Showing posts with label Lovecraft. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lovecraft. Show all posts

Monday, August 26, 2019

Innfest 2019, The Lovecraft Festival


By Bixyl Shuftan

The annual Lovecraft festival is taking place in Second Life. This ia the annual celebration held by fans of H.P. Lovecraft, which started on the author's 129th birthday. Originally called the "Lovefest," this year the name has been changed to "Innfest" after the name of the place, Innsmouth.

Lovecraft received little recognition while he was alive, not really able to make a living as a writer and had little money at the time of his death. But he has come to be recognized as one of the most influential 20th Century horror authors, his works emphasizing the fear of the unknown and the sense that life as we know it is an all-too-thin shell shielding us from a reality too bizarre and frightening to truly comprehend without going mad. He inspired other writers as well as artists and game makers in adding to a sub-genre of horror that has come to be called "Lovecraftian."

The reason for the event's name change from "Lovefest" has less to do with a few people getting confused by the name and more to do with a certain milestone. This year's festival also marks the tenth anniversary of the sim of Innsmouth, which according to the event website was modeled after Lovecraft's story "The Shadows Over Innsmouth." It was created by Darmin Darkes and her team, and is currently owned by Arik Metzger (AriktheRed), who has been doing the festivals since 2012.

Yours truly didn't hear about the celebration until Sunday August 25, so most of the festival has already taken place. Still there is much to do. The main area around the entrance, Innsmouth (17/34/1201) has a number of shops. Among which is one by Kittycats, whom are described on the website as having brought back the "KittyCat of Ulthar." In one yard is a feline statue and several cats prowl a yard. Across the street from Zan's Clothing is one shop with a strange circular cloud overhead.

There are other places in town besides the shop, and in the darkness comes the uneasy sense that something is hidden in there just waiting for something to come by and ambush. At the port area is a ship. Approaching it, a message came up, "'At the Mountains of Madness' - An Antarctic expedition that didn't exactly fare as hoped.  Something stirs in the hold... and what, pray tell, is in that crate labelled for the Antarctic (hint hint)?" Taking a look in the dark hold was ... a penguin? But this penguin was a huge giant that occasionally cackled in what sounded like a menacing tone. Irronically enough, there were fossils of a penguin this size found just a few days ago in real life. Maybe Lovecraft was on to something.

There's also a trolley going about town that can take you around the town, as well as other places in the sim. I also found a teleporter that takes you to a place at Innsmouth (30/74/1500) inspired by the story "The Lurking Fear." Touching the sign there will get you a few items. Another I found was at  Innsmouth (65/80/1906). And there is the town of Innsmouth at the ground level at Innsmouth (20/241/54).

Road to Innsmouth: 'The smell of the sea took on ominous implications...  [reaching] the crest and beheld the outspread valley beyond, where the Manuxet joins the sea just north of the long line of cliffs that culminate in Kingsport Head... On the far, misty horizon I could just make out the dizzy profile of the Head, topped by the queer ancient house of which so many legends are told; but for the moment all my attention was captured by the nearer panorama just below me. I had, I realised, come face to face with rumour-shadowed Innsmouth.'

There have been music concerts during the Innfest. On the final day of the event is a Masquerade Ball, at Tuesday August 27 at 9PM SL time (Midnight EST).

So if you're a horror fan, or just want something out of the routine, by all means come to Innfest. If you come across this article after the event, explore the sims anyway. Just make sure you're prepared for the scary and disturbing.


https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Innsmouth/17/34/1201

For more information on the festival, check out their website at  https://lovefest.wordpress.com/ .

Bixyl Shuftan

Monday, August 28, 2017

A Look at the Lovecraft Festival


By Deaflegacy

There is a certain type of festivals that are scary or creepy.  This festival is one of them.  As I walk down the dark street, with only the street lamps as a source of lamp, I can't help but in awe because scary places, in my opinion, are awesome.  I stopped by a few stores.  I checked the items out.  They are pretty good items.  I didn't buy anything, and even if I want to buy something from this festival, it's too late.   Yesterday was the festival's last day. 

What am I talking about, you ask.  I'm talking about the Lovecraft Festival.  It's a big place with streets that look like they came from London or a city in England.  It's remarkable by walking down the street with interesting stores. What made it scary is that the city is dark and the street is lighted up by the street lamps.  The street lamps look like they were made in England.  Another hint that maybe the Festival is in English taste.  Even so, I love the English things, and that's another reason for me to love the Festival.

I continued down the street, stopping by each store.  Each store is interesting. They have their items.  It's like their items have their own stories to tell. One store had very interesting dresses.  If it wasn't for the colors the designer had chosen, I'd say the dresses are Victorian.  Now I'm not so sure.  To come think of it, if I could, I would buy it.  But now, it's too late.

There are so many different types of stores that one might be interested in.  For an example, there's "Lilith's Den." I'm not sure what that is about, but it's still interesting, regardless of what's happening in the store. Another store caught my interest.  The name of the store is "%" and it appears to be selling sea life.  It looks like octopuses floating around in tall small boxes.  It's very interesting. Another interesting store I stopped by would be Dark Passions.  It's a store that has facial things like appliers.  It is really interesting.

Down the street, at the end, is a theater.  The name of the theater is, "The Regent Theatre".  I didn't go in but now, I regret not doing it.

The place is so interesting that I could have bought something. I didn't and now, I regret it because this Festival just had the last day yesterday on August 26. 

Yes, it's scary and creepy, but if Lovecraft Festival is still around, I would definitely have recommend it to anyone who is curious enough to check out the place.

Coral Moon (128/128/3001)

Deaflegacy

* * * * *

From August 17 to 27, the annual Lovecraft Festival took place in Second Life. The event is set up to honor the classic horror novelist H.P. Lovecraft, best known for his "Cthulhu mythos" stories. He pioneered a style of horror in which life as we know it is a thin shell over a reality so strange and alien, dominated by monstrous deities indifferent or hostile to humanity,  the human mind cannot contemplate it without going insane. Even if one hasn't read his works, they've probably heard of him or Cthulhu, or possibly read stories, listened to music, or played games inspired by his works.

The festival takes place around the time of Lovecraft's birthday, this time his 127th, and this year's was the sixth. The official location of the event was in the Coral Moon sim, the SURL leading to a small building in a park with shopping centers all around. On top of the building was a statue of Lovecraft with tentacles going around his feet. Around were a number of shops and stores.

I had heard of another sim to go to, Innsmouth, named for the fictional town in Massachusetts at least one of his stories takes place in. Dropping in, I found myself in a trail in the middle of some dark and spooky woods. One way led to a portal to a visitor's center high above the sim. The other way led into the woods. And the following message popped up:

Road to Innsmouth: 'The smell of the sea took on ominous implications...  [reaching] the crest and beheld the outspread valley beyond, where the Manuxet joins the sea just north of the long line of cliffs that culminate in Kingsport Head... On the far, misty horizon I could just make out the dizzy profile of the Head, topped by the queer ancient house of which so many legends are told; but for the moment all my attention was captured by the nearer panorama just below me. I had, I realised, come face to face with rumour-shadowed Innsmouth.'

Going further, I came across a sign warning that the town had been quarantined, "Region under Quarantine until further notice!  The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Public Health in cooperation with the United States Department of War have declared the town of Innsmouth and surrounding area a Quarantine Zone. ..." Up ahead was an abandoned town, obscured by the mist and the dim light.

Going further, I came across an eerie green light coming from a well. Getting close, I got another message titled The Colour out of Space, "Nothin’  nothin’  the colour , it burns  cold an’ wet  but it burns . it lived in the well . I seen it. a kind o’ smoke  jest like the flowers last spring. the well shone at night. Thad an’ Mernie an’ Zenas. everything alive  suckin’ the life out of everything in that stone  it must a’ come in that stone  pizened the whole place. dun’t know what it wants that round thing them men from the college dug outen the stone. they smashed it  it was that same colour  jest the same ..." Going inside the house nearby, it was empty and abandoned, though the dinner table was broken and the chair overturned as if there was some kind of struggle.

Going still further, I found some visitors next to an old building with some green light coming out of the hole in the wall and holes in the roof. They warned me about the outhouse nearby, saying there was some evil demon lurking underneath waiting to grab anyone using it. Apparently it wasn't just the smell from it that was evil. Panning inside the building, it turned out to be a store with a few spooky goods. Not far away was another abandoned settlement.

Later on, Deaflegacy would check out the action at Coral Moon. She checked out the shops (read above) while I looked at the "Mysteries of the Deep."

Kingsport Campus: A marine research team recently returned from a remote ocean site, bringing live specimens and images taken by a dive team.  You have opportunity to sign on for the second trip, to be equipped with diving gear and continue the exploration begun by the previous team.  (Be sure to collect and 'wear/replace' the deep sea diving outfit to be found on-ship at the dive site.  And search for collectible 'hunt items' hidden along the sea floor.  We hope you enjoy this little oceanic adventure!)

Putting the suit on, the helmet could be made larger, which I did to accommodate my furry avatar's nose. Getting onto the ship, I was ported elsewhere in the sim where the ship was ready to lower it's bathysphere. But getting on board, something went wrong and I fell to the seafloor. I then got a message that the cords to the bathysphere had broken, so I might as well explore around. The ocean flood was dark, but I could make out plants and animals on the floor. There were some anemone-like things. Although I had the option to sit on them, I had the feeling doing so would be bad.

The path took me lower, past a couple creepy looking fish that tried nibbling on my suit. I eventually got to some ruins. But there were also some creepy and slimy things around me. A tubeworm with a mouth lined with teeth popped up just feet away as I walked by. There was also the body of a sperm whale, a reminder that there were some deadly things about. I also noticed one diver who had some creature wrapped around him, as if trying to squeeze  him into submission. It was obvious once the diver was rendered helpless, he was in for a fate best left unmentioned.

While walking around, I found a few freebies. I never did find a way out of my situation other than teleporting out. I was unable to teleport back to the dock or the entrance to Coral Moon.

The festival is over, but when I last checked the two sims involved were still up. So if you're a Lovecraft fan, can't wait for Halloween, or looking for something out of the ordinary, go ahead and check out them out. Check out the event blog at https://lovefest.wordpress.com/  for more information.

Coral Moon (128/128/3001

Innsmouth (13/247/53)

Bixyl Shuftan