The Ocean in Call of Cthulhu

We’re back and we’re enjoying a nice seaside holiday. Of course, when most people talk about the seaside, they mean the bit that’s on land. Somehow, we’ve ended up in the wetter part. Maybe that’s more technically landside. Human languages are messy things. Regardless, it’s everything we could have asked for: cold, murky, and filled with terrifying creatures. If Lovecraft taught us anything, however, it’s that this nice section of seabed could be forced to the surface at any moment. We’ll just have to enjoy its benthic charms while we can. Main Topic: The Ocean in Call of Cthulhu The ocean and its horrors play a huge role in Lovecraft’s fiction and, by extension, in Call of Cthulhu. With entities such as Cthulhu, Dagon and the Deep Ones, and locations like R’lyeh and Y’ha-nthlei, Lovecraft placed many of his most memorable creations deep below the waves. So how can we make use of the ocean in Call of Cthulhu? What inspiration can we take from nature and folklore? And what memorable scenarios are there that use the ocean as their setting? Links Things we mention in this episode include: The Ocean in Lovecraft * “Dagon” by HP Lovecraft * Atlantis * Theosophy * Graham Hancock * I Watched Ancient Apocalypse So You Don’t Have To * “The Temple” by HP Lovecraft * “The Strange High House in the Mist” by HP Lovecraft * Nodens * “The Horror at Martin’s Beach” by Sonia Greene and HP Lovecraft * Fear’s Sharp Little Needles * “The Call of Cthulhu” by HP Lovecraft * Cthulhu * The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath by HP Lovecraft * “The Shadow Over Innsmouth” by HP Lovecraft * At the Mountain of Madness by HP Lovecraft * The Man From Atlantis * “Out of the Aeons” by HP Lovecraft for Hazel Heald