PBS Digital's Storied examines the legacies of Lovecraft and Poe for Halloween

PBS Digital's Storied uploaded two videos about seminal horror authors this year, H.P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe. I think they would be excellent subjects for spooky season, so I'm sharing them, beginning with How Cthulhu Transcended its Creator, H.P. Lovecraft | Monstrum.

The tentacle-faced creature Cthulhu is H.P. Lovecraft’s most enduring eldritch creation. But while Lovecraft may be Cthulhu’s inventor, this monster has outgrown its creator, impacting both horror fiction and the real world in significant and unexpected ways.

The Chaosium game Call of Cthulhu introduced me to the Cthulhu Mythos. I never played it, as I preferred role-playing characters who became more skilled and powerful instead of progressively more insane because of their knowledge, but it did induce me to read "The Color Out of Space," a scary science fiction story. It also influenced my view of the Ghostbusters role playing game, which I called "Call of Cthulhu for laughs" and a gaming acquaintance called "Scooby-Do except the monsters are real but don't matter." I actually played Ghostbusters with my kids, who thought it was a hoot.

By the way, while I've mentioned "Lovecraft Country" many times, a cursory search of my blog indicates I've never mentioned H.P. Lovecraft himself before today. Considering his retrograde views on race, I think that's appropriate.

Next, Why Edgar Allan Poe Isn't Just a Sad Boy | It's Lit.

We remember Edgar Allan Poe for his tales of horror and the macabre as well as inventing the entire Detective Fiction Genre. But unlike many of the great authors of Western classic literature, he has become an icon unto himself, recognized to this day by name and face almost more than the titles of his stories and poems. But his legacy is more complicated than school books may have lead us to believe.

On the other hand, I've mentioned Poe three times on this blog, mostly in reference to the Opera Ghost dressing up as The Red Death in "The Phantom of the Opera." Welcome to the intersection of drum corps, horror, and pandemics.

As I have for the rest of this year's (and last year's) Halloween entries, I'm closing with a drink recipe video. Today, it's Cocktails With Cthulhu! Velveteen Lounge Kitsch-en.

Ponder Cthulhu's return and the attendant appalling destruction of humanity with our delicious cocktail and snack!

Drink responsibly and stay tuned for more Halloween posts through the end of the month. Trick or treat!