Saturday, May 28, 2005

Review: The Horror, The Horror -- In These Times

The Horror, The Horror -- In These Times:

Much as it might suit my obscure and inhuman agenda to sling a brickbat in the direction of McSweeney’s, The Believer and the entire gasbag citadel of Eggers-ville, in the case of Michel Houellebecq’s H.P. Lovecraft: Against the World, Against Life, I must toss a bouquet. Because in translating and reprinting this 1991 monograph on the horror writer H.P. Lovecraft, Believer Books has done something excellent, granting us access to a real one-off, an exotic collision of sensibilities. Houellebecq, post-human French novelist, recipient of prizes, connoisseur of addiction and erotic malaise, meets Lovecraft, the gigantically prissy New Englander who couldn’t leave his imagination alone.



Film News: Albert Pyun does H.P. Lovecraft with COOL AIR : Fangoria

Fangoria - America's Horror Magazine: "May 19: Albert Pyun does H.P. Lovecraft with COOL AIR

Hawaiian-born filmmaker Albert (THE SWORD AND THE SORCERER) Pyun is working on a film adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s tale “Cool Air,” and gave Fango the scoop on the project. “We’re shooting now in Los Angeles and will wrap this Friday,” Pyun tells us. “Robert Ladesich is the producer, and a new screenwriter, Cynthia Curnan, adapted the short story. Morgan [SPACE: ABOVE AND BEYOND] Weisser stars. My company, Filmwerks, will supervise distribution via Chris Davis International, and we hope to have it ready for release by October, just in time for Halloween!”"

Review: H.P. Lovecraft: Against the World, Against Life : village voice

village voice > vls > VLS • Spring 2005 by J. Hoberman: "Charles Baudelaire had Edgar Allan Poe, Albert Camus had James M. Cain, and Michel Houellebecq, poet of sour libertinage, has . . . H.P. Lovecraft. Houellebecq's 1991 monograph H.P. Lovecraft: Against the World, Against Life reinvents the preeminent pulp horror writer of the '20s and '30s according to a familiar pattern: A French author discovers and adopts an American primitive. Lovecraft, however, had primitives of his own."

Gaming: Call of Cthulhu: Destiny’s End : GamesFirst!

GamesFirst!:

After waiting years for Cthulhu video games, now there are two on the horizon. Call of Cthulhu: Destiny’s End is a survival horror game with a unique take on single and co-op play. While horror games - and particularly survival horror games - have repeatedly drawn on H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos for the monsters and settings in games like Eternal Darkness and Alone in the Dark, Destiny’s End operates fully within the Lovecraft’s world view for the first time.



Wee Hour Comix

::MetroPulse Online:::

Besides writing, though, he has returned to his distinctive cartooning style.
He's been working on a series of biographical stories--'Hip History Theatre Presents Wee Hour Comix'--and gave us permission to print this particular installment, about iconic and tragically short-lived 'cosmic horror' writer H.P. Lovecraft (1890-1937), who's best known for stories like 'The Call of Cthulhu,' 'The Mountains of Madness,' and 'The Shadow Out of Time.' Not to mention inspiring later movies like the late Karloff classic, Die, Monster, Die.
Smith feels an affinity for Lovecraft, and dug up this unexpected Knoxville connection to the Northeastern author. Who knew that Lovecraft ever walked our dirty streets? It's a story that hasn't even made it into Secret History. But then again, maybe Lovecraft visiting Knoxville, future home of Roger Smith, is not that surprising after all.



Sunday, May 08, 2005

Lurker Films Announces the H.P. Lovecraft Collection Volume 3: Out of Mind on DVD

Lurker Films Announces the H.P. Lovecraft Collection Volume 3: Out of Mind on DVD: "Lurker Films, Inc. the world's leading producer and distributor of Lovecraft related film products announced the immediate availability of 'The H.P. Lovecraft Collection™ Volume 3: Out of Mind' on DVD, available from merchants throughout the United States.

'Out of Mind' casts an entertaining eye on the work of American writer H.P. Lovecraft (1890-1937), one of the early 20th century's masters of gothic-horror literature. The film offers an encounter with Lovecraft and enters into his world. Engaging in a kind of game around the writer, the film playfully winks at many of the themes characteristic of his work: the occult, cursed books, monstrous creatures, and the world of dreams. Out of Mind draws its inspiration from Lovecraft's actual personal correspondence and many of his stories, carrying the viewer through a labyrinth 'beyond the wall of sleep.'

The H.P. Lovecraft Collection Volume 3: Out of Mind DVD includes:
• “Out of Mind: The Stories of H. P. Lovecraft” television feature film
• Two audio commentary tracks by writer/director Raymond Saint-Jean, actor Christopher Heyerdahl, and cinematographer Serge Ladouceur.
• John Strysik's award winning student short film “The Music of Erich Zann” with both Dolby 2.0 and 5.1 audio options.
• Aaron Vanek’s student short films “The Outsider” and “My Necronomicon”.
• Interviews with the crew of “The Music of Erich Zann”
• The third part of the continuing interview with the foremost Lovecraft scholar in the world, S. T. Joshi.
• Bonus trailers of upcoming films including “Call of Cthulhu”

The H.P. Lovecraft Collection Volume 3: Out of Mind DVD will be available through retail at a suggested price of US$21.95. The DVD is not rated but a rating of PG-13 is suggested. Total running time of the DVD is over 120 minutes."

Maelstrom Productions Wraps Lovecraft Feature Production

Maelstrom Productions Wraps Lovecraft Feature Production:

“Strange Aeons: The Thing on the Doorstep” is a dark tale centered around Dan Upton, a Miskatonic University professor of primitive religions played by J.D. Lloyd, his teaching assistant Edward Derby played by Erick Robertson, and his mysterious, new student, Asenath Waite, played by Angela Grillo. The feature production is a tale of wizards, shallow graves and magic of the blackest kind around a campus whose halls have echoed for many years with the footsteps of some of society’s most vile trespassers.

“Adapting Lovecraft for the screen is a huge challenge,” admits screenwriter K.L. Young, “but I think fans will find it a faithful, if updated adaptation.” Both Morgret and Young have hinted that the Strange Aeons title may be a banner for future Lovecraft adaptations.

The project is hip-deep in post-production, and a final cut is expected by early fall 2005. Morgret said Maelstrom’s post-production sound team is currently seeking a computer effects person to finalize some of the scenes.

Maelstrom Productions has also released a DVD of is original short adaptation of “The Thing on the Doorstep,” which was an official selection of the 2003 H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival in Portland, Ore.



Saturday, May 07, 2005

Lovecraft Audio at Zombie Astronaut

0007pick:

H. P. Lovecraft was quite familiar with crazy, and in a way had been groomed for it. He was born on August 20, 1890 in Providence, Rhode Island (just like the Farrelly Brothers), where his mother dressed him and treated him like a girl. Like Du Maupassant, Lovecraft's father went syphillitic and insane, dying when Lovecraft was five. He was born rich thanks to the business interests of Grandfather Whipple Van Buren Phillips, but when Whipple died the family exhausted their fortune and lost their home, leading Lovecraft to contemplate suicide. All this insanity, coupled with a heady intelligence, led him to write some of the most interesting horror fiction in existence. Lovecraft developed and perfected the concept of a thing so horrible it can't be described, one of the greatest horror vehicles of all time.
Here is featured three different stories by Lovecraft. We begin with the Suspense production of The Dunwich Horror. Done as a radio broadcast ala War Of The Worlds, it chronicles the life of Wilbur Whateley, ending with 'Wizard' Whateley's presentiment, 'some day yew folks'll hear a child o' Lavinny's a-callin' its father's name on the top o' Sentinel Hill!'



Wednesday, May 04, 2005

Unspeakable Happens In Area Town

The Onion | Unspeakable Happens In Area Town:

MURPHY, ID—Indescribable tragedy struck the quiet foothill town of Murphy Monday, leaving authorities and citizens dumbstruck by the nameless horror that descended on their community.