The Finer Heinous Things Club: December 2008

Saturday, December 20, 2008

*
But in the cosmos there is balm as well as bitterness, and that balm is nepenthe. In the supreme horror of that second I forgot what had horrified me, and the burst of black memory vanished in a chaos of echoing images.

- H.P. Lovecraft, "The Outsider"

* my avant-garde film Reader

SEMESTER END

Thank the Lord, but praise this guy:

Actual course material still to come.

Authors We Will Not Cover Intensively

The occult and supernatural subject matter is a surprisingly bounteous, incredibly prolific occurrence in literature. Thus, there are a number of celebrated classical authors - horror writers or the occasional dabbler therein - who, unfortunately, we will not cover, or cover to the extent of the featured authors. It is safe to attribute any gross omissions or neglect to a sole fact, that none of us are versed, learned, or read in these authors (hopefully be amended in time). Or, yet, the most notable supernatural work is a bit too long (Oscar Wilde and 'Dorian Gray').

If any one is particularly attached or experienced in these authors, we greatly encourage you to extend your recommendation to the class whenever the opportunity arises.

- Dante
- Lafcaido Hearn
- Sheridan Le Fanu
- Matthew Lewis
- E.A. Poe
- Edith Wharton
- Oscar Wilde

Last Updated: 1/21/09

Profile #1: S.T. Joshi

* Literary Critic
* The authority on weird fiction and its Golden Age authors. The course will borrow liberally from his work.
Wikipedia Page
His Official Site
- Discovered Lovecraft at the age of 13. Never looked back.
- Became an undergraduate at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, primarily to pilfer their Lovecraft manuscripts.
- A leading scholar and bibliographer on Lovecraft, Dunsany, Machen, Bierce, etc.
- Also dabbles in social criticism, as exhibited by his recent work The Angry Right, so aptly subtitled Why Conservatives Keep Getting It Wrong

Profile #3: H.P. Lovecraft

* American author, probably the most popular Golden Age writer of Weird Fiction
* A good ol' boy, misbegot trans the Atlantic and thoroughly reactionary to the social climate of America, Land of Immagrae (read: harbored questionable racialist perspectives, which find interesting ways into his work)
* Words attributed to him: "pessimist," "anti-modern conservative," "materialist" (although soon to disaffect), "atheist," "rationalist," fuddy-duddy
* An all-around fascinating human being / trainwreck.
Wiki page
Supernatural Horror in Literature
Short Biography by S.T. Joshi
The H.P. Lovecraft Archive
- An extensive catalogue of all things Lovecraft. Will make you realize that, apart from a horror fiction writer, Lovecraft was also a prolific poet, journalist, literary critic, essayist, philosopher, pundit, and crank.

Profile #5: Algernon Blackwood

* English writer of "environmental" horror stories like "The Willows" and "The Wendigo"
* Would also make careers for himself in journalism and broadcast radio
* His brand of "fantastic fiction" emphasized the awe-inspiring in the terrifying
Wiki page
- Was a "member of one of the factions of the Cabalistic Order originally called the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn," of which Arthur Machen and Aleister Crowley were also involved.
- Nature lover and outdoor enthusiast
- Seemingly one of the more well-adjusted and agreeable of our authors. Not much dirt on him on Wikipedia.

February 4 Screening Vote

Choose a Lovecraft-inspired film for the February 4th Screening ( surveys)

DISCLAIMER: Regardless of the results, the final decision will be up to the facilitators. For example, unless it gets overwhelming and unanimous support, Dagon will not likely be the film shown, for it is the film least germane and useful to the course, as well as the most graphic.

Some comments on the selection:

The Dunwich Horror

Gore/Violence Level (out of 10): 3 An adaptation of Lovecraft's story of the same name; pre-dates the Stuart Gordon Lovecraft films' equating of cosmic power with sex; not a "good" film, at all really, but an interesting and amusing one.

Re-Animator

Gore/Violence Level (out of 10): 8 An adaptation of Lovecraft's story Herbert West - Reanimator; a fun, if weightless, cult classic.

From Beyond

Gore/Violence Level (out of 10): 7 An adaptation of Lovecraft's story of the same name; the short story only constitutes the first scene of this film; the most explicit film dealing with the "cosmic power = sex" theme.

In the Mouth of Madness

Gore/Violence Level (out of 10): 6 Not based on a Lovecraft story, but the story revolves around the powers held within a Lovecraft-like writer's work.

Dagon

Gore/Violence Level (out of 10): 9 An adaptation of one of Lovecraft's shortest stories, of the same name.

The Finer Heinous Things Club

Monday, December 29, 2008

Saturday, December 20, 2008

SEMESTER END

Authors We Will Not Cover Intensively

Invaluable Resource Link #1: HorrorMasters.Com

Profile #1: S.T. Joshi

Profile #2: Charles Baudelaire

Profile #3: H.P. Lovecraft

Profile #4: Lord Dunsany

Profile #5: Algernon Blackwood

Profile #6: Arthur Machen

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February 4 Screening Vote