Maplecroft

Lizzie Borden took an axe, gave her mother forty whacks and when she saw what she had done, she gave her father forty-one. This children's rhyme is only one of the indignities Lizzie Borden must bear. The murder of her parents was a sensational story in the town of Fall River. Even though Lizzie was acquitted of the crime, she is still the subject of scorn and suspicion. The town ostracized her and her sister Emma because they believe she is a murderer and they are half right. Lizzie did kill her parents, but in self defense. They were slowly becoming horrific creatures so unlike humans and forgot their human lives. The epidemic is spreading in Fall River, so Lizzie and Emma will do whatever they can to save their neighbors and prevent it from extending out into the world.

Cherie Priest takes two things I enjoy, Lizzie Borden and the Cthulhu mythos, and successfully mashes them together. Lizzie Borden is known now as the woman who killed her parents and got away with it. It wasn't too different during the time she was alive. Whether she committed the crime or not, she was ostracized for the remainder of her life along with her sister Emma after the trial. In the novel, she actually did commit the crime. but in self defense since her parents were transforming into fish-like, murderous monsters. Lizzie, while not the most educated person, does everything she can to protect her loved ones and even protect the town that so despises her. If even the weirdest and most obscure bit of superstition could work to keep the creatures away, she puts it into practice. She also built a way to get rid of the creatures' bodies and created an extensive lab with her sister (the more scientific of the two) in their house to further their studies on how to destroy the horrific creatures. Lizzie is deadly serious and only lets her guard down with Nance. I loved how Lizzie's history was incorporated into the story. Some may think it's in poor taste to make an infamous figure known for murder into a heroine, but I think it's interesting to imagine a different side to that unsolved mystery.

Each main character had chapters from their own point of view, which gave special insight and made each character stand out in their own way. This was especially important with characters like Philip Zollicoffer and, to a lesser extent Dr. Seabury. Both characters become irrevocably changed during the course of the book. Zollicoffer is sent a corrupted sea life sample that eventually changes him into a homicidal and delusional maniac. His mental state starts normally enough and descends into paranoia and serving whatever spawns the eldritch creatures of the deep. He was the creepiest character by far and  Seabury doesn't become like Zollicoffer, but his mind is definitely isn't the same after the ordeal. The novel  is comprised of journal entries, newspaper articles, and letters that give a varied reading experience and different points of view.

While I enjoyed the novel, parts of it marred the experience. The pacing was a bit odd and lots of pages were eaten up in various characters' introspection and similar ramblings. I simply did not like Emma Borden. I liked that she had a double life of sorts as a doctor that published articles in scholarly journals and corresponded with other doctors like Zollicoffer when she could. I didn't like the way she treated Lizzie, especially about her relationship with Nance, or how she treated Dr. Seabury. Emma was like a bit black blot on the page. She was angry and bitter, just bringing the book and the other characters down. Her animosity towards Lizzie over her relationship is based in reality: they eventually parted ways and never spoke to one another again over it. I just didn't like how her pain seemed so much more important than everyone else's. It's frustrating to be infirm, but her callousness and bad overall attitude went over the top. When Nance became afflicted, Emma was completely unsympathetic despite the pain Lizzie was in. I hope the next book follows the real story and Emma is absent.

Overall, Maplecroft is an enjoyable throwback to the Gothic novel with vibrant characters. I will definitely be reading the next book in the series and I hope more will be uncovered about the evil, Dagon-like presence in the ocean.

My rating: 4/5  fishmuffins

More Lovecraft!

When I did my previous post about Lovecraft in other medias, I forgot two things!

1) I'm sure most of you have seen the Old Spice commercials with Isaiah Mustafa where he's on a horse and making you wish your man smelled like him. Cthulhu saw it too and figured he could sell his own scented products. Here is his commercial:



2) I love Magic the Gathering. In one of the recent sets, Rise of the Eldrazi, a triad of very large evil creatures were introduced that were once worshipped as gods. They were imprisoned for thousands of years, but were awakened by some planeswalkers. Their only motivation is to eat, so they devour the mana and life energy of worlds, kind of like Galactus. These are some of the most difficult creatures to destroy or get rid of in the entire game. The makers of the game were inspired partly by such Great Old Ones as Cthulhu. I see the inspiration especially in the tentacles. Here are the three Eldrazi:

Emrakul, The Aeons Torn

Ulamog, The Infinite Gyre

Kozilek, Butcher of Truth


I totally see the resemblance. :)

Lovecraft in Music and Film

While you are enjoying your Arkham Horror, you should check out other ways to get your daily dose of Lovecraft.

Music:

* The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets is an indie band based in Vancouver and they sing a lot of songs about the Lovecraftian mythos. They have songs with awesome titles like: Cthulhu Dreams, Sounds of Tindalos, Yog-Sothoth, and Cultists on Board. Here's one of my favorites called The Innsmouth Look.

* Metallica is a metal band based in California that started in the early 80's. They are known for their fast, aggressive music and aren't really known for being nerdy. However, they have two songs based around Lovecraft stories: The Call of Ktulu (which is an instrumental) and The Thing that Should Not Be. This is the latter song, played with the San Francisco Symphony because they sound naked without a whole symphony backing them up.

Film

* Dagon is a wonderfully cheesy movie based on Lovecraft's novella Shadow Over Innsmouth. American tourists are shipwrecked in a small town called Imboca and seek help from the inhabitants. These people turn out to be less than human and worship Dagon, a fish god. Can they escape these crazy people and return home?

* The Re-Animator is also an awesomely cheesy film based on the story, Herbert West- ReAnimator. It's a horror comedy that involves scientist Herbert West returning from abroad to study at Miskatonic University. He discovers how to reanimate dead flesh; chaos, gore, and hilarity ensue. Team zombie enthusiasts should definitely watch this film.

And there is always the adorable video, The Adventures of Lil Cthulhu. It explains the Cthulhu mythos while portraying Cthulhu as an adorable chibi. Thank you to Misty, who set it to me and reminded me of how awesome it is.

Arkham Horror

If you like horror, giant monsters, and very challenging games, Arkham Horror is the game for you. It's a board game made for you and up to seven other players and takes two to four hours to complete. It's excellent for a group of friends that have a few hours to kill. I play this game about every other week and, whether we win or lose, my friends and I have loads of fun.

Here is the object of the game:

"In Arkham Horror, a terrible creature from beyond time and space is waking, roused by the dimensional gates that are opening all over the city. The players must join forces to close all of the gates before this Ancient One awakens. If the Ancient One defeats the players, all of Arkham is doomed.

The players must work together as a team of investigators to close all of the dimensional gates, seal them permanently, of if that fails, defeat the Ancient One when it awakens from its slumber."

This game is pretty hard because it really, really doesn't want you to win, but it's so fun. Every turn, a portal opens at an unstable location accompanied by horrific monster. It's daunting when you first start because there are more little pieces in this box than any other board game I've ever owned and a whole lot of rules. The complex set of stages and rules are a little hard to grasp at first, but it gets easier with repetition and practice. You can choose from a variety of characters that may focus on spellcasting or fighting. Then, as the game progresses, players collect spells, weapons, and other items to help them battle the monsters and the Ancient One.

If this doesn't sound hard enough, you can buy expansions to the game, which can add a separate sections that attach to the Arkham board or just add extra items, events, monsters, and Ancient Ones. The expansion adds other objectives that must be completed in addition to the rest of the things needed to complete the original game. So if the game starts to become too easy for you, there are quite a few to choose from. My favorite is Innsmouth, where there are aquatic locations and you might develop the Innsmouth look (AKA turn into a fish monster)! Everyone should play this addicting and fun game.

The thing I think would be most interesting to book bloggers and readers is that this entire game is based off of the great works of H.P. Lovecraft. He wrote horror he called cosmic horror, where the universe is alien and the protagonists regularly risk their sanity for knowledge. One of the most famous stories is The Call of Cthulhu, which introduced one of the most horrific creatures ever imagined (pictured below). You can download and read it for free in any format you'd like at here. Lovecraft's influential works have inspired music, games, films, and countless sequels or imitations of his stories.

** The quote is from the Arkham Horror rule book.**

Cthulhu C'Loves You!

The Great Cute One has come to give humanity tentacle hugs and maw kisses! For those of you unfamiliar with the almighty Cthulhu, it is a betentacled Lovecraftian horror that first made its appearance in the short story, Call of Cthulhu. If you would like to read the story, click here. Here is a cute little video about Cthulhu and his origins! This is the description from the video's creator, TheZebu:

Want a child-friendly way to introduce your little one to the traditions of the Old Cult? Meet little Cthulhu, who lives in the magic city of R'lyeh with all his friends, as you and your child embark on a fun and educational journey through the world of the Great Old Ones, meeting all kinds of new buddies from the Necronomicon along the way, from Azathoth to Yog-Sothoth! This series has won multiple awards and has been enthusiastically approved by the department of child-developmental psychology at Miskatonic University.

Story and animation by me. Voice acting by Erika Fontana. Music taken from the Shaman King OST. Original characters by HP Lovecraft.

This is not the only instance of Cutie Cthulhus! There is the My Little Cthulhu action figure with an abnormally large and cute head. I am a proud owner of one, complete with little victims he can hold in his chibi claws. On this site, you can purchase T-shirts or make your own My Little Cthulhu out of paper. Here are the directions on how to assemble it, straight from the creator Jerom.

There is the little crochet version of it from the Creepy Cute Crochet Book. I first saw this on Velvet's blog and realized that I owned one! I bought one from a Cthulhu booth at San Diego Comic Con. It was so cute, I just couldn't resist! I wish I knew how to crochet so I could make some of these awesome creations for other people.

There is also the Chibithulhu from the Munchkin Cthulhu game. When it is in the room during game play, it actually helps the owner of the plushy. Plus, it's just adorable! I bought my sister one at Dark Delicacies. I didn't even know it came in different colors and three different sizes: deceptively tiny, insanely medium, and mind-crushingly huge! Click here for more info if you want to give one a nice home.

The last cutie Cthulhu that I have found is the CthulhuPony, the melding of a Cthulhu and a My Little Pony. Finnish artist Mari Kasurinen makes these and many more different types of ponies, including aliens, Harley Quinn, Spock, and Edward Scissorhands. I found out about these on the wonderful site, io9.com which is also where I got this photo.

I hope I haven't overloaded you all with Cthulhu cuteness! This post was inspired by Velvet from vvb32 reads and her cool post about the awesome Cthulhu.