# Lovecraft Theme



## Terrormaster (Sep 27, 2007)

Was just wondering, those who theme their haunts, has anyone tried a Lovecraft based theme? I was gonna shoot for that this year but couldn't come up with anything feasible.

-TM


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## MistressOfMayhem (Aug 5, 2007)

Cthulhu for President!!! That would be an awesome haunt theme!

Have you seen this yet:
http://cthulhuthemovie.com/


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## berzerkmonkey (Oct 31, 2006)

Terrormaster said:


> Was just wondering, those who theme their haunts, has anyone tried a Lovecraft based theme? I was gonna shoot for that this year but couldn't come up with anything feasible.
> 
> -TM


I know this is waaaay too late to be of any help, but I think it would be pretty difficult to do a Lovecraft inspired haunt. The whole Lovecraftian thing is based alot off psychology and a "cosmic horror" referring to the fact that humanity is pretty insignificant.

Now, that aside, a cemetery teeming with ghouls could be effective, though it would be tough to make it "Lovecrafty." I would think your most effective route would be to do a haunt revolving around either:

1) some creepy family where something odd is going on - patriarch of the family is into dark magics or finds some wacky tablet with strange powers. Family degenerates into madness, etc.

2) a deep one theme - again, some odd family with a strange secret (they're deep one hybrids, duh.)

So unless you're planning on turning your abode into some non-Euclidian, cyclopean nightmare structure, you're going to have a tough time. Of course, if you chant loud enough, you might get good old Nyarlahotep to show up and cause some craziness. IA!


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## JustMatt (Jul 13, 2006)

Err, umm, how would you create the non-euclidean geometry for the room?

<grin>


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## Revenant (Mar 17, 2007)

Lovecraft had a real thing for cemeteries, particularly ones that were overgrown and crowded and ancient. And of course with a congregation of ghouls. And if you followed an ancient Egyptian motif but changed the hieroglyphics and the color of the stone you'd have a scene out of a number of his stories. Just keep in mind a race of beings with a totally different physiognomy from human beings and design the structures around that.

I would have a blast populating a place with Lovecraftian horrors. Once I got the feel for doing the tentacles and fluid surfaces for my MM prop I started thinking about all sorts of shoggothy critters!


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## NecroBones (Feb 10, 2006)

Yeah, I was going to recommend something with deep ones. It's true, it would be difficult to do something with the more interested aspects of the Lovecraft mythos, but you could do something along the lines of a Miskatonic theme, with samples (creepy tentacled artifacts) and old books, including the Necronomicon. There are some great websites out there with prop-building ideas for Lovecraftian themes like that.


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## berzerkmonkey (Oct 31, 2006)

JustMatt said:


> Err, umm, how would you create the non-euclidean geometry for the room?
> 
> <grin>


I was joking. Lovecraft is full of references to "non-euclidean geometry" and angles you can't look at without hurting your eyes. Obviously, it would be a bit difficult to create a room/building that doesn't conform to standard geometrical laws.


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## HibLaGrande (Sep 25, 2005)

I was in a church this weekend that had odd angles, the place just felt wrong.


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## Revenant (Mar 17, 2007)

The minister and congregation didn't look strangely froglike, did they? That's bad.


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## JustMatt (Jul 13, 2006)

I know that you know I was joking. For everyone else, I thought the content of my question and the "<grin>" was sufficient to convey that I, too, was joking.

However, should anyone manage to create said angles please contact me! I will be happy to represent you with the media and/or protect you from the hordes of pissed off math teachers who have to re-write their lesson plans!

I've been thinking that the sea captain guy mask from the Jonny Depp & Orlando Bloom pirate movie looks Cthulu-ish. Ditch the tircorner hat of course.


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## Revenant (Mar 17, 2007)

Would be sweet if that _were_ a mask. Like everyone else in Hollywood, of course the makers of the Po'tC series relied entirely on CGI to make the cool stuff.

Rob Bottin or Rick Baker's studios could have done that up as a real mask and made it look just as good. Shame Jerry Bruckheimer doesn't have a courageous, innovative, creative, or original bone in his body.

Sorry... back to our previously scheduled thread... just finished reading "Pickman's Model" again... there's a good Lovecraft haunt theme that only requires adding a few ghouls to an already existing graveyard.


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## JustMatt (Jul 13, 2006)

The mask is real, look for Davey Jones.

http://www.coolpiratecostumes.com/images/products/10455-34w.jpg

http://www.coolpiratecostumes.com/d...69-34w&Sug4=6470-34w&Sug5=596-2w&Sug6=7193-4w

Alt link: 
http://www.wackyplanet.com/davey-jones-deluxe-mask.html


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## Uruk-Hai (Nov 4, 2006)

I don't know if this has been posted before or not but this is the wildest Cthulhu mask I've ever seen. Ok, the only one! It's made out of sculpted leather by an artist in the Netherlands I believe and was up on eBay earlier this year. Went for over $375 US but is it ever cool looking.

Here's some pics...


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## Revenant (Mar 17, 2007)

Okay, I wasn't clear on that rant... if only it were a mask in the movie. I saw that rubber mask this summer; someone was wearing it at NASFIC.

CGI vs. practical FX is sort of a raw nerve with me... I tend to go on rants rather easily on that topic







.
My bad.


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## JustMatt (Jul 13, 2006)

look look look!

http://cgi.ebay.com/Brainiac-Alien-...ryZ70976QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

If that doesn't work search eBay for: Item number: 160172219450


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## Hauntiholik (May 17, 2006)

Spirit had a great mask. They called it "Mr. Tentacles" but it was a Cthulhu mask.


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## Zurgh (Dec 21, 2009)

.....This may be an old thread, but the stars are right for it to rise again .:smilevil:..

I too, wish to do a Lovecraft inspired theme. H.P. Lovecraft did SO much more than just Cthulhu. Yes the big "C" was prominent, but the "Cthulhu Mythos" could have also been called the Nyarlathotep, Yog-Sothoth, Shub-Niggurath, or Azathoth mythos (try to get a good costume or mask of the last 2!).:googly: 

Too many Hollywood movies have slapped his name or creations on a title, & failed to make anything close to his work. Failed so bad, that you could show me a movie called My Little Ponies meet Hello Kitty at the Flower & Candy Share festival, by H.P. Lovecraft.... and I wouldn't doubt that some one did! (Mind you, that probably is what his nightmares were like......) 

He did a number of stories that either did not directly tie into, or were very loosely connected to the "Cthulhu Mythos". I would love for people to "get" the theme, but I know that even with a graveyard full of Tombstones w/ character & author names; filling my yard with Deep ones, Grave Ghouls, Mi-go, Elder things; and having a giant inflatable Cthulhu; etc.. that too few would would even get that. (I don't think that I'd ever do something like that.)

I know that Lovecraft inspired me (particularly with his unabashed mix of Sci-fi / mystic / super natural Horror style) but I doubt that short of putting up a sign (with a short bio on Lovecraft) that few would "get" it , let alone stop to read it.

Anyway, whether or not anyone else gets it, I will go ahead, regardless.

I am currently looking into some optical illusions, for my haunt, that could make the appearance of non-euclidean geometry (warped mirrors, prisms, reflections, 2D illusions, Peppers ghost "effect", & the bottomless pit "effect") and lighting. Any suggestions?

I will also be including some "monstrosities" that I am working on. Some along the lines of "Things Man Was Not Meant To Know"...... Most are just sketches at this point. I have been looking at nature (Deep sea creatures, Bugs, Plants) for inspiration & looked at some human medical anomalies. Any suggestions welcome here, too.


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## jaege (Aug 23, 2009)

JustMatt said:


> Err, umm, how would you create the non-euclidean geometry for the room?
> 
> <grin>


Since Euclid's theory has been expanded and expounded upon, much of todays concepts of geometry can be considered non-euclidean, technically.


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## pagan (Sep 9, 2009)

I gotta start reading more! <shakes head>


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## Howlinmadjack (Jul 20, 2009)

"?"


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## trentsketch (Jul 27, 2009)

I think there are some practical ways to do a Lovecraft haunt. The problem is you'd have to stick to some of his lesser known stories for the meat of the haunt then sprinkle in some of the more well known stories for flourish.

For example, Lovecraft has a great story, The Picture in the House, about a picture coming to life. That sounds like a great set-up for either a two-way mirror gag or a drop panel in a picture frame. 

The Music of Eric Zahn allows for a great character, the blind possessed violinist, and some funky mechanical props of moving instruments and seeming flying books of music.

Beyond the Wall of Sleep has a lot of great set-ups in it, from the initial bloody axe murder of an entire family by the father, to the mind meld between doctor and confused murderer, to the voyage to the world of dreams with people comprised of flaming light and the resultant insanity of venturing there. It could be the basis of the entire haunt. A variance of a prison/asylum haunt based in Lovecraft. Set-up a story about the location being the involuntary home of some of the most dangerous people alive and start playing with people driven insane by contact with otherworldy Lovecraftian forces. The dream sequence would be a great variation for a vortex tunnel or bottomless pit illusion.

Sprinkle in some actors panicking about the arrival of the ancient ones and a final room with a big tentacle/monster part scare and viola!--a Lovecraft haunt. Challenging, but doable. The material isn't all Necronomicons and monsters.


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## Rasputin (Jan 4, 2010)

I would do somewhat of the story "The Call of Cthulhu"; I'd start out with thing about looking like a dragon and an octopus and something else and do those in some kind of faux stained glass (each creature a different piece). Then I would do something with the cult and bring in the necronomicon to sumon Cthulhu. Have the majority of the haunt be (this is gonna not be true to the books) Cthulhu using candarian demons and deadite from The Evil Dead. Just a thought ( I don't how this would be explained) And I just have to say "Do the Necronomicon"


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