In Kim Newman’s A Christmas Ghost Story (reviewed here), a tradition of the family at the heart of the tale was singing Christmas carols over the holidays, but not in the traditional way. They would twist the words into something funny or something absurd. Mike Slater, author of the The Necronomnomnom and The NecroMunchicon, has brought his interest in the works of H.P. Lovecraft to the holidays in a similar manner in the new stocking stuffer-appropriate book, The Carols of Cthulhu: Horrifying Holiday Hymns from the Lore of H.P. Lovecraft, available now here at Amazon.
So what is a twisted Christmas carol? Here is an example from the book:
So think of it like songs in the vein of the Grimm television series, the kind of thing that is probably only going to be fun or funny for diehard fans of the works of H.P. Lovecraft.
Then again, if your otherwise normal holiday gathering gets too boring or goes off the rails, maybe singing along with the music in the background but replacing the lyrics with these pun-filled tunes… may just get you ejected from the gathering. It could work.
So, if you dare, get ready for a gruesome grimoire of 25 creepy carols and sinister songs. From “Do You Fear What I Fear?” to “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Mythos” and “Shoggoth the Formless Horror” (to the tune of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”), “Silent Knife” and “The Twelve Days of Darkness,” these homages to the Lovecraftian world should give you a holiday distraction.
The book is organized like a traditional hymnal, adding in 25 illustrations.
Are you ready to shake up your typical Christmas dinner? For the truly twisted,The Carols of Cthulhu: Horrifying Holiday Hymns from the Lore of H.P. Lovecraft is available now here at Amazon.
C.J. Bunce / Editor / borg
