Special: Adrian Tchaikovsky on Non-Human Intelligences

1 June, 2021

Special Episode: Adrian Tchaikovsky on non-human intelligences

We’re back with another special interview episode. This time, Scott talks to bestselling science fiction and fantasy author Adrian Tchaikovsky. In particular, they discuss how Tchaikovsky portrays a wide range of non-human characters in his work and how we might apply this to gaming.

During the course of the conversation, we go into how Tchaikovsky’s career has moved from fantasy to science fiction, what his work owes to his experience as a GM, and just how gaming has led to him narrating some of his own audiobooks. On the way, Tchaikovsky offers an impassioned defence of arthropods as protagonists, insights into how cosmic horror relates to science fiction, and his opinions about how Lovecraft had the best monsters.

Links

Things we mention in this episode include:

Books by Adrian Tchaikovsky

The Willows

13 April, 2021

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We’re back and we’re going on our summer holidays! What could be finer than drifting down the Danube, marvelling at all the willows crowding these sandy little islets? Well, maybe not being consumed or driven mad by the unseen cosmic forces lurking within them. But that’s just the kind of risk you take when you go camping.

Main Topic: The Willows

Following on from our recent discussion of cosmic horror, we thought it might be helpful to look at an example of the genre. Dating back to 1907, Algernon Blackwood’s “The Willows” is one of the earliest examples of cosmic horror. It was also a profound influence on the young HP Lovecraft, who later raved about it in Supernatural Horror in Literature. Unfortunately, as we explore in the episode, this admiration was not reciprocal.

As usual, we dig into the story in detail, looking for inspiration for our Call of Cthulhu games. Also, as usual, we disagree about almost everything.

Once again, the pandemic means we recorded this episode remotely, safely separated by invisible dimensional barriers.

Links

Things we mention in this episode include:

“The Willows” by Algernon Blackwood
Cosmic horror
Algernon Blackwood
The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
John Silence
Carnacki, the Ghost-Finder
“The Wendigo” by Algernon Blackwood
Arthur Machen
“Supernatural Horror in Literature” by HP Lovecraft
Occultism in Lovecraft
Blackwood’s opinion of Lovecraft
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
WB Yeats
Celtic fairy folklore
Tolkien and trees

Body horror
Ghosts
Folk horror
Survival horror
Dark Young
Folie à deux
Quixotism and panzaism
Planet Gong
Sound of My Voice
“The Whisper in Darkness” by HP Lovecraft
Fairyland
Jasper Carrott
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
“The Dunwich Horror” by HP Lovecraft
Trypophobia
Surinam toad
Yog-Sothoth
“The Willows” on Horrorbabble

News

The Meat Trade on Ain’t Slayed Nobody

Scott has been running World War Cthulhu: London for our good friends at Ain’t Slayed Nobody. His scenario, “The Meat Trade”, delves into the underworld of wartime London, in more ways than one. The first episode will go out on the Ain’t Slayed Nobody Patreon feed towards the end of April.

The Blasphemous Tome Issue 7

Issue 7 of The Blasphemous Tome will be escaping into the wild before the end of June. It includes a brand new Call of Cthulhu scenario, licensed by Chaosium, written by our very own Matt Sanderson. Everyone backing us on Patreon will receive a copy. Please see our Patreon page for more details. If you would like to submit a short (up to 500 words) article or piece of black-and-white artwork, please contact us on social media or email us at submissions@blasphemoustomes.com

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Cosmic Horror

30 March, 2021

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We’re back and we’re and we’re contemplating the secrets of the universe. People have warned us that it isn’t good for the human psyche to truly understand its insignificance in the wider cosmos. Luckily, as podcasters, our egos are robust enough to withstand such a spiritual winnowing. Cosmic horror is only genuinely horrific if your place in the universe isn’t secured by the occasional appearance towards the bottom of a niche podcast chart!

Main Topic: Cosmic Horror

This episode is our long-overdue look at cosmic horror. The term “cosmic horror” is often used as a synonym for Lovecraftian horror. Is there more to this relationship, however? For all his passion for the genre, how effective was Lovecraft at writing cosmic horror? How can we bring cosmic dread into our games of Call of Cthulhu? And what the hell is cosmic horror anyway?

Once again, the pandemic means we recorded this episode remotely. Although, on a cosmic scale, we’re practically in the same room.

Links

Things we mention in this episode include:

Alien (1979)
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Trebuchet Magazine
Buffer overflows
“The Rats in the Walls” by HP Lovecraft
“Supernatural Horror in Literature” by HP Lovecraft
WB Yeats
The Quatermass Experiment
Azathoth
The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath by HP Lovecraft
Yog-Sothoth
The Gods of Pegāna by Lord Dunsany
“The Music of Erich Zann” by HP Lovecraft
Body horror
The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay

“Nyarlathotep” by HP Lovecraft
“The Nine Billion Names of God” by Arthur C Clarke
Solaris by Stanislaw Lem
Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
Solaris (1972)
Solaris (2002)
Arrival (2016)
“Story of Your Life” by Ted Chiang
Event Horizon (1997)
2001: A Space Oddysey (1968)
“Mimsy Were the Borogoves” by Lewis Padgett
The Last Mimzy (2007)
The Leftovers (2014)
“Black and White Sky” by Tanith Lee
Uzumaki by Junji Ito
Uzimaki (2000)

News

Patreon Changes

We’ve recently made some changes to our Patreon tiers. These centre on how we deliver The Blasphemous Tome. As of the next Tome, we will send a PDF to $1 backers, a code for a print-on-demand copy to $3 backers, and hand-printed and signed copies to those at $5 and above. Check our Patreon page for more details.

The Blasphemous Tome Issue 7

The reason for these Patreon changes is that we will now be putting out two full Blasphemous Tomes per year. While the .5 summer releases started life as an overflow for material we couldn’t fit in the standard Tome, they’ve proved very popular. As a result, we’re promoting them to full Tomes, which means they will be available in print as well as PDF. Issue 7 is due out in June and will include a brand new Call of Cthulhu scenario, licensed by Chaosium, written by our very own Matt Sanderson. We’ll have more details for you soon!

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Top 3 Mythos Media

5 January, 2021

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We’re back and we’re hearing the call of Cthulhu from some unusual places. Most of our consumption of Mythos media comes via the printed word. Sometimes, however, it seeps out from the page and infects other formats. Unless we commit to slapping an elder sign on the cover of every book, we had better learn to embrace this, or at least let its pseudopods embrace us.

Main Topic: Top 3 Mythos Media

This episode presents a discussion of some of our favourite Cthulhu Mythos media, in the form of films, songs, musicals and comics. Anything, really, as long as it’s not a novel, short story or RPG. Obviously, there’s going to be a bit of debate as we never agree on anything. We are joined in the scrum by Mike Mason, creative director for the Call of Cthulhu RPG.

Thank you very much to cuppycup of the wonderful Ain’t Slayed Nobody podcast for his help in salvaging some damaged audio from this recording session!

Once again, the pandemic means we recorded this episode remotely. We’re getting used to this.

Links

Things we mention in this episode include:

Night Gallery
“Professor Peabody’s Last Lecture”
The Twilight Zone
“The Return of the Sorcerer” by Clark Ashton Smith
“Cool Air” by HP Lovecraft
“Pickman’s Model” by HP Lovecraft
The Corridor (2010)
“Lovecraft in Brooklyn” by The Mountain Goats

“The Whisperer in Darkness” by HP Lovecraft
Heretic Pride by The Mountain Goats
Bletchley Park
Berlin Airlift
Return to Innsmouth (1999)
The Yellow Sign (2001)
The Two-Headed Serpent
Call of Tutu (2006)

The Void (2016)
Underwater (2020)
Midsommar (2019)
The Dunwich Horror (1970)
The Dunwich Horror Picture Show
Absentia (2011)
Oculus (2013)
Hush (2016)
Doctor Sleep (2019)
The Haunting of Hill House (2018)
Late Bloomer (2004)

Out of Mind: The Stories of H.P. Lovecraft (1998)
“Herbert West — Reanimator” by HP Lovecraft
“The Statement of Randolph Carter” by HP Lovecraft

In the Mouth of Madness (1994)
The Land of Laughs by Jonathan Carroll
Prince of Darkness (1987)
The Thing (1982)
Children of the Corn (1984)
The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets

Providence by Alan Moore and Jacen Burrows
The King in Yellow by Robert W Chambers
From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell
Neonomicon by Alan Moore and Jacen Burrows
The HP Lovecraft Historical Society
A Shoggoth on the Roof

Voluminous

News

200th Episode Special

We’re about to turn 200. Well, maybe not us as people, but the podcast will hit the milestone of 200 episodes this month. We’re celebrating with a big Q&A session, in which we answer some questions sent in by our lovely listeners. Mike Mason joins us once again, acting as questionmaster.

Also, thinking about it, if you add up the ages of everyone on this episode, the total isn’t far off 200…

Back when we celebrated our first birthday. Didn’t we look young?

Call of Cthulhu 40th Anniversary

As Mike reminds us in the episode, Call of Cthulhu turns 40 this year. Expect some major releases this year to celebrate this milestone! While it’s too early to offer specifics, keep watching the Chaosium social media feeds for announcements.

A Weekend With Good Friends

Following the success of Jacks-Con in July of 2020, our lovely listeners have organised another virtual convention. A Weekend With Good Friends will take place on our Discord server between the 14th and 18th of January 2021. Player sign-ups begin on the 6th of January. Full details can be found here.

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The Good Friends talk to Matthew McLean of A Scottish Podcast about Lovecraft and Comedy

17 November, 2020

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We’re back with another special interview episode. This time, however, we’re breaking away from cults and turning back to a topic we discussed in episode 127: that uneasy ground that lies between comedy and horror.

Matthew McLean is the writer, producer and one of the stars of A Scottish Podcast. While the name may not suggest it, A Scottish Podcast is steeped in Lovecraftian horror. It’s also pretty damn funny.

The basic premise is that Lee, a failed disc jockey, has decided to reboot his career by starting a paranormal investigation podcast. He ropes his long-suffering friend Doug into producing it and the two of them travel across Scotland, investigating weird cases they are increasingly forced to take seriously.

What stops A Scottish Podcast from being just another paranormal drama is its cast of wildly eccentric supporting characters. The stories swing wildly between comedy and horror, usually keeping the two elements discrete but sometimes mixing them to great effect (such as in the recent special, “Fish Supper Over Innsmouth”).

Be warned that A Scottish Podcast is even more sweary than the Good Friends and that the humour is very Scottish. As Matthew mentions in the interview, however, this has not proved a barrier to international listeners.

In our discussion, Matthew and I talk about the relationship between comedy and horror, where the humour lies in Lovecraft, and how he goes about writing and creating the podcast. This last part turned into a general discussion about producing audio drama which should prove informative to anyone thinking about doing so.