# Initiate me into the world of H.P. Lovecraft **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 1, 2003, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/initiate-me-into-the-world-of-h-p-lovecraft/216212 "2003-12-01T06:46:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/initiate-me-into-the-world-of-h-p-lovecraft/216212/41 "2003-12-02T09:25:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Darkhold \* > \*\*Well I am planning a trip to Brazil in July. Can the deep ones take down a plane? I really wouldn’t worry about driving me insane/torturing/killing me living in Wyoming is a version of insanity/torture/death all in it’s own. \*\* I don’t think they could take down a plane, but it would not be hard for them to summon something that could. In Wyoming you have to worry about those serpent people - you know, the degenerate descendents of an intelligent reptillian race that evolved before the dinosaurs. They are nasty little buggers. ---
**Author:** ![Galanthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Galanthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galanthus)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/initiate-me-into-the-world-of-h-p-lovecraft/216212/42 "2003-12-02T11:31:47Z")
I thought the copyright on most of Lovecraft’s work had expired and thus it was free for download on the web. That certainly seemed to be the case last year as there where a plethora of sights where you could download it from … Has the recent change to US copyright law change this? ---
**Author:** ![Darkhold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@Darkhold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darkhold)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/initiate-me-into-the-world-of-h-p-lovecraft/216212/43 "2003-12-02T11:54:52Z")
> [@](#): > > I thought the copyright on most of Lovecraft’s work had expired and thus it was free for download on the web. That certainly seemed to be the case last year as there where a plethora of sights where you could download it from … > > Has the recent change to US copyright law change this? I’m sure someone that knows more then me will be along shortly to correct this but as far as I know copyrights NEVER expire. If the publishers don’t want it they go back to the author. Author is dead it goes to his wife. No wife it goes to the family. Only if something passes into public domain/common usage (like they did with Tarzan there was a court case over it) does it become up for grabs. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/initiate-me-into-the-world-of-h-p-lovecraft/216212/44 "2003-12-02T12:12:02Z")
Copyrights definitely expire. Otherwise, Disney wouldn’t be lobbying to get them extended. IIRC Copyright lasts 75 years from creation, or until 50 years after the creator’s death whichever is longer. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/initiate-me-into-the-world-of-h-p-lovecraft/216212/45 "2003-12-02T16:39:21Z")
Well, close. Copyrights for anything created today last: In cases of a single author, the length of the author’s life plus 70 years. In cases of a joint work of two or more authors, the length of the last surviving author’s life plus 70 years. In cases of anonymous works or works for hire, either 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever is shorter. And there are many more convoluted rules for works created before 1978. You can read them all yourself in the U.S. Copyright Code, specifically, [17 USC §§ 301-305](http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/ch3.html). ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/initiate-me-into-the-world-of-h-p-lovecraft/216212/46 "2003-12-02T19:12:50Z")
The Lovecraft library I have bookmarked isn’t working. However, [www.gizmology.net/lovecraft/copyrights.htm](http://cp.yahoo.net/search/cache?p=%22lovecraft%22(AND)%22copyright%22&url=AetIwClrhBEJ:%5Burl)]the cache addresses the issue of copyright and public domain. **Darkhold** IANA lawyer. I have a great comic book explaining copyrights and trademarks, written by a man who is a lawyer. But, I can’t find it right now. However, AFAIK, it’s _trademarks_ which don’t expire. Eventually, all of Lovecraft’s work will pass into the public domain (according to the above link, most of it already has). Once that happens, anybody can publish it. However, Chaosium and various other unspeakable legal entities will always hold the trademark on Cthulhu, Necronomicon, Miskatonic, etc and no new work containing those can be sold without their permission. I’ve often wondered what Lovecraft’s position on the issue would have been. I’m convinced that if he were alive, he’d say “Help! Let me out of this box!” ---
**Author:** ![TVS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b782af/32.png) [@TVS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVS)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/initiate-me-into-the-world-of-h-p-lovecraft/216212/47 "2003-12-02T19:31:08Z")
> [@](#): > > Also, it’s worth mentioning that while Lovecraft has been mined for movies quite often, there isn’t a single film that successfully captures what Lovecraft is about, in my opinion. Stuart Gordon’s Dagon comes close (but falls flat in some respects), and John Carpenter’s In the Mouth of Madness is an interesting sideways look at some of Lovecraft’s themes, with a legitimately creepy ending. Still, the bottom line is, don’t bother with any of the various movies if you’re looking for a “Cliff’s Notes” version of the stories. Guillermo Del Toro is supposedly working on an adaptation of At the Mountains of Madness that might be promising, but with Lovecraft you’ve got to go to the source. It should be noted why the movies are so bad. As mentioned earlier, Lovecraft spends a lot of time building a moody setting. This doesn’t translate well to film. For instance, in Dagon, way too much time was spent on characters reacting to the environment. A guy rents a hotel room, and five minutes are wasted on him being grossed by it. The hallway outside the room is gross, and a reaction shot. There is a stain on the matress, and a reaction shot. The sink is dirty, a reaction shot. The toilet is filled with nasty water, a reaction shot. Etc. Most Lovecraft movies wind up being too slow, so the filmmakers end up adding a few gore shots. As in most low-budget horror movies, these look pretty bad. I would kind of like to see a director like David Lynch, who is good at handling mood and surreal plots, take a shot at a Lovecraft story… ---
**Author:** ![HookerChemical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/278dde/32.png) [@HookerChemical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HookerChemical)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2003, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/initiate-me-into-the-world-of-h-p-lovecraft/216212/48 "2003-12-02T19:50:44Z")
I really like Lovecraft’s more sci-fi stories, as opposed to pulpy horror. If that’s what you’re after, start with **At the Mountains of Madness**. It’s pretty long for a Lovecraft story, but it’s my favorite. **Call of Cthulhu** is one of his works I didn’t like. It helps if you know what style you’re after when starting to read Lovecraft. I got my start with **The Annotated Lovecraft** and consider it a good place to start. It contains AtMoM. It’s often helpful to understand where he’s coming from and how some of his later works tie back into the earlier ones. Many of his works are related and share a common mythology, but you can pretty much start anywhere; he didn’t write a series, he wrote a collection. Be warned: Lovecraft can be a great pleasure to read, and he can be a boring struggle. Don’t expect snappy dialog. In fact, it’s best that you don’t expect much dialog at all. His style can be awkward at times; for example, there are flashbacks nested four deep in **Call of Cthulhu**. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2003, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/initiate-me-into-the-world-of-h-p-lovecraft/216212/49 "2003-12-03T01:35:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Darkhold \* > \*\*I’m sure someone that knows more then me will be along shortly to correct this but as far as I know copyrights NEVER expire. If the publishers don’t want it they go back to the author. Author is dead it goes to his wife. No wife it goes to the family. Only if something passes into public domain/common usage (like they did with Tarzan there was a court case over it) does it become up for grabs. \*\* Well, in lovecraft’s case niether likely apply. Lovecraft died in 1937. At that point he had been divorced for something like 10 years and I don’t think they saw much of each other after the divorce(actually they didn’t see much of each other during the marriage either, which was fine with lovecraft but not with his wife. Makes you wonder why they divorced). Lovecraft had no childern and was an only child. I think one of his aunts survived him and she didn’t care about the copyright. Maybe he had some cousins, but I don’t think they can be considered to be an estate, particularly since if he did, he never had contact with them past childhood. ---
**Author:** ![DarkPrince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@DarkPrince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarkPrince)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2003, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/initiate-me-into-the-world-of-h-p-lovecraft/216212/50 "2003-12-03T02:18:23Z")
When I was about 10 or so I read a story by accident while waiting for my mom to do whatever she was doing in a bookstore. It had to do with something that fell from the sky and was an indescribable color. I never found out who the author was but it creeped me the hell out. Fast forward 9 years later, I pick up a random book by some guy named Lovecraft in a hole-in-the-wall bookstore at college. Flipping through the book, I stop at some story named _The Colour Out of Space_ and quickly read the first page. I immediately recognize it as the story I read almost a decade before. Figuring that if a story was good enough that a single quick read in a bookstore was enough to make me remember it nine years later the rest must be just as good, I grab the book and all the others I could find at the moment by Lovecraft and buy them. I must’ve spent over $100 and I got an odd look from the checkout lady when I headed up to the counter with this huge pile of horror books and slapped them down with a grin on my face. Thus, I’d have to recommend _The Colour Out of Space_ as a good story to start with. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2003, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/initiate-me-into-the-world-of-h-p-lovecraft/216212/51 "2003-12-03T03:03:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DarkPrince \* > \*\* > Thus, I’d have to recommend _The Colour Out of Space_ as a good story to start with. 😛 \*\* If it tells you anything, That was Lovecraft’s favorite story as well. ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2003, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/initiate-me-into-the-world-of-h-p-lovecraft/216212/52 "2003-12-03T03:27:44Z")
Play _Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem_ and _Quake_. They’re sort of Lovecraftianesqueoid. ---
**Author:** ![Keith\_Berry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/22d042/32.png) [@Keith\_Berry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keith_Berry)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2003, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/initiate-me-into-the-world-of-h-p-lovecraft/216212/53 "2003-12-03T08:23:46Z")
I’d personally recommend “The Shadow Over Innsmouth” as a good start to reading Lovecraft. It has all the classic elements of any of his best stories, but avoids his overdescriptive excesses that you frequently encounter in his work. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2003, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/initiate-me-into-the-world-of-h-p-lovecraft/216212/54 "2003-12-03T08:42:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mr2001 \* > \*\*Play _Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem_ and _Quake_. They’re sort of Lovecraftianesqueoid. \*\* Quake? I thought it was a doomclone w/cool soundtrack! _Alone In the Dark_ - very HPLesque ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2003, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/initiate-me-into-the-world-of-h-p-lovecraft/216212/55 "2003-12-03T08:56:23Z")
Hey, I read a lot of Lovecraft in my early twenties, and used to have a lot of his books. Unfortunately, They were thrown out or something, to be honest I’m not really sure where they all went. Anyways, there was one in particular, a short story, I think, that really freaked me out. I remember some of it, but can’t remember the name of this story. I believe it was about a gruesome creature that the main character kept seeing. I think he was an artist? It was as if the creature was stalking him. The character gradually slipped into a madness and paranoia as only Lovecraft can detail. I’d really like to read it again, anybody know which story this is? Thanks in advance. ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2003, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/initiate-me-into-the-world-of-h-p-lovecraft/216212/56 "2003-12-03T09:22:28Z")
Wasn’t that ‘Pickwicks Model’? He paints pictures of these creatures he is seeing, which are part animal, part monster. I can’t remember all the details of the story though. ---
**Author:** ![DarkPrince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@DarkPrince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarkPrince)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2003, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/initiate-me-into-the-world-of-h-p-lovecraft/216212/57 "2003-12-03T10:40:56Z")
Quake had a lot of HPL references in it, but didn’t really have the mood and whatnot of Lovecraft. Eternal Darkness, on the other hand, is about probably about as close as they’ll ever get to making a playable version of one of his stories. If you have a Gamecube you gotta buy it and play it with no lights on at 3 in the morning… DAMN that game is creepy. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2003, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/initiate-me-into-the-world-of-h-p-lovecraft/216212/58 "2003-12-03T11:27:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Badtz Maru \* > \*\*Wasn’t that ‘Pickwicks Model’? He paints pictures of these creatures he is seeing, which are part animal, part monster. I can’t remember all the details of the story though. \*\* Yep that’s it, it’s called [Pickman’s Model](http://daemon_sultan.tripod.com/model.html). Thank you… reading it now. ---
**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2003, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/initiate-me-into-the-world-of-h-p-lovecraft/216212/59 "2003-12-03T17:12:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DarkPrince \* > \*\*Quake had a lot of HPL references in it, but didn’t really have the mood and whatnot of Lovecraft. > > Eternal Darkness, on the other hand, is about probably about as close as they’ll ever get to making a playable version of one of his stories. If you have a Gamecube you gotta buy it and play it with no lights on at 3 in the morning… > > DAMN that game is creepy. \*\* Sandy Peterson, who designed the Call of Cthulhu RPG, was one of the people involved with Quake. A lot of Lovecraftian names show up in Quake but there really isn’t a story to go with them. There have been a number of Lovecraft inspired games through the years. Infocom produced the text adventure _The Lurking Fear_ which was very heavily Lovecraft influenced. The current IF community has written a few more games, the best of which is _Anchorhead_ which you can find in the IF archives. The original _Alone in the Dark_ was very Lovecraftian but the sequels were less so. Chaosium, who produces the Call of Cthulhu RPG, helped produce two adventure type games. The first was _Shadow of the Comet_ which was fairly decent (if a bit obscure in places). The second, _Prisoner of Ice_ was OK but not as good. Dreamworks Interactive has produced _Necronomicon_ which directly references much of Lovecraft. It is needlessly difficult in places though. I have heard of two other games, _The Scroll of Thoth_ and _The Hound_, which are supposedly Lovecraft based but have not seen or played either one so I cannot comment. The game everyone is waiting on at the moment is _Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth_ which is a FPS based (!) Cthulhu game. There is a demo floating around somewhere but I don’t know when the full game is supposed to be out. I believe the same company has also announced a second game to be called _Call of Cthulhu: Beyond the Mountains of Madness_ but have not heard much more about it. I’m sure there are others but these are the ones I can think of off the top of my head. ---
**Author:** ![DreadCthulhu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DreadCthulhu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DreadCthulhu)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/initiate-me-into-the-world-of-h-p-lovecraft/216212/60 "2003-12-04T02:39:41Z")
Here [http://www.callofcthulhu.co.uk/ie.php](http://www.callofcthulhu.co.uk/ie.php) is the page for the \* Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth \* game. I hope they finish it up soon. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/initiate-me-into-the-world-of-h-p-lovecraft/216212.md?page=2)