Just got issue #144. Also reading the Shadow over D&D-article in Dragon, but never read a Lovecraftian story myself I think The Lightless Depth (BTW I love this title) is obviously and heavily inspired and influenced by H. P. Lovecraft's work (and of course because Mr. Jacobs pointed this out in another thread). My question is: "Can anybody suggest a good read by H. P. L. to get into the right mood fo LD?
I think "Shadow Over Innsmouth" is one of HPL's finest. "Call of Cthulu" (the short story) could also work. I'm sure there are others that can match the flavor better, but I'm only really familiar with his short stories; not as much with his one or two full-length novels.
Owner - Johnny Scott Comics and Games
|
There's a couple real good collections published by Del Rey. You may want to start with "The Best of H.P. Lovecraft: Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Macabre." It does a good job of introducing you to Lovecraft, and collects some of his best stories.
Beware, though, you will become addicted...
Creative Director
|
ALL of Lovecraft's stories are great for getting you into the right mood for Lightless Depths, but the best ones are probably those that deal with ancient cities. "The Call of Cthulhu" is a good choice since it deals with a sunken city at one point. "The Shadow Out of Time" is another cool lost city story.
BUT. The best choice is certainly "At the Mountains of Madness," which was the primary influence/source of inspiration for me when I was writing up the chapter on aboleths in Lords of Madness. I don't wanna say much more, but this story's easilly the strongest influence on "The Lightless Depths."
ALL of Lovecraft's stories are great for getting you into the right mood for Lightless Depths, but the best ones are probably those that deal with ancient cities. "The Call of Cthulhu" is a good choice since it deals with a sunken city at one point. "The Shadow Out of Time" is another cool lost city story.
BUT. The best choice is certainly "At the Mountains of Madness," which was the primary influence/source of inspiration for me when I was writing up the chapter on aboleths in Lords of Madness. I don't wanna say much more, but this story's easilly the strongest influence on "The Lightless Depths."
Did you see the interview with Guillermo Del Toro (PAN'S LABYRINTH) saying that 'cthulhu willing' he would do at the mountains of madness as his next film?
Rich
In Lords of Madness they out-and-out draw parallels between the Elder Evils worshiped by the aboleths and corresponding Lovecraftian entities.
I think Holashner is equated with Tsathoggua and Y'Chak with Nyarlathotep.
|
Creative Director
|
Did you see the interview with Guillermo Del Toro (PAN'S LABYRINTH) saying that 'cthulhu willing' he would do at the mountains of madness as his next film?
Rich
Oh my yes. I've been following Del Toro's crusade to do BtMoM for many years. It's finally looking good that he'll get to do it too, especially since he's now Mr. Popular and his next movie (the Hellboy sequel) is more or less a built-in moneymaker.
I was thinking about the Mountains of Madness as well, when reading this adventure. I have had a long personal love and interest in Lovecrafts works (love it all other than the occasional and much disliked racism that Lovecraft held and dispersed throughout his writings). I even collect the original hardbound Arkham House books.
If anyone is interested in the Mountains of Madness, there is a great audio book version of it out there. Search around, you can probably find it. It is rather well done, and definetly catches the mood and feel of the story. Of course you could also rent the movie, The Thing, which for all intents and purposes is based upon a story that is based upon this book.
I would also suggest the Shadows Over Innsmouth, the Call of Cthulhu, Dagon, the Dunwich Horror, as well as of course the Mountains of Madness.
A few years back I ran a Call of Cthulhu campaign, though we only completed only 6 or 7 sessions. I tried to add a darker tone to it by combining Lovecraft with Clive Barker and the role playing game Kult. When I run this adventure and the other Savage Tides, I will most likely do this as well, increasing the darkness and disturbing elements to make the actual savage tides all the more savage and horrid.
Thanks everyone for the reply and advice. Hopefully I can get a hold of the stories in German as on my side of the screen there isn't too much a problem with English but my players mostly prefer the "easy way": their mothertongue. Intending to pass the story to them to get in the aforementioned right mood it make things easier. Excuse me as I have to read the chapter on aboleths in Lords of Madness.
BTW: Sorry for the mistake in the title! Praising it and writing it wrong, such a shame :)
|
I wonder if a translation can really do justice to Lovecraft's quite unique prose - slightly verbose, using odd, antiquated language to generally very powerful effect.
As a slight tangent, mu mum got me a book of Lovecraft short stories for me when I was about 10 without realising what it was about (she thought it was a kid's book). I read it through, and was basically terrified. The Shadow Over Insmouth in particualr stuck in my mind, though I didn't particularly remember Lovecraft's name at the time. Later on, as a teenager, I heard about a game called Call of Cthulhu, based in the 1920s and on the literature of HP Lovecraft. Imagine my surprise and delight when it turned out to be the guy who terrified me years before with the Deep Ones. I got CoC immediately.
I have always had a soft spot for Lovecraft, as lots of gamers do, even when the shortcomings of his literary style become more apparent as you get older. I think he is associated with some quite intense reading experiences which become seared upon the adolescent psyche, and anything Lovecraftian (like the aboleths, for example) chime very strongly with me, and I expect lots of others too.
Having been amusedly disgusted at the feeble attempts at HPL movies to date, I've got to admit that if anyone could pull of "ATMOM," Del Toro is the one. Can't wait!
Skimming "Lightless Depths" made me immediately think of "Mountains of Madness," one of my favorites from HPL (the others are "Innsmouth," of course, and, for some reason, "Arthur Jermyn," which made me immediately roll up a half-ape PC).
In case somebody cares or is otherwise interested in Lovecraft in German, I finally found In the Mountains of Madness and other stories at the Suhrkamp publishing house.
I will start reading it as soon as I finish Claws from the Night. :)
Here is a link:
http://www.suhrkamp.de/schnellsuche.cfm?suche=Lovecraft&x=0&y=0
Thanks again for advice guys!
Yes I am. Thanks for the link! I have seen these audio books when I payed my book today and look forward to listen to them. When I get a new job I might buy one or two or all of them, as my girl friend loves audio books!!! Since she is a player in my STAP campaign she simply HAS TO listen to them before I run the Lightless Depths!
As my screen names suggests, I too am a fan of Mr. Lovecraft's writings and having read "Lords of Madness" I can't wait to run Lightless Depths. I may have to go back and re-read some of his stuff before I run it. Man, it looks so cool...
Count me as another person who stumbled ignorantly upon Lovecraft as a kid. I was at the county library one afternoon when I was about 8 y/o, happy because the place was air conditioned while my parents were attending some dorky local antique festival or some such. Well after reading through one of the 'Wizards Warriors and You' books of the era, I started reading some ghost stories, and somehow a book of wierd fiction from the adult section of the library got put in the kids' area and I ended up reading "The Color Out of Space". Scared the piss out of me. I was afraid of attics, spooked by reservoirs and wells, and probably the word "crumbling" for a long period thereafter.
Of course fast forward a decade and I re-discovered HPL in highschool. Never knew the name of the story, or Lovecraft's name when I read CooS as a kid, but I ended up devouring the man's writing with gusto.
But to add on to a point raised earlier. I'm not sure how the translations will carry over Lovecraft's style. His writing is an odd sort of quasi-19th century English written in the 20th century, with enough obscure and even more obscure adjectives to run the risk of getting garbled in anything other than English. It's a pity that I've completely lapsed on the two other languages I used to be semi-fluent in, because it'd be fun to read say 'Dreams in the Witch House' and then read the translations, just to see how they handle the transition.
But my picks for good stories of his: "The Green Meadow", "The Transition of Juan Romero", "Color Out of Space", "The Silver Key", "Call of Cthulhu", "Dreams in the Witch House", "The Temple", "The Terrible Old Man", "The Walls of Eryx", and "The Doom that Came to Sarnath".