Antiques Roadshow – Arkham Edition
A little (more) Lovecraftian geekery to enjoy. I lived in a small college town in Connecticut and the acting is spot on, but if you haven’t read Lovecraft many of the gags may elude you:
Omen Antiquitatum
The H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society is known for producing quality Lovecraftiana for live action role players as well as we aficionados who simply enjoy decorating our abodes with those reminders of the mind shattering horrors that lurk just beyond our feeble senses. One particular offering I am currently lusting after is their Omen Antiquitatum, or Elder Sign, supposedly based on the works of John Dee.
The real life John Dee probably never encountered the malevolent gods of Lovecraft, but for some reason Dee is a popular figure in many of the mythical stories told about the equally mythical Necronomicon. The HPLHS pays homage to the late Dr. Dee’s invisible influence on our imagination with their magnificent version of Dee’s Elder Sign carved into copper just as occult manuals of old instructed would be sorcerers to.
The sign itself bears more than a passing resemblance to John Dee’s Sigillum Dei Aemeth lending an air of occult authenticity to the piece that few other Lovecraftian props can match. At under $40 it’s a steal you can’t afford to miss. Get it from the HPLHS Bazaar.
The Statement of Randolph Carter
Because you can never have too many readings of Lovecraft.
The Statement of Randolph Carter is, in my opinion, one of the best Lovecraft stories. It excels at conveying to the reader that Lovecratian sense of a world of horror beyond our kin, but always closer at hand than we think. This is the first story I ever read that made me leery to go into a graveyard at night.
The reading is accentuated by the images chosen for accompaniment which lend a foreboding mood to the voice talents excellent performance. Turn down the lights and watch this alone:
Part II
Originally posted at The Midnight Special
The Masque of The Red Death
This wonderfully done animation of Edgar Allen Poe’s The Masque of The Red Death captures the baroque Gothicism of Poe’s ode to the lost art of the Masque without losing the essential morality of Poe’s work. Earthly pleasures are fleeting and cannot long keep at bay the harsh reality of the inevitable death and decay of all things: