Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Lovecraft radio drama


Horror author H.P. Lovecraft has always been extremely problematic for anyone attempting to adapt his work into another format. His style of horror storytelling is often too arch with his protagonists in situations where their wills are sapped or their actions forced by outside influences. Since these tales are mostly about interior struggles and unseen terrors it can be very hard to make a visual version of a Lovecraft story be, in any way, cinematic. Filmmakers usually have to find a way to juice up the story or bend it to a more normal form to convert it to something that makes sense as a linear narrative. This is usually a recipe for disaster. There have been far more misses than hits with Lovecraft film adaptations but his luck with audio drama is pretty good. I have found a number of really great old radio versions of his short stories and I’ll post links to a couple over the next week.

Here is his excellent 'Rats in the Walls' adapted by the show The Black Mass.

Enjoy!

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