miss_yt

I recently finished listening to an audiobook containing the complete (I think) works of H.P. Lovecraft. On the whole, I found it rather disappointing. Perhaps it's just a matter of sensibilities or the fact that I encountered so many parodies of his work before encountering the original, but I found his stuff more funny in a pompous kind of way than scary. It would be freakin' hilarious if I were drunk.

Speaking of which, I think the works of Lovecraft - at least, the stuff relating to the "Great Old Ones" - is good material for a drinking game. I am going to call this game "Shoggoth's Old Peculiar" after Neil Gaiman's Lovecraft parody of the same name.

Shoggoth's Old Peculiar

Participants either pass around a copy of Lovecraft's work and read from it aloud, or designate one person to remain sober and read for them. They take a shot of their drink of choice every time they come across one of the following:

A remark or term that is racist and/or classist
eldritch
gibbous
squeamous
batracian
unnamed
horror
unholy/blasphemous
devolved

I would appreciate any additions to this list, but any references to the names of the actual Old Ones, the chant to Cthulhu, or mentions of places in New England should be excluded on the grounds that they would end the game practically before it starts.

As I said, I did not enjoy Lovecraft's work very much, at least not the Great Old Ones stuff. But I did actually like his series of short stories about a young doctor who obsessively conducts grave experiments with the aim of reanimating dead bodies. Those stories aren't as famous as the Old Ones material, but I think on the whole they are of better quality.


IRL: I had lunch with nightengalesmknd, who will soon be off for far-flung West Virginia to begin her medical internship. Congrats, but try not to go crazy during the process of moving.