Trouble in Lovecraft Land - We're All Better Than This

Firstly, I apologize for the lack of updates to the blog. I've been keeping busy with fiction editing for Strange Aeons magazine, as well as writing reviews for the next issue and starting a new column of booze/cigar/book pairings. I've also been reviewing books and discussing news of The Weird on The Outer Dark podcast.

The weird fiction community means a lot to me. I started to become involved back in 2012 when I started the blog, but it wasn't until NecronomiCon 2013 that I met everyone. I couldn't have imagined a warmer welcome, and since then I've come to regard many of my colleagues as good friends.

Since then, there's been many petty feuds and disagreements. The boat is rocked sometimes, but things usually right themselves fairly quickly. In the past several months tensions have been on the rise, and due to political differences many find themselves taking a side, or doing their best to stay out of it while shaking their heads at how absurd it's all become. Science Fiction had the Sad Puppies to deal with, but that fiasco managed to infect genre as a whole. Robert Price made a speech at NecronomiCon 2015 which likened the Middle East to Lovecraft's Red Hook, and this moment was when lines begin to solidify.

The most recent issue was the decision to change the World Fantasy Award from a bust of Lovecraft to something more neutral. While many argued on either side, it's an issue that should have been dropped weeks ago, yet instead it continues to grow and become one of the biggest problems the community has faced.

ST Joshi has always been a very well respected member in the field, and the most well-known and productive scholar of HP Lovecraft. He is, understandably when one looks at his life's work, not happy about the change of the WFA. Here is a man who by all rights knows Lovecraft more than anyone. His initial protest was just that, one man making a statement against a change he couldn't stomach. If he wants to return his WFAs then so be it, that's his business. But it doesn't end there.

Joshi, and others, have been making increasingly uglier posts about the situation. It seems there are several people, including but not limited to Joshi, who feel that removing the Lovecraft bust is the first step in removing Lovecraft from everything. And this is where things get out of hand, and some people need to step back, calm down, and look at things like the intelligent adults we all know they are. Lovecraft's legacy is not going anywhere. Most of the people who were for the change don't want Lovecraft erased at all!

Changing the statue and being a fan of Lovecraft are not mutually exclusive. I think the change was a good idea. The award itself has moved away from what it started as, and it was never called the HP Lovecraft Award. In actuality, I had no strong feelings either way in the beginning, the award holders have every right to decide how their award appears, but after hearing arguments it is for the best that the award changes.

With that being said, I love Lovecraft. My blog takes its name from his work, as an homage to the author responsible for bringing me into the world of weird fiction in the first place. I have a house full of Lovecraftiana, be it artwork (those Liv Rainey-Smith woodcuts though!) or sculptures (my toddler nephews love looking at McKittrick and Broers takes on Cthulhu) or books. My League of Legends username is Señor Cthulhu (add me if you want, but I'm terrible). My friends have spent hours drinking booze and playing Arkham Horror. My students draw me pictures of Cthulhu. You get the picture.

So there. I'm a huge fan of Lovecraft, and I'm all for the award changing. It's that simple. Joshi and friends are smart enough that they should be able to understand that the award change does not mean that Lovecraft's influence is trying to be denied or pushed aside or covered up. There is no reason for the ugliness we are now all experiencing.

In the past week I have seen Joshi's wife telling a poet that he must not want to work with any publisher affiliated with Joshi because he posted that he disagreed with Joshi's wording on the issue. This poet was on Joshi's side in regards to the statue changing. If that's not pure insanity, I don't know what is. In the latest blog post, Joshi went after many authors and editors including Ellen Datlow, the genre's greatest editor, and Jeff Vandermeer, one of the most important voices of the the weird working today. The vitriol being spat out questions Datlow's integrity for being pro-change yet editing Lovecraftian anthologies, and accusing Vandermeer of "[...] failing to grasp the immensely complex social, political, cultural, and historical factors surrounding this entire issue." Datlow and Vandermeer have been the most inclusive editors out there. Datlow is one of the most well-read, intelligent, and kind editors working in the field. To question her morality is so ridiculously insulting it actually made my jaw drop to read it. Vandermeer has made it a mission to show readers the truer, broader horizons of weird fiction. He doesn't dismiss Lovecraft, but makes it clear that Lovecraft is a small part of the entirety of the weird. His anthology The Weird showcases this perfectly. Joshi goes on to say that all of these authors and editors will be forgotten while Lovecraft's legacy will remain, a petty and gross thing to say, taking the issue of the statue change to a very personal level.

And the situation is not limited to Joshi. Associates are now circling wagons. Some publishers are now deciding not to publish people for being on one side of the issue. The "Old Guard" and the "New Blood" seem to be truly at odds for the first time, and it's really not pretty at all.

I know most of this post comes across as anti-Joshi, and while it's true that I feel he is acting really out of hand and taking this issue much further than it needs to be, sinking to the depths of foot-stomping and making personal attacks, I don't want to use any of this as an attempt to make Joshi irrelevant. I don't take glee in the fact that his post makes him look terrible, and that it's in actuality hurting his cause even further. Some people are responding calmly, but not all, and it's just as ugly as his post.

No, I don't feel any of those things. Instead I feel a deep and profound sadness. I see a community full of wonderful people that seems ready to collapse on itself. I think ahead to the next convention, and I wonder, is it going to be so nastily divisive? Are guests going to refuse to be on panels with other guests? Are blowouts going to ensue, or are both sides going to ignore each other, lending the air a feeling of two separate and simultaneous cons inhabiting the same physical space but seeming light years apart? I don't want that.

One of the most appealing aspects of this community is the diversity. This includes the people whom I find myself disagreeing with on many levels. I don't want them ostracized, but I don't want them drawing lines either. It's my hope that the goodness of this community will shine through the current ugliness, and we will all be able to find whatever it is in ourselves to get along, or at least keep it civil, because that is the weird fiction community that I fell in love with.

Review: The Color Over Occam by Jonathan Thomas

Publisher Larry Roberts has been consistently putting out some wonderful work. Arcane Wisdom Press is one of his imprints, and one series under the imprint is the Modern Mythos Library. Lovecraft scholar S.T. Joshi and Larry Roberts have teamed up to print what S.T. Joshi's blog refers to as "vital and significant contemporary works of Cthulhu Mythos fiction by leading authors." As to date the series is two volumes strong; Cthulhu Cult by Rick Dakan, and The Color Over Occam by Jonathan Thomas.


In the introduction S.T. Joshi explains how Thomas approached him and proceeded to woo him with some short fiction. One thing led to another, and as of now Thomas has two short story collections, Midnight Call and Other Stories, and Tempting Providence and Other Stories (both of which are published by Hippocampus Press). The Color Over Occam is Thomas's first published novel, and upon reading it's easy to see why Joshi scooped up on the chance to include it in the Modern Mythos Library.


Any Lovecraft fan should read this title and instantly recognize what this novel is based on: H.P. Lovecraft's 1927 tale The Colour Out of Space. For readers who are not familiar, The Colour Out of Space is one of Lovecraft's more famous stories, and one that is more overtly science fiction than most of his other works. It also bears the distinction among Lovecraft's stories as being the one most adapted to film. The story is about a meteor that crash lands on an Arkham farm in 1882. The "being" that came with it is basically a non corporeal life form that appears as a shimmering color. Weird horror follows.


It is worth noting that it is not necessary to have read The Colour Out of Space before delving into The Color Over Occam, but of course it does enhance the reading experience to be familiar with the tale it's based on.


The novel follows Jeffrey Slater, city clerk by day and amateur paranormal sleuth by evening. Slater and his friend Wil run a public access cable show of the "ghost-hunters" variety. While out one evening investigating "corpse lights" at the local reservoir, they have a strange encounter which prompts further investigation by Jeff, leading him down a proverbial rabbit hole. It is apparent that something buried under the reservoir is finally making it's move, and is beginning to affect the town of Occam (renamed from Arkham) in numerous ways. Jeff begins a one man campaign to investigate this mystery and do what he can to save the town of Occam, although it's apparent from early on that he's fighting an uphill battle.


The entire novel is told in first-person from Jeff's point of view, and has a very noir-ish flavor all throughout. Jeff is an interesting character to follow, and is not without his faults. He is a cynic, he only has one friend, and while Jeff is intelligent he sometimes doesn't do the smartest things, although he is usually quick to catch himself after the fact. His dealings with the matter starts to induce a high level of paranoia, and it's not long before Jeff finds himself totally alone, convinced that everyone is part of a conspiracy and out to get him. As the story progresses Jeff becomes more and more obsessed with the mystery of "The Color", and makes a few desperate, ill-thought out attempts to do something about it.


While the noir style of narration is a huge strength of the novel, it's also the way in which Thomas handles the ideas and concepts from Lovecraft's stories. Thomas effectively and respectively utilizes some of the core ideas and concepts, all while making the story his own. There are some moments of hair-raising horror, and some moments of just plain strangeness. Also Lovecraft fans should pay attention to many of the character's surnames, as there are plenty there to tie many of Lovecraft's stories together in the present day setting.


It's obvious that Thomas put a lot of time and effort into this novel, and as a sequel it works perfectly. The noir-style of narration is spot on, and couldn't be done any better. In the Lovecraftian realm of fiction it is the short story and novella that dominate, and it's not very often a novel-length work comes along. The Color Over Occam is a more than welcome addition, and fans of Lovecraft's classic tale of alien horror will find a lot to enjoyable. Also, fans of supernatural noir or the X-Files wouldn't be remiss to check this one out.


The Color Over Occam had a limited run of 150 signed copies. The book is of great quality, and I recommend grabbing one now before the publisher runs out. You can order one at Miskatonic Books. If you order one, be sure to mention The Arkham Digest!