RIPPLES FROM CARCOSA: H. P. LOVECRAFT, HAUNTED LANDSCAPES, AND ππππ πππππππππ by Heather Miller. Cover by Dan Sauer Design.
Hippocampus Press link to book
The first season of the show ππ³πΆπ¦ ππ¦π΅π¦π€π΅πͺπ·π¦ (HBO, 2014) is one of the most compelling amalgamations of horror, detection, philosophy, and personal conflict ever presented on television. The show’s creator, Nic Pizzolatto, has drawn upon a wide array of sources for the eight episodes of this season, which starred Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson as two police detectives investigating mysterious deaths in an impoverished region in Louisiana.
In this pioneering study, veteran weird fiction scholar Heather Miller has unraveled the complex network of influences that made True Detective so memorable. First and foremost, there is H. P. Lovecraft, whose rich pseudomythology underlay the entire series. Then there is Robert W. Chambers, whose “King in Yellow” mythology was utilized in a profound manner by Pizzolatto. Finally, there is the fiction and philosophy of Thomas Ligotti, the modern-day apostle of pessimism and anti-natalism.
In successive chapters, Miller dissects each of these influences, drawing upon her extensive knowledge of primary and secondary sources. She understands that the show, aside from merely drawing upon past literature, also makes keen statements on such contemporary issues as environmental degradation and domestic trauma. Her conclusion—“It is necessary that we be the bad men sometimes so that the light can win”—exhibits the paradoxical morality embedded in an unforgettable instance of modern media.