Fake Books of Great Significance

I've been struggling with developing a paper topic for the last few weeks. I knew that I wanted to have a focus on "The Black Stone" since it was a story that I really enjoyed more than others. I also found the Repairer of Reputations to be an extremely interesting story and I found a tie between the two stories in the mythical text that no one was allowed to read but most were aware of. It reminded me of Catch 22 because allegedly nobody was allowed to have read it or nobody had seen the text for years but somehow everyone was still very aware of it and knew that there was something very wrong about what was in those pages. I then stumbled upon the Necronomicon, a fake book of great significance in the Lovecraft mythos much like the book "Nameless Cults" in Howard's "The Black Stone". I would like to focus my paper on the three fake but mythic books from these authors: "Nameless Cults", "Necronomicon", and "The King in Yellow". I'd like to write about what made these books so important in the grand scheme of things in their respective stories and then go into how this idea of a banned evil book or in the case of "The King in Yellow", play, has evolved into popular culture with movies like The Number 23 and Lovecraft's own Necronomicon playing a major part in the Evil Dead series.

Luella: Unconcious or Deliberate?

I was thinking that I would try to prove whether Luella Miller is actually conscious of her malevolent, life draining actions. I feel that she is unaware that she's the cause of her helpers' deaths until Lydia confronts her in the kitchen one day. After that, she stops seeing anyone, apparently realizing that she has in fact killed those who help her. So, I hope to prove that up to that point, she did not realize what she was doing. What do you all think?

Glimpses of Terror Idea

So, as I started thinking more and more about my paper topic, I tried to imagine what I found to be the most terrifying/scary/unnerving for myself. Something I found really interesting, and will talk about more in class, is the idea of something being horrific or unnerving because it is glimpsed, but never fully discovered or unveiled. The three texts I'd like to focus on with this idea (but will gladly take any and all suggestions!) are What Was It?, For the Blood is the Life, and Unseen - Unfeared. Over the course we have talked about how things that were not well understood in those times (medicine, insanity, new technologies, science in general) led to stories about the fear of the "unknown." I think I would like to focus on how, in these particular stories, seeing only a glimpse of the fantastic is as or more terrifying than fully understanding as it leaves a window open to wonder what else is wandering around unnkown among us. I'd love any feedback on this!

Pan's Labyrinth Cameo by Frog of Cthulhu

I know we don't watch Pan's Labyrinth until next week but I couldn't help but post this. I was rewatching Pan's last night when I saw that intense and kind of gross scene with the giant tree frog and I was immediately reminded of the giant toad in "The Black Stone". It had me curious if there was some giant dark fantasy conspiracy going around to make frogs even creepier than they already are. Makes me wonder what has these people choosing frog's as these mythic disturbing creatures. I dont know if it has anything to do with frogs being one of the Lord's plagues on Egypt and these writers are just running off that supernatural vibe or what. I just thought it would be a neat topic of discussion.

Gone to St. Augustine

So I'm about to leave for St. Augustine, FL for my future sister-in-law's wedding and I won't be able to discuss paper topics in class with you all this afternoon. I've had trouble thinking of something to write about, but I am very interested in the questions "To what extent is there a distinct Mediterranean vampire tradition, and to what extent is that tradition depicted in “For the Blood Is the Life”?" and "To what extent is Lydia Anderson one of Luella Miller’s victims?  To what extent is Luella herself a victim?" If anyone has any suggestions for either of these topics, I will greatly appreciate it. I do not know if I will have internet access at our beach house, but if I do I will try to update on what I have been thinking about. If not, I'll just have to call Andy on my way back or just start working as soon as I get back to Tuscaloosa. Have fun in class later, I hate I'll miss the paper discussion. I know you all will come up with some interesting ideas.

Vampires

So in learning about vampires, I wanted to include characteristics from stories we've read that include vampires. To make sure I include everything, what all stories have vampires as people in them?

Thanks for the help. I'm going to compare and contrast vampires throughout the stories.

Possession

I haven't really narrowed this topic down, but I was thinking of comparing a few of the possession stories we have read. "The April Witch," was really different from the "The Thing on the Doorstep." I think that this shows that a basic idea can evolve into just about anything depending on where the author chooses to take it. I was also struck by the similarity of the possessions in "The Thing on the Doorstep" and a series of three books I read by Anne Rice, "The Mayfair Witch Chronicles." Those are just my first thoughts on the paper. Hopefully ya'll can help me develop it more during class.