Ep 157: The Carcosa Mythos in Media and Gaming

https://blasphemoustomes.com/2019/05/28/the-carcosa-mythos-in-media-and-gaming/

We’re still blundering around in all this infernal mist. There is a sound of lapping water in the distance, but we’re more worried about the way these streets keep changing around us. You’d think someone would have compiled a street map of Carcosa, but no one even seems to be able to agree about what this place is. Let’s concentrate on getting our bearings and try to ignore that sound that’s not quite the laughter of children…

The Carcosa Mythos in Media and Gaming

We are continuing our in-depth look at The King in Yellow, the Carcosa Mythos and the horrors they have spawned. In previous episodes, we have discussed The King in Yellow and “The Yellow Sign”. This time, we’re focusing on how the Carcosa Mythos has been used by other writers, how it has been adapted for film and television, and what we can steal for our games.

In the course of our discussion, we mention a number of books, stories, TV programmes and games:

• The King in Yellow Tales by Joseph Pulver
• A Season in Carcosa, edited by Joseph Pulver
• Cassilda’s Song, edited by Joseph Pulver
• The Hastur Cycle, edited by Robert M Price
• Rehearsals for Oblivion, edited by Peter Worthy
• The Annihilation Score by Charles Stross
• Kevin Ross’ rendition of The Yellow Sign, used in Call of Cthulhu
• The Yellow King RPG has another version of the Yellow Sign on the cover
• Sigh Co.’s Yellow Sign badge
• True Detective
• The “Yellow Sign” on the cover of the first edition of The King in Yellow — actually the monogram for the publisher, F Tennyson Neely
• “River of Night’s Dreaming” — an episode of the Showtime series, The Hunger
• The Yellow Sign film adaptation by Aaron Vanek, written by John Tynes
• The Yellow Sign webseries on YouTube
• Insylum by Dennis Detwiller
• Impossible Landscapes for Delta Green (still in development)
• “The Repairer of Reputations” scenario by Robin Laws. Note: this is not found in Out of Space, despite what we might have said in this episode!

As part of the discussion, we also pick a few favourite Carcosa Mythos stories.

• Matt
  • “Broadalbin” by John Tynes, from Rehearsals for Oblivion
  • “Movie Night at Phil’s” by Don Webb, from A Season in Carcosa
  • “Beyond the Banks of the River Seine” by Simon Strantzas, from A Season in Carcosa
• Scott
  • “River of Night’s Dreaming” by Karl Edward Wagner, from The Hastur Cycle
  • “More Light” by James Blish, from The Hastur Cycle
• Paul
  • “Wishing Well” by Cody Goodfellow, from A Season in Carcosa
  • “Suicide Watch” by Arinn Dembo, from Delta Green: Dark Theaters

Games

We also discuss how we might use specific elements of the Carcosa Mythos in our games, as well as brainstorming a few scenario seeds.News

UK Games Expo

If you are at UK Games Expo 2019 this weekend (31st of May to 2nd of June), do say hi to Matt and Paul. Both of them will be running games in the Cthulhu Masters tournament. Paul will also be joining our good friends from the Smart Party and Grognard Files podcasts for a seminar.

And speaking of the Smart Party… Paul recently joined Baz and Gaz for their 100th episode in which they offered a state-of-the-nation discussion about gaming.

A Parcel of Goodies

A fantastically generous listener — Stephen Vandevander — sent us a parcel of goodies. You can hear us unwrap it in the backer segment, along with coos and expressions of heartfelt gratitude. The package included such goodies as The House of the Octopus by Jason Colavito and a spiffy Cthulhu idol from Pacific Giftware. This latter artefact is now watching over our recording studio, bringing fresh madness to every new episode. Thank you very much, Stephen!

And finally, we were delighted to receive a new review from John Fiala, over on iTunes. These reviews sustain us emotionally and spiritually. If you feel moved to contribute to our wellbeing, or simply help others find our little corner of Carcosa, we would love it if you wrote a review wherever you download your podcasts.