Help! Cthulu needed!

[Piratecat]

This is my new favorite thread.

Poohthulu!

 

[Henry]

It's kind of odd how I spell Cthulhu without the H. It's because I don't think of it with a H. For some reason my mind just goes 'Nope. No H there.' and smacks me across the fingers with a wooden ruler like my first grade teacher.

For some real fun, try pronouncing it the way Lovecraft said it SHOULD be pronounced. It's this glottal aberration where you place your tongue to the roof of your mouth and say the words "KLUH-LUH" - that's closer to the Deep One pronunciation.

...The actual sound—as nearly as human organs could imitate it or human letters record it—may be taken as something like Khlûl’-hloo, with the first syllable pronounced gutturally and very thickly. The u is about like that in full; and the first syllable is not unlike klul in sound, since the h represents the guttural thickness. The second syllable is not very well rendered—the l sound being unrepresented. (to Duane Rimel, 23 July 1934)

...The best approximation one can make is to grunt, bark, or cough the imperfectly-formed syllables Cluh-Luh with the tip of the tongue firmly affixed to the roof of the mouth. (to Willis Conover, 29 August 1936)

Why don't I listen to the theories of terror and horror? I'm a firm believer that horror can never be realised in the game world. Terror (A heightened perception, feeling and panic, etc) is quite easy on the other hand to evoke.

It's difficult, but not impossible - it usually involves setting atmosphere in the game area (maybe a low-key soundtrack with no music, only sound effects), appropriate GM storytelling theatrics, and not making the nemesis completely defineable. I must say I've had more horror failures than successes when playing CoC, but the times it is successful keeps me trying.