The H.P. Lovecraft Reading Club

[Stormbringer]

Spoiler

My thinking is that he didn't actually shoot the ghoul(s) in the well, only fired some shots to scare them off, and the 'thud' was not the dropping of a dead body but the sound of the wooden lid returning back to its place.

Yes, I was just about to quote the part about the doctor who brings up the matter of Pickman's face and speech degenerating into something less than human. Perhaps ghouls begin life very similar in appearance to human babies, but over time slowly change into their true form, aided by a diet of corpses, and Pickman made his disappearance just before he was no longer capable of disguising the change. The fact that his ancestors are very likely witches and comments were made on the close association between witches and ghouls in his paintings, is a fair suggestion to me that his whole family is in on it.

[Stormbringer]

While we wait for Snowy, I just wanted to say...

Spoiler

I thought it was interesting that Lovecraft praises Goya, a Spanish artist, yet expresses disgust for "dagoes" in the same story.

Do you cease to be a "dago" if you make awesome macabre paintings? Or, do you only become a "dago" if you "swarm" with other "dagos" into a New England city looking for work? ¬_¬

On the subject of Goya, I strongly suspect that Saturn Devouring His Son is the main inspiration for Pickman's veiled painting that Thurber screams at.

[Gibby]

Can we vote for the next story despite Snowy being on holiday?

[Sly Boots]

I think that would be an idea, I've no idea how often Snowy will be checking the forum (if at all) during his week in a Croatian paradise.

Maybe we could formalise this as a weekly thing as well, so reconvene every Monday to talk about the story we'd read the preceding week?

FWIW I'm all up for more ghouls

[Stormbringer]

I like that idea, Sly, and it just so happens that THIS VERY AFTERNOON I was typing up my list of options for the next story....

So, we'll continue our journey through the HPL bibliography by following the signposts that each story leaves for us to follow, each one covering a different trope that points to similar stories.

The ones I can think of that this story covers are:

1. Underground tunnels and swarming foreigners in urban America
2. Underground tunnels and swarming foreigners in rural America
3. Questionable ancestry
4. Questionable coffee ¬_¬
5. Witches in Salem
6. Ghouls (again)
7. Macabre Painters (again)
8. Peculiar Happenings in American Bars
9. American City Tours of Peculiar Back Streets with Progressively Antiquated Architecture, Housing Dark Secrets
10. Mentally Disturbed First World War Veterans
11. Subway Phobia


Choose what interests you the most and we'll stumble in that general direction...

[Sly Boots]

I don't mind the sound of any of those tbf, but my vote shall be.... 6!

[Gibby]

I am also happy to keep with Ghouls and say 6!

[Stormbringer]

Mantis, do you have a preference?

[Mantis]

I feel like we should just stick with Ghouls until we've exhausted it as an option. Gives us more insight into them and might be beneficial to read them back to back.

[Stormbringer]

Very well.

There's a slight dilemma here in that, in order to gain the complete picture of ghouls -- in particular if we want to follow the career of Richard Upton Pickman -- we need to enter the dreaded Dreamlands, where even the hardened Snowy and Gibby fear to tread! Though, to be honest, in order to get there I feel like we need a bit more prep-work first, so I propose we postpone a Dreamlands tour until later.

So, we'll back-track into an earlier tale from 1921 called The Outsider, which is arguably the original ghoul story.

Read it here: The Outsider

We'll hopefully re-convene to discuss it on Monday 10 September, though I will postpone any comment on it myself until we've heard Snowy's thoughts on Pickman's Model.

[Snowy]

While we wait for Snowy

Sorry I am being a shit member of this group, as I have been far too busy being a lazy shit sprawled in the sun, eating and drinking and not posting.

I will post thoughts at some stage but don’t wAit on me please, normal service will resume once I am back in Blighty

[Stormbringer]

Just enjoy your holiday, Snowy!


You can catch up with us hard-working folks later. ¬_¬

[Sly Boots]

I read the story already, btw.

[Stormbringer]

We'll give Mantis and Gibby until Monday morning to read it, as you know what Gibby's like with his wild social life, and Mantis is a workaholic.

[Sly Boots]

Oh, I know, I just figured I'd start the show of hands...