Category Archives: Lovecraftian arts

The Tentaclii Summer Story Challenge 2011

04 Monday Jul 2011

Posted by in Lovecraftian arts, Odd scratchings, Summer School, Unnamable

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Here’s a bit of fun for the summer. I’ve written a brief Lovecraftian story idea/outline, in the manner of the short entries in Lovecraft’s Commonplace Book. The challenge is to write a short story that fleshes it out and gives it a strong conclusion, much like the challenge that Lovecraft occasionally had from his ghost-writing commissioners. There may be prizes!

“A scientific or scholarly protagonist discovers that each person’s mind contains the trigger for each person’s exact date of death. This is due to the gradual layered accumulation of dream-memories over a lifetime. The human mind is born with only a certain finite capacity to retain and hold these faint and fleeting memories of past dreams, and when the mind is full of these — then death is swiftly triggered by making the body an ‘attractor’ for some form of evil or harm. But the protagonist creates a device to capture and siphon off his own dream-memories into bell-jars or some other storage devices, and by this he hopes for immortality.

Only after some months does he realise that he cannot contain his siphoned dream-memories in artificial vessels (they begin to fester and mingle there, and in doing so open up dimensional-portals which threaten to allow unspeakable hybrid dream-entities into the world, entities which he thinks he sees scratching and whispering at the glass of the bell-jars, etc). He decides that his festering dream-memories must be passed into the mind of another human, where he hopes they may be better contained. While researching how to do this, he is led to understand that it is only the balancing and calming factor of the faint dream-memories in the human mind that is keeping the human race from seeing the true cosmic horror of their situation in the universe. He has condemned himself to madness by removing too many of his dream-memories, but yet he cannot restore them (in their corrupted form) to his mind.

Can he accomplish the transfer of his now-diseased dream-memories into another, before his dream-memory deprived brain is engulfed by the shattering awareness of the nature of the horrors pressing against the glass of the bell-jars? And what will happen to the chosen recipient?”

Eldritch!

29 Wednesday Jun 2011

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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

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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!

ARRRGH!: Monsters in Fashion exhibition

16 Monday May 2011

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Greece may be about to add itself to the long monstrous regiment of socialist basket-case nations, but at least their art scene appears to be thriving in the chaos. The latest interesting item is the exhibition ARRRGH!: Monsters in Fashion, at Athens (until 31st July 2011)…

“the first exhibition about monstrous character design in fashion, curated by Vassilis Zidianakis. International artists create playful dresses, avant-garde costumes and hairstyles, re-inventing the human body and sending their monstrous, enigmatic, radical and grotesque new Characters onto the catwalk and beyond. They redefine the relation between body and costume by mixing visual communication codes and questioning the established aesthetic norms. The exhibition ARRRGH! Monsters in Fashion is realised with the contribution of the following institutions, fashion designers and artists: Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, the Netherlands, Maison Martin Margiela, Walter Van Beirendonck, LucyandBart, Jean-Charles De Castelbajac, Mareunrol’s, Bas Kosters, Issey Miyake, Henrik Vibskov, Charlie Le Mindu, Boris Hoppek, Craig Green, Bernhard Willhelm, Cassette Playa, Andrea Ayala Closa, George Tourlas, Piers Atkinson and Pyuupiru amongst others.”

They had an “Atopic Bodies” Monster’s Ball event two days ago to launch the show, and hopefully Flickr photos will be surfacing soon. There is a website for the exhibition, but it seems it hasn’t been published in time for the exhibition launch.