your comment was decent and thought out enough, something I like to see on my channel. Given that politics are so divisive in todays world, especially with the "us vs them" mentality becoming more prominent as we become more globalized, I am disappointed that you categorize my hypothesis as whining. But since I'm gaining more subs than losing, your leaving is irrelevant and maybe a plus to this channel.
Arkham is made out to be a very backwards, old fashioned area in the stories, so even though they are set in the 1920s, the intended effect is to think of a remote, isolated, timeless place. The most modern technology in most of the stories is a typewriter or automobile.
Great video. Btw, you want a great Lovecraft modern day game? Try, Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem for Nintendo GameCube. Not completely in the present, but still awesome. I'd love Lovecraft to branch out into other time periods too. World War 2, Vietnam War, the Cold War, and in the Far future ala Blade Runner or Deus Ex would be cool. Oats Studios has a short film called, Firebase, on TH-cam you might wanna check out. Dredd 2012 is awesome. As for the SJWs, if something like the Deep Ones show up? President Trump m8, this is not President Obama. It'd be like Team America lol. I think there is a new 1st person Lovecraft game coming, but I dont know if it will have combat. Walking horror games are not my cup of tea. Resident Evil 7 has a better mix.
Oh wow I didn't know he's on youtube. I googled it now and found it. I'm watching it now, will get back to you. So, yes, I check out his channel and that video. It's fun speculation. As he said, Cthulhu apparently was affected by gravity. If that's an exploit... some sort of "gravity cannon"? I love that sort of "what if" stuff. About him as a person. I don't know a ton about him. I know he is a game designer and is responsible for some work on games I absolutely love... Pirates, Doom, Quake, Hexen. He pioneered the Call of Cthulhu RPG and I did review one book of his which was very good. I think of him as a valuable asset and contributor to the mythos. Thanks for bringing this video to my attention.
I got into writing again and it is rather Lovecraftian, and I have two characters meeting each other and one starts out in 1945 and the other in 2019. To each of them it is that year but they meet each other at the same time. So time does not really going in a line when their world's collide. They meet outside of each of their starting realities so what time it is is not very clear.
@@ArkhamReporter at first did not have a year and kept it vague. But wanted it shortly after Tesla died and using him as a Avatar of Nyarlathotep. So far only known by the name Shugoran.
Arkham Reporter Personally I think right now is the best time to set Lovecraftian horror. Science if anything has shown that we are way more insignificant then even Lovecraft could have imagined. Our very universe may be only one of multiple infinities of multiuniverses. I also think that evil cults trying to replace people with deep one, shuggoth, yig and ghoul hybrids would be very popular at our modern universities. It is all too easy to imagine a greenish stinky fish eyed professor yelling at a student, you are literally a white male HUMAN, check your privilege! We would have a Buzzfeed video on how the world would be so much better once we got rid of humanness. I can't even imagine how we would retrofit a bathroom to accommodate something like Wilbur Whateley. Of course we would have transhumans, otherwise normal people who would claim to be a hybrid because they feel like they should be one. We would also give tax free status to any evil cult. On CNN Don lemon would host a special called, human sacrifice, is it really a big deal? Finally evil non human cults would be accusing human terrorists of cultural appropriation.
HPL stuff works best in its original time period because of technological/scientific limitations adds to the mystery and wonderment of the horrific goings-on. Also, wasn't mysticism a bit of a fad back then? Seances, psychics and such?
![[Article Discussion] Social justice for the deep ones!](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/qMh4KZTSJJQ/mqdefault.jpg)
![[Article Discussion] Social justice for the deep ones!](/img/tr.png)
"What if we put something like the Tzar Bomb up Cthulhu's ass?" -Arkham Reporter 2017
I'm a deep thinker, my man.
"Deep"
We will call it Operation Preparation-H.
@@logancaine9616 h for cthulhu hnetai
Well, I mean he IS usually sleeping. If it worked for The Boys, then.....
"If you don't (at least try) to defeat the deep ones, you will die or be subjugated to their will. Even if it's hopeless... you have to try." That perfectly describes my mindset
There's a reason why deserters or doubters are shot in wars.
"..decided to get drunk and play Skyrim instead.." God tier comment.
NOTE: Something maybe I didn't make clear in my video. One of the reasons I prefer the 20s and 30s, in my very subjective opinion, is the general aesthetics of the era. The clothes, the music, the look of the cities, the traditionalism. It feels to me like nostalgia for an era I am 70 years away from.
Some people like cyberpunk and transhumanism and the sci-fi world. For me, I look to the past.
Arkham Reporter I have the same feeling bro.👍
My thoughts - The settings kind of default to the early part of the twentieth century, purely because that was the era in which Lovecraft was writing. However, I would argue there is no time period best suited, or least well suited, to Lovecraftian fiction, for the very reason that Lovecraftian fiction exemplifies the insignificance of Earth and Humanity, so time as conceived by Humanity is as much a trivial insignificance as anything else.
Since I'm writing a lovecraftian horror book set in a cyberpunk era(specifically in the year 2987), this video has given me a given ideas on how to to it properly. Thanks! love your videos
Let us know how it goes : )
Ɛxæctly 1000 years æftør our Good Яeporter шas бorn
I am curious
Hows it going?
Is your book completed? It's been 5 years
What happens if you nuke Cthulhu? He reforms in d20 rounds. And now he's radioactive...
Personally I wouldn't mind a Lovecraftian story set during the Cold War and the Space Race
Could work. The Soviets sent up landers to Venus. What if the reason they were so hush-hush about their programs is that... they found something there?
Knowing you liked Dredd too makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. 😊 Excellent video as always.
I love that film, no exaggeration. Everything is great: visuals, the music, the violence, those epic slow-mo scenes and Karl Urban as Dredd. Don't quote me as fact but I read on a facebook group about Dredd that a TV series is being planned and Karl Urban will return.
Æs fαr æs Judže Ďredd mythos concêrned Кarl Urбan dhe ЯĒAL McCoy
As an independent filmmaker, creating a period piece was out of the question for me. Though we tend to think "Lovecraftian" best fits the 20s and 30s, I feel a modern setting opens new doors, in terms of addressing contemporary issues (climate change, terrorism, etc.), all of which fit nicely into the Mythos.
Hmmm OK can you tell me how we can work climate change into the Mythos? Not saying you're wrong. I just don't see how that would be a thing.
For instance, all the melting in Antarctica. I personally worked this into my project, which sees Miskatonic's long-awaited return to the continent.
“Бehêâd dhose whō insûlt Climate Scientôlogy” - David Miskatonic
Eh. I think a setting in the Victorian era or early 20th century work the best. Everything you mentioned is why I don't believe it fits. It is very subjective.
The time period can definitely influence the tone of a story, and there's no doubting that Lovecraft's work captured the sense of wonderment and mystery of the 1930s, but the general tone of horrors beyond comprehension can be applied to just about any scenario. Eternal Darkness does a decent job of adapting the themes of Lovecraft to different points of history ranging from Roman, to Colonial, to Modern times, keeping the same horror and insanity driven tone, even if the mechanics may be at ends with it at times. In the end there's always room for expansion and in the same way that Lovecraft took influence from Poe and Chambers others can take influence from Lovecraft's work and create new horrors that put a unique spin on our interpretations of indescribable entities. A modern interpretation of the insanity could be that human brains have a biological hardcap of processing power and trying to comprehend something that exists in multiple spacial dimensions overwhelms the senses on a cognitive level, further explaining how futile we are in the grand scheme of the cosmos.
Also, there's a strangely large overlap with Lovecraft fans and /pol/. Probably the work of (((Eldritch Horrors))).
All good point. No disagreement from me. And if you consider that Lovecraftian horror is all about finding out horrific truths... isn't that a type of red pill? Haha.
*at odds
Very nice video!
(but gotta admit, I kinda live for "fidget spinner" and "shitting designated streets" moments!!! You are so funny while being able to elaborate well on the topic. Absolutely loving it!)
8:45
I agree overall with your theories, but as a gunnut I’d be remiss if I failed to mention Inspector LeGrasse’s raid in the bayou of Louisiana. A small group of cops with heavy firepower took out or captured a much larger group of cultists. Guns may not do anything to the big bad guys like Cthulhu or Hastur, but for every big baddie there are a thousand human cultists with flesh and blood who can be felled by a tommy gun with a 50 round drum of big .45acp balls, a browning automatic rifle with a 20 round mag of .30 high power ammo, an 1898 12g trench gun with a half dozen shells of buckshot, and even a stick of tnt which was already decades old technology in the 1920’s. Townspeople with the innsmouth look are mortal to firearms. An army of migo are held at by in the whisperer in darkness. A mob of federal hill boys use sheer numbers to completely eradicate the sect of starry wisdom in the haunter of the dark. In the lurking fear the protagonists uses an automatic pistol to actually slay a ghoul with a single shot. Even reading excerpts about elder things perishing from being ripped apart by shoggoth, or evil egyptian tour guides being vulnerable to fist fights, and of course a big enough dog can destroy a spawn of yog sothoth like in the dunwich horror, all these things mean that guns are useless half of the time , but against the flesh and bone cultists, servants, and lesser monsters of the mythos there is a great deal of comfort to be found in 1920’s era weaponry.
As I stated there I listed the "big guys" as the ones where guns are useless. There is no doubt of their use against the lesser types: Migo, deep ones, elder things too with a strong enough calibre, and so on.
Guns are popping up enough times in his tales too. Off the top of my head is the Innsmouth tale, Thing on the Doorstep, Cthulhu, and so on. In the Dunwich Horror Wilbur Whateley is mauled to death by a dog so surely a gun is sufficient.
In short yeah they do work but only on lesser entities. Against the big ones, forget it. So perhaps I should have said guns, and by that implication violence that humans could feasibly manifest, are inefficient in dealing with the existential threat we face in the Mythos tales. Good comment.
This was another great video from you, man. I agree with what you are saying completely. Lovecraftian horror can work well in any time period, but I really think it depends on what context its presented in (like Alien or The Thing). I also prefer it in the "Lovecraft era" though for the exact reasons you pointed out. The strongest one for me being that while things were definitely more modern, they still had a quaintness to them that really makes his kind of horror shine through.
THE THİNG
I really like this late 1800's Victorian style lovecraft, like the sorta vibe that bloodbourne has and stuff like that
Chaosium Inc. came up with a response to the “What Happens When We Nuc’ Cthulhu?” question. It was in a modern rules book for “Call Of Cthulhu.” They said simply, “He reforms in 15 minutes, but now he’s radioactive.”
lol, good answer.
The nature of the weapon means that it could continuously burn a target. Once the gun stops attacking, He reforms in 15 minutes. The only way to "Destroy" Cthulhu is to remove him from the surface of the world. Even this won't last for long.
Rodney Kelly well the sun gun that the Nazis proposed was theorized to be able to BOIL the ocean and reduce an entire city that's bigger then Manhattan to ash, so even if this weapon doesn't kill Cthulhu it'll definitely hold him back long enough for us to either create something that will kill him or just plain leave the earth and find a new home for us to live on (preferably one that doesn't have entities that look like they came out of a hentai on it)
I have a little lovecraftian story in my mind. Set in medieval Prussia, more specifically during the christianization by the teutonic knights, about a group of inquisitors, knights and local monks investigating mysterious murders in the surroundings of a recently conquered pagan village. Just concepts for now, but I have plans to put everything down on paper.
Any updates on this? Story idea sounds interesting!
Mr preference for Lovecraft type stories is 20-30s.
I Like Turtles
I feel like a Stone Age setting would compliment Lovecraftian themes really well, considering that it's one of the few periods in history were humans truly had no control and almost everything in the world could kill them easily.
I think that the Orb stories written well as Lovecraftian stories spread across the past and future
10:14 - 10:21 You know way more than you let on dude. I like your channel for what it is regardless, but it's cool to know you think like minded.
Red pills aren't just about politics. I've made some realizations in life. And it's nice to see you commenting again. I'm starting to remember some of the regular viewers. Hope you're well.
Agreed red pills are about a way of life. My motto (or one of them anyways) is that everything comes with a price. Again, love your channel and hope you continue it.
Thanks. I absolutely will be continuing it. Writing and editing videos is actually quite relaxing.
Awesome video, good script and editing but reason I am your new subscriber is this bit at the end :) time to go binge vids on your channel.
Thanks for viewing and subscribing. I'll try to keep it up.
In the social realm, your comment about Innsmouth reminded me how "complaints from many liberal organizations" were raised after the Innsmouth raids, but they became "surprisingly passive and reticent" after some visits to prisons and camps. That might make a good Lovecraftian story: a dedicated social crusader feels his or her ideals crashing against cold, uncaring cosmicism reality upon seeing Innsmouth hybrids and maybe a Deep One specimen.
And I do agree that Lovecraft's brand of horror does seem to work best in the early 20th Century or even earlier. Just feels right.
Just feels right, yes exactly. Like how Spider-Man belongs in NYC. I think though that the leftists of today could be faced with any horror and they would still stick with their narrative.
I like to think that, because of their origins and their age, that the Lovecraftian entities encountered and survived the many of the vast cosmic phenomena that permeate through the universe. Not to mention, they seem to have survived global extinctions as well, of which a couple made nuclear weapons look like firecrackers. I agree that I would feel better fighting them now, rather than back in those days, but in the end I feel that it would be useless. Either way, I love toying with the idea.
I imagine the dog doing the werewolf fight scene and wondering wtf is going on hahaha
11:14 - This was a damn good video. Not only do I get to see someone's vision of metal as both WW2 soldiers and samurai are fighting against a Shoggoth like a boss in Metal Slug, but I have to agree, that German Shepard is an absolute unit.
As for the subject of the video itself, I'd applaud any writer that COULD give us Lovecraftian horror in a modern or even futuristic setting, but as far as themes, atmosphere, geopolitical climate, tone, and overall aesthetic go, I think you've basically cracked the code, good sir. I mean an Eldritch apocalypse would be good fun in basically any era, but it should be noted that humanity has actually been around a LONG while. For like, hundreds of thousands of years, pretty much. And we've only JUST made all these revolutionary jumps in technology and science in the last like hundred years and some change. Which is basically the starting line of where Lovecraftian horror began. With all that said though, I think there is hope for some actual futuristic Lovecraftian horror that would be genuinely good. After all, for anyone that's heard of the Fermi Paradox, any author with a working imagination could come up with any number of explanations to work around that concept. But moreover, space in itself is basically just another sea. And it's quite a bit more dangerous to navigate than earth's own oceans. In a sense, we're basically undergoing a 1920s reset of all the themes that made Lovecraftian horror feel so organic, except now it's on a much grander scale.
On that note, have you ever played Prey, Arkham Reporter?
Thanks! I've no disagreement with what you've said. And Prey, no I haven't.
In The T.V. Show "NIGHT GALLERY", They Made A Production Of "PICKMAN"S MODEL," Setting It In The Victorian Era Instead Of The Early 1920's (As Was In The Original Story.) A Book About The History Of Rod Serling's Work ("TWILIGHT ZONE," "NIGHT GALLERY," And All His T.V. Plays Before Them, ) It Says That The T.V. Producers Decided To Save Money By Using An Already-Available Supply Of Victorian Costumes Than Make New Items Of The1920's-Era!
late to the party, working thru your videos. excellent as always.
It's funny you mention nuking Cthulhu, a lot of people must've had that exact thought.
Personally I've had a story rattling around in my brain for awhile now where it turns out that Lovecraft himself had his mind touched by the great one but instead of turning into a cultist he resisted the call and mistakenly interpreted the visions like a muse for his writing.
Set in a present day where 'thulu cults and worshipers start to spring up investigators begin to examine the books and his private correspondences for clues, original Arabic copies of Al Azif are uncovered in a Syria. The world is united in a brutal effort to stomp out the terrorists/cultists with everything culminating in a suicide commando raid on R'lyeh where the place is rigged to explode with nukes.
It would be a dumb almost Independence Day-like story where humans can make the supposedly eldritch horrors bleed.
Well, nukes are our most powerful weapons so surely that is our go-to option. I have read a couple stories that use your premise, sorry to tell you. Not in such detail but the general idea that HPL was actually trying to get the truth out there because he knew about them for X reasons. I loved Independence Day so it sounds enjoyable even though it contravenes basic Mythos logic.
I have no doubt I'm late to the party in that regard. If I ever actually wrote a story I bet the response would be similar to "Simpsons already did it" in that South Park episode.Also, "The humans actually kill 'thulu-kun?! Get out REEEEEEE!" ;)
Just because "the Simpsons already did it" doesn't mean you shouldn't make the effort of the story. How many awesome songs are just based on the typical 4 chord pattern? How many fun films are just copy/pasting the gist from other films? Sometimes style over substance is valid.
In the mouth of madness takes perfect advantage of being set in a modern age.
Lovecraftian tales work best for me when set in the modern era where it seems science has demystified the world .
But couldn't be more wrong.
I think that is exactly why Lovecraft set his stories in the present tense.
God and science won't help you.
You are stripped of hope for yourself and then humanity being left broken or pushed to a last act of defiance.
Truly the scariest of scary stuff.
Hey, AR, thanks for your content. :)
While agree with you that the Mythos works at any point in history, there was a post-war existential crisis that happened throughout western culture. I studied it with regards to literature--a loss of faith in country and righteousness--but I'm sure evidence could be found in other aspects of culture. This interbellum nihilism runs parallel to much of the Mythos' tropes. It's not necessary, but perhaps helps explain many people's choice to focus in the 20s and 30s. :)
Always the best time for Lovecraftian horror is the time period of the reader. That brings it home. Now is the time.
True. Obviously HPL wrote in his time, so it was present day for him. Also including the "breaking news" of his day like the discovery of Pluto influencing "Whisperer in Darkness". Nonetheless there is a definite cozy aesthetic about this time he was from. I still maintain the spirit of man then... exploration, discoveries, new inventions, etc. works well with the formula of man stepping outside into realms better left untouched. Still, technically, cosmic horror can be set in the stone age or on a space ship.
This was a great video! Im curious what you thought about the film Color out of Space (2019) and its contemporary setting.
I did a whole video review of it. Check it out on my channel 😊
On the subject though of: "We now know how the Universe works" I respectfully disagree. Really people have a general idea of what goes on but that doesn't mean that they know how it works or will ever 100% understand it. Science isn't trying to uncover the truth, it's translating the Universe into something that could be understood to us.
Part of what made Lovecraft's writing perfect is that no matter how far we get, we will never truly understand what the Grand Scale of the Universe is, and that's still apt today in modern society. No matter how fast our internet is or how explosive our bombs are, we're still no match to an Ancient and Timeless Monstrosity that could destroy star systems just by sneezing.
Great video though!
On LibriVox you can find a free recording of a short story called yog-sothoth's box. It's set in our era. While it starts out as your typical lovecraftian tale, it ends by using technology in an innovative way to further yog's goals in a way his original creation never could. It's a very interesting read. That said, I am a traditionalist in that I like my Lovecraft stories set in the twentieth century, preferably the first half of it.
The game Sundered has the narrator (Trapezehedron - I'm not sure about the spelling) combine his eldritch powers with human technology to be used as tools for the protagonist - the narrator's vessel - to achieve his goal.
Excellent points. Before the video even began, I was already thinking of all the points you made in this video. But, I do agree that it can be set in any time period. I mean, Bloodborne was set in a Victorian gothic styled horror era and the game gradually evolved from Bram Stoker type of horror to full blown Lovecraftian horror. Also, manga like Berserk, which contains some Lovecraftian elements, is set in a fantasy version of medieval Europe. And it still works great! Just wish there was a good cyberpunk Lovecraftian horror. Set in a cyberpunk world like that of Ghost In The Shell or something like that.
I quite like cyberpunk stuff. I think there is potential there, just like how there's potential in the 1920s. If I know my cyberpunk it's often about pushing the boundaries of humanity and making technological breakthroughs, something that revolutionizes the society (for example, cybernetic enhancements in Ghost in the Shell). The only thing is that for me cyberpunk is very visual so I would prefer this hypothetical story to not just be a text.
Very true. If it also wanted to set a great atmosphere it could be done in a similar manner to Ergo Proxy. That series gave a somewhat supernatural kind of vibe to it's depiction of a cyberpunk dystopia and literally was one mind fuck after another. Especially with most of the characters going mad towards the end in a sense. Obviously Ergo Proxy isn't Lovecraftian, but, if done in a similar way to it, the atmospheric elements of Lovecraft's work can be done right both visually and musically.
*its
Space is still unknown place since we don't know where it begins or ends or is there life beside ours. We also don't know our own brains and how they exactly work. I would LOVE a Lovecraftian horror story about brains.
Cthulhu gets KO'd by a yacht. A nuke would obliterate him.
So, nuke them from orbit? Only way to be sure. Aliens, 1986, 10/10 movie. Or how about Starship Troopers? Nuke them Rico! ^_^
Martin Ellis How about the earthquake in the stroy wasn't the result R'lyeh rising, but some massive earthquake that caused R'lyeh or part of it to rise prematurely? What if Cthulhu was bested by a steamboat because the stars simply _weren't right yet_ ?! If it was time, can we say that a modern nuke wouldn't be more than an after dinner mint? I can easily see ways to make modern settings work.
ComradeStirner It's been a while, but I don't think that it said what the Elder Things used, just that they used… something.
scaper8 scaper8 scaper8 think of Cthulhu as an antenna of sorts, that doesn't only receive information but also broadcasts it. His purpose being to stoke the flames of madness within the likes of man every once and a while. Why would he do this? Well that's because he's not in control, he's dead but not dead. A mere instrument of greater beings. Who feeds on madness? Not Cthulhu, but Nyarlathotep. Why does Nyarlathotep need to feed of the madness of men? Idk, but it probably has something to do with keeping a certain blind idiot in a state of constant slumber. After all, we all exist in a dream of Azathoth and when the dreamer wakes everything comes to an end.
I feel the man himself said it best, right? "That is not dead which can eternal lie. And with strange aeons even death may die." Notice: "That is NOT dead which can ETERNAL lie" Cthulhu is dead, and least partially, and he's very much confined to his corpse city. So perhaps this famous quote from "Call" isn't truly about Cthulhu, but rather a hint at some larger. "And with STRANGE AEONS even DEATH may DIE." Cthulhu is old, but strange aeons suggests and time-based concepts that would be completely incomprehensible to us, a concept of time in which death, a concept/reality of our universe, may die. Think about that. Death may die. That's bigger than Cthulhu, it's bigger than all existence.
Martin Ellis That's not a bad idea. Sort of Cthulhu awoke just to fuck with our heads for a few days. If he stayed wake, great! If not, it will come. I can see that working.
20s & 30s definitely the best time frame for Lovecraft's horror.
I think "the three body problem" it's a good example of a modern story with lovecraftian elements on it. But personally my all time favourite era for setting a lovecraftian story would be the late 1800s to the early 1900s.
I'm using New World of Darkness rulebook for a contemporary setting with some lovecraftian horror, set in 2002. It's really hard to manage atmospheres, it's hard to find "dark corners of the earth", so i settled for using some "strange angled" reality pokets in wich dark entities still survive with whole landscapes and buildings wich are echoes of memories and dreams. The mind of the characters themselves are not safe this way and entering phisically into a "mental" space exposes them to loss of control of reasoning, bodies etc.
In regards to weapon technology:
"Pistols put holes in things. Rifles put holes through things. Shotguns, at the right range with the right load, will physically remove a chunk of shit off your opponent and throw that shit on the floor."
I agree with you on the time period, basically second half of 19th century up to 1930s and then far future deep in space like "voices of the void" by David V. Stewart
Lovecraftian stories seem so much more quaint set in the early 20th century, I feel so much more insane pondering the cults of Yog Sothoth and Cthulhu while looking past my drywall only to be brought back to the mundane by my phone buzzing.
Getting drunk and playing Skyrim, you sir, are a man of culture. But always remember, Skyrim belongs to the Nords!
For me the main reasons are that both travel and communication are getting faster but are still relatively slow. Making more of the world accessible and yet keeping a feeling of isolation.
I would agree that the early 20th century is one of the better settings (mostly do to the idea f the world being more unknown) I also like Lovecraftian horror in far future settings as seeing humans venture out into the unforgiving universe and finding the horrors out there to be just as good, also because alien is one of my favorite movies
My opinion, the most lovecraftian space age sci-if was Event Horizon...no tangible monster, but the existential madness of facing the unknowable
Definitely a good film.
I think you make some interesting points. I do think stories/films like ALIEN or for that matter Brian Lumleys NECROSCOPE novels make Lovecraftian horror work in other periods by re-invoking the elements of which you speak. Look at ALIEN for example--hard to get more "into the unknown" than deep space, all alone, a bunch of space age blue collar workers trying to fend of this kind of horror which touches all kinds of bases (such as male rape) Lovecraft never went near. That film did an excellent job of echoing the uselessness of technology, no matter how advanced, and the sense of an orderly world interrupted by something totally unknown and chaotic. Seems to me that one can bring some more contemporary elements into the "classic" Lovecraftian era or re-imagine those "classic" elements into the present, but it would be nigh impossible to do both. Of course an obvious place for such a modern story might well be a deep sea submersible. Likewise telling a 1920s Lovecraftian tale from the POV of the minorities that so terrified him can add an extra layer of nuance to the whole tale.
Ah, yeah, ALIEN. I'm not the Lovecraft authority or anything but I just don't equate it with Lovecraft. I know on paper it checks all the boxes. I just think films like The Thing do it better. Not saying anything you said is wrong because I'm in the minority of Lovecraftians regarding ALIEN.
>"Likewise telling a 1920s Lovecraftian tale from the POV of the minorities that so terrified him can add an extra layer of nuance to the whole tale."
Care to elaborate? Why would their position in 1920s society matter considering that humanity as a whole was the focus of Lovecraft's tales?
A theme/element in Lovecraft is the limitations of human experience and ability to deal with parts of the world so many of us simply do not wish to think upon. Consider, though, how much more isolated a hero in a Lovecraftian tale if they literally have nowhere to turn? A mulatto or Asian American might seek to alert authorities or institutions of a danger, but unlike (for example) Prof. Armitage of Miskatonic U. who would at least be treated politely, a non-white witness seeking to help others find themselves treated as less-than-human -- as if THEY were the threat to society or human sanity. You may well refer to threats to all of humanity in SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH but it is the narrator who engages our interest. Ditto AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS and CALL OF CTHULHU. A description of something which threatens us all in the abstract simply does not have th storytelling power of feeling/seeing this threat aimed at a single individual with whom we sympathize.
You changed my mind a bit I must be honest. I agree with those points. It would add an added sense of alienage. But what if it was not set in the USA? An Asian version of Prof. Armitage, would he not be treated the same in Shanghai University? Or the same for a black professor in an African university?
Valid area of digression and study, IMHO. It would be very much like translating a classic into a new culture, much as THRONE OF BLOOD is a Japanese MACBETH, while THE HANDMAIDEN is basically a Korean retelling of FINGERSMITH and for that matter what is Perrault's BELLE ET LE BETE but a French version of the Hellenistic myth of Eros and Psyche? Depends on finding in context the same buttons, the same themes, etc.
I think that it's because man knowledge was more limited. Like news weren't at your finger tip like it is now if that make sense. If someone took a picture of Cthulhu with their phone then it would be worldwide news though that would be an interesting story
I think it's also a lot harder to write about Old Gods existing alongside humans and able to be kept secret but it's not impossible. There's a reason why so many people believe in Conspiracy Theories after all.
Couple of months ago, something fell through our solar system dubbed Moumaumau which is utterly bizarre. It is certain the first known interstellar object to enter our solar system. Given its trajectory, it must have been at rest to the rest of the galaxy. How did THAT happen? It was thin and tumbling. It changed direction and speed for no known reason. Best guess is that this object might well have been intergalactic in origin, and be older than the sun.
Id argue aearly 2000s and the early internet could make for a fascinating lovecraftian setting. There was quite a bit of mysterious and creepy pictures and stories posted on the internet, and people were given freedom to find any and all info they wanted to that way.
For me the era between the 1880s-the start of world war 1 is just pure magical. At this time period people can simultaneously believe in Science and technology but there was still enough mystery left in the world that people could also believe in Magic, demons, monsters witchcraft
In a reddit post, I wrote that that one pet peeves is that too much of the Cosmic Horror stories take place in the 1920s-1930s because it's convenient. But I thing it makes much of the work seem limited and I feel like one could expand on the stories by setting them at any time from a few decades after the 30s, to now, to even the future. There's no way any of else will know the whole truth of the Universe, so superb fiction like this is limitless for us to tell stories about.
*time frame
*any of us
It's the approximate era Lovecraft wrote in, making his work heavily tied to said era and its social movements.
I think there are some really interesting subtleties between relatively short distances in dark fiction settings. The intervals between the mid 19th century of Poe to the late 19th of M.R. James to the early 20th of Lovecraft are similar but each unique in their own right.
I remember read somewhere a Lovecraftian history set in the future, where the monster was the size of the Galaxy, there are algo Amazing Lovecraftian set in the future like the one the in the movie where they opened a portal to hell
Discovery of gravitational waves and the Higgs-Boson particle and Dark Matter, not to mention all those exoplanets have been quite monumental even if we don't know the full import of their discovery.
WarlockofWords Channel
Indeed. If something like Pluto can be connected with Yuggoth, imagine what whole solar systems of new exoplanets could be used for?!
I agree that the early 20th century is the best overall setting for Lovecraftian stories, and for many of the same reasons you stated. Several of Lovecraft's stories revolve around his revulsion of mixing races, which many would not see as an issue today. Because of this, I believe Lovecraft would have many issues with a character like Mr Spock of Star Trek, because of his mixed Vulcan-Human ancestry or the fact that the communications officer (and head of her department) was not only a woman, but black. The very idea of having crews from different alien species would be appalling to a man like Lovecraft. The themes in Lovecraft's stories centered around the fear of the unknown, the alien and the foreign. All the bad things that came into the world was because of alien eldritch monstrosities or from non-White Anglo-Saxon Protestant people groups or individuals. Because of the ease of finding information is so easy today, and the fact the world is more global in its culture, setting a Lovecraft story in the 21st century would seem out of place or not even horrifying let alone appropriate.
I think the time period, unknown environment, technology of early 20th century is so popular, because most people is used to imagine this picture. H.P. Lovecraft had learnt us to see this picture of now half forgotten and exotic time period. We have no H.P. Lovecraft's guidelines for how should by narrated cosmic horror in our time period.
It needs only few good autors to set the cosmic horror in to the new modern enviroment. There are still mysterious things and places, but we are not so used to see them or think about them. It's a matter of habit.
While I agree Lovecraftian Horror seems to work best when set in HPL's era. I also believe it still work well when set in other time periods (when done correctly.) Some examples in film are "The Evil Dead' trilogy by Sam Raimi, some John Carpenter films like 1982"s "The Thing" & 193"s 'in the Mouth of Madness. Or in Cthullu or Dagon's case if done sorta like a well made 1950s giant monster movie style: Gojira (1954). Legedary/WB"s Monsterverse movies play off this idea well.
Mass Effect (not the sequels) is a Lovecraftian horror.
My dream movie, would be Horror at Red Hook shot as a dystopian cyber noir. It would be almost too easy.
there was a really good Lovecraftian story I read once that I can't recall the name of it had a post-apocalyptic setting and it had some really weird warping of time.
That's the thing about the old ones and all the Lovecraftian creatures. Are they physical beings or an embodiment of psychology?
If they're embodiments of psychology, they're apparitions then basically - so it makes sense that weapons do not work on them. On the other hand, if they are physical, I can't see why weapons don't work on them (forgoing the obvious idea that it defeats the story).
Is there any canon/in story explanation behind this?
All are physical but don't think this makes them all like the physical matter we see on Earth. You have your Mi-Go, Elder Things and the Deep Ones. All are as physical as any human or animal and can be killed. In the stories this is stated as fact in one way or another. Deep Ones can be killed by any sort of violence. Mi-Go bodies were found washed up in Vermont rivers. Elder Things were dissected in an autopsy.
In the story From Beyond the two human protagonists use a device which allows them to see and interact with beings which are otherwise invisible and intangible normally (meaning they might as well not even exist). But they physically harm and kill one of the characters.
Now, you do have other entities, the more difficult ones. Cthulhu was rammed with a ship and his head exploded. But he reformed moments later as if nothing happened. Therefore he is physical but his composition and the material that makes up his body is unearthly. Beings like Azathoth, Yog-Sothoth, et al are, in my opinion, literal physical beings BUT the stuff that makes up their bodies is from a different dimension and vastly superior than an Earth animals body of bone, flesh, blood, etc.
In The Dunwich Horror, Lavenia Whateley gets impregnated by Yog-Sothoth. To be crude Yog-Sothoth had to get her pregnant and so obviously has some sort of an appendage acting as a dick. I seriously doubt Lovecraft would have chosen the old biblical immaculate conception as a plot device.
So you can decide. But I wholeheartedly believe with everything I know of the Mythos that these entities are real and not just in the head.
Arkham Reporter Great explanation, and I agree they are real in the stories. What I meant by a psychological entity is something akin to the concept of force ghosts in Star Wars, they're there, but if you throw a rock at one it will go right through them.
Ahaaa. I know a bit about Star Wars lore. Off the top of my head everything Lovecraft created would see the rock bouncing. Except maybe the things in the dreamlands because they're dreams, right? Never thought of this much to be honest.
keep up the good work!!!!
Thanks. Weapons. Will Azathoth survive an attack of the Death Star in "Star Wars"... Hehe, I read a Russian story in a book that consisted of contemporary Russian writers trying to continue HPL traditions (published in about 2005-2010). Some I liked, some not. But in that story a Soviet Navy nuclear submarine armed with nuclear missiles and torpedoes in late 1989 picked up an American sailor from a recently perished US Navy ship in the very cold Barents Sea. The guy was like mad and kept repeating "Ya, ya... ftagn...Cthulhu". The Soviet Commander was at a total loss, but a young lieutenant-interpreter admitted he secretly had read some "decadent" stories by "a mad American writer Lovecraft". And then some bad things started happening. The sub's radars found some huge mass underwater that had not been there before. And it moved. Something weird was happening with equipment... The last line in the story - the Soviet sub's Commander commanded to the mike: "Torpedoes ready!" and added with a smirk "Well, let's see how this capitalist Cthulhu will be able to resist our Soviet weapons".
I'd like to see lovecraft fiction set in prehistory like millions or billions of years ago and the very far future millions and billions of years ahead because of the whole deep time aspect of cosmic horror.
Great video! I have to say I also prefer Lovecraftian horror that takes place in the 1920s and 1930s.
As do I. It just fits.
If a modern author is writing Lovecraftian fiction and setting it in the 1920s-30s then they're basically 'playing to the audience' - deliberately doing so in order to appeal to readers who want the comfort of nostalgia, to be taken back to the time when they first read Lovecraft. I'd say once you've read Lovecraft, then sure, read stories from his collaborators to stretch out from the centre, but keep trying to find fiction that replicates his themes and ideas, not his writing style and settings.
If anything our reliance on technology can make Lovecraftian horror even more intense. We've got this crutch that we lean on now, and when it's kicked away we fall down harder than ever before - when the mobile has no signal, when the computer virus is used to show people images that drive them insane...
Or even the technology is what finally lets the outside in: the Event Horizon, in travelling through wormholes, goes straight through Azathoth's dimension, or a quantum computer works out the angles which unlock the door through which Yog-Sothoth may pass. If Lovecraft's work is hinged on the emerging knowledge of other dimensions and of outer space, then as time passes the opportunities for putting ourselves in great danger only increases. So if authors believe that the 1920s-30s are best for Lovecraft because its themes rely on the zeitgeist of that era, they are mistaken.
I've often enjoyed stories based in a far future, after an apocalypse brought about by Lovecraft's gods. Seek out Basil Copper's Shaft no. 247, or more recently TE Grau's Free Fireworks. Being shown the awful consequences of all that this pantheon threatens is a chilling thrill indeed.
But there's nothing, nothing worse, more hateful, than authors who attempt to humanise monsters. The point of horror is to feel horrified, not to find solace in identifying with monsters. Anne Rice and her contemporaries ruined vampires for a generation which culminated in shit like True Blood, Vampire Diaries, and the Twilight series. Before they were like a crossbreed of ghost and shark; afterwards they were emos with superpowers. It's idiotic to try doing the same with the minions of Cthulhu; slime and fishstink can't ever be sexy.
Wow, this essay, and after I've enjoyed so much vodka?! I will try answer... well HPL is guilty of playing the audience then too because he intentionally used anachronistic terminology even in the 1920s. He had a serious love of the previous centuries and even admitted in a letter his mannerisms of speaking in outdated terms. It seems that if we in the 21st century set our stories back in the 1920s it could be comparable. But yes, it would be a shameful thing to feed into a trope that we would only do because that is what the cliche is.
I love your description of the crutch. That is exactly what makes the fall of humanity so much better. Our smugness gets rubbed in our faces. I think I pointed out the pride of the human race back then. Somehow though it feels like western society is going through a nihilistic phase though.
Thank you for mentioning these works. I will add them to the ever-growing list of literature I need to look at.
And I cannot appreciate your comment enough when you talk of humanizing monsters. It is something that constantly irks me whenever I see the latest productions from Hollywood or the latest literature. When it comes to vampires (since you made that reference) I must admit that the horror really does disappear when you could actually accept becoming one. I must also admit that vampire fiction of this kind is a guilty pleasure. I pointed that out in one of my previous videos. Vampires ceased being horror years ago. HOWEVER... Guillermo del Toro (a big fan of HPL) wrote a series of books and produced a TV series where the vampires are nothing you would want to touch. They are the monsters we should rightly fear. Check this series out. After all Del Toro is one of us: a Lovecraftian.
U шill revjêш “Dαrk City” (1998) yεs..??
Our reliance αn techmology hæs becôme æ crutčh like so mučh slime & fišhstĩnk
You do make some good points.
"The Elder Sign, it looks something like what you call a swastika nowadays".
Best Lovecraftian work of last decade, From software's Bloodborne was set in early Victorian era. I'm more into 1930 or before than 1930+. Modernity make horror less scary.
It doesn't matter to me when or where a lovecraftian story takes place, you just have to move the horrors into places of the unknown, or have unknown things from those places come to the human characters etc.... Also make sure that characters in the tale can't do anything at all to effect those horrors, ensuring that it's all hopeless for them.
"Alcohol and insomnia"... I laughed out loud given that I am partaking of a bottle of Patron Reposado as I watch this video.
I think if the story is well written, any period in time can work, but I do like the 1920's and 30's for those very reasons you listed.
Yes, German shepherds are good bois.
Lovecraft wrote a story in Latin, set during the Empire period. Loved it, in translation. lol
Cool video man. Have you reviewed bloodborne already?
No. I still have no Playstation. Planning to get one just to play Call of Cthulhu though.
If we nuke Cthulhu, his daughter givers birth to his reincarnation, and everything resumes.
Well since I am writing lovecraftian horror in the modern world I would say you can set it anywhere and at anytime. I think it just depends on your preference for when you want your cosmic horror set. For me I have to find a real desolate location nearby to set my stories and then come up with hideous monstrosity’s to fill in the voids.
I'd like to see a medieval Europe, hp lovecraftian horror. Don't know if itd be any good but still.
Actually, the one thing I differ with is that stories that deal not so much with the big cosmic gods, like SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH could provide for some interesting stories about racism, or discussions about the very nature of evolution, genetic engineering and, yes, rights, that the Lovecraft era would havv been ignorant of, or couldn't imagine. That sort of thing could be very enriching from a realism standpoint, and not just a form of fantasy escapism. Or simply ignored and told in the old-fashioned original Lovecraft way.. But, at least with a few of his stories you'd have a wider range of choices. (I'm more a fan of his "bigger" stories tho, like DUNWICH, COLOUR and CALL OF.... His stories like SHADOW, RE-ANIMATOR, or even HORROR AT RED HOOK are a bit too ordinary for me, so what is done with those kinds of stories is neither here nor there as far as I'm concerned (as if anyone cares!!! ha ;-7
I really laughed at the choice of name for the Polish-Hungarian knight in The Black Stone by Howard. Boris? Really? For Howard every Slav was a Boris, apparently
I think the task of putting Lovecraftian horror into a modern setting is achieved with flying colours by the SCP foundation.
The world got smaller but the Universe got bigger with many more planets discovered.
I agree about #4. If the Old Ones came, much of mankind would bow down. Just look at how Europe is celebrating its own extinction. I know Google, twitter & Facebook would back it.
Of course they'd back it. And Europe... I really cannot explain how painful it is to see my kin welcoming their own erasure.
@@ArkhamReporter It reminds me of the movie "The Bridge Over The River Kwai" Alec Guinness's character and his help building the bridge. I used to think it was a dumb movie because I didn't think anyone could be that stupid but I look at Europe and even how here in the US we are thoughtlessly giving everything away, I realize now I was the foolish one.
@@js357s That was a great movie. When they blew up the bridge at the end it was very emotional.
Another Lovecraftian SJW crap is tainted bloodline where all modern whites are to blame for slavery.
@@ArkhamReporter does "own erasure" mean immigrants and foreigners? verily, i think not that cultural diversity is always an evil, nor the abandoning of certain traditions(did cultures not always intermingle and evolve in to something new, better?. on the other hand, i miss some aspects of from the time, when lovecraft lived, whereas some ideas of that time i despise, such as: the racism, the antisemitism and the snobism of the new england gentry, who thought, only because of there "pure" anglo-saxon heritage, that they where eliviated above the "common dregs, the barbarous hordes" of immigrants and foreigners. lovecraft was raised in such a milleu, which shows in some of his works (in some more, and in some less) especially in some of his earlier poems. that said, i am against a revising of his work, to suit the modern tastes;
I think it would work from the 1800's up to the early 1950's.
"I can gaze in wonder at the designated shitting street"
Sheppard- truly the mastor woof of doggos 😍❤
A skilled writer can create a Lovecraftian story in any time period, if that person understands what makes story Lovecraftian. usually a person slowly unraveling a series of events to have man's utter meaningless exposed by the existence of the Old Ones. oh so existential !!!
12:02 ah yes, my good cult master Herschel Lieberman
It can be equally at home anywhere - Mass Effect 1-3 are, obviously, the future, but just look at those large, squid/etc-like monsters from the darker space outside the rim of the galaxy that drive any mortal close to them "insane" or whatever.
Anyway - you can take "wonder of the world and new exploration and globalization and blah-blah-blah" and map it very nicely to space and space travel. BTW - one correction to the video, we have NOT really mapped out our own solar system, there are still many planets out in and past the Kuiper Belt that he still do not know about, and there is still MUCH wrt to planets and moons we do know about that we still need to learn much, MUCH more about. The Ort Cloud science is also based more on assumption than direct data (well, that is selling it short to some degree, but you get the idea).
I can see a fictional explorer in the future finding much somewhere in your own solar system that is believable enough for that fiction (suspension of disbelief).
Anyway, you jumped off the edge went into that "the es-jay-dubbya's are coming" thought process - so I am glad to give you one less sub to whine to.
Mass Effect I tried playing but I didn't find it very captivating. It had a generic feeling sci-fi shooter feel. I prefer fantasy. Dead Space was quite fun though.
Obviously the future setting can work very well with Lovecraft horror. Alien and Europa Report are two good example even if they're films and not literature. While I do realize that we have not mapped out our immediate solar system perfectly it still seems to me, perhaps do to cynicism, that everything between the Sun and Pluto holds no amazing alien life forms or eons dead civilizations like in a HPL story.
A pity that you feel the need to leave because one thing in a 14 minute irked you. Your comment was decent and thought out enough, something I like to see on my channel. Given that politics are so divisive in todays world, especially with the "us vs them" mentality becoming more prominent as we become more globalized, I am disappointed that you categorize my hypothesis as whining. But since I'm gaining more subs than losing, your leaving is irrelevant and maybe a plus to this channel.
*due 2 cŷnicism
Arkham is made out to be a very backwards, old fashioned area in the stories, so even though they are set in the 1920s, the intended effect is to think of a remote, isolated, timeless place. The most modern technology in most of the stories is a typewriter or automobile.
I like how HPL often refers to an "electric torch". He makes it sound like this technology is the latest iPhone or something.
Great video. Btw, you want a great Lovecraft modern day game? Try, Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem for Nintendo GameCube. Not completely in the present, but still awesome. I'd love Lovecraft to branch out into other time periods too. World War 2, Vietnam War, the Cold War, and in the Far future ala Blade Runner or Deus Ex would be cool. Oats Studios has a short film called, Firebase, on TH-cam you might wanna check out. Dredd 2012 is awesome. As for the SJWs, if something like the Deep Ones show up? President Trump m8, this is not President Obama. It'd be like Team America lol. I think there is a new 1st person Lovecraft game coming, but I dont know if it will have combat. Walking horror games are not my cup of tea. Resident Evil 7 has a better mix.
Oh i forgot Starship Troopers. But i guess that pretty much kicks cosmicism out the window.
Have you seen Sandy Petersen's video on how to fight Cthulhu? What are your thoughts? Also what do you think of Sandy Petersen?
Oh wow I didn't know he's on youtube. I googled it now and found it. I'm watching it now, will get back to you.
So, yes, I check out his channel and that video. It's fun speculation. As he said, Cthulhu apparently was affected by gravity. If that's an exploit... some sort of "gravity cannon"? I love that sort of "what if" stuff.
About him as a person. I don't know a ton about him. I know he is a game designer and is responsible for some work on games I absolutely love... Pirates, Doom, Quake, Hexen. He pioneered the Call of Cthulhu RPG and I did review one book of his which was very good. I think of him as a valuable asset and contributor to the mythos.
Thanks for bringing this video to my attention.
I got into writing again and it is rather Lovecraftian, and I have two characters meeting each other and one starts out in 1945 and the other in 2019. To each of them it is that year but they meet each other at the same time. So time does not really going in a line when their world's collide. They meet outside of each of their starting realities so what time it is is not very clear.
Any reason why you chose 1945 as a date for one character? Coinciding with the end of the War?
@@ArkhamReporter at first did not have a year and kept it vague. But wanted it shortly after Tesla died and using him as a Avatar of Nyarlathotep. So far only known by the name Shugoran.
Arkham Reporter
Personally I think right now is the best time to set Lovecraftian horror. Science if anything has shown that we are way more insignificant then even Lovecraft could have imagined. Our very universe may be only one of multiple infinities of multiuniverses. I also think that evil cults trying to replace people with deep one, shuggoth, yig and ghoul hybrids would be very popular at our modern universities. It is all too easy to imagine a greenish stinky fish eyed professor yelling at a student, you are literally a white male HUMAN, check your privilege! We would have a Buzzfeed video on how the world would be so much better once we got rid of humanness. I can't even imagine how we would retrofit a bathroom to accommodate something like Wilbur Whateley. Of course we would have transhumans, otherwise normal people who would claim to be a hybrid because they feel like they should be one. We would also give tax free status to any evil cult. On CNN Don lemon would host a special called, human sacrifice, is it really a big deal? Finally evil non human cults would be accusing human terrorists of cultural appropriation.
poodles can be pretty vicious and were at one time used as hunting dogs.
Have you played bloodborne? You should do a video on analyzing the lovecraft influence
I don't own a PS4 so sadly I cannot play it.
Man that Vsauce shout out 👌
HPL stuff works best in its original time period because of technological/scientific limitations adds to the mystery and wonderment of the horrific goings-on. Also, wasn't mysticism a bit of a fad back then? Seances, psychics and such?