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Episode 422 - Strange Eons - Part 1 (Patreon)

Published:
2018-10-06 17:19:52
Edited:
2019-01-04 01:49:49
Imported:
2021-07

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Content

BLOCKTOBERFEST kicks off with Strange Eons by Robert Bloch!

Check out The Night Ocean by Repairer of Reputations - selections featured in this show.

Special thanks to reader Andrew Leman!

We'll be back next week with more Strange Eons!

Comments

Anonymous

Chiming in at the start of the episode: that portrait is the EXACT painting Pickman was still working on in "Pickman's Model"--the one that had the curled-up photograph tacked to it. Here it appears, in its completed and moribund glory.

Anonymous
>>16099995

Mid-episode follow-up: a Lovecraft-based serial murderer could knock out a few killings, if they got creative enough and have the means. They could chew someone's face off and hang them on a windowsill ("The Lurking Fear"), strangle someone with a four-foot braid of hair ("Medusa's Coil"), rip someone limb from limb in a basement adjacent to a graveyard ("Herbert West: Reanimator"), and/or mangle them with a flaming wheat thresher and pose what's left of the body in the pincers of a waxen idol of Rhan-Tegoth ("The Horror in the Museum"). If the killer has a background in stage magic, they could stretch it even farther, like by doing the ol' "pulling a huge rat from someone's chest" trick, ala "The Dreams in the Witch-House."

Anonymous

I found a copy for $17 so this will be the first novel I've read along with the podcast!

Anonymous

I read this one as a kid by way of the public library. If I remember correctly, some versions have a preface by Bloch that includes some defensive notes on HPL, and the speculation that, had he lived longer, he would have gotten further out of his shell and been more accepting of people over time. I sort of bought it at the time, but now think it may include some wishful thinking. Anyway, this novel felt like a mix of HPL's ideas and more conventional stories. Even Bloch's most violent stories include elements of humor and the equivalent of punchlines though, so the inclusion of humor here could be open to interpretation, as opposed to confirming any particular intentions in itself.

Anonymous

I had this book on my to buy list forever,it is relatively expensive in both paperback and hardcover.After you guys posted I looked again and finally found the holy grail.”, the hardcover signed with slipcase.Abe’s Books had one for $50 ,which in fine condition is a steal.I know about the book ,it is weird and some people think it is about real events.On a side note I just finished reading Dunwich:A Novel by Peter Levenda ,the 2nd part of a trilogy which is a mix of Delta Green,Crowley and Lovecraft of course.And Simon is a character in that novel as well ,obviously.

Anonymous

I think that the whole idea of this book was to expose a new audience to the works of his mentor. All of the Lovecraft references that are so obvious to us, who are so familiar with HPL's stories, would not have been obvious at all to people in the mid-70s. Lovecraft's work was virtually impossible for the average reader to get hold of, so this would have been the very first exposure these readers had to HPL's work. I think Bloch was hoping that some of the readers would be motivated to do the legwork necessary to track down Lovecraft's work, and when the reader was reading those stories there would be repeated moments of recognition from his novel.

Anonymous

Calling the winds “Santa Ana” is actually a linguistic shift from “Santana” which is a name for The Devil, or maybe it’s just a word meaning a devil/demon. Because at some point there was a superstition that the winds drove people insane, or at least we can all agree they bring illness (in the form of hay fever). So it would make sense to call them Devil Winds or Demon Winds.

Anonymous
>>16102354

Wait, really? That explains why Pandemonium, one of the chaotic evil-aligned planes in AD&D, is constantly whipped by shrill winds that drive anyone who can hear them insane.

Anonymous

As soon as I heard “...sitting in a chair at the far end of the room...” I was reminded of a time when I was playing Call of Cthulhu over the internet and during one of the first sessions I sent the guy running it a side message that said something like. “Okay so can my character deduce what’s going on here or do you want me to pretend I don’t know what it means when a person I’m supposed to be meeting with sits at the far end of a dimly lit hot room wearing winter clothing and buzzing at me?”

Anonymous
>>16102726

And when you said, “...is this supposed to be a joke?” I laughed so hard I hurt myself.

Anonymous

AND THIRDLY, I think doing an episode on books that are hard to get are even more important than books we can follow along with. (Although a mix of both is delightful.)

Anonymous
>>16101691

Yeah. I don’t think we are the target audience here. In a way it’s kinda like how my friends tell me I’m their own personal Doctor Who DVD extra. I don’t go around grabbing my friends by the lapels and scream “YOU MUST WATCH THIS”, because I know not everything is for everybody. But I wear my T-shirts, jewelry, and costumes, and I drink out of my TARDIS mugs, etc. And when my friends decide to try it, inevitably something comes up that I’ve previously exposed them to.... Although Block is clearly making an effort to draw in the “not we” And I’m just going about my nerdy business. I think being “inoculated” with exposure to an element of a thing by somebody that you like can make you more likely to enjoy it when you decide for yourself to try it. Though the reverse is also true, which is why I don’t try to aggressively proselytize for the things I like. I just go about my day and hope I don’t ruin anything for anybody... ...What were we taking about again?

Robert Daniel Pickard

<a href="https://goo.gl/images/8gLTxD" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://goo.gl/images/8gLTxD</a> tentacle bear from Strange Eons - Robert Bloch Pinnacle Books

Anonymous

Cognitive dissonance. The plot is something a high-schooler might have cobbled together as their first foray into strung-together sketches that create a classic movie (think Monty Python or Mel Brooks or any of the SNL character vehicles) . . . *but* some of the descriptive writing is superb. That is to say that *what* happens is rather disappointing, but *how* it happens is delightful.

Anonymous

I just ordered a copy of this book for $18, which hopefully will arrive soon enough for me to read for the last two shows, or worst case the last show. I'll reserve final judgment on what I am about to say until I have actually read it, but it seems to me from listening to this episode that the book wouldn't really be effective in getting someone that doesn't know about Lovecraft interested in him. It feels like someone that didn't know Lovecraft pretty well wouldn’t get much of anything from this book. I think of it so far more like "High Anxiety," which might be a bit funny without prior knowledge of the films it pays homage to, but the whole point is for the audience to have seen "The Birds," "Vertigo," etc. and enjoy seeing memorable scenes satirized… or in the case of “Strange Eons,” just referred to. It is a bit difficult to know exactly how to take the density and specificity of all of the references thrown in so far, but I think it has to be a least a bit satirical? Not sure, perhaps further reading/episodes will shed more light on that. When you were going on about how stupid the “You fool Beckman is dead!” concept is, i was laughing, but you guys aren’t looking at it the right way. That’s the supernatural part. Obviously not a serial killer because he’d have to be waiting by the phone the whole time. So it must be a some evil entity or Nyarlathotep or something. Terrifying…. or not. It did remind me, however of Alan Moore using a similar bit as a joke in “Neonomicon.” After infiltrating a sex-cult based on the works of Lovecraft, the protagonist and her partner, Warren are revealed to be poser cops and captured. When she calls out to Warren for help, one of the cultists says, “You fool, Warren is dead.” To which another cultist replies something like, “Ha, good one.”

Anonymous

Having now read all of Michael Shea's Lovecraftian fiction in advance of future Shea related episodes, I have to say that there is a bit of "the fiction of HPL is real" stuff going on in his work as well, but handled in a bit more subtle way. Of course it would be difficult to handle it in a less subtle way than Bloch does in "Strange Eons."

Anonymous

I just wanted to say when you guys were discussing how some listeners felt shamed because they didn't read all the stories you talked about that I was absolutely in that group. But there have been a ton of stories that you guys have covered that I had never heard of. But once you covered them on your show and they sounded interesting, I went back and read them, and several of them have become my favorite stories ever. The Human Chair is incredible! I loved The Willows and would never had read it without you guys talking about it! And there are so many more. I just really wanted to thank you guys because you've made my weekends better for years and it's really meant a lot to me.

Anonymous
>>16101167

I picked up a copy as well and if it comes in time, it will be the second novel I've read along with the show, leaving out the Shea collection I just read as it is not a novel. The first for me was actually "Wuthering Heights".

Anonymous
>>16111068

Indeed in the Colour out of Time, HPL is generously handing elder signs to ambitious farm girls. Actually Shea is using the same "read all of HPL stories then come back to me" pattern there.

Anonymous

Glad the book is getting the full treatment, I was afraid you might rush it to fit the "clocktober". I agree the namedrop game is weird, still it gets less heavy-handed as the story unfolds (or maybe one just gets used to it).

Anonymous

Also as I read the book, more than once I could feel the young Bloch resurfacing. There's something "boyish" in the way he writes, not so much laughable as naïve at times (ok there's laughable stuff too) which is surprising given when this was written.

Anonymous
>>16111258

If you enjoyed that story, I would recommend "the Caterpillar" by Rampo which has possible themes of anti-militarism and female power, which is of course embedded in the kind of twisted story he writes. Another story that is more intellectual but still a total trip is "the hell of mirrors."

Steve

Sounds like a joke to me too, a bit of a corny one too - Yog-sothery for Fun and Profit, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Tentacle. But I am enjoying it nonetheless.

Lee Russell

Michael Shea managed to inject some humour in his "HPL reported real shit" stories, without going overboard, and still crafting some really creepy fiction, but Bloch obviously had a different agenda here, so I cut him slack. Nothing wrong with Bloch's approach, but it can be a struggle for anyone who knows HLP's work. Although Bloch is trying to educate novices to HPL's work, in a modern context I can't help but feeling it's like watching a modern horror film that tries too hard to wink and nod to all of it's influences from past films. "See what I did there, audience? That was like what Carpenter did in THE THING! Get it? Eh?".

Anonymous

Yea, this is like a terrible fanboy CoC role play scenario, but that's the reason I'm digging it so far! It's fun to try and guess what story each murder is based on before revealed. Though, true, Lovecraft did not have a large fan base back then, it leads me to wonder whether or not Bloch was writing this for those who knew Lovecraft's work or those who didn't. Since, it seems those in the "in-crowd" would understand what was taking place here more. It's just meant to be solely a fun experience I think, as any fanboy role play scenario would be. Please don't give it the "Lair of the White Worm" treatment! Also, perhaps Bloch is not just paying homage to Lovecraft here. I get the feeling he's also catering to Derlerth's ground-breaking style of "snatch and grab" narration!

Anonymous

I will feel guilty for not doing all the readings if I want to.

Jason Thompson
>>16120900

OMG! That's exactly what it's like -- a too-referential horror film!! Haha! It's still fun though

Anonymous

Hey folks. You lot seen that Ghost adventures from the Travel channel have been coming up with some crazy Lovecraftian spoofs of their own? <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Q8q0u3BkaQ" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Q8q0u3BkaQ</a>

Anonymous

I read this book via a public library, too, long long ago.

Anonymous

Just going to leave this here... <a href="https://www.geekycaps.com/product.php?id=227" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.geekycaps.com/product.php?id=227</a>

Anonymous

It's a clip show!

Anonymous

Chris, you're right...it looks like a bear (but with mange). Google "bear with mange". #nightmarefuel

Anonymous

This is really reminiscent of Pulp Time, another Lovecraft-Was-Right story published by Arkham House that's absolutely wild. Of course, it's set in the time when Lovecraft was living in New York and it features Frank Bellknap Long (no idea how the writer managed that one, given that FBL was *still alive* when it was published!) and Sherlock Holmes. Yes, that one. They have to solve a Horror At Red Hook-type scenario, except with significantly less racism (though tbh that's not hard to do for Red Hook). If y'all ever want to cover it, I'd be happy to scan and send it your way! My copy was a little hard to get a hold of.

Anonymous

Consulted with my fellow gays and we have concurred Bloch absolutely has us clocked--we are ALWAYS cruisin for freaky items like antique paintings of ghouls.