A Miskatonic-esque University Town

I'm writing a Lovecraft Pastiche revolving around a university that resembles Miskatonic University from The Cthulhu Mythos. I'm thinking it'll be a stereotypical New England university or Boarding School (though I might set it anywhere on the East Coast), that was founded before the American Revolution. Like most universities of the day, it was religiously-influenced. At some point it founded a medical school. One idea I have is that in modern times its focus has shifted towards science and technology, resembling MIT. Another idea is that this school is a Military School, though I think this would be too different to be a Miskatonic Expy. I'm debating if the surrounding town should've grown around the school, or if it existed before the school was founded. The difference is that in the latter case, I feel like the town and the school might be more antagonistic. Any thoughts or ideas?

Is this straight horror-fantasy, or a humorous parody?

I'd say it's mostly straight horror, with a few self-referential moments.

Can you outline the plot?

The main plot will be about the school getting access to some old texts and a Professor trying to analyze them. The Protagonist will be a graduate student who acts as the Professor's assistant. Needless to say, they will eventually discover that there's more to the texts then they initially thought. An alternate idea I have is that instead of texts, the Professor and the graduate student will be looking at fossils belonging to newly discovered creatures. There will be some sub-plots focusing on campus life and the people living in the town. For instance, some Professors will be fighting for tenure and there will be a local boy who's trying to get accepted to the university.

It sounds like your story revolves around the campus. Unless there is some plot relevant reason to include it, it seems like the status of the town is a detail you can ignore.

The problem with that is the university isn't a big one (like say UCLA) that's almost a town unto itself.

A small university with it's "College Town" can still have a lot of action set on the university, with the town providing flavor.

I've lived in a town like this.

Keep in mind that small American towns do have national chains (they do come and go). There would be the restaurants, shops and bars that facility and students adore.

Your local boy looking to get admitted could be working at a No Celebrities Were Harmed version of Wal-Mart, Pizza Hut or Burger King - a Burger Fool type job to afford the tuition at the local U.

Many University employees will be married or related to "townies" - the locals who populate this college town.

Is the campus "closed", e.g. a fence or wall around the campus, it's just outside of town? Or is the campus "open"? Here the town's streets intersect the campus, kids play on the golf course, skateboard in the parking lots. A campus building may be right next door to a pizza shop.

Edited by TairaMai on Aug 24th 2019 at 8:24:25 PM

I was thinking of it being more open.

If it's an open campus - again, town streets turn into the University's streets (they may change names when they lead into the university).

Many colleges have off campus competitors - a good hook for the characters to go off campus for those tomes and books not in the University's catalog. Not to mention comics and games for those dorm room D&D sessions.

Dorms could be historic buildings with the anti-wifi/anti-cellphone construction that entails. Many old buildings have enough metal in them to make getting a signal a pain and being "historic" they can't be changed.

If the dorms have "modern" construction (with free wifi and cellphone addicts roaming the halls) - have some characters complain about that "modern p.o.s. ruining the charm" of the college.

Extra Nightmare Fuel when the creepy sounds from the old buildings follow characters to their more modern dorm.

How old is the town? Is the university a private one or is it a public (state funded) one?

Public colleges can have the perk that their campus police have the same police power (and on paper status) as the state police. Technically a state funded college is state property.

A private college would have campus security and some kind of agreement with the local police.

Edited by TairaMai on Aug 26th 2019 at 1:53:28 AM

The area the would become the town was settled a few decades before the University, which was founded before the American Revolution. The university is private.

SO the town would have some "historic buildings" and would try to cash in on the tourist value of "Some famous Revolutionary slept here!" or "Visit the site of the battle of..." marketing. Whether this is true or not is up to you.

There would be the rich part of town with historic buildings. The town may have a building code to prevent the modern steel and fiberglass building from encroaching on the town. Or their would be the modern buildings with historic brick and stone ones scattered about. A good story hook - the character go to city hall and see that it's still brick and mortar with some hidden passages (and connection to the Absurdly Spacious Sewer).

During World War II the US military had a lot of "camps" (small bases) and US Army Air Force airfields that were abandoned. The characters might stumble upon an old base now being used by a cult. Or their might be the remnants of some horrid experiment that was buried under concrete and someone foolishly dug up.

The University may have some access roads that lead into town and others that go off into the forest around the university. If the town surrounds the university, the college could have a motor pool with various vans to shuttle students around and take the bio, geo, and other science majors to "the field" (read the forest around the town).

Are the undergraduate students forced to stay on campus? Do graduates have their own dorm? Faculty may live in houses provided by the college, on houses off campus or rent (in the case of assistant professors).

Off campus housing can either be the random apartments (with our without the scummy landlord) or the corporate apartments with the balloons outside the main office.

A corporate run apartment could be run by a cult with the corporate office as it's mundane front.

Edited by TairaMai on Aug 27th 2019 at 11:57:05 PM