# H.P Lovecraft Film Festival and Cthulhu Con **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 14, 2014, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h-p-lovecraft-film-festival-and-cthulhu-con/686085 "2014-04-14T15:00:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h-p-lovecraft-film-festival-and-cthulhu-con/686085/1 "2014-04-14T15:00:35Z")
Did anyone else go to the [H.P Lovecraft Film Festival and Cthulhu Con](http://www.hplfilmfestival.com)? My best **fiend** ’s short film, [_Footage Found, Arabi_](http://vimeo.com/ondemand/footagefoundarabi/71548962) was shown Saturday and Sunday. This was the first time I’d seen it on the big screen, and it looked really good. Audience reaction was good. They laughed when they were supposed to, were offended by a line of period dialogue, and applauded at the end. People we chatted with later said they liked it. My friend contributed to the kickstarter campaign, so he had an extra ‘V.I.P.’ pass. There was a reception on Friday, with cheeses, bread, cured meat, etc., and beer and wine. I had a local red ale that actually hit me pretty hard after not having eaten in a while, and having been doing a bit of walking and such. (I had the beer before the bread.) There was a spaghetti dinner Saturday for the 'V.I.P.'s They had spaghetti with marinara sauce, spaghetti with meat sauce, spinach lasagne, and vegan spaghetti and sauce. By the time we decided to get in line, about half of the people had gone through. When we got to the food, no one had touched the vegan offering. Interesting guy sitting near us at another table. (Actually, there were a _lot_ of interesting people at the H.P. Lovecraft gathering!) Black jeans, white dress shirt, dark suit jacket, long hair, trimmed beard and moustache. Reminded me of ‘Louis Cypher’ from _Angel Heart_. He sat and swirled his class of red wine, seeming to take it a little too seriously. I noticed he frequently raised his glass and swirled the wine. ‘Ho, ho! Look at how sophisticated I am! None of that plebeian local _beer_ for me!’ :rolleyes: I picked up Volume 13 of [_Spinechillers_](http://www.renegadeartsentertainment.com/spinechillers-home), readings of classic (read: public domain) stories by Lovecraft, Poe, and others, read by [Doug](http://www.fangoria.com/new/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/hellraiserfeat.jpg) [Bradley](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Paris_Manga_13_-_Doug_Bradley_-_001.jpg). Mr. Bradley autographed the CD cover when I bought it. This volume contains a nearly 17-minute introduction, _Number 13_ by M.R. James, _Tobermory_ by Saki, _The Call of Cthulhu_ by H.P. Lovecraft, _Masque of the Red Death_ by Edgar Allan Poe, _Herbert West Reanimator_ (Part 6) by H.P. Lovecraft (read by Jeffrey Combs), and _The Conqueror Worm_ by Edgar Allan Poe. Listened to it on the long drive home, and it got me from the Oregon/Washington border almost to the Skagit County line. Doug Bradley spoke in the main auditorium of the Hollywood Theatre later, and there was some Q&A. Wine Douche Guy had buttonholed the first speaker after the man had left the stage, and he did the same with Bradley. Earlier Saturday, we walked about three miles from the Hollywood area, across the Burnside bridge, and over to downtown. We rode Portland’s excellent TriMet tram back, which let us off right near a Trader Joe’s – which was fortunate, since the motel did not have coffee in the rooms or in the lobby. Got some concentrate. Quite a fun time. Can’t wait until the next one! ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h-p-lovecraft-film-festival-and-cthulhu-con/686085/2 "2014-04-14T15:18:27Z")
Oh, that’s fantastic! I’m a big HPL fan, and would like to eventually go to the festival. I’ll add it to my “bucket list”… ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h-p-lovecraft-film-festival-and-cthulhu-con/686085/3 "2014-04-14T15:18:50Z")
Oh, there was one thing I missed out on. I really wanted to try a Killer Burger. Just couldn’t fit it in between the free food and the activities. I guess I’ll have to go to Portland again. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h-p-lovecraft-film-festival-and-cthulhu-con/686085/4 "2014-04-14T15:19:52Z")
> [@gytalf2000](#): > > Oh, that’s fantastic! I’m a big HPL fan, and would like to eventually go to the festival. I’ll add it to my “bucket list”… I think the next one is in October, 2015. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h-p-lovecraft-film-festival-and-cthulhu-con/686085/5 "2014-04-14T17:04:30Z")
The film fest had the U.S. premiere of [_Dead Shadows_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1927012/). It started off well, I thought. I laughed at the (subtitled) dialogue. Seemed interesting. And then it took a nosedive. It starts out on a night a comet passes Earth. A wimpish boy is afraid of the dark. _Something_ is outside… His parents come to his room. The father says there might be a burglar. The mother is like, ‘Why are you upsetting him?’ The parents go downstairs and get into a fight, and the father kills the mother. Okaaaaay… Of course the kids sees it. Eleven years later, the kid is a computer ‘help desk’ person working out of his apartment. He’s still afraid of the dark. Everyone in Paris is excited (or afraid) of the return of this comet. Power goes out, people get infected (or something) by aliens, violence ensues. Kind of like _Night Of The Comet_ meets \* The Thing\*. I guess some people liked it, but my friend and people we talked to afterward agreed that it wasn’t very good. I liked the beginning, and (in concept) I liked the _very_ end. But the protagonist’s journey just wasn’t very interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h-p-lovecraft-film-festival-and-cthulhu-con/686085/6 "2014-04-14T21:19:59Z")
I didn’t go the fest, but I live in that neighborhood, and it was interesting seeing people in the streets wearing what appeared to be Cthulhu masks. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h-p-lovecraft-film-festival-and-cthulhu-con/686085/7 "2014-04-14T21:32:35Z")
Damnit… why’d you tell me about this after it was over!!! Not that I’ve had time until after tax season anyway… ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2014, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h-p-lovecraft-film-festival-and-cthulhu-con/686085/8 "2014-04-14T23:18:06Z")
> [@Nonsuch](#): > > I didn’t go the fest, but I live in that neighborhood, and it was interesting seeing people in the streets wearing what appeared to be Cthulhu masks. Did you see the guy with the little green cowboy hat, and the green plastic mask with the rubber (latex?) tentacles? All I could think was, ‘Many, it must be hot and sweaty under that plastic mask!’ ---
**Author:** ![Reno\_Nevada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Reno\_Nevada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reno_Nevada)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2014, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h-p-lovecraft-film-festival-and-cthulhu-con/686085/9 "2014-04-17T11:41:32Z")
> [@Nonsuch](#): > > I didn’t go the fest, but I live in that neighborhood, and it was interesting seeing people in the streets wearing what appeared to be Cthulhu masks. _Those Weren’t MASKS! AAAAUUGH!_ ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2014, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h-p-lovecraft-film-festival-and-cthulhu-con/686085/10 "2014-04-17T20:44:29Z")
> [@Reno\_Nevada](#): > > _Those Weren’t MASKS! AAAAUUGH!_ I like you. I’ll eat you last. – Cthulhu