Chris Lott

Featured Member

  • September 1, 2016

Our Member of the Month for July 2016 is Chris Lott of Santa Clarita, California.

"I don’t remember exactly when I first became an HP Lovecraft fan, but once I caught the fever it never left. I think that one of the reasons that Lovecraft’s works have has such a lasting impression upon me is that I relish the idea that as I go about my mundane, day-to-day existence that there might be shadowy, unseen forces at work or occult mysteries waiting to be uncovered. Or it may just be that they’re damned fun stories. Thanks to the HPLHS my passion for all things Lovecraftian has only grown and now I’m a full-fledged addict and lifetime member of the Society."

"When I’m not reading Lovecraft or listening to the latest Dark Adventure Radio Theatre serial, I spend my free time immersed in RPGs, board games (Eldritch Horror is a favorite, naturally), comics and other suitably geeky pursuits. I currently live in Santa Clarita, CA with my wife Carly and our two dogs."

HPLHS Founders

Visiting Dignitary

  • August 14, 2016

HPLHS global headquarters was graced on August 10 by a visit from Professor Philip Bell of the University of Washington. In addition to being a distinguished professor of the Learning Sciences & Human Development, Phil is also one of the co-founders of the HPLHS. He wrote, ran and played in many games of Cthulhu Lives! back in the society's early Colorado days, and was the co-editor of Strange Eons from first issue to last. He was in the Los Angeles area visiting prospective colleges with his daughter, who took this picture of three old geezers, at least one of whom made good. We were delighted to see them both!

HPLFF Booth

HPLFF Providence

  • August 24, 2016

Our trip to Providence to celebrate Lovecraft's birthday with everyone who attended the HPL Film Festival was a great time. It was a pleasure to see Niels Viggo-Hobbs, the organizer of NecronomiCon, and Brian and Gwen Callahan of the HPLFF, and to say hello to local HPL fans as well as those who travelled great distances to attend. Although we didn't actually get to watch any of the movies, we enjoyed being in the lovely Providence Public Library alongside the fine folks from Hippocampus Press, Necronomicon Press, and SighCo Graphics. On Sunday the action switched to the Providence Arcade, where the Lovecraft Arts & Sciences Council has its headquarters.

We were delighted to do a special screening of The Call of Cthulhu at the Providence Athenaeum on Sunday afternoon, and extend our thanks to Athenaeum Executive Director Matt Burriesci for his gracious hospitality. Everyone should support the Athenaeum: it is a wonderful library.

Joseph Curwen's Stomping Grounds

  • August 24, 2016

Before we left Providence, we were treated to a quick tour of some of Joseph Curwen's stomping grounds by Donovan Loucks, the curator of the H. P. Lovecraft Archive and expert in all local Lovecraft sites. Donovan took us to Namquit Point, the shell-encrusted spot on the west side of Narragensett Bay where Curwen smuggled occult contraband ashore, and which is now used as a popular fishing spot.

As the sun set we hiked the trails near the canoe house at Rhodes on the Pawtuxet, near the site of Curwen's farm. The sound of the crickets and frogs was actually quite peaceful, but we could imagine the fear of the raiders approaching Curwen's farm as they heard chanting in the distance.

Finally, we took a look at the "falls" on the Pawtuxet river, over which some of Curwen's horrible experiments tumbled. They might also have been the inspiration for the falls on the fictional Manuxet River that Lovecraft describes in "The Shadow Over Innsmouth". Maybe the river is running lower today than it was back in Lovecraft's time....

Our thanks to Donovan for showing us around in style. There's never enough time to see all the things we'd like. We'll just have to keep going back!

Providence Stamp

HPLHS Returns to Providence!

  • August 14, 2016

Sean Branney and Andrew Leman will be celebrating Lovecraft's birthday by attending the H P Lovecraft Film Festival in Providence, R.I. from August 19 to 21, where they will share news of new and upcoming episodes of Dark Adventure Radio Theatre. Andrew will be doing a live reading of "The Lurking Fear" for Cadabra Records on Sunday, Aug. 21 at 11:30 am at Arcade Providence. Sean and Andrew will be hosting a special live commentary/Q&A screening of The Call of Cthulhu at the Providence Athenaeum on Sunday afternoon at 3:30. Join us! Card-carrying members who introduce themselves will get a new bonus stamp! Check out the full schedule of screenings and events here: HP Film Festival Schedule.

Providence Stamp
Mike Jenkins

Featured Member

  • July 1, 2016

Our Member of the Month for July 2016 is Michael Jenkins of St. Petersburg, Florida.

Mike is a professional graphic designer who enjoys making Lovecraftian props. Several of his props hang on the refrigerator door at HPLHS global headquarters. "One of the first props I made was a crude, hand-bound Necronomicon," he says, "used mainly as a prop for a photo series in college. My skill set being what it is, most of my props are of a printed and 2D nature. I’ve made silly mock postcards, designed matchbooks, tickets, title pages and the odd invitation. The Silver Key you see below is an assemblage of found objects, cheap metal jewelry beads, strung together to resemble a medieval Arabian Kaaba key. My Black Seal (from The Novel of the Black Seal, by Arthur Machen) was actually designed in a browser-based 3D program and 3D printed by an online vendor. The more tongue-in-cheek Corona/Cthulhu bottle cap parody was also printed on demand for me by an online vendor.

Though I find picking one single story out of the corpus to be like choosing one ‘favorite’ family member, I will champion The Haunter of the Dark, which I feel gets less appreciation than it deserves.

- Michael Jenkins -

Member Spotlight: Michael Jenkins

  • July 1, 2016

Mike says, "I discovered HPL in late high school or early college, which I gather is later than most of us. Besides ‘weird fiction’ like HPL, REH and Poe, I enjoy science fiction and historical non-fiction. Though I find picking one single story out of the corpus to be like choosing one ‘favorite’ family member, I will champion The Haunter of the Dark, which I feel gets less appreciation than it deserves."