Lovecraftian fun

This post (my 200th, can I really have posted 200?) is for Jon, who I'm sure will be out buying this game before the end of the day. :-)

I have a confession to make. I'm a little ashamed of this but here goes: I consider myself a geek, yet I've never read Lovecraft. There I've said it. I'm familiar with the stories of Arkham, Massachusetts and the Cthulhu mythos but I've never actually sat down and read some Lovecraft. I consider it a failing in my upbringing and I look forward to rectifying the situation soon. In fact over this past weekend I borrowed a collected works from my dad and will start them as soon as I finish with my two library books.

What got me thinking again about H.P. Lovecraft was a game my brother brought with him this weekend. His kids are on spring break so they have come down to Des Moines to hang out until Thursday. It's been a lot of fun to hang out these last two days and each night has ended the same way. We all sit down at the dining room table, break out the board, and play Arkham Horrors.

Now I'm a gamer from way back. I love board games, role playing games, and video games. Even my current WoW addiction is nothing compared to my love for board games. Absolutely nothing makes me happier than sitting around a table with friends or family and a board game. Snacks don't hurt either. And this one is one of the more interesting games I've gotten to play. Each character is given an investigator who will go out into the streets and locations of Arkham to fight back the monsters and keep the ancient ones from spawning. The investigators, who have been pulled directly from the stories, have different occupations, different possessions, and more importantly different levels of sanity and stamina. At the beginning of the game the ancient one is chosen. The characters then travel around the city gathering clues and closing gates to the other worlds. During that whole time you have to keep track of your sanity (which you can lose easily) and your stamina. Those are the things you will use to fight the ancient one when it awakens

This picture was blatantly stolen from Board Game Geek because I forgot my camera last night.

We played last night with seven people and that might have been too many. The game is a complex turned based game. Each character, led off by the first investigator, starts first with a movement turn, then encounters turns for people in Arkham, then encounters turns for people in other worlds, then monster movement turns, then new gates opening turns and status updates for the ancient one. That is the end of the first turn. Then it is repeated until the ancient one spawns. We played from 8 last night until nearly 11 and weren't even close to finishing. Be prepared for a long evening. But this is a great game. Each turn is very different and the monsters that spawn keep the investigators jumping around the board. And with the game set in the Cthulhu mythos, there is an interesting level of horror. Cards include direct quotes from the stories and Cthulhu himself may be awoken. The game was interesting and definitely one of the better thought out games I've played in a long time. But even better they make me want to read some Lovecraft.

Nevermore

I was 7 or 8 when I first heard The Raven by Poe. Although I don't remember my exact age I do remember where I was when I heard it for the first time. My dad and I were huddled around the book with him reading the poem out with just the right mix of doom and excitement. I didn't understand all the parts of the poem but I knew that I loved it. Instantly. From the grim "Nevermore" to the "rapping at my chamber door". It was and still is a magical poem for me. I can actually remember the exact place I was in whenever I read any of his works for the first time (something that I can't say for any other author). They just cut deep into my psyche in ways that other stories don't.

Edgar Allan Poe and I have an odd relationship. I am thrilled by his work and terrified by his work. I read "The Fall of the House of Usher" when I was 12 or so and slept with the lights on that night. Now I am a coward when it comes to horror films. I like to say that I have too good an imagination for them. And I don't read a lot of horror, but I keep going back to Poe. "The Pit and the Pendulum" has inspired more horror and torture films than any other work. I noticed that the new Saw film pays homage. And although I won't see that movie, I will still read the story over and over and shiver.

Even before I knew his terrible past (parents dead when he was two, estrangement from his foster parents, homelessness, alcholism, and a pennyless death followed by posthumous fame) I knew that his work was dark and tortured and thrilling. I had an English teacher who spent an entire class reading "The Bells" in a way that none of us could forget. She made us (lazy high school students) pay attention with those words. We scoffed at Wordsworth and Longfellow and even Hawthorne, but we sat rapt in our seats for Poe. It had just the right mix of darkness and violence to catch our attention.

Monday was not just MLK day but the 200th birthday of Poe. I celebrated by reading "The Cask of Amontillado" (one of my favorites) and watching the incredibly creepy animated version of "The Tell-tale Heart" from UPA pictures. So in honor of his terrible life and his torturedly beautiful works, find a dark corner, light a candle, and read some Poe.

Sheer Terror

I'm not a horror fan. I can read some horror stories, and I enjoy older grade B horror films but most of the time I avoid the genre. And I'll freely admit that I'm very rarely brave. That being said I tend to be pretty even keeled. Few things bother me or offend me. 

But tomorrow morning I intend to put myself willingly through torture. No I'm not auditioning for the most recent slasher/torture film. Instead I'm going to the dentist for a checkup. 

Yes I can hear you laughing now. The dentist shouldn't bother me. I have a pretty clean dental record. No cavities since I was five. Never had a root canal or a crown put on. My teeth are thankfully still all my own. Other than having some wisdom teeth pulled I haven't had a lot of traumatic dental experiences. 

In fact dental work was pretty routine for quite a while. I'm not sure but I estimate that I had 13 years of orthodontia work. Braces, retainers, skin grafts, you name it. I got to the point I would just sit in the chair, close my eyes, and tell them to do whatever they needed to do. Monthly visits to the orthodontist almost always included some sort of painful device or at least the tightening of those painful devices. Braces should be implemented as torture devices. No need to waterboard, just have them deal with braces for 4 and a half years. 

And sadly my teeth aren't much better than they used to be. So lately I jump around between dentists looking for one who will treat me with kid gloves. I go for years between visits. And that makes each trip terrifying. I'm scared that my checkup tomorrow will end with comments like, "We'll have to schedule a follow up to do the drilling" or "I just think a retainer/braces would be the best option for you." Living nightmare. 

I have given blood for years with never a whimper. I have done MRIs, EEG, blood tests, and treadmill tests with no real worry. I even considered going under the knife just recently for a herniated disc. All without fear. But novocaine shots make me cry like a little girl. So wish me luck tomorrow. Hopefully it will again be another clean bill of health. Or at least not as terrifying as I'm expecting.