315: Lovecraft and Art, with Kailas Elmer
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
Release Date: 06/16/2025
322: 28 Days Later, with Maverick Hanze
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
We’re back and we’re raging. While this virus plays a part, we’re more angry about the sequels to 28 Days Later. The first follow-up, in particular, is enough to make you chew someone’s face off. Happily, the original film still has as much bite as ever. Now if only we could convince it to let go of our leg. Main Topic: 28 Days Later Following last episode’s look at , we’re delving into a classic of the genre. Sure, the folks behind 28 Days Later have said that it’s not a zombie film, but we’re ignoring that. This has all the hallmarks of a zombie...
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321: Zombies, with Maverick Haenze
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
We’re back and we’re hungry for brains. Sure, that whole that whole thing about zombies eating brains was made up by Dan O’Bannon in 1985, but that doesn’t make them any less tasty. And just because we’re chowing down on some grey matter doesn’t mean that we’re keen on any of that other new-fangled nonsense. Zombies shouldn’t run around or hold conversations, and they definitely shouldn’t be love interests. Shambling and moaning was good enough for those who came before us, and it’s good enough for us. Main Topic: Zombies Given how prevalent zombies are in horror media and...
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320: The Broadsword, with Andy Goodman
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
We’re back and we’re checking the vents. They’re long overdue a service, but that doesn’t mean they should be talking about eating people’s kidneys. Maybe we could dismiss it as a load of hot air, but they don’t even provide that most days. We would ask the building supervisor to sort them out, but he’s either been eaten by the vents or tumbled through the alien portal in the basement. That portal is a safety hazard, and if it did swallow him that’s his own fault for not slapping some Polyfilla in there sooner. The cosmic nightmares of living at the Broadsword Hotel are bad...
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319: Roll Your Own Mythos, with Andy Goodman
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
We’re back and we’re hunting for the biggest cigarette paper known to man. Well, ideally known to the gods too. If we’re going to fit an entire pantheon inside, this thing needs to be truly cyclopean, and maybe even non-Euclidean. An extra dimension or two wouldn’t hurt either. And we haven’t even started working out how to light up the damn thing! Main Topic: Roll Your Own Mythos The Cthulhu Mythos didn’t really start out as a cohesive entity. It has become increasingly codified by generations of fans, starting with August Derleth, but this can be an impediment to creativity....
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318: Metafiction and Horror, with Eleanor Hingley
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
We’re back and we’re discussing metafiction and horror. More importantly, we’re getting the title of the episode in the first paragraph for SEO purposes. Main Topic: Metafiction and Horror Metafiction turns up in every genre from literary fiction to SF, breaking fourth walls, playing with storytelling conventions, and embedding fictional narratives within fictional narratives. Our focus here, however, is on the connection between metafiction and horror, whether this is self-aware slasher films or horror novelists who write about horror novelists. We look at various definitions of...
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317: Small Town Horror, with Eleanor Hingley
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
We’re back and we’re keeping to ourselves. You really can’t be too careful. The outside world is full of dangerous ideas and strange people. Some of them don’t even play Call of Cthulhu. Sure, they might find our ways odd too, especially if they hear the singing in our early episodes. Still, the real small town horror is always other people. Main Topic: Small Town Horror This is a local episode for local people. We explore small town settings and why they work so well for horror. Isolated, insular communities are a mainstay of horror, usually populated by sinister locals who shun...
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316: Art and the Cthulhu Mythos, with Kailas Elmer
The Good Friends of Jackson Elias
We’re back and we’re pushing boundaries. Good taste has never come easily to us, but it’s downright impossible when talking about art that might inspire Call of Cthulhu games. From performance artists who mutilate themselves in inventive ways to photographers who raid the local morgue looking for models, it’s hard for horror writers like us to make this stuff any nastier. But still we try. Main Topic: Art and the Cthulhu Mythos This episode is the conclusion of our two-part look into the relationship between Lovecraft and art. , we looked at the artistic influences that...
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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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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 and fiction.
All that said, we do occasionally go off-topic in the latter half of the episode, but it’s all related!
Our Guest Host
We are delighted to welcome Kailas Elmer to the Good Friends! Kailas is the publisher of Trebuchet Magazine, an international art journal which has featured writings from our own Scott Dorward. There is also an associated podcast, for those who like to experience art with their ears.
Issue 17 of Trebuchet, titled “Destinations”, is now available at Barnes & Noble, WH Smith, and directly from trebuchet.com.
Links
Things we mention in this episode include:
- “Pickman’s Model” by HP Lovecraft
- Bas-relief
- Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s soup cans
- “The Call of Cthulhu” by HP Lovecraft
- E Hoffman Price
- The Hero’s Journey
- “Supernatural Horror in Literature” by HP Lovecraft
- Robert E Howard
- Romanticism
- Gothic horror
- Lord Dunsany
- Edgar Allan Poe
- Mervyn Peake
- At the Mountains of Madness by HP Lovecraft
- Clark Ashton Smith
- “The Music of Erich Zahn” by HP Lovecraft
- The King in Yellow by Robert W Chambers
- “Shiva, Open Your Eye” by Laird Barron
- The Case of Charles Dexter Ward by HP Lovecraft
- “The Shadow Over Innsmouth” by HP Lovecraft
- The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath by HP Lovecraft
- “Dagon” by HP Lovecraft
- “The Dreams in the Witch House” by HP Lovecraft
- The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1924)
- “The Whisperer in Darkness” by HP Lovecraft
- The condition of music quote
- Henry Fuseli
- “The Slave Ship” by JMW Turner
- Clive Barker’s artwork
- Michael Whelan
- Lovecraft’s Nightmare diptych
- “Lovecraft, AI, and the Limits of Human Imagination” from Trebuchet issue 8
- This person does not exist
- Slender Man
- Benadryl Hat Man
- Demon face illusion
- Pareidolia
- Uncanny valley
- David Cronenberg
- Videodrome (1983)
- Scanners (1981)
- Ring (1998)
- Francis Bacon
- David Lynch
- Op art
- “The Monkey’s Paw” by WW Jacobs
- Hellraiser (1987)
- Talk to Me (2022)
- Vigo the Carpathian
- Ghostbusters II (1989)
- “Cigarette Burns” from Masters of Horror
- Ancient Images by Ramsey Campbell
- Prince of Darkness (1987)
- Throat Sprockets by Tim Lucas
- Valancourt Books
- House of Leaves by Mark Z Danielewski
- The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
- The Number 23 (2007)
- William S Burroughs
- Robert Anton Wilson
- Principia Discordia
- Discordianism
- The Yellow Sign
- The Law of Fives
News
A Weekend With Good Friends
At the time this episode goes out, the latest Weekend With Good Friends will just have wrapped up. The feedback we’ve had from those who attended has been marvellous, and the bits we attended directly were terrific fun.
So, thank you to everyone who made all this happen! What PTroilus, Sue Savage and Mike Perceval-Maxwell did in terms of organisation, coding, and general problem solving was simply amazing. Miranda Adams and Nate Hughes made organising and running the panels look easy, which we know it very much is not, and we heard nothing but positive things from the other panellists. And, WishMoon, Ohio Dave, Mav, Martin, and the moderation team answered questions and generally kept things running smoothly throughout the weekend.
Thank you as well to everyone who offered games, took part in panels, and generally added to the energy of the convention. This has been a wonderful weekend and we are profoundly grateful to you all!
The Blasphemous Tome issue 14
Issue 14 of The Blasphemous Tome will be going to press later this month. This, of course, is the fanzine we publish for Patreon backers of The Good Friends of Jackson Elias. Each issue contains a brand-new, full-length, licensed Call of Cthulhu scenario, plus a variety of articles and artwork from ourselves and listeners.
Anyone backing us at the $5 level or higher by the end of June will receive a printed copy, signed by Matt and Scott. Those backing us at the $3 level will receive a voucher for a print-on-demand copy at cost. And anyone backing us at any level will receive a PDF copy, along with access to the full back catalogue of Tomes.
