Proppingupthemythos

Ultimate Spoiler Thread: The Third Quire (Part 1)

This first part covers pages 97 through 120, which is the mid-point of the Quire.

Page 97 ends the audience with Sebek, and begins our exploration of Akili as a Voormi. The Voormi are a creation of Clark Ashton Smith and appear in his Hyperborean tales, especially the Seven Geases and the Testament of Athammaus. In that latter title we meet a character named Knygathin Zhaum who is said to be descended from Tsathoggua and undergoes multiple deaths. Instead of having that be an...

Tome Alone made the cut!

Our Necronomicon-themed short film Tome Alone will be included on the DVD and BluRay for the Best Of 2019 from the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival!

Here is the link for preorders:  2020-03-12 21:18:15 +0000 UTC View Post

Starting Quire 4

With the February mailing going out this weekend I wanted to remind everyone that we are starting a new Quire.

Also, this mailing has something special: a sealed page. This has been a fun challenge to create, but the real fun will be in receiving it, so I ask my Miskatonic Librarians to be careful about posting photos of the contents on this one for a week or two. Canadian patrons often don't get their envelopes for 10 days after you!

But you wouldn't actually open a sealed page t...

That pesky endpaper...

The folded sheet with the book curse and library stamp will play an important role in the finished book, but until we reach that point it may feel a bit disconnected. Don't try to nest it with the other pages, just store it safely until we get to the end. When the time comes to bind these, the left side of the sheet will be attached to the inside of the front cover (called the front pastedown), while the right side (with the curse) will be the actual endpaper, coming before the title page of ...

A Guide to the Third Quire

(I am releasing this a month early as I have had a few folks asking about page order; please ignore Leaves 35 &36 until they show up at your mailbox in a couple of weeks!)

This visual should help with keeping the third set of pages in order.  I have added the first few words as a key above any pages that are entirely text to help distinguish them (remember that the previous page has these catchwords at the very bottom).

When these nest together (26 inside 25, 27 inside 26...

A great way to store the Necronomicon pages!

Miskatonic Librarian Chad Anctil sent this fantastic tutorial for how he is building up the book as the Leaves are released.

Starting with an adjustable scrapbook (the kind held together with bolts that can be swapped out for larger ones as the book grows), Chad built up a "spine" out of foamcore strips glued together. He then glued lengths of embroidery thread at intervals along this spine. The Quires are then slipped under the threads so that the length of thread ends up at the middle...

Boxing Day

We had an extra day of filming open up, so another promo video will be coming out in 2020.

Happy New Year!

A Hawthorne quote may have inspired the Necronomicon

In Lovecraft's essay Supernatural Horror in Literature he wrote:

"Some of Hawthorne’s notes tell of weird tales he would have written had he lived longer—an especially vivid plot being that concerning a baffling stranger who appeared now and then in public assemblies, and who was at last followed and found to come and go from a very ancient grave."

This plot seed comes from the 1868 book Passages from  the American Notebooks of Nathaniel Hawthorne. Lovecraft scholar Donal...

"There's no kissing in Lovecraft!"

This stunning bit of writing advice comes from the book The Spirit of Revision published by the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society collecting the letters between HPL and Zealia Bishop.

Needless to say I will be taking inspiration from this for an upcoming sequence in the Necronomicon. Keep an eye out for it!

A new promo video is coming soon!

As you might recall a year ago I filmed a promo video for the project, but then that blossomed into a short film (Tome Alone) and played at NecronomiCon in Providence and the HPLFF in Oregon a few months back.

So I promise this time will be different! As yet unnamed, the two and a half minute short dramatizes the collecting of Necronomicon pages in a fun way.

I will share updates as I can!

A Thanksgiving Tradition

Hello fiends,

I hope the end of November finds you in a good place. I struggle with Thanksgiving but in a concerted effort to not be a Krampus about it I have revived an old family tradition: the pumpkin carriage. I spent the last few weeks gathering odd vegetables and decorative gourds and today my kids (ages 7 and 11) and my brother and I created this procession of Dali-esque oddities to grace our table. So whatever holidays lie ahead for you, make room for some magic!

An HPL original micro-fiction

Happy Patron's Day!

As a thank you for your support, I wanted to share a delightful find from my research. This is an excerpt from a letter from Nov. 18th, 1930 to Clark Ashton Smith:

“Oh, yes ---Abdul mentioned your ghoul, & told of other adventures of his. But some timid reader has torn out the pages where the Episode of the Vault under the Mosque comes to a climax --- the deletion being curiously uniform in the copies at Harvard & at Miskatonic University. When I wrot...

Ultimate Spoiler Thread: The Second Quire

Hello cultists!

Here is the long-awaited behind the scenes guide for the entirety of the Second Quire (pages 49-96), moving chronologically through the book. This may be the format moving forward, as jumping back and forth on each set of Leaves (as I used to do) is pretty confusing.

So we find a maimed Abdel alone in the desert, but not for long as he is soon joined by one of the youth from the stone tower. He names him Aayiz which literally means "replacement" in Arabic; a bit of...

What is up with these names?

Some folks might be wondering where some of the more exotic names in Quire 3 originated. In a letter Clark Ashton Smith laid out a genealogy for Tsathoggua and the antagonist of his tale The Testament of Athammaus.

These names are... daunting. I feel like my cat walking across my keyboard might yield similar results.

In the end I decided to treat them like YHWH: a shortened version of a holy word. And just as that led in the 16th century to the word Jehovah, I have let John Dee ex...

A note about Arabic words in the Necronomicon

Sprinkled (lightly) through the book so far you may have noticed a word or two in Arabic. How did they get there? This is after all an English translation of  the Latin translation of the Greek translation. So what is the deal? Well, Arabic was very much in style at the time, and on the mind of the Queen. As some say this English translation was made by John Dee expressly for her, I believe these insertions of "exotic" language are meant to impress her (and thereby cement his position in...

My take on the Wilcox bas-relief

Hey folks,

I wanted to share something I made Yesterday. While not exactly Necronomicon related, it certainly is Lovecraftian!

Thanks for your patience with my car troubles last month, hopefully things will go more smoothly this time!

A possible delay

Hey folks,

the alternator in my car decided to go, and the saga of trying to get it towed to the garage is still ongoing. I am trying hard to not let this impact mailing the August pages, but it may add a day or two. This is never something I want to have happen, but hopefully it will resolve itself quickly and without further drama. 

thanks for your patience. The Mi-Go no doubt are behind this, or perhaps the Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign (sneaky gits).

Five hours of Poe!

Here is a fun (and free) way to get into the Halloween spirit! I listen to Mythos related podcasts and audio at my day job to maximize my prep time for writing the Necronomicon. Sometimes that means listening to less-than-stellar stories or recordings. 

So this was a truly wonderful surprise today. That Poe was a hell of a wordsmith, and Basil and Vincent turned in fantastic readings. Enjoy!

Last call for Curse Page preferences

Hey everybody,

Many of you have written to state your preference for rubber stamps on the Curse Page (Miskatonic, British Museum or blank). I have noted all of these. 

I want to make sure people have one last opportunity to say if they want something other than Miskatonic, as that will be the default if I haven't heard otherwise.

They will be mailing out on October 6th with the next Leaves!

2019-09-29 13:44:20 +0000 UTC View Post

A Guide to the Second Quire

This visual should help with keeping the second set of pages in order. As there are more "text heavy" pages in the second Quire I have added the first few words as a key above them (remember that the previous page has these catchwords at the very bottom).

When these nest together (14 inside 13, 15 inside 14, etc.) you will have the full second Quire ready to go. Please refer to this guide as needed, but do not share it outside our Order.

A Guide to the First Quire

In the interest of keeping these pages in the correct order I have made this visual to help. All twelve of these nest inside each other (2 inside 1, 3 inside 2, etc.) to make the first Quire.

Please refer to this guide if you find your papers have become disordered as though by a malevolent invisible force, but please do not share this outside our Order. 

The Final Report of Henry Barrow

I wanted to make sure folks saw a project I am really excited about. This is a new film by Aaron Vanek, inspired by the Delta Green RPG (think X-Files with a Mythos twist).

Aaron is directly responsible for getting me involved in Lovecraftian filmmaking and has been an inspiration to me for he last twenty years. I am doing a little prop work on this project so it would be awesome to see it on the big screen.  would love it if you would consider backing it on Kickstarter!

...

A special gift for Patrons!

As promised, the surprise I had for Patrons at the convention will be sent to everyone next month (September mailing). It is the front end paper, complete with a book curse (hand written by the amazing Ann Miller) and your choice of Miskatonic library imprint or British Museum imprint.

I will stamp these with the MU stamp unless you request the other, so drop me a note if you would prefer the British Museum imprint (or no stamped imprint at all).

H.P. Podcraft turns Ten!

Thank you to everyone who helped make this happen. Chad Fiifer and Chris Lackey were just as kind and gracious as they sound on their show and it meant so much to me to be able to thank them with a gift like this. Thank you Leah Candalino for capturing the moment!

 I can't get over the positive energy of the Lovecraftian/Mythos fandom. 

NecronomiCon is upon us!

Hey fiends,

I am heading to Providence today with my wife and young cultists. Our short film Tome Alone plays tonight at the AS220 Black Box Theater (downtown at 95 Empire Street) at 10 PM as well as Saturday at 3 PM at the RISD Metcalf Auditorium in the Chace Center (20 N. Main Street). Both showings will be followed by a Q&A. 

Also Saturday I am on a panel "Under the Ash-Tree: Exploring M. R. James as Weird Fiction". This will be held at the Omni (Bristol-Kent roomm 3rd...

The mockup is done!

I hope to have the video put together soon after NecronomiCon! There were some interesting challenges but overall the binding went very smoothly. 

A productive weekend!

I will have a lot more images to share, but here is a sneak peek at the bookbinding process!

Book Binding Begins!

I am making a mockup of the finished Necronomicon. I will post updates and also document the process in a video!

NecronomiCon is almost here!

Just a reminder that I will be at NecronomiCon this August, and I will have something special for Patrons! Don't worry if you can't attend, I will roll it out to everyone after the convention. 

A few notes: 

1) Propping Up the Mythos will be premiering our newest short film "Tome Alone" at the convention!

2) HPPodcraft is celebrating 10 years and I would like to present the hosts with some Necronomicon pages as a thank you for all their hard work. Drop me a PM if y...

I listened to 8 hours of August Derleth stories so YOU don't have to.

You're welcome.

Actually, I found a few that I really enjoyed (Witch Hollow for example was really fun) and once you accept that there will be the litany of names, Elder God BS, etc. they can be sort of endearing. Anyway, thank goodness for YouTube audio recordings to help me research while I do my day job.

I know I owe you all Spoiler Threads and I promise they are coming soon!