Author Topic: Pseudopod 100: The Music of Erich Zann  (Read 21023 times)

Bdoomed

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on: July 26, 2008, 01:25:23 AM
Pseudopod 100: The Music of Erich Zann

By Howard Phillips Lovecraft

Read by BJ Harrison

I have examined maps of the city with the greatest care, yet have never again found the Rue d’Auseil. These maps have not been modern maps alone, for I know that names change. I have, on the contrary, delved deeply into all the antiquities of the place, and have personally explored every region, of whatever name, which could possibly answer to the street I knew as the Rue d’Auseil. But despite all I have done, it remains an humiliating fact that I cannot find the house, the street, or even the locality, where, during the last months of my impoverished life as a student of metaphysics at the university, I heard the music of Erich Zann.


This week’s episode sponsored by Audible.com, who has extended their generous offer of a free audiobook download of your choice from their selection of over 40,000 titles.


Listen to this week's Pseudopod.

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Thaurismunths

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Reply #1 on: July 26, 2008, 01:28:48 AM
*ahem*
WOOO HOO!

That is all.

How do you fight a bully that can un-make history?


Boggled Coriander

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Reply #2 on: July 26, 2008, 01:52:02 AM
I haven't listened to the episode yet.  I just want to say that I noticed PseudoPod was nearing #100, remembered Escape Pod snagging Isaac Asimov's Nightfall for its 100th episode, and I totally knew which author we'd be hearing on PP 100.  Go me.

I look forward to listening.

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DKT

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Reply #3 on: July 26, 2008, 02:41:36 AM
It's an amazing episode.  I got a big smile on my face when I saw it was HP Lovecraft.  Fantastic story, pretty expertly narrated, and a great way to celebrate 100 episodes. 

As I said on the blog comments, I think this was Alasdair's best outro -- absolutely nailed the imagery and the emotion of a man frantically using his talent to fend off the end of everything. 

My only complaint is we didn't get any Ben :(

Congrats to everyone at Pseudopod.


MacArthurBug

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Reply #4 on: July 26, 2008, 02:29:29 PM
Oh my goodness graciousness! Happy 100th and WOW!   I am also subscribed to the classic tales, and am used to B.J's dramatic readings. I love his range and the emotion he brings.  This in particular was a PERFECT pick for number 100. Great classic goosebump riasing strange work. The whole normal world gone slightly askew aspect works for me on so many levels.  I'm so terribly happy! Keep 'em coming. I fully expect to be able to comment on number 200!

Oh, great and mighty Alasdair, Orator Maleficent, He of the Silvered Tongue, guide this humble fangirl past jumping up and down and squeeing upon hearing the greatness of Thy voice.
Oh mighty Mur the Magnificent. I am not worthy.


eytanz

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Reply #5 on: July 26, 2008, 02:32:51 PM
Happy 100th!

And a truly great choice for an episode. This is Lovecraft at his very best, and that's a hard act top beat (or follow. I don't envy #101). Great reading, too.



tazo

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Reply #6 on: July 26, 2008, 05:15:40 PM
It's a bit hard to comment on this week's story.  I kind of feel like it'd be going to see, I dunno, a screening of Dracula or Frankenstein back in the 1930's and going "Well, golly gosh gee, that was fun!  I wonder if this sort of thing will catch on?"

I mean... it's Lovecraft.  As Alasdair said, this one of the big bad granddad's of horror, with his faults and missteps (and well documented racism, but that's another story), but you listen to something like this and you remember that there's a REASON his last name has actually become an adjective.

Still, I will say that it was quite good (golly gosh gee) and that the reading made it come even more alive, as you could actually hear fear in the narrator's voice.

100 nights in, let's see if we can live through the next 100...



jodymonster

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Reply #7 on: July 26, 2008, 09:49:35 PM
Happy 100th, Pseudopod! And thank you, thank you, thank you.

Lovecraft has a special place in my reader's heart for being the first author I ever read who actually really scared me.  "Dreams in the Witch House" gave me freaky nightmares about little rat-things for weeks, and the "The Statement of Randolf Carter" gave me goosebumps, even on a sunny summer day.  Pretty much everything I've ever read of his gives me the creeps. This story is no exception, but I don't really have any brilliant commentary on it.  Just my happy opinion. 

I loved the story and the reading, and I love Pseudopod.  ;D  Thanks, guys.  Keep up the good work!

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Yossarian's grandson

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Reply #8 on: July 26, 2008, 09:52:20 PM
Happy horrible 100th birthday Pseudopod! And well done team, all of you. It's been great so far.

And what a great episode. You gotta love the classics. And like Alasdair said, this is one of Lovecrafts best. It's got all the ingredients that make his best stories truly great. A sense of cosmic horror, the idea that man is helpless against the dread beastst beyond the physical realm, and yet cannot stay his curiosity. Love it!




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Reply #9 on: July 27, 2008, 04:12:06 AM
Just listened to the currernt Escape Pod tonight before dinner, and when Steve mentioned it I was there.  I'm downloading as I type this.  This will be the very first episode of Pseudopod for me.  I mean, it's Lovecraft!

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bolddeceiver

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Reply #10 on: July 27, 2008, 05:11:09 AM
I'm normally one of those Lovecraft detractors mentioned in the outro, but this story was something else.

My usual problem with Lovecraft is, most of his stories, particularly in the Cthulu mythos, rely heavily on telling the reader to be frightened.  Rather than describing actual horrifying events or occurrances, instead he simply says, "the thing was so horrible to look upon that I cannot begin to tell you how horrible it was and if you saw it your brain would probably explode because it's so horrible."  The description of R'lyeh in "Call of Cthulhu" and that of the monster in "The Dunwich Horror" are prime examples of this technique.

Second-hand horror can be done to great effect (the first story I heard on PP, and the one that scared me probably more than anything else on the cast, is a great example), and in fact that is one of the things going on in today's story, but it requires an absolute mastery of character, something which, in my estimation, Lovecraft just plain does not have.  Instead I just feel like I'm being asked to take his word for it that I am frightened.

This story made it work.  Even though much of what was terrifying followed this same formula, this time it worked.  The characterization of the narrator and his state of mind was very important here, as was the facility with which the mood and setting were established.  This is probably the first time I've actually felt a chill while reading or listening to Lovecraft ("The Shadow Over Innsmouth" got close, but only because I was listening to it on tape while fighting murlocs :P).

Plus, it was pretty much Lovecraft or nothing for PP 100.  (Poe for 200?  *crosses fingers and waits another few years*)



errant371

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Reply #11 on: July 28, 2008, 02:05:37 PM
First of all,  Happy 100th Episode PP!  Secondly, Lovecraft!  Couldn't have picked a better author, or story for your landmark.  "The Music of Erich Zann" is an overlooked jewel in Lovecraft's bibliography.  It seems that all the attention goes to either his Poe pastiche (still great stuff but pastiche none the less) or "Call of Cthulhu"/"Dunwich Horror"/"Shadow Out of Time".  While the latter are some of his most polished and accomplished work, his less known tales are as important to Lovecraft's cosmic conception as anything better know.  I am glad that PP chose something like "Erich Zann", not only because it is in itself a fantastic story, but it will give a better appreciation for HPL's work to those who are new, familiar, or experts on his work.


I'm normally one of those Lovecraft detractors mentioned in the outro, but this story was something else.

My usual problem with Lovecraft is, most of his stories, particularly in the Cthulu mythos, rely heavily on telling the reader to be frightened.  Rather than describing actual horrifying events or occurrances, instead he simply says, "the thing was so horrible to look upon that I cannot begin to tell you how horrible it was and if you saw it your brain would probably explode because it's so horrible."  The description of R'lyeh in "Call of Cthulhu" and that of the monster in "The Dunwich Horror" are prime examples of this technique.

Second-hand horror can be done to great effect (the first story I heard on PP, and the one that scared me probably more than anything else on the cast, is a great example), and in fact that is one of the things going on in today's story, but it requires an absolute mastery of character, something which, in my estimation, Lovecraft just plain does not have.  Instead I just feel like I'm being asked to take his word for it that I am frightened.

This story made it work.  Even though much of what was terrifying followed this same formula, this time it worked.  The characterization of the narrator and his state of mind was very important here, as was the facility with which the mood and setting were established.  This is probably the first time I've actually felt a chill while reading or listening to Lovecraft ("The Shadow Over Innsmouth" got close, but only because I was listening to it on tape while fighting murlocs :P).

Plus, it was pretty much Lovecraft or nothing for PP 100.  (Poe for 200?  *crosses fingers and waits another few years*)

I won't disagree with you, however, I will say that HPL doesn't have the visceral impact that the modern reader has become habituated to.  Growing up on King, Koontz and Rice, as well as Carpenter and Barker, we have been dulled to the finer senses of horror that Lovecraft sometimes demands.  In his day, second hand horror was often the only kind of horror that could be printed (with some notable exceptions of course).  It would be like comparing the original Psycho with AlienAlien had a more sophisticated, liberal (by which I mean less socially constrained) audience permissive of a more a gory and viceral horror.  Both films were scary, but Alien was more immediate and shudder inducing.  Psycho takes a less immediate route, relying on what I call the cummulative horror.  Yes, Alien does too, but Alien gets to the chestbursting scene fairly quickly, while Hitchcock took his time getting to the famous shower scene.  Yes, you can have horror without gore (even Scott minimized it in Alien) but it sure does help.  Even HPL has his share of gore.

In short, I don't read Lovecraft because he is 'scary' like Straub or Simmons can be, but because HPL is disturbing.  HPL really gets across the meaness and unimportance of human kind and its works.  No other author quite gets there (although Chambers and Blackwood come closest with "The King in Yellow"/"Repairer of Reputations" and "The Willows"/"The Windego" respectively).  Lovecraft reminds me that the universe doesn't give a damn at best, and wants me dead at worst.

What part of 'Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn' didn't you understand?


Listener

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Reply #12 on: July 29, 2008, 04:58:48 PM
I think the reading overshadowed the story.

I liked the story, I guess, but not a lot.  I liked the world-building, but I wasn't really impressed with the climactic darkness scene and Our Hero running out of there.

You realize that now PC has to do their 100th episode as some sort of darkness-related story to keep up with the theme, right?

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JoeFitz

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Reply #13 on: July 29, 2008, 08:34:04 PM
Wonderful reading and a nice, old-school, haunting piece. Great choice for the 100th.



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Reply #14 on: July 29, 2008, 10:07:04 PM
I wonder if this story was Mr. Lovecraft's prognostication of the fall of classical music and the rise of loud late- 20th century tunes? Suppose that window was a conduit connected to the basements of America as thousands of adrenaline filled youths furiously strummed small plastic guitars? It's no wonder poor Mr. Zann was playing so fast to keep the horror at bay, not to mention that it melted his mind in the end.  ;) ;) :D

But yes, this was a terribly good episode and reading of Mr. Lovecraft.

As I attempted to recounstruct to the haunting music of the story, I could not help but be reminded of music of Japanese composer, Akira Yamaoka known for his work in the Silent Hill video-game franchise. If you are in the mood for something that is melodic, creepy, and mechanical all at the same time, you may want to give his music a try.

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goatkeeper

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Reply #15 on: July 30, 2008, 12:46:44 AM
Now THAT'S storytelling.  I kind of groaned when I saw what I was in for- it's a great classic Lovecraft story and all but I guess I was in the mood for something else.
BJ really brought this one to life.  Check out Classic Tales if you haven't yet.



sirana

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Reply #16 on: July 31, 2008, 02:30:27 PM
Ok... Lovecraft ... WOW!
I have read Lovecraft's work in the Cthulhu mythos and I liked it a lot, but this one might be even better.
Great catch by Pseudopod!



Myrealana

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Reply #17 on: August 04, 2008, 07:48:55 PM
Lovecraft.
Woot!

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Sgarre1

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Reply #18 on: August 06, 2008, 12:16:56 AM
Good choice.  Nice read.  Not one of my favorite Lovecraft's but a solid little story.

No one will be seated in the theater during the "mute fellow takes an hour to write down his explanation" scene!

Thanks for listening.
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DDog

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Reply #19 on: August 06, 2008, 04:21:28 PM
Commenting out of order to say this is actually my first real Lovecraft story. Previous vicarious contact with his work included Neil Gaiman short stories, "I Had a Shoggoth," and Ghastly's Ghastly Comic. I enjoyed the story, but I think the rendition by BJ Harrison contributed to that in a major way. His reading really helped me feel the story.

And I have to post this: http://www.macguff.fr/goomi/unspeakable/vault162.html The rest of it is funny too, but I couldn't wait to post this particular strip. EDIT: Another one.
« Last Edit: August 06, 2008, 07:20:20 PM by DDog »

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Bdoomed

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Reply #20 on: August 10, 2008, 04:38:30 PM
My usual problem with Lovecraft is, most of his stories, particularly in the Cthulu mythos, rely heavily on telling the reader to be frightened.  Rather than describing actual horrifying events or occurrances, instead he simply says, "the thing was so horrible to look upon that I cannot begin to tell you how horrible it was and if you saw it your brain would probably explode because it's so horrible."  The description of R'lyeh in "Call of Cthulhu" and that of the monster in "The Dunwich Horror" are prime examples of this technique.
having never read any Lovecraft before (yes, shoot me now), I gotta agree with ya after listening to this.  It did contain a lot of "my god it was horrible and unfathomable!"  It does get a little annoying.

having said that, i still enjoyed it, the reading was great, and it was very entertaining.  also, magnificent outro Alasdair!

I'd like to hear my options, so I could weigh them, what do you say?
Five pounds?  Six pounds? Seven pounds?


eytanz

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Reply #21 on: August 11, 2008, 02:12:34 PM
My usual problem with Lovecraft is, most of his stories, particularly in the Cthulu mythos, rely heavily on telling the reader to be frightened.  Rather than describing actual horrifying events or occurrances, instead he simply says, "the thing was so horrible to look upon that I cannot begin to tell you how horrible it was and if you saw it your brain would probably explode because it's so horrible."  The description of R'lyeh in "Call of Cthulhu" and that of the monster in "The Dunwich Horror" are prime examples of this technique.
having never read any Lovecraft before (yes, shoot me now), I gotta agree with ya after listening to this.  It did contain a lot of "my god it was horrible and unfathomable!"  It does get a little annoying.

I think this is one of the things that just either works or doesn't work for you. The whole point of most of Lovecraft's horror is that you don't get to experience the horror yourself, but rather you get to see its effects upon those who have. You're not supposed to react "Aaaaah! A scary monster!" but rather "Aaaaah! A man driven made by a scary monster!". I can see why for a lot of people that would be offputting and distancing, especially since modern writing emphsizes "show, don't tell" in a way that early 20th century writing certainly did not, but for me it's actually more effective than a lot more visceral horror writing.



Sylvan

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Reply #22 on: August 15, 2008, 01:05:12 PM
"The Music of Erich Zann" is one of my favorite Lovecraft stories; I put it up there with "In The Vault" and "Pickman's Model" in terms of beautiful, elegant horror.

Lovecraft is my favorite horror author and, without a doubt, this reading did him justice.

The first story I ever read by this phenomenal author was "The Rats in the Walls" which, two years ago, was turned into a brilliant one-man play during Minnesota's Fringe Fest by Actor Tim Uren.  Since then, I've gone back to all my old Lovecraft tales and been reading them one at a time.  This one really captures the idea of the alienness of what lies beyond.

Something as simple and primal as music can be warped by things beyond our ken to howl at us with a soul-draining rot that leaves us winded and disoriented.  That's what I get from this tale.

I hope you don't wait another hundred episodes to share with us another of Lovecraft's great tales; its genius like this that keeps me reading even those things that creep me out!

Yours,
Sylvan (Dave)



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Reply #23 on: August 17, 2008, 03:36:48 PM

I've read The Music of Erich Zann dozens of times and heard it read aloud by a minimum of 3-4 different people.

This was the ABSOLUTE best reading of this story. 

Thank You !!!
(And Congratulations of Episode 100)



Sandikal

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Reply #24 on: August 17, 2008, 07:24:33 PM
I've never read Lovecraft before.  I haven't been a big fan of horror since I outgrew my Edgar Allen Poe addiction in junior high.  This story was absolutely terrific and the reading was excellent.