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Tentaclii

~ News and scholarship on H.P. Lovecraft (1890–1937)

Tentaclii

Monthly Archives: June 2011

Eldritch!

29 Wednesday Jun 2011

Posted by asdjfdlkf in Lovecraftian arts

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A long interview with Aaron Alexovich and Drew Rausch of the new Eldritch! webcomic, which is now available…

“Eldritch! is a horror book. A dark, brutal, MESSY horror book, but with a lot of humor built in… The story’s about Anya Sobczek, an angry punk-rock science major who discovers her teenage occultist brother is full of black tentacles and ancient, awful powers. There’s a lot of Lovecraft in it, obviously… Lots of monsters…”

CRUSOE : the Macabre Later Adventures of Robinson Crusoe – new Kindle revision

20 Monday Jun 2011

Posted by asdjfdlkf in Lovecraftian arts, Odd scratchings

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I have a new revision of the Kindle ebook CRUSOE : the Macabre Later Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, available now. This has had some minor revisions, and the benefit of three extra passes of close proof-reading. I’ve also dropped the price to a special ‘summer sale’ price of $0.99 plus your local sales tax. Ideal summer reading for those going on cruises or visiting small tropical islands!

History of British horror film fanzine production in the 1990s

12 Sunday Jun 2011

Posted by asdjfdlkf in Historical context, Odd scratchings

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Birmingham’s Oliver Carter is currently researching the culture of British horror film fanzine production in the 1990s. Any info, interview tapes, or old rare ‘zines you can pass his way will probably be welcome.

Houdini: Art and Magic

11 Saturday Jun 2011

Posted by asdjfdlkf in Historical context, New books

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A review of the exhibition Houdini: Art and Magic (The Jewish Museum, New York, 2010), which has now transferred to the Skirball Center in Los Angeles until 4th September 2011. There’s an accompanying book, from Yale University Press.

Lovecraft and Houdini had connections, not least in the long story Imprisoned with the Pharaohs (1924). Lovecraft ghost-wrote this for $100 (paid in advance, for the only time in Lovecraft’s life), based on an after-dinner tale invented by Houdini but which he claimed as true. Lovecraft seems to have considered it improbable and badly formed, and was pleased to be told in confidence that it was actually a fabrication, since he could then let his imagination rip on the tale. Although often talked of as a minor story, and as having a little too much of the travelogue about it, Michel Houellebecq’s 1991 book on Lovecraft said Pharaohs contained some of Lovecraft’s… “most beautiful verbal extravagances”. This was, of course, also the story whose manuscript Lovecraft fatefully left and lost on a train, and which he then had to spend some of his honeymoon re-typing — possibly to the detriment of his marriage.

Lovecraft also admired Houdini for his tireless debunking of spiritualists and other faux-mystic charlatans. Houdini is known to have socialised with Lovecraft, occasionally dining with him after shows, and in one of his letters Lovecraft recalls being taken out by Houdini to the incongruous theatrical event of a Noel Coward play in 1924. Houdini personally arranged for Lovecraft to have a meeting with a newspaper publisher, with a view to some employment, but nothing came of it.

Lovecraft later had a further very healthy payment of $75 for a ghost-written Houdini article attacking and debunking astrology. Houdini’s sudden death due to a student prank, in 1926, put an end to the prospects of more collaborations and income — such as the planned The Cancer of Superstition, a book debunking superstitious beliefs. Lovecraft had apparently already drafted this in basic outline form, and started researching magic and witchcraft for it. Possibly some of this research found its way into his The Horror at Red Hook.

H.P. Lovecraft’s favourite artists

09 Thursday Jun 2011

Posted by asdjfdlkf in Historical context, Lovecraftian arts

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John Coulthart has a brisk survey of H.P. Lovecraft’s favourite artists, on Tor.com. See also Monster Brains‘ new collection of hi-res Sidney Sime scans.

Whisperer in Darkness interview

09 Thursday Jun 2011

Posted by asdjfdlkf in Films & trailers, Lovecraftian arts

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The improbably titled Sun Break interviews the makers of the feature-length film adaptation of Lovecraft’s The Whisperer in Darkness.

Pages of passion

01 Wednesday Jun 2011

Posted by asdjfdlkf in Historical context, Odd scratchings

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Miskatonic Books blog today on the importance of the passionate genre book collector. Collectors pass-from-hand-to-hand otherwise neglected works, and equally importantly write articles about them, until one day changing tastes and new audiences eventually combine to bring the work to the attention of a wider readership…

“The purpose of the book collector is a considerable one. Genre fiction written within the small press will one day be seen as treasures by many rather than few. And we, as collectors, are simply the caretakers of these treasures. For example, society is just now starting to see the real influence that H.P. Lovecraft’s fiction has had on American literature, film and art nearly a half-century after his death.”

I think there may be a little more to say on the subject though. I mean in this ‘age of abundance’ and ebooks, is there such a thing now as pseudo-scarcity promoted by small publishers? And is this antiquated business model actually damaging to some sorts of authors? I mean, I can see the value of the beautifully printed and acid-free small-press book for passing the work on to the far future. And there are some types of books that require print but which only have perhaps 50 interested people and libraries in the world, such as Blurb POD photobook photo-essays on obscure topics. As for contemporary fiction, I think Cory Doctorow points the way to the future. Actually give away multi-format ebooks or sell then at very low sub-$2 prices, but then also sell an affordable print-on-demand paperback edition and a sumptuous top-of-the-line $300 hardback for collectors.


 

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