"The Nameless City" by H. P. Lovecraft / 2023 Recording

[@HorrorBabble]

Just to reiterate: we won't be deleting the old versions of these stories -- we're simply re-recording a selection of mythos stories. AND, because a few people have asked below, we're not modifying or censoring the original texts in any way. We will be making a video on the subject in due course.

[@ghostprojekt]

Thanks!

[@AdamWalkLikeSuicide]

Thanks, one of my faves this.

[@albertmiller3082]

Gracias!

[@BriarLeaf00]

This is great, thank you!

[@addictiontransfer3731]

May i ask why? not a complaint!! just confused what exactly you are changing or what is going to be different from the older uploads?

[@BehindThePringles]

Lovecraft: “Their grotesqueness rendered the vile creatures impossible to describe by mere human lexicon.” Also Lovecraft: **Proceeds to give awesome description of the creatures**

[@anonymousdratini]

I think they sound like the Kobolds from DND 3.5 edition.

[@cody1570]

Such a badass phrase. That is not dead which can eternal lie. And with strange eons even death may die.

[@ShannonOverbeck]

My mom is an ogre I'm feye rowe

[@toolbag-sy9ij]

metallica thing that should not be

[@ErwinSmith001]

The Thing That Should Not Be

[@mrfluffytailthethird]

This story would have made a really good point and click adventure game in the 90s

[@HorrorBabble]

Absolutely!

[@shaunsmith3757]

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for not censoring! 🙏

[@ahouyearno]

So you appreciate it when there’s more unnecessary racism and sexism in stories? Noted.

[@SaintConstantine0101]

​@ahouyearno think it might be more about keeping to how the story was originally wrote, if your listening to lovecraft ya kinda gotta be ok with hearing that kind of stuff in his stories just how times were

[@shaunsmith3757]

@@SaintConstantine0101 well said

[@biggusdickus5986]

​@@ahouyearno l appreciate it more n more after hearing todays twaddle and balderdash about gender choosing, and racist card being played just to cash in on the governments unreal guilt, how can we be held accountable for what happened a hundred years or more ago, if you applied that to countrys like Germany for the holocaust and Spain for the inquisition, we would never move forward, l always listwn to these older writers and recall thae adagev, " the past is another country they do things differently there, and its recording those past tropes that helped us to move on, consider this if all the slavery stuff had been whitewashed like they're trying to do now this generation wouldnt know what all the fuss had been about. Best to read all the attitudes laid bare so as we don't forget why society changed. If you had lived in those times you would have held the exact same opinions, so don't go about trying to lay guilt trips on people who like their history to be true not cleansed just to stop from hurting some poor individuals feelings. What should happen is people need to stop being soooo sensitive half the time on other peoples behalfs, and grow a thicker skin, sticks n stones etc

[@thomasel9171]

​@@ahouyearno b8

[@Maldoror2112]

I regard this story as one of the most fear-inducing and claustrophobic of Lovecraft's stories. In my mind, I see a whole moving picture of the images and sensations as if it was a righteous, faithful reproduction of the horrifically mysterious literary material! It is glorious and full of fear-- just as HPL wanted!

[@nathanharper5670]

A man discovers an ancient society and learns of their ways by deciphering their art might be the most Lovecraft plot device there is. And he makes it work every time. What a delightful weirdo he was.

[@MisterBones2910]

Well that's more or less how archaeology worked at the time; particularly Egyptology.

[@nathanharper5670]

@@MisterBones2910 Good point. I wonder if the hieroglyphs ever showed signs of decadence (which - along with "unwholesome" - might be one of H.P.'s favorite words).

[@MisterBones2910]

@@nathanharper5670 The "decline narrative" in ancient history circles is a big thing and that's very definitely what Lovecraft was evoking here. Sort of an "as you are now, so once was I, As I am now, so you must be" horror story.

[@nathanharper5670]

@@MisterBones2910 Quite! I just always enjoy the level of specificity his protagonists are able to glean from alien hieroglyphs. "As the benighted, aphotic depths slowly gave way to that which Prometheus has wrought and we now commanded as heirs to his grand but pyrrhic victory, we beheld a narrative so nefandous and damning as to transmogrify a mortal's soul to that of blackest ebon. The horror we espied was simply this - with each passing year, a mere instant to their unwholesomely ancient civilization - their dental hygiene began to wane. My god. WHAT ABHORED MADNESS FROM THE GULF'S OF TARTARTOUS COULD HAVE PORTENDED SUCH NIGHTMARE MONSTROSOTIES AS THIS?!?!"

[@kyle857]

The thing is, you could misinterpret so much.

[@CJ-uf6xl]

I for one, am more then happy to hear these stories re-recorded. As ever, thank you all so much 🙏

[@thefisherking78]

than

[@captainjetpack]

l hope you're not replacing the old recording. l listen to your Nameless City once a week. Your voice is perfect for HP's prose.

[@HorrorBabble]

Absolutely not! I even say so in the video intro. :)

[@captainjetpack]

@@HorrorBabble oh good! Sorry l commented before l listened to the whole thing. Keep it up, you're the best at this!!

[@paulross225]

Considering that HP. L. spent most of his time in his rooms writing this stuff , his stories are remarkably prescient considering the amount of documentaries (on KZbin) about recently discovered incredibly ancient temples, tombs etc, whose construction is of baffling sophistication.

[@АртёмДубравин-ы6у]

Well, depending on how much "fringe science" you are capable of believing, maybe Lovecraft didn't just guess those things. Maybe, he actually saw them. I tend not to believe things without proof, but there indeed are whispers in certain European occult circles, that such names as Azatoth, Hastur and Khatooloo were known to followers of certain ancient rites in the times before Lovecraft and his literary inspirations like W. Chambers were even born. Such fellows tend to believe Howard Phillips Lovecraft shared a bond with certain things from beyond. Like biblical prophets were said to write not their own thoughts but the voice of God they heard in their heads, so was he, but a bit darker. Nonsense of course, but this theory has its believers, trust me.

[@MisterBones2910]

That was a common trope back then with ancient pre-Roman finds. People were astonished at just how many times Big C "Civilization" had risen and fallen when they started digging. For a good example of how some people figured there had to be more to some of these things a fun one to look into is the idea of the "pyramid inch" and the esoteric mathematical principles it supposedly demonstrated.

[@ice9arctican543]

Sigh...

[@MisterBones2910]

@@ice9arctican543 We're all ears, Anon.

[@razorsrequiem]

​@@АртёмДубравин-ы6у I thought it was understood his "mad imagining of dark eldritch things" was a combination of his mental illness brought on by depression, family trauma, and disease.

[@AAron-gr3jk]

I remember first hearing this here and I recall this as one of the best mythos stories

[@jamiewatts333]

Hey HorrorBabble, if you're looking for more cosmic or Lovecraftian horror, I strongly recommend these stories by Thomas Ligotti: Nethescurial, The Mystics of Muelenburg, In the Shadow of Another World, The Flowers of the Abyss, The Shadow at the Bottom of the World, and The Last Feast of Harlequin. Take care. :)

[@HorrorBabble]

Thanks Jamie. We've talked to TL about recording some of his works, but unfortunately there are rights issues that we've been unable to find a workaround for yet.

[@jamiewatts333]

@@HorrorBabble Oh, I see. That's understandable. Thanks for responding. :)

[@Eris123451]

Howard Phillips Lovecraft (August 20, 1890 - March 15, 1937) is best remembered as the inventor of HP Sauce, that popular condiment which bears his initials, (still being made to his original recipe; from tomatoes, tamarind extract and a brown ichor which he obtained from the putrefying flesh of human corpses and which gives it a distinctive smell and color.) He was also was an American writer of weird, science, fantasy, and horror fiction. Erispeadia

[@sub-jec-tiv]

So much popular culture using the HP Sauce lately. Especially, cheesy superhero comics/films.

[@donaldmccleary9015]

Amazing story and narration. These classics never get old! I love this story, especially the descriptions of the architecture and inhabitants of the city. These classic tales will never be lost because of these recordings. Thanks!

[@andreasfilis9001]

Οne of my favoured stories! The deepness of time, life before humanity, a strange adventurer with apocryphal knowledge and THE TERROR! All elements are here.

[@SashaIsAFox]

Can never have too many amazingly narrated versions of the Cthulhu Mythos stories!

[@armphidiic2609]

Excellent re-recording of one of my favorite Lovecraft stories.

[@Paul_305]

One of my favorites. This story combined with the origin of necronomicon and RE Howard's Azurbanipal would make an interesting film adaptation... Still waiting for Ian's recital of the Transition of Juan Romero

[@RyunosukeHachi]

Same here, regarding “The Transition of Juan Romero.” I feel like it would be a short film… maybe about 20 minutes long.

[@kevinfogle7929]

I love your work.

[@seanmurphy6480]

I ENCOURAGE ALL TO LISTEN

[@lisamariehennessey4532]

Haha last weekend I bindged on the love craft playlist 🎉 I was thinking how your narrations have changed you so much more relaxed and with a lot passionate about your characters 🎉 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟💓

[@taqi5675]

My first story of this channel that makes me fall in love with channels

[@robbabcock_]

This new recording is fantastic!

[@jamesdreads7828]

one of my favourites of your readings! I'v watched the older vid easily 10 times over the months while i'm working away, I've no qualms doing the same again.

[@leopoldjenkins]

Loved this. Very well rendered.

[@bigsarge2085]

These tales always do it for me!

[@soulreaver1983]

Outstanding as always many thanks Ian 🙂👍

[@MachineSpirit101]

Absolutely brilliant. It’s gets better every time I hear it!

[@nitayrafowicz5934]

I really like the OG lovecraft stories and use them as inspirations for my D&D campaigns for maybe 4 years now and still going strong!! Keep it up and thank you for the new version!

[@user-kn9gl9dt6l]

Oh wonderful!

[@cobrachicken07]

Best weird tales narration on the Internet! I enjoyed this version very much. Thanks HB!

[@derekhoferichter1802]

thank you guys for your hard work for me it all the cthulhu mythos story i love so much not to say all your work is so amzing

[@justafallperson2108]

I don't know which version I like best... Fantastic work 👍

[@abdallahtimhadjelt6972]

Very much hyped for the rest of HPL mythos, keep up the good work !

[@paulberry5750]

Thank you ☺️

[@0therun1t21]

I love this story, thanks!

[@JustinVermilyea-ix2ye]

Thank you Ian and Jennifer

[@NightAngelus]

awesome! The original recording of this story was the first video of your guys work i listened to.

[@dogspunk]

One of my favorites.

[@Monkismo]

I imagine hearing these on a Victrola, not a Walkman. 😀

[@danbreeden8738]

Thank you Ian

[@CapnArrich]

An excellent presentation. My thanks.

[@jlworrad]

I’ve got a lot affection for this story. I tend to agree with Lin Carter on this one. Marvellous recording btw!

[@HorrorBabble]

Thanks, James!

[@brycecurtis8483]

Love it! Love you GUYS 💓💓💓

[@michaelmurray8562]

Wow Ian, this is like listening to the latest remix of the White Album... both the original and the revised versions are great. The only problem is, I can't decide which I like the best! Keep up the good work!

[@sub-jec-tiv]

You can hear George Harrison a little better on this new version, but they’re both great!

[@akenon5901]

I remember finding the first reading of this a few years ago, along with "the mound" and enjoying both immensely, made me a new fan of lovecraft's work. Glad to see them both revisited.

[@doppiovinegar1292]

this new recordings, or as I would love to call a remastered 😅 is a welcome addition, thanks much for all of this

[@doomiesama4741]

This was the first Lovecraft story I read as I was some 11 year old morbidly curious kid. I remember being terrified and fascinated at the same time.

[@lifewladye]

What a treat! 🥰☺

[@thehillz726]

what lovely dinner listening, thank you for this

[@whitemagus2000]

This story, The Rats in the Walls, and the Color out of Space were the stories of Lovecraft that first enchanted me.

[@LordMarps]

Thanks so much for posting. HPL really was some author, wasn’t he?

[@MisterBones2910]

It might just be me but having read the story and heard the old recording three or more times I put it on in the background while I did something else and I definitely noticed certain elements more vividly this time. I didn't think there was anything wrong with the original, but I believe something like the overall cadence and better enunciation of words has improved.

[@noeldenever]

Hi Horrorbabble, the transcript & captions for this is for The Call of Chtulhu instead of The Nameless City. Just letting you know. Captions might help any new listeners who haven't known this story by heart or still learning English. And thank you, I can't count how many times I've listened to this (and the old recording) as sleep stories.

[@HorrorBabble]

Hello! I have absolutely no idea how that happened, but I'll get them updated right now. Thanks for pointing it out!

[@ryangreen6255]

​@HorrorBabble true enough. Thanks. I've discovered two new words from this story alone.

[@heatrayzvideo3007]

I thought I lived in the nameless city but my girlfriend says I actually live in Leeds.

[@Paul_305]

A lorenzetti pipe stuffed with star of the east and a martini awaits the recitation.

[@AcornElectron]

Had a busy few days, lost track of Warren….. apologies.

[@한냐-c9i]

I'm really happy to learn English with cthulhu 👾 thanks a lot!

[@ryleeguy2763]

I’m so excited to listen to all of the new HPL recordings Ian and Jen! I have some questions about how y’all plan on organizing the playlist, but I’ll save them till after the video you said will cover these topics soon. I’m really stoked though, I listen to these videos while doing my art commissions and want to know where to submit some fan art. Maybe you could use it for the background of one of your amazing yarns.

[@HorrorBabble]

We always like to see fan art. You can send it via email, which you'll find in the about section: kzbin.infoabout

[@jeffashley5512]

Arcade day so everyone here at Flashback are listening to H.P. Lovecraft on Horrorbabble. 💀

[@teslastellar]

Wonderful narration 👍🙂💕

[@billsummy2412]

AMAZING !

[@Wombats555]

Fantastic:) thanks for keeping the oldies this is better but your old voice is great, too! The higher pitch in the early recordings matches Lovecraft's tone wonderfully.

[@ADITADDICTS]

YEET!

[@jasonsurrette76]

As long as it was built on rock and roll

[@HorySmokes]

Nice. Are you re-recording all the Cthulhu mythos stories or just select ones?

[@HorrorBabble]

A selection.

[@user-kn9gl9dt6l]

Also, this story got me into the story of the lost city of Iram and how people have tried and maybe even found it.

[@АртёмДубравин-ы6у]

Superb!

[@АртёмДубравин-ы6у]

The original was already perfect, I can only imagine how good this one is. Starting to listen now

[@boldbearings]

Excellent. I hope Reanimator and Dexter Ward make the list. 😁

[@HorrorBabble]

Neither are mythos stories, but that doesn't mean I won't be giving Dexter Ward another shot in the future. There's room for improvement there.

[@CodenameApollo]

+1 new subscriber

[@addictiontransfer3731]

What exactly are you changing in the re-recordings? Are you just updating the sound quality? or are you making revisions of some kind?

[@HorrorBabble]

They're simply new recordings, bringing older recordings into line with later ones. I'll be making a video on the subject later in the year.

[@addictiontransfer3731]

@@HorrorBabble Thanks for the clarification! I look forward to it!!

[@fionbharrbutler3373]

A sacrifice to the Al gor ithm. 🙌

[@Mr.Ambrose_Dyer_Armitage_Esq.]

Thank you for another addition to The Mythos, Mr. Gordon, When, if ever, are you going to get around to making a recording of Lovecraft's 1920 short-story *_Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family,_* or, *_The White Ape?_*

[@HorrorBabble]

Eventually!

[@AAron-gr3jk]

Wow

[@ScullyPop]

The King of Horror!

[@JoeJackaboa]

Redolent of the hideous stories recorded before the bricks of babylon were baked, updated with the blasphemous mysteries of unnamed eons

[@GuukanKitsune]

I'm sorry to say it, but this protagonist is probably straightly the single biggest bonehead of any of Lovecraft's explorers of the unknown. The basic stupidities he commits across the course of this story are so numerous he was clearly insane before he even set out in the first place. He: -Decided to visit some ruins that he knew full well were shunned by the locals without doing any research on why they were shunned or sponging local lore on them to try and get clues to why the place is shunned, and thus what dangers to maybe be ready for. -Decided to travel out, _totally alone_ into an unfamiliar sandy desert to find these ruins, without a native guide, because none would go with him. -took only a _map. And. Compass._ to help him navigate a _landmarkless sandy desert._ -He pokes around for ten minutes in the buildings and discovers and straightly notes they are really, really wierd if they had been built by humans, right off the bat, unless for some wierd reason they just _looooved_ uncomfortably stooping over and crawling all the time. -he discovers paintings and frescoes of stooped semi-quadroped croco lizard people wearing jewelery and clothes and shit whose bodies as depicted would absolutely gel with every wierd aspect of the building designs in the ruins, pictured alongside normal-ass humans for comparison. Dismisses them immediately purely as 'venerated animals' or 'symbolic representations of humans' despite the mounds of archeological evidence he's standing in... and the fact he has supposedly read lots of dem ol' freaky books from the Miskatonic collection, which should give him at least _some_ consideration the depiction might be literal. Finds a _staircase_ that is so squat he can barely crawl into it and so steep that no human could ascend or descend it without _crawling..._ and decides, just a normal feature of human building design, staircase favoring squat quadruped traversal, perfectly normal for upright bipedal humans to make. -Descends into this unlit probably unstable underground complex of unknown size and complexity, without any means of marking his way back out, and only _one single torch._ _-finds more of these freezes depicting crocolizardmen interacting with humans,_ and dismisses them as purely symbolic _again._ _-Actually finds countless sarcophagi containing the _*_clothed_*_ and _*_bejeweled_*_ MUMMIES_ of what couldn't possibly be anything other than the crocolizardmen from the paintings and friezes he has thus far seen in abundance all over every inch of everything. _Dismisses. The goddamn. MUMMIES. As just venerated animals._ AGAIN flying in the face of supposedly having read a lot of The Usual Literature... and the fact that despite having obviously found a burial complex there ain't a _single human mummy to be found,_ indicating a human population presence of either 'zero' or 'food'. -Somehow doesn't piece together or even consider the idea that this was a crocolizardman city _until he is literally panic fleeing being hunted in the dark by their devolved CHUD-turned descendants._ I am sorry, but when this guy's skullbones fused as a baby, they had to have fused solidly _ALL THE WAY TO HIS NECK_ due to the total lack of brain in the way!

[@bubzy3591]

Darwinism, he could of just as easily just walked off a cliff, one way or another, he was meant to be taken from this earth before natural causes….. 😂😂😂

[@derinformationstechniker4507]

Das ist gut!! (schpeak: this is good)

[@Newsbro89]

What story is “You fool! Warren is dead” from

[@travisnaganuma2542]

Are the audio versions available for purchase anywhere? Audible…?

[@travisnaganuma2542]

Opps never mind. Found it. Thanks

[@questorincompetus8841]

I picture tiny deathclaws

[@CamiciNera-17m]

"The Damnable Hours" H.P.Lovecraft

[@alswann2702]

Poor Warren

[@BluJean6692]

Was this just re-recorded or did you edit the original text too? If the latter, what changes were made exactly?

[@HorrorBabble]

My source text: www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/fiction/nc.aspx I haven't seen the text as it appeared in The Wolverine, but the text in the Nov 1938 edition of Weird Tales is slightly different to my source text (word choice here and there, etc).

[@nathanielgrey4091]

I cannot wait to hear the Dream Cycle if you do them. I hate to say it, but I am not a fan of how you narrated the original videos. You have become my absolute favorite audiobook channel since then

[@HorrorBabble]

Down the line!

[@samsonsoturian6013]

Lovecraft's iconic couplet becomes less epic when you realize that rhyme doesn't work in Arabic.

[@andersschmich8600]

I like to imagine the original Arabic also rhymed, but the exact phrasing was changed in translation so it would rhyme in English too.

[@samsonsoturian6013]

@Anders Schmich funny thing is it woukd depend on the dialect. Modern spoken "Arabic" is as different from Classic Arabic as all the European languages are from Latin.

[@ThePlanetDez]

I never knew what happened to Warren

[@CS-hu5be]

When you recite Thomas Moore you become too affraid to recite more. 38:30

[@dennisthornton4434]

Goody a other story. Have you done any lin Carter stories even through he didn't do much chuthlu.

[@HorrorBabble]

Not yet -- Carter's stuff isn't in the public domain.

[@dennisthornton4434]

@@HorrorBabble you could ask Robert price, the conservative of the estate. But I see your point.

[@HorrorBabble]

Thanks Dennis -- I'll make a note.

[@EricDaMAJ]

Warren might be dead or might not be dead. It’s hard to tell since he took off for the Empty Quarter... In sha'Allah the Djinn and the giant camel spiders will let him return.

[@sharondornhoff7563]

Schroedinger's Warren.

[@heatedturtle659]

15:30 19:20

[@BryinWillis-e8g]

Tuesday

[@bertbaker7067]

Algorithm support comment

[@samsonsoturian6013]

"As Memnon hails it, from the depths of the Nile." I know Lovecraft loves all things archaic, but Memnon died in Troy, not Egypt.

[@Eris123451]

Different Memnon ?

[@samsonsoturian6013]

@@Eris123451 Presumably Lovecraft is referring to the oldest Memnon because of course he is.

[@Eris123451]

@@samsonsoturian6013 I looked it up and I think it likely he was referring to, "The Colossi of Memnon; two massive stone statues of the Pharaoh Amenhotep III, which stand at the front of the ruined Mortuary Temple of Amenhotep III, the largest temple in the Theban Necropolis. They have stood since 1350 BC."

[@samsonsoturian6013]

@@Eris123451 Fair enough.

[@TeethToothman]

🫀⚡🫀

[@micahfoley9572]

102 years aol and still no video game adaptation smh lol

[@tendiesoffmyplate9085]

I thought I was going to hate Lovecraft Country but it's actually pretty good.

[@lucascoval828]

😐...........of course.

[@tendiesoffmyplate9085]

@@lucascoval828 ?

[@bubzy3591]

@@tendiesoffmyplate9085?

[@tendiesoffmyplate9085]

@@lucascoval828 you think it has to do with race but that's not the reason. I was worried it was going to be filled with "the message™️"

[@Xbalanque84]

If you're serious about re-recording, you might want to double-check the pronunciation on some of the prehistoric animals listed in the fossil assemblage from _At the Mountains of Madness._ Love that story, but as a zoology major who once had dreams of being a paleontologist, hearing you mispronounce some of those taxon names was like nails on a chalkboard. For future reference, fossil mammal taxa were/are often identified with the suffix "-there," (pronounced "theer"), Greek for "beast." When mentioned in plural ("-theres"), they are pronounced like "theers," not "thairees" like you said in your previous reading. Granted, that was an understandable mistake, one I've heard many people make over the years when reading about Cenozoic mammals for the first time. In any case, just thought you might want to know that if/when you decide to re-record _Mountains of Madness._ Keep up the good work, man :)

[@Eris123451]

I think that you're being over pedantic because frankly the, "correct," pronunciation of Greek is at best a debatable topic, what you're actually asking is that someone with no previous knowledge of the topic conforms to your own prejudices; although I agree that it can sometimes be irritating. I'm currently listening to an excellent Librivox reading of Herodotus, where the narrator keeps pronouncing Pisistratus; as Piss-iss-strat-uss not as Pie-sis-trat-us which I personally prefer, but both are equally legitimate. Or you could do it yourself ?

[@HorrorBabble]

I won't be touching Mountains of Madness again -- the one on the channel currently is my second recording of it, and I'm happy with it. I spent a good while studying the pronunciation of certain words, but even so, some were impossible to track down. "Dinocerases" for example. As an independent narrator reading older works, one has to do the best one can with the resources available -- besides, there'll always be disagreements when it comes to pronunciations, even if you're certain you've got it right. But I totally get your frustrations -- I have enough of my own in other areas of life.

[@Xbalanque84]

​@@HorrorBabble I understand completely. I figured I'd let you know, just in case.

[@Nocturnalnature]

😂ভালো তো, ভূতের তাড়া খেয়ে তারাপীঠ, কালীঘাট, দক্ষিনেশ্বর সঅব বেড়ানো হয়ে গেল। আবার সাধু 🙏আর পুরোহিতের বেশ দক্ষিনা পাওয়া হলো। সত্যি নেগেটিভ এনার্জি ওভাবে যেত না।