The Skeptics Society & Skeptic magazine

Episode Notes for
Cthulhu Rises

PZ Myers favorite monster: the Vampire Squid
(a 1910 illustration from Thiele in Chun, C. 1910. Die Cephalopoden)

H.P. Lovecraft

That is not dead which can eternal lie And with strange aeons even death may die.

—H.P. Lovecraft,
The Call of Cthulhu

The literary work of Howard Phillips Lovecraft is dark and macabre. It casts a long shadow in American Literature, influencing such writers as Rod Serling, Steven King, Bob Howard, Robert Bloch, and many others. In his stories he wove a tapestry of mad alien gods and unspeakable horrors and the insignificance of man. And of a mountainous evil that sleeps in the ocean, worshipped by mad cults and known only as … Cthulhu.

In this episode

Robert M. Price, a noted Lovecraft scholar, discusses:

• The life of H.P. Lovecraft
• The history of the Cthulhu Mythos
• Lovecraft’s philosophy, religious beliefs and racism
• The cultural impact of Lovecraft’s work
• We then interview biologist PZ Myers about Cthulhu’s biological inspiration, discussing the weird alien biology and physiology of cephalopods.

PZ Myers

Links of interest

• Works by H.P. Lovecraft from Amazon.com
• More on PZ Myers’ favorite monster
• Robert M. Price’s interview of ST Joshi on Point of Inquiry
• Quirks and Quarks on the evolution of Cephalopod legs

Music

• Monstertalk Theme: Monster
  by Peach Stealing Monkeys
• Intro Music: Death by 1000psi

Robert W. Price

• Interstitial Music: Goblin Dreams A.R. Morgan
• Outro Music: Hey There Cthulhu by The Eben Brooks Band and used by special permission.

Episode Transcript

Read a complete transcript of this episode

The views expressed on this program are not necessarily the views of the Skeptics Society or Skeptic magazine.