" It is new, indeed for I made it last night in a dream of strange cities: and dreams are older than brooding Tyre, or the
contemplative Sphinx, or garden-girdled Babylon" The Call of Cthulhu

Wednesday, November 2, 2022

Lovecrcraft, merchandising and me

 


My Mythos journey started at 15 when a friend lent me two books featuring these eerie portraits by John Holmes. (I did return his cpoies) My mother then gave me a copy of The Lurker at the Threshold with a somewhat funky cover by Murray Tinkelman, I am amazed to this day. (Sadly this is not that copy) One could note that two of the three books are primarily by August Derleth, but that is another post. However my love for HPL and the ever expanding mythos was launched. 

Lots of books followed including some of the less expensive Arkham House titles. But then other stuff appeared that did not require trips whether real, via mail or finally virtual to the haunts of used book sellers.


There is kids stuff.


There was science!! Sadly this site does not seem to update any longer but there are lots of fascinating posts.

https://lovecraftianscience.wordpress.com



There are comics, graphic novels and these cool editions illustrated by Fracnois Baranger. Some have quibbled with his illustrations for example this depiction shows what might be a human skeleton in the cavern discovered by the member of the Miskatonic University Expedition to the Antartic. Maybe yes maybe no, but really people, why don't we call it foreshadowing and move on. These great books, great illustrations and I hope to discuss them in more detail in the future.

The there are games. My wife and I love collecting and sometimes even playing (actual physical) games. The more cool plastic figures and stunning graphics the better. And Howard is of course included.


Pandemic Reign of Cthulhu. It is produced by Z-Man games who produce a number of Pandemic games. You move around the world closing portals, and fighting cultists, monsters, and elder gods. It is the simplest and most compact of the mythos games we own. The game are relatively short and quite entertaining.

https://www.zmangames.com/en/products/pandemic-reign-cthulhu/


I cannot find my core box but as we can see Eldritch Horror has produced lots of expansions. Produced by Fantasy Flight games you fight, well you know.

 " An ancient evil is stirring. You are part of a team of unlikely heroes engaged in an international struggle to stop the gathering darkness. To do so, you’ll have to defeat foul monsters, travel to Other Worlds, and solve obscure mysteries surrounding this unspeakable horror. The effort may drain your sanity and cripple your body, but if you fail, the Ancient One will awaken and rain doom upon the known world. 


Eldritch Horror requires more space, takes longer and is more complex. There are a number of expansions including not just new opponents and scenarios  but in some cases additional boards. Great fun. 



Cthulhu Death may Die by CMON games. 

I purchased the base game and the larger Season 2 expansion at our local game store. The Black Goat of the Woods and Yog-sothoth expansions came from Amazon. CMON is currently running a kickstarter for another expansion Cthulhu Death May Die - Fear of The Unknown which has 7 days to go. We have ordered it, but I want to be clear, we are not involved with the company or the kickstarter campaign in anyway. We have purchased other games via kickstarter Wonderland Wars (Alice themed), Etherfields (Fantasy), ISS Vanguard (Space Exploration) and also have several more coming. What they have in common, is they take a long time to manufacture, cost a fair bit to ship and often during the course of the kickstarter you are seduced into adding things to the initial purchase like possibly an Ithaqua, the Wind-Walker, the Lord of the Winds expansion, or Animal Allies for when you are facing the Color Out of Space, but maybe that is just me.

We have never participated in a kickstarter from CMON games so I cannot speak to that. We like the Death May Die campaigns we have played. Like many modern games they take a fair bit of space to play, and have lots of elements to juggle. We also like the beautifully made miniatures that come with the game. Helen and I have both begun painting miniatures again, something we did close to forty years ago when we were first together, (then they were lead) and I plan on painting some of these. I was eyeing the Black Goat last night. Basically I love seeing models for Brown Jenkin (he is over sized so easier to paint) or a Gug or the stunning Tsathogguo figure. Also I am really enjoying seeing them incorporate beings from The Mound, Dreamlands and Lovecraft's story Hypnos. I am not encouraging anyone to purchase the game rather I think that people who like HPL and the Mythos might get a kick out of seeing all the associated tchotchkes.