Ulthar

Nyarlathoggua Triumphant wrote:

A shame. As an ancient, dare I see prehistoric, Panther, I'm sure you would have many fascinating stories to tell.

It's all a lie. I confess. We present as ancient, but are mere children playing dress up with their parents' evening wear. All bluster, no thunder.

A Cat wrote:

Here's one of the prettiest black panther images I've ever seen.

https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/190212232845-rare-black-leopard.jpg

That is a good one. The eyes are beautiful. I'm saving it into my collection of images of big cats that I've got going on my computer. Here's one of my favorites:

https://i.imgur.com/DCTLTmr.jpg

Ancient Panther wrote:

That is a good one. The eyes are beautiful. I'm saving it into my collection of images of big cats that I've got going on my computer. Here's one of my favorites:

https://i.imgur.com/DCTLTmr.jpg

That's nice too. But A Cat's image is better. Despite its lack of tentacles.

Nyarlathoggua Triumphant wrote:

That's nice too. But A Cat's image is better. Despite its lack of tentacles.

Ah, so you might be more interested in the Displacer Beast, then...

https://i.imgur.com/rHhw5zU.jpg

Ancient Panther wrote:

Ah, so you might be more interested in the Displacer Beast, then...

https://i.imgur.com/rHhw5zU.jpg

A fine specimen indeed. If it had a thousand young, it would be perfect.

Famous Last Words (from an issue title): I've Got 99 Problems but The Cleansing Fire of Azathoth Ain't One.

Nyarlathoggua Triumphant wrote:

My nation is in the top 10% of the World for Public Transport. How can that be? ...unless...

Maybe being absorbed by a traveling shoggoth counts as a trip on public transportation. Yes, that would explain it... and you can meet all sorts of interesting people inside a shoggoth, though the screaming does get in the way of a good conversation.

Even traditional public transport can verge on horror trip. Check out for example Kontroll (2003) taking place inside the Budapest metro.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0373981/

Ancient Panther wrote:

It's all a lie. I confess. We present as ancient, but are mere children playing dress up with their parents' evening wear.

That doesn't matter, can still be terrifying. The mind of a curious playful kitten inside the body of the shadow panther, who could lurk behind any corner, leap out of any shadow, something dark moving in the corner of your eye...

Sharing some articles because why not.

A nice little article about current developments in the literary horror genre, English language.
Horror fiction is finally moving away from the fear of the other and is focusing more on an examination of our societal anxieties in more nuanced ways.
https://thewalrus.ca/new-horror-books/

A look into Vladimir Sorokin's work.
I've read some Sorokin - The Blizzard - and his way with words and imagination are impressive. His works can be difficult to stomach though, extremely violent, definitely not for everyone.
In Ice Trilogy, Sorokin (...) told the story of a violent mystical cult that blends in seamlessly with the secret police. (…) undoes the Soviet mythos of man triumphing over nature, particularly in the Arctic, (...) it is the Brothers and Sisters of the Light, ethereal beings made of ice, who impose their will over man.
https://harpers.org/archive/2022/06/vladimir-sorokin-the-shock-jock-of-russian-letters/

A contemporary opera composer, Gerald Cohen, is working on an opera about one of the genre's pioneers, Mary Shelley.
The enduring horror story, Frankenstein, has captivated audiences for over 200 years. Less well known is the story of the novel's creator, Mary Shelley. The opera Mary Shelley gives context to the internal and external forces that lead this 18-year old woman to bring this dark tale to life.
https://www.geraldcohenmusic.com/mary-shelley/

And finally, classic horror as comfort reading in a contemporary book club.
'Dracula Daily' will deliver the classic book to your inbox in bite-sized chunks
https://www.npr.org/2022/05/15/1099004731/dracula-daily-will-deliver-the-classic-book-to-your-inbox-in-bite-sized-chunks?t=1653207619294
Tens of thousands of people are on tenterhooks for the next email update from their friend Jonathan Harker, a naive English lawyer who is ignoring a lot of warning signs while visiting a client in Eastern Europe. In a characteristically unpredictable move of site-wide obsession, May 2022 welcomed an era of sh*tposting about a novel from 1897.
https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/dracula-daily-tumblr-memes
Want to join the virtual Dracula book club? Here it is.
https://draculadaily.substack.com

A Cat wrote:

Even traditional public transport can verge on horror trip. Check out for example Kontroll (2003) taking place inside the Budapest metro.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0373981/

Loved that flick. Good mood. Funny, enthralling, and strangely made me want to visit Budapest.

A Cat wrote:

A nice little article about current developments in the literary horror genre, English language.
Horror fiction is finally moving away from the fear of the other and is focusing more on an examination of our societal anxieties in more nuanced ways.
https://thewalrus.ca/new-horror-books/

That's interesting, thanks for sharing. I haven't read much recent horror. An exception, this year I read "NOS4A2" by Joe Hill (Stephen King's son). Definitely felt like something that would be written by a child of Stephen King, though distinct enough. It was pretty bonkers. Worth reading, but quite uneven. Another was "Hex" by Thomas Olde Heuvelt. Quite terrifying. Also absolutely bonkers. And I'd say both fell in line with the observations of that article.

I really want to read "Annihilation" by Jeff VanderMeer (mentioned in the article). The whole Southern Reach Trilogy looks simply fascinating.

Also, this has been on my radar for some time now:

"Twig" by John C. McCrae (known by their online handle 'Wildbow')
https://twigserial.wordpress.com/

They call it a "web serial," in reference to it all being online, and how it was released serially to fans, updated by the author as he completed the next section. Seems to have developed a real cult following. It tells the story of a group of kids who were granted exceptional abilities through the horrific world of advanced bioengineering, and follows them as they move through this dystopian hellscape of roving unnatural monsters and an insane ruling class. My understanding of the subject matter leads me view it as being squarely within that article's purview.

A Cat wrote:

And finally, classic horror as comfort reading in a contemporary book club.

I will not be joining that book club, but it makes me happy that it exists :) Very fun idea. And the site has quite an appealing interface, I must say.

The cats have more Crime than I do. I suppose that's only natural.

Be Cat. Do Crimes.

Ancient Panther wrote:

Be Cat. Do Crimes.

ᵐᵒᵗᵗᵒ ᵃᶜᵠᵘᶦʳᵉᵈ