Dapper Cthulhu

Lovecraft’s Creations Re-Envisaged Through the Steampunk / Victorian Lens

Dapper Cthulhu by Daniel B Demented

More artwork and merchandise via Red Bubble: http://www.redbubble.com/people/danielbdemented/works/9809363-dapper-cthulhu?p=art-print

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Get into a Cthulhu Fetish Mask

The Cthulhu Mythos meets Steampunk Iron – Work by Artisan Tom Howell

Get your rubber on – creation by Tom Howell

A lovely bit of steampunk design by Tom Howell. Brings to mind the idea of a human hybrid with Star Spawn of Cthulhu, armoured up for conflict in the coming Mythos Wars (Yellow Dawn – The Age of Hastur).  Or possibly this is equipment required for breathing in an alien atmosphere; the hybrids ride Byakhee to visit basalt cities similar to R’lyeh on worlds orbiting distant stars.

If you’re a fan of the evolution of H.P.Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos through different time periods and genres, then take a peek at Oakfield. A new novel that combines Cyberpunk technology in a near-future tale of dark suspense.  It is available in paperback from LULU and Kindle from Amazon (£ UK, or $ US).

Personal Blog: Getting into a Cthulhu Groove

¦ Dialing in from the Arnolfini ¦

Supping coffee and watching the tail end of Bertha’s butt swing through the city. The long period of weeks of endless warm sunny weather came to an end in dramatic fashion this weekend, with heavy squally rain lashing the country (remains of hurricane Bertha). I was in London and watched a downpour come in so suddenly, and with such force, that a crowd of people sitting outside a cafe eating alfresco abruptly got up and ran as if a dinosaur had just arrived to eat them – food, luggage (tourists) and other items just abandoned so people could escape  the fury. And a few minutes later, glorious sunshine. Hmm, like an average day in Bergen.

It’s been quiet few days.  Very little actual writing.  Some marketing.  Some fleshing out of the plot structure for Broken Fury.  Oakfield, first draft, is finished and waiting for me to start editing. Sunder Gloom and Rise of the Iconoclast are sitting comfortably on the back burner.

Friends from New York are visiting England so I went to London to spend a couple days there with them. I do love London, such an epic city to spend time within.  My friends have rented the house of a certain Earl and Countess of […] who rent their place out to people willing to pay the price tag. When I got to Notting Hill and saw the place I thought I had walked into a movie set. Five floors of space and luxury. The Countess used to be a fashion editor for Vogue magazine and now focuses her creative energy on interior design – it really shows, the place is incredible. Very Bowie and Deneuve. Think 1983!  I took a shed load of photos but have a 2 months backlog on images I am working through so I will write them up in a separate post.

Catherine Deneuve (1983)

Back to Bristol and a friend from Spain came over to visit me and my lady.  Sharky Bones McCoy. Only a short trip unfortunately.  Spent the end of one night hunkered down on blankets in the Sky Bunker, clutching whisky in cut crystal glasses and listening to an audio story:  H.P.Lovecraft’s The Dunwich Horror (featuring Yog-Sothoth) – a really excellent production that weaves theatrical radio-style performances between scenes of pure narration.  Spooky, tense and ultimately spine-chilling when the horror itself begins to unfold across the tangled landscape of Dunwich.  Side note: back in 1999 I drove up to Boston from New York, and then plunged westwards, using the map included in Chaosium’s Call of Cthulhu product to try to pin point where I thought the region of Dunwich might be.  I found it. Round topped hills and deep plunging ravines, isolated creeks and strange grottos. All that was missing was the rings of stones. Fantastic experience.  A few years later I went to the Catskill Mountains for some more Lovecraft-in-Nature. 

David J Rodger in Catskill Mountains

Next morning, Sharky and I sat in the living room with pots of strong coffee and watched Cthulhu (2007).  Directed by Dan Gildark and written by Grant Cogswell it borrows heavily from H.P.Lovecraft’s Shadow over Innsmouth.  I don’t believe it ever set out to actually recreate that story.  The movie has some really bad reviews (it scores less than 5 out of 10 on IMDB) and I can totally relate to why so many people have an issue with it, but I really really like the movie. There is an angle to the story around the main character’s sexuality that helps to unsettle mainstream audiences but also makes sense within the context of the essential story: what do these people really want from him?!  For a movie that didn’t come out of a big studio, I would say they did decent-enough job – and they totally nail the feeling of oppression being trapped in a small town where something very wrong is taking place beneath the surface.  Of course, I want Guillermo del Toro to hurry and get on with At The Mountains of Madness and see what a big budget adaptation of Lovecraft will look like – so long as the creative team can fight off the asshats who will demand a love interest and happy ending (both mutually exclusive to H.P.Lovecraft).

Movie poster for Cthulhu (2007)

New novel covers. One polished gem.  When the Guardian reviewed one of my novels – The Black Lake – the feedback was really excellent, warts and all.  Two issues raised were inherent to me being very much a one-man band – namely the covers needed to be better and the editing could be improved upon.  A few weeks ago I commissioned a designer called The Sprezz to come up with 12 new covers and a consistent brand – I met him in London this weekend, good progress and I am very excited by the look he has come up with.  Last week I recruited an editor to polish up Dog Eat Dog to a diamond shine.  A lot of people said Dog Eat Dog could be / should be a best-seller but my current position in the market place counts against me  – indie authors still have to fight off a certain stigma despite rafts of five-star reviews.  So anything that helps the book gain even a little bit extra traction is a good thing.  Polishing it up and giving it a new cover as part of the general overhaul may see it accelerate ahead in sales, or may make no difference what-so-ever – time will tell. I am looking at this as an experiment. Getting this done is all a few months away still but I will drop a note here when ready.

That’s it!

 

Nice mention of my work in this new release: a Compilation of Cthulhu Artwork and Compendium to Madness

Cthulhu: Dark Fantasy, Horror & Supernatural Movies (Gothic Dreams), an Illustrated Hardcover by Gordon Kerr with Foreword from John Harlacher (Weird Tales!)

Hardback cover of Cthulhu (Gothic Dreams) – CLICK TO BUY ON AMAZON

 

“H.P.Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos touches those sensitive to the boundary of our reality, the Quantisphere and where it brushes up against the fury and the hunger of the Outer Chaos.”

 

SNIP: Oakfield gets to 55,000 words – new novel covers in development

SNIP

Saturday. Productive already despite sitting here in the Sky Bunker like one of my own horror creations – due to lack of sleep last night. Happens from time to time.  Ugh.

Just finished my 45 minutes on Oakfield, now up to 55,000 words. Slow, enjoyable and good progress over these last few months. Yesterday had email from TheSprezz with first scamps of new designs for novel covers. I’ve commissioned him to do the 8 existing novels and the four new ones I’m now working on. Idea is to relaunch the entire collection this summer or autumn, then drip feed out the new novels once they’re finished… everything with a consistent brand. Very excited by what I’ve seen so far and very happy to have TheSprezz doing it, based on his excellent work with the UTOC Public Safety Notice I commissioned him to do several years ago (which went viral) and the Power of Eight Group logo.

Also had a voice mail on my phone yesterday from a friend who had just bought Cthulhu: Dark Fantasy, Horror & Supernatural Movies (Gothic Dreams), a new book brimming with incredible artwork and punchy text describing how fantasy art, literature, movies and even games have been influenced by the terrifying Cthulhu… and there’s a mention of my work in there. Foreword by John Harlacher and written by Gordon Kerr. Fantastic bit of news. Thank you chaps! More on that in a separate blog. Right, time for coffee and creativity.

Djr

Dark Art ¦ Varied Depiction of Great Cthulhu

Great Old One, Cthulhu, Departs the Burning Ruins of a 21st Century City

Great Cthulhu Departs – Artist Unknown, please advise so I can credit

Not the usual depiction of H.P.Lovecraft’s Great Cthulhu but I really like the very understated simplicity of the form; and the fact it is tall, upright and sinewy provides an alternative depiction of this cosmic alien horror.  Apologies to the artist: could not find actual source so please advise so I can credit. Lovely work.

If you’re not familiar with Cthulhu or the provocative ideas of American author H.P.Lovecraft, you can read his seminal short story The Call of Cthulhu.

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Spotlight: Entry level access to the Cyberpunk Cthulhu Mythos mash-up that defines Rodger’s work

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David J Rodger – DATA

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Freak Fashion: Custom Cthulhu Pumps

Custom Cthulhu Pumps – shoes for girls who love to tease with tentacles

If you’re going to get down on your hands and knees to agonize before the altar of Great Cthulhu, at least have your priestess standing over you with her feet in a pair of these.  Might get you a bonus on your 1d100 Anxiety / Cool roll.

Custom Cthulhu Pumps – image via The Lovecraftsman

Heels to die for – or just lose your soul and sanity

Not sure where you can acquire such a fine pair of feline firecrackers but I’m sure you could ask The Lovecraftsman who posted about them on his superb blog site.

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David J Rodger – DATA

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