Podsothoth: A Lovecraft Book Club

A reading of HP Lovecraft's The Evil Clergyman, first published in the April, 1939 issue of Weird Tales, and first read here by Tod in October, 2024.

As this is a horror podcast, this episode might not be for everyone. Notably, this story features an attempted suicide by hanging, an accidental manslaughter, book burning, the Anglican church, possession or possibly hallucination, and abnormally high foreheads. If these elements are likely to disturb you, you should skip this episode.

And hey, happy Halloween!. Also just around the corner is the American election for President, and many other offices. You know our politics. If you want to help us beat back fascism in the USA, check out Vote Save America: https://votesaveamerica.com

We are not going back.

You can text us now. Why? That’s between you and your Elder God.

Support the show

Like the show? Say so with money! Or just hang out with us on Mastodon, at @[email protected]. Or email us at [email protected]. Best thing? Rate us (positively!) in your favorite podcast app. That helps other people find the show!

In this episode, we present a lecture and discussion on issue spotting and the nightmarish legal landscape that Lovecraft and his characters occupy. Featuring a barely audible Tod, and a very audible Claire and Harley, presenting their findings in Vanitas Horrendum Lex: From Beyond The Bar.

This was recorded live at NecoronomiCon Providence on August 16, 2024, in the beautiful Omni Hotel.

You can text us now. Why? That’s between you and your Elder God.

Support the show

Like the show? Say so with money! Or just hang out with us on Mastodon, at @[email protected]. Or email us at [email protected]. Best thing? Rate us (positively!) in your favorite podcast app. That helps other people find the show!

Tod and Claire discuss "The Festival," by H.P. Lovecraft, which was was first published in the January, 1925 issue of Weird Tales. As this is a horror podcast, this episode might not be for everyone. Specifically, this story deals with Yuletide and the winter solstice, madness, probable hallucinated delusions, hybridized winged monsters, cultic activity, the silent treatment,  claustrophobia, atonal piping, the Necronomicon, an attempted suicide, and the resultant hospitalization. If such things are likely to bother you, you are urged to skip this episode. If you have a problem with our lefty politics, then you definitely want to skip this and all other discussion episodes.

---

Stay tuned for the bonus episode, "Vanitas Horendum Lex: From Beyond the Bar!" Editing is nearly done. In the meantime, you can listen to the runaway hit album (hitness not guaranteed) "Speakeasy on Yuggoth" at:

https://podsothoth.bandcamp.com

Stream it for free, or save it for dollars. Seems fair!

Read about Liminal, a pretty easy and fun urban fantasy RPG:

https://modiphius.net/en-us/collections/liminal

Want to ruin your life savings by getting really involved in a collectible trading card game? Great, get super invested in Magic: The Gathering. But, if you just want a fun little hobby collecting a much better game may I suggest _Vampire: The Eternal Struggle_ (formerly known as _Jyhad_), and specifically, Wesley Dodds' Ebay store:

https://www.ebay.com/str/ricksjyhadandvtescardshop

He has just oodles of these cards and wants to trade with you.

Here are the materials provided by Matthew, as mentioned on the show. Thanks Matthew!
* Annotated edition of *Fungi from Yuggoth* by David E. Schultz, with illustrations by Jason Eckhardt, from Hippocampus Press: https://www.hippocampuspress.com/h.-p.-lovecraft/poetry/fungi-from-yuggoth-by-h.-p.-lovecraft-an-annotated-edition-paperback
* Anne K. Schwader's sonnet cycle *In the Yaddith Time,* inspired by *Fungi from Yuggoth,* included in her collected works *Twisted in Dream,* from Hippocampus Press: https://www.hippocampuspress.com/mythos-and-other-authors/poetry/twisted-in-dream-the-collected-weird-poetry-of-ann-k.-schwader
* Wilum Pugmire’s prose poems responding to each sonnet in *Fungi from Yuggoth,* found in his collection *Monstrous Aftermath,* from Hippocampus Press: https://www.hippocampuspress.com/mythos-and-other-authors/fiction/monstrous-aftermath-by-w.-h.-pugmire
* Reading of the sonnets by John Arthur, with original music by Mike Olsen and bonus tracks by Farnese (the Farnese tracks were approved by HPL in 1932), from Fedogan & Bremer: https://fedoganandbremer.com/products/fungi-from-yuggoth-deluxe-2-disk-set

Want to get in touch? Search for "Podsothoth" on TikTok, Mastodon, or YouTube and you're bound to find us. Or, email us directly: [email protected] and feel free to include a pronunciation guide for your preferred name.

You can text us now. Why? That’s between you and your Elder God.

Support the show

Like the show? Say so with money! Or just hang out with us on Mastodon, at @[email protected]. Or email us at [email protected]. Best thing? Rate us (positively!) in your favorite podcast app. That helps other people find the show!

A reading of H.P. Lovecraft's "The Festival," which was first published in the January, 1925 issue of Weird Tales, and first read by Tod on September 2, 2024.

As this is a horror podcast, this episode might not be for everyone. Specifically, this story deals with Yuletide and the winter solstice, madness, probable hallucinated delusions, hybridized winged monsters, cultic activity, the silent treatment,  claustrophobia, atonal piping, the Necronomicon, an attempted suicide, and the resultant hospitalization. If such things are likely to bother you, you are urged to skip this episode. Also, there's a creepy audio effect at the end which I quite enjoy, but you might find a little unsettling.

Ambiance for this episode is from Dark Chantings Occult Temple Music by Santino. It's droning and off-putting. Check it out!

Only one editorial choice was made on this episode, and that was substituting out an archaic ableist slur for the less problematic "mute." 

You can text us now. Why? That’s between you and your Elder God.

Support the show

Like the show? Say so with money! Or just hang out with us on Mastodon, at @[email protected]. Or email us at [email protected]. Best thing? Rate us (positively!) in your favorite podcast app. That helps other people find the show!

Only lightly edited for loudness normalization, this is the live Fungi From Yuggoth discussion recorded at NecronomiCon 2024. If AI generated music offends you, then you definitely want to skip this episode, and we shall never speak of this again. In fact, you should never go looking for such things at https://podsothoth.bandcamp.com,

You can text us now. Why? That’s between you and your Elder God.

Support the show

Like the show? Say so with money! Or just hang out with us on Mastodon, at @[email protected]. Or email us at [email protected]. Best thing? Rate us (positively!) in your favorite podcast app. That helps other people find the show!

You have received the enclosed special interruption. Please make a note of it.

Also, we have a TikTok now, and hope to throw some video there somewhat routinely.

We also, somehow, maintain the NecronomiCon Mastodon account, at https://mastodon.boston/@NecronomiconPVD . Give it a follow!

Finally, feel free to write in about Episode 55, "The Fungi from Yuggoth," or really anything else, if you want your missives mentioned in the next episode as well as live on stage at the Black Box Theater or at the symposium presentation the following morning. Drop a line to [email protected] with your mad scribbles, especially if those scribbles contain a funny legal question for our crack team of Lovecraftian Lawyers.

Sounds for this episode were sourced from SpeechGen.io and Morse Coder

You can text us now. Why? That’s between you and your Elder God.

Support the Show.

Like the show? Say so with money! Or just hang out with us on Mastodon, at @[email protected]. Or email us at [email protected]. Best thing? Rate us (positively!) in your favorite podcast app. That helps other people find the show!

A reading of "The Fungi From Yuggoth," by H.P. Lovecraft, first published in its entirety in _Beyond the Wall of Sleep_ by Arkham House in 1943, though published individually and sporadically in _Weird Tales_ and other magazines after they were completed on January 4th, 1930.  It was first read by Tod on July 21, 2024.

As this is a horror podcast, this episode might not be for everyone. Specifically, this sequence of sonnets deals with shoplifting, several ancient farmhouses, glimpses of alien worlds, madness, and some very scary tickle monsters. If such elements are likely to disturb or offend you, you are urged to skip this episode.

On the other hand, if you'd like to dive into Lovecraft's poetry, we'll be discussing this sequence of sonnets, as well as other Lovecraftian nonsense live and in person, on Thursday, August 15, 2024 at 7:00pm at the historic Black Box Theater in downtown Providence, Rhode Island. Come join us, as audience participation will be encouraged, though not required. Ticketing info can be found at https://hugesuccess.org/necro2024, and entrance is free for NecronomiCon badge holders.

The complete text can be found on HPLovecraft.com, at https://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/poetry/p289.aspx

The ambience sounds for this episode can be found at "Ambiance:  Star Trek TNG Warp Core Ambient Engine Noise," at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRk-DQUUlz8

You can text us now. Why? That’s between you and your Elder God.

Support the show

Like the show? Say so with money! Or just hang out with us on Mastodon, at @[email protected]. Or email us at [email protected]. Best thing? Rate us (positively!) in your favorite podcast app. That helps other people find the show!

Send your Lovecraftian legal questions to Claire at [email protected] (not dot-com, dot-club)! Have you been driven insane by glimpsing the ineffable chaos of Azathoth during a seance? Has a loved one been lost to the dark guiles of Nyarlathotep? You may be entitled to compensation!

In this episode, Claire and Tod discuss "The Thing In the Moonlight," by H.P. Lovecraft and J. Chapman Miske, first published in the January, 1941 issue of Bizzare, which was based on a letter from Lovecraft to Donald Wandrei in November of 1927.

As this is a horror podcast, this episode might not be for everyone. This discussion, in particular, involves the forbidden art of oneiromancy, the unspeakable crime of taking 28 samples at an ice cream parlor, and ends up with some pretty juvenile potty-talk about buttholes (thanks, Kris!). If such elements are likely to disturb or offend you, you are urged to skip this episode.

Hey, get your tickets for our live show! Only $10, and details are at https://hugesuccess.org/necro2024 . But even better, you should just get a pass to NecronomiCon proper, at https://necronomicon-providence.com, and come to our show for free! NecronomiCon this year runs August 15-18, 2024. Ia! Ia! Cthulhu? F'Tagn! F'Tagn? Cthulhu!

You can text us now. Why? That’s between you and your Elder God.

Support the show

Like the show? Say so with money! Or just hang out with us on Mastodon, at @[email protected]. Or email us at [email protected]. Best thing? Rate us (positively!) in your favorite podcast app. That helps other people find the show!

A reading of "The Thing In the Moonlight," by H.P. Lovecraft and J. Chapman Miske. This story was first published in the January, 1941 issue of Bizzare, and is based on a letter from Lovecraft to Donald Wandrei in November of 1927. It was first read by Tod on July 21, 2024.

As this is a horror podcast, this episode might not be for everyone. This story involves a swampy dreamscape, an ancient trolley car, and a furtive yet fruitless escape from a howling motorman monster, all as part of a never-ending nightmare. If such elements are likely to disturb or offend you, you are urged to skip this episode.

Ambience for this episode is from Dream Era (Dark Ambient Hour) by Iron Cthulhu Apocalypse. Check it out, as it's pretty spooky, and if you're into that sort of thing, visit their Bandcamp. Remember, buying music from artists who list on Bandcamp ensures that the artist gets way, way more money than from the streaming services.

You can text us now. Why? That’s between you and your Elder God.

Support the show

Like the show? Say so with money! Or just hang out with us on Mastodon, at @[email protected]. Or email us at [email protected]. Best thing? Rate us (positively!) in your favorite podcast app. That helps other people find the show!

In which Tod and Claire discuss HP Lovecraft's "The Picture in the House," first published in the July, 1919 issue of The National Amateur. You can read the complete text at hplovecraft.com.

As this is a horror podcast, this episode might not be for everyone. Specifically, this story focuses quite a bit on cannibalism, as practiced in the unexplored Congo and backwoods New England, as well as an overstuffing of queso, a probable death by lightning strike (or, as Claire believes, an axe to the head), a singularly unkempt front lawn, and a side discussion of Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) and how it's the greatest "folk horror" movie of all time. If such elements are likely to disturb or offend you, you are urged to skip this episode.

Hey, want to read NoCornflake's treatment of Pickman's Model? Check it out at WattPad!

Want to catch Tod and Claire and HARLEY GEIGER at NecronomiCon? Go get tickets, or swing by https://hugesuccess.org/necro2024 for updates!

You can text us now. Why? That’s between you and your Elder God.

Support the show

Like the show? Say so with money! Or just hang out with us on Mastodon, at @[email protected]. Or email us at [email protected]. Best thing? Rate us (positively!) in your favorite podcast app. That helps other people find the show!