Deep Cuts in a Lovecraftian Vein

𝔻𝕖𝕖𝕡 𝕋𝕙𝕠𝕥 @thatsgoodweb.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 17:50 UTC

Tim Molloy

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Deep Cuts in a Lovecraftian Vein @deepcuts.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 17:50 UTC

Good anthology, but I'm thinking of something much more focused on Innsmouth/Deep Ones.

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Deep Cuts in a Lovecraftian Vein @deepcuts.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 17:48 UTC

Haven't. I only had to use that for one post. So far.

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Deep Cuts in a Lovecraftian Vein @deepcuts.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 17:32 UTC

There's a couple of Mythos stories like that.

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Deep Cuts in a Lovecraftian Vein @deepcuts.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 16:41 UTC

Well, I ordered the curry powder. Now, we wait.

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Deep Cuts in a Lovecraftian Vein @deepcuts.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 15:32 UTC

Top three warning labels on the blog boil down to: 1) NSFW 2) Historical racism 3) Scary clown

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Deep Cuts in a Lovecraftian Vein @deepcuts.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 13:41 UTC

A better title might be something like DE-COLONIZE THE MYTHOS. Definitely something to workshop.

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Deep Cuts in a Lovecraftian Vein @deepcuts.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 13:35 UTC

Not discussed in the story; although there's a passage from the Necronomicon about breeding worms in camels.

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Deep Cuts in a Lovecraftian Vein @deepcuts.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 13:34 UTC

Lovecraft's interpretation of it as a ghost story is definitely a minority view. He wasn't much taken with psychological horror by itself; he liked that thrill of something from outside impinging on reality.

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Deep Cuts in a Lovecraftian Vein @deepcuts.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 13:32 UTC

Honorable Mention: THE AFRICAN CYCLE Most folks don't care for Lovecraft's stories dealing with Africa or Africans, few as they are, because of the racial stereotypes. But there are some interesting stories that have come from there, like “Hairwork” by Gemma Files & “Magna Mater” by Arinn Dembo.

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Deep Cuts in a Lovecraftian Vein @deepcuts.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 13:29 UTC

5) THE FORGOTTEN MYTHOS There are a number of early Mythos and Mythos-adjacent stories that aren't by Lovecraft that have never been collected and published in Mythos anthologies, like “The Were-Snake” (1925) by Frank Belknap Long and “The Picture” (1939) by Robert D. Harris which should see print.

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Deep Cuts in a Lovecraftian Vein @deepcuts.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 13:26 UTC

4) THE EXTREME MYTHOS This is maybe a bit edgelordy, but somebody asked me to make a list of the most "extreme" Mythos stories once, and while I listed things like “Necrophallus” by Makino Osamu (牧野修), it's kind of weird these stories aren't collected in one place.

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Deep Cuts in a Lovecraftian Vein @deepcuts.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 13:24 UTC

3) THE EXPERIMENTAL MYTHOS Closest we ever got to anthologies of experimental fiction dealing with the Mythos were THE STARRY WISDOM and SONGS OF THE BLACK WORM GISM, but with a new generation of authors I think we can do weirder still.

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Deep Cuts in a Lovecraftian Vein @deepcuts.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 13:22 UTC

2) CTHULHUPUNK There is an anthology called ELDRITCH CHROME, but I'd really like to see a book that was more like MIRRORSHADES but for the Mythos. “Star Bright, Star Byte” by Marella Sands, "A Colder War" by Charles Stross, "The Unthinkable" by Bruce Sterling, etc.

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Deep Cuts in a Lovecraftian Vein @deepcuts.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 13:20 UTC

1) DAUGHTERS OF DAGON There has been some brilliant short fiction and poetry written expanding on "The Shadow over Innsmouth" and the Deep Ones by women, and focusing on women, such as Sonya Taafe's "All Our Salt-Bottled Hearts." I think such a theme would be brilliant for an anthology.

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Deep Cuts in a Lovecraftian Vein @deepcuts.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 13:19 UTC

The world doesn't lack for Cthulhu Mythos anthologies. That said, if I were a publisher with the money to pay writers what they're worth and produce the books I'd want to read, there are a few anthologies I'd love to see. So here are my top 5 hypothetical Mythos anthologies.

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Deep Cuts in a Lovecraftian Vein @deepcuts.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 11:29 UTC

Underappreciated deep cut of the day: Lovecraft's odd connection to Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and his idiosyncratic reading of "The Yellow Wallpaper."

deepcuts.blog/2021/05/01/t...

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Deep Cuts in a Lovecraftian Vein @deepcuts.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 11:12 UTC

"[...] while he who has never eaten a young wombat treated with coriander seeds, turmeric, green mango and dry ginger has not used his opportunities." - Marcus Clarke, quoted in Barbara Santich's IN THE LAND OF THE MAGIC PUDDING: A GASTRONOMIC MISCELLANY

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Deep Cuts in a Lovecraftian Vein @deepcuts.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 10:53 UTC

If you've never read it, you should check out Gilman's piece "Why I Wrote The Yellow Wallpaper" (1913).

www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/t...

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Deep Cuts in a Lovecraftian Vein @deepcuts.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 09:12 UTC

Book catalogue project, day 12: The Eye and The Finger (1944, Arkham House) by Donald Wandrei. Dustjacket chipped, faded. Pages tanned. In mylar. Previous owner's signature and bookplate.

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Deep Cuts in a Lovecraftian Vein @deepcuts.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 04, 2024 at 23:33 UTC

That was...odd. Tonally all over the place. Some really interesting variations on traditional vampire lore, interesting tie-in with Japanese history. Last twenty minutes or so are almost as campy as an episode of Scooby Doo.

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Deep Cuts in a Lovecraftian Vein @deepcuts.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 04, 2024 at 22:10 UTC

Tonight's film is LADY VAMPIRE (1959, 女吸血鬼), a Japanese black-and-white horror film, supposedly the first to feature a Western-style vampire.

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Deep Cuts in a Lovecraftian Vein @deepcuts.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 04, 2024 at 17:42 UTC

I am "that guy."

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Deep Cuts in a Lovecraftian Vein @deepcuts.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 04, 2024 at 17:05 UTC

My favorite response to the blog so far is: "Yeah, I want something just like that, just not written by that guy."

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Deep Cuts in a Lovecraftian Vein @deepcuts.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 04, 2024 at 15:21 UTC

It's always weird to me when I see the rates on a call for submissions and realize I've paid more per-word on a guest post for the blog than some folks get paid for a 5k story.

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Deep Cuts in a Lovecraftian Vein @deepcuts.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 04, 2024 at 12:21 UTC

"The phrase humorous stars is correct. I meant to signify the ironic indifference of the cosmos." - H. P. Lovecraft to R. H. Barlow, 1 Dec 1934, OFF 191

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Deep Cuts in a Lovecraftian Vein @deepcuts.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 04, 2024 at 12:19 UTC

Book catalogue project, day 11: DISCLOSURES IN SCARLET (1972, Arkham House) by Carl Jacobi. Clean pages, excellent dustjacket, in mylar.

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Deep Cuts in a Lovecraftian Vein @deepcuts.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 04, 2024 at 03:49 UTC

While far from my favorite Japanese horror movie, I think fans of classic vampire films might dig this one a lot for its unconventional bloodsucker.

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Deep Cuts in a Lovecraftian Vein @deepcuts.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 04, 2024 at 03:49 UTC

Very slow-burn start; 1950s Japan is a lot to take in. The overtly supernatural turn doesn't really show up until relatively far along in the movie, and when it does we get a surprisingly nuanced cross between a revenge story and a creature feature.

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Deep Cuts in a Lovecraftian Vein @deepcuts.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 04, 2024 at 02:22 UTC

Congrats!

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Deep Cuts in a Lovecraftian Vein @deepcuts.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 04, 2024 at 01:44 UTC

Tonight's film: VAMPIRE BRIDE (1960, 花嫁吸血魔), a Japanese black-and-white horror movie that promises to be interesting.

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Deep Cuts in a Lovecraftian Vein @deepcuts.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 04, 2024 at 01:13 UTC

"And brother, do I have a story for you," she added, with a wicked grin that made me want to go for her throat. I bit back the instinct. She remembered herself, covered her mouth, the flash of teeth. "Let me guess: murder. Lust. Greed." "How did you know?" I gave a close-lipped smile in reply.

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Deep Cuts in a Lovecraftian Vein @deepcuts.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 04, 2024 at 01:11 UTC

Smoking was a nasty habit. I kept my teeth covered and fetched a pack of matches from my coat pocket. She leaned down, tall and broad-shoulders, the hair around her head a veritable mane... "Homo neanderthalensis?" I asked, as she took a drag. "I prefer 'Pans narrans,'" she said, breathily.

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Deep Cuts in a Lovecraftian Vein @deepcuts.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 04, 2024 at 01:09 UTC

She looked around the place as if she graced it with her presence, and as I took in the holes in the filing cabinet, the shattered bottle of Jameson on the desk, I conceded maybe she did. So I drew myself up to my full height, straightened my tie, and shuffled around the desk. "Got a light?"

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Deep Cuts in a Lovecraftian Vein @deepcuts.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 04, 2024 at 01:07 UTC

Then utter stillness. The roar in my ears died down so I could hear the carolers at the mission church three blocks away. So I could see the white snow that felt down to cover the filthy slush in the street. The angel stepped through the ruin of my door with a click of two-inch heels.

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Deep Cuts in a Lovecraftian Vein @deepcuts.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 04, 2024 at 01:05 UTC

A deadly rain hit the floor a second after I did, as a hail burst through the glass-fronted door that declared Mickey Austrolepithecus, P.I. I emptied the cylinders at the fleeing car, but all I saw were black hairy knuckles gripping the Chicago typewriter, the sleek lines of the Bentley a blur.

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Deep Cuts in a Lovecraftian Vein @deepcuts.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 03, 2024 at 21:27 UTC

You are correct. I should not have said anything.

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Deep Cuts in a Lovecraftian Vein @deepcuts.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 03, 2024 at 18:45 UTC

"She says she has 'a gnawing emptiness inside of her' and wants to be 'stuffed full of sausage from both ends.'" "...I'll get the kielbasa and the ketchup, you grab the condoms and the lube."

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Deep Cuts in a Lovecraftian Vein @deepcuts.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 03, 2024 at 18:44 UTC

The difference between Lovecraft and Rowling has less to do with their relative success during life, than how they chose to address their prejudices in public.

deepcuts.blog/2022/12/21/d...

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Deep Cuts in a Lovecraftian Vein @deepcuts.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 03, 2024 at 18:42 UTC

It has often been put forward that Lovecraft experienced a change of heart during his last few years; if you mean the last 25 years of his life, the years when he was writing and traveling--then yes, his views were challenged and changed, even if he was never not racist by any contemporary standard.

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Deep Cuts in a Lovecraftian Vein @deepcuts.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 03, 2024 at 18:40 UTC

That doesn't excuse his prejudice; it does give the background against which he lived. Lovecraft's prejudices were never static throughout his life. As he traveled, met and talked with more people, read more widely, and he saw world events take place, so too did Lovecraft's views change over time.

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Deep Cuts in a Lovecraftian Vein @deepcuts.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 03, 2024 at 18:39 UTC

Lovecraft was a bigot. That is not surprising considering when and where he lived: the United States was in the nadir of race relations. He saw Jim Crow, the Asiatic Barred Zone Act, the Scotsboro Trial and the Massie Case play out; saw the second rise (and fall) of the KKK and the Nazi party.

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