Category

Drinking Rules

…uses more than one adjective in a row, i.e.: “Molded by the dead brain of a hybrid nightmare, would not such a vaporous terror constitute in all loathsome truth the exquisitely, the shriekingly unnamable?” (“The Unnamable”)
…uses a purposely vague description. (i.e. “unspeakable horror”)
…refers to an other-worldy location. (i.e., Sarnath, Kadath in the Cold Waste, and the like. “The Dream-Quest of the Unknown Kadath” will put you under the table easily.)
…refers to an other-worldy entity by proper name. (Remember, Cthulhu and Nyarlathotep are proper names of single entities, but Mi-Go and shoggoth are not; they are types of entities.)
…states anything racist, sexist, fascist, or generally non-PC. This rule makes “The Horror at Red Hook” particularly nasty to get through. Don’t debate too much about what is racist or sexist, though
… When in doubt, drink.
…uses the “British” spelling of any word, such as “colour” or “favour”.…any time a character winds up at a temple or church.…any time a “forbidden” book is mentioned in the story. This includes De Vermis Mysteris, Unaussprechlichen Kulten, and, of course, The Necronomicon, among others.…to this we would add:any time a protagonist is shunned in townany time the following names pop up: Whateley, Marsh, Dunwich, Arkham, Miskatonic, Innsmouth, Kingsport (Kingsburyport).

Edrich
Cyclopean
Gibbering
Squamous
to this we would add: Rugose, Armigerous, Congeries.

Six-foot-tall albino subterranean penguins waddle into the storyline. (“At the Mountains of Madness”)
The protagonist discovers that he can’t blink. (“Shadow Over Innsmouth”)
Cannibalism. (“Rats in the Walls” and “Picture in the House”)
The storyline is repeated in brief. (“Herbert West — Re-animator”, which was released as a serial and thus had to remind readers of what happened in the previous issue.)
Fat felines lounge about after some mean humans disappear. (“The Cats of Ulthar”)