Omg ikr

It would have been especially interesting to read Clark Ashton Smith's contribution to such a project. Does anybody know if such a collaboration exists?

there wasn't internet and tv is why lol

Wait! What? Yes but there were mushrooms and other hallucinating drugs and a bad trip can make you see the most scary and weird monsters and objects and witness weird things.

Pure talent.

Are you sure it was all imagination 🤔🤔🐎🐎

*Lovecraft:* "Humanity is but a speck of dust in a vast, uncaring universe full of ancient, unimaginably powerful entities who consider us little more than bugs." *Howard:* "Fuck that! Humans are space orcs!"

... And they left Belknap to try and pull together the pieces into a cohesive conclusion. Reminds me of a few writing projects I did in Writing 101 and high school. Though these guys did a much better job than my groups did back then. I'm sure they had just as much fun too.

I mean, I'd do the same thing to be fair. If you are already in a new body, might as well role with it~

Hell yea

It isnt really like that, though. From the second he found himself in the new body, he was undergoing the mental changes. It is more like he was getting certain instincts scrubbed away, leaving others to stick out more until they got scrubbed too. He loses all human fears in order of importance, and his actions mirror their relevance. He loses his fear of the unknown and decides that this is a great opportunity. (Biggest, oldest fear in humans) Then he loses his fear of weakness as he realizes how strong he is(fear of mortality) Then he loses his fear of authority and goes on a killing spree. (He hates his job at the college) Then he loses his fear of religion and grabs their god for himself (He wasnt very spiritual to begin with.) Simultaneously, he is expanding his view of himself. He thinks how he can kill the box worm (1 on 1), then he thinks that he is super powerful (1 vs many), then he thinks he can rule Yekub (1 vs city), then he thinks he can rule the worm empire (1 vs all). There is a logical progression as his new body scrapes the base instincts of humans out of his mind, which effectively unshackles the epic willpower we need to keep those instincts in check. It's like a jet engine pushing a train that only goes 5mph. Humans might seem slow, but we are burdened with the incredible weight of 10,000 generations worth of animal instinct built into our body. Take that jet engine off the train and put it on a Porsche and we are the fastest thing there is. Conversely, using a Porsche engine to push a train will result in rapid deterioration leading to a total engine failure. You might even see some black ichor dripping out of various engine parts when the oil pan blows. This story is fucking deep. Absolutely brilliant work on so many levels.

It's very human, if not humane....

Obviously now a wormipede creature with capitalist intentions!

What a delicious twist when the 'monster' finds out that humans are far more terrifying monsters!

Shadow over Innsmouth had a similar ending where the protagonist adopted a nefarious fate rather than continue to be humane.

Conan the centipede?

Thanks for the heads-up - we've removed them. There wasn't supposed to be any mid-roll ads on this recording. Also to note, our entire collection is available to listen to ad-free and free-to-stream over here: horrorbabble.bandcamp.com

No human, YOU are the Eldritch Abomination!

@@twilightwyrm Looking at the entirety of Lovecraft's works, it's logical to come to the conclusion that life itself is the eldritch abomination. As horrifying as shoggoths and migo and living colors hiding inside meteorites can be, humans are undeniably monsters in our own right as well. Lovecraft always focused on the terror the human characters felt, but how did the horrors he portrayed see us? As food? As pawns? Or maybe something worse than we see them? Maybe Lovecraft's creatures aren't the horrors, and it is simply human perception that colors them as such. Then again, maybe they are all just eldritch horrors and this story simply portrays the one time we got one over on them.

@@nathankish3425 That doesn't make any sense. The vast majority of Lovecrafts works makes humans out as insignificant. This story is a welcome change.

Given how Lovecraft's stories typically end, that part must not have been his contribution. Most certainly, the narrative being in the third instead of first person is not of Lovecraft.

@@nicodemusthemidnightdiscip2291 sum of HPL's stories are in the third person :/

Quite a tale isn't it?! Thanks again for listening Myles! Ian

Took a break from scary stories for abit so I'm having to catch up to what you've both released.

Indeed, I would certainly be interested in narrating other such collaborations in the future if they can be found! Thanks Fiona.

Because they managed to tear Lovecraft away from the manuscript early enough in the story.

Thanks again Christian! It was quite the challenge to narrate (excuse the appalling pun). Ian

I agree Christian. It was hard to follow when I read it. Ian made ot easier, much easier.

Thanks for listening Guardian Beast! Ian

Guardian Beast you're so right. The story moved from a bizarre cosmic history lesson to violence and blood. Hillarious.

That's Robert E "Conan the Barbarian" Howard for you.

It was Poe's Raven, lol.

I hope you enjoyed it Lev! Ian

I think that the cones briefly mentioned in Lovecraft's part might have been the Yith.

Weston Grimmly *Simile

Simile, a metaphor using like or as, thank you I had completely forgotten the proper name.

From the worm's POV, they have sent out probes and unknowingly invited an alien monster. XD

Truly amazing, that is 👁

Thanks James! Yes, we removed it some time ago as (of course) it wasn't in the public domain. Perhaps we'll be able to return to it in the future!

Thanks again Normasch. I'm certainly happy to note those down as suggestions. I have to say I'm unfamiliar with the latter.

I know there is a translation of it in The Weird which is a massive anthology that contains stories that all would be a good fit for this channel. Not to give anything away, it's about a painter who goes insane wanting to paint a depiction of hell.

I'm instantly intrigued - I'll do some digging. Thanks again Normasch.

Check out "Pickman's Model" if you haven't already. Considering the theme of your suggestions, I imagine you would probably enjoy it.

You never know Mitchell! It wouldn't be the first time I've narrated a Barker story. Ian

It was definitely cosmic horror up through Lovecraft's part. Then Howard did this crazy genre shift to adventure. I bet the other guys hated him for that, but it sure made for a great story for us.

The man has a lot of stories and several are general duds. A lot are what I call "cosmic horror tourism" which gives some cool concepts, but a lame protagonist who basically does nothing but feel overwhelmed by the indescribable unspeakableness of it all. The ones that shine, really do shine.

@@murrfeeling oh, thank you so much, i thought i was the only one. well said, the ones i heard just went on and on and on. you made me feel a lot better about the whole thing as sooo many people like him, whom i like. Keep safe :)

@@feralbluee No problem. I'm a big fan of his, but that means I've read (or listened) his stuff enough to know where it falls short. Two of my favorite "Lovecraftian" stories are The Willows by Algernon Blackwood and Notebook Found in a Deserted House by Robert Bloch because they have better writing fundamentals and characters. Lovecraft was a misanthrope with multiple personality problems which lent something unique to his horror stories BUT it left his with a lot of misanthropic characters which came off as teen angsty as often as they worked as psychologically complex.

@@murrfeeling mmm - i must look him up. sounds so interesting psychologically. 🌷

You’re a mess.

Don't dis the bard kid.