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[Neonivek]

Interesting fact!

The modern definition of Eldritch was created by Lovecraft.

The original source of the word kind of means "related to elves" or something along those lines.

[Egan_BW]

Eh, that's basically the same.

[E. Albright]

his adeptness at pacing was unquestionable

Enh. Way too many of his works have a clearly-telegraphed "shocking reveal" at the end - often as their last sentence - for this to ring true. He was a journeyman writer, not a master. His work is certainly readable, but it's clunky and stilted. We're well into subjective YMMV territory at this point, though.

[Neonivek]

Way too many of his works have a clearly-telegraphed "shocking reveal" at the end

Aren't they supposed to be telegraphed most of the time?

But fine... So he is on the level of Conan Doyle... But is no George Orwell.

Fine enough.

[Sunday]

his adeptness at pacing was unquestionable

Enh. Way too many of his works have a clearly-telegraphed "shocking reveal" at the end - often as their last sentence - for this to ring true. He was a journeyman writer, not a master. His work is certainly readable, but it's clunky and stilted. We're well into subjective YMMV territory at this point, though.

I used to feel the same way, but I recently reread a collection of his stories and really enjoyed them. And he has a few moments in a couple of his stories that are genuinely awesome (in a shocking/eerie way). Not every story though, I will admit. And for some reason the dude loved writing about gambrel roofs (feel like he mentions them in every story).

I do think part of it is that we're so accustomed to plot twists/shocking reveals now --- but then again, you could say the twists of O. Henry (or even Flannery O'Connor) are too obviously telegraphed, but no one questions their bona fides.

[Neonivek]

Well that is also because we expect that twists are meant to be "Shocking"

Most of the time they are telegraphed... because they are telegraphed

Shadow over Innsmouth is a good example of this.

---

But this would be like saying how MacBeth's defeat in Shakespeare is bad... because the twist was telegraphed

[Cthulhu]

Lovecraft was best in the very long stories (Mountains of Madness for example) and the very short (Dagon, Nyarlathotep, etc.)

I think he was outdone by a lot of his contemporaries and laters, and I think he's got an interesting writing style but I dunno if it works.  He goes from very clinical and detached language to extreme visceral detail which when done right has a sort of textual dolly zoom effect but doesn't usually work.

Chambers wasn't the best writer but I like him more than Lovecraft, Machen, Blackwood, etc. outdid him big time.  As far as modern people go I think he's completely supplanted by Ligotti, though only his early work is really Lovecraftian.  He focuses in on what I think actually makes Lovecraft scary, the pointlessness of human existence in the face of these things. 

There's too much "hey it's a thing and it's eldritch and some other words that don't mean anything, everyone's insane, you're scared now because that's what happens here" in Lovecraft but especially his imitators.  I hate that shit so much.  It's not scary.  Even when I like Lovecraft he was only actually scary in The Color Out of Space.

Something I've been getting into lately is Theory Horror, which is horror fiction written in theoretical and technical genres.  irl theory horror

The ultimate theory horror is Cyclonopedia by Reza Negarestani.

Hidden Writing can be described as utilizing every plot hole, all problematics, every suspicious obscurity or repulsive wrongness as a new plot with a tentacled and autonomous mobility. /…/ The central or main plot is reinvented solely in order that it may stealthily host, transport and nurture other plots. /…/ Every hole is a footprint left by at least one more plot prowling underneath.

If memory holes cause such accessibility problems for the subject, it is because they have been specifically designed for being accessed from the other side.

[Frumple]

Huh. That shadows thing is fairly neat. Second go converted a city to fishmen, opened the maligned gates, and unleashed the shoggoth before anyone could stop me... twice, the second time after my enthralled lord had been murdered and the sole controlled city occupied, the population dutifully finishing the ritual in front of what were apparently very confused or very lazy liberators. Said shoggoths proceeded to devour every living thing on the planet... except one city. That they/it (at some point the two joined bodies and became one larger shoggoth) surrounded, constantly attacked, and couldn't kill. Enthralled the city's leader, assassinated every other member for the society's leaders, tore down its defensive structures, built temples to the moon and converted half the population to somnulents, or whatever it was... and ultimately lost.

The light held off the darkness, murdered down to the last five or so thousand humans, half of them slaves to a crippled god, with the one last sanctuary of humanity surrounded by literal miles of shoggoth that were apparently too lazy to actually go inside and eat the entirely undefended encampment. I can only assume the constant rebellions popping up to be immediately eaten by the shoggoths were some kind of sacrifice scheme the gibbering remains of mankind enacted to pacify the beasts, and the bright future is an eternity of tossing one out of every ten or so people into the world beasts that have became their new existence. Definitely a work in progress, but it's pretty neat regardless.

... part of me thinks maybe I don't quite get this whole subtle spreading darkness thing, though. I mean, it still counts if everyone's been eaten after half the world united to destroy my fish city, right?

[Cruxador]

The light held off the darkness, murdered down to the last five or so thousand humans, half of them slaves to a crippled god, with the one last sanctuary of humanity surrounded by literal miles of shoggoth that were apparently too lazy to actually go inside and eat the entirely undefended encampment. I can only assume the constant rebellions popping up to be immediately eaten by the shoggoths were some kind of sacrifice scheme the gibbering remains of mankind enacted to pacify the beasts, and the bright future is an eternity of tossing one out of every ten or so people into the world beasts that have became their new existence.

This seems like an amazing setting for a graphic novel.

[Puzzlemaker]

Yeah, the game needs work, but it definitely has some potential.

As for Lovecraft, I think it's one of those cases were when we look back on it, it seems trope-ish, but that's because he was thoroughly copied by others.

[ZeroGravitas]

Interesting fact!

The modern definition of Eldritch was created by Lovecraft.

The original source of the word kind of means "related to elves" or something along those lines.

There are good arguments about whether it came from something like "ælf-rice" which would effectively mean "elvish"; or if it came more from "æl-rice" which would be "otherworldly" or "uncanny."

http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/4726/1/EldritchEtymology.pdf

[Fewah]

I still cant believe that after 3 years we have no gameplay video, or multi turn gameplay video.

[Xgamer4]

So, Shadows Behind the Throne released on Kickstarter.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1677505065/shadows-behind-the-throne

...My only real thought is that, as much as we might gripe about seeing the map and UI only, those are very real, very important things. As evidenced by Shadows Behind the Throne, where the map is crowded and unwieldy, and the UI is so bad I don't want to touch it with a 10ft pole.

[nenjin]

Super reasonable pledge goal though. Probably means you won't see a big visual update.

[Cruxador]

Yeah, the kickstarter is just for art assets, no UI overhaul or anything.