/lit/ - Literature

You'll never get to see Cthulhu. It's only hinted at in Lovecraft's stories.

>>2593035
what

Cthulhu is a pretty cool guy. eh eats sailors and doesnt afraid of anything

it's not that hard

everything lovecraft
+ hounds of tindalos

there isn't even a need to read the stories in any order at all

iä iä f'taghn

if you're interested in giant hipster le nerd XD monsters then you will be disappointed. call of cthulhu isnt even all that good.

if you like cosmic horror though, try the mountains of madness, the dunwich horror, colour out of space, haunter in the dark, shadow over innsmouth

>>2593038

Yep. Thats kinda the whole point. Imagining the unimaginable.

The "squidguy with wings" cliche comes from a statue worshiped by one of his cults. That's the closest Lovercraft ever comes to describing It.

Start with reading "The Call of Cthulu". Its the first story chronologically about Cthulu. However, I'd recommended reading "Dagon" first as a gentler introduction to Lovecraft's writing style which can be opaque and heavy for a new reader.

>>2593039

>>2593050

OP here, could you please describe exactly what cosmic horror is? I honestly still am not sure what the Cthulhu mythos is all about...

>>2593062

Whistling octopus, creepypasta-tier.

>>2593062
It's the idea that there are beings or entities in the universe that are vastly beyond humans. They're vastly more powerful - we're like insects to them, they barely notice us, but more than that they're beyond our very comprehension, even knowing about their existence would drive us utterly mad.

I mean, just read Lovecraft's stories, he's better at it than I am.

>>2593074

> mfw that's it

I've tried reading Lovecraft, but... does anyone else find it impossible to figure out what the hell he's trying to say in his hugely complicated and antiquated vocabulary? Maybe this isn't a problem for most /lit/erary fellows, but...

Any suggestions?

>>2593062
Pretty much this >>2593074 but that's more the common vehicle for expressing the primal fear that cosmic horror is all about evoking. At the base of it, it's just about shattering the anthropocentric perspective.

>The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the light into the peace and safety of a new dark age.

Imagine a team of experimental divers are sent to the bottom of an impossibly deep trench, and stumble upon an unimaginably huge creature at the bottom, which turns to notice them. Or a ruined city that seems to embody paradoxical geometrical properties. Or just try to imagine the scale of the universe in comparison to yourself. That feeling of dread, helplessness, confusion, a sense of being unable to comprehend the vastness of what you're looking at, is cosmic horror.

>>2593095

I see. I know it's very pop culture-y, but could you have a look at this and tell me what kind of an impression this gives about cosmic horror, and whether I might expect similar things from watching this as reading Lovecraft's stories?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QFwo57WKwg

>>2593122
You can expect similar things to what happens in the end sort of, yeah.

Just gotta say, Cthulhu is a rip-off of ancient greek mythology.


Kraken for the win.

Still is a pretty cool idea: something squid like which lurks in the sea, waiting to bring unspeakable destruction to those on land.

Something about Lovecraft needs to go in the sticky, we get threads about this every week and they're all the same.

>>2593506

shut the fuck up pussy

but the kraken doesn't slurp your soul.

>>2593499
>greek

>>2593506
Make a flowchart that we can spam back at them.

>>2593517
you come up with the weirdest reasons to call people pussy

>>2593031
>>2593525
Just made it. Not the prettiest but it works, I'm surprised nobody has made one before, with the daily Lovecraft threads.

Get this OP.

>>2593608
Yes. It's only about £12 and it's got a shitload of stories in it.

DON'T read At The Mountains of Madness first like I did, it contains major spoilers for the Cthulhu Mythos.

On a semi related note, I have read all of Lovecraft but that only made me hungrier. Are any of the other authors in his mythos worth reading? If not, any authors that create the same atmosphere as Lovecraft/Poe?

>>2593608

Hardcover, sweet jesus I might have to buy it, even though I own the paper back collection.

>>2593612
Check out S. T. Joshi for more in the Cthulu Mythos
Check out Fritz Leber

>>2593608
>>2593608
>>2593608
>>2593608

This.

>>2593600

Source on the B&W art of Lovecraft?

>>2593628
>>2593628
Here you are good sir
http://www.francescofrancavilla.com/gallery/hp_lovecraft.html

Steps to learn about Cthulhu.

1. Purchase a clever Cthulhu bumper sticker and following the instructions apply the sticker to a high visibility space on your car or portable computer type device.

2. Wait...

3. In time a common neckbeard (nerdus genericus) will approach and begin to ramble at an almost incomprehensible rate. During this time try to hang on to keywords in the conversation that you are looking to know more about. While the conversation may require some input from you the majority of your time will be spent nodding and making the 'oh yeah!? Cool! ' sound which the common neckbeard uses as a cue to keep rambling. (it is considered a social faux pas to take notes during these exchanges but can be done if proper caution is utilized)

4. Once you have gleaned what useful data you can from the common neckbeard you should start to slowly drive the conversation towards your intense fondness for baseball, rugby, that chick from that playboy show, and how seriously weak being a virgin is('brah' or 'you know what I mean doode' with a half hard punch to the shoulder for punctuation is not required but is very effective). This combination of sounds and actions has been shown to cause a common neckbeard to panic flee your area and then continue to avoid you like a nodule of anal plague.

5. If you have received your desired results feel free to use a eco friendly citrus based adhesive remover and a plastic razor blade to remove the Cthulhu sticker from your car or portable computer type device.

If you require more information than you have received from your first neckbeard encounter: leave the sticker in place and repeat steps 2 through 4 until you have gleaned all you need to know about Cthulhu!

Good luck with your research.

ps If you need to work with more nervous or skittish common neckbeards you should try to put your neckbeard at ease with a fresh hot pocket or nude photos of Summer Glau.

If your into Cthulhu, you might also enjoy Conan The Barbarian, or Solomon Kain

>>2593043
What is that image of?

>>2593671
forgot to add that is usually a good idea to take a bath after talking to the neckbeard or you're likely to feel grimy all day

>Implying that the Dunwich Horror wasn't the best story.

>>2593506

I figured it would, and I actually checked first, but alas... Maybe the Anon who posted the flowchart's picture can go in the sticky.

>>2593600

Why can't I hold all this excitement?

>>2593608
>>2593611

It's being sold online by Chapters (in Canada) for $25. Might I get it cheaper elsewhere?

>>2593615

I can't find the Joshi biography anywhere in stock. Any ideas where I could find it?

Illuminatus by robert anton wilson talks a lot about it. First address is h.p. lovecraft tho

Start reading.
http://cthulhuchick.com/

Should I buy it in hardcover paperback, or should I read it online?

I'm leaning towards buying the hardcover... sitting there drinking tea and flipping pages seems like it would be a more rewarding experience than reading it on my monitor. Thoughts?

>>2593055
what the fuck are you talking about?
Have you read The Call Of Cthulu?

man, even lovecaft has been taken over by the "lol we so nerdcore look at us, we're gamer geeks!" crowd.

i just saw a cthulhu plush doll. what the fuck. what the actual fuck.

Just buy a collection of Lovecraft stories. Make sure you get one that has Call of Cthulhu and the Mountains of Madness.

>that feel when you can buy the entire works of HP lovecraft for 3.99 on kindle

fuck you piratefags

>>2595074

They haven't actually read Lovecraft. Or if they have, probably only Call of Cthulhu.

>>2595096
>tfw I've read all of Lovecraft's shit except for the Cthulu stuff
Not on purpose, it just happened that way.

>>2593499
>kraken is greek

oh lawd, been watching clash of titans? ^^

should I just buy Tales by Library of America? Seems cash

and yeah all the stuff is free or near free on kindle. I don't like reading on that thing though. Waste of $100.

>>2595232

Library of America editions are generally shit.

>>2595232
That one is pretty cool. I personally have the Necronomicon. I like it but it was expensive. It has a ton of artwork in it though with is nice.

>>2593122

Love that song.


With Lovecraft stuff, you pretty much have to read all of it twice, the amount of cross referencing in insane, and you won't catch most of it on the first read.

>The horror was unimaginable and indescribable
>Spends next two pages describing it

just giving you grief but really he's a cool guy

>>2595310

Cross-referencing? How so?

>>2595433

All of his stories take place in the same "universe", and he often makes subtle, and sometimes not so subtle references to things, beings and places that are not fully explained within the context of that story. Rereading Lovecraft, I pick out more of these each time.

>>2593763
> Puny humans win.
> implying the Dunwich Horror was the best story.
2/10 because I replied.

4chan is a cosmic horror.

We are all cultists to moot, powerless slaves toiling in a world that he slumbers in.

>2012
>not listening to Electric Wizard whilst reading Lovecraft
ishiggydiggydoodah

Conan the Barbarian

For "sea monsters" and gore i would suggest reading Clickers and Clickers 2. Pretty fun.

Clickers 3 was shit though. Keene tried to bring in some of his own mythology into the book, which ruined it. Also the whole Lovecraftian Dagon BS didn't mix into it too well.

There's an old pc/xbox game called "Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth." It's based upon Shadow Over Innsmouth. Is anyone familiar with it? How does it compare to the book?

>>2597292
>calling 2005 vidya "old"

thanks for making me feel old as shit bro

very good game, even had a good reputation on /v/. it has a handful of problems, and it's an older style FPS so you might not like it if you're used to ultrapolished CoD stuff, but it's really faithful to the source material. if you've read shadow over innsmouth, the town should feel familiarly decrepit and menacing. great art direction.

there's one part (which i won't spoil) that's so well done, so perfectly adapted from the book, that i wouldn't be surprised if they won awards or something.

>>2597324

I can't get it to stop crashing when it gets to the room with the mirror and the Greek manuscript in the drawer at the beginning of the game. Any ideas how to fix this?