Ages of Madness

08 Wednesday Feb 2012

Posted by in Lovecraftian arts

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Concept art for Helio Mira’s $16.8m million movie Ages of Madness, reportedly a…

“Catalonian [Spanish] production which is looking for a budget and it’s only in the concept stage.”

It would be an animated feature film that mashes up the history of The Necronomicon with what seems to be a reworking of the story of “The Call of Cthulhu”. A bit too big to crowd-fund, but I’d certainly pre-order the DVD if this has a chance of being made. Perhaps it should be a graphic novel, first?

Lovecraft and the 1925 earthquakes

06 Monday Feb 2012

Posted by in Historical context

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Chris Perridas has details and photos of the St. Lawrence earthquake of 28th February 1925, which was so powerful that Lovecraft even felt it in New York [at magnitude 9:22]. The quake was experienced over a 2 million square-mile region. A press report is given in full by ChthulhuLives, including a line that makes it relevant to the idea that it may have influenced “The Call of Cthulhu”…

“There is a possibility that the earthquake may have taken place at sea.”

I’ve also found that there was apparently another major earthquake in the “New England-New York-Quebec” area on 9th October 1925. In fact, there seems to have been a whole series of them. For a complete summary of the 1925/26 earthquakes see “SUMMARY OF EARTHQUAKES IN NEW ENGLAND AND VICINITY” in The Spectator: Volume 118, 1927…

“Through the kindness of the Acting Director of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, Mr. RL Faris, I have come into possession of an extremely valuable summary of earthquakes in New England and vicinity”

The New England Galaxy wrote…

“There were, in fact, five earthquakes in New England in 1925, on January 7, February 28, April 24, October 9, and November 14.”

Lovecraft may well have linked the earthquakes with the Pickwick Club collapse, perhaps surmising that they had weaked the fabric of the building? Severe building collapse or being trapped under buildings features in a number of stories he wrote around this time.