HPLHS News & Events Summer 2024

The Shunned House

• September 9, 2024

Last year our friends at Helios House ran a Kickstarter project for a special new edition of HPL's classic story "The Shunned House". In true HPLHS/Helios style, we loaded it up with all kinds of extra components and deluxe features, and we have just taken shipment of the finished product! We are now busily fulfilling all the orders and rewards of the people who so generously backed the Kickstarter, but once all of those people have been taken care of, we will happily be offering some extra copies of the various editions and components via our online store. (The products are now available for ordering in the store, but please be advised that we will be fulfilling Kickstarter copies on a priority basis.)

Now Streaming

• September 1, 2024

If you have a device that will play DVDs, then the best way to watch our motion pictures The Call of Cthulhu and The Whisperer in Darkness is by getting yourself the DVDs and playing them. That way you can enjoy all the special features that come with the films. But if, like a growing number of people, you can't do that, we're happy to say that the movies are now streaming on Tubi! We hope they will become available on other streaming platforms in the near future.

Featured Member

• September 1, 2024

Our Member of the Month for September, 2024 is Anders Lundgren of Alta, Sweden.

Anders says: “What a lovely surprise that the forces of randomness picked me as member of September 2024. I am very happy and truly honored.

My first encounter with H. P. Lovecraft came back in the late 1980s through Chaosium's classic RPG Call of Cthulhu. The enclosed reading list inspired me to look for books by HPL at the local library where I found a worn copy of the first Swedish Lovecraft collection called Skräckens labyrinter (Labyrinths of Horror). My introduction to Lovecraft’s singular world was "The Hound". This and the other selections like "The Lurking Fear" and "The Rats in the Walls" gave me an overview of his prose style and subjects. I was completely hooked. The fascination with the man and his works continues to grow now almost forty years on. My favorite story was then, and remains, the sublimely tragic "The Colour Out of Space".

One Lovecraftian anecdote that I think other members might appreciate happened to me in the ninth grade. Me and a couple of friends had managed to worm our way out of gym class on the proviso that we would take a long walk. As a lark I suggested we go to the biggest book store in my old home town of Norrköping and ask for the Necronomicon. We did but with unexpected results. Unbeknownst to us the Simon edition had been released recently, so when the clerk casually answered my query with "Yes, we have a pocket version that somebody ordered but never picked up. Would you like to see it?" jaws dropped all around.

These days I am a writer and connoisseur of the uncanny, living close to Ältasjön in Sweden with my wife. For a quarter of a century now I have written about films for Hemmabio (Home Theatre Magazine) and for the past couple of years have had my own column in Bild & bubbla (Image & Thought Bubble). I have also contributed essays to anthologies such as occultural journal The Fenris Wolf and, comics being my other great literary passion, titles such as Mignolaverse: Hellboy and the Comics Art of Mike Mignola and Judge, Jury and Executioner: Essays on the Punisher in Print and on Screen. In the past I have worked in a Spookshow, as a projectionist and film curator, comic book librarian and event organizer. In 2012 I founded the Stockholm H. P. Lovecraft Festival and in this endeavor have been very fortunate to work with Andrew Leman, Sean Branney and Mike Dalager of the HPLHS. Back in 2017 I presented my paper “Mike Mignola and The Lovecraft Circle - Inspiration and World Sharing” at the "Dr. Henry Armitage Memorial Scholarship Symposium" during The NecronomiCon Providence. I am also an ordained Priest in the Church of Satan."

Cthulhu Lives! Content At Last

• September 1, 2024

Many many years ago, we kept records of all the games of Cthulhu Lives! that we played using a HyperCard stack. (If you're too young to know what HyperCard was, you can learn all about it here.) When the internet came along, we converted that stack into a website, and that was the original purpose and nucleus of the HPLHS site. It was full of graphics and other things that slowed down page loading in those days of dial-up access and modems, and when we remodeled the site in general to take advantage of faster speeds, that whole original section of the website was put into mothballs until we could improve all the graphics. We still haven't had the time to really do that, but we are happy to say we have at last finally restored some of that original content to this site. Only three of the 65 games are online, and even those are still a work in progress, but at least it's something. You can check it out by navigating to the Cthulhu Lives! section in the drop-down menus above by going to Productions/Games/Cthulhu Lives!, or you can just click here.

NecronomiCon-Providence

• September 1, 2024

The healthy members of the HPLHS team made their way to Providence for NecronomiCon last week, and it was a very busy weekend! Andrew caught COVID at GenCon and was unable to make the trip as planned, but the rest of the HQ crew ably made up for it. Kevin and Stephanie worked the sales table, while Sean ran games, did panels, and took on a live reading of "Beyond the Wall of Sleep" with Chris Bozzone accompanying. Original HPLHS Member, and the first-ever Cthulhu Lives! NPC, Liz Stanton drove out from New York City in order to play numerous roles in the performances of Dark Adventure Radio Theatre live on stage at the Graduate hotel, along with talented returning accompanist Gary Grundei. Providence locals and NecronomiCon mainstays Allison Rich and Rebecca Paiva also stepped up to join the DART cast. Our friends Helios House Press were there as well, and N.R. Jenzen-Jones joined Sean and Lovecraftian luminary Donovan Loucks to make a special presentation about our joint "Shunned House" project.

When it was all over, Stephanie heroically drove the HPLHS van all the way back across the country, one of the jobs that Andrew was originally supposed to do. We thank her for her extraordinary service! The photos above were all taken by Stephanie over the course of the weekend.

Ennie Gold!

• August 2, 2024

We are very happy to reveal that the HPLHS won two gold Ennie awards tonight for our Arkham Investigator's Wallet prop set. The set was honored as Best Aid/Accessory Non-Digital and Best Production Values. Our friends at Chaosium also raked in several medals for their products "Alone Against the Static" and "Rivers of London: The Domestic".

Featured Member

• August 1, 2024

Our Member of the Month for August, 2024 is Logan Nance of Monroe, North Carolina.

Logan says: “My name is Logan Nance, and I am honored to be selected as Member of the Month!

I first encountered Lovecraft in middle school; having adored Poe, I found a collection of Lovecraft’s stories at Barnes and Noble. My first story was, if I remember correctly, “The Music Of Erich Zann”.

I discovered the HPLHS during my freshman year at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and was delighted to be able to do a brief profile on our esteemed Mr. Branney for a journalism course assignment. My final undergraduate history thesis was on Lovecraft, and I continued the trend established there with my masters thesis, which charted change over time in the attitudes towards race in Lovecraft’s letters and stories, and set compared to trends in the broader culture of the 1920 and 1930s.

My favorite story changes occasionally, but right now it is probably “The Dreams In The Witch House”. Part of that is probably due to the fantastic rock opera adaptation.

Lovecraft’s works appeal to me because he crafted entirely new towns, new mythologies and gods, yet still sought to incorporate elements of reality into his works: the blending of the real and unreal into an uneasy simulacrum of the possible. Plus, he just has some delightful prose!

Outside of Lovecraft, I enjoy reading history books (my most recent read was the fascinating Jet Set by Willam Stadiem) and gaming, preferably while enjoying a cup of coffee."

GenCon 2024

• July 31, 2024

After a few travails, including a historically terrible traffic incident outside Las Vegas, the executive council made it to Indianapolis and spent the afternoon setting up the HPLHS booth in the Exhibition Hall of the Indiana Convention Center. We thank our friends and colleagues at Chaosium for once again permitting us to share a corner of their very impressive footprint on the floor. We open for business tomorrow morning at 10, kicking off a full and we hope fun weekend of events. If you're a card carrying member, drop by booth 511 for a bonus stamp!

On the road again!

• July 30, 2024

Convention season is once again upon us. Sean Branney is currently driving a large cargo van full of game props and merchandise to Indianapolis for GenCon, where we are vending with our good friends at Chaosium, plus having screenings and games and attending the Ennie Awards and seeing lots of other pals. Sean and Andrew will fly back to HQ after GenCon, but the van will stay in Indiana until the redoubtable Stephanie Morey goes there to pick it up and drive it to Providence for NecronomiCon August 15 - 18, where we are doing live DART shows, presentations, and seeing even more dear friends! Then Andrew will drive that emptier van from Providence back to HQ. Whew! We hope we can cross paths with you somewhere along the journey. There are bonus stamps to be had for card-carrying members who see us in person at both of these events!

To mark the road trip, we're happy to share this photo of a custom tire cover made from our Miskatonic University seal by customer Steve F. We think it turned out quite nicely and thank him for giving us permission to share it!

Ennie Nominated!

• July 5, 2024

We are very happy to announce that our Arkham Investigator's Wallet Prop Set has been nominated for two Ennie Awards! It's up for Best Aid/Non-Digital and Best Production Values. We're happy to be considered!

Featured Member

• July 1, 2024

Our Member of the Month for July, 2024 is Mark Trinkwalder of New Baltimore, Michigan.

Mark says: “First off, I want to say thank you for honor of being able to show my ugly mug and for having the ability to share about me.

I was about 19 when I had my first run in with The Call of Cthulhu RPG. Our GM had us make characters and then took our sheets. We never saw them again. He kept them private and we all died in pretty gruesome ways.

My first HPL story was "The Call of Cthulhu", had I stopped there, I would never have picked it up again. My favorite story is "The Thing On The Doorstep".

I currently live in Michigan, just outside of Detroit but plan on moving north.

I am a forever cook and an aspiring author who hopes to publish by the end of the year.

While there probably isn't much more to say, this community and everyone have been all sorts of amazing and I am proud of the friends and family it has brought to me."

MUP episode 300!

• June 26, 2024

Congratulations to our friends at the Miskatonic University Podcast on their 300th episode! We were extremely happy to be guests, talking about props and clues for Call of Cthulhu® gaming. Have a listen! Support them on Patreon!

Expedition Patch Update

• June 26, 2024

After a couple of unexpected and profoundly discouraging delays, our new Miskatonic University expedition patches are finally in stock and are now shipping! We are humbly grateful for the patience of all those who ordered them early and have been waiting on delivery.

Call of Cthulhu screening!

• May 29, 2024

We're getting geared up for GenCon Indy in the first week of August, and tickets are now on sale for our special screening of The Call of Cthulhu! Sean and Andrew will be on hand to answer questions, and show the fun behind-the-scenes featurette! Join us!

Gamer Map Set

• May 8, 2024

New in our online store this month is the first in a planned series of general-purpose gamer prop packs. We're kicking off with a collection of a dozen vintage maps showing places of Lovecraftian gaming interest, including Arkham, Innsmouth and Dunwich, New England, Antarctica, R'lyeh, the U.S., the world, and the solar system. We debuted this collection at ChaosiumCon in Michigan, and it's now available in our online store!

Featured Member

• May 1, 2024

Our Member of the Month for May, 2024 is John Wick of Phoenix, Arizona.

John says: “John Wick... is a game designer and author... bought his first roleplaying game, Call of Cthulhu, in Spencer's Gifts in Ames, Iowa for $10 and didn't play D&D until 2 years later in Albany, Georgia... died three times... suffered the wounds of Hiram Abiff... uses his knowledge of confidence games for the power of good... made love on the deck of a tall ship in a thunderstorm... got a lapdance by Bayushi Kachiko... burned the first dollar bill he made telling stories in a magic ritual... collects orks... calls himself an omnetheist (because you can't have too many messiahs)... beat the Devil in a game of questions... was healed by Harlan Ellison... was called a "scoundrel" by Dave Arneson... knows the secret name of Baba Yaga... tricked the Faerie Queen with seven knots... was invited to Freja's great hall Fólkvangr... still believes in Santa Claus... shook the hand of Sherlock Holmes... lives with three cats, a dozen monsters, and a Rah!... wrote five novels, a handful of short stories over two dozen games and this bio. And it's all TRUE!