Imaginary Worlds - When Cthulhu Calls

Episode Date: March 24, 2016

This week's episode is a radio drama, and a co-production with Jeff Emtman's podcast Here Be Monsters. I've been fascinated by the monster Cthulhu for a long time. The writer H.P. Lovecraft described Cthulhu as a gargantuan, aquatic being with tentacles on its mouth, and bat-like wings And yet, there is so much cute merchandise on the Internet which turns that green grotesque creature into an ironic meme. Perhaps these merchants are true believers, trying to manage their terror of the Cthulhu because they know it's real -- and it's rising. With Sheldon Solomon, Dan Truman, Bill Lobley and Ann Scobie. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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We've never smelled so good. Shop Old Spice Total Body Deodorant now. You're listening to Imaginary Worlds, a show about how we create them and why we suspend our disbelief. I'm Eric Malinsky. Today's show is going to sound different from my usual shows. First of all, it's a radio drama that mixes reality with fantasy. And today's episode is also a full-on co-production with one of my favorite podcasts, Here Be Monsters. To give you a taste of what that show sounds like, this is how the host and creator, Jeff Emptman, does his introduction. Here Be Monsters, the podcast about...

He's here, in the waters. The podcast about... The unknown. When it comes to monsters, there is one that I have been fascinated by for a really long time. It's called Cthulhu. This is a monster of almost unimaginable scale, millions of years old, that supposedly is sleeping most of the time at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. And if he's ever to rise, that could be the end of the world. Cthulhu is all over pop culture. You can find him in role-playing games, video games.

He was even on South Park. But he was originally created by Howard Phillips Lovecraft. The figure was between seven and eight inches in height and of exquisitely artistic workmanship. It represented a monster of vaguely anthropoid outline, but with an octopus-like head whose face was a mass of feelers, a scaly, rubbery-looking body, prodigious claws on hind and forefeet,

and long, narrow wings behind. H.P. Lovecraft wrote horror fiction in the 1920s and 30s. He was a recluse in Providence, Rhode Island, a genius, and an unrepentant racist and xenophobe. But a lot of people who find his personal views abhorrent still have a lot of affection towards him as a writer and his signature monster, Cthulhu. as a writer and his signature monster, Cthulhu. I've always wondered why, and particularly how somebody who had such a boundless imagination could be so close-minded when it came to people in the real world. My name's Sheldon Solomon. I'm an experimental social psychologist at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York.

Sheldon Solomon and a group of other psychologists coined a term called terror management theory, which might explain the paradox of H.P. Lovecraft. So when we first started talking, you know, you said you hadn't read any Lovecraft. Yes. He is somebody who lived in a constant state of terror. Did you think about these theories in reading him? Yes, and I still am finding his work just haunting. And what were your thoughts on Cthulhu? Yeah, my thoughts are that it is very typical.

We call it terror focalization, that it gives us some concrete and embodied entity upon which to project our death fears. Basically, we all know we're going to die. But if we were to focus on that, obsess over it, like Lovecraft did, we would hardly be able to function on a daily basis. The primary function of culture is to mitigate death anxiety by giving us each a sense that we live in a meaningful world and that as individuals in that world that we are uniquely valuable and significant. And therefore, whenever we're reminded of our mortality, And therefore, whenever we're reminded of our mortality, that instigates a host of defensive reactions that we use to restore confidence in our culture and confidence in our worthiness as individuals.

Did you then go ahead and decide, I want to test this with studies? We've done hundreds of experiments. Sometimes we bring people into the lab and we have them read things on the computer. And while they're doing that, unbeknownst to them, we flash the word death so fast, 28 milliseconds, that you don't even know that you've seen anything. that you've seen anything. In one study, they brought in judges and asked them to set bail for a fictional prostitute.

The judges that were prompted to think about death set a bail that was many, many times higher. People reminded of death suddenly had very intolerant views of other racial and religious groups. They even agreed with a proposition that we should bomb other countries. And then they flipped the script, and they asked people whether they wanted to be famous or have a star named after them in the Milky Way.

The group prompted by the word death embraced those ideas. You know, you may not be here forever, and I may not be here forever, but I'm comforted by the proposition that some vestige of my existence will persist over time nonetheless. So perhaps in the form of having children, perhaps in the form of amassing great fortunes and spraying my name all over buildings, airplanes, and casinos. It could be by producing a great work of art or science. There was a secret which even torture could not extract. Mankind was not absolutely alone among the conscious things of earth, for shapes came out of the dark to visit the faithful few.

But these were not the great old ones. The chanted ritual was not the secret. That was never spoken aloud, only whispered. In his house at R'lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits dreaming. So recently, I was also in Red Hook, which is an old industrial neighborhood on the western edge of Brooklyn. The subways never ran there. The docks are decaying. The factories are rusting.

It's got a spooky vibe. But, like a lot of Brooklyn, it's gentrifying. There's actually an Ikea there now. And I came across this really weird little shop called Lovecraft. Two separate words, Lovecraft. They sell handcrafted merchandise of Cthulhu. Stores filled with mugs, t-shirts, hats, slippers, bobbleheads, all making that big green creature with floppy tentacles in his mouth and bat wings look kind of cute. I had to check it out, and I talked to the owner. I'm Roberta Sudam. how do you spell your name? S-U-Y-D-A-M Sudam

with Dutch I've been here for hundreds of years my family's been in Brooklyn for hundreds of years you're New York Dutch so obviously you must have read a lot of Lovecraft as a kid yeah definitely

it was like my bible really of Lovecraft as a kid. Yeah, definitely. Yeah, I mean, it was like my Bible, you know. Really? Lovecraft, yeah, he was, he's deep, you know. He was deep. I've always been a deep person. The way that Cthulhu is described by Lovecraft, he's really kind of this gross-looking monster,

you know, he's got these, like, tentacles in his face and these bat wings and he's, like, sc gross looking monster you know he's got these like tentacles and his face and these bat wings and he's like scaly and or not scaly but he's you know aquatic and he's gigantic and um but then like everything here is cute like it's like it's these cute cthulhu stuff i mean would you give a friend a t-shirt with a disgusting looking monster on it. No, it's to honor it and to and to soothe ourselves. You know,

soothing. But I mean, he's not real though. I mean, Lovecraft invented him. Cthulhu is real. He's rising. He's here in the waters. Let me show you something. See if I can find this.

Here we go. This is the Far Rockaways. Okay. That is a picture of like a, I guess it's in the water, so it's taken from a boat. It's like a cell phone picture, basically, of some kind of hump.

Like it's the tip of a dome, like a dark dome in the water. That could be, I mean, that could be, I don't know about anything, but it could be, I mean, that could be, I mean, I don't know about anything, but it could be, I mean, there's a, I'm sure there's a very mundane explanation for that. Okay. You know, I mean, you know, Cthulhu is bigger than

anything you can imagine. The universe, everything. The universe is expanding and it's going to turn into dust. It's going to turn into dust. It's going to go away. And we will go away with it. And there'll be no Shakespeare in a space capsule.

There'll be no aliens coming down and going to find a toenail and clone us. That's it. We're done. Done. Cthulhu is that knowledge. That's why you can't get too close to it. Because if you do, you lose it. You know? That's all I'm saying. Think about it. Okay. Excuse me. I'm sorry. No, no, that's fine. Thank you very much. Good luck to you, Eric.

Thanks. Hi. Can I help you? Got after that conversation, I felt kind of disturbed. I went online and I discovered that there's actually a lot of people selling Cthulhu merchandise. Some of them are doing it as a joke, but a lot of them seem to be true believers just like her, using irony to control their fear. I just started wondering, are these people crazy or am I losing it?

I even got some binoculars and I went down to the Far Rockaways and stood on the beach to see if I could spot anything. the beach to see if I could spot anything. Okay, it is Sunday. It's March 6th. I guess what I'm seeing right now is it's kind of like a, it's like a flat space where the waves aren't there, like they're not rustling. It's just sort of like flat, and it looks like it's black from here. But, I mean, that could be anything. I mean, that could... It's just stupid. I'm freezing. Cthulhu still lives, too, I suppose. His accursed city is sunken once more,

for the Vigilant sailed over the spot after the April Storm. But his ministers on Earth still bellow and prance and slay around idle-capped monoliths in lonely places. He must have been trapped by the sinking, whilst within his black abyss, or else the world would by now be screaming with fright and frenzy. Who knows the end? What has risen may sink, and what has sunk may rise. I decided to contact George Angel.

He is a professor at Brown University who oversees H.B. Lovecraft's archives, or what they call The Vault. We emailed back and forth. It's a little strange because it actually felt like he was vetting me, and he insisted that I go up to see him in person. Now, I was heading to Boston anyway to visit my family, and Amtrak goes through Providence, so I figured why not. Sorry to make you walk all this way.

It's just a bit longer. Wow. I guess I should describe what's going on here. We're in an underground lab, deep, deep underground, and Professor Angel is opening a drawer and bringing out... Is that a brain? Is that like a real brain? Oh, my God. And there's, like, wires coming out of it.

Like electrodes coming out of it or something? That's right. I mean, why? What is this? I figured you'd probably want to talk to the man himself. This is a brain-computer interface. And text-to-speech software. And this is Howard. Howard Lovecraft?

That's right. It doesn't take long for him to warm up. Hello, Professor. We have a guest who would like to speak to you. This is Eric Molenski. Tell me, what is the derivation of the name Molenski? Speak into the microphone. This is amazing. How does the world not know about this?

Well, it's difficult. Out of context, there are certain aspects of Howard's personality deeply embedded into his brain that are repugnant. He's such a valuable resource. I can't keep him locked up forever. I beg your pardon. May I ask you again, what is the derivation of the name Molenski? Talk to Howard.

He gets uncomfortable if he's on for too long. He overheats. Okay, where? Right here? Just to speak right into there. Professor? Hello, Howard. He gets uncomfortable if he's on for too long. He overheats. Okay, where? Right here? Just to speak right into there. Professor? Hello, Howard. Hello. Molenski is Ukrainian for Miller.

You are Aryan, Stark. No, I'm Jewish. The Jews are humorless and emotionally overdeveloped ethical fanatics. I see what I mean. I'm so sorry. No, it's okay. No, no, it's okay. I mean, I read fanatics. I see what I mean. I'm so sorry. No, it's okay. I read about him. I know. I know. The Judeo-feminization of the Aryan male has proven to be a mortal blow to our species.

Wow. Yeah. Howard? Yes? Was it your plan to live on like this? Except for the wires in my cerebellum. Partially. I spent many years contemplating to live on like this? Except for the wires in my cerebellum, partially. I spent many years contemplating the unimaginative horror of death,

a blackness beyond all human conception. I had become a quivering neurotic until I began to imagine eternal life without the burden of rotting muscles, bones, and flesh. See, it is Howard. But I mean, what does he know about the world? Does he know about how society has changed?

Professor Angel has informed me about the opiates of your time. Television. The socialization of media. Why do you think people distract themselves until they have neither the focus nor concentration to see the horror waiting for them? Civilization is but a slight coverlet beneath which the dominant beast sleeps lightly and ever ready to awake. As the warm oceans rise, they will swallow up the great energy-expanding cities of the world. Cthulhu rises with them. You didn't invent Cthulhu.

He's real. All right, Howard. We're done here for now. Thank you. No, no, no. I just started talking to him. Just degrades from there. Just breaks down into fragments.

I have more questions. Like, I want to talk to him about... Evil has power to mold. That night, I had this really intense dream. I dreamt that I took a boat in the harbor, and I rode towards that dome in the water, which is supposed to be Ithulu. And I saw it. I saw it boat in the harbor, and I rode towards that dome in the water, which is supposed to be Cthulhu. And I saw it. I saw it peeking out over the waves. And suddenly, all the matter of the universe just began to dissipate. It began to stretch apart.

And I saw this just gigantic black void. And then I woke up. And when I got back to New York, I bought a Cthulhu bobblehead. Could you open the display case? Yeah. And a t-shirt. And some slippers. Well, that is it for this week. Thank you for listening.

If you go to Red Hook looking for the store Lovecraft, you're out of luck. It never existed. But the Cthulhu merchandise is very real. It's all over the internet. Roberta Sudan was played by Anne Scobie, Professor Angel was played by Dan Truman, and Bill Loeble

was the voice of H.P. Lovecraft. Special thanks to Sheldon Solomon, who is completely real, as is his work on terror management theory. This episode was written and produced by me, Jeff Emptman, and Bethany Denton of the podcast Here Be Monsters from KCRW's Independent Producer Project.

Next time, I'm going to stay with the theme of monsters, but this one's more about childhood nostalgia than existential terror. Imaginary Worlds is part of the Panoply Network. You can like the show on Facebook, tweet at E. Malinsky. The show's website is imaginaryworldspodcast.org. Lovecraft, this is Roberta. Yeah, we're out of the baby bids, sweetheart.

Yeah, I'm sorry. It shouldn't be there. I'll take them off. And look at the plush pink Cthulhu squeezy toys. Yeah, kids love them. Okay, bye-bye. Nava, Nagila, Hava, Nagila, Hava, Nagila, hoi, hoi, hoi. You think this is bad? You should see Steinbeck down the hall.