Ia! Ia! Cthulu fhtagn!

[Desdichado]

Are you sure you're a gamer?

For some reason gamers love Cthulhu. My big problem with Cthulhu, and Lovecraft in general, is that he's a horror writer who isn't scary. He's got some good ideas, but overall lousy execution.

 

[Tom Cashel]

Sacrilicious!

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

My big problem with Cthulhu, and Lovecraft in general, is that he's a horror writer who isn't scary. He's got some good ideas, but overall lousy execution.

:\

Can't say I agree with that, but different strokes for different folks and all that. I had a professor in college who is a Lovecraft fanatic, and he's the one who got me into the stories initially. I had read a few but it was hearing him that made me read them again, and I got it. I can't really put it into words, you either like him or you don't.

Now the whole gamers liking Cthulhu is a different thing altogether. I think there are plenty of gamers out there that like the IDEA of Cthulhui with the tenticles and the madness and all that, and think it's "cool", but wouldn't know a Lovecraft story if it hit them on the head.

And everytime I see it spelled Cthulu, or Ctulu, or Cuthulu I have to restrain myself from correcting them. One board I was on for a while had a bunch of people telling me that I spelled the name wrong in my user name, and it was useless to try to correct them.

 

[demiurge1138]

Sung to the tune of Santa Claus is Coming to Town, natch.

You'd better watch out,
You'd better not cry,
You'd better not pout,
Cause you're going to die.
Cthulhu is coming to town!

He sleeps in R'lyeh,
Where the sun never shines.
He's been dreaming there
Since the beginning of time.
Cthulhu is coming to town!

He'll eat you when you're sleeping.
He'll eat you if you're awake.
He knows if you've been bad or good,
But he'll eat you either way!

His tentacles stretch,
His wings are unfurled.
Forget Nostradamus,
It's the end of the world.
Cthulhu is coming to town!

Demiurge out.

PS: Even Lovecraft reflected the spelling of the Big C in different ways to reflect the traditions of different cultures. It's the pronounciation that's key.

 

[Captain Tagon]

PS: Even Lovecraft reflected the spelling of the Big C in different ways to reflect the traditions of different cultures. It's the pronounciation that's key.

And that would be exactly what?

 

[Alzrius]

Demiurge, nice filk! Check out "Great Old Ones are Coming to Town" by the H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society (As featured in Dragon #326! Their albums make great holiday gifts!)

 

[Desdichado]

Can't say I agree with that, but different strokes for different folks and all that. I had a professor in college who is a Lovecraft fanatic, and he's the one who got me into the stories initially. I had read a few but it was hearing him that made me read them again, and I got it. I can't really put it into words, you either like him or you don't.

Naturally, many people don't. However, I think some objective analysis of his craft as a horror writer can be done, and it's not good. He lacks the craft. He apparently thought that constantly saying something was scary (along with a lot of eldritch, blasphemous, Cyclopean, and other arcane vocabulary) was an acceptable substitute for actually making it scary.

Quite often the people who disagree with me say, "it's an intellectual kind of horror" which is more or less the same as what I said; he's got some good ideas, but lousy execution. Frankly, one of the best executions of the Mythos is the d20 conversion of the CoC game. That's got more actual horror atmosphere then anything Lovecraft himself wrote.

Now the whole gamers liking Cthulhu is a different thing altogether. I think there are plenty of gamers out there that like the IDEA of Cthulhui with the tenticles and the madness and all that, and think it's "cool", but wouldn't know a Lovecraft story if it hit them on the head.

Quite right. And unfortunate, because then they miss out on what the idea of the Mythos really is. It has rarely been translated well by his imitators or pastiche authors. Even folks like Brian Lumley and August Derleth seemed to miss the point.

And everytime I see it spelled Cthulu, or Ctulu, or Cuthulu I have to restrain myself from correcting them. One board I was on for a while had a bunch of people telling me that I spelled the name wrong in my user name, and it was useless to try to correct them.

Indeed. Although I thought of making the same point as demiurge1138, so at least there's an excuse. As for how I pronounce it; exactly as it looks: k-'thūl-hū, so alternate spellings affect how I'd say it a bit. Cthulu would be pronounced k-'thūl-ū, for example.