Record Breaking
Amazing.
It's all due to YOU!
Thank you, each of the thousands of you who have stopped by and read, commented, or sent emails. Mr. Lovecraft is honored by your attention to his work and his life.
Chrispy is humbled by your participation.
It's even nicer that it was my birthday month - I couldn't think of a much better present than to give you rewarding and entertaining content.
Peace to one and all.
Now, on to August and - soon - the 2000th post.
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Friday, July 31, 2009
1929 Providence, RI & Vicinity Telephone Directory: 4 (Last)
Undoubdtedly, Lovecraft's Aunt would have had one of these. Sadly, the book was not turned to the "Lovecraft" or "Gamwell" page. Still, it's fascinating, and might have intriguing story or gaming possibilities.
He dashed to look up the number.
He dialed.
"I just saw it! I just saw the THING again. ... Do you hear something on the line? A clicking noise ... like lobster claws clicking as it seizes its prey? Oh, my God! That sound! It's in the wires. They're everywhere!"
Thursday, July 30, 2009
The Shadow Over Innsmouth: Interesting Blog
Link
Part of the charming weirdness of Lovecraft is his insistence on odd exposition. Often, weird details creates the meat of his weird tales; in The Shadow (twitch) Out of Time, for example, the main character's body isn't merely taken over by some creature from beyond reason, but, in fact, we get to learn all sorts of things, like the details about said creature's race's system of cataloging books. Because, in Lovecraft, the monsters that will take you over your life quite naturally often have intricate library systems. ...More
Part of the charming weirdness of Lovecraft is his insistence on odd exposition. Often, weird details creates the meat of his weird tales; in The Shadow (twitch) Out of Time, for example, the main character's body isn't merely taken over by some creature from beyond reason, but, in fact, we get to learn all sorts of things, like the details about said creature's race's system of cataloging books. Because, in Lovecraft, the monsters that will take you over your life quite naturally often have intricate library systems. ...More
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Member of the Menagerie, by Giblet and Skeleton
OK, it's a lazy Wednesday Afternoon. Nothing whatsoever to do with Lovecraft, but what the hey. A "Gilbert and Sullivan" parody. Have fun.
_____
Member of the Menagerie, by Giblet and Skeleton
When I was a lad I sought a witch
Just a boy – just to scratch an itch.
I peered in windows and I crept the ground,
And I skulked in places without even a sound.
Then! I found a hag, who laughed gleefulle-e-e
Now she’s made me a captive in her menagerie!
As her boy toy - she whipped me with marks
And she tied me up to a post for a lark.
But I found her book, that horrible grimoire
(Was careful not to cause an uproar.)
Then I copied all the letters in a big round hand
And traced out the symbols in the sand
It was hard to do, the way she misused me-e-e
When I became a member of her damned menagerie,
I had to cook the frogs and newts for the b*tch
And I wore chained collars and a worn-out suit
Made me pass out examinations at her Institute -
She made me give tests to the other damned witches.
Oh, they misused me, did awful unspeakable things to m-e-e
But one day I became the ruler of that menagerie!
I got her knowledge, power, and more, you see
Yes, they took me into that wicked partnership.
And then I cast them all out on a nasty little trip
I got me hold of H. G. Well’s time machine ship
And kicked their gnarly asses through a quantum slip
Then I took control from the nasty banshee-e-es
And become the ruler of the damned menagerie!
Mmm, I got the power, I grew so rich
I took possession from that wicked old witch
And one day I’ll stand proud before the Covenant.
Before the demons that the devil will send,
And take a vote at the eldritch roll call,
But you know I never thought of thinking of myself at all.
I’ll only do it to help out humanit-y-y
When I take control of the dark force menagerie.
Now humans and pagans where e’er you be
If you want to rise to the top of the tree
Don’t fret about fetters - or foeter either -
And don’t worry about your wretched old soul
When it’s lashed onto a whipping stool
Just remember the famous golden rule of ghouls
Stick close to your grimoire and strive to be-e-e,
The leader of the pack, the ruler of your menagerie.
(c 2007, Chris Perridas)
_____
Member of the Menagerie, by Giblet and Skeleton
When I was a lad I sought a witch
Just a boy – just to scratch an itch.
I peered in windows and I crept the ground,
And I skulked in places without even a sound.
Then! I found a hag, who laughed gleefulle-e-e
Now she’s made me a captive in her menagerie!
As her boy toy - she whipped me with marks
And she tied me up to a post for a lark.
But I found her book, that horrible grimoire
(Was careful not to cause an uproar.)
Then I copied all the letters in a big round hand
And traced out the symbols in the sand
It was hard to do, the way she misused me-e-e
When I became a member of her damned menagerie,
I had to cook the frogs and newts for the b*tch
And I wore chained collars and a worn-out suit
Made me pass out examinations at her Institute -
She made me give tests to the other damned witches.
Oh, they misused me, did awful unspeakable things to m-e-e
But one day I became the ruler of that menagerie!
I got her knowledge, power, and more, you see
Yes, they took me into that wicked partnership.
And then I cast them all out on a nasty little trip
I got me hold of H. G. Well’s time machine ship
And kicked their gnarly asses through a quantum slip
Then I took control from the nasty banshee-e-es
And become the ruler of the damned menagerie!
Mmm, I got the power, I grew so rich
I took possession from that wicked old witch
And one day I’ll stand proud before the Covenant.
Before the demons that the devil will send,
And take a vote at the eldritch roll call,
But you know I never thought of thinking of myself at all.
I’ll only do it to help out humanit-y-y
When I take control of the dark force menagerie.
Now humans and pagans where e’er you be
If you want to rise to the top of the tree
Don’t fret about fetters - or foeter either -
And don’t worry about your wretched old soul
When it’s lashed onto a whipping stool
Just remember the famous golden rule of ghouls
Stick close to your grimoire and strive to be-e-e,
The leader of the pack, the ruler of your menagerie.
(c 2007, Chris Perridas)
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Have Primal Evolutionary Manipulations Been Found?
...as a biologist, seemed to find their curious marking unusually puzzling and provocative, though to my geological eye it looked not unlike some of the ripple effects reasonably common in the sedimentary rocks...On the other hand, the prevalence of very early life forms was singular in the highest degree.... and Lake fell back on mythology for a provisional name - jocosely dubbing his finds "The Elder Ones." -- Mountains of Madness, HPL
_____
Oldest Animal Fossils Found in Lakes, Not Oceans
Conventional wisdom has it that the first animals evolved in the ocean.
Now researchers studying ancient rock samples in South China have found that the first animal fossils are preserved in ancient lake deposits, not in marine sediments as commonly assumed.
These new findings not only raise questions as to where the earliest animals were living, but what factors drove animals to evolve in the first place.
For some 3 billion years, single-celled life forms such as bacteria dominated the planet. Then, roughly 600 million years ago, the first multi-cellular animals appeared on the scene, diversifying rapidly.
The oldest known animal fossils in the world are preserved in South China's Doushantuo Formation. These fossil beds have no adult specimens - instead, many of the fossils appear to be microscopic embryos.
"Our first unusual finding in this region was the abundance of a clay mineral called smectite," said researcher Tom Bristow, now at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. "In rocks of this age, smectite is normally transformed into other types of clay. The smectite in these South China rocks, however, underwent no such transformation and have a special chemistry that, for the smectite to form, requires specific conditions in the water - conditions commonly found in salty, alkaline lakes."
More ...
Necronomicon
If you have facebook, Pavel's blog might be inriguing for you. The link is here.
This section is a short summary of some of horror writer H.P. Lovecraft’s major ideas relating to the Necronomicon and its associated Myths. and more...
This section is a short summary of some of horror writer H.P. Lovecraft’s major ideas relating to the Necronomicon and its associated Myths. and more...
More on the Mongolian Death Worm
David Farrier to embark on hunt for Mongolian death worm
Link
Two New Zealanders will leave for Mongolia's Gobi Desert next week on an ambitious expedition to find the fabled acid-spitting and lightning-throwing Mongolian death worm.
The worm has never been documented but some Mongolians are convinced it exists. They call it Allghoi Khorkhoi, or "intestine worm" because it resembles a cow's intestine and is about 1.5m long.
They say it jumps out of the sand and kills people by spitting concentrated acid or shooting lightning from its rectum over long distances.
Auckland-based journalist David Farrier, who is organising the expedition, and Motueka-based cameraman Christie Douglas, leave on Tuesday to spend two weeks in the Gobi, trying to verify the worm's existence and making a documentary about it.
They will hire local Mongolians to help them; a guide, translator and cook.
Farrier, who works for TV3, told NZPA he had always been fascinated by cryptozoology, or the search for hidden creatures.
The expedition and documentary, which would cost him between $15,000 and $20,000, would take a serious look at the worm and what it was, Farrier said.
He said he was interested in the death worm because it was one of the most outrageous creatures that were rumoured to exist.
However, it was also one of the mythical creatures that had a better chance of being real.
Rumours could inflate the reputation of things such as the Loch Ness monster and Bigfoot, but sparsely populated Mongolia was not a place where rumours were going to propagate, Farrier said.
"If a Mongolian says they have seen a big worm-like creature out in the desert they haven't really got any reason to lie."
A number of experts have dismissed the worm's existence, putting it down as a rumour, but Farrier was not put off.
"I think it won't be a worm, obviously a worm can't survive in a desert. I'd say it would be some sort of snake that's not meant to be there. It's very out of place and a bit new."
Farrier said there been up to four unsuccessful expeditions searching for the death worm in the last 100 years, the last two in 2003 and 2005, which had used night vision goggles to look for the worm.
However, the New Zealand team planned to bring the worm to the surface with explosives, as it is said to be attracted to tremors.
Farrier put his chances of finding the worm at between 5 and 15 percent.
"They are high for a ridiculous creature like the death worm but the area I am going to is a very specific place in the southern Gobi where all the sightings have been."
He only plans to capture the worm on film.
"I have no intention of grabbing it, capturing it, stuffing it, or anything like that. I just want to prove its existence and if I can get it on film, that's all I need to do."
NZPA
THE COMING OF THE VOIDAL (1977)
Adrian Cole THE COMING OF THE VOIDAL 1977 1/1 wrappers
Cole, Adrian: The Coming Of The Voidal. Spectre Press. 1977. First edition (& 1st printing). Stapled wraps. Short story: illustrated by Jim Pitts.
CALL OF THE TENTACLE (1997)
William I I Read CALL OF THE TENTACLE 1997 1st
Read, William I. I.: Call Of The Tentacle: A Further Dennistoun Adventure. Haunted Library Publication: Chester. 1997. First edition (& 1st printing). Stapled wrappers. Cthulhu mythos story: introduction by the author titled ''H. P. Lovecraft: The Dread Secret Revealed!''.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Minion of Cthulhu? Piglet Squid?
Piglet squid are typically found in deep water -- 320 feet or deeper from the ocean's surface. The one in the photo was found in the San Pedro Channel.
From:
Link: click!
Kappa Alpha Tau Report
Lovecraft Loved Cats. Periodically, the HPLblog gives you breaking cat news. :)
Is your cat left or right pawed?
10:28 24 July 2009 by Ewen Callaway
Direct Link
Researchers tasked 42 domestic cats to ferret out a bit of tuna in a jar too small for their heads. Among 21 females, all but one favoured the right paw across dozens of trials, while 20 out of 21 males preferentially used the left. One male proved ambidextrous.
Not so for two simpler activities: pawing at a toy mouse suspended in the air or dragged on ground from a string. No matter their sex, all of the cats wielded their right and left paws about equally on these less demanding tasks.
Journal reference: Animal Behaviour (DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2009.06.010)
{Chrispy likes cats, too. Which paw does YOUR cat use?)
Is your cat left or right pawed?
10:28 24 July 2009 by Ewen Callaway
Direct Link
Researchers tasked 42 domestic cats to ferret out a bit of tuna in a jar too small for their heads. Among 21 females, all but one favoured the right paw across dozens of trials, while 20 out of 21 males preferentially used the left. One male proved ambidextrous.
Not so for two simpler activities: pawing at a toy mouse suspended in the air or dragged on ground from a string. No matter their sex, all of the cats wielded their right and left paws about equally on these less demanding tasks.
Journal reference: Animal Behaviour (DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2009.06.010)
{Chrispy likes cats, too. Which paw does YOUR cat use?)
Spanish Language "Dunwich" Lobby Card
Many of us remember Stockard Channing's wry delivery of the "Grease" lyrics:
Look at me, I'm Sandra D'
lousy with virginity
Won't go to bed
'til I'm legally wed ...
But how many recall:
Look it's me, I'm Sandra Dee,
Armitage just fainted on me,
And "it" lays half-bent, foetid,
But not quite dead!
Anyway, heh, here's a cool Spanish language lobby card.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Mongolian Death Worm: A Shoggoth of a Different Color?
Link
The Truth Behind the Mongolian Death Worm
Tue, Jul 21, 2009
Braving violent sandstorms akin to fog with an attitude problem, tent-shredding twisters that blast men off their feet, and an ice river that caves in as their vehicles are crossing, the four men continue on their journey. Their thoughts are haunted by the creature they are tracking, a legendary beast said to be capable of spitting lethal corrosive venom, or killing from a distance with an electrical discharge. This was the quest to find the truth about the Mongolian Death Worm.
The intense experiences just described were critical moments for leading cryptozoologist, author and zoological journalist Richard Freeman, in the expedition he led in 2005. The mission: to track one of the world’s most fearsome cryptids, an animal that strikes terror into the hearts of many Mongolian people with its abhorrent appearance and deadly demeanour – and not just for those who have seen it.
The Death Worm’s existence has been reported in these columns, but it was time to set the record straight and get the lowdown from Freeman himself. So what prompted him to embark on the expedition in the first place?
Says Freeman: “The Mongolian Death Worm is legendary. I had heard talk of the creature for quite a few years before we left for the expedition. The Death Worm was first mentioned in the West by American adventurer Professor Roy Chapman Andrews, who was the inspiration behind Indiana Jones.”
“But the Death Worm was largely forgotten when Mongolia was under socialist rule. The Czech explorer Ivan Mackerle helped rekindle interest with his investigations in the 1990s. Actually, I met Ivan – and he was a wonderful guy – and he inspired us to make another expedition.”
“In preparation, we had some leaflets printed up in Mongolian and distributed in the areas we were visiting. They explained that a group of British scientists would be travelling through the area and offered a $50 reward for a specimen of the allghoi-khorkoi – an indigenous word meaning “intestine worm” because of the Death Worm’s resemblance to a blood-filled cow’s intestine.”
“There were literally dozens and dozens of stories. The oldest eyewitness account came from a 90 year-old former policeman who saw the Death Worm when he was 16; the most recent had seen it just the year before we arrived. All the reports dovetailed with the description of a two-foot long, reddish, worm-like creature lying in the desert – although some people said it is greyer in colour.”
“There was the friend of park ranger who had seen the Death Worm three times: the first in 1965 when he saw its head poking out of a hole in the sand; the second the next year when he saw one eating a mouse. The third time was in 1972, when he actually killed a worm by throwing a rock at it, but this time some Russian scientists who were researching snakes in the area took the body away. So it’s likely that a Death Worm specimen today lies forgotten in the vaults of some Russian museum, just as there are other unknown species preserved in museums around the world.”
“Another man we met close to the border with China was a retired Mongolian Army colonel who in 1973 had been in charge of a now-abandoned socialist base. He witnessed one that had come out in the rain at sunset. Coiled up in the desert, what he thought was a tyre was actually the Death Worm. The description was like many of the others we had heard: reddish-brown, a few feet in length, and shaped like a sausage. He drove off to get his camera but it had gone by the time he got back”
“We came to the conclusion that they are apocryphal. I think that the Death Worm is either a worm lizard – not actually a worm but a group of primitive burrowing reptiles that look like huge, bright pink earthworms and are related to snakes and lizards. It’s either one of these or a sand boa, which is a red-brown coloured burrowing snake. I don’t think it’s poisonous; I think that’s apocryphal.”
“Maybe it grew out of the idea that some snakes are poisonous, so it’s better to avoid all of them. Although other times the native stories turn out to be true, like the story of the Hero Shrew in Africa, which was said to be able to support a man’s weight on its back – and in fact it can because of its mesh-like vertebrae.”
“I suspected that it was a reptile because the habitat would be too dry for a worm – and so the cold, barren Gobi Desert proved to be. Everyone else’s descriptions corroborated this too – both previous studies and the numerous reports we gathered from people, many of which suggested it was scaly.”
“I don’t think we ever got near to it. Unfortunately, we didn’t get close. Not there at the right place or the right time. The Gobi is a massive place where you can literally drive for three days without not only seeing another human but another sign of a human.”
“On one occasion we did set traps using a series of sunken buckets connected by mesh above ground level. The idea is that the creature crawling along bumps into the mesh and cannot carry on forwards, so runs along the mesh until it comes to the bucket and drops in. After a night of thunderstorms and heavy rain, we checked the buckets in the morning but they were empty.”
“It’s interesting though because in general we found that the Death Worm was often associated with water, rainfall and wells. So too were various stories of encounters with snake-like dragons – quite distinct from and much larger than the Death Worm. We heard of a doctor who went to draw water from a well in a place called Bulgan Sum and who was stunned to find what he described as a green scaled Chinese dragon lurking at the bottom.”
“Another time we were told of a wise man that had seen a dragon slithering into a well. When word got around, the communist party officials came and poured oil in the well as punishment, because the story was considered superstitious or religious and so against the political ideology of the time. But ill fortune struck the men, as two mysteriously died and the third was left childless.”
All told a fascinating expedition – but where next for Richard Freeman and his team?
Reveals Freeman: “Next year we’re off to Sumatra on the track of the orang-pendek, an undiscovered species of upright walking ape, which comes down from the mountains to the semi-cultivated lands where the fruit trees
are.”
We’ll no doubt be catching up to see if the expedition makes any sightings. Meanwhile, you can find out much more about Freeman and his work at The Centre of Fortean Zoology.
Do you know Lovecraft?
I just took a "Big Five" test and then did the same test for Lovecraft. I'd like a few of you to rate Lovecraft, too, and email me the results. I'll post them.
The link is:
http://www.outofservice.com/bigfive/
Here's the results I got - it may prejudice your results, but so what? Most people are honest, and so I'll also post my numbers in case I was projecting myself on HPL - as is a tendency of researchers to do.
These are "bell curve" phenomena, and like IQ, the farther from 50 points, the more atypical the individual is, and should be quick to spot.
I'll be writing more about this kind of test(GOCASE), though it will be "Big Six" not five. G is general intelligence, but it's a given HPL was precocious and therefore one assumes a high IQ - just a SWAG but maybe 130?
Anyway, my numbers were:
Openness 80% (I join a lot of groups, love research)
Conscientiousness 52% (I scored lower than expected)
Extroversion 27% (despite blogging, I do tend to be socially shy)
Agreableness 22% (Ask my writer's circle, I can be cranky)
neurotic 60% (I worry, therefore I am)
_____
Lovecraft at about 30 years old:
Openness 84% (enjoys new experiences)
Conscientiousness 17% (messy desk!)
Extroversion 74% (social and enjoys company)
Agreeableness 4% (quick to criticize)
Neurotic 71% (anxious and nervous) I may have rated this a little high, but the man did speak frequently of suicidal tendencies).
_____
If several of us rate HPL, we might be closer to a concensus on his true nature independent of our prejudices. You can post your results, too.
The link is:
http://www.outofservice.com/bigfive/
Here's the results I got - it may prejudice your results, but so what? Most people are honest, and so I'll also post my numbers in case I was projecting myself on HPL - as is a tendency of researchers to do.
These are "bell curve" phenomena, and like IQ, the farther from 50 points, the more atypical the individual is, and should be quick to spot.
I'll be writing more about this kind of test(GOCASE), though it will be "Big Six" not five. G is general intelligence, but it's a given HPL was precocious and therefore one assumes a high IQ - just a SWAG but maybe 130?
Anyway, my numbers were:
Openness 80% (I join a lot of groups, love research)
Conscientiousness 52% (I scored lower than expected)
Extroversion 27% (despite blogging, I do tend to be socially shy)
Agreableness 22% (Ask my writer's circle, I can be cranky)
neurotic 60% (I worry, therefore I am)
_____
Lovecraft at about 30 years old:
Openness 84% (enjoys new experiences)
Conscientiousness 17% (messy desk!)
Extroversion 74% (social and enjoys company)
Agreeableness 4% (quick to criticize)
Neurotic 71% (anxious and nervous) I may have rated this a little high, but the man did speak frequently of suicidal tendencies).
_____
If several of us rate HPL, we might be closer to a concensus on his true nature independent of our prejudices. You can post your results, too.
Jupiter's Scar: The Old Ones Warning Us?
{Well, maybe not. Lovecraft, always fascinated by astronomomy, would have been excited for a day such as today. He might have incorporated something like this as a warning of how infinitesimal we are as a species, and how the Greater Beings could easily annihilate us. Or change us. Or drive us into madness.}
This Hubble picture, taken on July 23, by the new Wide Field Camera 3, is the sharpest visible-light picture taken of the atmospheric debris from a comet or asteroid that collided with Jupiter on July 19. This is Hubble's first science observation following its repair and upgrade in May. The size of the impactor is estimated to be as large as several football fields.
Link
This Hubble picture, taken on July 23, by the new Wide Field Camera 3, is the sharpest visible-light picture taken of the atmospheric debris from a comet or asteroid that collided with Jupiter on July 19. This is Hubble's first science observation following its repair and upgrade in May. The size of the impactor is estimated to be as large as several football fields.
Link
I-Phone Lovecraft
{I'm not convinced that Lovecraft was grumpy, nor that he has too much to answer for about pulp fiction, but this game app is intriguing. I know nothing about it. In fact, since I don't "game" I'm a little out of the loop on these things. Maybe Sir Mangus will stop by and enlighten? - CP}
by Jon Jordan
Grumpy old occult sci-fantasy horror writer H. P. Lovecraft has much to answer for when it comes to pulp fiction but it's a step too far to suggest the non sequitur 'Lovecraftian puzzle game' is his fault.No, that little gem comes courtesy of developer Media Sunshine, which has announced Synthulhu.Of course, we're being rather arch in our reaction to what is, no doubt, a perfectly enjoyable experience.But a better comparison perhaps is Bejeweled as in this game you manipulate six different kinds of (basically different coloured), tissue cells - Rugose, Squamous, Ichorous, Cyclopean, Tenebrous, and Zymotic if you were asking.Your goal is to fill the entire screen entirely with one type of cell. Creating obstacles will be exploding Igneous cells and screeching Necrotic cells.Adding to the underlying gloom will be the game's backstory that follows mad genius Dr. Cecaelia Ward and her ill-advised experiments.Completing each level will unlock her dark secrets, including revelations about Miskatonic University, Cthulhu-themed wallpapers, and Hybrid mode, which allows you to flip through the various stages of Dr. Ward's horrendous transformations.
by Jon Jordan
Grumpy old occult sci-fantasy horror writer H. P. Lovecraft has much to answer for when it comes to pulp fiction but it's a step too far to suggest the non sequitur 'Lovecraftian puzzle game' is his fault.No, that little gem comes courtesy of developer Media Sunshine, which has announced Synthulhu.Of course, we're being rather arch in our reaction to what is, no doubt, a perfectly enjoyable experience.But a better comparison perhaps is Bejeweled as in this game you manipulate six different kinds of (basically different coloured), tissue cells - Rugose, Squamous, Ichorous, Cyclopean, Tenebrous, and Zymotic if you were asking.Your goal is to fill the entire screen entirely with one type of cell. Creating obstacles will be exploding Igneous cells and screeching Necrotic cells.Adding to the underlying gloom will be the game's backstory that follows mad genius Dr. Cecaelia Ward and her ill-advised experiments.Completing each level will unlock her dark secrets, including revelations about Miskatonic University, Cthulhu-themed wallpapers, and Hybrid mode, which allows you to flip through the various stages of Dr. Ward's horrendous transformations.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
The Goat! Of a Thousand Young: Sucked Dry!
What Would Lovecraft Think? (WWLT)*
*{Probably scoff, but then he just might incorporate the "grandmother" tale into a new story.}
_____
Mysterious Beasts Torment Villagers - by Helvy Tueumuna
21 July 2009
ONGWEDIVA – Unknown creatures that reportedly devour and suck blood from livestock are haunting villagers at Onheleiwa, Oidiva and Oikango of Ongwediva constituency.
Over 20 goats have been killed at Onheleiwa and Oidiva villages and an unknown number at Oikango, where the situation is said to be worse.
Villagers are convinced that the creatures have something to do with witchcraft. They are now accusing an elderly man who has a house at Onheleiwa village and his sister who has a house at Oikango village of being the owners of these strange, blood-sucking beasts.
Oshana Police spokesperson, Christina Fonsech, said the police were called at Onheleiwa last week where they followed the creatures’ footprints.
According to her, the creatures’ footprints are bigger than a dog’s footprints, and police could not identify the creatures.
“We followed them but they walked until a spot where they just vanished. It’s difficult to explain what happened to those footprints because they looked as if they climbed onto something but it was in an open space, so we don’t know what happened,” she said.
Olivia Shikongo had her whole kraal wiped out by the creatures, leaving her with only two kid goats.
According to Shikongo, on July 3 five of her goats were eaten up. All that was left were traces of hooves and heads of some of the goats, while other goats had their stomachs cut open and had no intestines or liver.
“Last Wednesday they came to the kraal again. When I heard the goats making noise, I started to scream. It seems that they could no longer kill the goat that they had bitten so they left. When we went to the kraal in the morning, there were only three goats. One goat, which is the bigger one, was fighting for its life. There was no trace of five other goats that were also at the kraal the previous night,” she explained.
According to her, when she and other villagers looked around all they could find were the footprints of the unknown creatures while her five goats seemed to have disappeared into thin air.
Shikongo lost a total of 11 goats in two nights.
“I’m only left with two small goats that we now lock up inside a room in the house,” she said.
Another villager who also lost a goat said he saw the creatures when he ran to the kraal after he heard his animals making noise.
According to him, he found four animals at the kraal but when they saw him, they ran away.
The villagers that claim to have seen the unknown creatures, said they look like tigers. Although the community members are also scared for their lives, they said they understand that the animals do not attack human beings.
“If you find them at night, they just sit still on the side of the path and wait for you to pass by,” said another villager.
*{Probably scoff, but then he just might incorporate the "grandmother" tale into a new story.}
_____
Mysterious Beasts Torment Villagers - by Helvy Tueumuna
21 July 2009
ONGWEDIVA – Unknown creatures that reportedly devour and suck blood from livestock are haunting villagers at Onheleiwa, Oidiva and Oikango of Ongwediva constituency.
Over 20 goats have been killed at Onheleiwa and Oidiva villages and an unknown number at Oikango, where the situation is said to be worse.
Villagers are convinced that the creatures have something to do with witchcraft. They are now accusing an elderly man who has a house at Onheleiwa village and his sister who has a house at Oikango village of being the owners of these strange, blood-sucking beasts.
Oshana Police spokesperson, Christina Fonsech, said the police were called at Onheleiwa last week where they followed the creatures’ footprints.
According to her, the creatures’ footprints are bigger than a dog’s footprints, and police could not identify the creatures.
“We followed them but they walked until a spot where they just vanished. It’s difficult to explain what happened to those footprints because they looked as if they climbed onto something but it was in an open space, so we don’t know what happened,” she said.
Olivia Shikongo had her whole kraal wiped out by the creatures, leaving her with only two kid goats.
According to Shikongo, on July 3 five of her goats were eaten up. All that was left were traces of hooves and heads of some of the goats, while other goats had their stomachs cut open and had no intestines or liver.
“Last Wednesday they came to the kraal again. When I heard the goats making noise, I started to scream. It seems that they could no longer kill the goat that they had bitten so they left. When we went to the kraal in the morning, there were only three goats. One goat, which is the bigger one, was fighting for its life. There was no trace of five other goats that were also at the kraal the previous night,” she explained.
According to her, when she and other villagers looked around all they could find were the footprints of the unknown creatures while her five goats seemed to have disappeared into thin air.
Shikongo lost a total of 11 goats in two nights.
“I’m only left with two small goats that we now lock up inside a room in the house,” she said.
Another villager who also lost a goat said he saw the creatures when he ran to the kraal after he heard his animals making noise.
According to him, he found four animals at the kraal but when they saw him, they ran away.
The villagers that claim to have seen the unknown creatures, said they look like tigers. Although the community members are also scared for their lives, they said they understand that the animals do not attack human beings.
“If you find them at night, they just sit still on the side of the path and wait for you to pass by,” said another villager.
French Lovecraft: Part One
Tom, Thanks for bringing these French editions to my attention.
Some great covers. More in a few days.
Some great covers. More in a few days.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Lovecraft Goes Squirrely
[To Derleth, 28 June 1933 at Roger Williams Park]
Getting too dark to write now ... the squirrels here are extremely friendly - one little rascal is now on the other end of the bench on which I'm sitting. I must bring some nuts for them next time.
Getting too dark to write now ... the squirrels here are extremely friendly - one little rascal is now on the other end of the bench on which I'm sitting. I must bring some nuts for them next time.
A Real "Dexter" From Antiquarian Providence
While this is a common document, it would have probably thrilled HPL to see it and imagine the daily life of 1789.
Handwritten bill and receipt of Stephen Dexter, Providence, Rhode Island, October 28, 1789, addressed to Timothy Green who purchased various textile items. Signed by John T. Spaulding (?) on behalf of Dexter. Paper measures 7 1/2" x 7 3/4", old folds, some old toning, bright ink.
The one Charles Dexter Ward reference that is vaguely tagential: Joseph Curwen, as revealed by the rambling legends embodied in what Ward heard and unearthed, was a very astonishing, enigmatic, and obscurely horrible individual. He had fled from Salem to Providence - that universal haven of the odd, the free, and the dissenting - at the beginning of the great witchcraft panic; being in fear of accusation because of his solitary ways and queer chemical or alchemical experiments. He was a colourless-looking man of about thirty, and was soon found qualified to become a freeman of Providence; thereafter buying a home lot just north of Gregory Dexter's at about the foot of Olney Street.
1789 receipt of Stephen Dexter, Providence, RI
Handwritten bill and receipt of Stephen Dexter, Providence, Rhode Island, October 28, 1789, addressed to Timothy Green who purchased various textile items. Signed by John T. Spaulding (?) on behalf of Dexter. Paper measures 7 1/2" x 7 3/4", old folds, some old toning, bright ink.
The one Charles Dexter Ward reference that is vaguely tagential: Joseph Curwen, as revealed by the rambling legends embodied in what Ward heard and unearthed, was a very astonishing, enigmatic, and obscurely horrible individual. He had fled from Salem to Providence - that universal haven of the odd, the free, and the dissenting - at the beginning of the great witchcraft panic; being in fear of accusation because of his solitary ways and queer chemical or alchemical experiments. He was a colourless-looking man of about thirty, and was soon found qualified to become a freeman of Providence; thereafter buying a home lot just north of Gregory Dexter's at about the foot of Olney Street.
Providence Scene Circa 1910
_____
Here's a 1910 Illustration of a Providence Scene. Lovecraft would have been about 20. Unknown if Lovecraft shopped here.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Joe Pulver's New Book
Joe Pulver's New Book
Blood Will Have Its Season
By Joseph S. Pulver, Sr., author Nightmare's Disciple
Introduction by S. T. Joshi
Illustrated by Thomas S. Brown and Stanley C. Sargent
Hippocampus Press 2009
ISBN 978-0-9814888-8-2
The dark, forbidding alleys of ruined cityscapes; the hopeless lives of brutalized whores, amoral hit-men, and vengeful-victims of violence—these are the landscapes and characters that fill the stories, poems, and prose-poems of Joseph S. Pulver, Sr. in his first collection. And yet, there is a strange and intoxicating beauty to Pulver’s creations, for they transport the reader out of the mundane and into the unearthly by the effortless stroke of a dazzling metaphor. Many of Pulver’s stories are innovative riffs on the enigmatic mythology of The King In Yellow, pregnant with the demonic witchery of the original. With this collection, Pulver places himself in the forefront of contemporary fantasy and horror literature.
“The prose of Joe Pulver can take its place with that of the masters of our genre—Poe, Lovecraft, Campbell, Ligotti—while his imaginative reach is something uniquely his own.” –from S. T. JOSHI’S Foreword
“Each piece seethes with a sinister madness like a straitjacketed ghost forgotten in a dark and cobwebbed cell. In this innovative, hypnotic collection, Joseph S. Pulver, Sr. has proven himself to be a perversely masterful sculptor of our dreams.” – Jeffrey Thomas
“Joe Pulver is a dark star is the merciless cosmos of weird fiction. His work is as brutal as it is beautiful.” -Wilum Hopfrog Pugmire
“In an earlier day I feel sure Joe Pulver would have been arrested for writing some of the stuff in this collection. Maybe he will be yet! In any case, I cannot shake the feeling that his stories are all well described by analogy to "The Colour out of Space" in that the descent of some elder, outer entity acts as seed producing, from the dark mulch of Joe's subconscious, a luxurious growth of beautiful and at the same time poisonous blooms. One knows one ought to flee but cannot resist hanging around to savor the corruption! And how can he write, with such intricate delicacy, thunderous prose that fairly rips up the pages it is printed on? I wish I knew!” -Robert M. Price
“Pulver challenges his readers with amazingly bizarre and intriguing
versatility as he masterfully and engagingly explores worlds of
beautifully mournful fantastic prose, invokes hellish realms of
relentless violence, conjures wild homages to his many heroes, and
tinkers with conceptual formatting.” -Stan Sargent
“BLOOD WILL HAVE ITS SEASON teeters between lyrical tranquility and unchecked brutality. Joe Pulver's style is sometimes jarring, sometimes lulling -- but deceptively so. BLOOD is a rough ride. It's not for children or old prudes.” -Mark Rainey
Joseph S. Pulver, Sr. is the acclaimed author of the Lovecraftian novel Nightmare’s Disciple and the author of many short stories that have appeared in magazines and anthologies. He has received several Honorable Mentions in Datlow’s and Windling’s The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror.
http://www.hippocampuspress.com/other/blood-will-have-its-season.html
Joe Pulver on MySpace
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=147195846
Joe Pulver on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/profile.php?id=1741550948&ref=profile
Joe Pulver on The Haunt
http://www.horror-mall.com/haunt/jpulver
"They" are watching?
It was only in Lovecraft's lifetime that scientists realized there were galaxies. look how far we've come.
July 23, 2009
PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has imaged a wild creature of the dark -- a coiled galaxy with an eye-like object at its center.
The galaxy, called NGC 1097, is located 50 million light-years away. It is spiral-shaped like our Milky Way, with long, spindly arms of stars. The "eye" at the center of the galaxy is actually a monstrous black hole surrounded by a ring of stars. In this color-coded infrared view from Spitzer, the area around the invisible black hole is blue and the ring of stars, white.
The black hole is huge, about 100 million times the mass of our sun, and is feeding off gas and dust along with the occasional unlucky star. Our Milky Way's central black hole is tame by comparison, with a mass of a few million suns.
"The fate of this black hole and others like it is an active area of research," said George Helou, deputy director of NASA's Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. "Some theories hold that the black hole might quiet down and eventually enter a more dormant state like our Milky Way black hole."
July 23, 2009
PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has imaged a wild creature of the dark -- a coiled galaxy with an eye-like object at its center.
The galaxy, called NGC 1097, is located 50 million light-years away. It is spiral-shaped like our Milky Way, with long, spindly arms of stars. The "eye" at the center of the galaxy is actually a monstrous black hole surrounded by a ring of stars. In this color-coded infrared view from Spitzer, the area around the invisible black hole is blue and the ring of stars, white.
The black hole is huge, about 100 million times the mass of our sun, and is feeding off gas and dust along with the occasional unlucky star. Our Milky Way's central black hole is tame by comparison, with a mass of a few million suns.
"The fate of this black hole and others like it is an active area of research," said George Helou, deputy director of NASA's Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. "Some theories hold that the black hole might quiet down and eventually enter a more dormant state like our Milky Way black hole."
Paper on Lovecraft ...
Interesting term paper on Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness.
Jacob Hughes
Romantic Ecology, Debbie Lee
December 16, 2008
The Conceptual Framework and Landscape Potential of Lovecraft’s Antarctic H.P. Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness is generally recognized as a seminal work of 20thcentury “weird fiction” by scholars of the field ...
Paper here:
http://www.wsu.edu/~deblee/EcologyFall2008/jacob.pdf
or click here
Jacob Hughes
Romantic Ecology, Debbie Lee
December 16, 2008
The Conceptual Framework and Landscape Potential of Lovecraft’s Antarctic H.P. Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness is generally recognized as a seminal work of 20thcentury “weird fiction” by scholars of the field ...
Paper here:
http://www.wsu.edu/~deblee/EcologyFall2008/jacob.pdf
or click here
Melting at the Mountains of Madness
Our borings, of varying depth according to the promise held out by the upper soil or rock, were to be confined to exposed, or nearly exposed, land surfaces - these inevitably being slopes and ridges because of the mile or two-mile thickness of solid ice overlying the lower levels. - HPL, At The Mountains of Madness
_____
Massive glacier in sub-Antarctic island shrinks by a fifth
PARIS (AFP) – One of the biggest glaciers in the southern hemisphere shrivelled by a fifth in 40 years, French scientists said on Wednesday (22 July 2009).
The Cook glacier on Kerguelen, an island in France's southern Indian Ocean territories, covered 501 square kilometres (193 square miles) in 1963.
Combining satellite images with other data, glaciologists from the Laboratory for Studying Geophysics and Space Oceanography estimate the glacier lost an average of nearly 1.5 metres (4.9 feet) in height each year by 2003, shedding almost 22 percent of its original volume.
Link
A Providence Aeronaut's Trauma
This actually predates Lovecraft by mor than a year, but it is such an xciting incident I include it in the blog. No evidence that HPL crossed paths with it, but one imagines it could easily be included in a Mythos tangent.
The image should expand if you click it.
The only touch point I know is:
I must be very deliberate now, and choose my words. After ploughing down a few steps amidst the gnawled bones we saw that there was light ahead; not any mystic phosphorescence, but a filtered daylight which could not come except from unknown fissures in the cliff that over-looked the waste valley. That such fissures had escaped notice from outside was hardly remarkable, for not only is the valley wholly uninhabited, but the cliff is so high and beetling that only an aeronaut could study its face in detail. "Rats in the Walls", HPL
RHODE ISLAND - AN AERONAUTS THRILLING EXPERIENCE AT PROVIDENCE - HIS BALLOON COLLAPSES WHEN TWO MILES HIGH, AND HE FALLS TO THE EARTH. An article concerning this event is included which states that he survived the fall. Published in "Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper" July 20, 1889. Dimensions of the engraved area, in inches, minus margins is 7 1/4 x 9. This is a 118-year old engraving in excellent condition and guaranteed to be as described.
The image should expand if you click it.
The only touch point I know is:
I must be very deliberate now, and choose my words. After ploughing down a few steps amidst the gnawled bones we saw that there was light ahead; not any mystic phosphorescence, but a filtered daylight which could not come except from unknown fissures in the cliff that over-looked the waste valley. That such fissures had escaped notice from outside was hardly remarkable, for not only is the valley wholly uninhabited, but the cliff is so high and beetling that only an aeronaut could study its face in detail. "Rats in the Walls", HPL
RHODE ISLAND - AN AERONAUTS THRILLING EXPERIENCE AT PROVIDENCE - HIS BALLOON COLLAPSES WHEN TWO MILES HIGH, AND HE FALLS TO THE EARTH. An article concerning this event is included which states that he survived the fall. Published in "Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper" July 20, 1889. Dimensions of the engraved area, in inches, minus margins is 7 1/4 x 9. This is a 118-year old engraving in excellent condition and guaranteed to be as described.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Three reports of the New England Eclipse 1925
January 24, 1925
Capt. F. B. Littell took the company of 19 crew and scientists to an altitude of 4500 feet with a Zeppelin. Of the scientists, there were E. T. Pollock, G. H. Peters, H. H. Barnes, J. A. Jennings, and C. B. Watts, of watts limb charts fame. It was a normal eclipse expedition but on a platform unique among them all. (ref. S and L E observations 1943-1993, F. Graham). This nearly turned out to be tragedy in American aviation. The airship in question was the Los Angeles, which at that time was the largest in the world. Lifting off from Lakehurst, New Jersey en route to a pre-selected eclipse-viewing site near Nantucket Island, the Los Angeles was suddenly hit by a fierce northwesterly wind gust that actually caused the air-ship to nearly topple over on its side. Fortunately, the Los Angeles was quickly righted upwards and was able to fly off on its flight to totality. Ref. SENL 02.02
January 24, 1925
Famous New York Eclipse. Southern limit passed somewhere through Manhattan: exact line between 95 and 97th Streets. Observers stationed at every intersection between 72nd and 135th Streets. Path New York and Connecticut clear skies. Millions of people witnessed the Eclipse. This was also the eclipse that gave rise to the now popular term "Diamond Ring Effect." Since the southern edge of totality crossed upper Manhattan, those who were located just outside the eclipse track saw a single bright bead of sunlight persist through the maximum phase of the eclipse, while the inner corona was also visible. In the January 26th, 1925 edition of The New York Times, under the headline "Scientists Missed Sun's 'Diamond Ring' " we read in part: " . . . spontaneously called 'the diamond ring' by numbers of observers in New York, and this term, hitherto unknown to astronomy, was apparently fixed forever as a technical term in the literature of the subject by Saturday night." Ref. SENL 02.02
January 24, 1925
Mabel L. Todd also was passionately interested in total solar eclipses, and traveled to a dozen of them at a time when expeditions often lasted for many months. He photographed the New England total eclipse of January 24, 1925 from an airplane, and some sources credit him with being the first astronomer to photograph the sun's corona from an airplane. Richard Sanderson 6/97. As per Joe Rao: There were actually more than two dozen aircraft that were in the skies over the Greater New York area during this eclipse and many carried photographers. One of those was astronomer Willem J. Luyten who served as a reporter/photographer for the New York Times and witnessed the eclipse at an altitude of 10,000 feet over the Long Island Sound shoreline of Connecticut. Luyten later noted that one of the difficulties that he had in photographing the totally eclipsed Sun was not being able to see what the frame number in his camera was registering. "I could only snap the shutter, advance the film and hope that my next pot-shot would not end up on the previous frame Ref. SENL 02.02
Capt. F. B. Littell took the company of 19 crew and scientists to an altitude of 4500 feet with a Zeppelin. Of the scientists, there were E. T. Pollock, G. H. Peters, H. H. Barnes, J. A. Jennings, and C. B. Watts, of watts limb charts fame. It was a normal eclipse expedition but on a platform unique among them all. (ref. S and L E observations 1943-1993, F. Graham). This nearly turned out to be tragedy in American aviation. The airship in question was the Los Angeles, which at that time was the largest in the world. Lifting off from Lakehurst, New Jersey en route to a pre-selected eclipse-viewing site near Nantucket Island, the Los Angeles was suddenly hit by a fierce northwesterly wind gust that actually caused the air-ship to nearly topple over on its side. Fortunately, the Los Angeles was quickly righted upwards and was able to fly off on its flight to totality. Ref. SENL 02.02
January 24, 1925
Famous New York Eclipse. Southern limit passed somewhere through Manhattan: exact line between 95 and 97th Streets. Observers stationed at every intersection between 72nd and 135th Streets. Path New York and Connecticut clear skies. Millions of people witnessed the Eclipse. This was also the eclipse that gave rise to the now popular term "Diamond Ring Effect." Since the southern edge of totality crossed upper Manhattan, those who were located just outside the eclipse track saw a single bright bead of sunlight persist through the maximum phase of the eclipse, while the inner corona was also visible. In the January 26th, 1925 edition of The New York Times, under the headline "Scientists Missed Sun's 'Diamond Ring' " we read in part: " . . . spontaneously called 'the diamond ring' by numbers of observers in New York, and this term, hitherto unknown to astronomy, was apparently fixed forever as a technical term in the literature of the subject by Saturday night." Ref. SENL 02.02
January 24, 1925
Mabel L. Todd also was passionately interested in total solar eclipses, and traveled to a dozen of them at a time when expeditions often lasted for many months. He photographed the New England total eclipse of January 24, 1925 from an airplane, and some sources credit him with being the first astronomer to photograph the sun's corona from an airplane. Richard Sanderson 6/97. As per Joe Rao: There were actually more than two dozen aircraft that were in the skies over the Greater New York area during this eclipse and many carried photographers. One of those was astronomer Willem J. Luyten who served as a reporter/photographer for the New York Times and witnessed the eclipse at an altitude of 10,000 feet over the Long Island Sound shoreline of Connecticut. Luyten later noted that one of the difficulties that he had in photographing the totally eclipsed Sun was not being able to see what the frame number in his camera was registering. "I could only snap the shutter, advance the film and hope that my next pot-shot would not end up on the previous frame Ref. SENL 02.02
Lovecraft in 1925's Solar Eclipse (with Video) !
In 1925 (when I was in New York) some of us tramped up into the cold of northern Yonkers to see the January eclipse, but Long (judging from his description) seems to have seen about as much from the roof of his apartment house in 100th St.” (to Miss Elizabeth Toldridge, 12 August 1932)
It's about 3:00 into the silent video that you see the eclipse - and thus you'll see what Lovecraft saw. It's as close to standing next to him as we'll ever get.
It's about 3:00 into the silent video that you see the eclipse - and thus you'll see what Lovecraft saw. It's as close to standing next to him as we'll ever get.
The Solar Eclipse: 21 July 2009
I think Lovecraft would first be thrilled at our ability to see astronomical events, appalled that superstition still reigns, and would find some way to admix these two world views into a weird story of some sort. He often did. One can here him "tsk" at the "grandmothers" and their "superstitions".
TAREGNA, India – The longest solar eclipse of the 21st century created near darkness soon after dawn in a swath of India stretching from the west coast to the northern plains where millions gathered in the open to watch.
But millions more shuttered themselves in, gripped by fearful myths in a country that abounds in Hindu mythology-based superstitions and fables, one of which says an eclipse is caused when a dragon-demon swallows the sun.
At its peak, the eclipse lasted 6 minutes and 39 seconds in other parts of Asia.
It is the longest such eclipse since July 11, 1991, when a total eclipse lasting 6 minutes, 53 seconds was visible from Hawaii to South America. There will not be a longer eclipse than Wednesday's until 2132.
But millions across India were shunning the sight and planned to stay indoors.
Even in regions where the eclipse was not visible, pregnant women were advised to stay indoors in curtained rooms over a belief that the sun's invisible rays would harm the fetus and the baby would be born with disfigurations, birthmarks or a congenital defect.
Krati Jain, a software professional in New Delhi, said she planned to take a day off from work Wednesday to avoid what she called "any ill effects of the eclipse on my baby."
"My mother and aunts have called and told me stay in a darkened room with the curtains closed, lie in bed and chant prayers," said Jain, 24, who is expecting her first child.
In the northern Indian state of Punjab, authorities ordered schools to begin an hour late to prevent children from venturing out and gazing at the sun.
TAREGNA, India – The longest solar eclipse of the 21st century created near darkness soon after dawn in a swath of India stretching from the west coast to the northern plains where millions gathered in the open to watch.
But millions more shuttered themselves in, gripped by fearful myths in a country that abounds in Hindu mythology-based superstitions and fables, one of which says an eclipse is caused when a dragon-demon swallows the sun.
At its peak, the eclipse lasted 6 minutes and 39 seconds in other parts of Asia.
It is the longest such eclipse since July 11, 1991, when a total eclipse lasting 6 minutes, 53 seconds was visible from Hawaii to South America. There will not be a longer eclipse than Wednesday's until 2132.
But millions across India were shunning the sight and planned to stay indoors.
Even in regions where the eclipse was not visible, pregnant women were advised to stay indoors in curtained rooms over a belief that the sun's invisible rays would harm the fetus and the baby would be born with disfigurations, birthmarks or a congenital defect.
Krati Jain, a software professional in New Delhi, said she planned to take a day off from work Wednesday to avoid what she called "any ill effects of the eclipse on my baby."
"My mother and aunts have called and told me stay in a darkened room with the curtains closed, lie in bed and chant prayers," said Jain, 24, who is expecting her first child.
In the northern Indian state of Punjab, authorities ordered schools to begin an hour late to prevent children from venturing out and gazing at the sun.
John C Lewis' Note to Chrispy
John and I correspond a lot. Through my blog you know a lot of how I feel about Lovecraft, but I like to allow other people to express their opinions, too. Many do so in the "Inner Sanctum" of Chrispy's Lovecraft Group, but sometimes on the public page, too. This post generated a great deal of debate on The Haunt, and notably by Larry Roberts. Debate is good. Most controversial may be the term and use of "God" with Lovecraft. Im sure John will read your comments when you post them. :)
John's sincere expressions are listed below.
_____
Hello Chris:
I'd like to thank you in advance for posting this where others will see it. I've liked Lovecraft for many years and have actually created a few stories that are "Lovecraftian" in nature. My novel "Pillars of Fire" is definite Lovecraftian but is all my own. I'll have to post a pic of one of my creations for the story. It's a real cool, but completely alien, creature.
_____
What Makes A Lovecraftian Story
By: John C. Lewis
Greetings from the South.
I have long admired the works of Howard Phillips Lovecraft. The mastery of his "world weaving" has left a lasting impression upon me. Interestingly, his style has had an impact on many others as well for though he has been gone for over sixty years his work continues to grow in popularity to this day. The mysterious world he has created within the fabric of our own has been an inspiration to many writers who continually add to the "mythos" he has left behind. Quite often the question is asked; What makes a story Lovecraftian? Lovecraftian literature and what constitutes it is a very interesting subject indeed. So let's get all the disclaimers out of the way before I give you my take on what makes a Lovecraftian story. First of all I am no expert on Howard and to date I have only read about a third of what he has written. I read a new piece every few weeks so that I always have something to look forward to. I have read his treatise on supernatural horror in literature which was fascinating and have read lots of articles about the man, his life, and his works. I have followed the progression of his rise to stardom since the late sixties so I feel as though I know him. Now, with all that said, here we go;
I believe Lovecraft to be somewhat of a fantasy writer though a darker form of fantasy with Science Fictional elements. Sure he wrote his share of purely horrific stories but in essence, I see a large block of his work as gaslight fantasy with an otherworldly, supernatural twist (ah, maybe I've coined a new category of horrific fiction, maybe not).
What makes Lovecraftian stories unique is that they are steeped in realism. Not the realism that you and I see in our mundane day-to-day existence, but the realism of the world around us. We look out into our front yards and see a tree growing. If it blocks our view it is cut to the ground. Lovecraft could feel the essence of the tree as it beckoned him to stare out the window for that daily visit. Lovecraft would shift his position from one side to the other to see that which lay in the distance yet leaving the tree to forever guide his sight to the wonders beyond. As the tree grows we worry about it shedding leaves all over the place thus becoming a chore to get out there and clean it all up (What a Pain). Not Lovecraft, to him, watching that tree continually sprouting newer vegetation outside the window opens a new page to it's life and how it grows from a mere sapling to a mighty tree, full of a sentient life of it's own. He further connects with that tree as it sends it's tangle of tendrilly roots through the soil to seek the nutrients needed in order to sustain life. Similarly, man obtains a house, then a fence to be followed by a car and a job to earn the money to buy the trappings he needs for survival. In comparison, bringing subconscious attention to the life of a tree, on nature's terms, renders it full of intrigue, mystery, commensul relationships, times of hardship, and eventually, death. An unknown everyday fact that both fascinates and drags the reader in.
This is what makes the essence of a story Lovecraftian. The ability to see both the forest and the trees and, in turn, releasing the reader into that knowledge base. In essence, one could say of Lovecraft, "He saw the world as it really was, not as we created it." That's what makes a story Lovecraftian, creation of a whole new world within the fabric of the one we live in. Like a brood parasite, he leads us to consider the extension of the reality of this world, our world. I don't know how many people I've met that believe the Necronomicon is a real book, not just a tome created for Howard's mythos. That is the power his words wield..
Another thing he does is create legends for us to believe in. Though fantastical in nature, we still have that nagging tingle in our spine, wondering what is real, what is not. In many parts of the world the stuff of legend is considered reality. Who's to say. We all live on the same planet but our sphere of influence is different. One man's trash, An other's treasure. In his stories, Creatures of legend become creatures of fact, some even the stuff of nightmares. Man crawled from the seas millions of years ago yet before us the old ones arrived, creating this reality that we call our own. Now...they want it back.
The other thing that Lovecraft saw different was the universe. While we see the sun and moon, the stars are but lights in the sky, whereas Lovecraft envisions a vast oasis of life-bearing stars, and, the face of God. I'm convinced that in his wanderings in the dreamlands he came face-to-face with the essence that is God. Such a thing could have motivated him to create otherworldly beings that stretch the fabric of reality to it's utmost endurance. I wrote a book I hope to get published some day that is rife with Lovecraftian reality. In one section I have a character that is confronted by the group. The character is asked if she is who she appears to be or is she something entirely different. Angel says to them, 'Those who seek the truth shall never be blinded by darkness. You must unquestionably trust your faith, for to reveal it's mystery, is to destroy it's existence." Howard never reveals the mystery. Therefore, we believe, and try to reproduce that. John Carpenter saw that with "Out of The Mouth Of Madness." He gets it. He is in on the secret. Like any good magician Lovecraft kept the secrets to his worlds inside.
But speaking of the world of magic, one must realize that Lovecraft lived in a world very different from the one we frequent. His was fraught with the likes of people like Regardie, Crowley, Blackwood, and the occult lodges made popular at the turn of the century. The Order of the Golden Dawn and other groups all bent on magically manipulating our world into one to suite themselves. He lived in a world where many people believed in the mysterious land of the Hollow Earth with access at the poles when holes would appear large enough to swallow up entire ships. His was a world full of mystery and wonder and Charles Fortean discoveries of things unknown to us but real on some plane of existence here on Earth. These were the lines of reality from which he drew his fantastical vision of the Earth we live on and the stars that haunt our skies.
You want to know what a Lovecraftian story is, that is your answer. It is the real world, the world of wonder and imagination and natural energies., not this concrete shell of death, pestilence and artificial nutrition. A world you, and I can visit. Just follow the sounds of the Wendigo, the light of the will-o-wisp traverse through the misty moors surrounding the town of Drossligoth, and beyond to the city of Zadnikur.
John (aka, the "Creature")
John's sincere expressions are listed below.
_____
Hello Chris:
I'd like to thank you in advance for posting this where others will see it. I've liked Lovecraft for many years and have actually created a few stories that are "Lovecraftian" in nature. My novel "Pillars of Fire" is definite Lovecraftian but is all my own. I'll have to post a pic of one of my creations for the story. It's a real cool, but completely alien, creature.
_____
What Makes A Lovecraftian Story
By: John C. Lewis
Greetings from the South.
I have long admired the works of Howard Phillips Lovecraft. The mastery of his "world weaving" has left a lasting impression upon me. Interestingly, his style has had an impact on many others as well for though he has been gone for over sixty years his work continues to grow in popularity to this day. The mysterious world he has created within the fabric of our own has been an inspiration to many writers who continually add to the "mythos" he has left behind. Quite often the question is asked; What makes a story Lovecraftian? Lovecraftian literature and what constitutes it is a very interesting subject indeed. So let's get all the disclaimers out of the way before I give you my take on what makes a Lovecraftian story. First of all I am no expert on Howard and to date I have only read about a third of what he has written. I read a new piece every few weeks so that I always have something to look forward to. I have read his treatise on supernatural horror in literature which was fascinating and have read lots of articles about the man, his life, and his works. I have followed the progression of his rise to stardom since the late sixties so I feel as though I know him. Now, with all that said, here we go;
I believe Lovecraft to be somewhat of a fantasy writer though a darker form of fantasy with Science Fictional elements. Sure he wrote his share of purely horrific stories but in essence, I see a large block of his work as gaslight fantasy with an otherworldly, supernatural twist (ah, maybe I've coined a new category of horrific fiction, maybe not).
What makes Lovecraftian stories unique is that they are steeped in realism. Not the realism that you and I see in our mundane day-to-day existence, but the realism of the world around us. We look out into our front yards and see a tree growing. If it blocks our view it is cut to the ground. Lovecraft could feel the essence of the tree as it beckoned him to stare out the window for that daily visit. Lovecraft would shift his position from one side to the other to see that which lay in the distance yet leaving the tree to forever guide his sight to the wonders beyond. As the tree grows we worry about it shedding leaves all over the place thus becoming a chore to get out there and clean it all up (What a Pain). Not Lovecraft, to him, watching that tree continually sprouting newer vegetation outside the window opens a new page to it's life and how it grows from a mere sapling to a mighty tree, full of a sentient life of it's own. He further connects with that tree as it sends it's tangle of tendrilly roots through the soil to seek the nutrients needed in order to sustain life. Similarly, man obtains a house, then a fence to be followed by a car and a job to earn the money to buy the trappings he needs for survival. In comparison, bringing subconscious attention to the life of a tree, on nature's terms, renders it full of intrigue, mystery, commensul relationships, times of hardship, and eventually, death. An unknown everyday fact that both fascinates and drags the reader in.
This is what makes the essence of a story Lovecraftian. The ability to see both the forest and the trees and, in turn, releasing the reader into that knowledge base. In essence, one could say of Lovecraft, "He saw the world as it really was, not as we created it." That's what makes a story Lovecraftian, creation of a whole new world within the fabric of the one we live in. Like a brood parasite, he leads us to consider the extension of the reality of this world, our world. I don't know how many people I've met that believe the Necronomicon is a real book, not just a tome created for Howard's mythos. That is the power his words wield..
Another thing he does is create legends for us to believe in. Though fantastical in nature, we still have that nagging tingle in our spine, wondering what is real, what is not. In many parts of the world the stuff of legend is considered reality. Who's to say. We all live on the same planet but our sphere of influence is different. One man's trash, An other's treasure. In his stories, Creatures of legend become creatures of fact, some even the stuff of nightmares. Man crawled from the seas millions of years ago yet before us the old ones arrived, creating this reality that we call our own. Now...they want it back.
The other thing that Lovecraft saw different was the universe. While we see the sun and moon, the stars are but lights in the sky, whereas Lovecraft envisions a vast oasis of life-bearing stars, and, the face of God. I'm convinced that in his wanderings in the dreamlands he came face-to-face with the essence that is God. Such a thing could have motivated him to create otherworldly beings that stretch the fabric of reality to it's utmost endurance. I wrote a book I hope to get published some day that is rife with Lovecraftian reality. In one section I have a character that is confronted by the group. The character is asked if she is who she appears to be or is she something entirely different. Angel says to them, 'Those who seek the truth shall never be blinded by darkness. You must unquestionably trust your faith, for to reveal it's mystery, is to destroy it's existence." Howard never reveals the mystery. Therefore, we believe, and try to reproduce that. John Carpenter saw that with "Out of The Mouth Of Madness." He gets it. He is in on the secret. Like any good magician Lovecraft kept the secrets to his worlds inside.
But speaking of the world of magic, one must realize that Lovecraft lived in a world very different from the one we frequent. His was fraught with the likes of people like Regardie, Crowley, Blackwood, and the occult lodges made popular at the turn of the century. The Order of the Golden Dawn and other groups all bent on magically manipulating our world into one to suite themselves. He lived in a world where many people believed in the mysterious land of the Hollow Earth with access at the poles when holes would appear large enough to swallow up entire ships. His was a world full of mystery and wonder and Charles Fortean discoveries of things unknown to us but real on some plane of existence here on Earth. These were the lines of reality from which he drew his fantastical vision of the Earth we live on and the stars that haunt our skies.
You want to know what a Lovecraftian story is, that is your answer. It is the real world, the world of wonder and imagination and natural energies., not this concrete shell of death, pestilence and artificial nutrition. A world you, and I can visit. Just follow the sounds of the Wendigo, the light of the will-o-wisp traverse through the misty moors surrounding the town of Drossligoth, and beyond to the city of Zadnikur.
John (aka, the "Creature")
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
How can the Minions of Cthulhu Survive Volcanic Stresses?
This shows how an octopus can survive volcanic environments.
It's roughly 10 minutes long.
Very dramatic footage.
On a fictional flight of fancy, I suggest that when the Sleeping One arrived on Earth, the mos intelligent and interesting animal was the cephalopod, and that is the immediate form that the Sleeping One assumed - since the sentient servant of the Old Ones was undoubtedly made of a form of dark energy beyond our ken.
Men are so fragile, so puny, so incosequential - the cephalopod is an obvious form to morph into.
:)
It's roughly 10 minutes long.
Very dramatic footage.
On a fictional flight of fancy, I suggest that when the Sleeping One arrived on Earth, the mos intelligent and interesting animal was the cephalopod, and that is the immediate form that the Sleeping One assumed - since the sentient servant of the Old Ones was undoubtedly made of a form of dark energy beyond our ken.
Men are so fragile, so puny, so incosequential - the cephalopod is an obvious form to morph into.
:)
Eldritch Magic on Jupiter?
What would Lovecraft think? Would this have wnet in one of his stories as an eldritch machination of the Old Ones?
July 20, 2009
Scientists have found evidence that another object has bombarded Jupiter, exactly 15 years after the first impacts by the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9.
Following up on a tip by an amateur astronomer, Anthony Wesley of Australia, that a new dark "scar" had suddenly appeared on Jupiter, this morning between 3 and 9 a.m. PDT (6 a.m. and noon EDT) scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., using NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility at the summit of Mauna Kea, Hawaii, gathered evidence indicating an impact.
New infrared images show the likely impact point was near the south polar region, with a visibly dark "scar" and bright upwelling particles in the upper atmosphere detected in near-infrared wavelengths, and a warming of the upper troposphere with possible extra emission from ammonia gas detected at mid-infrared wavelengths.
"We were extremely lucky to be seeing Jupiter at exactly the right time, the right hour, the right side of Jupiter to witness the event. We couldn't have planned it better," said Glenn Orton, a scientist at JPL.
Orton and his team of astronomers kicked into gear early in the morning and haven't stopped tracking the planet. They are downloading data now and are working to get additional observing time on this and other telescopes.
This image was taken at 1.65 microns, a wavelength sensitive to sunlight reflected from high in Jupiter's atmosphere, and it shows both the bright center of the scar (bottom left) and the debris to its northwest (upper left).
"It could be the impact of a comet, but we don't know for sure yet," said Orton. "It's been a whirlwind of a day, and this on the anniversary of the Shoemaker-Levy 9 and Apollo anniversaries is amazing."
Shoemaker-Levy 9 was a comet that had been seen to break into many pieces before the pieces hit Jupiter in 1994.
Leigh Fletcher, a NASA postdoctoral fellow at JPL who worked with Orton during these latest observations said, "Given the rarity of these events, it's extremely exciting to be involved in these observations. These are the most exciting observations I've seen in my five years of observing the outer planets!"
The observations were made possible in large measure by the extraordinary efforts of the Infrared Telescope Facility staff, including telescope operator William Golisch, who adroitly moved three instruments in and out of the field during the short time the scar was visible on the planet, providing the wide wavelength coverage.
Link
July 20, 2009
Scientists have found evidence that another object has bombarded Jupiter, exactly 15 years after the first impacts by the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9.
Following up on a tip by an amateur astronomer, Anthony Wesley of Australia, that a new dark "scar" had suddenly appeared on Jupiter, this morning between 3 and 9 a.m. PDT (6 a.m. and noon EDT) scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., using NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility at the summit of Mauna Kea, Hawaii, gathered evidence indicating an impact.
New infrared images show the likely impact point was near the south polar region, with a visibly dark "scar" and bright upwelling particles in the upper atmosphere detected in near-infrared wavelengths, and a warming of the upper troposphere with possible extra emission from ammonia gas detected at mid-infrared wavelengths.
"We were extremely lucky to be seeing Jupiter at exactly the right time, the right hour, the right side of Jupiter to witness the event. We couldn't have planned it better," said Glenn Orton, a scientist at JPL.
Orton and his team of astronomers kicked into gear early in the morning and haven't stopped tracking the planet. They are downloading data now and are working to get additional observing time on this and other telescopes.
This image was taken at 1.65 microns, a wavelength sensitive to sunlight reflected from high in Jupiter's atmosphere, and it shows both the bright center of the scar (bottom left) and the debris to its northwest (upper left).
"It could be the impact of a comet, but we don't know for sure yet," said Orton. "It's been a whirlwind of a day, and this on the anniversary of the Shoemaker-Levy 9 and Apollo anniversaries is amazing."
Shoemaker-Levy 9 was a comet that had been seen to break into many pieces before the pieces hit Jupiter in 1994.
Leigh Fletcher, a NASA postdoctoral fellow at JPL who worked with Orton during these latest observations said, "Given the rarity of these events, it's extremely exciting to be involved in these observations. These are the most exciting observations I've seen in my five years of observing the outer planets!"
The observations were made possible in large measure by the extraordinary efforts of the Infrared Telescope Facility staff, including telescope operator William Golisch, who adroitly moved three instruments in and out of the field during the short time the scar was visible on the planet, providing the wide wavelength coverage.
Link
Sea Serpent Attack Maine, 1844
{I can't recall HPL mentioning this incident, but Maine was out of his immediate sight. I'll be Michelle let's us know more about this.}
DAILY NATIONAL INTELLIGENCER, Washington D.C., August 21, 1844
* Boothbay Maine ME
* Sea Serpent
Page 3 has a report from a New York paper that has details about another appearance of the infamous "Sea Serpent" off of Boothbay, Maine.
Describes the serpent and says the "snake" dove towards the schooner Temperance Mary after being hit by a "swivel" loaded with musket balls fired from the vessel.
DAILY NATIONAL INTELLIGENCER, Washington D.C., August 21, 1844
* Boothbay Maine ME
* Sea Serpent
Page 3 has a report from a New York paper that has details about another appearance of the infamous "Sea Serpent" off of Boothbay, Maine.
Describes the serpent and says the "snake" dove towards the schooner Temperance Mary after being hit by a "swivel" loaded with musket balls fired from the vessel.
Providence Scene
OK, even I can't make a connection of a steroopticon of a potato vendor with Lovecraft, but it's a cool picture. :)
Antique rare stereoview of what appears to be a potato peddler, photographed by H.Q. Morton, Providence R.I. 7x4".
Antique rare stereoview of what appears to be a potato peddler, photographed by H.Q. Morton, Providence R.I. 7x4".
Monday, July 20, 2009
Paranormal Invstigation of Mercy Brown's Grave Site
Interesting scenes, and parallels the photography of the Movie Trailer.
Tour of Mercy Brown's Grave
Acts as Trailer for short horror movie - Mercy Brown New England's Last Vampire
Mercy Brown
Our own vampire, Exeter’s Mercy Brown, gets her revenge in new film
Friday, July 17, 2009
By Michael Janusonis
Pity Mercy Brown.
Suspected of being a vampire in 19th-century Exeter, her coffin was taken from the crypt where it had lain for two months in the winter of 1892 while waiting for the ground to become soft enough for burial and dismembered to remove the “curse of the undead.” Her heart and liver were burned on the spot.
Yet even at the time of her death, medical records say Mercy died of tuberculosis, accounting for the blood stains on her mouth. The fact that her corpse was unchanged two months after her death is attributed to the freezing temperatures at the time which preserved her body, not vampirism.
Nevertheless, despite the facts, Mercy’s story is resuscitated every Halloween by at least one local TV station to frighten gullible viewers. Her grave is frequently visited by the curious who leave behind such doodads as plastic vampire teeth and black plastic roses.
But what’s this?
It’s nowhere near Halloween and yet here comes The Last American Vampire: Mercy’s Revenge.
The brainchild of brothers Donald and Paul Mantia, the 40-minute film was made during a hectic 14-hour shooting schedule last winter on Rhode Island locations with a budget of $1,200. “We made it on a credit card,” said Paul, the more introspective of the two who arrived for an interview carrying a fancy carved cane and wearing a neck brace, the aftermath of recent surgery.
Paul, 51, of Johnston, and Donald, 50, of North Providence, have been in the movie script business for the past nine years. “We have been trying to peddle scripts for a long time,” said Donald, who is eager and animated and often interrupts Paul with an anecdote or to emphasize a point boisterously.
Their drama about police corruption, A Means to an End, once won a screenwriting contest. And they’ve been to screenwriting cattle calls in New York City more than once where writers each get five minutes to pitch their script ideas to a roomful of producers. The Mantia brothers’ say the 14 scripts they’ve written so far run the gamut from dramatic fare — police corruption, an upcoming historical drama about a race-related lynching in the South — to comedies. Until The Last American Vampire, they hadn’t tackled a horror script, but decided to try their luck when Providence filmmaker Michael Corrente put out the call two years ago seeking scary movie scripts that could be made cheaply on Rhode Island locations. The Mantias wrote a script that brought Mercy Brown into contemporary time, rising from her grave to terrorize a group of twentysomethings after their car gets stuck in the mud of Exeter on the way to a party.
When Corrente didn’t bite at their vampire script, the Mantias decided, said Donald, “How about we do it ourselves?”
And so they did, gathering a cast of unknowns from the NewEngland.com Web site who were willing to work for zip, more desperate for screen credits than for cash. “They came from Connecticut and Boston to be in the film,” said Donald, still amazed. “They didn’t know us, but they came because they wanted a chance.”
They put it on video last Valentine’s Day in a 14-hour shoot on five locations that included an impressive looking scene that was set at Pocasset Cemetery. “We wanted to use St. Ann’s Cemetery” in Cranston, said Donald. “It’s our family cemetery. But after the priest read the script, he wouldn’t allow us to film there.” Small wonder. The script features a red-robed priest, played by Paul himself with a big crucifix hanging from his neck, overseeing Mercy Brown’s exhumation and urging her top-hatted father to drive a stake through his daughter’s heart.
The Last American Vampire: Mercy’s Revenge is pretty unpolished with some of the actors giving unconvincing readings. Sometimes they seem to be trying to remember what their next line is and stumbling over their efforts. Some of it looks good, however, especially the cemetery scenes. The contemporary scenes have a surprising amount of profanity, though, as well as sexual situations. There is a nice punch line, however, which seems a fitting end to a good short story (the film is only 40 minutes long). The DVD is expected to go on sale for $14 on Amazon.com’s Video on Demand site July 20.
If their Vampire flies, or maybe even if it doesn’t, the Mantias have big plans for where they want to go as not only filmmakers, but distributors. They’ve established their own Web site — dementiafilmsllc.com, where you can be connected to the Amazon offering once it’s available — that they hope will one day provide exposure not only for their own ventures, but for other filmmakers and entertainers. “You can bypass the middle man,” said Donald, adding that “You can do films very cheaply today. With the Internet, everyone has access to the world.” They foresee that world as a place where Hollywood studios and producers become unnecessary as everyone has access to do their own thing and present it to the universe.
“There’s a lot of great talent out there,” added Paul, “but right now the public is not able to see them. The bottom line is that we finally figured out that with the technology available today, you don’t have to wait for someone to come along and produce your script.” They believe the day is at hand when they can present their work and the works of others as downloads, charging only for the time the material is viewed. “You pay for what you use,” explained Donald. “If you use five minutes, you pay for five minutes.”
“Eight years ago we knew this was going to happen,” said Paul. Now that day is dawning and their ship may be pulling in. “We want to put our stuff out to the public and let the public decide.”
To which Donald added, “Let Hollywood be a dinosaur.”
A 1906 Providence Calendar
Who knows? This may have hung in the Lovecraft household. Each image should be expandable if you click - it should expand in a new window. The pictures would all have been as familiar to HPL as the back of his hand. Note August and think of HPL's 16th birthday!
Description:
1906 ‘THE PROVIDENCE CALENDAR’
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND
This beautifully illustrated 1906 calendar hails from Providence R.I.
'THE PROVIDENCE CALENDAR' is an elegant ‘TURN OF THE CENTURY’ work of art. This is expressed in its cover design of a late Victorian-era woman and varied ‘pen-and-ink’ style foliage illustrations that appear on each month’s page as background for the calendar month and accompanying photos of prominent Providence, Rhode Island buildings, landmarks, parks, memorials, street scenes, etc.
The opposite side of the front cover is inscripted:
PUBLISHED FOR
RHODE ISLAND NEWS COMPANY
PROVIDENCE, R.I.
Copyrighted 1905
By
EARLE C. TITUS
Press of R.S. Peck & Co.
By the way, Earle C. Titus who is listed as the ‘copyrighter’ above was the artist of the foliage illustrations. His signature is seen at the bottom right of the ‘January’ page.
The calendar measures 9½” x 12” and is complete, i.e. contains pages for all 12 months. The front cover has some water stains. Some of the pages show soiling, some with minor frayed edges. The back cover is barely in existence but can be replaced since the calendar is hole-punched and bound at the top with a green cord. For the most part, the artwork within the borders of each calendar page is virtually unscathed.
Description:
1906 ‘THE PROVIDENCE CALENDAR’
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND
This beautifully illustrated 1906 calendar hails from Providence R.I.
'THE PROVIDENCE CALENDAR' is an elegant ‘TURN OF THE CENTURY’ work of art. This is expressed in its cover design of a late Victorian-era woman and varied ‘pen-and-ink’ style foliage illustrations that appear on each month’s page as background for the calendar month and accompanying photos of prominent Providence, Rhode Island buildings, landmarks, parks, memorials, street scenes, etc.
The opposite side of the front cover is inscripted:
PUBLISHED FOR
RHODE ISLAND NEWS COMPANY
PROVIDENCE, R.I.
Copyrighted 1905
By
EARLE C. TITUS
Press of R.S. Peck & Co.
By the way, Earle C. Titus who is listed as the ‘copyrighter’ above was the artist of the foliage illustrations. His signature is seen at the bottom right of the ‘January’ page.
The calendar measures 9½” x 12” and is complete, i.e. contains pages for all 12 months. The front cover has some water stains. Some of the pages show soiling, some with minor frayed edges. The back cover is barely in existence but can be replaced since the calendar is hole-punched and bound at the top with a green cord. For the most part, the artwork within the borders of each calendar page is virtually unscathed.
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