HPLHS News & Events Spring 2019

Live Events!

From time to time the HPLHS hosts live events at its global headquarters in Glendale, California. Click THIS LINK or the image above to see the current list of upcoming events.

"Dreams in the Witch House" Download and Interviews

• June 10, 2019

The unstoppable Mike Dalager continues to make awesome new songs for his magnum rock opera opus Dreams in the Witch House, and you can check out some video interviews and a music download HERE. (Fair Warning: There will probably be some pop-up ads...)

Visiting Dignitaries

• June 7, 2019

Headquarters was graced by a visit from a pair of master sculptors, Bryan Moore and Paul Komoda. Bryan is of course famous for his bust of HPL at the Providence Athenaeum, and the art deco version of Cthulhu which appears in our movie version of "The Call of Cthulhu" among other things. Paul is an insanely talented illustrator and sculptor who has worked on numerous film projects, games, model kits and other stuff. You can check out his online gallery HERE.

Featured Member

• June 3, 2019

Our Member of the Month for June 2019 is David Laughton of Arlington, VA.

David says: "At the age of four I first heard the 5th Organ Symphony of Charles-Marie Widor. It instantly became one of my favorite pieces of music and remains so more than 60 years later. What does this have to do with Lovecraft? If you ask this, you obviously haven’t heard the symphony, but more to the point, this event was the first of many that would mark me as the Odd One among my peers.

Even before I began elementary school I was a prodigious reader, and fantasy was my preferred genre. I eagerly absorbed the works of Ray Bradbury, Robert Heinlein, and other popular writers of the 1950s-60s. It wasn’t long before I happened upon a collection of Lovecraft, and fortunately the first story I read was "The Call of Cthulhu". This happened long before S. T. Joshi’s research brought Lovecraft out of the cardboard box at the back of the closet and onto the bookshelf where he belongs, but the edition I found at the local library was reasonably faithful to the source material (I always suspect that fantasy fans who don’t like Lovecraft – and I’ve met a few – either started with a late story full of incomprehensible references or encountered one of the many incompetently edited texts).

Fast-forwarding past my school years and into my career, I worked for many years in the IT field for various US government and international agencies. While my focus was highly technical, my interest in literature never faded, and I never missed a chance to leaven dense manuals and memos with quotes from and references to my favorite books. Much of my employment was pre-internet, so my office bookshelf was my primary resource; it was filled not only with books on systems analysis, information security, and related topics but also volumes of Lovecraft and other fantasy authors. In the days of constant and turbulent technological change, a red-leather-bound gilt-edged At The Mountains of Madness sometimes seemed more relevant to my work than any soon-to-be-obsolete technical manual.

Currently I spend much of my time as an organizer for two local clubs: the Alexandria-Arlington Regional Gaming Group (AARGGH) and Oddball Cinema, both based in northern Virginia. Games based on Lovecraft’s works are popular with the former, with A Study in Emerald appearing quite frequently. It’s one of my favorites, based on a story by Neil Gaiman that combines the worlds of H. P. Lovecraft and Arthur Conan Doyle, but the designer’s use of the mythos irks me at times (there’s a way for a player to kill Azathoth – what was he thinking?)."

David also runs some interesting contests that are free and open to the public. You can even win prizes! Check them out!

HPLHS Members can read a bit more about David and see some additional art in the Member Sanctum....

Ryan Collection

• May 30, 2019

HPLHS Member Joseph Ryan and his wife Maria dropped by global headquarters to share some new items from his impressive collection. The slide show above shows a few views.

First were some copies of original pulp magazines in which Lovecraft stories were published. He has the complete run of Astounding Stories from February, March and April of 1936, in which At the Mountains of Madness was published in serialized form. (HPL's name appeared only on the cover of the February issue.) He also has a few issues of Weird Tales, including the August 1931 number that includes "The Whisperer in Darkness", and the September 1927 issue of Amazing Stories that includes "The Colour Out of Space". He also showed us the February 1936 issue of Causerie, an amateur journal edited by E. A. Edkins in which prominently appears Lovecraft's poem "Continuity". (His copy has a little handwritten notation on the back cover that looks a lot like Lovecraft's own handwriting....) Joe is also an avid art collector, and showed us a signed print of mercreatures by noted comic artist Bernie Wrightson.

Our most sincere thanks to Joe and Maria for sharing these treasures.

DART Recording Underway!

• May 22, 2019

The Dark Adventure Radio Theatre company returned to the studio at Horse Latitudes in Burbank to begin recording the next two episodes. Among the first up to the microphones were Kevin Stidham (l) and Jacob Lyle (r), who recently appeared together in "The Haunter of the Dark". We'll be recording for the next couple of days, and then begin editing "The Lurking Fear"!

The Lurking Fear

• May 15, 2019

We are very happy to announce that the next episode of Dark Adventure Radio Theatre will be an adaptation of H P Lovecraft's tale "The Lurking Fear". DART fans will notice that we are changing up the packaging for this and future episodes. We are doing away with the traditional plastic jewel cases, and instead packaging the CDs in a slim cardboard sleeve. This sleeve will itself be packaged in a polypropylene sleeve designed to fit into a three-ring binder, which will also contain all the bonus prop documents DART fans have come to expect and enjoy. The bigger sleeve will allow us to include bigger props, and they'll require less folding and mangling. The binder sleeve will feature larger cover art, and no shortage of liner notes. We think it will be better all the way around.

"The Lurking Fear" is now in production, and we hope to be shipping by June 21st or thereabouts. Darrell Tutchton did the cover art seen above, and Troy Sterling Nies returns to write the original score. You can pre-order a copy HERE.

Featured Member

• May 6, 2019

Our Member of the Month for May 2019 is Connor Wilson of Pittsburgh, Pa.

Connor says: "Growing up on a staple of classic Universal monster movies and books on the paranormal, I finally discovered Lovecraft in high school when I picked up a copy of Penguin Classics’ The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories and have been a fan ever since. The cosmicism of Lovecraft’s writing is what captured my imagination the most, and the invasive elements of the weird, the grand scope far exceeding the comprehension of men, and the pervasive atmosphere of dread found throughout his works set them apart from anything I had previously read. (I also immensely fancy the stories in the “Dream Cycle,” including “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath,” with its sweeping scope and bizarre cast of creatures.) Simultaneously, Lovecraft’s writings were also my introduction into the literary tradition of the weird, where I’ve since found other favorites like Chambers’ The King in Yellow and continue to discover new stories and authors through mediums like the H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast. I’ve also recently found a fellow Lovecraft fan in my grandmother, who I introduced to HPL’s writings last Christmas with the same volume that began my descent into madness."

Visited Dignitaries

• May 2, 2019

During his recent visit to Denver, Andrew Leman was very pleased to sit down and chat with Joe Givan and his wife Carol Massie, two extremely talented stage magicians. Joe was one of the original HPLHS Keepers of the Arcane Lore, and back in the day he created some truly mind-blowing and disturbing illusions as part of Cthulhu Lives! games. It was a real pleasure to reconnect after more than 20 years! Check out the website for their company, Amazing Shows. You never know, they might turn up again as if by magic....

StarFest Denver

• April 16, 2019

Join Andrew Leman at StarFest Denver, the multi-genre fan convention celebrating horror, science fiction, fantasy, wizardry, gaming, comics, science and art. Held April 26-28 at the Marriott DTC in Denver, Colorado, the original stomping grounds of the HPLHS. Andrew will be screening The Call of Cthulhu on Friday night and The Whisperer in Darkness on Saturday night, and reading HPL stories out loud on Saturday afternoon. He might even play a game of Call of Cthulhu! If you're a card-carrying member, say hello and earn a bonus stamp! To get all the details, visit the StarFest website.

The Fall of Titans

• April 2, 2019

The past several months have seen the passing of some beloved and illustrious figures in the Lovecraft community. We wanted to take a moment to celebrate our fallen friends and their varied contributions to the world we all cherish.

Greg Stafford

In October of 2018, Greg passed away in the sweat lodge of his home in Arcata, California. Greg is best known for being the founder of the game company Chaosium and the creator of the gaming world of Glorantha. His creations have been recognized with countless awards in the gaming industry and more importantly, countless players who enjoyed his creations. While we’d been in touch with Greg via email for many years, he submitted one of our favorite (and briefest) reviews of our Angell Box: “this is so f***ing cool!”. We had the pleasure and good fortune to be able to chat with him in person last summer at Gen Con. He was a lovely man, brimming with positivity and enthusiasm. While he created a world which will live on after him, he will be sorely missed by those who knew him.

Larry DiTillio with his wife Marjory Goldman

Larry was best known in the Lovecraftian community for writing (with Lynn Willis) the famed Call of Cthulhu™ campaign Masks of Nyarlathotep. By the time Larry wrote it back in 1985, he was already well established as a screenwriter. He wrote for Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and its spin-off She-Ra: Princess of Power. He was also an executive story editor for the television series Babylon 5. While we had admired Larry’s work since playing Masks of Nyarlathotep back in the '80s, we had the chance to meet him and his wife Marjory late last year. The DiTillios graciously donated Larry’s substantial collection of Call of Cthulhu™ gaming books to the HPLHS library. With Chaosium’s recent release of a 5th edition of the Masks campaign, RPG gamers will continue to enjoy his creation for many years to come.

Wilum Pugmire

We also mourn the recent passing of Wilum Hopfrog Pugmire. As an author, Wilum is among the most significant writers contributing to modern Lovecraft-inspired fiction. His tales of the Sesqua Valley and other mythos-inspired stories have appeared in numerous anthologies of horror fiction. Wilum has long been a friend of the Society and was among our earliest members to join back in the 1980s. He was an enthusiastic supporter of the Society and went out of his way to encourage authors working in the realm of weird tales. We would often have the opportunity to visit with him at the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival in Portland, OR. While some may have found his fashion tastes out of the ordinary, anyone who took the time to get to know Wilum would find a kind, gentle, and thoughtful artist lurking behind his avant garde outfits.

Visiting Dignitaries

• April 3, 2019

Global headquarters was graced today by a visit from Bryan Moore, filmmaker and sculptor who created the art deco "Alert Idol" for the HPLHS motion picture The Call of Cthulhu, and Brian Callahan, one of the directors of the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival in Portland, Oregon. Callahan was in southern California attending WonderCon in Anaheim, and Moore has recently returned to Los Angeles after time in Iowa. It was a delight to see both of them!

Featured Member

• April 3, 2019

Our Member of the Month for April 2019 is Colin Christenson of Minneapolis, Minn.

Colin says: "I think my first experience with Lovecraft was when my big brother got the Call of Cthulhu roleplaying book from Chaosium. I read "The Call of Cthulhu" short story that was at the front of the RPG book and got hooked on it. After that I "borrowed" (and am still borrowing to this day) a couple books of collected stories from my brother, and then I bought all the Del Rey paperbacks I could find at the used book store. I think I found the HPLHS looking for some props and finding their free prop sets. I ended up putting Miskatonic Library stickers on everything.

Since then I've been collecting all manner of Lovecraftian props and artifacts, but my favorite ones are usually the Historical Society ones. They have a very realistic feel to them and always look beautiful on a bookshelf or display.

It's hard to choose a favorite story but I think I like "The Shadow over Innsmouth" the best. Just the pervasive creepiness of the town and the people gives you that sense of dread before anything even happens. It's also an awesome setting for games or other stories."

CarcosaCon

• April 2, 2019

Sean and Andrew had a truly delightful time at CarcosaCon, held at Czocha Castle near the village of Lesna, Poland. Our very great thanks to Michal Lisowski of Black Monk and his team for putting together a wonderful event. They have already started plans for next year, and we look forward to our return to Lower Silesia!

In addition to meeting lots of very friendly European gamers, we also had the very great pleasure of spending some quality time with the gang from Chaosium. You could not ask for a nicer group of talented, enthusiastic people.

Masks Super Deluxe!

• April 2, 2019

The Masks of Nyarlathotep Super Deluxe Limited Edition is now being shipped! We have shipped about half of the pre-orders, and are continuing to manufacture all the components as quickly as we can. Many of them are entirely hand made and they do take some time. We thank all of you who have been patiently waiting.

Featured Member

• March 4, 2019

Our Member of the Month for March 2019 is Shane Truesdale of Eugene, Oregon.

Shane says: "Hello fellow Cultist. As a young boy growing up in various small towns in the Pacific North West I grew up with somewhat of a fascination with the Occult and all things related. From Books, to Movies and Music. My mind was eager to the point of being over anxious for the next thing to spark my interest in the genre. Now an Adult, I’m a collector and constantly looking for the next thing that will ignite that spark in me, while still a serious fan of the older gems in Scientific Fiction and Horror. I’m proud to be a Member of the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society, and be given the opportunity to meet others with like interests. Keeping Lovecraft’s works alive and well for Future generations."