HPLHS News & Events Spring 2023

Miskatonic Missives

• June 20, 2023

After numerous delays of every kind, the Miskatonic Missives books have finally arrived from overseas, and we have started shipping them to all of the wonderful and patient backers of the project! Headquarters is now packed to the brim with Lovecraftian epistolary excess, and we can't wait to parcel it out to all of you!

The Shunned House

• June 18, 2023

The newest episode of Dark Adventure Radio Theatre®, "The Shunned House", is now complete and available for download! All the secret messages are available in the Decoder Club! The CDs are at the replicator, so there's still time to pre-order and score that bonus prop document!

Featured Member

• June 1, 2023

Our Member of the Month for June, 2023 is Alastair McBeath of Morpeth, in the United Kingdom.

Alastair says: “I've had a lifelong fascination with myths, legends, fantasy and horror that began in early childhood. Thankfully, it shows no signs of abating six decades on! I first read a Lovecraft tale in late 1975, in my early teens, when my Dad bought me a two-volume set of paperbacks, The Ghouls: The Stories Behind the Classic Horror Films, edited by Peter Haining. Among these, deep in Vol. 2, was "The Colour Out of Space", hidden behind its movie version's UK title, Monster of Terror (Die, Monster, Die in the US; 1965, American-International). While the film's plot extracts elements from the story, it's no adaptation of Lovecraft's original. Luckily, the text here was pure Lovecraft, and the story made a lasting impact on me, for all I knew nothing of Lovecraft then. That understanding began only in 1983, after I discovered Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu role-playing game (RPG; I started playing RPGs in 1977, with the original Dungeons & Dragons set). Call led me to start tracking down Lovecraft's works, and I recognised "Colour" as soon as I re-read it. Its opening sentence still creates a frisson of anticipation: "West of Arkham the hills rise wild, and there are valleys with deep woods that no axe has ever cut."

Years of preparing notes for RPGs led to my working-out timelines for those Lovecraft stories with detail enough to allow it, drawing sketch-maps for the few places similarly described, such as Innsmouth and the Dunwich area. Chaosium began publishing their Lovecraft Country RPG sourcebooks around the same time, during the early 1990s. In addition, the use of realistic RPG handouts for players in Call of Cthulhu, meant I'd been tinkering with those too from discovering the game. Lovecraftian boardgames followed into the 2000s, such as Fantasy Flight's Arkham Horror, plus greater access to more tales from the Lovecraft circle of authors, fresh editions of Chaosium's RPG, and increasingly impressive numbers and designs of Lovecraftian miniature figurines to use in RPGs and pulp-period tabletop wargames.

Suddenly, it was the 40th anniversary of the Call of Cthulhu RPG in 2021, when Chaosium's KickStarter for a reworked reprint of the original boxed set led to my discovery of the HPLHS and its many wonders, visual, tactile and audio - and what a whirlwind of adventures that's been, and continues to be, ever since! And now, I am to be elevated among The Chosen, a Member of the Month. "One of us...One of us..."

A few images. Apparently, I don't record well on photos; not sure why... However, viewable exclusively in the Member Sanctum is a copy of my final sketch map for the Dunwich area, completed in June 1991 (several months before I learnt of Chaosium's Dunwich RPG sourcebook, first published that May; no Internet in those days), and a couple of montage shots of tiny fractions of my Lovecraftian collection, including Vol. 2 of The Ghouls, open to the first page of "Monster of Terror", and a few samples of my HPLHS items, with a mysterious package and letter sent me by a firm of solicitors in Switzerland... I love that the cover illustration for the Mesoamerican Codex booklet has been accidentally fixed in the wrong orientation!

Lastly, a couple of shots of my favourite local haunt, five minutes away, and visible from my back windows, St. Mary's Churchyard, a ten-acre burial ground, whose legibly-datable stones are only 18th century, for all the church itself reuses some 13th century grave covers as windowsills. Most of the church stonework, and one of its larger stained glass windows, is 14th century in date, restored in the 19th. The burial ground has a pleasingly Gothic feel, and I got to know it well, as it was on my regular walk to and from work during the later 1980s and 1990s, occasionally well into the night. Oh, and there were ghouls here once, as a watch-house was built into the graveyard wall's south side in 1831, to guard against them (also known as body-snatchers)."

The Sign's Back!

• May 18, 2023

Several months ago our landlords decided to restucco the front of the building, and took down our sign. Although the stucco work has been completed for a very long time, it took until last night for them to finally reinstall the sign. But we're happy to say it looks better than ever. Come on by headquarters and check it out!

The Costigan Award!

• May 15, 2023

We were delighted to receive today the official plaque for the Costigan Award. Our Dark Adventure Radio Theatre® adaptation of "The Black Stone" was recognized by the Robert E. Howard Foundation with its Costigan Award for Literary Achievement! The award was given at the foundation's annual gathering in Cross Plains, Texas, Howard's home town. Our thanks to the foundation and its members for considering the project and bestowing their official approval.

Shunned Recording

• May 11, 2023

We're nearly finished with principal recording of the vocals for "The Shunned House"! Dark Adventure veterans Kacey Camp, Sarah Van der Pol and McKerrin Kelly joined Sean Branney at HQ yesterday to do some of the final scenes on the schedule. We still have some pick-ups to do in the dreaded French language, along with other small things. Next will come the assembly edit so composer Troy Nies can begin to write the music!

The Shunned House

• May 4, 2023

We are very happy to finally announce the title of the next episode of Dark Adventure Radio Theatre®. It will be "The Shunned House" by H.P. Lovecraft. The very talented Ukrainian artist Vladyslav Urasov kindly provided us with this temporary cover art while the stalwart Darrell Tutchton paints up the final cover. You can pre-order your copy of the show HERE!

Featured Member

• May 1, 2023

Our Member of the Month for May, 2023 is William Malkames of Allentown, Pennsylvania.

William says: “As a relative latecomer to the HP Lovecraft culture, I find it particularly humbling to be selected as member of the month by this esteemed organization. I’ve spent the majority of my working years practicing law in the state of Pennsylvania. I have always however been an avid reader, and have lately taken a particular interest in all things horror, and the occult.

Now that I am nearing retirement, I am actively involved in film production, and I am honored to be working with Arkham Cinema and Bryan Moore in his new project Pickman‘s Model."

New Dark Adventure

• April 26, 2023

Members of the Dark Adventure Radio Theatre® ensemble gathered at headquarters to read the script of the next episode! Based on this trial reading and some feedback from the actors, we'll be making some final tweaks to the script and then we'll begin production. We're not quite ready to announce the title, but will do soon!

Miskatonic Missives Printed!

• April 24, 2023

We were extremely pleased here at HQ to receive a sample of the finished slipcase, books and bonus items for Miskatonic Missives. The fine folks at Helios House Press have done a wonderful job, and the slipcase and all its contents are tremendously satisfying. Everything for the Kickstarter has now been printed and is currently en route to HPLHS. As soon as it gets here, hopefully within the month, we will begin fulfilling orders for backers as expeditiously as possible.

A ton of books

• March 31, 2023

A large delivery truck dropped off two pallets of books at headquarters today, braving the ongoing construction in our parking lot. It is the hardback edition of The Spirit of Revision, produced by our good friends at Helios House. 85.1 cubic feet of Lovecraftian epistolary goodness, weighing in at 2125 pounds!

A number of these copies have already spoken for, and we won't make the rest available until after we have fulfilled all the backers of the Miskatonic Missives Kickstarter. Those books are now mostly all ready for shipment to us, and Yog Sothoth only knows where we are going to put them when they show up! We will fulfill KS backers as quickly as possible, and then all these amazing books will become generally available while supplies last. Until then, we will pick our way through towering stacks of material as best we can.

New Redbubble Designs

• March 23, 2023

We recently discovered a talented artist in Ukraine named Vladyslav Yurasov, who posted some fan art for songs from our musical A Shoggoth on the Roof. We were so impressed that we asked him for permission to put his art on t-shirts and other fun stuff in our Redbubble store, and he agreed! With a few tweaks from us, his ASOTR designs are now available HERE! You can get it as a very striking poster or framed print, on all kinds of garments, a clock, a throw pillow, and other very nice items. We also love his Uh-Oh Cthulhu design, and it makes for a great graphic t-shirt, among many other things.

Vlad is a self-taught artist, in less happy times — a web designer. Vlad says: "Born in Kharkiv region, Ukraine, where (until recently) I've spent most of my life. First read Lovecraft's short stories when I was young and didn't like them. Fortunately, years after the life-changing acquaintance with the songs from "A Shoggoth on the Roof", this tragic mistake was corrected, and HPL became an integral part of my life. Initially, I tried to draw something else besides tentacles and indescribable monsters, but quickly realized the futility of such attempts."

"Currently, I live somewhere between time and space with my beloved wife and a spoiled fat cat. I use Lovecraft's cosmic horror as a shelter from everyday horrors that I can watch from my own window. Pretty sure that the magical Elder Sign is shaped like a tree."

Happy Equinox

• March 20, 2023

Wishing you and yours a lovely equinox, be it vernal or autumnal. We hope the change of seasons brings good things your way!

Amulet of Tsathoggua

• March 15, 2023

In order to make one of the prop documents for Dark Adventure Radio Theatre®: The Black Stone, we sculpted a primitive amulet of Tsathoggua, and printed the final testament of Selim Bahadur handwritten in genuine medieval Turkish. Now, with the help of HPLHS member Travis Hammer, we have refined the original sculpt and cast it in solid pewter plated in antiqued gold. We have paired it with the complete scroll of Selim Bahadur. In the photo you can only see one side, and only in black and white, but in this beautiful prop replica you get both sides in full color, with amazing Turkish calligraphy by the very talented Josh Berer. Together they are crucial elements from Robert E. Howard's classic Mythos story fished from the Danube (or plucked from Charlie Tower's bank vault) and come to life in your hands! GET YOURS TODAY!

Featured Member

• March 1, 2023

Our Member of the Month for March, 2023 is Samuel Hemphill of Bismarck, North Dakota.

Sam says: “I grew up all over the US, for most of my life my father was a project manager for a large construction company that built interstates. So every two years we would pack up and head to the next job spot. Although I am originally from Wyoming, we also lived in a few places in Arizona, and a few places in Montana before settling down on a ranch just outside the Crow and Northern Cheyenne reservations. The constant moving, meeting new people, and exploring new places gave me a nomadic heart and wandering feet. Knowing that if I was going to make something out of myself without many prospects, I joined the military and never looked back. I've been to the ruins of Ur and Babylon, drunkenly explored the time haunted alleys and byways of Sarajevo, and patrolled the primordial forest of Kosovo where werewolves and worse things seem to be behind each massive tree. It has been the adventure of my lifetime, and given me opportunities I couldn't have imagined in my small Wyoming community. Now at the twilight of my career I work on a HAZMAT response team based out of North Dakota. We are designed to respond to everything from meth lab busts to WMD incidents. I'm sure there are at least one or two good Delta Green scenarios I could get out of my experience.

I got into H.P. Lovecraft in the dark days before the internet, although it was only a few years down the road. I frequented used book stores and would buy the horror short story compilations that were so common back in those days. In one I found "The Music of Erich Zann" and the editor's note before the story gave a short outline of HPL and stated that this wasn't even his best story. I fell in love with it and the author and spent most of my time and money after that tracking down more of the stories. Around 1997 I finally found the Del Rey publishing collections, with those amazingly horrific covers and was able to read the collected works. I've been a devoted member of the fandom since then.

Thanks to the HPLHS for what you do to keep the HPL fandom alive. I appreciate all the things you do from the society itself, the collected reading, and the excellent Voluminous!"

Miskatonic Monograph

• February 23, 2023

The newest entry in our ongoing series of Miskatonic University monographs is now shipping! It is a fascinating account of the discovery of fragments of Kitab Al-Azif (the Necronomicon) in the abandoned city of Harran in 1920. The monograph features some great maps of the area, photos, and a color centerfold of the ancient document itself. The text is a blend of real scholarship and total fiction, and we think it's a lot of fun. GET YOUR COPY HERE!