#bickerstaffe

Welcome to another in the walk with series and again we are doing a virtual walk due to the current COVID restrictions in the UK. In this article I will be talking to a well known bowmaker Iain “Pip” Bickerstaffe.So over to you Iain or rather Pip to introduce himself. Pip Bickerstaffe Bowyer In archery I am known as Pip, my parents call me by my middle name, Philip – which is shortened to…

Pics: Part 4.

1 thru 4. Why is it that women are targeted so much in (not just) weird fiction?

Are women now buying these books more than our young men?

Are men into rescuing women from these kind of 'dinner's served' scenes?

Do tentacles fit in with your idea of slick, ropy bondage?

Why are you still reading this filler material?

Go on!!

Move along!

There's other stuff to read...

5. Finally, a guy's in danger!!

That shotgun's not going to help you, bub!

6 thru 8. The 1 thing that keeps im- proving is the look of Lovecraft's many creatures.

These artists have really busted their butts in revealing what Howard called 'indescribable'!!

The only thing that I believe has been long overdone - are the tentacles!

HPL didn't rely on multi-tentacled monsters for everything!!

There's plenty of other creatures that deserve modern artistic attention...

And, they're not going to wait for you patiently!!

1914: "Signs of Lovecraft's Times."

At the time of HPL's Bickerstaffe articles, he found himself writing in the shadows of WW1.¹

Which, with its incredible brutality & large number of dead, affected many people beyond the soldiers that had to fight in it.

This war was notable for its extensive use of new, deadlier technology.

The use of poison gas, long-range artillery & the extraction of nitrogen² to make ammo - all made clear the dark side of Science.

Also, in 1900, quantum mechanics³ began replacing the old, predictable universe - with a probabilistic one.

The once elegant rules of the past were now mere primitive thoughts.

Our understanding changed from the deterministic to something far more vague...

This could be interpreted as a move towards chaos - which Howard knew was indifferent to our very existence.

Azathoth⁴ anybody?

Lovecraft didn't use these ideas to merely sound more scientific.

Instead, HPL applied these concepts - by taking them to their most extreme possibilities.

Howard diligently kept up with all of the latest advances in the sciences that he was personally interested in.

Then, Lovecraft could portray such facts as leading to strife, madness & death!

HPL's best works always showcase his personal expertise in many of the im- portant sciences of his time.

Of course, many other writers have passed off Science as a dangerous endeavor.

But, most of these plot problems arise from their characters's ignorance of Science.

Howard finds his characters's plot problems in the completely opposite direction!

The scientists of Arkham University⁵ actually 'aid' in their own destruction - by being useless as heroes!!

Well, except for Professor Armitage⁶ - of course.

Lovecraft's scientists actually place too much passion in their work.

They attack their research with un- common vigor & ruthlessness.

Usually, fighting against less educated - but, more fearful scientists.

Just to get to toil in some make-shift lab.

Usually, these men fall prey to their own hubris, leaving frightful night- mares in their doomed wakes...

In HPL's stories, Science rarely helps the hero out of his predicament.

Instead, it's Science that reveals the catastrophic knowledge that dooms the hero - & all of his world!!

You Have Now Been Officially Warned...