Lovecraftian Philosophy - Revision history

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2022-07-16T10:54:13Z

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2022-07-16T10:39:00Z

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2022-07-16T10:21:24Z

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Ywhateley: Typo correction.

2022-07-16T10:19:13Z

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2022-07-16T10:16:15Z

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2018-11-27T08:36:01Z

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2018-10-09T05:46:28Z

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2018-10-09T05:34:59Z

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2018-09-29T21:33:59Z

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2018-09-29T20:58:33Z

Details, typo corrections, and clarifications.

@@ Line 97: / Line 97: @@
 <br> - [[August Derleth]], with a spurious quote attributed to Lovecraft
 </blockquote>
+Or originally,
 <blockquote>
 "You will, of course, realize that all my stories, unconnected as they may be, are based on one fundamental lore or legend: that this world was inhabited at one time by another race, who in practicing black magic, lost their foothold and were expelled, yet live on outside, ever ready to take possession of this earth again."
 <br> - spurious, attributed to Lovecraft in an April 11, 1937 letter to [[August Derleth]] by [[Harold Farnese]]
 </blockquote>
@@ Line 117: / Line 117: @@
 === The Derleth Standard Narrative ===
-Based on Derleth's interpretation of the "Cthulhu Mythos", a paraphrase of the resulting Standard Narrative of Derleth's formulaic Lovecraft pastiche/forgeries, as identified and summarized in [http://ferretbrain.com/articles/article-1113 a blog entry by Arthur B.], is described as:
+Based on Derleth's interpretation of the "Cthulhu Mythos", particularly the "Black Magic" quote with elements of the "Evil Book" narrative described above, a paraphrase of the resulting Standard Narrative of Derleth's formulaic Lovecraft pastiche/forgeries, as identified and summarized in [http://ferretbrain.com/articles/article-1113 a blog entry by Arthur B.], is described as:
 :Some guy, probably a sensitive and well-meaning all-American pulp writer, painter, historian (or presumably small-press publisher) - usually, but not always the narrator - inherits a creepy old house from a disreputable benefactor.  The guy moves in, while superstitious locals grumble and whisper from a safe distance, and begins to spend more and more time in the house, figuratively sifting through the papers of the estate and uncovering spooky tomes and info-dumps on Derleth's idiosyncratic take on the Mythos, while vague manifestations of the supernatural begin to materialize in the background.  Before long, through the power of suggestion, hypnosis, or supernatural possession, the guy graduates from half-baked student of his occult predecessor, to full-blown dazed puppet of the powers of the Cthulhu Mythos, abandoning his old life to carry on his predecessor's work as if it were his own....<br>- Arthur B.
@@ Line 125: / Line 125: @@
 [[Category:Fiction:Stories by H. P. Lovecraft]]
 [[Category:Non-Fiction]]

@@ Line 87: / Line 87: @@
 Stereotypically "Lovecraftian" narratives derived from non-Lovecraftian sources, presented here for the contrast to both the above, and to Lovecraft's own stories.
-=== The Evil Book Narrative ===
+August Derleth, the source of many of the basic stereotypes, approached Lovecraft at least a time or two with some original takes on what Derleth at first tried to label the "Hastur Mythos", which seems to have been politely rejected by Lovecraft - the basic elements of Derlthe's ideas would be that there has always been a primordial conflict between "evil" [[Great Old Ones]] and "good" [[Elder Gods]], and that the Great Old Ones exist within an organized, systematic, pantheon framework, perhaps based on the classical elements of Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water, with "gaps" left by Lovecraft's "pantheon" to be filled in by clever writers, led by Derleth.  Though these sorts of ideas might have been rejected or contradicted by Lovecraft in his lifetime, Derleth carried on with and promoted a version of these ideas after Lovecraft's death, the "Cthulhu Mythos" (as dubbed by Derleth), as part of Derleth's work in collecting and publishing Lovecraft's work, and in writing "[[Posthumous Collaborations]]" in pastiche based on fragments or notes left behind by Lovecraft in his letters and commonplace book.
@@ Line 109: / Line 104: @@
 <br> - spurious, attributed to Lovecraft in an April 11, 1937 letter to [[August Derleth]] by [[Harold Farnese]]
 </blockquote>
 === The Derleth Standard Narrative ===
-August Derleth approached Lovecraft at least a time or two with some original takes on what Derleth at first tried to label the "Hastur Mythos", which seems to have been politely rejected by Lovecraft - the basic elements of Derlthe's ideas would be that there has always been a primordial conflict between "evil" [[Great Old Ones]] and "good" [[Elder Gods]], and that the Great Old Ones exist within an organized, systematic, pantheon framework, perhaps based on the classical elements of Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water, with "gaps" left by Lovecraft's "pantheon" to be filled in by clever writers, led by Derleth.  Though these sorts of ideas might have been rejected or contradicted by Lovecraft in his lifetime, Derleth carried on with and promoted a version of these ideas after Lovecraft's death, as part of Derleth's work in collecting and publishing Lovecraft's work, and in writing "[[Posthumous Collaborations]]" in pastiche based on fragments or notes left behind by Lovecraft in his letters and commonplace book.
+Based on Derleth's interpretation of the "Cthulhu Mythos", a paraphrase of the resulting Standard Narrative of Derleth's formulaic Lovecraft pastiche/forgeries, as identified and summarized in [http://ferretbrain.com/articles/article-1113 a blog entry by Arthur B.], is described as:
 :Some guy, probably a sensitive and well-meaning all-American pulp writer, painter, historian (or presumably small-press publisher) - usually, but not always the narrator - inherits a creepy old house from a disreputable benefactor.  The guy moves in, while superstitious locals grumble and whisper from a safe distance, and begins to spend more and more time in the house, figuratively sifting through the papers of the estate and uncovering spooky tomes and info-dumps on Derleth's idiosyncratic take on the Mythos, while vague manifestations of the supernatural begin to materialize in the background.  Before long, through the power of suggestion, hypnosis, or supernatural possession, the guy graduates from half-baked student of his occult predecessor, to full-blown dazed puppet of the powers of the Cthulhu Mythos, abandoning his old life to carry on his predecessor's work as if it were his own....<br>- Arthur B.

← Older revision		Revision as of 10:21, 16 July 2022
Line 92:		Line 92:
	:A guy in a spooky New England town obtains a [[Necronomicon Ex-Mortis\|Creepy Old Book]] from a mysterious book-seller or secret room, studies the tome, while [[Whammies\|Weird Supernatural Things]] happen in the background. The guy becomes obsessed with the tome, perhaps joins a [[Human Cultist\|Robed and Hooded Chanting Cult]] and perhaps visits some [[Ye Olde Standing Stones\|mysterious ruins]] in the woods, and then reads the book out loud and accidentally-on-purpose summons a [[Tentacle Monster]], which then tries to eat his face, while hilarity ensues....		:A guy in a spooky New England town obtains a [[Necronomicon Ex-Mortis\|Creepy Old Book]] from a mysterious book-seller or secret room, studies the tome, while [[Whammies\|Weird Supernatural Things]] happen in the background. The guy becomes obsessed with the tome, perhaps joins a [[Human Cultist\|Robed and Hooded Chanting Cult]] and perhaps visits some [[Ye Olde Standing Stones\|mysterious ruins]] in the woods, and then reads the book out loud and accidentally-on-purpose summons a [[Tentacle Monster]], which then tries to eat his face, while hilarity ensues....

−	For many casual fans with at least a passing familiarity with Lovecraftian pastiche over the original stories, this IS Lovecraft, and most - if not all - of these elements should be present in some form to tell a story in essentially that format for something to be considered "Lovecraftian". These elements are flexible; for example, you can substitute a wide variety of elements for that creepy old book, such as videotapes (''[[Ringu (1998 franchise)]]''), computer discs, record albums (''[[The Gate (1987 franchise)]]''), a machine (''[[From Beyond (1986 film)]]''), a puzzle-box (''[[Hellraiser (1987 franchise)]]''), etc. The spooky New England town could easily be substituted ~~for~~ a creepy house or cabin in the woods (''[[Evil Dead (1981 franchise)]]'') or even a space ship (''[[Event Horizon (1997 film)]]''), the standard tentacle monster is expected but can be substituted for "[[Deadite]]" zombies or evil little monsters ("[[Ghoulies (1984 franchise)]]").	+	For many casual fans with at least a passing familiarity with Lovecraftian pastiche over the original stories, this IS Lovecraft, and most - if not all - of these elements should be present in some form to tell a story in essentially that format for something to be considered "Lovecraftian". These elements are flexible; for example, you can substitute a wide variety of elements for that creepy old book, such as videotapes (''[[Ringu (1998 franchise)]]''), computer discs, record albums (''[[The Gate (1987 franchise)]]''), a machine (''[[From Beyond (1986 film)]]''), a puzzle-box (''[[Hellraiser (1987 franchise)]]''), etc. The spooky New England town could easily be substituted with a creepy house or cabin in the woods (''[[Evil Dead (1981 franchise)]]'') or even a space ship (''[[Event Horizon (1997 film)]]''), the standard tentacle monster is expected but can be substituted for "[[Deadite]]" zombies or evil little monsters ("[[Ghoulies (1984 franchise)]]").

@@ Line 98: / Line 98: @@
 [[August Derleth]] repeatedly misquoted Lovecraft, apparently based on the Farnese letter quoted above; an example of Derleth's version of the quote, which would appear in numerous [[Arkham House]] collections and other commentaries by Derleth on Lovecraft, is:
-:The pattern of the Mythos is a pattern that is basic in the history of mankind, representing as it does the primal struggle between good and evil; in this, it is essentially similar to the Christian Mythos, especially relating to the expulsion of Satan from Eden and Satan’s lasting power of evil. "All my stories, unconnected as they may be," wrote Lovecraft, "are based on the fundamental lore or legend that this world was inhabited at one time by another race who, in practising black magic, lost their foothold and were expelled, yet live on outside ever ready to take possession of this earth again."
+<blockquote>
+Or,
 <blockquote>
@@ Line 108: / Line 109: @@
 <br> - spurious, attributed to Lovecraft in an April 11, 1937 letter to [[August Derleth]] by [[Harold Farnese]]
 </blockquote>
 A paraphrase of the resulting Standard Narrative of Derleth's formulaic Lovecraft pastiche/forgeries, as identified and summarized in [http://ferretbrain.com/articles/article-1113 a blog entry by Arthur B.], is described as:

@@ Line 102: / Line 102: @@
 === The Derleth Standard Narrative ===
-A paraphrase of the Standard Narrative of Derleth's formulaic Lovecraft pastiche/forgeries, as identified and summarized in [http://ferretbrain.com/articles/article-1113 a blog entry by Arthur B.]:
+August Derleth approached Lovecraft at least a time or two with some original takes on what Derleth at first tried to label the "Hastur Mythos", which seems to have been politely rejected by Lovecraft - the basic elements of Derlthe's ideas would be that there has always been a primordial conflict between "evil" [[Great Old Ones]] and "good" [[Elder Gods]], and that the Great Old Ones exist within an organized, systematic, pantheon framework, perhaps based on the classical elements of Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water, with "gaps" left by Lovecraft's "pantheon" to be filled in by clever writers, led by Derleth.  Though these sorts of ideas might have been rejected or contradicted by Lovecraft in his lifetime, Derleth carried on with and promoted a version of these ideas after Lovecraft's death, as part of Derleth's work in collecting and publishing Lovecraft's work, and in writing "[[Posthumous Collaborations]]" in pastiche based on fragments or notes left behind by Lovecraft in his letters and commonplace book.
-:Some guy, probably a sensitive and well-meaning all-American pulp writer, painter, historian (or presumably small-press publisher), - usually, but not always the narrator - inherits a creepy old house from a disreputable benefactor.  The guy moves in, while superstitious locals grumble and whisper from a safe distance, and begins to spend more and more time in the house, figuratively sifting through the papers of the estate and uncovering spooky tomes and info-dumps on Derleth's idiosyncratic take on the Mythos, while vague manifestations of the supernatural begin to materialize in the background.  Before long, through the power of suggestion, hypnosis, or supernatural possession, the guy graduates from half-baked student of his occult predecessor, to full-blown dazed puppet of the powers of the Cthulhu Mythos, abandoning his old life to carry on his predecessor's work as if it were his own....
+<blockquote>

@@ Line 23: / Line 23: @@
 My reason for writing stories is to give myself the satisfaction of visualising more clearly and detailedly and stably the vague, elusive, fragmentary impressions of wonder, beauty, and adventurous expectancy which are conveyed to me by certain sights (scenic, architectural, atmospheric, etc.), ideas, occurrences, and images encountered in art and literature. I choose weird stories because they suit my inclination best—one of my strongest and most persistent wishes being to achieve, momentarily, the illusion of some strange suspension or violation of the galling limitations of time, space, and natural law which for ever imprison us and frustrate our curiosity about the infinite cosmic spaces beyond the radius of our sight and analysis. These stories frequently emphasise the element of horror because fear is our deepest and strongest emotion, and the one which best lends itself to the creation of nature-defying illusions. Horror and the unknown or the strange are always closely connected, so that it is hard to create a convincing picture of shattered natural law or cosmic alienage or "outsideness" without laying stress on the emotion of fear. The reason why time plays a great part in so many of my tales is that this element looms up in my mind as the most profoundly dramatic and grimly terrible thing in the universe. Conflict with time seems to me the most potent and fruitful theme in all human expression.
-While my chosen form of story-writing is obviously a special and perhaps a narrow one, it is none the less a persistent and permanent type of expression, as old as literature itself. There will always be a small percentage of persons who feel a burning curiosity about unknown outer space, and a burning desire to escape from the prison-house of the known and the real into those enchanted lands of incredible adventure and infinite possibilities which dreams open up to us, and which things like deep woods, fantastic urban towers, and flaming sunsets momentarily suggest. These persons include great authors as well as insignificant amateurs like myself - [[Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron Dunsany|Dunsany]], [[Edgar Allan Poe|Poe]], [[Arthur Machen]], [[M. R. James]], [[Algernon Blackwood]], and [[Walter de la Mare]] being typical masters in this field.
+While my chosen form of story-writing is obviously a special and perhaps a narrow one, it is none the less a persistent and permanent type of expression, as old as literature itself. There will always be a small percentage of persons who feel a burning curiosity about unknown outer space, and a burning desire to escape from the prison-house of the known and the real into those enchanted lands of incredible adventure and infinite possibilities which dreams open up to us, and which things like deep woods, fantastic urban towers, and flaming sunsets momentarily suggest. These persons include great authors as well as insignificant amateurs like myself - [[Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron Dunsany|Dunsany]], [[Edgar Allan Poe|Poe]], [[Arthur Machen]], [[M.R. James]], [[Algernon Blackwood]], and [[Walter de la Mare]] being typical masters in this field.
 As to how I write a story - there is no one way. Each one of my tales has a different history. Once or twice I have literally written out a dream; but usually I start with a mood or idea or image which I wish to express, and revolve it in my mind until I can think of a good way of embodying it in some chain of dramatic occurrences capable of being recorded in concrete terms. I tend to run through a mental list of the basic conditions or situations best adapted to such a mood or idea or image, and then begin to speculate on logical and naturally motivated explanations of the given mood or idea or image in terms of the basic condition or situation chosen.

@@ Line 45: / Line 45: @@
 These are the rules or standards which I have followed - consciously or unconsciously - ever since I first attempted the serious writing of fantasy. That my results are successful may well be disputed - but I feel at least sure that, had I ignored the considerations mentioned in the last few paragraphs, they would have been much worse than they are.
 </blockquote>
 == Pseudo-Lovecraftian Narratives ==

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 == According to Lovecraft ==
 An overview of Lovecraftian philosophy in Lovecraft's own words.
 === The Farnese Letter ===

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:33, 29 September 2018
Line 68:		Line 68:

	[[Category:Fiction:Stories by H. P. Lovecraft]]		[[Category:Fiction:Stories by H. P. Lovecraft]]
		+	[[Category:Non-Fiction]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:58, 29 September 2018
Line 46:		Line 46:
	:A guy in a spooky New England town obtains a [[Necronomicon Ex-Mortis\|Creepy Old Book]] from a mysterious book-seller or secret room, studies the tome, while [[Whammies\|Weird Supernatural Things]] happen in the background. The guy becomes obsessed with the tome, perhaps joins a [[Human Cultist\|Robed and Hooded Chanting Cult]] and perhaps visits some [[Ye Olde Standing Stones\|mysterious ruins]] in the woods, and then reads the book out loud and accidentally-on-purpose summons a [[Tentacle Monster]], which then tries to eat his face, while hilarity ensues....		:A guy in a spooky New England town obtains a [[Necronomicon Ex-Mortis\|Creepy Old Book]] from a mysterious book-seller or secret room, studies the tome, while [[Whammies\|Weird Supernatural Things]] happen in the background. The guy becomes obsessed with the tome, perhaps joins a [[Human Cultist\|Robed and Hooded Chanting Cult]] and perhaps visits some [[Ye Olde Standing Stones\|mysterious ruins]] in the woods, and then reads the book out loud and accidentally-on-purpose summons a [[Tentacle Monster]], which then tries to eat his face, while hilarity ensues....

−	For many casual fans with at least a passing familiarity with Lovecraftian pastiche over the original stories, this IS Lovecraft, and most - if not all - of these elements should be present in some form to tell a story in essentially that format for something to be considered "Lovecraftian". These elements are flexible; for example, you can substitute a wide variety of elements for that creepy old book, such as videotapes (''[[Ringu (1998 franchise)]]''), computer discs, record albums (''[[The Gate (1987 franchise)]]''), a machine (''[[From Beyond (~~1987~~ film)]]''), a puzzle-box (''[[Hellraiser (1987 franchise)]]''), etc. The spooky New England town could easily be substituted for a creepy house or cabin in the woods (''[[Evil Dead (1981 franchise)]]'') or even a space ship (''[[Event Horizon (1997 film)]]''), the standard tentacle monster is expected but can be substituted for "[[Deadite]]" zombies or evil little monsters ("[[Ghoulies (1984 franchise)]]").	+	For many casual fans with at least a passing familiarity with Lovecraftian pastiche over the original stories, this IS Lovecraft, and most - if not all - of these elements should be present in some form to tell a story in essentially that format for something to be considered "Lovecraftian". These elements are flexible; for example, you can substitute a wide variety of elements for that creepy old book, such as videotapes (''[[Ringu (1998 franchise)]]''), computer discs, record albums (''[[The Gate (1987 franchise)]]''), a machine (''[[From Beyond (1986 film)]]''), a puzzle-box (''[[Hellraiser (1987 franchise)]]''), etc. The spooky New England town could easily be substituted for a creepy house or cabin in the woods (''[[Evil Dead (1981 franchise)]]'') or even a space ship (''[[Event Horizon (1997 film)]]''), the standard tentacle monster is expected but can be substituted for "[[Deadite]]" zombies or evil little monsters ("[[Ghoulies (1984 franchise)]]").