Tag: H.P. Lovecraft

Ready or Not, Manganika Studio’s Cosmic Séance Demo Is Ready To Drive Player’s “Insane!”

Cosmic Séance looks ready to scratch that Lovecraftian detective itch, with colourful monsters, cryptic visions, and answers that could cost you your sanity.

Cosmic Séance PosterDemo available on Steam

Manganika Studio’s trailer for Cosmic Séance looks awesome, and the concept is sound. At its core, this visually rich adventure is about choices. You have to carefully select your questions, and the beast’s answer may well test your sanity! Getting a response is only the beginning. Making sense of it is where the challenge lies.

This Victorian-era narrative investigation game trades twitch reflexes for psychological mystery.  Some players will like this idea, and for others, accept the concept for it it is and admire the art design. When some illustrations remind me of the graphic novel Young Lovecraft, the concepts are certainly familiar. Even the design of the entities may challenge fans of H.P. Lovecraft’s works to correctly identify!

For instance, that three-eyed head immediately made me think of Hastur, even though the game never identifies the first entity as such.

Continue reading “Ready or Not, Manganika Studio’s Cosmic Séance Demo Is Ready To Drive Player’s “Insane!””

A Tale of Two Cities: Arkham and Innsmouth Brings The Ultimate Lovecraftian Miniature Collection to Kickstarter

Questron’s ZombieMania brings more than 400 Lovecraftian character miniatures to Kickstarter with A Tale of Two Cities: Arkham and Innsmouth. The campaign offers individual hobbyists an opportunity to obtain the digital files for personal use.

Questron Sculpting Company logoNow Live on Kickstarter!

The Spanish 3D sculpting company Questron‘s ZombieMania has launched A Tale of Two Cities: Arkham and Innsmouth on Kickstarter, and the campaign has already met its funding goal. As for which township is the nicer place to live, only the buyers will know!

Interest in the collection reflects the appeal of character models, which are often hidden behind larger boxed sets. This collection shifts the focus to where it counts, offering more than 400 character miniatures as 31mm STL files for 3D printing. As for where to get them after the campaign ends, only time will tell and if the company changes their plans.

The project also has a commercial objective. While the Kickstarter gives individual backers an opportunity to obtain the digital files for personal use, Questron’s primary goal is to connect with online and physical retailers interested in expanding their miniature ranges. According to the studio, the models will not be available for personal-use purchase after the campaign.

Future availability through its own store will be restricted to commercial licences.

Can you introduce the company, its history, the artists involved, and the goals behind this project?

Sample CharactersWe are Questron, a sculpting studio with 15 years of experience creating models for game developers. You can see examples of our work in our Facebook albums page.

For some time, we have also been releasing our own creations through another Kickstarter account, Generic Miniatures. We have now decided to give our horror figures their own identity and a separate Kickstarter account, ZombieMania. Arkham and Innsmouth is part of this new venture.

The studio’s main objective is to connect with online and physical shops that want to add its figures to their product ranges. The campaign also gives individual backers an opportunity to obtain the digital miniatures for personal use.

Continue reading “A Tale of Two Cities: Arkham and Innsmouth Brings The Ultimate Lovecraftian Miniature Collection to Kickstarter”

Shiver Me Timbers! There Be A Peril At Pincer Point, or Is That a Tear On Yer Shoulder?

As Peril at Pincer Point sails into more film festivals, this shanty is more than one part Hammer but also another part, H.P. Lovecraft? Or should we say, The Fog, if you want the scares to be real?

Peril at Pincer Point PosterWhether or not Peril at Pincer Point is based on some sea shanty, it’s a wickedly fun film that nails the hero’s journey through a semi-Lovecraftian narrative. Here, Jim Baitte (Jack Redmayne) is an underappreciated film employee who specializes in foley. But instead of making these sounds up in a room, he goes out to capture every sound possible and remix it just right so his boss, P.W. Griffin (wonderfully played by Os Leanse), can use it in the next film. When he travels to a remote village whose livelihood depends on what the sea can deliver, little does he know there’s also a town curse placed upon all residents and visitors alike!

This film marks the debut of UK-based Jake Kuhn and Noah Stratton-Twine, and their first effort looks terrifically campy. They also decided to embrace the look of the classic monochromatic film era, tinged with a sepia tone, and presented in 4:3 aspect ratio to make the story as true to the era as possible. It’s a wonderful nod to those old pulp serials, and as for the effects, shiver me timbers, I’m sure there are some sea salts who’ll approve! Even when the dialogue gets a bit atypical, it hardly distracts from the normalcy our hero tries to live in.

Continue reading “Shiver Me Timbers! There Be A Peril At Pincer Point, or Is That a Tear On Yer Shoulder?”

When Mathieu Fortin’s The Parrot Isn’t Squawking Release Me, Release Me….

…that’s because it’s being held captive by Bell Media! It’s not a bad thing, but when The Parrot needs to spread his wings, and tell all, let’s hope this producer has plans to expand this bird’s reach.

The Unearthly Notes The Parrot PosterBefore reviewing Mathieu Fortin’s The Parrot, and again afterwards, I had to search online and hunt through my various books examining the themes common in H.P. Lovecraft’s fiction. I wanted to see if there was any mention of talking birds revealing the secrets of forgotten cults before moving forward. I knew this filmmaker’s idea came from The Notes and Commonplace Book of H.P. Lovecraft. While there are no specific mentions of a parrot in the book, the ideas are certainly there.

The most telling lines from the public-domain scan are the following. On page three, it reads: “As dinosaurs were once surpassed by mammals, so will man-mammal be surpassed by insect or bird—fall of man before the new race.” Page eight offers two tantalizing clues. The line that inspired this work reads, “[A] talking bird of great longevity—tells secret long afterward,” but I suspect Fortin drew upon more than that single note. Another speaks of “Ancient and unknown ruins—strange and immortal bird who speaks in a language horrifying and revelatory to the explorers.”

Continue reading “When Mathieu Fortin’s The Parrot Isn’t Squawking Release Me, Release Me….”

Gou Tanabe’s Adaptation of The Case of Charles Dexter Ward is a Terrifying Waiting Game

There’s more strange tales to be illustrated, and Gou Tanabe’s adaptation of The Case of Charles Dexter Ward has begun publishing… in chapters! While we wait, thankfully, there’s enough Lovecraft-inspired releases to sate most fans’ tastes.

The Strange Case of Charles Dexter WardThe news is real. Gou Tanabe is adapting The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, and the first chapter is now in print through Kadokawa’s Comic Beam magazine. Although a translated release is likely years away, fans can either seek out the original or check fan translation sites. For now, that may be all readers outside Japan are going to get.

Considering this is one of Lovecraft’s longer works, don’t expect the story to wrap up for at least two years. Anyone who has read the original knows this tale deals with necromancy and an ancestor with a questionable past. Audio adaptations exist and those curious enough to listen to can check out the link below.

What’s exciting about this release is how Tanabe always manages to expand the source material to new heights. His sweeping vistas and dense details hint at something only large-format releases can fully reveal. Reading it in a magazine offers only a tiny layer of the full experience. Like other artists deeply invested in world building, such as Mamoru Nagano and Gothicmade (formerly Five Star Stories), readers living abroad are at a disadvantage. And by the time it reaches tankobon format, there may be two volumes.

While fans wait, the following are due out soon:

Continue reading “Gou Tanabe’s Adaptation of The Case of Charles Dexter Ward is a Terrifying Waiting Game”

Gou Tanabe’s Next Manga, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward is on Trial!

Gou Tanabe’s adaptation of The Case of Charles Dexter Ward has begun in Japan, but English-language readers may have a long wait ahead. Thankfully, several Lovecraft-inspired graphic novels are arriving soon to keep cosmic horror fans busy.

The Case of Charles Dexter WardThe news is real. Gou Tanabe is adapting The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, and the first chapter is out in print! Although a translated release is likely years away, fans can either seek out the original or wait. The current release is seeing print through Kadokawa’s Comic Beam magazine. Fan translations may exist, but for now, that’s all readers are going to get. And considering this is one of Lovecraft’s longer works, don’t expect the story to wrap up for at least two years.

Tanabe tends to expand source material with sweeping vistas and densely detailed art. Like other artists invested in world-building, such as Mamoru Nagano and Gothicmade, formerly Five Star Stories, readers living abroad are at a disadvantage. By the time this adaptation reaches tankobon format, there may be two volumes.

While fans wait, the following are due out soon:

Continue reading “Gou Tanabe’s Next Manga, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward is on Trial!”

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