I Will Tell You About Something Else Horrific I Witnessed*

I really love the Library of America's H. P. Lovecraft collection that came out earlier last month--not that I haven't already read most of these stories a couple times over, but it's just so great to have them all in one place, and a highly canonical place at that. But the absolute best presentation of Lovecraft I've seen all year was just forwarded to me by a fellow writer yesterday: The Nameless Dread paired up choice HPL quotes with Family Circus panels to hilarious effect. But one of two things happened late Monday: either Bil Keane's lawyers found out and tore into the proprietor, or fans like me killed a good thing by driving too many of you to go see it and maxing out her traffic allowance. Or both.

I've also been amused recently by the latest version of the Necronomicon, "a uniquely accurate version... firmly rooted in Lovercraft's Cthulhu Mythos and faithful to his descriptions concerning the history and contents of this imaginary book." Unlike previous authors, Donald Tyson does a great job of getting into the character of "Abdul Alhazred," and presents the book not just as a collection of demon-summoning spells but as an account of Alhazred's journey across the Arabian deserts picking up occult knowledge wherever he went. It's not the Necronomicon I've imagined, but it's not a bad fantasy pastiche in its own right, and horror writers (or even fans) might find it an entertaining resource.

* Joke explained here.