Puffed Shoggoths, Lovecraftian artzine/book due for premiere at the Toronto Comics Arts Festival 2013.

I have fond memories of a few of the best of the isometric-view strategy videogames, and once greatly enjoyed Sid Meier’s Civilisation II and later his Railroads and others. Also Titan Quest [review], although that was more Diablo-like. So the new PC Gamer magazine’s pre-release coverage of the moddable PC game Clockwork Empires sounds very interesting. Especially as it’s apparently a…

“Lovecraft-laden steampunk city-builder” [in which the player is a Civilisation-style] colony-builder amid the grand idealism of Victorian discovery [but] with horrors, madness, wild species, and volatile science.”

Sounds awesome, but sadly it’s all very much “under development”. It looks like we’ll have to wait until around Sept/Oct 2013 before we can play it.

I’ve discovered a magazine that’s not unlike the Popular Science magazine of Lovecraft’s day. Discover is full of interesting factoid-pumped ideas that are oven-cooked — ready for writers to take, blend, and adapt for use in fiction. I’m not sure we get the magazine over here in the UK (I’ve not noticed it, before now), but plenty of the content gets placed online for free at their website. Lots of articles that make you think “Lovecraft was right!” 🙂 Maybe they should have a whole themed issue on that topic.

Incidentally, the magazine is making an interesting move in response to the generally falling sales of magazines (digital editions are nowhere near making up the severe revenue shortfalls caused by: recession-hit consumers stopping spending on print mags; display-ad budget shrinkage; and competition from free online sources of news) — they’re quitting New York and moving to Waukesha‎, Wisconsin. Lucky Waukesha‎.

Neat new Lovecraft-inspired comic strip, featured on the Weird Tales website…

Unlike most comic-strips featured as “an extra” to print magazines, this one looks quite fun.

H.P. Lovecat from the Literary Pets 2 cigarette cards collection…

Kara Whittman has released a cool hollow safe book, laser-cut out of a Lovecraft hardback collection The Black Seas of Infinity… although you can currently pick up the hardback for $2 on Amazon USA, and with a steel ruler and a scalpel carve your own.

It’s Mr. H.P. Lovecraft’s 122nd birthday! So far, sugarcrafted cakes seem to be the art medium of choice. Chud has an excellent round-up of Lovecraft-themed cakes.

Above: sugarcraft by Cake Amsterdam.

Jason McKittrick has a limited edition statuette, available only today — a sea-worn Cthulhu, as if just dredged from the ocean.

A morning literary walk in Providence.

Facebook suggests there’ll be an informal gathering at the grave marker in Providence today.

I’ve made a free annotated version of Lovecraft’s “The History of the Necronomicon”.

There’s a birthday art show at a gallery in Seattle.

Also various film sceenings and parties in America and the UK.

Possibly more to come, once the Americans get their first coffee of the day in about six hours from now.