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Monster Movie Month: At the Movies with H.P. Lovecraft

Howard Philips Lovecraft, known as H.P. Lovecraft, was a writer of weird fiction- tales with a supernatural bent- and a defining influence on the horror genre. He was born on August 20, 1890, and died at age 46 on March 15, 1937.

Lovecraft is best known for his invention of the Cthulu mythos- a cycle of loosely-related stories that concerned the “Great Old Ones,” beings from outer space who took up residence on Earth to cause total destruction. After Lovecraft’s death other authors, including August Derleth and Robert E. Howard, took up writing stories using the Cthulu mythos, and writers continue to use and find inspiration in his ideas and mythos today . The subgenre of Lovecraftian horror uses the concept of cosmicism. According to Wikipedia, that can be defined as “the sense that ordinary life is a thin shell over a reality which is so alien and abstract in comparison that merely contemplating it would damage the sanity of the ordinary person”.

The Cthulu mythos and Lovecraftian horror have taken hold in popular culture in interesting ways. There’s a roleplaying game, Call of Cthulhu; a band called H.P. Lovecraft; and a zillion products for your favorite cultists, including a cuddly plush Cthulu, perfect for baby showers(and yes, I did receive not one, but two of these at mine). And, of course, there are movies.

Click here to see a review and suggested read-alikes for the newest Lovecraft-inspired movie, Cabin in the Woods, and check out this one-sheet readers advisory handout for the newest Lovecraft-inspired movie, from reviewer Benjamin Franz.

For a list of Lovecraft-inspired and Lovecraftian movies, check out this page from the H.P.Lovecraft Archives or this filmography from IMdb.

If you’re interested in building your Lovecraft collection, take a moment to visit Jamie Blackman’s H.P. Lovecraft Collection Development Guide at MonsterLibrarian.com, and check out our Cthulu Mythos page for reviews of works of Lovecraftian horror.

 

Posted on July 3, 2012 by , Reply

Welcome to Monster Movie Month!

A picture is worth a thousand words, they say, and it’s true that in a horror movie you can experience in a a moment a feeling of terror you might never capture with words. With the right camera shots, music, and special effects, films do more than give a face to horror– they add new dimensions to storytelling. There are a lot of horror readers who also love horror movies (reviewer Colleen Wanglund is currently spending a lot of time at the New York Asian Film Festival)Yet there’s a divide between horror movie watchers and horror fiction readers–there are lots of people who watch horror movies who don’t read horror fiction, and there are many readers who don’t watch the movies.

This gives readers advisory librarians a special opportunity to share the horror genre with both audiences–watchers and readers. It can be hard to know what to suggest, especially if you don’t know much about the genre. In the recently published second edition to The Readers’ Advisory Guide to Horror, author and RA librarian Becky Siegel Spratford suggested ten horror films for horror readers. Then my six year old Monster Kid asked if we would write about monster movies (he’s a big Godzilla fan). So we are declaring this July Monster Movie Month (I apologize to all those expecting Werewolf Month, but I promise we’ll still have something for you).

We created a Monster Movie Month web page where we’ll be posting reviews of some of the great movies in the horror genre, with suggested watch-alikes and read-alikes, and we’ll also have several guest blogs- you’ll want to take some time to read what Becky Siegel Spratford has to say about marketing horror, and what the podcasters from The Cutting Room horror movie podcast think about horror movies, books, and libraries.

We’ll also be sharing a variety of resources for further investigation- in addition to links on the web page, visit our Monster Movie Month board on Pinterest and you’ll find additional resources. Right now, we’ve got some great information on Lovecraftian horror movies and Godzilla, kaiju and giant monster movies, and there is more to come. Visit us often to see what new things we’ve posted to this blog and added to the Monster Movie Month web page. There is a ton of cool stuff here so take time to explore! And thanks for joining us for Monster Movie Month!

To find the resources for Monster Movie Month easily, check out the links below, and search for posts about Monster Movie Month on this blog’s tag archive under Monster Movie Month!

Monster Movie Month Web Page

Monster Movie Month Pinterest Board

Posted on July 1, 2012 by , 2 comments

Giveaway: The Darkening Dream by Andy Gavin


The Darkening Dream, a dark fantasy  by Andy Gavin, which we recently reviewed here, is currently available for 99 cents as a Kindle ebook from June 25-29. Get your 99 cent copy of The Darkening Dream today on Amazon here, or read the first two sample chapters here first, if you’re feeling shy.

In addition to writing an excellent novel, Andy Gavin is the creator of Crash Bandicoot and Jak & Daxter. Look for a guest post from him in the near future!

Andy is doing a big giveaway, including a $100 gift certificate to Amazon, signed copies of his books, video games, posters, and more!

Tweet, like, follow, share, blog and grab a copy of his book to enter.

The Darkening Dream Rafflecopter Giveaway

 

Our review of The Darkening Dream:

In his sinister fantasy novel, Andy Gavin introduces a new horror to grip the town of Salem, Massachusetts during the early 1900’s; vampires. Gavin envelops the reader with his spell-binding imagery fashioning a narrative that will send chills to your very soul.

Sarah Engelmann is pious, devout, and spiritual. She leads a life of sincerity, and this dedication leaves no room for imaginary creatures.  Her life is turned upside down when she finds a young man who has been grotesquely murdered. Sarah receives visions of bloody trees and hears the haunting voice of a long dead woman as secrets from the past begin to arise. Sarah, along with her best friends, and her growing romantic interest, soon become wrapped in a 900 -year old fight in which her very life and soul are dependent.

A blood sacrifice and a battle with the Almighty’s Angel to uncover a most precious treasure lead  the four friends, a sadistic vampire, an immortal sorcerer, and a Puritan warlock on a race.  “Nothing’s ever free…” rings in Sarah’s ears as steadily as the Angel’s holy trumpet sounds, signifying millennium old secrets and visions of a wolf, a beetle, a ram and a vampire that haunt her mind day and night. Her father’s wisdom and teachings, passed down to her, enhance her knowledge of what she is to protect. By combining her faith and intelligence, Sarah attempts to conquer what others had only dreamed of doing.

Secrets are abundant and obstacles appear in as one of Sarah’s friends becomes possessed by witchcraft. It takes all of Sarah’s willpower and faith to break the curse that binds her friend to a demon determined to use her soul for his own bidding. As more deaths occur, and protective forces around Sarah fail, blood starts to flow, opening the entrance to God’s realm. From the ashes, a new Sarah emerges.

Gavin’s horrific novel blends the Puritan faith, magic, horror and a bit of romance together, producing an ominous tale in which one girl’s actions could mean life or death for so many she loves.

Review by Dave Simms

 

 

 

Posted on June 26, 2012 by , 1 comment
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