Merry Cthulhu Christmas
A brief reflection dread Cthulhu, Christmas, and the magic of teaching.
Earlier this week, I wrote about H.P. Lovecraft’s “Call of Cthulhu” and how it predicts the worst of Twitter (among other things). Well here I get to walk that back a bit and report on some positive engagements on Twitter in the wake of that piece.
What Happened
I had a weird teaching moment this week. In my “Weird Fiction of H.P. Lovecraft” course, appropriately.
As I was prepping lectures and responding to student writing, it occurred to me that I had, with no conscious intention whatsoever, assigned Lovecraft’s “The Call of Cthulhu” as the class’s Christmas reading.
When I noticed, I took to Twitter (yes that platform I’ve spent so much energy distrusting here in this newsletter) and shared my mistake. And as it turns out it wasn’t a mistake at all.
Mathew Block, one of the good Tweeters, made perfect sense of it for me here:
I was rather blown away and utterly delighted.
Mathew was correct, of course. Lovecraft’s tale as a negative version of Advent makes perfect sense and, I honestly can’t believe I missed it. This is, of course, exactly the kind of thing I try to find when I read and watch movies. Recently, I published just such a reading of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films for Popular Culture and Theology.
Mathew wasn’t the only one to chime in with something useful. The Untold Podcast & Nathan James Norman introduced me to this absolutely amazing resource as well:
So clearly Twitter isn’t all bad. At least it doesn’t have to be.
Teaching is Magic
Let me close this brief update with an observation about teaching. Sometimes it is what can only be described as magical. I did not plan these events when I put together the reading schedule. Christmas was not really even on my mind when I put “Call of Cthulhu” in that slot of the syllabus. It just happened to fall that way. And let me tell you that this happens nearly every semester. I will put readings and topics in an order for no apparent reason beyond coverage and in the discussion, incredible coincidences reveal themselves. This has long been awe-inspiring to me and makes me believe that there is something special about the kind of work I’m lucky enough to do. It’s as if the stars have aligned and the great forces of the universe, either good or ill, make themselves known. I, an insignificant speck, have vanishingly little control over these moments and am humbly inspired by them.
Whether you serve the old gods or the new, have a Merry Christmas.
“incredible coincidences reveal themselves” 👍🏻