Lovecraft was a technical master at setting a scene, describing the countryside and building the creepy “Lovecraftian” atmosphere he was famous for. Lovecraft’s tales range from such settings as dusty libraries, dilapidated townships, hidden ruins, deep forests, and all the way to mountain tops. These clear images allow Lovecraft’s readers to imagine more than just the action taking place. With such well-formed descriptions, Lovecraft’s stories laid the foundation for the kind of universe that other authors could built upon. Not only can the reader imagine the locations in great detail, they can imagine new stories in them — with their own characters in starring role.
And nothing says that this starring role can’t be the bad guy.
Lovecraft’s atmospheric tales lend their settings well to allowing the creator of a new, more sexually-charged, Lovecraftian tale to create the part of an enviable bad guy. The cult leader can get all the girls (or guys) in the cult and for the sacrifice. The servitor can uses its powers to horrify and overcome its quarry; to take them as it will. There is a deep attraction to playing with our darker natures; to garner power and to use it for our own pleasures[2] — as long as they please our master, of course, because every good cultist knows that there is an Elder God out there allowing them to do as they will.
This leads me to the next level in the sexual attraction of the Lovecraftian universe.
The Lack of Personal Responsibility
“When at last my senses returned, all was frightfully dark, and my mind remembering what had occurred, shrank from the idea of beholding more; yet curiosity overmastered all. Who, I asked myself, was this man of evil, and how came he within the castle walls?”
Power means many things to different people. Numerous books on consensual BDSM play[3] talk about why people are attracted to power and those in power. They speak of how, for some people, authority is an aphrodisiac, along with physical strength and, depending on the fantasy, magical strength. A similar fantasy involves being taken by force by something stronger than yourself, which absolves you of the responsibility. On the side of the “victim” is the fact that they were overwhelmed by the mere presence of that which man should not know. They could not help themselves. They were tied down. They were helpless to stop what was happening. While on the side of the “perpetrator” is the fact that they are merely doing what their deity wants and needs them to do. They are almost as helpless as their victim to stop what is happening.
In the submissive sense, there is an extreme sexual attraction to being taken by force especially by an otherworldly entity or someone possessed of an otherworldly entity. There are reams of papers that discuss and examine the submissive role in such a consensual or non-consensual scene. Why people want to take this role, how it sexually arouses them and how the non-human aspect of the perpetrator heightens the experience. When one is imagining such a scene, it is attractive because it is only within the mind. The imaginer has control over how the victim — a substitute for themselves — is either willingly or not willingly taken advantage of.
In the dominant sense, there is an extreme sexual attraction to taking a victim forcefully (or by force) especially if it is at the behest of a greater entity. The perpetrator takes part in the sexual ritual not only for their own pleasure but because it will bring about something greater than themselves: giving the Old One something they need, initiating the victim into the cult for a greater purpose or for making the victim into a portal for next step in the plan. Again, when one is imagining such a scene, it is attractive because it is only within the imagination. The creator has the control. They control how the perpetrator acts and how the victim reacts.
Finally, there is the ultimate lack of personal responsibility on both sides of the ritual (victim and perpetrator) because any contact with the Old One — that which man should not know — almost certainly causes madness of one sort or another. This madness can include amnesia, false memories, catatonia and a myriad of other mental illnesses that allow the victim and/or the perpetrator to forget what happened or to lay the blame for it at another’s feet.
The Ultimate Challenge
“There was a formula — a sort of list of things to say and do — which I recognised as something black and forbidden; something which I had read of before in furtive paragraphs of mixed abhorrence and fascination penned by those strange ancient delvers into the universe’s guarded secrets whose decaying texts I loved to absorb.”
The Lovecraftian universe is a universe where the rules for survival include “don’t read the books,” “don’t go to the creepy New England town,” “don’t follow the clues,” and “run away.” This presents the ultimate big, shiny, red button with the giant sign next to it that says, “Don’t Push.” There are so many rules that it is more attractive to break them than to follow them, because strict rules are a huge challenge thrown in the metaphorical faces of the heroes — and thus, the readers. No self-respecting adventurer will obey such rules. If they did, there would be no story.
Because of this, the Lovecraftian universe is set up as the ultimate challenge to break all the rules — including the ones about sex and sex with non-humans. I seriously doubt that Lovecraft did this on purpose. Based on his writings, he seems repressed and uncertain about what to do with his sexual feelings. I have no doubt that he is rolling over in his grave at all of the Mythos-inspired erotica and porn that has been created in his name.
No matter how a creator’s journey into the world of Lovecraftian eroticism began, there are a myriad of reasons for entering it willingly: the attraction of the forbidden, the delightfully creepy atmosphere that lends itself well to rule breaking and sexual encounters, plausible deniability and the option to avoid personal responsibility, or just a need to face the ultimate challenge. Lovecraft invited other authors to play in his sandbox, and play they have. In the 1920s, there were authors, such as August Derleth, who were part of the “Lovecraft Circle;” authors who all freely exchanged and shared parts of Lovecraft’s universe[4] in their stories. Later authors took that as an open invitation to keep the Mythos moving and expanding, reaching into dark corners and unintended places. With movies, books, and role-playing games, purveyors of the Lovecraft universe have shown themselves willing and able to face the challenges set up for them by this Universe. Taboos have been examined, broached and enjoyed.
And we, as readers and watchers of all things Lovecraftian, can appreciate these modern incarnations for they are: titillating, provocative and ultimately, very enjoyable.
Justin Everett, PhD
CTHULHUROTICA, FEMALE EMPOWERMENT, AND THE NEW WEIRD
When I was initially invited to write an essay for a volume provocatively titled Cthulhurotica, I admit I approached the task with some degree of trepidation. Though I have long been familiar with Lovecraft’s work, I had never considered the strange and wonderful marriage that might occur were the two genres of Lovecraftian horror and literary erotica to be combined. While this merging of traditions may seem odd at first, upon further examination it makes perfect sense. Both genres are about crossing boundaries and moving from innocence to experience. Such tales commonly feature naïve characters who believe they understand the rules and limits of the worlds they inhabit. When those boundaries are crossed the rules that govern the worlds they know are set aside. The protagonist is usually faced with the choice of learning the ways of the new world and embracing it, and as a part of this process becoming forever changed, or rejecting the new reality, often fleeing from it in terror. In Lovecraftian horror the adept is faced with a new understanding of the order of the cosmos; in erotica, the rules are often social, requiring the adept to confront their preconceived notions of sexuality, gender and relationship dominance. When the two are combined, the effect is powerful. The subversion of social norms is magnified through the transformation of self on a literally cosmic scale.
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