Hanging in Stephen Colbert’s living room?

I went to Dundracon last weekend. It’s a great chance to game and spend time with friends I see all too infrequently.

One of these games involved a law firm called August and Howard. Now to me that was an obvious allusion to August Derleth and Howard Phillips (H.P.) Lovecraft. I assumed that most other players caught this reference and took it as a sign that occult matters were afoot. I even mentioned this to the game master when we were discussing the game over drinks later.

I was wrong. Most people missed it. In fact, he had used that firm in other games, but people usually missed the significance of the name choice.

That amazed me. I had trouble believing it at first. But the more I thought about it the more sense it made.

When I was growing up, the only people who understood references to Cthulhu (and similar) were those who read Lovecraft.

But that’s no longer true.

Lovecraft is everywhere these days. Cthulhu has made appearances in tech-oriented web comics, cartoons, and even has plush toys. He has his own film festival. Basic information about the Cthulhu mythos is a click away on countless websites.

In short: Lovecraft has become a pop culture phenomenon. People who have never read his work understand basic references the way I understand references to Twilight.

Now this is not a complaint. Personally I think it’s great that so many people get the sort of references I like to make.

I just have to remind myself that just because they enjoy Cthulhu holiday music does not mean they will understand my Whateley knock-knock jokes. But that’s fine too.

What do you think of the Lovecraft phenomenon?

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