Summary: "The oldest and strongest emotion in man is fear, and the oldest and strongest form of fear is of the unknown" H.P. Lovecraft may be considered one of the most important and influential American authors the genre has ever seen. A bold statement but it happens to be one we stand behind and because of that, we could think of no better subject to cover for our milestone episode 250. To properly discuss his works and their subsequent impact we brought in a Lovecraft specialist and listener to the podcast as a guest host. We did encounter post recording audio issues and as such we ask for understanding as the fidelity is lower than usual. The conversation though was a great one as we explored the man himself, the influences of the era he was active on his writing, the concept of 'cosmic horror', what the Cthulhu mythos is all about, and of course we take a look at many selected key stories including The Dunwich Horror, Herbert West: Reanimator, The Shadow Over Innsmouth, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, The Call of Cthulhu, At the Mountains of Madness and many more. What would a HP Lovecraft show be without also looking at the multitude of film adaptations and discussing why they struggle to capture the essence of Lovecraft's written word. We also take a look at a roster of key genre films that owe a huge debt to Lovecraft where that influence that may not always be recognized. We hope you enjoy this spotlight on Lovecraft and encourage all to try out some original stories as the only true way to understand the mind shattering enormity of cosmic horror is to experience it (and huge thanks to our special guest for joining us). As always we welcome your comments: horroretc@gmail.com Voicemail (206) 337-5324 WWW.HORRORETC.COM
