Ok I give up what the hell is a cthulhu? [spelling corrected by admin out of fear] (1 Viewer)

[Andy Sheets]

Regarding movies, while they aren't directly based on any of Lovecraft's writings, I always thought John Carpenter's The Thing and Alien (only the first, none of the sequels) were very heavily influenced by Lovecraft. Sci-fi trappings notwithstanding, the tone of the movies just feels like a good Lovecraft story

 

[Julie K]

No problem Luis. I remember myself making comments about some short people trying to get rid of some unwanted jewelry in regards to some stories that a whole bunch of people seem to like
It doesn't bother me at all if you think Cthulhu is silly or corny. It just means you'll be first to be ripped apart and eaten when He rises from the depths! Ia Ia! Cthulhu fhtagn! (So speaketh the fangirl...)
Anyway, you might give The Colour Out of Space a try (no tentacled eldritch horrors there) as well as The Music of Erich Zann, and, a must for cat lovers, The Cats of Ulthar. These can all be found at the Lovecraft library.
As for more movies, In the Mouth of Madness is a great Lovecraftian movie too. The Thing is a great movie, but it really does follow the original story 'Who Goes There' quite closely. No shoggoths! (There's another one for you to look up Luis ) Anyway, there's talk of Guillermo del Toro doing At the Mountains of Madness. There's a website too, www.mountainsofmadness.com but I don't know if it's associated with the movie.
EDIT: Damn, that link doesn't work. I was pretty sure that the name is correct - I know I saw some sort of site yesterday. Maybe I'm just going mad, though...

 

[Zen Butler]

Julie K said:

I remember myself making comments about some short people trying to get rid of some unwanted jewelry in regards to some stories that a whole bunch of people seem to like

I was just given the Heimlich (sp?) because I choked on a mouthfull of pumpkin seeds after reading that line.

 

[Tony_Woods]

Quite a few of my favorite bands are mentioned on that site, notably Metalica, Marillion, Iron Maiden, Yngwie Malmsteen, Cradle of Filth, Mercyful Fate, John Petrucci (of my fave Dream Theater, concert in two weeks!) Joe Satriani (concert in two weeks w/ Dream Theater!), Therion, etc. Pretty interesting read.

 

[Luis S]

Hey cool,thanks for the recomendations Julie!Always looking for a good read.The books about "some short people trying to get rid of some unwanted jewelry" wasnt to bad, dont know where all the hype is in that one either In the Mouth of Madness,Thats the one with Sam Neil right?Have to check it out Thanks again!
P.S Im in no way saying LOTR isnt good so all you hobits ready to hunt me down lets be friends ok? If it helps I loved the movie!

 

[Max Leung]

I'm not sure if Cthulhu is an octopus or squid. You can't eat octopus raw (gives people indigestion). The preferred method is steamed, while squid tastes really good raw.

Shed any light on the matter? The hoards of ravenous sushi masters are frothing at the mouth as we speak!

 

[Julie K]

Max, my friend, I worry about you. Your devotion to your stomach will lead to nothing but trouble if you keep fantasizing about nibbling on Cthulhu. I'm sure you'd get massive indigestion since he is neither squid nor octopus but an utterly alien being who is composed of a different type of matter than we are. That, plus the fact that you'd be gobbled up yourself before you finished one teeny nibble.
As for your idea in another thread of cloning small versions of the Great One, well look here and here and here.
For those who like Lovecraft and the big tentacled guy, here's a very good novella: A Colder War. I'd love to see this in hardcover right now. I'm sure it will eventually get snapped up and put in a Lovecraftian anthology. I think it's one of the best of the non-Lovecraft Cthulhu Mythos stories.

 

[Julie K]

Ah...very wise move to show the proper respect and correctly spell the name of the greatest of the Great Old Ones. Kudos to the nameless admin who no doubt saved the entire HTF from utter doom and damnation.
(Although I certainly have my suspicions on just who did it )

 

[Brook K]

Max, you may get to find out what it feels like to be reduced to your essential saltes.

So Dagon is Innsmouth? I'll have to track it down, that's one of my favorites.

 

[Julie K]

Brook,
There are elements of Dagon (the shipwreck) in Dagon, but it's mostly Shadow. There are certainly changes, Innsmouth is now Imboca on the coast of Spain for starters, but overall the feel is very much Shadow Over Innsmouth. I can't say enough good things about this movie.

 

[Max Leung]

plus the fact that you'd be gobbled up yourself before you finished one teeny nibble.

This shouldn't be an issue if I sample the clone instead. I'll call him...Mini-Cthulhu!
Besides, in a world where "Saddam Hussein" strikes fear in the hearts of millions worldwide, while a quarter of the world's population would merely think of Cthulhu's visage as just another side-order in a chain-restaurant menu, I'm willing to bet that Cthulhu will need my services, and eschew the ultra-lean-and-unsatisfying snack I would represent.

 

[Julie K]

Max,
Brook is right - you're going to be finding out very soon about how it feels to be reduced to your essential saltes.
The Mighty Cthulhu is impervious to mere human weapons, and that includes everything from the largest nukes to the daintiest of shrimp cocktail forks. He can form and unform His shape at will and can sleep away millenia in a deathless dream. Those who fear not will shriek in horror upon His awakening when they find themselves snatched up in His great flabby claws.

 

[Max Leung]

Your exhortations about the efficacy of Cthulhu's death-dealing prowess doesn't scare me one wit. Perhaps, Julie, if you could convince the great-unthreatening-one to hire the PR firm that extolled the virtues of Pepsi Twist or that other firm that oversaw the inaugeration of the Apple Macintosh, then maybe, just maybe, I would quiver in my panties.

But for the sake of darkness, do not under any circumstances follow a New Coke-style of ad campaign. A "new flavour - Try New Cthulhu" campaign involving taste-tester stands comparing "old non-scary Cthulhu" with "new, improved, SCARIER Cthulhu" wouldn't wash in today's consumer-finnicky-and-cynical climate.

 

[Julie K]

Ah, unbeliever! Have you not read the vile Necronomicon? Or lay awake nights pondering the hideous meanings of the strange couplet "That is not dead which can eternal lie/And with strange aeons even death may die."? Have you never consulted the repellent Book of Eibon, Prinn's odious De Vermis Mysteriis, the noxious Black Book of von Juntz, or the hideous Pnakotic Manuscripts (or indeed the hellish and forbidding Thesaurus)? Have you never heard of the slogan "Cthulhu: Why Settle for the Lesser Evil?"

 

[Max Leung]

I saw a couple of B-movies extolling the virtues of the tentacled one. They weren't bad I guess. Had some funny moments for sure!

As for those books you mentioned, haven't gotten around to them. How do they compare to Parasite Rex? I found Parasite Rex horrifying yet strangely compelling, much like how a pre-teen boy would react when he sees a full-bodied woman naked for the first time. Uh, or something like that. :p)

It must be hard to evangelise Cthulhu when his organization doesn't have a stock ticker symbol on the Dow Jones Stock Exchange (CTHU? Or is that already taken? How about EVIL?).

Maybe you guys can pull a scientology-like stunt and buy all the copies of Necromonicon, then sell them back to the same bookstores, and get the book on the best-seller lists. That'll drum up publicity and interest!

(I'll gladly accept donations for the advice I've offered. They seem much more practical than the out-moded "the not-so-evil-one is going to eat you all!" chanting that is SO 17th century.)

 

[Max Leung]

the slogan "Cthulhu: Why Settle for the Lesser Evil?"

That's not a bad slogan...is he gonna run for president?

 

[Julie K]

That's not a bad slogan...is he gonna run for president?

There have been various campaigns, but the stars weren't right.

 

[Ryan Wright]

I must say this is as silly as that whole "all your base are belong to us" thing from way back.

Only on the Internet can 12 months be "way back (when)" ...

 

[Philip Hamm]

Wasn't "Reanimator" a Lovecraft film adaptation? I caught that movie on IFC recently and boy is it fun!

 

[John Spencer]

That's not a bad slogan...is he gonna run for president?

It's rumored that he backed out because he thought, and I quote, "D.C. is just nuts."