HPLHS News & Events Winter 2016

Featured Member

• March 12, 2017

Our Member of the Month for March 2017 is Paul Maclean of West Yorkshire in the United Kingdom. Paul is a truly delightful fellow who works tirelessly to promote Lovecraftian gaming in the U.K. and around the world.

Paul says: "My name is Paul Maclean and I’ve been a fan of Lovecraftian worlds for over 30 years - ever since I encountered Chaosium’s Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game back in the early ‘80s. The back pages of those games featured lists of Lovecraft’s works - but being British, it was something I couldn’t get hold of until several years later with the advent of cheap UK paperback reprints. I devoured all of HPL’s stories over one long summer, while listening to lots of early Mike Oldfield.

It may have had an effect. Following those formative years I became an archaeologist, which is great in a certain Lovecraftian way, but less so if you want to earn any money (though the lack of such is also probably quite Lovecraftian).

It was during this time I found the HPLHS. I clearly remember hearing the clever songs of “Shoggoth on the Roof” in the early 2000s and watching tiny videos put online by Sean and Andrew. A few years before this I had begun my own little fan site focused on the Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game: Yog-Sothoth(.com), and later on the HPLHS were very generous in letting me stream a few bits and pieces of their content for the dedicated visitor - in the days of dial-up connections you had to be pretty patient for *anything* to download…

I remember the landmark year of 2005 and the HPLHS’ film The Call of Cthulhu - it showed just what amazing things could be done by dedicated folks even on a shoestring budget. Its production still astounds me today.

Despite being across the Atlantic I’ve had the good fortune to meet Sean and Andrew along with other members of the HPLHS including Chris Lackey of HP Podcraft (now an honorary Englishman) who sometimes joins our podcasts (The Cthulhu Breakfast Club and News from Pnakotus). They are all great people.

As soon as the HPLHS re-opened membership a few years ago I joined up; I always look forward to whatever they have in store next!

If you want to see what I (and a few friends) get up to, just visit YSDC. As for what the HPLHS are up to, well you’re already here. :-)"

New! Reviews Section

• February 23, 2017

We are delighted to announce that we have added a Reviews feature to our website. There are a lot of folks besides us out there creating interesting new stuff for the Lovecraft community, and we thought it might be fun and useful to have an official HPLHS Reviews page. Look in the INFORMATION drop-down menu in the navigation bar above, and you'll find your way to the new section. We have a team of volunteer reviewers who will take a look at the new books, movies, games, music, and more which come our way. If you’ve got something you think would be appropriate for an HPLHS Review, just send an e-mail to reviews@cthulhulives.org and we’ll take a look at it.

Miskatonic Varsity Hoodie

• February 18, 2017

We are very pleased to announce the imminent release of a new garment in the HPLHS online store. Independent Trading Company, the firm that supplies the very warm and cozy fleece-lined hoodies for our Antarctic Expedition design, offers a very stylish varsity-style hoodie. It's a beautifully made heavy-weight hoodie with contrasting sleeves and hood and striped cuffs and waistband. We're turning it into a proper Miskatonic University letterman's jacket, complete with a variety of pins to mark academic, athletic, and extracurricular achievements. The pins and jackets are in production now, and we expect to be shipping by early/mid March. Customers who pre-order will be able to select any four of the pins to be included free with the hoodie. Once we start shipping, the hoodie will come with your choice of one free pin, with all the other pins available separately. We're curious to see which pins prove most popular. We've started out with a set of eight designs, but we have more on the drawing board and hope to expand the available options soon!

Bonus Stamp Update!

• February 1, 2017

Card-carrying members of the HPLHS can earn bonus stamps in a variety of ways: by making a certain amount of purchases, by purchasing certain items or combinations of items, by sending real old-fashioned mail to us here at headquarters, by participating constructively and actively online, by sharing their enjoyment of HPL with other people, and in other ways. We enjoy issuing bonus stamps and are always looking for reasons to do it. If you're a member and feel you've earned a bonus stamp you don't have, feel free to let us know and we'll look into it.

We are also happy to announce that a NEW bonus stamp has been added: The Thermionic Tube stamp. Members who have purchased at least 8 episodes of Dark Adventure Radio Theatre in digital download format are eligible for this stamp. Members who have purchased 16 episodes on CD and already have a DART stamp are also eligible for the new Thermionic Tube stamp. In addition, members who have purchased 16 episodes in digital download format will now also qualify for a DART stamp. If you think you qualify and wish to receive the stamp, please do send e-mail to leman@cthulhulives.org. An image of the new stamp is available in the Member Sanctum.

The membership committee has been spending hours each day this month reviewing the records of all Lifetime Members so that we can issue bonus stamps along with annual renewal stamps. It is a painstaking and time-consuming process, and it's not going as quickly as anyone would like. For those of you who are still awaiting your 2017 renewal and any possible bonus stamps, please know that we are working on it daily, and we regret any delay you may experience.

The death of American Apparel

• January 20, 2017

For the last several years the HPLHS has been proud to sell shirts and other garments made by American Apparel locally in Los Angeles under sweatshop-free conditions. American Apparel has struggled financially for years, and earlier this month the company finally closed its doors. We are very sorry for the many people here in LA and worldwide who have lost their jobs.

We are currently hunting for a new supplier for t-shirts, sweatshirts and hoodies and we will strive to find one that is environmentally responsible and dedicated to good labor practices. We look forward to continuing to provide cool and fun Lovecraftian designs on excellent garments with a minimum of interruption.