THERE IS APPARENTLY SOME ALAN MOORE COMIC BOOK ABOUT LOVECRAFTIAN MYTHOS AND I HAVE TO LAUGH
IF THERE WAS A BROADWAY MUSICAL ADAPTATION OF SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH (AND ITS ALWAYS SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH) WITH CHIPPER SONGS AND DANCES, WOULD THAT BE "LOVECRAFTIAN" ?
LET ME PITCH YOU A STORY, 1920S HARD BOILED DETECTIVE GOES INTO A NEW ENGLAND FISHING VILLAGE AND INVESTIGATES A MURDER AND TURNS OUT THE LOCALS ARE ALL SECRETLY IN A CULT, ADDICTED TO A DRUG THAT A GIANT SQUID THEY FISHED OUT OF THE SEA SECRETES AND THEY FEED IT HUMAN FLESH?
IS THAT "LOVECRAFTIAN"?
95% OF "LOVECRAFT FANS" WOULD SAY YUP THATS THE TICKET. THEY CAN'T EVEN TELL THE DIFFERENCE.
WHY SO?
WELL, COSMICISM IS EXISTENTIAL HORROR. AND ALL HORROR IS AT ITS CORE -- CONFRONTATION WITH THE STRANGER. WITH SOMETHING OUTSIDE THE BOUNDS OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE.
NOT ALL FEAR, NOT ALL DISCOMFORT AND ANXIETY. BUT ALL HORROR.
FOR EXAMPLE
THE THRILLER OF JOHN CARPENTER'S THE THING IS THE GROSS PUPPET GORE AND DEATH SCENES. THE HORROR OF JOHN CARPENTERS THE THING IS THAT IT IS AN ALIEN ORGANISM THAT TAKES OVER HUMAN BODIES AND SEEMS TO DISPLACE OR ENVELOPE THEIR PERSON -- AN EXTRA LAYER OF HORROR ON TOP, THAT THE THING CAN APPROPRIATE AND UNDERSTAND HUMAN EXPERIENCE WELL ENOUGH TO FOOL HUMANS INTO BELIEVING ITS ONE OF THEM, BUT STILL HAVING NO EMPATHY, STILL EATING THEM.
EXISTENTIAL HORROR AND COSMICISM IN PARTICULAR, BRINGS A PAIN SIMILAR TO THAT OF ROMANTIC REJECTION. KM ACTUALLY NOT GONNA WRITE THIS PARAGRAPH IGNORE THIS.
IDEAS LIKE LIBERALISM OR UTILITARIANISM OF THE CRASS PRAGMATIC KIND ARE KIND OF LIKE A CANCER OR A VIRUS OR AN INFECTION OF SOME OTHER KIND. ONCE IT TAKES ROOT IN THE MIND, ONCE THE IDEOLOGY IS TRULY INTERNALIZED AS FOUNDATIONAL BELIEF, ONCE YOU ARE A TRUE DYED IN THE WOOL TAXIDERMIED IN A GLASS CASE BELIEVER -- THE IDEOLOGY DISPLACES THE POSSIBILITY OF ALL OTHER IDEAS.
IF YOU ARE UTILITARIAN ENOUGH -- SO IS EVERYONE ELSE FROM YOUR POINT OF VIEW.
IF SOMEONE DOES SOMETHING, THEY DO IT SELFISHLY FOR THEIR OWN REASONS.
IF SELFLESSLY FROM TRUE FAITH -- THEN THERAPEUTICALLY FOR THE GOOD FEELINGS UPHOLDING THEIR FAITH WILL GIVE THEM.
DITTO LIBERALISM. IF YOU'RE ENOUGH OF A LIBERAL, EVERYONE ELSE IS A LIBERAL. THEY COULD BE A POOR OPPRESSED LIBERAL, OR THEY COULD BE AN EVIL OPPRESSIVE LIBERAL FAILING IN THEIR OBLIGATIONS TO THE IDEAL OF LIBERALISM. BUT THEY CAN'T EXIST OUTSIDE OF THE PARADIGM. BECAUSE LIBERALISM IS ULTIMATELY ALL-ENCOMPASSING, ALL-INCLUDING -- THERE CAN NOT POSSIBLY BE A STRANGER.
HORROR IS INHERENTLY ANTI LIBERAL, OFTEN REACTIONARY.
ALAN MOORE COULD NEVER WRITE A LOVECRAFTIAN WORK, HE COULD ONLY WRITE SOMETHING ABOUT HARD BOILED DETECTIVES INVESTIGATING A SQUID CULT.
IF THERE WAS A BROADWAY MUSICAL ADAPTATION OF SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH (AND ITS ALWAYS SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH) WITH CHIPPER SONGS AND DANCES, WOULD THAT BE "LOVECRAFTIAN" ?
LET ME PITCH YOU A STORY, 1920S HARD BOILED DETECTIVE GOES INTO A NEW ENGLAND FISHING VILLAGE AND INVESTIGATES A MURDER AND TURNS OUT THE LOCALS ARE ALL SECRETLY IN A CULT, ADDICTED TO A DRUG THAT A GIANT SQUID THEY FISHED OUT OF THE SEA SECRETES AND THEY FEED IT HUMAN FLESH?
IS THAT "LOVECRAFTIAN"?
95% OF "LOVECRAFT FANS" WOULD SAY YUP THATS THE TICKET. THEY CAN'T EVEN TELL THE DIFFERENCE.
WHY SO?
WELL, COSMICISM IS EXISTENTIAL HORROR. AND ALL HORROR IS AT ITS CORE -- CONFRONTATION WITH THE STRANGER. WITH SOMETHING OUTSIDE THE BOUNDS OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE.
NOT ALL FEAR, NOT ALL DISCOMFORT AND ANXIETY. BUT ALL HORROR.
FOR EXAMPLE
THE THRILLER OF JOHN CARPENTER'S THE THING IS THE GROSS PUPPET GORE AND DEATH SCENES. THE HORROR OF JOHN CARPENTERS THE THING IS THAT IT IS AN ALIEN ORGANISM THAT TAKES OVER HUMAN BODIES AND SEEMS TO DISPLACE OR ENVELOPE THEIR PERSON -- AN EXTRA LAYER OF HORROR ON TOP, THAT THE THING CAN APPROPRIATE AND UNDERSTAND HUMAN EXPERIENCE WELL ENOUGH TO FOOL HUMANS INTO BELIEVING ITS ONE OF THEM, BUT STILL HAVING NO EMPATHY, STILL EATING THEM.
EXISTENTIAL HORROR AND COSMICISM IN PARTICULAR, BRINGS A PAIN SIMILAR TO THAT OF ROMANTIC REJECTION. KM ACTUALLY NOT GONNA WRITE THIS PARAGRAPH IGNORE THIS.
IDEAS LIKE LIBERALISM OR UTILITARIANISM OF THE CRASS PRAGMATIC KIND ARE KIND OF LIKE A CANCER OR A VIRUS OR AN INFECTION OF SOME OTHER KIND. ONCE IT TAKES ROOT IN THE MIND, ONCE THE IDEOLOGY IS TRULY INTERNALIZED AS FOUNDATIONAL BELIEF, ONCE YOU ARE A TRUE DYED IN THE WOOL TAXIDERMIED IN A GLASS CASE BELIEVER -- THE IDEOLOGY DISPLACES THE POSSIBILITY OF ALL OTHER IDEAS.
IF YOU ARE UTILITARIAN ENOUGH -- SO IS EVERYONE ELSE FROM YOUR POINT OF VIEW.
IF SOMEONE DOES SOMETHING, THEY DO IT SELFISHLY FOR THEIR OWN REASONS.
IF SELFLESSLY FROM TRUE FAITH -- THEN THERAPEUTICALLY FOR THE GOOD FEELINGS UPHOLDING THEIR FAITH WILL GIVE THEM.
DITTO LIBERALISM. IF YOU'RE ENOUGH OF A LIBERAL, EVERYONE ELSE IS A LIBERAL. THEY COULD BE A POOR OPPRESSED LIBERAL, OR THEY COULD BE AN EVIL OPPRESSIVE LIBERAL FAILING IN THEIR OBLIGATIONS TO THE IDEAL OF LIBERALISM. BUT THEY CAN'T EXIST OUTSIDE OF THE PARADIGM. BECAUSE LIBERALISM IS ULTIMATELY ALL-ENCOMPASSING, ALL-INCLUDING -- THERE CAN NOT POSSIBLY BE A STRANGER.
HORROR IS INHERENTLY ANTI LIBERAL, OFTEN REACTIONARY.
ALAN MOORE COULD NEVER WRITE A LOVECRAFTIAN WORK, HE COULD ONLY WRITE SOMETHING ABOUT HARD BOILED DETECTIVES INVESTIGATING A SQUID CULT.
@nugger another thing that is lost on modern lovecraftian authors is that humanity is supposed to be a fly on the wall. we witness the imposibilities of exponentially more complex alien intelligence, while they consider us in the same way we might consider a stray ant while mowing the lawn.
@Nudhul EHH
DEPENDS HOW FAR INTO LOVECRAFT YOU GO
LATER WORKS HAVE HIM FIND THE REALM OF DREAM AND IDEAS AS A NEUTRAL GROUND WHERE MAN CAN MEET AND CONTEST THE GODS, AND REACH SOME DETENTE
THATS KIND OF THE IDEA HE WAS MOVING TOWARD IN HIS LATTER YEARS
AN UNEXPECTEDLY VITAL FRAME OF MIND
DEPENDS HOW FAR INTO LOVECRAFT YOU GO
LATER WORKS HAVE HIM FIND THE REALM OF DREAM AND IDEAS AS A NEUTRAL GROUND WHERE MAN CAN MEET AND CONTEST THE GODS, AND REACH SOME DETENTE
THATS KIND OF THE IDEA HE WAS MOVING TOWARD IN HIS LATTER YEARS
AN UNEXPECTEDLY VITAL FRAME OF MIND
@nugger if you want to maintain the horror-y aspect then you gotta have the "thing" be unknowable. fear is always dispelled by knowledge, but if the thing that the story dwells on is so beyond us that we can't comprehend it then it will always be terrifying. many horror movies fail in this way by explaining the spookum to the audience.
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bonifartius 𒂼𒄄
@Nudhul @nugger i think, like the initial post describes, the characters in these stories kind of "get it" but they usually are completely ignorant if the meta layer that results in them be taken over by the horror, vanishing as a human and soul. another win for the cosmic horror, humans keep losing.
