316: Art and the Cthulhu Mythos, with Kailas Elmer (long cut)
Added 2025-06-30 23:01:01 +0000 UTCThis is the unedited version for backers only.
This episode is the conclusion of our two-part look into the relationship between art and the Cthulhu Mythos. Last time, we looked at the artistic influences that went into the work of Lovecraft and other Mythos writers. Now, we're following that up with a discussion of artists who might inspire us at the gaming table.
Be warned that this episode covers a number of transgressive artists, and we discuss self-mutilation, bodily fluids, regurgitation, human remains, and acts of blasphemy.
Our Guest Host
We are delighted to welcome Kailas Elmer back to the Good Friends! Kailas is the publisher of Trebuchet Magazine, an international art journal which has featured writings from our own Scott Dorward. There is also an associated podcast, for those who like to experience art with their ears.
Issue 17 of Trebuchet, titled "Destinations", is now available at Barnes & Noble, WH Smith, and directly from trebuchet-magazine.com.
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Links
Things we mention in this episode include:
"A Message of Art" from Nameless Horrors
"The Whisperer in Darkness" by HP Lovecraft
The Imago Sequence by Laird Barron
The Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations by by Georges Polti
The Vorrh Trilogy by Brian Catling
A Man Called Horse (1970)
Liber Null and Psychonaut by Peter Carroll
"The Space Between" from Nameless Horrors
"The Treachery of Images" by René Magritte
Synecdoche, New York (2009)
Adaptation (2002)
Being John Malkovich (1999)
Occult Paris: The Lost Magic of the Belle Époque by Tobias Churton
The King in Yellow by Robert W Chambers
Metamorphosis series by MC Escher
"House of Stairs" by MC Escher
"MC Escher, the Impossible Rapper" by Momus
"Pickman's Model" by HP Lovecraft
"The Kiss" by Joel-Peter Witkin
"Piss Christ" by Andres Serrano
"Europe After the Rain II" by Max Ernst
The Rules of Art by Pierre Bourdieu
The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath by HP Lovecraft
"The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living" by Damien Hirst
"Mother and Child Divided" by Damien Hirst
"Treasures From the Wreck of the Unbelievable" by Damien Hirst
The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart by Jesse Bullington
Turbine Hall at Tate Modern
"The Secret of Marseilles" from King of Chicago
"The Art of Madness" from The House of R'lyeh
"Silent Screen" from Ramsey Campbell's Goatswood and Less Pleasant Places
Ancient Images by Ramsey Campbell
"The House of Memphis" from Mansions of Madness vol 1
"Catland" from The Curse of Nineveh
Comments
I believe the mystical geometry in buildings built around the era of the Chrysler building is the core concept of the building drawing in Gozer in the first Ghostbusters film- which was a terribly Lovecraftian idea.
James Aydelotte
2025-07-09 00:25:58 +0000 UTCOut of all the artist i've based NPC off of. Joel Peter Witkin, one of my favorite photographers, Never even crossed my mind.
David Leppink
2025-07-01 08:07:57 +0000 UTC
