Off to Arkham
I'm off to Providence, Rhode Island to give a couple of talks. I can't think of a more appropriate time to visit the haunts of H.P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe than the cool, grey month of October. With a little luck I'll catch sight of Miskatonic University through the morning fog. (Then again, don't we all carry a little bit of Miskatonic University with us in our hearts?) ;)
And so, in honor of my trek, I would like to share a quote from one of my favorite homages to Lovecraft, Neil Gaiman's "Shoggoth's Old Peculiar," as published in Gaiman's short story collection Smoke and Mirrors:
"Anyway. H.P. Lovecraft. He'd write one of his bloody sentences. Ahem. 'The gibbous moon hung low over the eldritch and batrachian inhabitants of squamous Dulwich.' What does he mean, eh? What does he mean? I'll tell you what he bloody means. What he bloody means is that the moon was nearly full, and everybody what lived in Dulwich was bloody peculiar frogs. That's what he means."
"What about the other thing you said?" asked Wilf.
"What?"
"Squamous. Wossat mean, then?"
Seth shrugged. "Haven't a clue," he admitted. "But he used it an awful lot."
From the same collection I also recommend "Only the End of the World Again", which brings a werewolf to Lovecraft's Innsmouth. And while I'm on a roll recommending "Gaiman does Lovecraft" fan fiction (because that's what it is, after all), don't miss either "I, Cthulhu" or the award-winning Lovecraft/Sherlock Holmes crossover "A Study in Emerald."
On another note entirely, congratulations to all of the devoted Farscape fans who succeeded in saving Farscape and making the miniseries Farscape: Peacekeeper Wars happen. This Sunday the waiting ends at last. About frelling time. :)
And so, in honor of my trek, I would like to share a quote from one of my favorite homages to Lovecraft, Neil Gaiman's "Shoggoth's Old Peculiar," as published in Gaiman's short story collection Smoke and Mirrors:
"Anyway. H.P. Lovecraft. He'd write one of his bloody sentences. Ahem. 'The gibbous moon hung low over the eldritch and batrachian inhabitants of squamous Dulwich.' What does he mean, eh? What does he mean? I'll tell you what he bloody means. What he bloody means is that the moon was nearly full, and everybody what lived in Dulwich was bloody peculiar frogs. That's what he means."
"What about the other thing you said?" asked Wilf.
"What?"
"Squamous. Wossat mean, then?"
Seth shrugged. "Haven't a clue," he admitted. "But he used it an awful lot."
From the same collection I also recommend "Only the End of the World Again", which brings a werewolf to Lovecraft's Innsmouth. And while I'm on a roll recommending "Gaiman does Lovecraft" fan fiction (because that's what it is, after all), don't miss either "I, Cthulhu" or the award-winning Lovecraft/Sherlock Holmes crossover "A Study in Emerald."
On another note entirely, congratulations to all of the devoted Farscape fans who succeeded in saving Farscape and making the miniseries Farscape: Peacekeeper Wars happen. This Sunday the waiting ends at last. About frelling time. :)