# Geology or Lovecraft? You decide. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 26, 2018, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geology-or-lovecraft-you-decide/816808 "2018-06-26T23:44:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2018, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geology-or-lovecraft-you-decide/816808/1 "2018-06-26T23:44:32Z")
A featured quote in today’s NYT science section: > [@Vadim Levin](#): > > We infer that something is rising up through the deeper part of our planet, under New England. No, I’m not giving that any context. It’s too deliciously creepy. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2018, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geology-or-lovecraft-you-decide/816808/2 "2018-06-26T23:49:01Z")
It’s not only creepy. It’s dread, unspeakable, and eldritch. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2018, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geology-or-lovecraft-you-decide/816808/3 "2018-06-26T23:56:51Z")
Stephen King surely is listening. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geology-or-lovecraft-you-decide/816808/4 "2018-06-27T00:12:14Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > It’s not only creepy. It’s dread, unspeakable, and eldritch. I think it’s cyclopean. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geology-or-lovecraft-you-decide/816808/5 "2018-06-27T00:14:57Z")
It’s the best news I’ve heard all day! ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geology-or-lovecraft-you-decide/816808/6 "2018-06-27T00:22:29Z")
Hot! ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geology-or-lovecraft-you-decide/816808/7 "2018-06-27T01:28:53Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > It’s not only creepy. It’s dread, unspeakable, and eldritch. > [@Manduck](#): > > I think it’s cyclopean. But is it squamous? ---
**Author:** ![Bumbazine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbazine/32/362_2.png) [@Bumbazine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbazine)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geology-or-lovecraft-you-decide/816808/8 "2018-06-27T01:41:15Z")
Is Washington D.C. considered part of New England? Asking for a friend. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geology-or-lovecraft-you-decide/816808/9 "2018-06-27T02:24:51Z")
^ Nope; Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut (motto: “The middle ‘c’ is silent”). ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geology-or-lovecraft-you-decide/816808/10 "2018-06-27T02:39:48Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > But is it squamous? Or rugose. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geology-or-lovecraft-you-decide/816808/11 "2018-06-27T05:55:24Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > Or rugose. Don’t forget squalid, accursed, unseemly, foetid, and malignant. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geology-or-lovecraft-you-decide/816808/12 "2018-06-27T06:08:48Z")
> **[Mass of Warm Rock Rising Beneath New England, Rutgers Study Suggests](https://www.rutgers.edu/news/mass-warm-rock-rising-beneath-new-england-rutgers-study-suggests)** > > Slowly but steadily, an enormous mass of warm rock is rising beneath part of New England, although a major volcanic eruption isn’t likely for millions of years, a Rutgers University-led study suggests.  > [@](#): > > “It will likely take millions of years for the upwelling to get where it’s going,” In another interview one of the main researchers said: > [@](#): > > The bad news is, it’s going to erupt! The good news is, it’s going to erupt a few million years from now. You’ll still be able buy overpriced clam chowder for the foreseeable future without fears of New England turning into an igneous wasteland. “Come back in 50 million years, and we’ll see what happens,” Levin joked. Ruling the earth will be easier then. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geology-or-lovecraft-you-decide/816808/13 "2018-06-27T09:54:57Z")
The stars will soon be right! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geology-or-lovecraft-you-decide/816808/14 "2018-06-27T11:11:33Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > Don’t forget squalid, accursed, unseemly, foetid, and malignant. And batrachian! ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geology-or-lovecraft-you-decide/816808/15 "2018-06-27T12:24:02Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > And batrachian! It’s a camel? ---
**Author:** ![Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b2d939/32.png) [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_Arachnid_Laser_1)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geology-or-lovecraft-you-decide/816808/16 "2018-06-27T12:29:19Z")
Such alarmism. the article is just about a Supervolcano, the sort that would destroy all life on Earth. I bet you’re all relieved now. No eldritch horror. Just the end of life forever in the midst of ashes and fire. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geology-or-lovecraft-you-decide/816808/17 "2018-06-27T12:42:50Z")
Tenebrous, baby! ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geology-or-lovecraft-you-decide/816808/18 "2018-06-27T13:46:07Z")
Hideously blasphemous! (Am I the only one who thinks Lovecraft tries too hard? I think he’d be pitted for his writing style if he posted here) ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geology-or-lovecraft-you-decide/816808/19 "2018-06-27T15:08:46Z")
When Lovecraft was writing a **horror!** story, and trying to impress you with how **horrible!** the **horrific! horrors!** are, he could be way over the top. When he was just telling a story, and painting a picture with words, he was wonderful. He could write some of the most poetic prose you will ever read. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geology-or-lovecraft-you-decide/816808/20 "2018-06-27T15:15:41Z")
That’s true. After slogging through his prose for a while I finally discovered it works best if you take a surreal approach: don’t build the scene in your mind using his words as bricks–literal and specifically loaded and defined (like Dickens), just let the words pass directly into your subconscious mind, like wisps of vapor, to create a shimmering watercolor a bit ill-defined about the edges. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geology-or-lovecraft-you-decide/816808.md?page=2)