Cthulhu Cthursday: Happy Birthday H.P. Lovecraft
Posted by Ross Rosenberg
“The only thing I can say in favour of my work is its sincerity.”
— H.P. Lovecraft from “Some Notes on a Nonentity”
Today marks the 119th anniversary of the birth of Howard Phillips Lovecraft, one of the twentieth century’s more contentiously influential authors; praised and maligned in equal measure for his writing prowess. I feel it is safe to say that we here at Ectomo have no such qualms; embracing Lovecraft’s propensity for long strings of thesaurus rustling adjectives with a fervor that borders on obsessive or, at times, unreadable.
Still, it is a tactic, this picking apart of Lovecraft’s verbal acumen, that I find misguided and shortsighted. H.P.L.’s work isn’t read today and cited by authors and scholars for his abilities as a wordsmith, he is cited for his creation; for his specific universe. He was one of the great mythologizers of the modern era, creating a pantheon of gods who represented the cold, infinite, and malevolent universe in which man finds himself. It’s a testament to his talent that so many still continue to be inspired by his creations and add their own stories. Today we salute the man who gave names and forms to the mysterious, unknowable nature of the void; the man if not for whom there would be no Cthursday. Happy birthday.
Categories: Cthulhu Cthursday, Literature, Lovecraft
Posted at 2:20 pm on August 20, 2009
9 Comments -
Huzzah & hurrah! Merry birthday, Mr. Lovecraft.
In honour of his birthday I shall dine on spaghetti tonite. As it was one of his favourite meals I encourage you to do the same.
Comment by Evil Jim — August 20, 2009 @ 4:23 pm
I don’t think I have any spaghetti…
But I could cut some hot dogs to look like octopus and say it’s mini cthulhu dogs…
Comment by Adam — August 20, 2009 @ 5:21 pm
I sat on your grave last year, and I’m still waiting to be killed by some nameless abomination from beyond the stars.
Happy Birthday to the man that took tentacles back for America!
Comment by Sean — August 20, 2009 @ 6:10 pm
Oddly enough, I’m having spaghetti tonight.
Lovecraft is responsible for an enormous chunk of the obscure vocabulary I have inside my little head, therefore I giggled a bit.
Thank you for convincing every last pseudo-witch I know that the Necronomicon was a ancient book capable of summoning the Gods that used to scare me as a kid.
Happy Birthday.
Comment by Tekky — August 20, 2009 @ 6:31 pm
\ (;,;) /
Comment by Optical — August 20, 2009 @ 9:06 pm
Nice, never knew I shared my birthday with him. :)
Comment by Chicken008 — August 21, 2009 @ 12:33 am
happy belated (and dead) birthday, mr. lovecraft. i didn’t realize it at the time, but at work on cthursday the 20th, i cleaned out something vile and putrid. i then left a semi-coherent, rambling description of it in the logbook, written in the style of a traumatised lovecraft character who has seen what should never be seen. when i go back for my next shift i’ll see if my advice was followed and the plumbing roto-rootered and/or azathothed. the blind idiot god could destroy what was in those drains and not even wince.
so thanks again, h.p., for the coping mechanisms you have provided for me.
Comment by tiff — August 21, 2009 @ 7:06 pm
Happy Birthday, Mr. Lovecraft.
And, HOW DO YOU CUT HOTDOGS TO LOOK LIKE OCTOPI?
Comment by Kingfisher — August 29, 2009 @ 2:06 pm
I know I’m late… Happy birthday, Mr. Lovecraft! *I need to work on my timing -_-;*
Comment by Chiiru — September 10, 2009 @ 8:55 pm