More Open Lovecraft

Added to the Open Lovecraft page…

* Ben Woodard (2010), “Thinking Against Nature: nature, ideation, and realism between Lovecraft and Schelling”, Speculations journal, No.1, pp.47-65.

* The journal Antartes: prospettive antimoderne, No.00, 2011. (Special Lovecraft issue, in Italian only).

* Cecile Cristofari (2012), “Le temps du reve lovecraftien, ou l’elaboration d’un temps du mythe”, e-lla, May 2012. (In French. In the online journal of the University of Provence, France. Title translates as: “The dreamtime Lovecraft, or a development from the times of myth”. Essay tests the application of the Australian Aboriginal idea of ‘the dreamtime’ to key Lovecraft stories).

* Tomi Vatanen (2010), “Tuntemattomiem Kaahujen Tutkijat: maailmankuva H.P. Lovecraftin novelleissa” (Title translates as “The Unknown Terrors of Researchers: the worldview of H.P. Lovecraft’s stories”. In Finnish. Appears to be a Masters dissertation from Finland).

Cthulhu mythos as a literary movement

A thesis, newly deposited online:

Rodolfo Munoz Casado (2000), Los mitos de Cthulhu como movimiento literario, Ph.D. thesis. Madrid, deposited online 2012. In Spanish.

“analyses the so-called Cthulhu Mythos as a true literary movement […] the Cthulhu Mythos fiction has a fundamental unity and a prominence within a literary genre, and it is not commercial work to be considered as lower in quality or importance.”

Ratcliffe

An amusing little bit of additional evidence, re: my recent essay that uncovers a key source for “The Rats in the Walls”. ‘Viscount Ratcliff’ was one of the titles belonging to Dilston, and Ratcliffe was the family name of James Ratcliffe, Earl of Derwentwater…

— from William Berr’s Encyclopaedia heraldica or complete dictionary of heraldry, Volume 2 (1828)

— from Stephen Whatley’s England’s Gazetteer (1751)

— from Thomas Rose’s Westmorland, Cumberland, Durham, and Northumberland (1832)

There is also a tantalising note from Notes and Queries of 1914, perhaps relevant to the idea of some long-absent descendant coming to claim Exham Priory, but I am unable to get more…

“the following extracts from The Times and contemporary journals:— ” Great excitement was caused at Hexham and the western parts of Northumberland on Tuesday by a lady who claims to be a descendant of Ratcliffe … The lady first appeared upon the scene … in 1865, and a year or so later took possession of Dilston more or … to be a descendant of Ratcliffe, the last Earl of Derwentwater, taking possession of Dilston Castle, about three miles from Hexham, and claiming all the estates once belonging to that unfortunate [Earl]”

Clockwork Empires (PC game)

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.

Further Lovecraftian places that really exist

Further Lovecraftian places that really exist:


Eye of Africa (the Richat Structure), Mauritania.


‘Sentinels of the Arctic’ (wind/snow formations, Finnish Lapland) — picture by Niccola Bonfadini.


Entrance to the Borgund Stave Church, Norway — picture by Lightbender.


Catholic convent catacombs, Lima in Peru.


Basalt cave entrance, Akun Island — picture by Steve Hillebrand, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.


Stephen Whitney crypt entrance, Greenwood Cemetery (Lovecraft visited this cemetery while in New York).