303: Call of Cthulhu and Detective Fiction
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
Release Date: 12/30/2024
315: Lovecraft and Art, with Kailas Elmer
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
We’re back and we’re mulling over bas-reliefs again. Once you start looking into the relationship between Lovecraft and art, the damn things are everywhere. We would say that there’s no relief from them, but that would be beneath us. Main Topic: Lovecraft and Art This episode is the first of a two-part look into the relationship between Lovecraft and art, and how this shaped the Cthulhu Mythos and Call of Cthulhu. Next episode, we’ll be flipping things around and looking for inspiration from the world of art, but here we’re examining the influence it had on Lovecraft’s life...
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314: Analogue Horror, with Holly Buteau
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
We’re back and we’re twiddling the tracking knob. It’s supposed to help clear up the image on this old videocassette, but maybe that’s just missing the point. The static can be the most interesting part, filled with whispers, ghosts, and ancient secrets. Compared to such wonders, the film itself is a bit disappointing. Then again, analogue horror seems to be more of a vibe than a form of storytelling, so maybe we should just let the white noise wash over us. Main Topic: Analogue Horror This episode sees us explore analogue horror, trying to work out what exactly it is and how to bring...
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313: Horror in Space, with Holly Buteau
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
We’re back and we’re and we’re answering the call of the void. Really, it’s about the scariest call you can receive, regardless of what Cthulhu may tell you. The yawning darkness of infinity shouldn’t be as tempting as it is. For all our talk about horror in space, maybe the real horror was inside us the whole time. Main Topic: Horror in Space This episode heads into the cold and the dark, exploring just what it is that makes space so scary. We talk about some of the real challenges and dangers posed by space travel and how they can amplify horror, then move on to inspirational...
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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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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. The two genres are closely related, both in their literary origins and their broad tropes. But, as our guest host argues, they serve almost opposing purposes. We explore how detective fiction works, and what this can teach us about running Call of Cthulhu.
Our Guest Host
Regular listeners will know that Paul has left the Good Friends. Matt and Scott are inviting interesting people we know to join us as guest hosts, bringing fresh perspectives and expertise to our discussions.
We are delighted to have Heather Miller join us for this episode. Heather is a Lovecraftian scholar who has presented a number of papers at Necronomicon Providence and has recently published a book for Hippocampus Press — Ripples From Carcosa — which explores the relationship between Lovecraft and True Detective.
Heather’s other papers include “Melville and the Lovecraftian Gaze”, which examines the connection between Lovecraft’s investigators and the cosmic horror of Moby-Dick, and “Toward a Definition of Lovecraftpunk”.
You can find Heather’s blog at notesonhplovecraft.blogspot.com, where, amongst other things, she discusses some of the research that went into her book.
Links
Things we mention in this episode include:
- Ripples From Carcosa by Oscar Rios
- True Detective
- Edgar Allan Poe and detective fiction
- Masks of Nyarlathotep
- Palimpsest
- Dirk Gently
- “Shada”
- Walker in the Wastes
- “Music From a Darkened Room”
- At Your Door
- Violence and the Sacred by René Girard
- “The Shadow Over Innsmouth” by HP Lovecraft
- “The Shadow Out of Time” by HP Lovecraft
- The Shadow Out of Tim by The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets
- Ain’t Slayed Nobody
- The Final Revelation
- Into the Darkness
- “Dead Man’s Stomp” from the Call of Cthulhu Starter Set
- Rules of Prey by John Sanford
- Inspector Rebus series by Ian Rankin
- Curtain by Agatha Christie
- Tom Ripley series by Patricia Highsmith
- Mimesis
- Chinatown (1974)
- Oedipus Rex
- Occult detectives
- Harry D’Amour
- Dylan Dog
- Harry Dresden
- Thomas Carnacki
- John Silence
- The Two-Headed Serpent
- The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle
- “The Horror at Red Hook” by HP Lovecraft
- Detective Tales
- “The Call of Cthulhu” by HP Lovecraft
- “The Mystery of Marie Rogêt” by Edgar Allan Poe
- I Am Providence by ST Joshi
- “The Shunned House” by HP Lovecraft
- The Wench is Dead by Colin Dexter
- “Midnight Sunrise” from World War Cthulhu: London
- “In My Time of Dying” from Supernatural
- “Killed by Death” from Buffy the Vampire Slayer
- Pishtaco
- Nero Wolfe
- “Full Fathom Five”
- Vaesen
News
Just One More Thing
Often, we find ourselves with more to say than will fit into our normal episodes. This may be because we’ve done a bunch of research that didn’t fit into the flow of the conversation, or simply because something occurred to us later. We’ve decided to try putting some of this to use in the form of bonus episodes for our Patreon Backers.
The first episode of Just One More Thing will hit the Good Friends Patreon early in the New Year. In it, Matt and Scott discuss some of the things they couldn’t quite fit into episodes 301 and 302, exploring a few other historical settings that appeal to us and offering some more thoughts about Carnival of Souls.
Please do let us know what you think of this approach. We’d love to hear your feedback.
Scott on Miskatonic Playhouse
Scott recently joined our good friends at the Miskatonic Playhouse for a guest spot, playing Sherlock Holmes in their current Cthulhu by Gaslight game, “Mr Whisper”. Expect some keen investigation, some even more unfortunate dice rolls, and a good helping of body horror.
Scott on Pretending to be People
Speaking of guest spots, Scott also joined our good friends at Pretending to be People as a player in their most recent mini-arc, “Jackfruit Frog Island”. This is a Pulp Cthulhu prequel to their main campaign arc, taking place in the 1890s, and it goes from 0 to 100 almost instantly.
Carnacki the Ghost-Finder Readings
If you were unable to attend the live readings of our 2024 Christmas ghost stories, they are now available on the main Good Friends podcast feed. These two tales of William Hope Hodgson’s Carnacki the Ghost-Finder — “The Searcher of the End House” and “The Horse of the Invisible” — were once again directed by our good friend Mike Perceval-Maxwell of Mr Spike’s Bedtime Stories.
We would like to thank all our readers for bringing these stories to life: Camille Brouard, John Casey, Sarah Dovey, Anthony Lee-Dudley, Brian Murphy, T A Newman, Nic Rosenberg, and Sue Savage.
