How to be a cultist.

Today we're doing a first impression of a game I have wanted for a while:

Cultist Simulator.

Like many other games on the market, like Darkest Dungeon and Slay the Spire, Cultist Simulator is easy to start but hard to master.

As the name suggests, Cultist Simulator is mostly about starting a cult in a vague 1920's London setting. The game has strong Lovecraft elements, but at 4.5 hours, I haven't seen anything overtly Lovecraftian. Cthulhu has not been mentioned for example.

The game takes place on a table and the story unfolds through verb boxes and cards. Verbs include Dream, Talk, Explore and Study. You can place cards into these verbs, for example you can place a person into Talk and something will happen. You can also put objects or idea cards into talk, which will have their own consequences. The boxes only accept certain cards and learning how it all works is quite satisfying.

Some Verb boxes appear suddenly and can demand specific cards in order to give you a benefit but they can also kill you. Many of my characters have died very suddenly.

Speaking of characters, the game always starts a new save with the Aspirant, but when that person dies, you get to choose a new person. I chose the Detective, and to my surprise and delight, the Detective actually investigated what my Aspirant had done. Likewise, my Doctor studied the case file of my recently deceased Medium. You can name the characters in the lower left corner and I suggest you do in order to recognize them when they appear in the story.

When you first start Cultist Simulator, the game will urge you to explore and experiment. This can be a bit frustrating as you have no idea what you're doing and are supposed to do. But this actually plays well into the central theme. Do you know how to start a cult? I don't, so it makes sense to have to feel your way forward.

Besides the Verbs and Cards there are four resources; Health, Passion, Reason and Money. Health is your life, and this can go down very fast depending on your choices and luck. Reason and Passion are used to fuel different events. Passion can help you create art, but is also used to recruit new people to your cause. If your only Passion card is tied up in painting and you need it for something else, then you are out of luck. Success and failure are all important story elements.

Money is central to it all. You may be a newly minted occultist with big dreams, but you still have to eat. You can earn money through going to work, but that takes time and has its own perils. There is a Verb box called Time, that is constantly ticking, and every time it completes a cycle, it automatically consumes one money. If you run out of money you starve, which consumes Health. If you are out of Health, you die.

This ticking clock brings me to your best friend, the Pause button. As soon as the games starts, PAUSE THE GAME! There is a lovely intro screen for you to read, but beneath it, time is ticking. Some jobs demote you if you don't go to work, even if you're just reading a text box. Pause, pause and pause again, until you know what happens without reading anything. Trust me and take your time or you will never get anywhere.

The reason I didn't pick up this game sooner was because I was intimidated. I love the theme but most screenshots show a full board of cards which look crazy complicated, but it isn't really. You start small and grow slowly with plenty of time to learn. The other reason was the timers. Usually I hate timers but with your lovely, shiny Pause button that is not an issue. Sure, I'm only at the 4.5 hour mark, but I'm learning more all the time and getting better. I look forward to playing more, and I really think this is a fantastic game. If anything I've said seems interesting, check it out! It's even on mobile, if that's your thing.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week!

 

Gods of the Deep

Sometimes I look forward to watching a movie and sometimes I toss a dart and hope I hit something good. This week's dart hit:

Gods of the Deep (2023).

To be fair, I don't actually know if 2023 is correct. IMDB says it is, but Letterboxd says 2024.

This is a Lovecraftian movie, as in based on the Cthulhu Mythos started by H. P. Lovecraft. In fact it wears it on the sleeve, and dove head first in the Mythos pool. I wish they would have resisted the temptation to call the company Pickman, but this is something a lot of Mythos movies do. I don't know if it is a loving homage or a way to try to look clever, but movies like Gods of the Deep are not subtle in anything they do.

A deep sea probe finds a strange hole at the bottom of the ocean between Antarctica and South America. This area is deeper than the Challenger Deep and the hole is clearly not natural. The owners of the probe, the Pickman Corporation, as in Lovecraft's story Pickman's Model (1927). They contact Doctor Jim Peters (Derek Nelson), an eminent astrobiologist at Miskatonic University to help go down there. The Pickman Corp. has developed a new high tech sub that can handle the incredible pressures. A small team goes down there and things get... squiggly.

Gods of the Deep is a British horror/sci-fi movie with a low budget. I couldn't find how low, but the cutting edge submarine is visibly built from corrugated roofing, PVC piping, thin acrylic and all the hazard tape you could ever want. That's not to say all the effects are bad, they aren't. In fact some are actually good, just as some are pretty bad. To their credit, they stayed within what they could portray in one fashion or another. Not all low budget movies do that.

What keeps Gods of the Deep from being a failure are the actors. They all do a hell of a job selling the entire thing. You believe that they see what they are seeing no matter how it looks. What is funny is that I could swear I have seen four members of the main cast in other movies, but according to IMDB, I haven't seen them in anything. Spooky...

So, do I recommend this movie? To Mythos fans I do. Everyone else should probably find something else to watch. These fans should also have a certain love for cheese or they won't have a good time. Gods of the Deep should be a failure, but for the actors and the fact that they did the best they could. They tried hard and somehow pulled off a win. Gods of the Deep is not a good movie, but it isn't a bad one either. I had a good time, but I doubt I'll watch it more than the once.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week!

 

The Thing on the Doorstep

Being a long time fan of H.P. Lovecraft I was hesitantly excited to discover a movie version of his story:

The Thing on the Doorstep (2014).

The story in a nutshell is this; Daniel Upton, a successful and level headed person narrates how his best friend Edward Derby, a sensitive and nervous writer, falls in love with and marries the mysterious Asenath Waite. Things turn sinister when Edward claims that his wife can possess his body and takes it to terrifying old occult places. Her power over him grows and it becomes a question whether Daniel can help his old friend before it is too late. There is of course much more to the story, but this description will suffice for now.

The movie tries to copy the original story as well as it can. It is set in modern days, which some have criticized it for, but I don't think it matters at all. Modern technology has no bearing on the horror The Thing on the Doorstep contains. They have used all the correct names, which is nice, but for some reason they decided that Daniel had to have a wife. She does little but remark on how Edward really needs to grow up and how annoying he is as well as snoop around where she really shouldn't. They have also added a couple of other characters in order to give more backstory which is okay as it doesn't harm the story too much.

What does harm the story is the complete lack of a budget. The Thing on the Doorstep is one of Lovecraft's stories that don't have any huge squiggly monsters so you can absolutely save some money there, but using cheap CGI for gunshots looks bad, really bad. Likewise, the actual thing on the doorstep itself was also bad CGI instead of even a simple makeup job which would have been so much better. There is nothing wrong with being low budget, but you have to work within your means, and sometimes this isn't easy. For some reason, most scenes are lit in a weird yellow-green light that made no sense. Such an effect used sparingly in specific flashbacks can work, but over half the movie is lit this way.

Most of the actors were pretty good. This isn't some sexy teenagers meet something scary, but actual adults, and they did their best, which I appreciate. My one exception is Rob Dalton (Edward Derby), who look like he could barely hold himself from laughing through half the movie. He also did nothing to show why Daniel would be his friend, he comes across as completely unlikable and that is pretty unforgivable. The friendship between Daniel and Edward is the central core that makes the story work in the first place, and sadly it fails here.

Overall, the biggest failure is that the movie isn't scary, it isn't even tense. I wouldn't even write about it but for one thing: they really tried. The passion does shine through and there are scenes that are pretty good, although those are few and far between. Is that enough though?

So, do I recommend this movie? No, not really. Lovecraft fanatics who have to see every movie adaption out there could enjoy it, there are certainly worse works out there, but casual horror fans should give this one a miss. I still appreciate that they did what I assume was their best, but sometimes trying your best isn't enough.

That is that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great and safe week!

 

Lovecraftian, or Comsic Horror Humor

Yesterday I tripped over a trio of Lovecraft based comedy sketches, and since I needed something for you guys, here you go! I hope you will join me again next time and until then, have a great and safe week!

First up is the HPL Insurance company: 

 

 

 

Then The Unnamable Unimaginable Thing In My Basement:

 

 

Finally, The Epiphany Continuum Sketch: 

 

Color out of Space

 

This weekend I chose to watch Color out of Space (2019) by Richard Stanley based on the short story The Color out of Space by H.P. Lovecraft.

I find that this is a hard movie to critique. On the one hand it is a very faithful adaptation and on the other hand it does it's own thing entirely. It ramps up the timetable from the original story from many months to a few days and it changes the principal characters a great deal, but not critically so.

The story in a nutshell is that a meteorite crashes down on the Gardner farm, and the weird unearthly color that lived in it starts to change not only the landscape but also the animals and people living there. The film follows this, no problems.

The film is set in today's world, not in the 1920's, but that is okay. Much of Lovecraft's work concerns alien horrors from beyond the gulf of time and space, so what does a hundred years matter? When you are confronted with an entity that can warp both time and your flesh, a smart phone won't make a difference.

Visually the movie is amazing, likewise the sound design. Both are standout in my opinion, really first class. This creates a great atmosphere that carries the movie through to the end with style.

The acting is good. Not brilliant but good enough. Even Nicholas Cage is good here. I find his work to be very varied, sometimes great and other times awful. He is solid here.

My biggest problems are the dialog and the characters. Most of the dialog is uninteresting and seems to be there more to fill the silence than to say something.

The characters are pretty awful, especially in the beginning. The movie does very little to make us like them. Yes, there are some early scenes that establishes them and their relationships which are both fine and needed, but they are such a bunch of jackasses. This is the movies biggest flaw, and makes the first third a bit hard to watch. After that, it gets much better and the ending was really good.

There were also a few scenes that really needed some more time in the editing room. For example when the meteorite has landed, the sheriff and mayor show up to look at it. They arrive, the sheriff pokes it with a stick and they leave. That's it, utterly pointless scene. In the original story, scientist arrive and take samples and give a lot of interesting insight into just how alien the thing really is. No such luck here. There's also a scene where the daughter stands about twenty yards from a series of lightning strikes and revels in how pretty it is. In reality she would have been knocked on her ass and suffered damage to her hearing. Those things are loud! And don't ask about the alpacas, I have no idea why they added alpacas to the story.

All in all Color out of Space was better than I thought it would be. After all, how do you make a movie about a color that no one has ever seen before? I recommend it to all Lovecraft fans, most horror fans and some other viewers who want something different.

Finally, I'm going to do something different. I'm going to recommend you watch the in-depth review by Deusdeacon on Youtube. He has really delved deep into this movie and all it's minor details. If you've seen the movie or you are just a bit curious, watch the video. If you intend to watch Color yourself, don't watch the video, it spoils everything. I'll include it below.

That is that and all that. Join me again next time, and until then stay safe and have a great week!

 Deusdeacon's review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCRlAPBtWx4

Pioneer in Horror

Hello and welcome to another issue of Eccentric Spheres.

Today, I have an interesting documentary about one of my favorite writers, H.P. Lovecraft. He is concidered by many to be (one of) the father(s) of modern horror.
This documentary includes interviews with many luminaries of the horror genre, including Caitlin R. Kiernan, Guillermo del Toro, Ramsay Campbell and many more.

So enjoy this fascinating look into the creative genius behind the popular Cthulhu Mythos:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17tj18qpJf0





Until next time, have a great week!

True Detective

As you may surmise from the title, today I want to talk about the show TrueDetective.

I became vaguely aware of the show through the internet, but I started watching after being encouraged to do so by a good friend.

I was hesitant going in, mainly due to the main cast namely MatthewMcConaughey and Woody Harrelson, but also because I'm a bit bored with police procedurals and serial killer shows.

Now, I like Mr. Harrelson well enough, but his roles tend towards either hippie weirdos or macho uber-men. Mr. McConaughey on the other hand is very well known for his many romantic comedies, which I really can't watch. His role in U-571 was pretty non standard for him at the time, but my friend urged me to put Mr. McConaugheys romcoms in the past and give True Detective a shot.

Boy am I glad I did. There is no romance or indeed any comedy anywhere to be seen.

Mild Spoilers Ahead

At it's most basic, True Detective is about two police detectives in Louisiana hunting an occult serial killer. The story is told in two time frames, 1995 and 2012. The main characters Rust Cohle (McConaughey) and Marty Hart (Harrelson) are being interviewed by other detectives in 2012 concerning their work hunting the killer back in '95. This is an unusual (at least for me) technique but it works very well, in a sense allowing the same characters to speak with two voices. Both Rust and Marty change considerably during the show, and this juxtaposition showcases the changes without resorting to info-dumping or leaving the viewer behind.

Another thing I should point out is that we have a strong case of Unreliable Narrator here. Both characters tell things from their perspectives and this can confuse things, particularly when they lie.

Now, you can watch True Detective just like any other cop show, but that would be foolish. This is not a show that should be watched casually. There are clues and foreshadowing aplenty throughout the season, and the more you notice the scarier it gets. I wouldn't go so far as to call this a horror show, but it's damn close.

You see, the occult part of the show concerns the Yellow King and Carcosa. If you've never read Robert W. Chambers book The King in Yellow and/or read the expanded Cthulhu Mythos started by H.P. Lovecraft, these names will mean nothing to you, but if you have, this show quickly gets really unnerving.

I'm not going to explain it all here, but the creator Nic Pizzolatto has created a show that works both as a regular TV show, but also as a “Cthulhu Investigation” familiar to fans of Lovecraft and Call of Cthulhu in all it's forms and shapes.

True Detective runs on two levels. One one hand it's about deranged people in a cult “just” molesting children and committing horrible murders, but on the other hand the whole cult part is real. They really are sacrificing people to otherworldly entities. Basically it's up to you what is true and what's not.

This reality blur is mainly expressed through Detective Cohle who sees things due to a damaged nervous system from his days deep under cover as a narcotics cop. In order to keep his cover intact he had to take copious amounts of drugs, which has either damaged his brain enough to make him hallucinate, or the drugs have enhanced his mind enough to see hidden things like ancient shamans. Again it's your call which reality is true.

This is a show that I'm going to have to re-watch just to see what I missed. Even a cursory search on this show will net you several pages of analyses and Easter eggs that are easily over looked.

As an example I completely failed to grasp the possible meaning behind Marty’s oldest daughter and the drastic changes she goes through, even though they are pretty text-book.

The over all feel of the show is oppressive, gloomy and spellbinding. The score is at times truly haunting and at no time did I get the feeling that I'd rather be doing something else. That said, this is a very heavy show, and not one to be taken lightly.

So, if this sounds appealing, go watch True Detective. Hell, even if you think I've just written seven-hundred plus words of complete drivel, go watch it anyway. Just keep kids away. This is Adult Country and not just for the nudity.

Until next year, take it easy!

Eldritch Gaming

On the day before yesterday, i.e. Saturday, I grabbed a copy of Eldritch from Steam. At first glance I thought it was a Minecraft clone or at least some kind of spin-off mod. Something like that anyway. The reason is the similar graphics. It has a very blocky 3D style to it's graphics, not unlike the famous mining game.

But Minecraft it is not. What we have is a fun little indie game set in the 1930's Lovecraft-verse that my readers know I'm so fond of.

Eldritch is incidentally created by David Pittman and his brother J. Kyle Pittman. They've previously worked on titles like Borderlands, The Bureau: XCOM Declassified and Bioshock 2, so we're talking experience here.

Now the object of the game is to collect three souls from three realms in order to avert the familiar “The Stars Are Right” scenario. (At least I think so, the game is not too bogged down by story). In order to do this you have to traverse said realms and either avoid or defeat the squamous denizens that dwell therein.

There's nothing too revolutionary about the game as such, apart from one feature I haven't seen before. If you loot a dead enemy, it'll respawn. If you don't, it stays put as well as dead. This leaves you in the position to judge whether you need the resources badly enough to risk encountering the enemy again later. You are very squishy in Eldritch and you go down fast if an enemy gets the drop on you.

The first realm, The Temple of Dagon, was pretty easy, so I was completely unprepared for how hard the Realm of Nyarlathotep was, and I died pretty fast. When you die, you can resurrect in the Library, where the game starts, but you loose all your gear except for any artifacts you have stored in your chest. Only artifacts can be squirreled away, so I lost my gun, all my ammo, my boots of jumping and my compass. Ah well, back in the saddle and off you go again.

I really like this game. It's suitably tense without being stressful. But that said, expect to swear a lot when you die over and over again... Unless you're a Lady (who don't swear) or a better gamer than I am.

In my opinion well worth the about 10€ it costs on Steam. Check it out.

The Laundry Files rpg part 2

Continuing on last weeks theme of the Laundry Files RPG, I have now read GOD GAME BLACK and I'm in the process of reading the Agent's Handbook.

I love GOD GAME BLACK . It's insanely well written and oh so informative.

Although it seems to bill itself as ”just” the follow up book to the original core book, documenting the events in Stross's Apocalypse Codex, its' actually so much more.

I'm of course not going to go through the whole book bit by bit, but the best, most valuable part in my opinion is the section concerning the Black Chamber.

The Black Chamber, or Nazgul as they're also called (but not to their faces), is the American equivalent to the Capitol Laundry Services. But they are a really terrifying lot. If you thought the Laundry could play rough, the Nazgul take it to another league altogether.

Being the biggest and most proactive of the occult agencies, the write up they got in the core book was in no way enough. Here you get all you could ever wish for. And then some more.

All in all a very useful book for running the games in the Laundry-Verse, but not perhaps for other CoC games.

The Agent's Handbook is luckily more than just the gear book. It is that, but it also goes through what's needed to succeed as a spy as well as expanding a great deal on life and death (and after life) in the Laundry. After all, you can't always go out cult-hunting. You also have to file the appropriate paper work. Otherwise something much scarier than the odd soul eating beast will come after you. Namely Human Resources and Financial Control.

I haven't gotten far enough in the Agent's Handbook than this, so it'll have to suffice for now.

Have a great week!

The Laundry Files

I can honestly say that the Laundry Files series by Charles Stross is some of the best stuff I've read in years.

So far the series consist of; The Atrocity Archives (2004), The Jennifer Morgue (2006), The Fuller Memorandum (2010) and finally The Apocalypse Codex (2012).

These books take a new fresh look at the Cthulhu Mythos originally created by H.P. Lovecraft and his friends like Robert E. Howard and August Derleth.

The main character of the books is Bob Howard a, as he puts it, computational demonologist working for The Laundry, a super secret branch of the British Secret Service. The Laundry deals with the ancient occult horrors of the Cthulhu Mythos (Cthulhu, Nyarlathotep, Shoggoths ect.) who are trying to invade and consume mankind.

The Laundry Files combines the bureaucratic humor exemplified by Yes Minister, with the British spy/intelligence stylings of James Bond and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. They are funny, exciting and incredibly well written. The blend of classic style magic like hands of glory and pentagrams, mixed with computational magic done with palmtops and smart phones, is both imaginative, fresh and well thought through.

These days you can easily fill your shelves with books written by authors who are either inspired by or just flat out copying Lovecraft directly. Most of these books are a bit mediocre at best, but not the Laundry Files! Charles Stross has created a setting both unique and highly entertaining. I found these books almost impossible to put down, and there were many a night I when went with way too little sleep. All worth it though.

Personally I wouldn't call this horror as such, but neither could I call it satire or comedy. It is it's own thing, and it stands proudly on it's own.

The only negative thing I can say is you really should be familiar with Lovecrafts original works to get all of the references, but if you're looking to read these books, you probably are.

As I write this, I have just started reading The Apocalypse Codex, and I don't know if there are more books in the pipeline, but I do hope so!