Lovecraftian Horror News: Comics and TV

Credit: Pixabay

I had said last post that this weekend is our Book-To-Movie review. In most cases we have our Book-To-Movie the fourth weekend of every month. However, and I apologise for this, I'm just not ready to post the review yet and so I'm postponing it to next weekend. I had just barely finished the book yesterday, Friday, when I normally start writing the review. I had also intended to watch the movie adaptation of the book a second time to refresh myself because there was so much going on in it that I couldn't remember enough details to discuss in the post. However, the streaming service it was on was having technical problems so I wasn’t able to watch it. The Book-To-Movie will be on another H.P. Lovecraft story and film. 

Speaking about Lovecraftian stories and movies, I do have the latest news in Lovecraftian horror pop culture. The Cthulhu news of the week is two comics and a returning TV series! 

Comic: "Army of Darkness" and Re-Animator" Mashup: Two cult horror films, "Army of Darkness" and "Re-Animator", this second based on H.P. Lovecraft's novella, “Herbert West, Re-Animator", will have a comic series together starting this July. Titled  "The army of Darkness Vs. Re-Animator: Necronomicon Rising" , it will feature the characters Ash Williams from "Army of Darkness", and Herbert West from "Re-Animator". The former will go up against the latter in a battle over an artifact found in an archaeological excavation. According to ScreenRant, what the artifact is specifically is not yet known but it will lead to Ash having to defend the world from the living dead and, because the story involves a Lovecraftian character, the conflict may get into cosmic horrors as well. “Necronomicon Rising" is written by Erik Burnham, illustrated by Eman Casallos and published by Dynamite.

Comic: Lovecraftian and Psychedelic Horror in "ITHAQA" #4:  Already a Lovecraftian horror series, "ITHAQA", by Michael Watson and Theresa Chiechi, will take a diversion from normal Lovecraftian conventions in issue number 4: it's going psychedelic time-space travel. The series is about a group of investigators and an unsuccessful filmmaker who search for information about a cult that's connected to strange events in Ithaca, NY in the 1920s. In this issue, a World War I soldier, Harvey Bolton, tries to make sense of the traumatic events he experienced in the war. To do that, he goes on a journey through space and time. “ITHAQA” is crowdfunded via a Kickstarter campaign and so the fourth issue will release probably sometime after it reaches its funding goal. So, if you can’t wait for it to release then go to its campaign page and get funding it!  

TV: "Stranger Things" Season 4:  After all these years of waiting and wondering, season 4 of the Netflix science fiction horror series, "Stranger Things", will finally premier this May 27th! Ars Technica says that, based on the official trailer, this season will bring "full-blown Lovecraftian horror vibes." The whole series has featured Lovecraftian monsters and interdimensional concepts and so is definitely cosmic horror. However, when I watched the season 4 trailer, except for a tentacled humanoid creature it didn't seem that much more Lovecraftian than the previous seasons. It does, however, seem to get more gothic in which many of Lovecraft's stories are. It features a ticking grandfather clock and a dark, decaying mansion in a stormy night scene. 

Many of the same characters will be returning in season 4 including Chief of Police Jim Hopper (David Harbour), Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder) and son Will Byers (Noah Schnapp). Ars Technica says that the series will enhance its 80s era setting by introducing a new character played by “Nightmare on Elm Street”'s Robert Englund. Unlike the previous seasons, according to an expanded official premise from Netflix, it will feature a supernatural menace.    

That's the latest Lovecraftian pop culture news. Be here next weekend for more Lovecraftian horror in the Book-To-Movie review. Also, look out for the April edition of my newsletter, "Night Creatures' Call", releasing towards the end of the week. If you haven't signed up for this free newsletter, you can do so here. You’ll find the latest news on current projects such as my upcoming book of short fiction, “Bad Apps”.  Also, I'm looking for guest bloggers in the genres of science fiction, horror and fantasy. So, if you would like to post on my blog, let me know in the comments box below. 

Do you know of any Lovecraftian horror news that I may have missed? If so, please feel free to drop it in the box below!

Until next time . . .