This week, we’re checking out “The Colour Out of Space,” an important early SF story by the of the seminal SF/horror pulp author H.P. Lovecraft.
Day 1
After a short plot summary that we’ll build together, I’ll make opening comments about Lovecraft and his life, discuss the concept of “cosmic horror,” and also the concept of “outsider art” and how it might relate to Lovecraft and his work.
Below are the powerpoint I used in class, and a copy of this week’s handout:
During my lecture, I mentioned Henry Darger, another “outsider artist.” Darger’s life and work is a little bit off-topic for a Lovecraft class, but I think Darger’s a pretty interesting example. If you’d like to know more about him, check out this video:
Here is the handout for our class discussion:
We’ll finish the Comprehension Questions, and then call it a day.
Day 2
We’ll continue our discussion of “The Colour Out of Space” in small groups, turing into the questions on page 2 of the discussion sheet linked above.
Journaling
Reflect on your reaction to Lovecraft’s story, and how you “read” (i.e. interpret) it. Try to incorporate the idea of “cosmic horror” into your interpretation, and feel free to draw on the group discussion (or any of the questions on the discussion form) to help you develop a reading of the story.
Story Texts
The text of the story “The Colour Out of Space” is freely available online, here.
Here is a copy of the Korean translation of the story: