Thursday, December 01, 2005

"The Infested Outside" and Other Fond Memories III

I was a Marine in the early 1970s. One night in the barracks I came across an unusual paperback . For one thing, it didn't have “coed lust” in the title. For another, it contained the H.P. Lovecraft story “The Horror at Red Hook.”

That tale launched me on a Lovecraft phase as I delved into his odd, disturbing mythos: gruesome elder beings — the Great Old Ones — lurk behind dimensional doors. They corrupt through dreams, awaiting release by the unwary or depraved. If freed they’ll raze the Earth they once ruled. Erik Davis refers to this theme as “the infested outside.” Our world in constant tension with unseen realms of evil.

That always lent a doomed nobility to Lovecraft good guys such as Wingate Peaslee or the Miskatonic professors who banish the “Dunwich Horror.” They fight evil in the face of cosmic hopelessness. The best anyone can expect is a stay of execution. Ragnarok without rebirth.

Artist Pete Von Sholly pokes wry fun at Classics Illustrated comics, drawing faux covers to Lovecraft titles.

Anyway, it’s been spookily nostalgic assembling all this.

Bye for now.

4 comments:

Attila Girl said...

Please stop using cool artwork. You make other bloggers look bad when you do that.

Thanks.

JP Mac said...

Then you must find a way to tie H.P. Lovecraft into your political and social commentary.

Think along the lines of "The Shambler From Beyond the Bureau of Weights and Measurements."

Attila Girl said...

I hesitate to bring this up, because usually I feel other people should be in charge of the self-criticism that might fuel their personal and spiritual growth.

But do you think it's possible you're a smartass?

JP Mac said...

Possible.

Not probable.

You might also explore, "The Dunwich Department of Health and Inhuman Services."

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