Lovecraft Is Missing is a
webcomic by Larry Latham, with a simple premise: it is the autumn of 1926, and
horror author H. P. Lovecraft is not where he's supposed to be. His friend-by-post and fellow writing enthusiast Orwin Battler has traveled from Oklahoma to see him; occult expert Father Jackey is after missing pages from a
rare book most recently in Lovecraft's possession; University librarian Nan Mercy is after the book pages as well as
personal revenge against Lovecraft's probable kidnappers.
True to the work of the
inspiration himself,
determination is their least useful and most counterproductive asset.
Updates Fridays, with a hiatus between chapters.
- Akashic Records: Dr. Kartophilus uses them.
- Ascended Fanboy: Orwin Battler, pulp writer who finds himself in another pulp writer's universe.
- Badass Bookworm: Nan Mercy.
- Badass Normal: Nan, Orwin, and Father Jackey.
- Badass Preacher: Father Jackey, if there's no actual Church Militant involved. When Orwin and Nan inquired, the local Catholic diocese claimed to have never heard of him, but flashbacks reveal he's been claiming his position since at least 1908.
- Bedlam House: Morrowbie-Jukes Asylum and Sanatorium. The inmates are kept mostly as slave labour and Human Resources.
- Black Magic
- Body Horror: Eeep.
- Body Snatcher
- Cosmic Horror Story
- Crazy-Prepared: Father Jackey again.
- Cthulhu Mythos
- Cult / Religion of Evil: Lots and lots of Cthulhu cults and other assorted Eldritch Abomination worship.
- Deliberate Values Dissonance: Done for period detail and to evoke Lovecraft's Unfortunate Implications.
- Eldritch Abomination: Besides the assorted Cthulhu statues, which are figuring more prominently into the plot (surprise of surprises), Tom Malone's 'baby' 'son' is one. Dr. Kartophilus might be.
- Evil Is Visceral
- Evil Matriarch: Nan's mother, Mrs. Mercy.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: Lovecraft is missing.
- Fan Disservice: Naked women. Yeahhh. . .
- Gambit Pileup: Kartophilus and Dr. Munoz are cooperating on the same immediate goal with different final purposes in mind and are discretely sabotaging each other in order to make sure it comes out the way they want. And M. Powell Tobbin and Mrs. Mercy have plans for both of them. They seem to be taking advantage of the Aletheia cult in order to do so, and it's not clear what role the Malones play in this.
- Genre Savvy: Orwin, occasionally. Feels like he's in one of his own stories and will critique villains' lines.
- Groin Attack: Nan is quite effective at this.
- Historical Domain Character: Lovecraft himself.
- Human Sacrifice
- Humanoid Abomination: Tom and Dr. Kartophilus. As well as Dr. Kartophilus's butler Heeg.
- Immortality: Dr. Kartophilus (AKA St. Germain and Melmoth). Possibly.
- Magic Music: Erich Zann, of course. Kartophilus is interested in him for this reason but Zann has written a composition in his head that keeps Kartophilus from reading his mind....
- New Age: On the surface, Aletheia appears to be a bunch of harmless flakes who believe in things like past lives as Atlantean princesses.
- Not Himself: A passing familiarity with Lovecraft's work will convey his phobia of marine life. So what's he doing recommending a seafood dish?
- Path of Inspiration: Aletheia.
- Scenery Gorn: Some beautifully illustrated slums.
- Shout Out: Lots, especially to Lovecraft's own work.
- Tome of Eldritch Lore: Nan and Father Jackey both specialize in these.
- Town with a Dark Secret: Tough Luck, Oklahoma is revealed to have its very Cthulhu cult that meets secretly in an old barn.
- Wham Episode: "Tentacles", when things start to get messy.
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