HPLHS News & Events Autumn 2022

The Black Stone

• December 30, 2022

The new episode of Dark Adventure Radio Theatre, "The Black Stone", is now shipping! All preorders are now on their way! We're very happy with the episode and hope you'll enjoy it as much as we do!

Featured Member

• December 1, 2022

Our Member of the Month for December, 2022 is Alfredo Gómez Mansilla of San Sebastián de los Reyes, Spain.

Alfredo says: “Since I was a kid I have been a lover of science fiction, especially Star Wars, the Marvel Universe (both comics and cinematographic) and many TV shows from my childhood that I continue following today: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, Mighty Max, Biker Mice from Mars, Street Sharks, etc., as most children who grew up in the '90s. When I think about it in hindsight I realise that each one of these series had elements with reminiscences from the Mythos, some characters or villains, which I was not aware of back then.

It was around 2011 (when I was 21 years old) when the first edition of the Mansions of Madness board game was released. Until then I heard little about Lovecraft's work and the little I knew was thanks to the Call of Cthulhu® roleplaying game. But I was mind blown when I acquired Mansions of Madness and started playing it. I wanted to investigate more and more and learn about the works of the author from whom all those ideas came. That’s when I fully discovered H. P. Lovecraft. I started by reading a compilation of stories that I got as a present and that was the beginning of the madness. I remember long nights reading and enjoying stories where the endings weren't as happy as I was used to, playing video games that were clearly inspired by the mythos, and playing more and more board games, which was the original reason why I got introduced to this.

Then 5 years later, all this became an absolute obsession when I started playing what for me nowadays is one of the best existing board games out there, which is no other than Arkham Horror: The Card Game, an immersive cooperative game that transports you to Mythos as when playing a role-playing game. This is an amazing solo experience, but becomes even better when playing with friends which I did, and led to meeting plenty of other fans. And it is thanks to this game that I became part of "Los Archivos de Arkham", a weekly podcast in Spanish about this and other Lovecraftian games and products. In our episodes we often talk about news related to the Mythos, review books and much more. And thanks to all this I started buying more books, reading much more, going further and further, and this is something I continue to enjoy every day. We also organise events regularly and have created an amazing community around our channel.

One of my best experiences in life occurred in August this year, when two good friends of mine (David Avilés and Egoitz Uribeetxebarria, also life members of HPLHS) and podcast colleagues at Los Archivos de Arkham, and myself organized a trip in which we toured New England. Our trip took us from Newburyport to Salem through the coastal road, ending in Providence where we had the chance to spend a couple of days visiting our beloved Lovecraft’s hometown. This is was a trip of our lives, enjoyed every single moment in the region and we all highly recommend to anyone who might like to experience it. Then the cherry on top, we travelled to Indianapolis for GenCon 2022, the largest board game convention in the US, where we visited the HPLHS booth to acquire forbidden tomes and artifacts, and we had the chance to meet the fantastic crew that form this association. And we were carrying our membership passports—of course!—so they could receive the appropriate stamps.

But after all written so far, I must say that I still consider this the beginning of the road. This fantastic universe is growing every minute thanks to all the people who collaborate creating content in one way or another, whether it is by designing board games with great original stories based on the works of Lovecraft or by writing books and stories that have the essence of Mythos, or building communities like The H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society (thank you!). And there I will continue, as a content creator now, trying to help expand this universe more and more, for as long as I have any sanity left.”

Miskatonic Literary Society

• November 25, 2022

We are enormously pleased to announce the Miskatonic Literary Society, a new joint venture with our friends at Helios House Press. Helios House has produced a limited run of some wonderful editions of classic weird tales, and we are offering them on a quarterly subscription basis. Soon there will be a new page on this website with more information and bonus content.

New Lapel Pins

• November 25, 2022

We recently added nine new designs to our collection of lapel pins, bringing the total to 26! We have also reorganized the entire collection, featuring the Miskatonic Varsity pins, Call of Cthulhu® gaming pins, and Arkham Country pin designs. The new Investigator pin, shown above, features a magnetic attachment which allows you to display your current sanity status as needed. But be careful, if you lose that little blue magnetic shield your temporary insanity may become permanent! The new Keeper pin features a spinning wheel that can serve as a pair of D10, allowing you to use the pin itself to generate percentile rolls. You can find all the lapel pin designs HERE

The Shunned House

• November 9, 2022

We recently acquired one of the very rare copies of "The Shunned House" originally printed by The Recluse Press but never bound into book form.

Featured Member

• November 1, 2022

Our Member of the Month for November, 2022 is "Evil Ed" Macias of Seattle, Washington.

Ed says: "My cousin and I ventured into the wonderful world of Fantasy role-playing games by the age of eleven. We would love pitting our heroes against some of the most vile and powerful monsters that the Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manuals would have to offer. I recall seeing the image of a Mind Flayer for the first time, and instantly knew that I had to place one of these these tentacled-faced terrors into our adventures. When I opened up the book and revealed this nightmarish, alien-looking creature to my cousin, the horrified look on his face made me smile, and I knew that this was going to be an encounter to remember for the ages. Many tears later, I learned that H.P. Lovecraft had inspired the creation of a vast variety of tentacled monstrosities, as well as cosmic horrors that lurk beyond the fragile veil of this reality, which I would take great glee to throw into a D&D campaign, much to my cousin’s trepidation.

I have been a huge fan of Classic Radio Shows since I was a kid - the Theater of the Mind! They would stimulate my young and impressionable imagination to no end. I would listen enraptured for hours to various stories of science fiction, mystery, and detective dramas. Then, I discovered Dark Adventure Radio Theatre! "The Brotherhood Of The Beast" was my introductory experience to the weird and wonderful world of HPLHS. Since then, I have collected every DART dramatization, my favorite being "Masks of Nyarlathotep". My eternal gratitude for the passionate work that you do at HPLHS, to keep the memory of H.P. alive and spreading into everyone’s nightmares.

More Call of Cthulhu!

• October 13, 2022

Guest Keeper Michael Feldman ran a game of Call of Cthulhu for people who had never played the game before. Five investigators braved their way through "Edge of Darkness" from the Call of Cthulhu Starter Set. A grand time was had by all, including the two who died horribly. They got to play with deluxe versions of the props specially made for this session by HPLHS!

Call of Cthulhu!

• October 5, 2022

Last night the staff of HPLHS gathered here at headquarters to play Call of Cthulhu. Kevin Stidham and Kacey Camp had never played before, and Andrew hadn't played in a few years. Sean ran a scenario from "Hudson & Brand" by Stygian Fox, and Leslie Baldwin brought wonderful homemade cake to celebrate Stephanie Morey's birthday. Hammersmith now has one less ghost!

Joshi in the (Virtual) Wild

• October 5, 2022

We are happy to let you know that the Bridgeport Public Library has an upcoming virtual Lovecraft related event on October 26th @ 7 PM EST with S.T. Joshi: "H.P. Lovecraft in New England". Check it out HERE.

Drawing the Weird

• October 3, 2022

Southern California residents might wish to take advantage of this Lovecraft-relevant illustration class at Valley Art Workshop in Woodland Hills. Check out the details HERE.

Featured Member

• October 1, 2022

Our Member of the Month for October, 2022 is Randy Hargis of Terre Haute, Indiana.

Randy says: "Being born and raised in Robinson, Ill. leaves most with the notion of a typical mid-western fellow. That may be true on the surface, but a curiosity that began with a youthful fascination with horror and true crime led me to an interest in the darker side of human nature.

My introduction to Lovecraft began in a secondhand bookstore in 1979 when I discovered a paperback copy of The Dunwich Horror with the otherworldly artwork of Rowena Morrill on the cover. I was hooked and it went from artistic interest to collecting obsession in short order. The thing I enjoy most about Lovecraft’s work is the nihilism of the mythos and man’s attempt at trying to understand it. A complicated yet simple definition of cosmic horror.

At the Mountains of Madness, "The Dunwich Horror", "The Hound", and the poem "Nemesis" are some of my favorite works. Other interests of mine in a similar vein are collectable “cousins” such as 1982’s The Thing. The practical effects and storyline tear a page out of the Lovecraft universe in my opinion.

H.P. inspired me to pursue and complete my master’s degree in Mathematics so I could tell when the stars were right and navigate the non-Euclidian pathways of life.

My love of H.P.’s stories has grown from fandom to collection, from books to statues to boardgames, as can be seen on my bookshelves (with apologies to my wife).

When I am not geeking out to the latest Dark Adventure Radio Theatre release, I live in Terre Haute, In. and work at local university helping students navigate the straits of transferring college credits.

Equinox

• September 21, 2022

Sending all our members and website visitors best wishes for the equinox! The solar declination is headed south across the equator, and the Earth's rotation axis is directly perpendicular to the Sun-Earth line. We hope you enjoy it!

CoC gamers!

• September 21, 2022

We are slowly but surely bringing back in-person gaming here at HQ, and our very own Stephanie launched a group of players into a game of Masks of Nyarlathotep here this week. Don't they all look happy? (Pictured here after just the first session....)