Saturday, September 22, 2007

"A mountain walked or stumbled..."


The Giant Cthulhu, another one by Cyril Van Der Haegen. Follow the link to see how the painting was developed. Inspired by N.C. Wyeth's The Giant.

Excellent perspective on this one. The impression of overwhelming height is something I attempted to capture in words when describing a form of Nyarlathotep in my story Nyarlathotep's Lament.
I cannot describe what he looked like. Part of my mind went into hiding, refusing to witness what stood above and before me, towering into the sky, scraping its topmost parts against the stars, howling soundlessly into the void of outer space. Another part of my mind whirled with a bizarre reverse vertigo from the intense height of the thing. The earth shuddered beneath its weight, bending to fit strange dimensions that it was never meant to fit. Rainbows of unearthly hues rippled through the air as the titanic alien violated reality. My mind was utterly consumed with the awesome immensity of the thing.
Successfully describing such awesome immensity is something I've tried in more than one story. I don't think I've adequately succeeded in doing so just yet.

And I've re-written that story about a dozen times. I still am not really satisfied with it.

3 comments:

  1. Perspective can help in describing something quite large.
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    They stumbled upon the column at dusk and it wasn't until the next morning that its incredible size could be appreciated.

    "I've seen taller," One of them said.

    "Maybe a little taller, sure, "his companion replied, "but this one is as big around at the base as any if not more so."

    The guide smiled as the two men attempted to make sense of a 200' column stuck in the middle of nowhere.

    "What's so funny" one of them asked.

    "These sands have been blowing across it for centuries," he replied.

    "And all thats left is what you see there before you."

    "You mean there's more where this came from?" one of his clients asked.

    "Some. Yes, some more. That, sir, is the tip of the statue's finger."

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  2. That's great. Lovecraft used the same kind of technique in "Beneath the Pyramids" (a.k.a. "Imprisoned with the Pharoahs"). He "revealed" that the Sphinx is only one of the feet of the original statue that once stood there.

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