The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear experienced by mankind’s fandoms is fear of the bad adaptation. Five years ago today, H.P. Lovecraft fans faced that fear thanks to The Deep Ones.
Lovecraft, simultaneously a towering influence and a dated relic, holds a strange position in pop culture. “Lovecraftian” is slapped on marketing material for movies, books, and games at the slightest opportunity, yet competent adaptations of his actual work are almost nonexistent. But because Lovecraft’s fiction exists in the invaluable cinematic universe that is the public domain, anyone can take a crack at it, even when they really shouldn’t.
