Cthulhu Thursday: Top 5 best of Myhthos, Cthulhu and Lovecraft Film, TV, Games, Stories and more… (A Work in Progress)

This post is intended to be a work in progress. As a big fan of Cthulhu related stuff, I get through a lot, so I wanted to put together a personal list of the best of the best Cthulhu, Mythos and Lovecraft related things. Feel free to comment, email or tweet me suggestions, but note it is a personal list, so I may not agree with you…

Right, here we go…Note!! I list the top five in each category but they are not in order within that list, it was too hard to get all hierarchical with them  Also note!!! that this is work in progress, I’m not decided all the category winners as yet, so I’ll be updating it as I do…

The Best of Lovecraft’s Own Stories

• Call of Cthulhu: If you were to only read one of his stories, this should be it. It’s his most famous work for a reason. It has all the classic elements to a great Lovecraft work; mystery, crazy dreams, journeys that end in madness, cults, Cyclopesn horror. All bound within a multiply stranded narrative. A must read.
• The Colour Out of Space: I love this story for its depiction of something truly alien. Often in fiction the aliens are just magnified human archetypes and are not really all that alien. No so here, the thing is so different from us it’s, well alien. And that is its horror. The story is also amazingly written and so a great read.
• The Shadow Over Innsmouth: Another classic.  It has the rambling antiquarian trying to unravel a mystery that begins to unravel him… Great stuff!
• At The Mountains of Madness: This is one of Lovecraft’s longest works and best.  The narrator is writing to beg a group planning a new expedition to the Arctic to not and leave the place alone.  In warning these foolhardy new explorers he has to tell his tale and what a tale it is…
• Dagon: A very short story with echoes of Call of Cthulhu and Shadow Over Innsmouth within but this time wrapped within a World War One setting.  Amazing prose and description within the short story form.

Best Lovecraft Collaboration

• Lurker at the Threshold (With August Derleth): My first Mythos encounter and one I still love to read.  The story has a subtly and creeping horror that I love.
• Till A’ the Seas (with R. H. Barlow): A post-apocalyptic story where the horror is build around the end of days for humanity.  It has relevent with the ideas of climate change and species die-off.
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Best Lovecraft Feature Films

• Call of Cthulhu (2005): What an amazing idea – make the film as if it has been made in Lovecraft’s time – as a silent classic. I love this film and the people who made it have done an amazing job of adapting his work, far better that filmmkaers with more expereince and money have done.  It just goes to show how far creativity and passion can go.
• Cthulhu (2007): Based roughly on Shadow over Innsmouth, it is a good mix of classic Lovecraftian ideas and modern horror stuff.  A good stab at Lovecraft on film, imho.
• Re-Animator (1985): A great film that is based on the Lovecraft tale of ‘Herbert West: Re-animator‘ and updates it to a contemporaty setting. Deservedly one of the best adaptations of Lovecraft’s work.
• From Beyond (1986): From the same team of Re-Animator, another great adaptation that also updates the action to a contemporary setting.
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Best Lovecraft Short Films

• Lil Cthulhu: Cute Cthulhu for kids, great fun!
• Experiment 17: It’s Nazis meet Mythos and well worth a watch.
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Best Contemporary Lovecraftian Fiction

• A Colder War by Charles Stross: The best contemporary Lovecraft story in my opinion.  A must read, shame it is only a short.
• Once More, from the Top by A. Scott Glancy: The story of the Innsmouth raid by the government refered to in Lovecraft’s original.  A short story in Delta Green: Dark Theatres.
• Delta Green: Denied to the Enemy by Dennis Detwiller.  This novel is written in fragments involving a slew of characters over the course of World War 2, the fragmented quality of it really amplifies the horror a mystery.
• That Which Should Not Be by Brett J. Talley.  A Lovecraftian novel that mixes stories within stories.  Really enjoyable and has deservedly won a bunch of awards.
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Best Contemporary Lovecraftian Anthology

• Shadows over Baker Street: Lovecraft meets Holmes, it’s the mashup we all wanted to see and this great anthology made happen.
• Delta Green: Dark Theatres: Great contemporary horror with Delta Green’s conspiracy vibe.
• The Starry Wisdom: An anthology of stories and comics that are a tribute to H.P. Lovecraft.  Some great writers recruited to the project and some amazing work within.
• Lovecaft eZine: An ongoing project that has produced many, many stories – some real gems in the mix there and a project totally worth supporting!
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Best Lovecraftian Non-Fiction & Beyond

• The Annotated Lovecraft: By the great Lovecraftian scholar S.T.Joshi, its a great way to read his works and get an insight to how he wrote them.
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Best Call of Cthulhu Paper RPG Supplement

• Masks of Nyarlathotep: Just classic.  A Mythos opera for RPG fans.
• Delta Green: A great mixing of contemporary UFOs and conspiracy theory with the Cthulhu mythos.
• Beyond the Mountains of Madness: A great revisit of a classic Lovecraft setting.
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Honourable mention: Dark Mirror (cos I wrote it!)

Best Cthulhu Video Games

• Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth: A first person shooter set in the realm of the Mythos.  Like it!
• Cthulhu Saves the World: A fun interpretation of the role Cthulhu plays in our lives.  This time he’s the hero.
• Elder  Signs: Omen: Enjoying this on iPhone so far…
• Call of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land Ok so I designed this game, but people (e.g. below) suggested it be included, so I reluctantly agreed
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@TomasRawlings @cthulhuHQ Wasted Land? Elder Sign iphone game? The lost Arctic explorers? And a bathysphere named DORIS—
John d'Auteuil (@mainemoosetrax) February 04, 2012

I agree on Elder Signs.  It also give me a chance to shamelessly plug our game. So honourable mention; Call of Cthulhu: Wasted Land!

Best Cthulhu Artists

• John Coulthart: Did an amazing version of Call of Cthulhu in The Starry Wisdom and that got me into him.  Bring the visceral horror to Lovecraft’s visions.
• Howard V. Brown: Did the great Astounding Stories art for At the Mountains Madness.
• Michael Bukowski: A reworking on the Mythos giving a fresh take on it’s denizens.
• John Kenn Mortensen: His children’s book-like images have a horror all of their own.
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Michael Bukowski’s work

Best Lovecraftian Comics

• Alan Moore’ Yuggoth Cultures and Other Growths: Very disturbing at times, but then this is the Mythos…
• Mountains of Madness
• Fall of Cthulhu: A journey into the Dreamlands well worth taking.
• John Coulthart’s Haunter of the Dark: Collects his Lovecraftian comic work and illustration.
• Necronauts – The ultimate supernatural team-up; Charles Fort, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, H. P. Lovecraft and Harry Houdini get together to face off against the dark.  (Hat-tip to David for reminding me!)

Best Cthulhu Mashups

• Tintin vs Cthulhu: The adventures he wished didn’t happen (run Tintin, run!!)
• Dr Seuss does Cthulhu: What kids should not be reading (but will love)
• Cthulhu Charlie Brown: Snoopy discovers the stars are right…
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(Cthulhu Thursday is a dose of Mythos to brighten darken your week. More on the idea can be found here and a list of posts thus far, here. Also for more Cthulhu news, sign up to the cthulhuHQ twitter feed. Enjoy!)