The Good Friends of Jackson Elias

303: Call of Cthulhu and Detective Fiction (long cut)

Added 2024-12-30 23:01:01 +0000 UTC

This is the unedited version for backers only.

This episode delves into the complex relationship between detective fiction and Lovecraftian horror. The two genres are closely related, both in their literary origins and in their broad tropes. But, as our guest host argues, they ultimately serve almost opposing purposes. We explore how detective fiction works, and what it can teach us about running Call of Cthulhu.

Our Guest Host

Regular listeners will know that Paul has left the Good Friends. Matt and Scott are inviting interesting people we know as guest hosts, bringing fresh perspectives and expertise to our discussions.

We are delighted to have Heather Miller join us for this episode. Heather is a Lovecraftian scholar who has presented a number of papers at Necronomicon Providence and has recently published a book for Hippocampus Press -- Ripples From Carcosa -- which explores the relationship between Lovecraft and True Detective.

Heather's other papers include "Melville and the Lovecraftian Gaze", which examines the connection between Lovecraft's investigators and the cosmic horror of Moby-Dick, and "Toward a Definition of Lovecraftpunk".

You can find Heather's blog at notesonhplovecraft.blogspot.com, where, amongst other things, she discusses some of the research that went into her book.

Blasphemous Tomes Latest Updates:

Blasphemous Tome Fanzines Update for $1 backers (Sept 2024)

Blasphemous Tome Fanzines Update for $3+ backers (Sept 2024)

Just One More Thing

Often, we find ourselves with more to say than would fit into an episode. This may be because we've done a bunch of research that didn't fit into the flow of the conversation, or simply because something occurred to us later. We've decided to try putting some of this to use in the form of bonus episodes for our Patreon Backers.

The first episode of Just One More Thing will hit the Good Friends Patreon early in the New Year. In it, Matt and Scott discuss some of the things they couldn't quite fit into episodes 301 and 302, exploring a few other historical settings that appeal to us and offering more thoughts about Carnival of Souls.

Please let us know what you think of this approach. We'd love to hear your feedback.

Scott on Miskatonic Playhouse

Scott recently joined our good friends at the Miskatonic Playhouse for a guest spot, playing Sherlock Holmes in their current Cthulhu by Gaslight game, "Mr Whisper". Expect keen investigation, unfortunate dice rolls, and a good helping of body horror.

Scott on Pretending to be People

Speaking of guest spots, Scott also joined our good friends at Pretending to be People as a player in their most recent mini-arc, "Jackfruit Frog Island". This is a Pulp Cthulhu prequel to their main campaign arc, taking place in the 1890s, and it goes from 0 to 100 almost instantly.

Carnacki the Ghost-Finder Readings

If you were unable to attend the live readings of our 2024 Christmas ghost stories, they are now available on the main Good Friends podcast feed. These two tales of William Hope Hodgson's Carnacki the Ghost-Finder -- "The Searcher of the End House" and "The Horse of the Invisible" -- were once again directed by our good friend Mike Perceval-Maxwell of Mr Spike’s Bedtime Stories.

We would like to thank all our readers for bringing these stories to life: Camille Brouard, John Casey, Sarah Dovey, Anthony Lee-Dudley, Brian Murphy, T A Newman, Nic Rosenberg, and Sue Savage.