Necro-Sapien Notions: An interview with Justin White

The H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival is almost upon us and we caught up with one of returning artists joining us for the festival this year, Justin White of Necro-Sapien Press!

So what have you been up to since the last H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival?

The past year has been great. I had a lot of success at Wonder-Con Anaheim and some of the other big shows but I've also been spreading out to some less traditional venues. For example a couple if months ago I had a booth at a roller derby bout and that was great. It was a cool experience to show my art to a lot if people who otherwise might never have seen it. Another exiting thing that recently happened was I formed a coalition of artists in my area and we held our first group show this past August and it was a huge success. The group is called Artrocity and you can expect some really amazing things coming up in the near future!

What have been some of your most popular items, and what are you looking forward to presenting this year at the festival?
Probably my most popular item from last year was my "Crawling Chaos Tavern" print, which will be returning this year. The biggest surprise, sales wise, was how popular my "Imperial Metal" pieces were. They are a set of three prints that combine various characters from a certain Sci-Fi movie series with Heavy Metal album art from the 80's. Those were a big hit.

This year I will have several new prints including a piece I am finishing up right now just for this years festival. It's titled "Offshore" and it very much channels this years theme. I'm am also working with a very cool company called Blackbird Bows to put some of my art work on to new products and merchandise.

What's been inspiring you lately?
Personally my biggest inspiration this year has been my family. Last October my wife and I became permanent legal guardians of my 12 year old niece and we also have a two year old daughter. I really want them to see that if you work hard and believe in yourself you can spend your life doing what you love. And that you should never give up and never listen to those who just want to raise themselves by knocking you down.


What's the toughest part of making a truly Lovecraftian piece?
The toughest part about making a successful Lovecraftian (one of my favorite words by the way) piece is mood. I think I mentioned this last time we talked but what I love about H.P.'s work is his ability to create the most foreboding atmosphere and then completely submerge you in it. His sense of horror isn't about a knife wielding maniac or a psychopath in a clown costume. It's about your own fear eating away at your sanity. The monsters in his works have already defeated you long before you see them. I try to capture that in my Lovecraft themed pieces. I don't think I fully have yet but that's ok it's just motivation to keep trying.

When are you most satisfied with one of your creations?

Honestly I am rarely satisfied with a piece I'm working on. The hardest lesson for me as a professional artist was knowing when to be finished with a project. Sometimes the more you push for perfection on a single piece the further from it you are in the end. My biggest sense of satisfaction is seeing fans reactions to a piece they love. When a stranger is as excited to see a piece of art as I was to create it now that is truly satisfying.

What's the strangest dream you've had lately?

For whatever reason I rarely remember my dreams. The last one I do remember was a couple of weeks ago. In my dream I was sitting down for a haircut (I haven't had a haircut in 5 years or so). So there I am in the barbers chair and the second he makes the first cut I realize it's a huge mistake and I jump up in a panic and run out. I woke up sweating and my heart pounding. Needless to say I won't be cutting my hair any time soon.

This year's theme is "Shadow Over Innsmouth". What's the big lesson of that story for you?
The main lesson I always take away from "Innsmouth" is you can not run from what you are. You can use it, channel it, but the more you hide from it the more devastating the result will be when it finally catches up to you.

History, Horror and H.P. Lovecraft: Checking in with the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society!

One of the perennial festival favorites of the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival in Los Angeles is the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society, who've been the madbeings behind the first Call of Cthulhu movie, adaptations of "The Shadow Over Innsmouth," "The Whisperer in Darkness," and more. We got a chance to ask them a few questions before they arrived:

So what's the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society been up to for the last 12 months?

It was a very Witchy year for us at HPLHS. We produced the music video for "No Turning Back," one of the songs from "Dreams in the Witch House," the Lovecraftian Rock Opera from our friend and colleague Mike Dalager and his very talented international team of musicians and performers. Our fantastic cinematographer David Robertson took time out of his busy TV schedule to shoot the video here at HPLHS headquarters in February, with some elaborate miniatures built with the assistance of Fred Manchento and Jason Voss shot in March, and Dave edited the video as well. We were delighted to bring the video to the HPL Film Festival in Portland. We're screening the video in San Pedro, and the miniature house will be on exhibit in the lobby.

We also released two episodes of Dark Adventure Radio Theatre, "Herbert West -- Reanimator" and "The Dreams in the Witch House." It was very interesting to give "Witch House" two very different adaptations, each telling the story in its own way.

And we were happy to contribute the foreword to a new book that's just out from Writer's Digest Books, Writing Monsters: How to Craft Believably Terrifying Creatures to Enhance your Horror, Fantasy and Science Fiction by Philip Athans.

What can we look forward to at the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival this year from the HPLHS?

We have another new episode of Dark Adventure nearly ready for release: "Imprisoned with the Pharaohs." And we're also working hard on a new addition to our series of monographs from Miskatonic University Press. It's about the curious sea shanties of Innsmouth, Mass., and in addition to a fascinating and scholarly booklet on the subject, it will come with a recording of 14 actual Innsmouth sea songs as performed by the Miskatonic Men's Chorus. Also look for more Dark Adventure, new prop replica items, and maybe another book project!

What were some of the popular items you had from last year? Did the attendees surprise you with what they liked?

We've attended the festival in San Pedro every year. We love the crowds that come to the Warner Grand, and they enjoyed the CD and collector vinyl editions of the rock opera "Dreams in the Witch House." Mike brought Alaine Kashian, who stars as Keziah Mason, and other members of his team. I can't say we were surprised they were popular, however, because they're great!

Next year will mark ten years since the release of your classic, Call of Cthulhu. Will we see any special celebrations or re-releases in 2015?

We're talking about doing something along those lines, but haven't nailed down the details of any such plan. It's amazing to think that it's been ten years, I'll tell you that much.



Visit the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society at: http://www.cthulhulives.org/

Pickles, Fhtagn and Portals: An interview with James Knouse!

James Knouse wheres many hats including being involved with the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival and unleashing the madness that is "Cthulhu Pickles". We had a chance to talk with him about his inspirations, deep ones, and more.

Tell us a little about yourself. How did you get inspired to present Cthulhu Pickles? What was one of the hardest things for you to learn about the process?

I grow peppers in my spare time here in Lompoc, California. Growing peppers and other "wicked plants" is a sorta stress release from my daily jobs of running my Media Production company Walking Kind of Bird and organizing the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival.

I had at one time about 60 different varieties of peppers growing and as you can imagine when harvest time comes I am swimming in peppers. So my wife suggested that we make pickles using one of her recipes. So we did and Wicked Pickles was born. Being an organizer of the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival in LA and recognizing the serious need for pickles I created Cthulhu Pickles.

What's your favorite H.P. Lovecraft story?

"Memory." It is the most perfect short story ever. Although I am very partial to "Herbert West the Re-Animator." Something about WW1 and the dead coming back.

Will we see even more Lovecraftian pickle or pepper options in the future?

Yes you will. Right now I am working on the "Deep Ones Sea Salts" as well as mixed drink options for Cthulhu Pickles. When you are at the Whale and Ale or Grand Vision for the Prayer Breakfast ask for a "Bloody Cthulhu with Extra Deluxe Tentacle Spears" in it.

What’s the biggest challenge for artists interested in creating a truly Lovecraftian work?

That is a tough one... Since I am a movie guy I will stick with movies... Artists should always stick with the basics of film making first and have a good script. After that focus on your skills as a film maker. Making a good film first is key and if you are true to Lovecraft, Lovecraft will come through in the end I think.

What's a project you really hope to take on in the next few years? Where do you hope to go from here?

Making the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival Los Angeles the best of it's kind anywhere. LA has more to offer than any other city on earth. Also the weather is nice :)

Where else can we find you throughout the year?

You can find me running my production company in Lompoc. I specialize in launching businesses digitally online so spend my time photographing, and making commercials.

This year’s theme is “Shadows Over Innsmouth.” Why do you think this story touches so many people almost a century later?

Everything that washes up on the beach has a story.

I wanted to pick “Shadows Over Innsmouth” as a theme because of the idea of being trapped in an unknown place with people unknown. San Pedro is a cool oceanside town and the first time I visited I thought of the Shadow Over Innsmouth... Every street in San Pedro led to somewhere new and strange. I thought visiting folks would dig that idea as much as me.

Catching Up With Arkham Bazaar: Cinema, Cthulhu, Cults and Dreams

The H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival and CthulhuCon is returning to Los Angeles on September 26-28th! One of the vendors making their eldritch return is Arkham Bazaar, which specializes in Lovecraftian film and audio, Cthulhu gifts, T-shirts, Uncanny art and sculpture, and other Oddities. Their wares run the gamut of Weird tale authors like H.P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe, Clark Ashton-Smith, Robert W. Chambers, and Robert E. Howard.

We had a chance to talk with Gwen Callahan about what's in store this year!

It's been a year since we last checked in with Arkham Bazaar. What have been some of the highlights for you from the previous year?
This year has been pretty exciting! In October, we did a Best of The HPLFF night at the Hollywood Theatre, and in April we put on the 19th Annual H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival & CthulhuCon here in Portland. We marched in Portland's rose festival Starlight Parade dressed as cultists, and heard a few people shouting, "ia! ia!" along the parade route! Throughout the year we have been busy creating new products - like our Vintage style tin signs, new t-shirt and work shirt designs, a limited edition book of Dreams in The Witch House, which we partnered with Mike Dalager to include a full cd of the DITWH Rock Opera with it. We just finished up San Diego Comic Con where Mike joined us to help promote the album, and GenCon where we got to see a lot of amazing mythos themed games being released.

You're returning to the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival in Los Angeles. What were some of the popular items you had from last year Did the attendees surprise you with what they liked?

It's always a bit of a whirlwind at the festival, but people always seem to like the work shirts that we do with our Lovecraftian designs, and the limited edition glassware that we have made with our designs on them. We have a fantastic glass artisan who etched each glass by hand. We are particularly excited because we have some new designs and glasses for this year's festival!

What can we look forward to this year from Arkham Bazaar?

We will continue to create new designs to put on shirts, posters, and other wearables, and find unique items to put on the website. One of our missions is to create and find unique Lovecraftian items to bring to the fans. The thing we are most excited about for 2015 is the 20th Anniversary of the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival & CthulhuCon in Portland. We already have a few fantastic guests lined up for that!

What's been some of the Mythos news exciting you lately?

There are a ton of great new books coming out. We were particularly pleased that the IndieGoGo campaign for She Walks In Shadows (the all-woman anthology of HPL inspired stories) was funded. Huan Vu and Jan Roth - the filmmakers responsible for the amazing "Die Farbe" successfully raised funds to make their next film, "The Dreamlands," which is already in production and looks amazing! We are beyond excited that this is going to happen, and can't wait to see it!

What do you see as some of the toughest challenges in bringing forth a Lovecraftian vision from the Cthulhu Mythos?

There are so many great things being produced across all genres - film, fiction, games, art, apparel - I think the greatest challenge is keeping things fresh and original. How do you build on Lovecraft's foundation without just copying or mimicking?

What's the strangest dream you've had lately?

Brian dreamt that we were doing a Cultist ritual at DragonCon, but everything was going wrong. We forgot the robes and no one knew the chant! I am pretty sure that this stems from the anxiety of putting on two film programs in the next month! We are doing another "Best of the HPLFF" night on Oct 4, and Zompire: The Undead Film Festival Oct 11-12. I know that they will both be fantastic, but there is a lot of work leading up to it.

This year, the theme is Shadows Over Innsmouth. What was the big takeaway lesson from that story for you?

"The Shadow Over Innsmouth" explores themes that were quite pervasive in Lovecraft's fiction. The concept of the "other" tying in with xenophobia, the idea that there are things we can't see or understand just below the surface, that we are not necessarily in control of our own destinies, and that ultimately, our biggest fear might not only be the intrusion of the other into our own being, but that we might also embrace the change from our familiar self towards the other, as does the main character of Innsmouth.

Be sure to visit Arkham Bazaar at the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival or go online at: http://arkhambazaar.com/