Episode 423 - Strange Eons - Part 2

Working my way through Strange Eons, and finding as others likely have that the entire “Lovecraft fiction is real” angle could’ve been excised, and it would have no effect at all on the plot. It’s sort of like that whole mash-up trend (“Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” for example), where Lovecraft is injected into this novel just to add some kind of flavor or context without which the text could still stand alone. I totally get why Bloch might have been doing it, to introduce new readers to Lovecraft, but the lesson we might take is that writers can still make the introduction using Lovecraftian Horror in general rather than using the man himself.

I was just teaching about “should’ve/should of” the other day. I’m an English professor, teaching mainly EFL to Japanese university students. This came up because in a story we were looking at in one class, Neil Gaiman’s “Chivalry,” a girl working in an Oxfam shop says “I could of gone for him.” My students were confused by that because non-native learners of English don’t make that mistake. Only people learning English growing up do it, because of the way it sounds. And writers like Gaiman (and maybe Chandler and Bloch) use it to indicate characters who aren’t particularly well educated. In Gaiman’s case, the girl seemed a bit “chavvy,” but in the end she rode away with the knight, so she clearly had a good heart. Currently, it’s still in very common use online, especially among UK users. I don’t know why, but apparently it’s one of those things that actually gets taught pretty well in the US.

David Azzageddi

"...flopping flippers ended in fingerless toeless blobs and fish had feasted on the face" and "could Christ cope with the computer" Today's secret word is: Alliteration

Josh Decker

Yeah, various religions handle advanced scientific concepts all of the time. The Jewish Talmud for example has a section regarding non-human life that is beginning to be brought up in discussions of artificial intelligence. Edit: Found a link to an article I read about this subject. <a href="http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2014/06/12/mazel-bot-how-judaism-predicted-artificial-intelligence/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2014/06/12/mazel-bot-how-judaism-predicted-artificial-intelligence/</a>

I can think of no better proof that this story is meant to be taken humorously than by a main character being forced to read a book with a gun to their head. If only it had been literal! Not only is it an effective lampoon of that same mythos trope whereby a character is both entered into the conspiracy through reading and then (usually) later condemned by the very knowledge they gained, it also humorously satirizes Bloch's own attempts to spread the word about Lovecraft with this very story. I was laughing so hard at the idea that I had to stop the podcast. I'm glad this story is being covered. It reminds me of a more silly, but also more sinister, In the Mouth of Madness.

Just you wait...

Is it possible to write a modern Mythos story where H.P.'s works aren't real and still avoid the Zombie Problem? Like any Zombie/Vampire/Werewolf movie where the characters involved know less about the monsters than the viewers is instantly annoying. Are there examples of more modern mythos stuff where the protagonist are brought up to speed on what the audience knows without using the Lovecraft's stories were real trope?

Nyadnar#17

Really enjoying these episodes guys, but I gotta say - the soundbite of Chad whispering "Blochtober" at the top of each episode is sorely missed.

I chuckled when I heard my name at the end. That's the first time my name has been associated with something to do with Cthulhu AND Sonny and Cher. In hindsight, though, it was probably inevitable...

I felt like holding someone literally at gunpoint and giving them a 3 hour deadline is the most accurate portrayal yet of trying to recommend Lovecraft to friends. :)

Not to be too disputatious, but on Chris's aside about Christianity maybe not being able to handle space aliens: most traditional religions, Christianity included, already believe in non-human intelligent entities. If one can believe in trans-dimensional energy beings that are so weird that humans can't encounter them without being terrified (per the discussion about angels a few episodes ago), believing that physical beings might live on other planets isn't so hard.

Ethan Cordray

The starry wisdom “mass” reminded me so much of when you naively agree to go with your friend to some kind of event or party as like a favor and it turns out it’s either a religious group, a multi-level marketing thing or one of those life coaching seminars. And you have to just sit there smiling awkwardly while someone talks about lost continents or thetans or how you can make a million dollars by getting everyone you know to sign up for this too. Like thanks dudes, but I’m full up on past lives and atlantean technology, I don’t want to sell videophones in bulk to my family and I’m not looking to manifest the positive through the conduit of the universe or sign up for a timeshare. Please stop replacing the incense with drugs, I want to go home. I think we've all been there. I love how the Revered insists that the Starry Wisdom Temple is not a new religion and has been around for thousands of years. But not like those other religions that have been around for thousands of years. The Starry Wisdom Temple is still relevant. It’s the thousand year old religion that vapes and skateboards and is hip with the youths. That actually made it sound like any modern religious organization to me. Pros of ancient religion: Ancient teachings Cons of ancient religion: Ancient teachings

I ask strangers to dinner all the time and then casually drop Lovecraft mentions near the end. Come to think of it, though, those evenings tend to end quite abruptly...

Wow! This is one of the most accurate representations of what it's like to be an HP Lovecraft fan! Me: *mentioning Lovecraft* Friends: "Who?" Stranger: "Huh? I've never heard of him." Family: "Oh, is that a friend of yours?" Coworker: "Doesn't he work in Underwriting?" The only thing that's a little farfetched to me is how easy it is to get people who've never heard of Lovecraft to actually read one of his works. Me: "Yeah, here's a book with a collection of Lovecraft's work." *gives book* Friend: "Thanks! I'll definitely check it out." *Ends up using book as doorstop* Me: "Yeah, if you're into weird fiction, you should check out some of Lovecraft's stuff." Coworker: "I don't know. 'Lovecraft' sounds a little too romantic for me." Me: "There's a really great story by Lovecraft about--" Family: "Oh! Your writer friend, right? You should invite him over for dinner sometime. He sounds like someone who's really career-oriented."

Strange Eons certainly seems like it was intended as a primer for the budding Lovecraft fan; heavy-handed or not, it's still better than The Lurker At The Threshold...

Macabre Mittens

Agreed. The Derleth comparison is apt. I don't think Bloch should get a free pass on this, and if he does Derleth should get one too. I'm enjoying this in a so bad it's good way but suggesting that it's anything but mediocre is holding Bloch to far too low a standard given what we know he's capable of.

Cthulhu Eat Prey

“Eat Pray Lovecraft.”

Speaking of mysteries,who is David J. Jones and why has for at least 24 hours has Google labeled him as H.P. Lovecraft.Search Robert Bloch and look at 1st more people.David R. Jones would have been funnier ,Starman!

"Sheikh al-Jebal" literally just means "the old man of the mountain", so Bloch was probably reading some translation-of-a-translation-of-a-translation of Arabic history that presented this phrase as if it was an actual name.

Jason Thompson

Could Christ Cope, Mountainous Mass of Masonry, ... he has a case of the Stan Lees.

Steve

For all the corny HPL references (and I'm loving these episodes by the way) I love the Robert Bloch self-reference in Strange Aeons, with Albert being set up as the protagonist then dying a third of the way through.

Clint Page

Chad and Chris pointed out some good writing in the text this week. That section about the world not ending in bang or a whimper is good, but it is totally stolen from T. S. Eliot. <a href="https://msu.edu/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://msu.edu/</a>~jungahre/transmedia/the-hollow-men.html . Bloch is borrowing from The Hollow Men.

For whatever it's worth, I am enjoying the show despite having no interest whatsoever in making time to read the book.

I dislike the “should of” construction as well, but I think at one point it must have (must of) been acceptable practice. I was reading a book by Raymond Chandler, of all people, and he seems to have used it a lot, and he had a British public school education.

Saint Fu

You should be ashamed. Like a Lovecraftian dad joke, that was positively punspeakable.

Mandy Reznor (She_It)

Given the odd railroaded-RPG-style narrative, could we be dealing with an unR'lyehable narrator? I'll show myself out.

Enjoying Bloch's Lovecraft smoothie so far. I admit that I'll be slightly disappointed if the last line isn't IN THE DUTCH LANGUAGE.

I should have looked this up ,like a rabbit hole it goes deeper and deeper lol.So it would make even more sense as an in joke ."). At least one other pyramid mausoleum is called the Shatto Crypt and houses George R. Shatto (1850-1893). Shatto in 1887 bought the island of Catalia for $150,000 and established its first town, Avalon. He passed away in a train crash."

There was an interesting look up on Google maps.The Starry Wisdom Temple is located at 1726 South Normandie in Los Angeles .What would be there ,it isn't an address per say,is the Rosedale Cemetery. Once you click on there, the first image you should see is The SHATTO crypt.Which is the name slightly changed of the boat captain, Sato with the HT left out.

This seems to my understanding of your cliff notes version to be a flawed concept, almost like a YA book fair novel franchising out the Lovecraft mythos. Perhaps adults were the intended audience, but it is so dumbed down as to be like youth lit. Bloch uses his great writing skills to frame a decent plot around a bunch of knockoff lovecraft gags that ring hollow to anyone who has read the original work. In that sense you get a well-written Derleth novel from a guy who really should have known better. This may be me pre-judging the thing, but that's what it has seemed like to me after hearing the first two episodes.

Also finally cracked and got Night Ocean from Bandcamp. Damn my completionist syndrome!

As Chris says I believe it is important to stress the fact that as simple or stupid the story sounds when you start analyzing it, when you're actually reading it it is not so much an issue. Given the current pace I wonder if there is going to be a fourth episode!