1 00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:27,600 Speaker 1: Ridiculous History is a production of iHeartRadio. Welcome back to 2 00:00:27,640 --> 00:00:30,840 Speaker 1: the show, fellow Ridiculous Historians. Thank you, as always so 3 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:33,720 Speaker 1: much for tuning in. Let's hear a big shout out 4 00:00:33,720 --> 00:00:41,640 Speaker 1: for our super producer, the madness over Ennsmith, Max Williams. Yes, Yes, 5 00:00:41,800 --> 00:00:46,640 Speaker 1: that's the classic Williams enthusiasm. Folks, they call me Ben 6 00:00:46,720 --> 00:00:50,760 Speaker 1: Bollen in this part of the world. My podcast partner 7 00:00:50,760 --> 00:00:54,880 Speaker 1: in crime, Noel Brown is on is on Revengers, He's 8 00:00:54,920 --> 00:00:59,200 Speaker 1: on Adventures. But we'll be returning soon. In the meantime, 9 00:00:59,440 --> 00:01:03,720 Speaker 1: this is part two of a fascinating exploration we're having 10 00:01:04,120 --> 00:01:07,400 Speaker 1: with a special guest. We asked ourselves a while back, 11 00:01:07,600 --> 00:01:11,560 Speaker 1: why is HP Lovecraft so very weird? And we thought 12 00:01:11,880 --> 00:01:14,800 Speaker 1: there could be none better to explore this with us 13 00:01:15,080 --> 00:01:18,040 Speaker 1: than the man, the myth, the legend, a good friend 14 00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:21,399 Speaker 1: of our show, a brother in arms on a personal level. 15 00:01:22,440 --> 00:01:25,120 Speaker 1: Fellow Ridiculous Historians, Let's welcome him back with a big 16 00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:28,800 Speaker 1: round of applause or whatever sound effect Max chooses. It's 17 00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:30,240 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland, a. 18 00:01:31,720 --> 00:01:42,680 Speaker 2: Man called Jonathan, man called Jonathan All what may sound strange, 19 00:01:42,760 --> 00:01:45,760 Speaker 2: do you? Everybody tells him what to do? 20 00:01:46,840 --> 00:01:51,840 Speaker 3: Hey, if I'm going to give myself a Lovecraftian nickname. 21 00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:54,480 Speaker 3: I think that's gonna be the Sandwich horror instead of 22 00:01:54,480 --> 00:01:59,400 Speaker 3: this horror. Yeah. Yeah, I've been watching a lot of 23 00:01:59,560 --> 00:02:03,080 Speaker 3: role for Sandwich. Have you ever watched that series? Wait yet, 24 00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:05,720 Speaker 3: it's been on for a while, right, Oh yeah, yeah, 25 00:02:05,760 --> 00:02:07,440 Speaker 3: the guy's been doing it for a few years. But 26 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:10,600 Speaker 3: he does a thing where he rolls dice to determine 27 00:02:10,600 --> 00:02:12,600 Speaker 3: what kind of bread, what kind of filling, what kind 28 00:02:12,639 --> 00:02:16,240 Speaker 3: of roughage, what kind of sauce, and like you know, 29 00:02:16,280 --> 00:02:18,440 Speaker 3: obviously it went wild on TikTok, but it's also on 30 00:02:18,520 --> 00:02:22,720 Speaker 3: YouTube shorts and I remember hearing about it when my brother. 31 00:02:22,800 --> 00:02:26,040 Speaker 3: My brother and me worked up a table of wild 32 00:02:26,120 --> 00:02:31,880 Speaker 3: magic modifiers and so I just got a wild hair 33 00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:35,359 Speaker 3: to track it down and watch all of them and 34 00:02:35,919 --> 00:02:38,800 Speaker 3: highly entertaining. But yeah, there's a lot of there's a 35 00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:43,320 Speaker 3: lot of like Eldrich horror in that series as well. Honestly, 36 00:02:43,480 --> 00:02:45,520 Speaker 3: you never know if it's gonna emerge or not. 37 00:02:45,919 --> 00:02:48,399 Speaker 1: AMC. They have a cookbook there too, And I love 38 00:02:48,440 --> 00:02:51,360 Speaker 1: that you're doing nicknames, Max. I hope you like yours. 39 00:02:51,680 --> 00:02:55,040 Speaker 1: And of course my true name is unpronounceable in the 40 00:02:55,120 --> 00:02:59,040 Speaker 1: human tongue. If you haven't checked out episode one, please 41 00:02:59,120 --> 00:03:03,280 Speaker 1: please please do give it a listen. Otherwise, without further ado, 42 00:03:03,680 --> 00:03:14,239 Speaker 1: we welcome you to the Darkness. He also is president 43 00:03:14,400 --> 00:03:19,120 Speaker 1: briefly of another organization that is the PEPSI to Opah's coke, 44 00:03:19,919 --> 00:03:24,520 Speaker 1: the National Amateur Press Organization or NAPA. So it's Uppah 45 00:03:24,720 --> 00:03:28,200 Speaker 1: and NAPA and he just wants to hang out with 46 00:03:28,280 --> 00:03:31,160 Speaker 1: both of them. This is what gets him back into 47 00:03:31,200 --> 00:03:34,440 Speaker 1: writing fiction. If you like Call of Cuthulhu Mounts Madness, 48 00:03:34,639 --> 00:03:35,040 Speaker 1: this is. 49 00:03:34,960 --> 00:03:37,440 Speaker 3: Why you done. Which horror that kind of thing. Yeah, 50 00:03:37,480 --> 00:03:43,280 Speaker 3: I would say that this actually reminds me a lot. 51 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:45,600 Speaker 3: I mean, it's a different era, but it reminds me 52 00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:49,200 Speaker 3: a lot of a storyline that plays out in the 53 00:03:49,920 --> 00:03:54,920 Speaker 3: Apple TV Plus series Mythic Quest, which is which is 54 00:03:54,920 --> 00:03:58,320 Speaker 3: about a video game company that's making a massively multiplayer 55 00:03:58,360 --> 00:04:02,200 Speaker 3: online role playing game. There is a character in that 56 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:08,400 Speaker 3: show named CJ, who is a former Nebula Award winning 57 00:04:09,200 --> 00:04:11,960 Speaker 3: science fiction author who won his award back in nineteen 58 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:14,920 Speaker 3: seventy four and has been coasting on it ever since. 59 00:04:15,560 --> 00:04:21,640 Speaker 3: And I get the sense that that the characterization of CJ, 60 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:24,760 Speaker 3: at least some elements of his personality are drawn from 61 00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:32,320 Speaker 3: HP Lovecraft. This this desire for being included in an 62 00:04:32,480 --> 00:04:37,520 Speaker 3: esteemed group of literary professionals, also a desire to be 63 00:04:38,120 --> 00:04:44,640 Speaker 3: viewed as a a particularly accomplished contributor to that group. 64 00:04:45,880 --> 00:04:48,680 Speaker 3: I don't know that HP was thriving on it in 65 00:04:48,720 --> 00:04:50,920 Speaker 3: the way that you know CJ is like a parasite 66 00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:54,200 Speaker 3: in mythic quest. I don't. I don't think HP necessarily 67 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:56,200 Speaker 3: was a parasite at all. I think, in fact, he 68 00:04:56,279 --> 00:04:59,800 Speaker 3: was quite the opposite. He seemed to be. One of 69 00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:02,920 Speaker 3: the nice things we can say about HP Lovecraft is 70 00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:08,360 Speaker 3: he genuinely seemed to be enthusiastic about encouraging young writers 71 00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:09,479 Speaker 3: to write. 72 00:05:10,120 --> 00:05:13,840 Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, and not in a creepy, grooming way, even 73 00:05:13,880 --> 00:05:16,800 Speaker 1: though they talked about really creepy things like in a 74 00:05:16,880 --> 00:05:22,560 Speaker 1: genuine collegiate manner that did result in actual friendship. This 75 00:05:22,720 --> 00:05:25,840 Speaker 1: is why, as you mentioned earlier, he ultimately becomes one 76 00:05:25,880 --> 00:05:33,040 Speaker 1: of the most prolific letter writers of his century. I 77 00:05:33,160 --> 00:05:36,560 Speaker 1: kind of don't want to imagine him on Twitter or 78 00:05:36,600 --> 00:05:39,800 Speaker 1: social media, but for him being able to take the 79 00:05:39,920 --> 00:05:43,400 Speaker 1: time to put the thoughts in order right, he was 80 00:05:43,440 --> 00:05:43,960 Speaker 1: doing great. 81 00:05:44,120 --> 00:05:47,240 Speaker 3: I was like, there's another example I can give. I 82 00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:49,320 Speaker 3: think it was Robert Block, who wrote when he wrote 83 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:54,000 Speaker 3: to him, because Block was Block was significantly younger than Lovecraft. 84 00:05:54,880 --> 00:05:57,800 Speaker 3: Block I think was born in like nineteen seventeen, so 85 00:05:58,400 --> 00:06:02,279 Speaker 3: much younger than Lovecraft. But he came across some of 86 00:06:02,360 --> 00:06:07,720 Speaker 3: Lovecraft's stories because they had been republished in various pulp magazines, 87 00:06:08,080 --> 00:06:10,120 Speaker 3: and he wrote to Lovecraft to say, hey, do you 88 00:06:10,320 --> 00:06:14,440 Speaker 3: happen to know where I can find your other works? 89 00:06:14,440 --> 00:06:17,359 Speaker 3: Because I love these that I've come across, but I 90 00:06:17,440 --> 00:06:19,760 Speaker 3: do not know where I can find your other stories. 91 00:06:19,800 --> 00:06:24,400 Speaker 3: And Lovecraft have a book, and Lovecraft sent him copies 92 00:06:24,480 --> 00:06:29,040 Speaker 3: of all the stories, and uh, you know, obviously, I'm 93 00:06:29,080 --> 00:06:31,359 Speaker 3: sure part of that was Lovecraft was flattered by the 94 00:06:31,440 --> 00:06:35,320 Speaker 3: attention and you know, the appeal to him as an 95 00:06:35,440 --> 00:06:39,320 Speaker 3: author of great skill. But I think it also speaks 96 00:06:39,360 --> 00:06:44,000 Speaker 3: to his genuine desire to have this sort of collaborative 97 00:06:44,640 --> 00:06:51,400 Speaker 3: creative network of writers. Uh. I think I think a 98 00:06:51,440 --> 00:06:54,719 Speaker 3: lot of the things we attribute to Lovecraft are at 99 00:06:54,800 --> 00:07:00,000 Speaker 3: least partly the work of this massive group of other writers, 100 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:04,039 Speaker 3: writers who all helped work within each other's worlds. 101 00:07:04,640 --> 00:07:07,760 Speaker 1: Yeah, which he also encouraged. And I think that was 102 00:07:07,920 --> 00:07:13,680 Speaker 1: that is perhaps one of the greatest modern innovations in 103 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:18,680 Speaker 1: Lovecraft's UVU if we're being if we're being pretentious because 104 00:07:18,920 --> 00:07:23,320 Speaker 1: it's not really his past. A certain point people would 105 00:07:23,360 --> 00:07:27,080 Speaker 1: write to him and say, oh, I love this story, right, 106 00:07:27,160 --> 00:07:30,360 Speaker 1: I love the way this is constructed. I love you know, 107 00:07:30,560 --> 00:07:36,760 Speaker 1: insert ambiguous, nebulous threats here. And here's something I've been 108 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:40,640 Speaker 1: thinking about. How how do you see these two things 109 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:43,280 Speaker 1: working together? And be like, oh, that's great, let me 110 00:07:43,360 --> 00:07:45,880 Speaker 1: think about it. Okay, So in this world, you know, 111 00:07:45,960 --> 00:07:51,040 Speaker 1: I've got I've got Cuthulhu or something, or you know, 112 00:07:51,200 --> 00:07:53,200 Speaker 1: the goat with a thousand young and he kind of 113 00:07:53,200 --> 00:07:55,280 Speaker 1: works this way, and so maybe this is one of 114 00:07:55,280 --> 00:07:57,800 Speaker 1: those thousand young I don't know, tell me what you think. 115 00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:00,600 Speaker 1: I look forward to writing back, and then they would 116 00:08:00,640 --> 00:08:04,320 Speaker 1: write back, and they would It's just something that can 117 00:08:04,400 --> 00:08:08,640 Speaker 1: seem kind of rare because think about it today, I'm 118 00:08:08,640 --> 00:08:14,400 Speaker 1: thinking of another like a big multi format universe, maybe 119 00:08:14,400 --> 00:08:16,800 Speaker 1: Stephen King's Connected. 120 00:08:17,160 --> 00:08:21,119 Speaker 3: Or or comic book universes. Right, that's great because these 121 00:08:21,360 --> 00:08:25,280 Speaker 3: comic book universes are literally made up of the contributions 122 00:08:25,320 --> 00:08:31,280 Speaker 3: of hundreds of different authors and artists, and the attempt 123 00:08:31,440 --> 00:08:37,040 Speaker 3: to fashion a an interconnected universe of all these disparate 124 00:08:37,520 --> 00:08:41,120 Speaker 3: stories and try to make them make sense within a 125 00:08:41,200 --> 00:08:46,280 Speaker 3: larger narrative is an ongoing challenge. It's why you have 126 00:08:46,360 --> 00:08:51,599 Speaker 3: these like universe resetting events in DC or Marvel in particular. 127 00:08:52,040 --> 00:08:54,360 Speaker 3: But it's it's the closest I can think of. It's 128 00:08:54,360 --> 00:08:56,320 Speaker 3: a bunch. And in that case, you've got like a 129 00:08:56,360 --> 00:09:00,680 Speaker 3: corporate overlord who's making sure that you've got a bunch 130 00:09:00,760 --> 00:09:03,640 Speaker 3: of different authors who are all kind of working toward 131 00:09:05,040 --> 00:09:07,800 Speaker 3: the same goal. But in this case it was much 132 00:09:07,840 --> 00:09:09,199 Speaker 3: more organic than that. 133 00:09:09,720 --> 00:09:13,400 Speaker 1: Yeah, and and the I love that comparison. I think 134 00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:16,880 Speaker 1: that's apropos. I would also say for the important thing 135 00:09:16,920 --> 00:09:20,440 Speaker 1: about the Stephen King example is imagine if you are 136 00:09:22,240 --> 00:09:24,640 Speaker 1: King is a superstar by this point, But imagine if 137 00:09:24,679 --> 00:09:29,520 Speaker 1: you are someone who just likes reading scary stories, and 138 00:09:29,640 --> 00:09:31,880 Speaker 1: you have an idea for a scary story that you 139 00:09:31,920 --> 00:09:34,720 Speaker 1: want to set in the universe Stephen King is created. 140 00:09:35,920 --> 00:09:40,640 Speaker 1: There are there is an entire industry of legal experts 141 00:09:41,080 --> 00:09:44,240 Speaker 1: who can't wait to smack someone down for trying that, 142 00:09:44,440 --> 00:09:47,480 Speaker 1: you know what I mean, Unless you're his son, Unless 143 00:09:47,520 --> 00:09:49,960 Speaker 1: you are Joe Hill, who I think is quite talented. 144 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:52,079 Speaker 3: Oh yeah, no, no doubt. I mean you know, Doctor 145 00:09:52,080 --> 00:09:57,520 Speaker 3: Sleep is great, but yeah, I it's funny because King 146 00:09:57,640 --> 00:10:00,240 Speaker 3: himself did this within his own work, right where you 147 00:10:00,280 --> 00:10:05,480 Speaker 3: would have seemingly disconnected storylines, and then he would gradually 148 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:10,000 Speaker 3: reveal that, oh no, these actually exist within the same universe, 149 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:15,319 Speaker 3: and in fact one will reference and perhaps even transform another. 150 00:10:15,840 --> 00:10:17,760 Speaker 3: So King King kind of did this as a one 151 00:10:17,800 --> 00:10:21,640 Speaker 3: man show, but in Lovecraft's time, what we're talking about 152 00:10:21,720 --> 00:10:25,640 Speaker 3: is literally like a dozen authors, all of whom are 153 00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:30,600 Speaker 3: working in genres that are maybe not directly weird fiction, 154 00:10:30,800 --> 00:10:34,680 Speaker 3: but are somewhat related. Like Robert E. Howard famously would 155 00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:37,360 Speaker 3: be sword and sorcery, right like he's that's the creator 156 00:10:37,400 --> 00:10:42,160 Speaker 3: of Conan the Barbarious. Yeah, And so you would have 157 00:10:42,960 --> 00:10:47,360 Speaker 3: these people who are working in different areas of speculative fiction, 158 00:10:48,160 --> 00:10:50,959 Speaker 3: but they would start to incorporate elements of each other's work, 159 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:55,120 Speaker 3: and you get this incredibly rich tapestry where if you 160 00:10:55,200 --> 00:10:58,160 Speaker 3: are a voracious reader, if you're someone who's subscribing to, 161 00:10:58,880 --> 00:11:02,600 Speaker 3: you know, one of the these pulp magazines, you get that 162 00:11:02,640 --> 00:11:06,280 Speaker 3: rewarding feeling of oh, I recognize that reference, just as 163 00:11:06,400 --> 00:11:09,680 Speaker 3: if you are like a diehard Marvel Cinematic Universe fan 164 00:11:10,600 --> 00:11:12,440 Speaker 3: and you sit there through the whole movie and you 165 00:11:12,480 --> 00:11:15,000 Speaker 3: wait until that you know, Stinger at the end of 166 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:17,720 Speaker 3: the credits, and you think, oh my gosh, they're referencing 167 00:11:17,800 --> 00:11:21,960 Speaker 3: this other, like incredibly obscure thing that's was mentioned once 168 00:11:22,120 --> 00:11:25,199 Speaker 3: in like a television episode of Agents of Shield or something. 169 00:11:25,640 --> 00:11:28,880 Speaker 3: It's that same kind of endorphin release, you know, that 170 00:11:28,960 --> 00:11:31,760 Speaker 3: feeling of oh, I recognize this. That makes me feel 171 00:11:31,880 --> 00:11:37,559 Speaker 3: included and special. But we're not done with Lovecraft's tragedies 172 00:11:37,679 --> 00:11:42,679 Speaker 3: because just as all this is going, there's another setback 173 00:11:42,720 --> 00:11:43,400 Speaker 3: in his life. 174 00:11:44,000 --> 00:11:47,320 Speaker 1: Absolutely, and this is I think it's appropriate that we 175 00:11:47,360 --> 00:11:51,000 Speaker 1: spend some time on the good parts so that you 176 00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:54,240 Speaker 1: know it's not just a wretched march to the grave here, 177 00:11:54,240 --> 00:11:58,439 Speaker 1: but there are more tragedies ahead. As you said, Lovecraft's 178 00:11:58,559 --> 00:12:03,440 Speaker 1: mother hers a quote unquote nervous breakdown in nineteen nineteen. 179 00:12:03,640 --> 00:12:04,960 Speaker 3: It's the family business. 180 00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:08,760 Speaker 1: Yeah. She is admitted to Butler Hospital, and just like 181 00:12:08,840 --> 00:12:13,280 Speaker 1: her husband before her, she does not emerge there alive. 182 00:12:13,440 --> 00:12:17,240 Speaker 1: She dies in the facility on May twenty fourth, nineteen 183 00:12:17,360 --> 00:12:21,760 Speaker 1: twenty one, with some gallbladder related complications. So not syphilis 184 00:12:21,760 --> 00:12:22,599 Speaker 1: in this case. 185 00:12:22,600 --> 00:12:25,600 Speaker 3: Although there were some at least some elements that I 186 00:12:25,679 --> 00:12:29,960 Speaker 3: read where there was speculation that perhaps she too had 187 00:12:30,120 --> 00:12:35,559 Speaker 3: oh syphilis. Yeah, but again possible. Yeah, it's speculation because again, 188 00:12:35,640 --> 00:12:40,240 Speaker 3: like we're talking about a time where records aren't as 189 00:12:40,960 --> 00:12:44,240 Speaker 3: thorough the actual medical practices and as thorough. It all 190 00:12:44,240 --> 00:12:49,080 Speaker 3: depends upon what you have access to. So again this 191 00:12:49,120 --> 00:12:52,960 Speaker 3: could be elements of speculation. But there have been those 192 00:12:53,000 --> 00:13:00,240 Speaker 3: who have suggested that perhaps she too was inflicted by syphilis. 193 00:13:00,840 --> 00:13:06,000 Speaker 1: Yeah. And this is horrific either way you slice it. 194 00:13:06,080 --> 00:13:11,120 Speaker 1: And because this is the most important person in Lovecraft's 195 00:13:11,160 --> 00:13:14,000 Speaker 1: life at this point, for better or worse, he is 196 00:13:14,280 --> 00:13:17,719 Speaker 1: shattered and he spends a few weeks in a very 197 00:13:17,800 --> 00:13:22,679 Speaker 1: dark emotional place. But eventually he says, you know, stiff 198 00:13:22,760 --> 00:13:25,320 Speaker 1: upper lip, we must soldier on. And he goes to 199 00:13:25,400 --> 00:13:29,839 Speaker 1: a journalism convention in Boston. This is on Independence Day 200 00:13:29,840 --> 00:13:35,360 Speaker 1: in nineteen twenty one, and despite being an avowed racist 201 00:13:35,559 --> 00:13:41,360 Speaker 1: and a virulent anti Semite, he hits it off with 202 00:13:41,679 --> 00:13:45,920 Speaker 1: a Jewish woman named Sonia half to Green, She's seven 203 00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:49,800 Speaker 1: years older than him. They feel like they click. This 204 00:13:49,880 --> 00:13:52,200 Speaker 1: is the closest thing this guy's ever going to get 205 00:13:52,240 --> 00:13:55,480 Speaker 1: to a meet greet in a rom com and he 206 00:13:55,920 --> 00:13:59,320 Speaker 1: is head over the heels, head over the heels. I'm 207 00:13:59,360 --> 00:14:04,760 Speaker 1: still learning English, He's asked, yes, yes, just so. So 208 00:14:04,960 --> 00:14:09,920 Speaker 1: he visits Sonia in her apartment in Brooklyn in nineteen 209 00:14:10,040 --> 00:14:15,120 Speaker 1: twenty two, and then by March third, nineteen twenty four, 210 00:14:16,280 --> 00:14:22,920 Speaker 1: they're married. There's a bit of acrimony in the Lovecraft 211 00:14:22,960 --> 00:14:27,760 Speaker 1: household because he does not tell his two aunts, who 212 00:14:27,960 --> 00:14:30,480 Speaker 1: raised them and still of course have very much come 213 00:14:30,520 --> 00:14:35,320 Speaker 1: from that patrician mindset. Lillian D. Clark and Annie Eve 214 00:14:35,360 --> 00:14:40,600 Speaker 1: Phillips Gamwell find out that their lovely nephew got married 215 00:14:42,080 --> 00:14:42,960 Speaker 1: via the post. 216 00:14:43,320 --> 00:14:45,360 Speaker 3: Yeah, this is like they receive a letter. It's like 217 00:14:45,400 --> 00:14:49,960 Speaker 3: breaking up via text. So Ben, quick question for you, 218 00:14:51,520 --> 00:14:56,520 Speaker 3: do you think that HP lovecrafts let us say in 219 00:14:56,560 --> 00:15:00,560 Speaker 3: the language of Facebook, it's complicated relationship with his mother 220 00:15:01,640 --> 00:15:04,840 Speaker 3: may have played some part in him becoming enamored of 221 00:15:04,880 --> 00:15:06,760 Speaker 3: a woman seven years his senior. 222 00:15:07,720 --> 00:15:10,200 Speaker 1: One hundred percent. I would take it a step further 223 00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:13,200 Speaker 1: with you. Let's keep walking down that one, because I 224 00:15:13,240 --> 00:15:17,720 Speaker 1: would also argue is fraught relationship with his mother informed 225 00:15:18,360 --> 00:15:23,280 Speaker 1: his decision to marry literally the first other lady who 226 00:15:23,320 --> 00:15:28,160 Speaker 1: was nice to him. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you know, just 227 00:15:28,200 --> 00:15:30,360 Speaker 1: to have that constant maternal figure. 228 00:15:30,360 --> 00:15:33,800 Speaker 3: And to be fair, I never met the man. 229 00:15:35,040 --> 00:15:36,320 Speaker 4: Okay, yeah, so. 230 00:15:36,200 --> 00:15:37,680 Speaker 1: We have to see you. 231 00:15:37,840 --> 00:15:40,040 Speaker 3: No, it could be that we are way off base 232 00:15:40,080 --> 00:15:43,480 Speaker 3: and we're viewing this from a lens in the twenty 233 00:15:43,480 --> 00:15:47,000 Speaker 3: first century that just simply cannot see the minutia. But 234 00:15:47,560 --> 00:15:51,800 Speaker 3: there are certain indicators that appear to support that narrative. 235 00:15:52,080 --> 00:15:55,880 Speaker 1: There we go. We do know some facts that are inarguable. 236 00:15:57,960 --> 00:16:02,960 Speaker 1: Post matrimony. Lovecraft moves into Sonia's place. She's got that 237 00:16:03,000 --> 00:16:06,800 Speaker 1: apartment in Brooklyn, and at first it looks like our 238 00:16:06,960 --> 00:16:10,840 Speaker 1: newly minted couple is going to be doing okay. Sonya 239 00:16:10,960 --> 00:16:14,440 Speaker 1: owns a hat shop off Fifth Avenue, which even back 240 00:16:14,480 --> 00:16:18,920 Speaker 1: then is a big deal. Lovecraft is making a living, 241 00:16:19,040 --> 00:16:23,440 Speaker 1: a modest living, but it's living nonetheless as a professional writer. 242 00:16:24,240 --> 00:16:28,520 Speaker 1: Several of his earlier stories have been accepted by Weird Tales, 243 00:16:28,600 --> 00:16:32,040 Speaker 1: one of the pre eminent pulp publications of the day. 244 00:16:32,880 --> 00:16:37,560 Speaker 1: But unfortunately, tragedy comes back again, back into the fore. 245 00:16:38,760 --> 00:16:43,240 Speaker 1: Their happy honeymoon period is all too brief. Sonya's hat 246 00:16:43,240 --> 00:16:51,440 Speaker 1: shop goes bankrupt. Lovecraft turns down some opportunities that he 247 00:16:51,600 --> 00:16:55,160 Speaker 1: should have taken to rise in the world of publishing. 248 00:16:55,280 --> 00:17:01,080 Speaker 1: He could have been the editor of magazine that was 249 00:17:01,120 --> 00:17:04,840 Speaker 1: coming out sort of adjacent to Weird Tales, not a competitor, 250 00:17:04,880 --> 00:17:07,480 Speaker 1: but like a compliment, like, if you like this, you'll 251 00:17:07,480 --> 00:17:08,000 Speaker 1: also like that. 252 00:17:08,119 --> 00:17:12,800 Speaker 3: The problem was that this job would have necessitated a move. 253 00:17:12,920 --> 00:17:16,880 Speaker 3: He would have had to move to Chicago, and that 254 00:17:17,280 --> 00:17:22,160 Speaker 3: was a pretty big ask when you've got, like, at 255 00:17:22,160 --> 00:17:25,239 Speaker 3: the same time, you have this failing business that is 256 00:17:25,240 --> 00:17:28,919 Speaker 3: not in Chicago, and clearly your wife cannot accompany you 257 00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:33,159 Speaker 3: without abandoning the business entirely. So it was a tough call, right, Like, 258 00:17:33,200 --> 00:17:36,359 Speaker 3: it's not as simple as hey, you can stay exactly 259 00:17:36,359 --> 00:17:39,159 Speaker 3: where you are and take this gig. It's no, you 260 00:17:39,240 --> 00:17:41,919 Speaker 3: have to up end your life and start over in 261 00:17:41,960 --> 00:17:44,320 Speaker 3: a new city, but you will have this gig. And 262 00:17:44,480 --> 00:17:48,919 Speaker 3: ultimately love Craft says, you know, it's too rich for 263 00:17:48,960 --> 00:17:50,719 Speaker 3: my blood to have to move over there. I'm going 264 00:17:50,800 --> 00:17:54,440 Speaker 3: to stay where I am. I've got my wife whom 265 00:17:54,480 --> 00:17:57,359 Speaker 3: I can always depend upon, who will be stalwart and 266 00:17:57,440 --> 00:18:02,359 Speaker 3: true and will never get sick ever. Right, And then 267 00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:02,960 Speaker 3: she got. 268 00:18:02,800 --> 00:18:07,640 Speaker 1: Sick, and then she had then her health turns south 269 00:18:07,720 --> 00:18:12,240 Speaker 1: as well, as she has to go to a sanitarium 270 00:18:12,400 --> 00:18:16,960 Speaker 1: in New Jersey, and Lovecraft needs to do his best 271 00:18:17,000 --> 00:18:20,560 Speaker 1: to support her and himself and probably a few cats 272 00:18:20,600 --> 00:18:23,639 Speaker 1: at this point, And so he tries to find a job. 273 00:18:24,040 --> 00:18:26,960 Speaker 1: He is, and we say this with great affection, he's 274 00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:29,239 Speaker 1: a little bit nebbish, you know what I mean? This 275 00:18:29,280 --> 00:18:31,800 Speaker 1: guy his hands, they don't have callouses. 276 00:18:32,240 --> 00:18:34,719 Speaker 3: Yeah, it's not like I mean we mentioned this earlier. 277 00:18:34,720 --> 00:18:38,480 Speaker 3: It's not like he had any work experience whatsoever. Like 278 00:18:38,520 --> 00:18:42,160 Speaker 3: we mentioned that when he was doing the whole hermit thing, 279 00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:47,639 Speaker 3: and same is true. Now, right, he's thirty four and 280 00:18:47,680 --> 00:18:50,600 Speaker 3: he lacks any practical skills that he can apply to 281 00:18:51,400 --> 00:18:55,800 Speaker 3: landing your regular kind of job. So what are you 282 00:18:55,840 --> 00:18:58,240 Speaker 3: gonna do. He's in a really bad way. 283 00:18:58,640 --> 00:19:03,120 Speaker 1: Yeah, he's in a non ideal situation and he has 284 00:19:03,200 --> 00:19:06,640 Speaker 1: to move again. And this is a guy who very 285 00:19:06,720 --> 00:19:09,399 Speaker 1: much hates moving, just to be clear. And so he 286 00:19:09,440 --> 00:19:12,920 Speaker 1: has to go to like a bachelor apartment, a single apartment, 287 00:19:13,359 --> 00:19:17,520 Speaker 1: and it's near a area of Brooklyn called Red Hook. 288 00:19:17,760 --> 00:19:20,479 Speaker 1: This will go on to inform a lot of his 289 00:19:20,680 --> 00:19:28,080 Speaker 1: writing in a very non complimentary way to the neighborhood 290 00:19:28,119 --> 00:19:29,800 Speaker 1: and the people of Red Hook. 291 00:19:30,320 --> 00:19:34,639 Speaker 3: Yes, he's having to associate with folks outside of his 292 00:19:34,800 --> 00:19:39,040 Speaker 3: normal realm of experience, and he has a negative point 293 00:19:39,080 --> 00:19:39,840 Speaker 3: of view about that. 294 00:19:40,520 --> 00:19:44,480 Speaker 1: Yeah, the foreign hordes, the masses of foreigners in the city, 295 00:19:45,160 --> 00:19:47,840 Speaker 1: and to the point where you know, you can read, 296 00:19:48,040 --> 00:19:50,480 Speaker 1: I don't think it's a spoiler at this at this juncture, 297 00:19:51,280 --> 00:19:56,720 Speaker 1: you can read where there are characters in Lovecraft stories 298 00:19:57,280 --> 00:20:02,439 Speaker 1: who go who you know immediately leg just intuitively know 299 00:20:02,600 --> 00:20:06,800 Speaker 1: that the foreigners in Red Hook practice secret religions to 300 00:20:06,920 --> 00:20:11,239 Speaker 1: squamous and unclean gods. Why because they had, you know, 301 00:20:11,320 --> 00:20:13,680 Speaker 1: like a bit of an air to their eyebrows. 302 00:20:13,920 --> 00:20:17,879 Speaker 3: Yeah, if you if you read any Lovecraft stories, like 303 00:20:17,960 --> 00:20:24,199 Speaker 3: a lot of them end up incorporating characters who are black, 304 00:20:24,440 --> 00:20:30,960 Speaker 3: and they are also typically antagonists or sometimes depicted as barbaric, 305 00:20:31,240 --> 00:20:35,879 Speaker 3: and you know, to Lovecraft, civilization was the epitome of 306 00:20:35,960 --> 00:20:41,439 Speaker 3: human achievement, and so anything that was considered uncivilized in 307 00:20:41,520 --> 00:20:48,639 Speaker 3: Lovecraft's eyes, would be equivalent to being evil. So he 308 00:20:48,840 --> 00:20:56,720 Speaker 3: depicted a lot of black characters as being primitive, barbaric, uncivilized, 309 00:20:57,200 --> 00:21:00,800 Speaker 3: and as a result of those things, also prone to 310 00:21:00,880 --> 00:21:05,600 Speaker 3: worshiping these sort of profane figures that ultimately would have 311 00:21:06,720 --> 00:21:10,879 Speaker 3: an incredibly negative impact on the typically the protagonist. I 312 00:21:10,920 --> 00:21:12,520 Speaker 3: don't know if any of y'all have read a lot 313 00:21:12,520 --> 00:21:14,919 Speaker 3: of Lovecraft, but if you have, you probably are aware 314 00:21:15,520 --> 00:21:18,280 Speaker 3: that there's a better than eighty five percent chance the 315 00:21:18,320 --> 00:21:21,199 Speaker 3: protagonist is not making it out alive or sane by 316 00:21:21,200 --> 00:21:23,160 Speaker 3: the end of the story, of course. 317 00:21:23,320 --> 00:21:26,280 Speaker 1: Yeah, and that's you know, I enjoy that part of 318 00:21:26,280 --> 00:21:29,840 Speaker 1: this structure. Actually, that the that you know, it's it's 319 00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:33,240 Speaker 1: upending a lot of the conventional rules of stories of 320 00:21:33,320 --> 00:21:33,800 Speaker 1: that time. 321 00:21:34,040 --> 00:21:37,240 Speaker 3: Yeah, unless you're unless you're Robert Chambers, who already did 322 00:21:37,240 --> 00:21:38,040 Speaker 3: it in The Yellow King. 323 00:21:38,080 --> 00:21:43,240 Speaker 1: But okay, yeah, yeah, and The Yellow King is great. Oh, 324 00:21:43,280 --> 00:21:46,119 Speaker 1: I love that one story, the repairer of reputations. Do 325 00:21:46,359 --> 00:21:50,080 Speaker 1: check out The Yellow King. Just know it's an anthology 326 00:21:50,119 --> 00:21:54,640 Speaker 1: of short stories by Robert Chambers. Uh, not every one 327 00:21:54,680 --> 00:21:57,200 Speaker 1: of them, slaps, I'm just gonna be diplomatic. 328 00:21:57,280 --> 00:22:00,359 Speaker 3: Well, and not all of them. I don't think people 329 00:22:00,359 --> 00:22:04,439 Speaker 3: would categories categorize all of them as falling into weird fiction. 330 00:22:04,680 --> 00:22:07,200 Speaker 3: But the ones that do, the ones that do really 331 00:22:07,280 --> 00:22:11,240 Speaker 3: like you can see, not that you know. It's speculated 332 00:22:11,240 --> 00:22:14,360 Speaker 3: that Lovecraft didn't encounter a lot of those stories told 333 00:22:14,400 --> 00:22:17,040 Speaker 3: after he was already writing, so it seems like it 334 00:22:17,119 --> 00:22:20,879 Speaker 3: was not a case of any sort of influence or plagiarism. 335 00:22:20,880 --> 00:22:24,119 Speaker 3: I don't want to suggest that, but Chambers established a 336 00:22:24,160 --> 00:22:28,840 Speaker 3: lot of tropes that Lovecraft and his contemporaries would continue 337 00:22:28,880 --> 00:22:30,960 Speaker 3: to engage in. M M. 338 00:22:31,320 --> 00:22:34,240 Speaker 1: Yeah, and Lovecraft also, you know, you have to bring 339 00:22:34,320 --> 00:22:38,399 Speaker 1: Algernon Blackwood into the conversation and several other things that 340 00:22:38,520 --> 00:22:44,000 Speaker 1: you know, Lovecraft was not just like he wasn't reticent 341 00:22:44,240 --> 00:22:47,800 Speaker 1: to criticize stuff he didn't like. He was also never 342 00:22:47,960 --> 00:22:52,560 Speaker 1: reticent to praise stuff that he enjoyed or felt informed him. 343 00:22:52,600 --> 00:22:55,120 Speaker 1: So we have to give him points there. But despite 344 00:22:55,119 --> 00:22:59,040 Speaker 1: the fact that he has generated these friendships, this massive 345 00:22:59,040 --> 00:23:02,000 Speaker 1: correspondence as a couple of what we would call irl 346 00:23:02,119 --> 00:23:11,960 Speaker 1: friends there in New York, he's still depressed, he still 347 00:23:12,000 --> 00:23:17,760 Speaker 1: feels isolated, and he still cartoonishly xenophobic. So in nineteen 348 00:23:17,800 --> 00:23:21,359 Speaker 1: twenty six he returns to Providence. He just feels like 349 00:23:21,400 --> 00:23:25,439 Speaker 1: he has to do it. The scuttle butt here is 350 00:23:25,480 --> 00:23:30,119 Speaker 1: that his aunts don't want him to bring his wife. 351 00:23:30,720 --> 00:23:34,359 Speaker 1: He doesn't know what will happen with Sonia, but he 352 00:23:34,480 --> 00:23:36,800 Speaker 1: goes anyway, and so. 353 00:23:37,960 --> 00:23:41,280 Speaker 3: Well, of course, and yeah, so leading up to this, 354 00:23:41,680 --> 00:23:45,360 Speaker 3: when he was in Red Hook, Sonya was actually in Cleveland. 355 00:23:45,480 --> 00:23:48,280 Speaker 3: She was still seeking treatment in Cleveland. So that's one 356 00:23:48,280 --> 00:23:50,080 Speaker 3: of the reasons why he felt so isolated, is that 357 00:23:50,160 --> 00:23:53,000 Speaker 3: his wife, Like you can start to see a pattern 358 00:23:53,080 --> 00:23:55,840 Speaker 3: with like his dependence. I'm sure there was like a 359 00:23:55,880 --> 00:23:59,080 Speaker 3: codependent kind of thing going on between him and his mother, 360 00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:02,960 Speaker 3: and is inspect something similar was going on between him 361 00:24:02,960 --> 00:24:05,840 Speaker 3: and his wife, and he's separated from her while she's 362 00:24:05,920 --> 00:24:09,600 Speaker 3: seeking treatment in Cleveland, he's in Red Hook. They reunite 363 00:24:09,640 --> 00:24:12,600 Speaker 3: when they go to Providence in nineteen twenty six, but 364 00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:16,320 Speaker 3: you know, through one means or another, that relationship becomes 365 00:24:16,400 --> 00:24:19,960 Speaker 3: unsustainable and nineteen twenty nine it comes to an end. 366 00:24:20,359 --> 00:24:26,199 Speaker 3: But this is also right around the time where Lovecraft 367 00:24:26,240 --> 00:24:31,959 Speaker 3: is finally actually experiencing the success of his work. You know, 368 00:24:32,040 --> 00:24:35,199 Speaker 3: he's been at it for quite some time, but this 369 00:24:35,359 --> 00:24:39,920 Speaker 3: is like the renaissance of Lovecraft that we're entering into here. 370 00:24:40,760 --> 00:24:42,960 Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, that's a good way to put it. And 371 00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:47,720 Speaker 1: we have to recognize this paradox, which unfortunately may sound 372 00:24:47,800 --> 00:24:51,240 Speaker 1: familiar to a lot of people. Your professional life goes 373 00:24:51,280 --> 00:24:54,680 Speaker 1: really well, and your personal life takes. Your personal life 374 00:24:54,760 --> 00:24:57,200 Speaker 1: goes really well, and your professional life takes and it 375 00:24:57,240 --> 00:25:01,639 Speaker 1: seems that Lovecraft is always trying to find that balance, right, 376 00:25:01,760 --> 00:25:02,920 Speaker 1: often without success. 377 00:25:03,280 --> 00:25:05,520 Speaker 3: See also every stand up comedian ever. 378 00:25:06,119 --> 00:25:10,320 Speaker 1: Yes see also literally every stand up comedian. Come at 379 00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:13,320 Speaker 1: us for that one. All right, so you nailed at 380 00:25:13,359 --> 00:25:17,679 Speaker 1: Jonathan Lovecraft returns to Providence nineteen twenty six, like you said, 381 00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:22,880 Speaker 1: and the last ten years of his life. He may 382 00:25:22,920 --> 00:25:26,480 Speaker 1: have found some kind of balance here, possibly his best 383 00:25:26,520 --> 00:25:29,680 Speaker 1: decade as a writer, maybe some of his best personal 384 00:25:29,760 --> 00:25:34,800 Speaker 1: years as well. His life at this point isn't super eventful, 385 00:25:34,960 --> 00:25:38,040 Speaker 1: you know, he's not living out real life pirate cosplay 386 00:25:38,080 --> 00:25:42,200 Speaker 1: or anything. He does travel to a lot of historic 387 00:25:42,400 --> 00:25:46,000 Speaker 1: sites around the Eastern Seaboard to soak in their culture 388 00:25:47,600 --> 00:25:50,800 Speaker 1: with varying reactions, and they all kind of they start 389 00:25:50,880 --> 00:25:56,240 Speaker 1: to inform his fiction, you know, his generally, like the 390 00:25:56,240 --> 00:26:00,359 Speaker 1: one the work that even non Lovecraft fans know the 391 00:26:00,359 --> 00:26:02,359 Speaker 1: most about is probably going to be The Call of 392 00:26:02,400 --> 00:26:06,560 Speaker 1: Cudulhu in twenty six or at the Mountains of Madness 393 00:26:06,640 --> 00:26:10,479 Speaker 1: in nineteen thirty one. While he's writing these stories that 394 00:26:10,600 --> 00:26:13,840 Speaker 1: will go on to cement his legacy, he's doing another 395 00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:17,439 Speaker 1: legacy cementing move, which is he's writing about these to 396 00:26:17,520 --> 00:26:19,919 Speaker 1: his friends, his peers. You know what I mean, what 397 00:26:19,960 --> 00:26:23,520 Speaker 1: do you guys think rightw what do you guys think 398 00:26:23,560 --> 00:26:29,920 Speaker 1: about breeding with fish people to worship a fish god? 399 00:26:30,560 --> 00:26:33,000 Speaker 3: All right? What do you think about this little story 400 00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:35,960 Speaker 3: I got called Dagon, which ends up being one of 401 00:26:36,040 --> 00:26:40,440 Speaker 3: my favorites of Lovecraft. That's actually my favorite film adaptation 402 00:26:40,520 --> 00:26:45,360 Speaker 3: of Lovecraft. Oh come on, but only if you're going 403 00:26:45,720 --> 00:26:52,240 Speaker 3: as like a fairly strict following of Like, if you're 404 00:26:52,240 --> 00:26:55,080 Speaker 3: going into the more loose adaptations of Lovecraft, my favorite 405 00:26:55,119 --> 00:26:57,359 Speaker 3: is re Animator. I mean, it's always going to be 406 00:26:57,359 --> 00:27:03,200 Speaker 3: re Animator. Evil Dead is obviously inspired by Lovecraft's signed adaptation, though, 407 00:27:03,200 --> 00:27:07,120 Speaker 3: but Reanimator is and it's bonkers and I love it 408 00:27:07,359 --> 00:27:12,880 Speaker 3: and it's fantastic. I mean, there's so many great adaptations 409 00:27:12,880 --> 00:27:17,800 Speaker 3: of Lovecraft. But again, like that collaborative nature, that camaraderie 410 00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:19,959 Speaker 3: that was built up between all these different authors who 411 00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:24,920 Speaker 3: are sharing ideas and nurturing one another's ideas and informing 412 00:27:24,960 --> 00:27:29,520 Speaker 3: one another's ideas, I would argue that a Lovecraft story 413 00:27:29,560 --> 00:27:32,520 Speaker 3: is not solely a Lovecraft story. It is the product 414 00:27:32,880 --> 00:27:37,040 Speaker 3: of this collaborative universe, just as I would say Robert E. Howard, 415 00:27:37,280 --> 00:27:40,080 Speaker 3: a Roberty Howard's story is again a product of this 416 00:27:40,640 --> 00:27:46,480 Speaker 3: that you know, the the prime author is whomever actually 417 00:27:46,480 --> 00:27:49,240 Speaker 3: wrote the piece, but that that piece would not exist, 418 00:27:49,320 --> 00:27:51,359 Speaker 3: at least not in the form that we are familiar 419 00:27:51,400 --> 00:27:56,360 Speaker 3: with without this collaborative relationship going on between all these 420 00:27:56,400 --> 00:28:02,399 Speaker 3: different authors who are encouraging each other to participate in 421 00:28:02,440 --> 00:28:04,760 Speaker 3: this process. And again, it's one of those things where 422 00:28:04,760 --> 00:28:09,600 Speaker 3: I'm like, I'm not aware of too many other instances 423 00:28:09,880 --> 00:28:12,840 Speaker 3: where something like this has happened, at least not organically, 424 00:28:12,920 --> 00:28:15,240 Speaker 3: where it wasn't just like some sort of weird content 425 00:28:15,400 --> 00:28:16,640 Speaker 3: farm kind of approach. 426 00:28:17,359 --> 00:28:20,760 Speaker 1: Right, Yeah, that's the key part there, that it would 427 00:28:20,920 --> 00:28:26,120 Speaker 1: organically arose as he was he was not just enjoying 428 00:28:26,160 --> 00:28:29,920 Speaker 1: his own success and pursuing it, but he was hoping 429 00:28:30,800 --> 00:28:32,480 Speaker 1: interest would be contagious. 430 00:28:32,760 --> 00:28:32,920 Speaker 4: Right. 431 00:28:33,080 --> 00:28:36,359 Speaker 1: He wanted other people to pick up the toys that 432 00:28:36,440 --> 00:28:38,680 Speaker 1: he had built and play with them and maybe, you know, 433 00:28:39,040 --> 00:28:41,959 Speaker 1: make some toys of their own, and there's something human 434 00:28:42,520 --> 00:28:46,320 Speaker 1: and astonishing about that. We also know we're going to 435 00:28:46,360 --> 00:28:49,360 Speaker 1: set them up before we have to do the drop here. 436 00:28:49,440 --> 00:28:54,720 Speaker 1: We also know that he was not one hundred percent 437 00:28:55,000 --> 00:29:00,840 Speaker 1: immovable in some of his ideas and prejudices. Depression occurred 438 00:29:00,960 --> 00:29:04,960 Speaker 1: during his lifetime. He witnessed this, and it led him 439 00:29:05,080 --> 00:29:08,640 Speaker 1: to support Roosevelt, which might be surprised based on some 440 00:29:08,720 --> 00:29:10,880 Speaker 1: of the stuff we already know about his background and 441 00:29:10,920 --> 00:29:16,040 Speaker 1: his racist perspective. But he became a socialist towards the. 442 00:29:16,120 --> 00:29:21,000 Speaker 3: End well, and like the Great Depression affected him as 443 00:29:21,040 --> 00:29:24,600 Speaker 3: well as you know, affecting working people all over the place. 444 00:29:25,000 --> 00:29:29,560 Speaker 3: In that publications like like Weird Tales began to scale 445 00:29:29,720 --> 00:29:32,600 Speaker 3: back like they were still printing. Because as we are 446 00:29:32,680 --> 00:29:34,560 Speaker 3: all familiar at this point, I think some of us 447 00:29:34,600 --> 00:29:39,120 Speaker 3: are now becoming directly familiar that times of recession or depression, 448 00:29:39,840 --> 00:29:43,640 Speaker 3: entertainment often is one of the few industries that continues 449 00:29:43,680 --> 00:29:48,480 Speaker 3: to do well as people seek escape from the stresses 450 00:29:48,480 --> 00:29:50,760 Speaker 3: of life. Well, same was true back then during the 451 00:29:50,760 --> 00:29:53,120 Speaker 3: Great Depression, which, by the way, not that great. If 452 00:29:53,120 --> 00:29:55,800 Speaker 3: you ask me, it's a terrible name. It was a 453 00:29:55,800 --> 00:30:01,480 Speaker 3: pretty awful depression. But yeah, we're even with that. They 454 00:30:01,480 --> 00:30:04,240 Speaker 3: had to scale back. They just couldn't afford to continue 455 00:30:04,280 --> 00:30:07,000 Speaker 3: publication on the same schedule that they had been doing, 456 00:30:07,360 --> 00:30:10,280 Speaker 3: which in turn had a cascading effect on all the 457 00:30:10,320 --> 00:30:14,560 Speaker 3: different authors who are contributing to those publications, and so 458 00:30:15,960 --> 00:30:19,640 Speaker 3: Lovecraft himself was feeling the effects of the depression, just 459 00:30:19,760 --> 00:30:24,880 Speaker 3: like other people were, and perhaps the hardships of his 460 00:30:25,000 --> 00:30:28,680 Speaker 3: life once his grandfather had passed and his legacy was 461 00:30:29,160 --> 00:30:34,160 Speaker 3: mishandled so dramatically, gave him a little bit of reflection 462 00:30:34,920 --> 00:30:40,600 Speaker 3: into how life isn't all tea time and Gothic tales 463 00:30:40,640 --> 00:30:41,280 Speaker 3: by the fire. 464 00:30:43,240 --> 00:30:51,240 Speaker 1: And we've spoken at length about the intensely problematic views 465 00:30:51,360 --> 00:30:54,760 Speaker 1: regarding Lovecraft there have been. Of course, there are still 466 00:30:56,320 --> 00:31:00,880 Speaker 1: continual additions to the existing mythos, even here in twenty 467 00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:04,640 Speaker 1: twenty five, and there are authors like Matt Ruff, the 468 00:31:04,680 --> 00:31:08,320 Speaker 1: creator of Lovecraft Country, who kind of navigate these issues 469 00:31:08,360 --> 00:31:14,520 Speaker 1: by centering people of color in their lovecrafty and explorations. 470 00:31:14,600 --> 00:31:20,680 Speaker 1: And we know, look Lovecraft, we still know how he 471 00:31:20,720 --> 00:31:24,960 Speaker 1: would have reacted if he saw the effect that he 472 00:31:25,000 --> 00:31:29,080 Speaker 1: has had upon fiction and speculative fiction. Weird horror today 473 00:31:29,640 --> 00:31:32,240 Speaker 1: because the last two or three years of his life 474 00:31:32,360 --> 00:31:38,000 Speaker 1: were also filled with more heartbreak. His aunt, Miss Clark, died, 475 00:31:39,080 --> 00:31:42,640 Speaker 1: he moved in with his other aunt, Miss Gamwell, to 476 00:31:43,640 --> 00:31:48,360 Speaker 1: another basically an apartment, and his later stories were more 477 00:31:48,360 --> 00:31:51,160 Speaker 1: and more difficult to sell. They were kind of struggling 478 00:31:51,240 --> 00:31:54,720 Speaker 1: under the weight of the world building he had created. 479 00:31:54,640 --> 00:31:58,920 Speaker 3: Against something that Marvel fans can kind of identify with 480 00:31:59,200 --> 00:32:01,600 Speaker 3: that the lung you the longer you go with this 481 00:32:01,720 --> 00:32:08,320 Speaker 3: interconnected mythos, the more is required of the consumer of 482 00:32:08,360 --> 00:32:11,160 Speaker 3: that art to have at least some familiarity with the 483 00:32:11,160 --> 00:32:13,440 Speaker 3: stuff that came before, or else they're completely lost. 484 00:32:14,320 --> 00:32:18,440 Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, shout out to everybody who just saw uh, 485 00:32:19,320 --> 00:32:20,600 Speaker 1: you know, iron Man. 486 00:32:20,560 --> 00:32:24,880 Speaker 3: Three, right right, but yeah, to your to your point, 487 00:32:24,920 --> 00:32:27,880 Speaker 3: like we're getting toward the end of his life here, 488 00:32:28,360 --> 00:32:30,560 Speaker 3: and we'll just I can't think we can skip ahead 489 00:32:30,600 --> 00:32:35,920 Speaker 3: to say that he had cancer and by the time 490 00:32:36,040 --> 00:32:39,040 Speaker 3: the cancer was discovered, it had progressed to a point 491 00:32:39,080 --> 00:32:42,680 Speaker 3: where the writing was already on the wall, and so 492 00:32:43,400 --> 00:32:51,760 Speaker 3: he too began to fall apart, and eventually he passed 493 00:32:51,800 --> 00:32:56,440 Speaker 3: away due to the cancer he had. And so, uh, 494 00:32:56,880 --> 00:32:59,400 Speaker 3: you know, there are there's definitely tragedy in his life. 495 00:32:59,440 --> 00:33:02,880 Speaker 3: I don't want to just paint Lovecraft as this xenophobic, 496 00:33:03,480 --> 00:33:11,760 Speaker 3: you know, racist blowhard who you know who expouse espoused 497 00:33:11,840 --> 00:33:16,080 Speaker 3: views that were absolutely terrible. But we also can't completely 498 00:33:16,120 --> 00:33:19,400 Speaker 3: divorce ourselves of that because he actually that informed his writing. 499 00:33:19,440 --> 00:33:21,520 Speaker 3: I mean, it's it's clear in some of his stories. 500 00:33:21,560 --> 00:33:24,959 Speaker 3: You can't I don't think death of the author is 501 00:33:25,000 --> 00:33:31,000 Speaker 3: something we can easily apply here because those views inform 502 00:33:31,440 --> 00:33:32,640 Speaker 3: much of his work. 503 00:33:33,200 --> 00:33:36,160 Speaker 1: Agreed one hundred percent, and I think we could add 504 00:33:37,080 --> 00:33:41,360 Speaker 1: a little bit of arm armchair psychology here with the following. 505 00:33:41,400 --> 00:33:44,360 Speaker 1: Tell me when you guys think about this. I have, 506 00:33:45,000 --> 00:33:48,320 Speaker 1: after doing a bunch of reading for this stuff and 507 00:33:48,600 --> 00:33:51,600 Speaker 1: over the years as a fan of love crafting and work, 508 00:33:52,200 --> 00:33:57,200 Speaker 1: I have come to the light conclusion that one of 509 00:33:57,240 --> 00:33:59,880 Speaker 1: his mental issues may have been something we would right 510 00:34:00,080 --> 00:34:05,320 Speaker 1: kignies as obsessive compulsive disorder or OCD, in that his 511 00:34:05,840 --> 00:34:10,680 Speaker 1: racism is that aphobia is. It's one of his many 512 00:34:10,800 --> 00:34:13,759 Speaker 1: weird hang ups, probably the most dangerous. But he had 513 00:34:13,800 --> 00:34:19,440 Speaker 1: a lot of very strident opinions for and against things, 514 00:34:19,520 --> 00:34:24,160 Speaker 1: and he did obsess over them to what would be 515 00:34:24,239 --> 00:34:27,960 Speaker 1: considered an abnormal degree. Give you one of the fun ones, 516 00:34:28,800 --> 00:34:33,320 Speaker 1: and this made me think of you, Jonathan. He hated seafood. 517 00:34:34,680 --> 00:34:37,759 Speaker 1: He hated seafood. Now, not all of our listeners may 518 00:34:37,800 --> 00:34:40,120 Speaker 1: know this, you and I have talked about over the 519 00:34:40,200 --> 00:34:46,480 Speaker 1: years under many adventures, but he is he actively hates it. 520 00:34:46,560 --> 00:34:49,520 Speaker 1: I don't know if you actively hate it, but you 521 00:34:49,800 --> 00:34:51,040 Speaker 1: definitely can't eat it. 522 00:34:51,280 --> 00:34:54,120 Speaker 3: Yeah, No, I can't eat it because I have a 523 00:34:54,680 --> 00:34:57,680 Speaker 3: severe shellfish allergy, one that will send me to the 524 00:34:57,719 --> 00:35:01,080 Speaker 3: emergency room if I have any shelfish or at least 525 00:35:01,400 --> 00:35:05,000 Speaker 3: lobster and shrimp are the known shellfish that I am 526 00:35:05,040 --> 00:35:11,360 Speaker 3: allergic to. I have eliminated all shellfish, including stuff outside 527 00:35:11,360 --> 00:35:14,880 Speaker 3: of things like lobsters and shrimp and stuff from my 528 00:35:14,960 --> 00:35:17,839 Speaker 3: diet because after having that experience a couple of times, 529 00:35:17,880 --> 00:35:20,080 Speaker 3: I don't want to ever have it again. Plus it 530 00:35:20,120 --> 00:35:23,680 Speaker 3: was pretty scary the last time. And also it means 531 00:35:23,680 --> 00:35:25,359 Speaker 3: that I have to be careful around seafood in general 532 00:35:25,440 --> 00:35:29,319 Speaker 3: because of cross contamination. So I don't hate seafood. I 533 00:35:29,400 --> 00:35:36,280 Speaker 3: do avoid seafood unless I am extremely certain that the 534 00:35:36,480 --> 00:35:41,000 Speaker 3: seafood restaurant or whatever is very good about avoiding cross contamination. 535 00:35:42,120 --> 00:35:44,760 Speaker 3: So I would not go so far as to cast 536 00:35:44,800 --> 00:35:46,920 Speaker 3: fish as the bad guys in my stories. 537 00:35:48,560 --> 00:35:55,320 Speaker 1: But maybe there's an untrusty there's an untrustworthy mollusk from Brooklyn. 538 00:35:56,120 --> 00:35:59,359 Speaker 3: Yes, maybe, yeah, I could have like a I don't know, 539 00:35:59,600 --> 00:36:04,720 Speaker 3: a ship d crab. Maybe that's how they walk man. Yeah, yeah, 540 00:36:04,760 --> 00:36:06,719 Speaker 3: they're always they're always edging away from you, you know. 541 00:36:07,440 --> 00:36:12,279 Speaker 3: But yeah, Lovecraft like famously despised seafood to the point 542 00:36:12,280 --> 00:36:15,960 Speaker 3: where where he made a big deal of it. And 543 00:36:15,960 --> 00:36:20,680 Speaker 3: and also, at least according to what we came across, uh, 544 00:36:21,000 --> 00:36:28,319 Speaker 3: appeared to never really evolve his his dietary. UH preferences 545 00:36:28,360 --> 00:36:31,439 Speaker 3: beyond a small child and like to eat like lots 546 00:36:31,480 --> 00:36:34,920 Speaker 3: of sweet stuff and not not so much anything of 547 00:36:34,960 --> 00:36:39,800 Speaker 3: real nutritional value. He'd mess with a sandwich, Yeah, he 548 00:36:39,800 --> 00:36:42,000 Speaker 3: would mess with a sandwich, probably a PB and J 549 00:36:42,120 --> 00:36:45,000 Speaker 3: if I had to guess, but yeah, crust. Yeah, but 550 00:36:45,000 --> 00:36:48,719 Speaker 3: he's cut on the diagonal. But he uh he he 551 00:36:48,880 --> 00:36:52,640 Speaker 3: definitely despised seafood, which, if you're growing up in Rhode Island, 552 00:36:52,680 --> 00:36:53,840 Speaker 3: that's rough, y'all. 553 00:36:54,360 --> 00:36:58,480 Speaker 1: That's a that's right, Yeah, that's such a waste. And 554 00:36:58,520 --> 00:37:00,640 Speaker 1: Max will throw it to you in in the second 555 00:37:00,680 --> 00:37:03,000 Speaker 1: four of the update on the condition if you're comfortable. 556 00:37:03,040 --> 00:37:05,440 Speaker 1: But for now, what you need to know is we 557 00:37:05,520 --> 00:37:09,319 Speaker 1: discovered one of the few times that Lovecraft is on 558 00:37:09,840 --> 00:37:15,240 Speaker 1: record swearing. He did not swear casually, you know, nor conversationally. 559 00:37:15,680 --> 00:37:17,960 Speaker 1: But the story goes and got this thanks to our 560 00:37:17,960 --> 00:37:22,680 Speaker 1: friends a mental floss that he hated seafood so much, 561 00:37:22,800 --> 00:37:27,040 Speaker 1: so cartoonishly that one time a friend of his was 562 00:37:27,080 --> 00:37:30,480 Speaker 1: trying to you know, get him outside, get him out 563 00:37:30,560 --> 00:37:33,279 Speaker 1: of his creepy little room, and they said, hey, come 564 00:37:33,320 --> 00:37:36,279 Speaker 1: with me. Let's you know, we'll go after dinner. And 565 00:37:36,320 --> 00:37:40,600 Speaker 1: when Lovecraft found out that the dinner was steamed clams, 566 00:37:41,400 --> 00:37:46,840 Speaker 1: Lovecraft said, quote, while you are eating that god stuff, 567 00:37:47,160 --> 00:37:51,520 Speaker 1: I'll go across the street for a sandwich. Please excuse me. 568 00:37:52,280 --> 00:37:55,720 Speaker 3: I do love that he was reluctant to swear in public, 569 00:37:55,800 --> 00:38:00,560 Speaker 3: but he had no problem throwing racial slur around. 570 00:38:01,239 --> 00:38:06,120 Speaker 1: Right. Yeah, that's a weird demarcation of decorum. All right, 571 00:38:06,160 --> 00:38:09,759 Speaker 1: so let's before we wrap up next. I saw you 572 00:38:09,800 --> 00:38:12,000 Speaker 1: pop on what's going on? My friend? Oh? 573 00:38:12,000 --> 00:38:14,560 Speaker 5: I just wanted to commiserate with Jonathan that because of 574 00:38:14,560 --> 00:38:17,759 Speaker 5: the condition, I cannot eat any shellfish as well. So 575 00:38:18,200 --> 00:38:20,520 Speaker 5: you and I can sit around eating like plain chicken 576 00:38:20,560 --> 00:38:23,160 Speaker 5: together and being and talk about how much we like 577 00:38:23,200 --> 00:38:24,280 Speaker 5: it despite. 578 00:38:23,920 --> 00:38:27,319 Speaker 3: Not Was there a time when you could eat shellfish? 579 00:38:27,640 --> 00:38:27,960 Speaker 1: Yes? 580 00:38:28,400 --> 00:38:28,840 Speaker 3: Okay? 581 00:38:29,360 --> 00:38:30,319 Speaker 4: Is there years ago? 582 00:38:30,560 --> 00:38:34,080 Speaker 3: Any particular shellfish that you really miss? 583 00:38:35,080 --> 00:38:39,600 Speaker 5: Muscles are probably my favorite shellfish. I personally, I have 584 00:38:39,640 --> 00:38:42,040 Speaker 5: a very much a love hate relationship with shrimp. I 585 00:38:42,120 --> 00:38:46,080 Speaker 5: just I just know too much about them at the 586 00:38:46,239 --> 00:38:48,520 Speaker 5: gnography class in yeah school. 587 00:38:48,600 --> 00:38:50,960 Speaker 4: And I they're just like really gross to me. 588 00:38:51,680 --> 00:38:55,080 Speaker 3: Yeah, sure, crab, lobster, all that stuff. 589 00:38:54,840 --> 00:38:57,760 Speaker 4: Just seems so annoying to eat. I mean, oysters are good, 590 00:38:57,800 --> 00:38:59,279 Speaker 4: but also oysters are just like. 591 00:38:59,280 --> 00:39:00,719 Speaker 1: They're the boog of the sea. 592 00:39:00,920 --> 00:39:04,040 Speaker 4: Yeah, it's like, what, there's not really anything in this well. 593 00:39:04,200 --> 00:39:08,080 Speaker 3: Also, also opening up an oyster is taking your life 594 00:39:08,080 --> 00:39:10,040 Speaker 3: in your own hands. Tried to use a knife to 595 00:39:10,080 --> 00:39:13,040 Speaker 3: pry one of those shells open without like shoving it 596 00:39:13,080 --> 00:39:13,640 Speaker 3: through your. 597 00:39:13,560 --> 00:39:17,880 Speaker 5: Hand, Johnny, I remember ten years of food and beverage experience. 598 00:39:17,920 --> 00:39:19,359 Speaker 5: I mean I was mostly front of house, but I'm 599 00:39:19,360 --> 00:39:20,720 Speaker 5: pretty good with knives in the kitchen. 600 00:39:20,800 --> 00:39:23,840 Speaker 3: Yeah, see me. No, I'm being a left hander and 601 00:39:23,880 --> 00:39:26,600 Speaker 3: all that kind of stuff. Yeah lefties though, I'm just 602 00:39:26,600 --> 00:39:28,920 Speaker 3: saying like a lot of tools were made for right handers, 603 00:39:28,920 --> 00:39:30,680 Speaker 3: and it does get annoying when you're getting to that. 604 00:39:30,680 --> 00:39:33,520 Speaker 5: That's why wors pure is because we have grown up 605 00:39:33,719 --> 00:39:36,520 Speaker 5: with the spiral and the spiral notebook digging into our hands. 606 00:39:36,800 --> 00:39:39,320 Speaker 5: You know, the desks in public school, they're always on 607 00:39:39,360 --> 00:39:41,319 Speaker 5: the right side, at the left side. Actually, when I 608 00:39:41,320 --> 00:39:44,640 Speaker 5: went with Georgia State and where I got my degree from, 609 00:39:45,000 --> 00:39:47,759 Speaker 5: they had left handed ones, but it was always like 610 00:39:47,800 --> 00:39:49,120 Speaker 5: I would always sit in the right hand one and 611 00:39:49,239 --> 00:39:50,880 Speaker 5: right would sit in left hand ones. We all complain 612 00:39:50,880 --> 00:39:51,960 Speaker 5: about stupid desk is. 613 00:39:51,960 --> 00:39:56,399 Speaker 3: Because yeah, yeah, well, well for me, it's shrimp. Poe 614 00:39:56,440 --> 00:40:01,280 Speaker 3: Boys like I too, share a deep understanding of shrimp 615 00:40:01,320 --> 00:40:03,520 Speaker 3: and the issues, and. 616 00:40:03,480 --> 00:40:05,680 Speaker 1: I'm just a little I like the little line of poop. 617 00:40:05,840 --> 00:40:10,440 Speaker 3: Yeah do you. Yeah, it's always it's great picking picking 618 00:40:10,520 --> 00:40:12,839 Speaker 3: up a shrimp in a restaurant and seeing that there 619 00:40:12,880 --> 00:40:15,320 Speaker 3: and thinking, oh, you didn't even take the basic step 620 00:40:15,400 --> 00:40:20,719 Speaker 3: of deveining the shrimp. But no, Yeah, I miss Poe 621 00:40:20,719 --> 00:40:23,440 Speaker 3: boys a lot. Uh, but I've gotten to the point 622 00:40:23,440 --> 00:40:26,840 Speaker 3: where I've eliminated pretty especially any place that does fried seafood. 623 00:40:26,880 --> 00:40:30,680 Speaker 3: Obviously you've got to be careful about the oil. So, uh, 624 00:40:30,760 --> 00:40:34,400 Speaker 3: the thing I really miss is kalamari. I miss kalamari 625 00:40:34,520 --> 00:40:34,960 Speaker 3: a lot. 626 00:40:36,000 --> 00:40:38,280 Speaker 1: Well, you know, hey, if it makes you guys feel better, 627 00:40:38,480 --> 00:40:41,920 Speaker 1: there's a big problem with counterfeit klamari. So a lot 628 00:40:41,920 --> 00:40:44,520 Speaker 1: of your friends you're bragging about eating it may not 629 00:40:44,719 --> 00:40:46,280 Speaker 1: maybe eating pig intestine. 630 00:40:46,880 --> 00:40:49,520 Speaker 3: Uh, yeah, I've I've often heard that, but I've also 631 00:40:49,560 --> 00:40:53,440 Speaker 3: heard it debunked. But you know, there, I'm not sure 632 00:40:53,719 --> 00:40:56,720 Speaker 3: because there is that one Lovecraft story where the monsters 633 00:40:56,719 --> 00:40:58,200 Speaker 3: are pig intestines, so. 634 00:40:58,600 --> 00:41:01,759 Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, yeah, they're also oh we should mention this too. 635 00:41:02,800 --> 00:41:07,200 Speaker 1: Also not every he has at least a few stories 636 00:41:07,239 --> 00:41:11,560 Speaker 1: where the human esque or human descended villains are not 637 00:41:11,680 --> 00:41:15,799 Speaker 1: just the quote unquote foreigners that he would describe. There's 638 00:41:15,840 --> 00:41:19,719 Speaker 1: one in particular, I'm trying to remember it. That's about 639 00:41:19,760 --> 00:41:23,680 Speaker 1: a southern family of white folks who used to be 640 00:41:24,920 --> 00:41:28,719 Speaker 1: well thought of, but then they became inbred and they 641 00:41:28,760 --> 00:41:33,359 Speaker 1: committed mis engenation and turned into like mole people. Yeah, 642 00:41:33,360 --> 00:41:34,160 Speaker 1: do you remember that one? 643 00:41:34,320 --> 00:41:38,280 Speaker 3: I don't remember that one. For the sake of transparency, 644 00:41:38,360 --> 00:41:41,360 Speaker 3: it has been a long time since I've read Lovecraft's works. 645 00:41:41,719 --> 00:41:44,520 Speaker 3: I did read. I think I pretty much read every 646 00:41:44,560 --> 00:41:48,200 Speaker 3: single published work he had, besides you know, the compilations 647 00:41:48,200 --> 00:41:52,279 Speaker 3: of letters. But I've read like pretty much all of 648 00:41:52,320 --> 00:41:56,080 Speaker 3: his short stories and everything. But it's been years, and 649 00:41:56,760 --> 00:42:02,160 Speaker 3: with so much other media, either directly or indirectly inspired 650 00:42:02,200 --> 00:42:04,880 Speaker 3: by Lovecraft, it's easy for me to conflate things. So 651 00:42:04,960 --> 00:42:07,280 Speaker 3: I don't want to. I don't want to say something 652 00:42:07,320 --> 00:42:10,120 Speaker 3: and then just be totally wrong, simply because you know, 653 00:42:10,600 --> 00:42:13,960 Speaker 3: my brain's got scrambled. Back in twenty twenty four, pretty 654 00:42:14,040 --> 00:42:17,560 Speaker 3: darn good. And it turns out anything before twenty twenty four, 655 00:42:18,760 --> 00:42:21,319 Speaker 3: I can never be entirely sure if I'm remembering it 656 00:42:21,440 --> 00:42:29,400 Speaker 3: or if I'm inventing it. 657 00:42:29,400 --> 00:42:34,879 Speaker 1: It is the Lurking Fear by HP Lovecraft. I think 658 00:42:34,960 --> 00:42:37,719 Speaker 1: I'll have to reread it. I believe that's the uh, 659 00:42:38,800 --> 00:42:42,799 Speaker 1: that's the story. So everybody could get a little bit 660 00:42:42,840 --> 00:42:46,080 Speaker 1: of xenophobia from Lovecraft. I think that's the one where 661 00:42:46,120 --> 00:42:50,160 Speaker 1: he also talks trash about Dutch people or something. 662 00:42:50,400 --> 00:42:52,840 Speaker 3: Well, I mean again, you know you walk around in 663 00:42:52,880 --> 00:42:55,480 Speaker 3: wooden shoes long enough, you're gonna bound to tick somebody off. 664 00:42:55,480 --> 00:42:57,120 Speaker 3: I knew that from my clogging days. 665 00:42:59,680 --> 00:43:03,320 Speaker 1: Yes, that is true. We've got we've got to include 666 00:43:03,360 --> 00:43:06,200 Speaker 1: that in the thank you credits. Big thanks to our 667 00:43:06,280 --> 00:43:09,880 Speaker 1: super producer, mister Max Williams. I've been a research associate 668 00:43:09,920 --> 00:43:12,279 Speaker 1: for a lot of this. We hope you enjoyed it. 669 00:43:12,360 --> 00:43:14,920 Speaker 1: Big thanks as well to Alex Williams who composed this 670 00:43:15,000 --> 00:43:19,319 Speaker 1: slap and bop A J. Bahamas Jacobs also known as 671 00:43:19,360 --> 00:43:23,279 Speaker 1: the Puzzler, and of course Jonathan Strickland. Thanks to you, 672 00:43:23,880 --> 00:43:28,400 Speaker 1: this is this was really awesome. Man. I loved learning 673 00:43:28,440 --> 00:43:31,360 Speaker 1: more with you and I appreciate you not being the 674 00:43:31,440 --> 00:43:32,280 Speaker 1: quister today. 675 00:43:32,520 --> 00:43:38,399 Speaker 3: Oh yeah, no, it's that's why you should Sorry, no, yeah, 676 00:43:38,440 --> 00:43:42,920 Speaker 3: it's really fun. Oh excuse me, sorry, I don't know what. 677 00:43:47,560 --> 00:43:50,920 Speaker 1: Time you were so close? I trust you. 678 00:43:53,480 --> 00:43:53,800 Speaker 2: God. 679 00:43:54,200 --> 00:43:59,160 Speaker 1: All right, get weird with it, all right, Max, I'm 680 00:43:59,200 --> 00:44:00,920 Speaker 1: going to need you to help me out on this. 681 00:44:01,040 --> 00:44:05,319 Speaker 1: I imagine our friend's alter ego is here to play 682 00:44:05,320 --> 00:44:05,680 Speaker 1: a game. 683 00:44:05,960 --> 00:44:09,720 Speaker 3: Yes, welcome to the Quiztor segment, the most cringe worthy 684 00:44:09,800 --> 00:44:13,239 Speaker 3: segment and all love podcasting. Where I the quiz to 685 00:44:13,560 --> 00:44:20,160 Speaker 3: quiz beloved hosts. Where's Noel? Noel should be here. 686 00:44:19,920 --> 00:44:22,040 Speaker 4: We're a little better off with Noah here. 687 00:44:22,080 --> 00:44:26,480 Speaker 5: But I mean I agree to change because I had 688 00:44:26,520 --> 00:44:28,840 Speaker 5: to put on my quizler shirt. 689 00:44:28,960 --> 00:44:31,240 Speaker 3: All right, Well, I just want to tell you sucking 690 00:44:31,360 --> 00:44:34,080 Speaker 3: up does work, so excellent job there, Max. 691 00:44:34,280 --> 00:44:36,840 Speaker 1: Ye that really is, folks, that really is. He really 692 00:44:36,880 --> 00:44:37,400 Speaker 1: is wearing it. 693 00:44:37,480 --> 00:44:39,480 Speaker 3: We're all on video and he just proved it. 694 00:44:39,719 --> 00:44:42,080 Speaker 5: Well, Ben, Ben and Noill get the credit. They just like, 695 00:44:42,160 --> 00:44:43,879 Speaker 5: you know, Ben reached out of me. He's like, what's 696 00:44:43,920 --> 00:44:45,799 Speaker 5: your dress? And what's that shirt? Actually I think you 697 00:44:45,800 --> 00:44:47,440 Speaker 5: have I think you have my dress, Bend, but like, 698 00:44:47,440 --> 00:44:48,200 Speaker 5: what's that shirt you wear? 699 00:44:48,280 --> 00:44:48,440 Speaker 2: Max? 700 00:44:48,480 --> 00:44:49,080 Speaker 5: Last time that to you. 701 00:44:49,120 --> 00:44:51,520 Speaker 4: And also and I just had ridiculous history shirts. 702 00:44:52,280 --> 00:44:54,560 Speaker 3: I do have to admit that I'm wearing a shirt 703 00:44:54,600 --> 00:44:56,120 Speaker 3: with a black cat on it, but it is not 704 00:44:56,239 --> 00:44:58,560 Speaker 3: Lovecraft's cat. I want to make that very clear. 705 00:44:58,880 --> 00:44:59,120 Speaker 2: Wow. 706 00:44:59,480 --> 00:45:04,799 Speaker 1: Yes, yes, yeah, that's good myth busting now, quister arch 707 00:45:04,920 --> 00:45:10,640 Speaker 1: nemesis of Low these several years. That sounded less dramatic 708 00:45:10,640 --> 00:45:13,000 Speaker 1: when I had to be accurate. But of Low these 709 00:45:13,040 --> 00:45:16,520 Speaker 1: several years with our good friend and partner in crime, 710 00:45:16,680 --> 00:45:20,840 Speaker 1: Noel on Adventure, it falls to young Max Williams and 711 00:45:20,880 --> 00:45:22,879 Speaker 1: I to play your insidious game. 712 00:45:23,040 --> 00:45:25,319 Speaker 3: Yes, and this game is where I present to you 713 00:45:25,560 --> 00:45:28,560 Speaker 3: three scenarios. Two of them are real and one I 714 00:45:28,719 --> 00:45:33,000 Speaker 3: made upsis And so tis down to the to determine 715 00:45:33,040 --> 00:45:35,600 Speaker 3: which of these is the one that I made up. 716 00:45:35,640 --> 00:45:38,480 Speaker 3: And I will present to you the three scenarios, and 717 00:45:39,000 --> 00:45:41,800 Speaker 3: upon the presentation, you will have three minutes to confer 718 00:45:41,920 --> 00:45:44,680 Speaker 3: between the two of you to determine which of the 719 00:45:44,719 --> 00:45:47,360 Speaker 3: three are fake. I want to say this one is 720 00:45:48,000 --> 00:45:51,200 Speaker 3: I think pretty. This one's not hard, but it was 721 00:45:51,280 --> 00:45:52,080 Speaker 3: fun to write. 722 00:45:52,520 --> 00:45:54,799 Speaker 1: Don't set us up like that, man. We'll try to 723 00:45:54,840 --> 00:45:55,840 Speaker 1: make it look really. 724 00:45:55,640 --> 00:45:58,839 Speaker 4: Bad when we flail and do awful of this one. 725 00:45:58,880 --> 00:46:01,160 Speaker 1: I'm in your head, dude, I know how you work. 726 00:46:01,480 --> 00:46:05,000 Speaker 3: I have faith in you. But as always, if you 727 00:46:05,040 --> 00:46:07,960 Speaker 3: wish to ask a question for clarification's sake, and if 728 00:46:07,960 --> 00:46:09,880 Speaker 3: I happen to know the answer, you can do so, 729 00:46:10,120 --> 00:46:12,239 Speaker 3: but you have to preface it with a phrase of 730 00:46:12,280 --> 00:46:15,680 Speaker 3: my own choosing. For this particular quiz, that phrase shall be, 731 00:46:15,960 --> 00:46:23,160 Speaker 3: of course, it must be yah yah cutoul photogon right, yeah, yeah, yeah, 732 00:46:24,040 --> 00:46:29,640 Speaker 3: popping photogon photogon. Yet pronunciation is very clear, I mean, 733 00:46:30,160 --> 00:46:32,320 Speaker 3: despite the fact that Lovecraft wrote it in such a 734 00:46:32,320 --> 00:46:33,960 Speaker 3: way that you're not supposed to be able to say 735 00:46:33,960 --> 00:46:37,680 Speaker 3: it with the human tongue. I am being very persnickety. No, uh, 736 00:46:38,160 --> 00:46:41,680 Speaker 3: here are your three scenarios. I shall start with scenario 737 00:46:42,480 --> 00:46:48,040 Speaker 3: number one. One of Lovecraft's predecessors, mister Edgar Allan Poe, 738 00:46:48,080 --> 00:46:52,960 Speaker 3: receives credit for helping establish the genre of mystery fiction. However, 739 00:46:53,440 --> 00:46:57,560 Speaker 3: did you know that Poe's own journey included debunking the 740 00:46:57,560 --> 00:47:01,839 Speaker 3: famous mechanical turk The York was an invention of Wolfgang 741 00:47:02,080 --> 00:47:06,200 Speaker 3: von Kemplin from nearly a century before, and appeared to 742 00:47:06,239 --> 00:47:10,240 Speaker 3: be a humanoid automaton capable of playing expert levels of chess. 743 00:47:10,600 --> 00:47:14,520 Speaker 3: By the time Poe investigated it, Kimpland was long dead, 744 00:47:14,760 --> 00:47:18,279 Speaker 3: and a man named Johann Meltzel, who took this Turk 745 00:47:18,360 --> 00:47:22,920 Speaker 3: from Europe to America, was doing exhibitions across the eastern 746 00:47:22,960 --> 00:47:26,239 Speaker 3: coast of the United States. Poe argued that because the 747 00:47:26,320 --> 00:47:32,400 Speaker 3: Turk occasionally lost in chess games, it must therefore be 748 00:47:32,480 --> 00:47:35,600 Speaker 3: controlled by a person either inside the device or from 749 00:47:35,680 --> 00:47:40,839 Speaker 3: some remote location, because machines would win every single time. Now, 750 00:47:40,880 --> 00:47:44,000 Speaker 3: as we all know from chat GPT, that's not necessarily 751 00:47:44,040 --> 00:47:47,479 Speaker 3: a guarantee. But our Poe boy was at least right, 752 00:47:47,840 --> 00:47:53,960 Speaker 3: but for the wrong reason. Scenario number two. Lovecraft contemporary 753 00:47:54,120 --> 00:47:57,840 Speaker 3: and correspondent Robert E. Howard is probably best known for 754 00:47:57,920 --> 00:48:02,480 Speaker 3: the creation of the beefcake Barbarian conan. Howard became part 755 00:48:02,520 --> 00:48:05,279 Speaker 3: of the Lovecraft Circle. These are the authors who collaborated 756 00:48:05,320 --> 00:48:08,120 Speaker 3: with one another, sharing stories and concepts in an effort 757 00:48:08,280 --> 00:48:12,400 Speaker 3: to weave together a rich tapestry of mythology. Two Gun Bob, 758 00:48:12,760 --> 00:48:15,280 Speaker 3: as he was known within the circle, made a major 759 00:48:15,360 --> 00:48:20,440 Speaker 3: contribution to the Lovecraftian mythology the Necronomicon. While Lovecraft had 760 00:48:20,480 --> 00:48:23,680 Speaker 3: invented the name Abdullah has read many years before the 761 00:48:23,680 --> 00:48:24,800 Speaker 3: two corresponded. 762 00:48:25,440 --> 00:48:26,239 Speaker 1: It was Robert E. 763 00:48:26,400 --> 00:48:30,600 Speaker 3: Howard who first incorporated what later storytellers would call the 764 00:48:30,640 --> 00:48:33,880 Speaker 3: Book of the Dead into a sword and sorcery tale 765 00:48:33,920 --> 00:48:38,080 Speaker 3: titled The Tomb of the Witch. The necronomicon is only 766 00:48:38,239 --> 00:48:41,600 Speaker 3: mentioned in the story and holds no significance for the plot, 767 00:48:41,800 --> 00:48:44,640 Speaker 3: but Lovecraft liked the sound of the title, and, with 768 00:48:44,840 --> 00:48:48,040 Speaker 3: Robert E. Howard's permission, used it in his own works. 769 00:48:48,280 --> 00:48:51,640 Speaker 3: You can really argue the necronomicon didn't really hit the 770 00:48:51,640 --> 00:48:55,520 Speaker 3: big time until far after Lovecraft's death, and that's why 771 00:48:55,640 --> 00:49:02,120 Speaker 3: I say groovy scenario number three. Before becoming a famous 772 00:49:02,200 --> 00:49:06,120 Speaker 3: crime novelist, Robert Albert Bloch was a young member of 773 00:49:06,160 --> 00:49:09,480 Speaker 3: the Lovecraft Circle, contributing to publications like Weird Tales and 774 00:49:09,520 --> 00:49:13,600 Speaker 3: such and participating in the group Mythology created by Lovecraft, 775 00:49:13,640 --> 00:49:18,600 Speaker 3: Roberty Howard, August Durleis, Jay Vernon, Shay Clark, Ashton Smith, 776 00:49:18,680 --> 00:49:22,920 Speaker 3: and many many others. Bloch's first published piece in Weird 777 00:49:23,000 --> 00:49:26,839 Speaker 3: Tales wasn't a short story, but rather a critique of 778 00:49:27,080 --> 00:49:31,000 Speaker 3: Conan's stories, showing that not all authors within the Lovecraft 779 00:49:31,120 --> 00:49:34,840 Speaker 3: circle fell over themselves to praise one another's work. Block 780 00:49:34,960 --> 00:49:38,080 Speaker 3: himself served as an inspiration for a character named Robert 781 00:49:38,280 --> 00:49:43,520 Speaker 3: Blake and Lovecraft's The Haunter of the Dark. Lovecraft killed 782 00:49:43,560 --> 00:49:46,600 Speaker 3: off Blake in that story as a playful response to 783 00:49:46,680 --> 00:49:50,719 Speaker 3: Block having previously invented a character based on Lovecraft, only 784 00:49:50,760 --> 00:49:53,000 Speaker 3: to have him killed off in a tale titled The 785 00:49:53,080 --> 00:49:57,480 Speaker 3: Shambler from the Stars. Oh and Lovecraft also doxed Block 786 00:49:57,600 --> 00:50:01,280 Speaker 3: by including his real life address in the story. Block 787 00:50:01,360 --> 00:50:04,480 Speaker 3: eventually shifted away from weird fiction and became better known 788 00:50:04,480 --> 00:50:07,560 Speaker 3: for the crime stories he wrote, including the novel Psycho. 789 00:50:08,600 --> 00:50:11,879 Speaker 1: Begin Okay, okay, So I am going to run over 790 00:50:11,960 --> 00:50:14,799 Speaker 1: to this grandfather clock that we paid way too much 791 00:50:14,840 --> 00:50:17,960 Speaker 1: money for again. Uh, and then we're going to start 792 00:50:17,960 --> 00:50:21,560 Speaker 1: the timer. And then we're going to start the timer 793 00:50:21,920 --> 00:50:26,120 Speaker 1: right now, all right. 794 00:50:26,120 --> 00:50:27,839 Speaker 5: I don't even remember what we're supposed to be doing. 795 00:50:28,000 --> 00:50:30,439 Speaker 5: Is we're find one that's fake or one that's real. 796 00:50:30,600 --> 00:50:33,680 Speaker 1: The one that's fake to a real one is made up. 797 00:50:33,800 --> 00:50:36,840 Speaker 1: We have a ticking clock of two minutes fifty seconds, 798 00:50:36,920 --> 00:50:39,520 Speaker 1: and we can ask this is our time for you 799 00:50:39,600 --> 00:50:42,920 Speaker 1: and I to work together to determine what we think 800 00:50:43,000 --> 00:50:46,319 Speaker 1: is most likely. We can also ask the quister a 801 00:50:46,400 --> 00:50:49,640 Speaker 1: question as long as we begin it like this, I 802 00:50:50,160 --> 00:50:51,400 Speaker 1: Cthulhu Fagan. 803 00:50:51,920 --> 00:50:55,240 Speaker 3: Oh my gosh, you're just you're just needling me on purpose. 804 00:50:55,280 --> 00:50:57,800 Speaker 3: Go ahead, mister mister bowl. 805 00:50:58,719 --> 00:51:03,640 Speaker 1: Okay, all right, that I did mispronounce it, so quister. Uh, 806 00:51:04,200 --> 00:51:06,560 Speaker 1: just for a quick recap, the idea is that Edgar 807 00:51:06,560 --> 00:51:13,319 Speaker 1: Allan Poe mythbusted the mechanical Turk. Scenario one, HP Lovecraft 808 00:51:13,680 --> 00:51:17,799 Speaker 1: got the idea and the name of the Necronomicon not 809 00:51:17,880 --> 00:51:21,479 Speaker 1: from his own head but from another author. Scenario two 810 00:51:22,040 --> 00:51:27,480 Speaker 1: and scenario three, that members of the mythos weren't above 811 00:51:27,600 --> 00:51:32,840 Speaker 1: dunking on each other's works or even playfully, uh, setting 812 00:51:32,920 --> 00:51:34,440 Speaker 1: up fictional characters based on. 813 00:51:34,400 --> 00:51:37,440 Speaker 3: Each other, right, and and then killing them off playfully, 814 00:51:37,600 --> 00:51:37,839 Speaker 3: and then. 815 00:51:38,120 --> 00:51:42,400 Speaker 1: Killing them off with whatever passes for playfulness that in 816 00:51:42,400 --> 00:51:45,000 Speaker 1: that circle. Okay, I'm going to say it this way, Max, 817 00:51:45,280 --> 00:51:46,680 Speaker 1: I think it's number two. 818 00:51:47,000 --> 00:51:49,000 Speaker 4: You think it's number two. I was between one or two? 819 00:51:49,000 --> 00:51:52,400 Speaker 5: Hold on second maybe, uh yeah, yeah, to fill a 820 00:51:52,480 --> 00:51:57,120 Speaker 5: fulopen Ah, yes, Max, I mean this is. 821 00:51:57,080 --> 00:51:58,200 Speaker 4: Just pretty stiple question. 822 00:51:58,640 --> 00:52:00,560 Speaker 5: John, there, are you well aware that this seconment is 823 00:52:00,640 --> 00:52:04,359 Speaker 5: one hundred percent a very transparent ripoff of where Wait, 824 00:52:04,400 --> 00:52:07,680 Speaker 5: don't tell me he's bluffed the listener. Uh where where 825 00:52:07,680 --> 00:52:09,000 Speaker 5: where people tell a story? 826 00:52:09,200 --> 00:52:09,760 Speaker 2: And three? 827 00:52:09,760 --> 00:52:10,160 Speaker 1: There's three? 828 00:52:10,239 --> 00:52:11,839 Speaker 4: There's three stories and only one of them is real? 829 00:52:12,560 --> 00:52:15,360 Speaker 3: Sorry, I don't, I don't. I'm not familiar with this. 830 00:52:15,680 --> 00:52:18,800 Speaker 3: Is this a new a new program? Perhaps? 831 00:52:18,880 --> 00:52:19,000 Speaker 2: Uh? 832 00:52:20,160 --> 00:52:23,360 Speaker 3: Well, what what? Where could I hear such an idea? 833 00:52:23,560 --> 00:52:26,279 Speaker 3: I have no idea what you're talking about. I mean 834 00:52:26,360 --> 00:52:28,400 Speaker 3: to think I like to think of it as podcasters 835 00:52:28,400 --> 00:52:31,560 Speaker 3: are just part of a large collaborative effort, and no 836 00:52:31,640 --> 00:52:33,080 Speaker 3: one's ideas are all their own. 837 00:52:33,600 --> 00:52:36,160 Speaker 5: I mean it's we've been having a running series on 838 00:52:36,200 --> 00:52:39,080 Speaker 5: intellectual property, So I don't know. I think it's something 839 00:52:39,120 --> 00:52:41,160 Speaker 5: we all share in the world of art. Ben, this 840 00:52:41,239 --> 00:52:44,400 Speaker 5: is one hundred percent out of my spectrum. So I 841 00:52:44,440 --> 00:52:46,680 Speaker 5: was thinking one or two, and you if you think 842 00:52:46,680 --> 00:52:47,720 Speaker 5: it's two, I say. 843 00:52:47,520 --> 00:52:53,880 Speaker 1: Two, let's lock it in, Okay, three? Two? One boom, 844 00:52:54,040 --> 00:52:56,680 Speaker 1: locked in? All right, Christ, we're going with number two 845 00:52:56,840 --> 00:52:57,840 Speaker 1: as the fake story. 846 00:52:58,040 --> 00:53:03,839 Speaker 3: Well, gentlemen, you're right. I told you this was going 847 00:53:03,880 --> 00:53:07,720 Speaker 3: to be a relatively easy one. Yes, no, so, in fact, 848 00:53:08,440 --> 00:53:11,640 Speaker 3: Robert Block, not Robert Block. I'm sorry, Robert E. Howard. 849 00:53:11,680 --> 00:53:12,840 Speaker 3: There are so many Roberts. 850 00:53:13,239 --> 00:53:13,680 Speaker 1: Robert E. 851 00:53:13,880 --> 00:53:18,760 Speaker 3: Howard did contribute some titles of books that would find 852 00:53:18,800 --> 00:53:23,200 Speaker 3: their ways into Lovecraft's work, but Necronomicon was in fact 853 00:53:23,200 --> 00:53:27,560 Speaker 3: something Lovecraft himself came up with independently. It does find 854 00:53:27,600 --> 00:53:31,560 Speaker 3: itself in it mentioned in other author's works, often as 855 00:53:32,040 --> 00:53:36,719 Speaker 3: just one of those books that litters an arcane occultist's 856 00:53:36,760 --> 00:53:40,840 Speaker 3: bookshelf sort of thing. But yes, number two is a fiction. 857 00:53:41,840 --> 00:53:44,120 Speaker 3: There was no story called the Tomb of the Witch. 858 00:53:44,160 --> 00:53:47,760 Speaker 3: I completely invented that. That no such stories. It's similar 859 00:53:47,800 --> 00:53:53,319 Speaker 3: to titles that Robert E. Robert E. Howard did, right, 860 00:53:54,480 --> 00:54:00,120 Speaker 3: but not that one. That's a fabrication. So congratulations, We 861 00:54:00,480 --> 00:54:01,759 Speaker 3: all follow up. 862 00:54:01,920 --> 00:54:04,719 Speaker 4: Was Robert E. Robert E. Howard or whatever was he 863 00:54:04,800 --> 00:54:05,719 Speaker 4: named after? Robert E. 864 00:54:05,800 --> 00:54:06,160 Speaker 2: Lee? 865 00:54:07,000 --> 00:54:07,840 Speaker 3: I do not believe. 866 00:54:07,880 --> 00:54:07,960 Speaker 1: So. 867 00:54:08,840 --> 00:54:12,080 Speaker 3: He had a rather unfortunate and tragic story of his own. 868 00:54:12,160 --> 00:54:15,040 Speaker 3: His his his life was was cut short. Yeah. I 869 00:54:15,040 --> 00:54:17,359 Speaker 3: think he was only something like thirty six when he 870 00:54:19,360 --> 00:54:22,680 Speaker 3: shuffled off the mortal coil by his own hand, if 871 00:54:22,719 --> 00:54:24,400 Speaker 3: I were calling correctly. 872 00:54:24,120 --> 00:54:26,000 Speaker 1: Even even younger I think he was. 873 00:54:26,719 --> 00:54:29,400 Speaker 3: I have only been thirty. He was only thirty, Yeah, 874 00:54:29,440 --> 00:54:30,279 Speaker 3: he was quite young. 875 00:54:30,880 --> 00:54:37,560 Speaker 1: Well, with this, we gratefully accept the laurels of victory, 876 00:54:37,840 --> 00:54:41,200 Speaker 1: knowing that there will be yet another conflict on the 877 00:54:41,239 --> 00:54:45,960 Speaker 1: horizon and are continuing cosmic horror of a trick quiz 878 00:54:46,000 --> 00:54:50,240 Speaker 1: show that happens at the end of every not every episode, 879 00:54:50,320 --> 00:54:52,920 Speaker 1: but just enough for us to not be able to 880 00:54:52,960 --> 00:54:58,520 Speaker 1: predict it. With that quister aka Johnson Strickland. We can't 881 00:54:58,560 --> 00:55:01,759 Speaker 1: thank you enough for for hanging out with us on 882 00:55:01,800 --> 00:55:03,560 Speaker 1: the show Man and I hope you had a good time. 883 00:55:03,640 --> 00:55:05,880 Speaker 1: Maybe we can do some more of these in the future. 884 00:55:05,960 --> 00:55:08,440 Speaker 3: Yeah, it was a pleasure dropping the quister for this 885 00:55:08,640 --> 00:55:13,719 Speaker 3: because tired. No, it was great because, as you know, 886 00:55:14,440 --> 00:55:18,840 Speaker 3: I hung up the podcasting headphones not that long ago, 887 00:55:19,360 --> 00:55:22,080 Speaker 3: and so occasionally I do miss it and it's fun 888 00:55:22,120 --> 00:55:25,200 Speaker 3: to get on the microphone and wrap about stuff with 889 00:55:25,440 --> 00:55:29,920 Speaker 3: y'all and to explore these topics and to really kind of, 890 00:55:30,160 --> 00:55:33,680 Speaker 3: you know, have fun indulgent curiosity. 891 00:55:34,239 --> 00:55:36,799 Speaker 1: Just so you know, we we cut the part where 892 00:55:36,840 --> 00:55:40,080 Speaker 1: you were wrapping because it was bad, not because it 893 00:55:40,120 --> 00:55:42,920 Speaker 1: was bad. You had a tight sixteen I expect it. 894 00:55:42,960 --> 00:55:45,000 Speaker 3: Well, yeah, because it starts with a hip hop hippie 895 00:55:45,000 --> 00:55:49,279 Speaker 3: to the hippi, I don't stop rocking. All right, that's 896 00:55:49,320 --> 00:55:49,680 Speaker 3: our show. 897 00:55:49,719 --> 00:55:59,040 Speaker 1: We'll see you next time. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, 898 00:55:59,160 --> 00:56:02,440 Speaker 1: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen 899 00:56:02,440 --> 00:56:03,480 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.