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Rose Fox

The Next Big Thing: Milithulhu
August 20, 2008

A lot of people have been passing around the link to Luke Burns's devastating parody "Selections from H.P. Lovecraft's Brief Tenure as a Whitman's Sampler Copywriter", which combines the two timeless genres of ad copy and eldritch horror. Even those who (like me) usually find McSweeney's humorless as only a self-described humor publication can be may get some giggles out of phrases like "creamy tropical vengeance" and "blind caramel God-King".

As it happens, I had already had a Next Big Thing post set up to write about a different adulteration of Lovecraft. Going rather in the opposite direction from tasty confectionery, I suggest that there is a wealth of untapped potential in the blending of hideous unspeakable things and military science fiction. Call it "milithulhu". Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?

R.M. Meluch's Tour of the Merrimack books (most recently The Sagittarius Command, November 2007, with another installment due this fall) could perhaps be regarded as proto-milithulhu. Though the Hive are more BEMs than Elder Gods, they are nearly invulnerable and present a pleasingly organic, tentacular contrast to the Merrimack and other streamlined metal artifacts of space opera. All that's missing is the horror. It's very rare these days to see any sort of horror in hard SF, even in military SF where one might expect the horrors of war to make an appearance. Why not combine the trauma of the battlefield with the trauma of having one's mind turned to jelly by unthinkable entities from Beyond? Horror readers could enjoy finding that the classic frisson of terror can be communicated even across intergalactic distances, while military SF readers could cheer on our heroes' efforts to use all available firepower in the hopeless but noble battle against the personifications of evil and insanity. It would be sort of like that scene in The Matrix where the Sentinels attack Morpheus's hovercraft, only even better because this time the jellyfish-like machines would be real giant jellyfish. And they would win.

As always with The Next Big Thing, I would love to know if this blend of genres already exists. Please do leave relevant book recommendations in the comments.

Posted by Rose Fox on August 20, 2008 | Comments (9)

August 20, 2008
In response to: The Next Big Thing: Milithulhu
Livia Llewellyn commented:

Charles Stross wrote a brilliant novelette titled "A Colder War" - it's military sf with an enemy named K-Thulu.

August 20, 2008
In response to: The Next Big Thing: Milithulhu
Cheryl commented:

Chaosium did a Call of Cthulhu supplement called "Cthulhu Now" that allowed you to use modern day weapons (tac nukes and the like) against our tentacled overlords (to no obvious effect). It was apparently very popular.

August 20, 2008
In response to: The Next Big Thing: Milithulhu
Joe W commented:

We can't mention Charles Stross without also praising "The Atrocity Archives" and its sequel "The Jennifer Morgue". The first definitely has some military Cthulhu aspects, while the second is almost James Bond Cthulhu. I'm not sure how generally accessible either book is - similar to Cory Doctorow's "Little Brother" in that respect - but both are fine romps and I'm sure I'll reread them several more times yet.

August 21, 2008
In response to: The Next Big Thing: Milithulhu
Becky LeJeune commented:

Yes! I don't know about existing titles combining Cthulhu and military, but I would love more military horror in general.

August 21, 2008
In response to: The Next Big Thing: Milithulhu
Rose Fox commented:

Thanks for the Stross recommendations. Now that I think about it, MISSILE GAP could be described as military horror as well. Joe, I love the idea of James Bond Cthulhu; the world needs more of that too!

August 21, 2008
In response to: The Next Big Thing: Milithulhu
jef commented:

Pagan Publishing has a spy/military/Cthulhu setting for the Call of Cthulhu RPG called Delta Green. There's at least one novel based in the setting [www.delta-green.com]. Also, Elder Signs Press [www.eldersignspress.com] has a variety of Lovecraftian mashups. Haven't read them, but they look fun.

August 21, 2008
In response to: The Next Big Thing: Milithulhu
Doug commented:

OMG! "McSweeney's" is a HUMOR magazine? Who knew?

August 21, 2008
In response to: The Next Big Thing: Milithulhu
M commented:

As much as I'd hate to invoke him, Stephen King's "The Mist" seems to fit the bill--the military carves an inter-dimensional rift in the universe through which hideous unspeakable things crawl and cause crazy havoc in a small town.

August 22, 2008
In response to: The Next Big Thing: Milithulhu
Rose Fox commented:

M: It's certainly related, though the military aspect is only a side note in that case. It's a good story regardless. Why would you "hate to invoke him"?