Jim, you forgot Simon's 3 sequels, and, my personal favourite, his 31st Anniversary Edition...of a book first written 1250 years ago!

I have the original Simon paperback (it is available in a copyright infringed PDF online, BTW) and the main problem with books of that ilk was summed up by Lovecraft himself:

"As for seriously-written books on dark, occult, and supernatural themes — in all truth they don’t amount to much. That is why it’s more fun to invent mythical works like the Necronomicon and Book of Eibon." - HPL letter to Willis Conover.

However, referring to Simon's book as a seriously-written work is giving it far too much credit.

...and if I never see an edition of Necronomicon Ex Mortis with Ash's fearful utterances, it will be too soon. Damn you Sam Rami! Damn you to Heck!

On the other hand, A fan-created homage of Srem sounds fun. Let's hope it has more luck than the fan-driven, web-based, but now defunct Necronomicon project.

Mark me down for the section on "Cthulhu is a pussy compared to the Otherness."

Heh.

-Wapitikev

PS - the Repairman Jack wallpaper is about 35% done.

Yes I like the idea, it sounds doable and interesting as well. I think though that the section you want to do about Cthulhu being a pussy compared to the Otherness is a bit premature. It seems obvious to me that the Otherness is in fact the exact sort of thing that Lovecraft was talking about in the way of cosmic entities that care not a whit for humans good or bad. In Lovecraft's universe Cthulhu, Azathoth, Yog Sothoth, and their ilk were not evil in a human sense but by their nature were inimical to mankind, just like the Otherness. I look at the Otherness as the "reality" of the sphere, or dimension, or whatever you want to call it that represents the "spaces between" that is the very heart of Lovecraft's cosmology. The Cthulhu of Derleth is a pussy, but Lovecraft's is not.

Yes I like the idea, it sounds doable and interesting as well. I think though that the section you want to do about Cthulhu being a pussy compared to the Otherness is a bit premature. It seems obvious to me that the Otherness is in fact the exact sort of thing that Lovecraft was talking about in the way of cosmic entities that care not a whit for humans good or bad. In Lovecraft's universe Cthulhu, Azathoth, Yog Sothoth, and their ilk were not evil in a human sense but by their nature were inimical to mankind, just like the Otherness. I look at the Otherness as the "reality" of the sphere, or dimension, or whatever you want to call it that represents the "spaces between" that is the very heart of Lovecraft's cosmology. The Cthulhu of Derleth is a pussy, but Lovecraft's is not.

Yeah, I'm reasonably certain that even Paul would not think of "Cthulhu being a pussy compared to the Otherness."

I'm not familiar with Cthulhu of Derleth.

Have you seen the somewhat recent silent film Call of Cthulhu ?

Yeah, I'm reasonably certain that even Paul would not think of "Cthulhu being a pussy compared to the Otherness."

I'm not familiar with Cthulhu of Derleth.

Have you seen the somewhat recent silent film Call of Cthulhu ?

You could ( although maybe should not - ) pick up the 2 Derleth paperbacks Trail of Cthulhu and Mask of Cthulhu. I'd bet abebooks has them on the cheap. Both Derleth (in The Black Island) and Robert Bloch (in the novel Strange Eons - an interesting read also) nuked Cthulhu. I won't give away whether either time was a success.

I have the DVD of Call of Cthulhu but haven't had a chance to watch it yet. Be interested to hear anybody's take on it before I start.

You could ( although maybe should not - ) pick up the 2 Derleth paperbacks Trail of Cthulhu and Mask of Cthulhu. I'd bet abebooks has them on the cheap. Both Derleth (in The Black Island) and Robert Bloch (in the novel Strange Eons - an interesting read also) nuked Cthulhu. I won't give away whether either time was a success.

I have the DVD of Call of Cthulhu but haven't had a chance to watch it yet. Be interested to hear anybody's take on it before I start.

I liked it quite a bit. It avoids the pitfall of corny dialogue by making it a silent film. And it takes the subject seriously. The claymation-type effects at the end were kinda lame, but it didn't really detract too much; they kinda fit the supposed time period.

Yeah, I'm reasonably certain that even Paul would not think of "Cthulhu being a pussy compared to the Otherness."

I'm not familiar with Cthulhu of Derleth.

Have you seen the somewhat recent silent film Call of Cthulhu ?

I saw the movie it's very faithful to the story. August Derleth tried to categorize the "entities" of the mythos into elemental categories, which somewhat tamed them in comparison to the cosmic unknowability of them as originally conceived.

You could ( although maybe should not - ) pick up the 2 Derleth paperbacks Trail of Cthulhu and Mask of Cthulhu. I'd bet abebooks has them on the cheap. Both Derleth (in The Black Island) and Robert Bloch (in the novel Strange Eons - an interesting read also) nuked Cthulhu. I won't give away whether either time was a success.

I have the DVD of Call of Cthulhu but haven't had a chance to watch it yet. Be interested to hear anybody's take on it before I start.

Quest for Cthulhu (published 2000) by Derleth has both those titles in one paperback volume. It is still available in print from Amazon...but is probably available for less money used.

For those who don't know...Derleth reduced the cosmic terror of The Great Old Ones (Derleth's name for Cthulhu, etc) by making them, simply, the evil guys that rebelled against and were cast "outside" by the good guys...the Elder Gods...who can always come back and kick their butts again.

The Otherness kicks Cthulhu butt (either version) because the Otherness is a bunch of the Great Old Ones all at once. Cthulhu is just, well, Cthulhu.

On the other hand, because there is an Ally, the Otherness has more in common with Derleth's Mythos than Lovecraft's.

-Wapitikev

Quest for Cthulhu (published 2000) by Derleth has both those titles in one paperback volume. It is still available in print from Amazon...but is probably available for less money used.

For those who don't know...Derleth reduced the cosmic terror of The Great Old Ones (Derleth's name for Cthulhu, etc) by making them, simply, the evil guys that rebelled against and were cast "outside" by the good guys...the Elder Gods...who can always come back and kick their butts again.

The Otherness kicks Cthulhu butt (either version) because the Otherness is a bunch of the Great Old Ones all at once. Cthulhu is just, well, Cthulhu.

On the other hand, because there is an Ally, the Otherness has more in common with Derleth's Mythos than Lovecraft's.

-Wapitikev

That is a good representation of Derleth's work. He had a sort of Dualism angle going, being a good Christian and all. In Lovecraft we have mention of Elder Gods but only Nodens is named. I believe, as I'm sure most afficionados of Lovecraft do, that the Elder Gods were not good guys in Lovecraft's eyes just less inimical than the Great Old Ones and the Outer Gods. Cthulhu has acted as a conduit for millenia, whereby sensitive people are privy to his dreams and thus touch the Otherness if you will.
Cthulhu is also seen to be the "High Priest" of the Outer Gods in that he is a herald of their return. Cthulhu in that sense is not so bad per se, but if he is risen then you have no hope because worse is coming if not already here.
I think if Lovecraft had developed this idea further he would have relegated all of humanity's Gods to the Dreamlands where he had some of them dwelling, where they had immortality and some power but were under the control of the inimical cosmic forces that rule all of reality.
The connection with the Otherness of the AC/RJ arc is quite clear, to me at least. The Otherness is no single entity of this mythos but instead is the influence of the alternate reality, or "spaces between" as Lovecraft would have said, as a whole, the machinations of the grand cycle and wheel of destiny, or doom if you prefer. The Ally can probably be represented as the influence of the Elder Gods which are less inimical but by no means friendly to man. They each have their own agenda. In the end man loses either way. That's my take on it anyway.