312: Comedy Horror, with Evan Dorkin
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
We’re back and we’re and we’re putting on our ponchos. They look a bit silly, but that works for us here. The important thing is that they’ll keep some of the gore off our clothes. Comedy horror can be a messy business, especially once you bring gardening equipment into play. We’re not sure whether to laugh or cry, so we’ll probably just scream. Main Topic: Comedy Horror This episode sees us delve into the bloody world of comedy horror, trying to pin down what makes the two genres work so well together, looking at some examples from media, and trying to work out how to perform...
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311: RPGs and Fiction, with Evan Dorkin
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
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310: Something Wicked This Way Comes, with Cuppycup
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
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309: Theme Parks and Horror, with Cuppycup
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
We’re back and we’re learning about protein spills. What sounded like an innocent sexual innuendo has turned out to be more scatological than any of us would have liked. The unpleasant realities of theme parks are well hidden behind twee language and cute costumes. Happily, once we strip them away, we can find some good horror inspiration. Although we do wish it all smelled a bit better. Main Topic: Theme Parks and Horror This episode, we visit the topic of theme parks, amusement parks, funfairs and the like, looking for Call of Cthulhu inspiration. As with so many things rooted...
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308: The Appeal of Vampires, With Josephine McAdam
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
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307: Horror For the Nervous, with Josephine McAdam
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
We’re back and we’re hiding behind the sofa. Sure, the monsters, masked killers, and mutants can probably find us back here, but it still feels safer for some reason. Fear is rarely a rational thing, so why should our response to it be? Main Topic: Horror For the Nervous This episode came about when Scott was playing The Between with Josephine McAdam over on and she mentioned that she rarely watches or reads horror media because she finds it upsetting. Given how many horror projects Josephine has been involved with, this seemed like something worth exploring, so we...
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306: Quatermass and the Pit
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
We’re back and we’re digging up the past. Some of this excavation is purely physical, burrowing into the clay under London in search of the usual skulls and spaceships. The rest, however, is more atavistic in nature, uncovering the strange, alien memories buried within our minds. On reflection, we probably shouldn’t have used pickaxes for both jobs. Main Topic: Quatermass and the Pit This episode is our long-overdue exploration of the strange world of Professor Bernard Quatermass, and especially the 1967 film adaptation of Quatermass and the Pit. While we’ve mentioned Nigel...
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305: How to be an Investigator
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
We’re back and we’re blundering. That’s not to say that we don’t have a clue, but we’re not quite sure what to do with the handful we’ve managed to find. We’ve tried pinning them to a board and running strings between them, but the result is more abstract art than anything functional. Maybe we’ll just keep punching NPCs until one of them finally tells us what’s going on. Main Topic: How to be an Investigator This episode is our attempt to sharpen our own skills as investigators, or at least hope that others can learn from our mistakes. Scott and guest host Seth Skorkowsky...
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304: Haunted Landscapes
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
We’re back and we’re digging deep. While you might expect to find ghosts in these haunted landscapes, mostly we’re unearthing history. Oh, and carcinogens. On balance, ghosts seem like the healthier option. Main Topic: Haunted Landscapes Building on last episode’s discussion of Lovecraftian horror and detective fiction explored in Heather Miller’s , we’re delving into another part of the book, which lays out the idea of haunted landscapes. The landscapes in question are haunted by the past rather than ghosts, with layers of history transforming their geography and meaning. We...
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303: Call of Cthulhu and Detective Fiction
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
We’re back and we’re sifting through evidence. Being a good detective requires a keen eye for detail, an analytical mind, and a thorough knowledge of the genre. But that happens when you find yourself in a different genre than you were expecting? Is your uncanny ability to piece together disparate clues really an asset when it leads you to horrifying revelations? Maybe this new dark age thing we’ve heard about isn’t so bad after all. Main Topic: Call of Cthulhu and Detective Fiction This episode delves into the complex relationship between detective fiction and Lovecraftian horror....
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We’re back and we’re peering into wells. Perhaps it’s not unusual to find dead things in wells, but they aren’t generally this animated. Maybe the poor things would lie down and die if there was room for them to do so. Or maybe its just that gnawing hunger that keeps them going. Either way, we suppose they wouldn’t really be ye liveliest awfulness without being lively…
Main Topic: The Case of Charles Dexter Ward part 4
We are continuing our investigation into HP Lovecraft’s novel The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, heading deep into the catacombs below Pawtuxet. This section contains some of the most horrific scenes Lovecraft wrote, as well as a brief introduction to Grecian pottery. Every day is an education with Howie.
This episode brings us to the end of the story itself, but we shall return next time to discuss the various ways in which The Case of Charles Dexter Ward has been adapted for the screen, audio dramas, and Call of Cthulhu.
Links
Things we mention in this episode include:
- A Dreamer and a Visionary: HP Lovecraft in His Time by ST Joshi
- I Am Providence: The Life and Times of HP Lovecraft by ST Joshi
- Lord of a Visible World: An Autobiography in Letters by HP Lovecraft, ST Joshi, and David E Schultz
- Lovecraft and a World in Transition by ST Joshi
- The New Annotated HP Lovecraft, edited by Leslie Klinger
- “The Thing on the Doorstep” by HP Lovecraft
- Yog-Sothoth
- HP Lovecraft Historical Society reading of Lovecraft’s complete fiction, including The Case of Charles Dexter Ward
- At the Mountains of Madness by HP Lovecraft
- The Return of the Living Dead (1985)
- Dan O’Bannon
- The Resurrected (1991)
- “The Shadow Over Innsmouth” by HP Lovecraft
- “The Call of Cthulhu” by HP Lovecraft
- “Pickman’s Model” by HP Lovecraft
- “The Waste Land” by TS Eliot
- Lekythos
- Phaleron jug
- Weird Tales
- Kylix
- Soylent Green (1973)
- The Sign of Koth
- The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
News
Innsmouth Literary Festival
Matt and Paul discuss what they got up to at the Innsmouth Literary Festival. Much of this revolves around book purchases, specifically Ambrose, Broadalbin and Sosostris by John Tynes, Ripples From Carcosa by Heather Miller, and The Dunwich Trilogy by Robert Poyton. The British setting of the latter put Matt in mind of his own scenario “An Amaranthine Desire” from Nameless Horrors.
Matt also gives a shout out to Cthulhu Loves Crafts, creators of the budgie lapel pin pictured below.
Blasphemous Tome Issue 13
We are hard at work on issue 13 of The Blasphemous Tome, the fanzine we put out twice-yearly for Patreon backers of The Good Friends of Jackson Elias. This new issue will contain a brand-new and gruesome Call of Cthulhu scenario from our own Matt Sanderson, as well as all the usual year-end features.
Anyone backing us at the $5 level or higher by the end of this year can expect a printed copy of the Tome, signed by our own fair extremities. Backers at the $3 level will receive a voucher for a discounted print-on-demand copy, and everyone will receive the PDF.
Don’t forget that backing us also gives you access to the entire back catalogue of the Tome in PDF format, which includes a wealth of Call of Cthulhu scenarios you won’t find anywhere else.
