Miskatonic Abroad

Jason Heath has been busy promoting his upcoming film The Cthulhu Key , but found time to send over this picture of his wife with horror film staple Sid Haig at a recent convention.



This means I, or at least my Miskatonic T-shirt, now have only three degrees of separation from James Cameron- myself to Jason and his wife, them to Sid Haig via their appearance at the con, and Sid Haig to James Cameron via the infamous Roger Corman opus "Galaxy of Terror". Mr. Haig played the role of Quuhod in the film while Mr. Cameron served as production designer.

I'm not sure if pointing that out is a credit to my memory for film minutia or a demonstration of my questionable vanity. Heh.

The Hazards of Internet Dating

Following up on the vintage encyclopedia discussion, Nick Storm encountered a potential problem for anyone looking at classic era sets- inaccurate dating.

Sellers on Ebay or Amazon may list a collection based on the initial publication year inside the front cover without noticing the edition year. That means encyclopedias dated from the classic era in a sales listing could actually be from a much later edition. In Nick's case the set of books he purchased were advertised as being from 1919 when, in reality, they were printed in 1939.

The best way to avoid any potentially expensive problems is to politely ask the seller to verify the edition date before buying. Most vendors will be happy to refund the purchase price if there is a problem, but they're unlikely to swallow the shipping cost of a return. Given the size and weight of a set of encyclopedias that can be a significant sum, even with the media mail discount.

The Whole Wide World

Four hours.

That's how much time I spent browsing the David Rumsey Historical Map Collection right after Kurt Hockenbury sent over a link to it. The site is filled with thousands of vintage maps dating from the very beginning of cartography to the early decades of the 20th century. In many cases you can find maps of the same locations over a span of centuries and see the ebb and flow of history over time. Names change, political borders shift around, cities swell and shrink, harbors are developed and silt up...it's fascinating to watch.

From a specifically Lovecraftian standpoint the collection is a treasure trove, featuring vintage maps of Mythos locations around the globe...



...and gems from the classic era like this railroad map of New York City from the 1930's.



Best of all, the export function allows you to download insanely high-resolution scans suitable for printing at full size. The vast majority of the collection is usable as is, but if you're willing to put in a little time adding some appropriate Mythos touches you can create some fantastic prop maps.

The Bringer of Wonders

And it was then that Nyarlathotep came out of Egypt. Who he was, none could tell, but he was of the old native blood and looked like a Pharaoh. The fellahin knelt when they saw him, yet could not say why. He said he had risen up out of the blackness of twenty-seven centuries, and that he had heard messages from places not on this planet. Into the lands of civilisation came Nyarlathotep, swarthy, slender, and sinister, always buying strange instruments of glass and metal and combining them into instruments yet stranger. He spoke much of the sciences - of electricity and psychology - and gave exhibitions of power which sent his spectators away speechless, yet which swelled his fame to exceeding magnitude. Men advised one another to see Nyarlathotep, and shuddered. And where Nyarlathotep went, rest vanished; for the small hours were rent with the screams of a nightmare.

—H. P. Lovecraft, Nyarlathotep

The latest work from artist Joe Broers is a commemorative statue from Nyarlathotep's infamous tour of the United States in the 1920's, complete with associated paperwork. The entire set is a wonderful recreation of the "sinister showman" aspect of the dread god, based partially on his depiction in the talented Christian Matzke's eponymous film.







"Nyarlathotep" and other Mythos artworks can be found at Mr. Broers' DeviantArt page.

Encyclopedia Hunting

In response to a few emails, here are some of the more affordable encyclopedia sets from the 20's and 30's currently on Ebay.

LOT SET CONCISE ENCYCLOPEDIA FIRST EDITION LIBRARY 1937

Vintage 1921 American Educator Encyclopedia complete

It has nothing to do with "Call of Cthulhu", but if money were no object I would snap up this 1911 edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica in a heartbeat. It's notable for being the last edition with meticulously detailed articles by experts, including descriptions and instructions for almost every known chemical, industrial, and mechanical innovation and process known at the time. It's frequently cited as the most valuable collection of knowledge ever assembled. With it you could rebuild civilization from scratch if and when TEOTWAWKI (the end of the world as we know it) arrives.

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica 11th Eleventh

Or you could browse through it online for free.

Curiouser and Curiouser

After an all-too-long hiatus Tiffany is once again creating some magical wares over at Curious Goods. Her latest project is a re-creation of the Black Vial props from "Dragon Age: Origins", complete with video. I'm already pestering her how the swirling shadow effect was done.

Ye Books of Knowledge

Where else would the arrival of some vintage encyclopedias be an occasion for such glee?

I've been browsing the pages since I first mentioned them on Thursday and the more I read the more I love them. I had the idea of using a set like this as a general information source for players a while ago, but didn't get around to actually doing it until recently. This particular collection, the 1922 edition of "Winston's Cumulative Loose-Leaf Encyclopedia", cost less than $40 with shipping via media mail on Ebay, and that seems to be a typical ending price for sets from this era.

Here's a look at the entire ten volume set. The covers have a good amount of natural wear and the spines and tops of the books are dingy with close to 90 years of dust. I'm going to clean them up over the weekend, but I want to be careful not to get them damp or use any solvents that will cause damage. The books are resting on the vintage travel trunk where I store all my props. It's obviously in need of a dusting. Heh.


The inside cover of the first volume, showing the Chicago screws that hold everything together. There's some light corrosion staining from the metal, but I most of that will wipe off. Mail order books were a huge industry in the 20's and 30's and subscription based sets like this were pretty common. The last volume still has a complete sheet of the coupons you sent in to get updated pages from the publisher.


The interiors of the books are absolutely pristine. Given the lack of yellowing I suspect these were printed on quality paper and stored in a benign home environment since they were published. This map of Antarctica demonstrates one of the coolest things about vintage reference works- seeing just how much was unknown. Most of the continent was still a mystery, so there are only some tentative boundaries for the ice floes. The flurry of expeditions in the 20's and 30's would eventually fill in the details that are absent here.


The article on Egypt, showing off some of the graphics the encyclopedias are filled with. Once I match the paper stock I'll be able to modify the existing articles and add details appropriate to particular scenarios. I'm really excited about the possibilities.


Just imagine having players uncover some clues about trouble at a dig in Egypt and then letting them browse through the encyclopedia for more background information. They discover Ephraim Stieglitz is the archeologist in charge...and there's an article describing his education, career, and the unfortunate mishaps that have happened at previous sites he was supervising. They can see exactly where they'll be traveling, since you customized the map of Egypt ahead of time to add the town near the excavation. And the reclusive patron funding Stieglitz's dig? Why, he just happens to have an article too!

Admittedly, this approach isn't for everyone because of the prep work involved. Even without that additional effort I think "Call of Cthulhu" players will find vintage encyclopedias a worthwhile investment, if only for the amount of information you'll have at your fingertips about life in the classic era.