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Post by phantomrider on Apr 20, 2008 17:31:27 GMT
Wasn't quite sure where to put this but the question should be familiar to at least two other people on the board. Just curious if the question gets the same answer 20 years or so on?
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Post by weirdmonger on Apr 20, 2008 17:42:30 GMT
I know the answer. And so will Redbrain.
I'm going out now to a pub quiz. And I'm not sure if you want an answer now or later.
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Post by Calenture on Apr 20, 2008 17:56:04 GMT
Is this a trick question?
I mean, do you want the one who asked for his death, or the chap ordered to do the fell deed?
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Post by phantomrider on Apr 20, 2008 20:21:20 GMT
Sorry, didn't intend to be quite so cryptic (no pun intended). This refers to the character in Lovecraft's The Hound. I think I first encountered the question in an issue of Dagon but came across it again today while googling Crypt of Cthulhu. It was an essay based on a discussion between two friends who had both read the story and come up with a different answer. The two friends in question are Redbrain and Weirdmonger and coming across it again set me wondering if interpretations had changed over time and re-reading, so I just thought I'd ask......
Not looking for an immediate answer, just thought it was an interesting question worth revisiting.
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Post by weirdmonger on Apr 20, 2008 22:17:59 GMT
came across it again today while googling Crypt of Cthulhu. It was an essay based on a discussion between two friends who had both read the story and come up with a different answer. The two friends in question are Redbrain and Weirdmonger I think I have read THE HOUND aloud to Redbrain at least a dozen times since 1967. I think the last time was about two years ago when I travelled to London to see Goldfrapp at the Albert Hall. His article in CoC, I recall, is an amazing piece of work. Not read it for some years. Googled this: Jeffery, Peter F. “Who Killed St John?”. Crypt of Cthulhu No. 48 (WN 6, No. 6)(St John’s Eve, 1987).
Jeffery’s article “Who Killed St John” comments on the ambiguity as to whether the winged hound that mangles St John in England is the same being as the skeleton in the grave.
This question did not come up in the pub quiz tonight.  |
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Post by weirdmonger on Apr 21, 2008 10:46:56 GMT
I've now tracked down my copy of CoC 48 and my memory served me correctly. It is a remarkable article entitled 'Who Killed St John?' which includes a flow diagram that has to be seen to be believed.
I suppose, if Redbrain is agreeable, I could attempt to scan this article and reproduce it here?
des
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Post by redbrain on Apr 21, 2008 17:18:44 GMT
I would have no objection to The Weirdmonger scanning and reproducing my article.
My current feeling is that a winged hound killed St John, and that an entirely separate entity ( the skeleton) recovered the amulet in Holland. Without checking, I think that's what I thought originally.
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Post by weirdmonger on Apr 21, 2008 18:48:59 GMT
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Post by Calenture on Apr 21, 2008 20:50:39 GMT
This is a fascinating piece of literary detective work. The comparison between you and Des' and HPL's pair of ghouls is irresistable.  This kind of spadework can add a sort of depth to a story. Illusory, I suppose, but then so is the story. |
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Post by phantomrider on Apr 23, 2008 21:01:21 GMT
Re read both the Hound and the Crypt article last night and have to say I tend towards the Hound and the skeleton being seperate. It is the nature of the skeleton and the amulet that interests me..... haven't got time to elaborate tonight, will explain tomorrow.......
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Post by benedictjjones on May 14, 2008 15:49:53 GMT
when i read it i did find the figures on the boat a bit odd.
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Post by weirdmonger on May 14, 2008 16:16:41 GMT
when i read it i did find the figures on the boat a bit odd. Figures on a boat? (Sounds like a reference to my thingie 'Ghost Hunters' in 'Filthy Creations 4' - but I can't relate your comment to 'The Hound' ... yet. Working on it. ) |
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Post by benedictjjones on May 15, 2008 10:20:07 GMT
^when st. john and his mate come back from the continent they are followed on the ship by two strange figures (in cloak and muffler) who don't seem to relate to either the skeleton or the hound...
(unless i've completely misremembered the story...)
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Post by weirdmonger on May 15, 2008 10:25:28 GMT
Oh, thanks. I thought you meant numbers (figures). Sorry.
It was a joke I made about real figures in 'Ghost Hunters' (i.e human shapes) but it appears I was nearer the truth than I thought.
I'll get my coat...
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Post by phantomrider on May 19, 2008 15:50:08 GMT
OK, tomorrow was something of an optimistic estimate due to a dead graphics card, which I have surprised my self by fixing (well, replacing), just in time to disapper to a rockabilly weekender in Hembsy. Now back, slightly worse for wear and with loads to catch up on! Watch this space.....
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