Category Archives: HP Lovecraft
There Are More Things Unknown Than Known−H.P. Lovecraft Week Starts Here!
There’s nothing quite like the overwhelmingly frightening realization that there are more things unknown in our universe than there are things known. There’s nothing as affecting as the times where we sit alone, quietly in the dark, and begin to wonder about all the irrational, nameless, strange and ancient forces that must surely influence our short-lived existence. And, of course, there’s no better time to shed light on those dark truths than now, this first week of October.
Let the investigation begin, then, with the horror, fantasy and science fiction writer, H.P. Lovecraft. But first, let me set the stage for you.
R.I.P. Frances Bay
You may not know the name Frances Bay, but you definitely would recognize the actress who passed away in Los Angeles last Thursday at the age of 92. Some may know her from her work in Happy Gilmore or on Happy Days (those are the first two career mentions the L.A. Times cite); others may remember her as the woman Jerry steals a marble rye from in a classic episode of Seinfeld. But for geeks like myself (and likely my Biff Bam Pop pals David Ward and Ian Rogers), Ms. Bay will have a place in my heart for two specific roles.
The first is her appearance as Mrs. Pickman in John Carpenter’s hugely underappreciated 1995 film In The Mouth of Madness, where she plays the owner of a small hotel in the town of Hobb’s End. The second is her role as Mrs. Tremond/Chalfont in David Lynch’s Twin Peaks – acting alongside Lynch’s son Austin, she added a serious creepiness to the series as an inhabitant of the mysterious Black Lodge.
You can check out footage from her more popular appearances below, including her Seinfeld appearance. Rest in peace, Frances Bay.
Are You Kidding Me? – David Ward on Moore and Burrows’ Neonomicon (Spoiler Alerts)
Neonomicon: Issues 1–4
Avatar Press
Writer: Alan Moore
Artist: Jacen Burrows
In 1927, HP Lovecraft published a long essay entitled “Supernatural Horror in Literature”, which contains the well-known quote: “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.” Fine words, indeed. Many works of horror explore this concept, preying on our fears, to name just a few, of the dark, otherness, death, betrayal, violence, and sex. This taxonomy is by no means complete, but the last is of particular significance when considering both Lovecraft and Moore and Burrows’s latest foray into territories Lovecraftian, Neonomicon.
