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Live Events!

From time to time the HPLHS hosts live events at its global headquarters in Glendale, California. Click THIS LINK or the image above to see the current list of upcoming events.

Featured Member

  • July 11, 2018

Our Member of the Month for July 2018 is Alasdair Macleod of Edinburgh, Scotland.

Alasdair says: "I was aware as a young teenager that there was this weird author called Lovecraft who was responsible for the kind of chilling stories like "The Tomb", and saw illustrations suggestive of a kind of shivery ghosty horror, but it wasn’t till I got hold of a paperback copy of At The Mountains of Madness, aged about 17, that I was stunned by the depth of the concepts in his work, and was hooked.

Before long I had read everything he had published, but often go back to enjoy them again. I still don’t think there’s been anything written in this field that’s better the "The Colour out of Space".

I like other sorts of Sci fi and Fantasy, so here’s me in a GOT outfit."

MON recording session

Masks of Nyarlathotep Progress

  • July 11, 2018

We have been working hard to record the new Dark Adventure Radio Theatre episode, "Masks of Nyarlathotep". In addition to some of the DART regulars that fans will recognize from previous episodes, the many international locales of this story have enabled us to work with some great new actors! We'll be recording throughout the month of July.

MON props

Meanwhile, we're also hard at work on the dozens of prop documents that will be part of the experience. Right now we're focusing on the props that are included in the Gamer Prop Set. Above is a view of mockups of just SOME of those props. The real things will be printed on a wider variety of papers in high quality.

MON script

Masks of Nyarlathotep Script

  • June 5, 2018

Stalwart actors faced near-certain madness to join the HPLHS in a table read of the pre-production draft of the script for the upcoming epic Dark Adventure Radio Theatre episode, "Masks of Nyarlathotep". The script is 446 pages long, and each copy weighs over 2 pounds. With a running time of almost seven hours, the gang had to spend two evenings reading it. We are very grateful for their feedback and will make some final revisions before scheduling the recording sessions!

Fiacre O'Duinn

Featured Member

  • June 5, 2018

Our Member of the Month for June 2018 is Fiacre O'Duinn of Burlington, Canada.

Fiacre says: "I was born in a town containing what was once the largest telescope in the world, the Leviathan of Parsonstown. I played in the the ruins of Leap Castle, the most haunted in Ireland. I walked the bogs where my ancestors sacrificed their kings to appease the gods.

Distant stars, malign entities and ancient deities.

When I discovered H.P. Lovecraft, I knew I was home.

In high school in Dublin in the '80s I had a few friends who were horror fans. When I was fourteen one of them loaned me a forbidden tome called The H. P. Lovecraft Omnibus 1 by Panther Books where I read “The Case of Charles Dexter Ward”. I was hooked. I quickly tracked down the rest of the omnibus editions and fell in love.

I disappeared down a tentacle filled rabbit hole, discovering Ramsey Campbell, the Call of Cthulhu 3rd Edition RPG, Brian Lumley, Clive Barker, William Burroughs, and so on. It peaked around ‘94 when I walked into a tiny art house cinema, The Lighthouse on Abbey Street, and saw a movie titled Cronos by some unknown Mexican guy, Guillermo del Toro. I still have that ticket stub.

I always felt that “The Case of Charles Dexter Ward” had a lasting influence on my life. I moved to Canada from Ireland in the mid-nineties and, after working in the casino industry for a few years, went to university to study new religious movements (or, as they were called before we went metric, cults) and the history of western esotericism. For my graduate degree I ended up doing fieldwork among former members of The Process Church, certainly one of the more Lovecraftian groups from the '70s. I completed a second masters in information science and worked in that most antediluvian and blasphemous of professions, librarianship, for a decade. My later activities included taking a class on how to start your own cult from Ivan Stang and working with Genesis P-Orridge of Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth for three years, but those are tales for another time.

And I’m still trying to solve that essential saltes problem….

Last year everything seemed to come full circle as I had the opportunity to visit Providence and pay homage. Guillermo del Toro brought his exhibition “At Home with Monsters” to Toronto and on the opening day I met him, entirely by accident, as he was walking through the museum. I finally got to shake his hand and thank him for the nightmares.

To close, after ten years of marriage my beloved wife, who has to endure my Lovecraft, horror, cult and occult obsessions, has only ever imposed one rule; “No practicing evil in the house!”"

Featured Member

  • May 8, 2018

Our Member of the Month for May 2018 is David Baxter of Guelph, Canada.

David says: "I grew up in Niagara Falls, Canada, where I worked at no fewer than six crappy tourist attractions. As a teenager, a friend of mine mentioned a horror author named "Lovecraft" and my imagination was deftly captured. I picked up the one HPL book they had at my local bookstore, which was Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Macabre, and thus, my first three HPL stories were "The Rats in the Walls", "The Picture in the House", and "The Silver Key". I was a little overwhelmed and took a break from the original fiction. From there, I detoured into the board games and the horror movie adaptations and had a grand ol' time. In 2010 I discovered the H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast , and with Chad and Chris's guidance, I resolved to read all of HPL's stories. I almost succeeded (I just could not get through "The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath"). I enjoy the bleakness of HPL's cosmic horror, but I live for the "weird and unexplainable neighbour" tales: I often recommend "Cool Air" to HPL neophytes, and my single favourite tale is "The Music of Erich Zann".

Nowadays, I am a librarian by day (a mental health librarian, which is like, the farthest possible thing from forbidden mind-shattering tomes, unfortunately), and by night I am often found pretending to be a crow on the internet. In my HPL time I like to learn more about the history of the man. I am slowly making my way through the collected letters of HPL and Robert E. Howard, and I still listen to the HPL Literary Podcast religiously. Someday soon I will make my pilgrimage to Providence.

It is my utter delight to have been selected by our cold, uncaring universe to be the HPLHS member of the month. Thank you everyone at HPLHS for all you do!"

MON ad

Death and Madness!

  • May 10, 2018

We are moving full steam ahead on "Masks of Nyarlathotep", the next massive episode of Dark Adventure Radio Theatre. The script is being written and we expect the show to be over six hours in length. We're wrapping our heads around the vast numbers of props involved. The "standard edition" of the show will feature a dozen props (three times the normal amount), and there will also be a Deluxe Version with at least 50. We are collaborating with artists from around the world to produce a very special limited edition Super Deluxe Version of the show, which will have more than 100 props, including artifacts as well as documents. We're also producing a separate Gamer Prop Set for those who wish to play Chaosium's game with a deluxe set of handouts. It's madness! More fun plans are in store as well and we will be announcing them as they firm up. Stay tuned!

Gwen Callahan

Visiting Dignitary

  • April 16, 2018

The HPLHS was pleased to welcome visiting dignitary Gwen Callahan at headquarters. Gwen was in town to check out Monsterpalooza, a fun local monster convention that celebrated its 10th anniversary this year. Gwen and her husband, Brian, are the brains behind the awesome t-shirt company SighCo, and also run The H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival in Portland, Oregon. We were excited to talk to Gwen about some plans for Portland later this year, and maybe some other events too! Stay tuned!

Call of Cthulhu Newbies

Call of Cthulhu Newbies

  • April 13, 2018

Keeper of the Arcane Lore Sean Branney initiated a stalwart group of beginners to the thrills and terrors of Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu at headquarters recently. They cut their teeth on the classic scenario "The Haunted House" and had a grand time. It took two play sessions to get through it all and there was some attrition along the way, but the survivors might well be back for more. None of the surviving players had ever heard an episode of Dark Adventure Radio Theatre either, so when Sean uttered a certain catchphrase that appears at the end of every episode, they found it truly disturbing.

HPLHS Fan Survey

HPLHS Fan Survey

  • April 12, 2018

The HPLHS launched an online survey to get a better idea of what Lovecraft/Cthulhu Mythos fans like and don't like, and how they interact with the mythos. As we plan our projects for the months (and years) ahead, it will be helpful to focus our efforts where they will do the most good and meet the most interest. We've put together an online questionnaire, and we hope you'll click on it and fill it out as fully as you want. It's a completely voluntary and anonymous survey (although if you want to win one of the prizes you will have to let us know how we can reach you).

To say thanks to those who respond, we randomly selected winners from among the respondents to receive a $100 HPLHS gift card, a $50 HPLHS gift card, and five $20 HPLHS gift cards. We will also be sending a new bonus stamp to every card-carrying HPLHS member who takes the survey! Only one entry per person, please!

Cthulhu Campaign Journals

Call of Cthulhu Campaign Journals

  • April 9, 2018

The HPLHS is very pleased to be part of the newest Kickstarter project from our friends at Type 40. The project was fully funded in less than 24 hours, but they still need your help to unlock their fantastic stretch goals. The first of those stretch goals is an assortment of prop ephemera from the HPLHS, including items that have never been available in printed form before. The stretch goal after that is an excellent fountain pen. Type 40 makes amazing things and we're greatly looking forward to their Call of Cthulhu Leather Campaign Journals. Check out the link above!

Fifer & Lackey

Visiting Dignitaries

  • April 9, 2018

The HPLHS was recently graced by a visit from Chad Fifer and Chris Lackey, co-hosts of The H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast, a podcast about the works of H.P. Lovecraft, the writers that inspired him and the literature he inspired.

Each week they discuss a piece of weird fiction with intelligence, respect, and humor. Talented voice actors bring the text to life (occasionally including Andrew Leman and Sean Branney of the HPLHS). Music and sound effects create atmosphere while occasional guest experts show up to make things classy. The show is rapidly approaching its 400th episode! If you haven't heard it yet you must check it out. You will be very glad you did.

Cthulhugram

2018 Lifetime Member Renewals

  • April 3, 2018

We are very pleased to announce that all 2018 Lifetime Member renewal stamps have now been sent. There are more Lifetime Members than ever, and the process of reviewing all records and issuing bonus stamps is increasingly complex and time consuming. There were over 750 Cthulhugrams going out to 29 countries and every state of the US except for South Dakota, but including Puerto Rico. Renewal stamps are on their way to Argentina, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, and the United Kingdom. We apologize to those who were left waiting longer than usual. If you are a Lifetime Member and have not received your Cthulhugram by April 15, please feel free to notify Andrew and he'll look into it!

Featured Member

  • April 2, 2018

Our Member of the Month for April 2018 is Caleb Long of Toney, Alabama.

Caleb says: "I was born in, and have the dubious pleasure of having lived most of my life in, northern Alabama. Skipping the boring parts, I discovered Lovecraft when I was about thirteenish. Without going into detail, a combination of beginning homeschooling and maternal apathy and neglect meant that I was basically out of school entirely for a few years, not getting any mental exercise and — more importantly — not reading at all. I think the creatures are what first got me interested in Lovecraft, although the concepts are easily what kept me along for the ride. In spite of having ADD, of having not read fiction in years, and having to contend with migraines resulting from those two facts when I did try to read, I was able to brute force my way through completing some of Lovecraft's tales. ("The Shadow Over Innsmouth" was the first, though "Colour," "Rats," and "Witch-House" ended up trading spots for favorite back and forth ever since.) With the first few tales, reading became easier, and in time I started to actually enjoy the process of reading itself—all thanks, ultimately, to Lovecraft.

Nowadays, I spend my time whittling away at a little worldbuilding project in AD&D 2E and playing 5th Edition on the weekends, in which I have the unquestionable pleasure of playing a (scientifically accurate) velociraptor monk of the Sun Soul martial arts school named Tikitill. (I also try to convince other people to play 2E, though I've yet to gain traction on that point.) I've also been helping my best friend, who is trying to write out his own translation of the Necronomicon using Tyson's as a base — basically keeping everything relating to al-Hazred's history, personality, and philosophy the same, but trading out the occultist nonsense with research- and mathematics-backed science fiction. While he obviously doesn't intend to publish it, this project has lead to a lot of useful worldbuilding between us, and permanently colored my perception of the Mythos. (It's hard to go back when you've found a system of physics that actually allows "magic" of the Lovecraftian variety to function.) I've also spent a considerable amount of time and money assembling my own lararium — a Roman-style shrine to the household Gods — following said best friend's example, and I've included a picture of such for all the world to see."

Bad Medicine

Bad Medicine

  • April 2, 2018

Darrell Tutchton's final cover art for the newest episode of Dark Adventure Radio Theatre, "Bad Medicine", is now done, Reber Clark has completed the score, and final adjustments to the audio are in the works. All the prop documents are back from the printer, and the shoggoths are busily tearing, folding, and prepping them so we can begin shipping just as soon as the CDs are back from the replicator! These are the last few days to pre-order and get the bonus prop document with your CD. It's a lovely Prohibition-era prescription for a very special concoction!

Masks of Nyarlathotep

Masks of Nyarlathotep

  • April 2, 2018

We are thrilled, and perhaps a little apprehensive, to announce that the next episode of Dark Adventure Radio Theatre will be "Masks of Nyarlathotep"! We are still developing the project so we can't reveal any details apart from the title, but we expect it will be a sweeping multi-disc epic in the vein of "The Brotherhood of the Beast". We thank our very good friends at Chaosium, Inc. for letting us tackle one of their most beloved games. We are aiming for a release this summer. Stay tuned for news as it develops.

Sterling

Troy Sterling Nies

  • March 8, 2018

We were delighted to see this genuine tintype of our very own composer extraordinaire, Troy Sterling Nies, taken by Los Angeles photographer Anton Orlov. Troy was in town not long ago to attend the screening of Aurora, a film for which he wrote the music, and this picture was taken to mark that august occasion.

Bad Medicine

Valdemar Cast

  • March 8, 2018

Dark Adventure Radio Theatre veterans John McKenna (center) and Barry Lynch (right) joined Sean Branney in the booth at The Jungle Room to record new material for the upcoming CD release of "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar". The story by Edgar Allan Poe is the middle chapter in the three-part anthology episode Bad Medicine, sandwiched between HPL's "Cool Air" and "The Picture in the House". We're currently in post-production now, working on all the prop documents, music and sound effects. We anticipate shipping the CDs in April! Pre-order to get the bonus prop document with your CD!