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b"The Hounds of Tindalos by Frank Belknap LongFrank Belknap\\xa0 Long was born in 1901 in Harlem, New York (not the Netherlands) and died in 1992 aged 92 in Manhattan.He was a horror and science fiction writer and is most famous for his contribution to the stories of the Cthulhu Mythos.The Cthulhu Mythos begins with H P Lovecraft, but many other authors have contributed towards the corpus of stories that the faithful call \\u2018The Canon\\u2019. \\xa0 It was his 1921 story The Eye Above The Mantel that caught Lovecraft\\u2019s eye. That story was a pastiche of Edgar Allan Poe and I have elsewhere commented on that histrionic overblown prose that contains many screaming crazy dudes and occult blasphemous horrors which is found first and best in Poe, then Lovecraft and here in this lovely story.Frank and Howard maintained a long correspondence. Lovecraft was famous for his lengthy and multiple pen friendships as he sat shut up and nervous in his room. He became a mentor to Frank.\\xa0Frank contributed to the pulp magazinesThe Hounds of TindalosChalmers. Prefers illuminated manuscripts to adding machines and leering stone gargoyles to automobiles. Who doesn\\u2019t?\\xa0 He has a long nose and slightly receding chin. His bookcase has medieval pamphlets about sorcery, witchcraft and black magic (surely triple tautology)\\xa0 but again, what\\u2019s not normal in any of this? Although I think that Frank is setting it up for the norms so they get the idea that Chalmers is a bit weird.\\xa0He has the same name as the Australian Philosopher David Chalmers who famously came up with the term \\u2018the hard problem\\u2019 to describe how in a materialist way of thinking, matter can give rise to subjective experience. It\\u2019s as hard a problem as how cows make lollipops. We simply can\\u2019t figure either of them out.So, Frank is using \\u2018modern science\\u2019 in the guise of Einstein to undermine the self-confident materialists, particularly regarding time. He throws this is in like spice. He lets us know that Einstein is relative: we each have our own versions.\\xa0\\xa0Our interlocutor is our avatar. Think how hard it would be to write a story with one character? You need two to bring out the exposition. Anyway, on we go, getting more and more theatrical with each sentence.\\xa0But this idea about curves and angles seems original and it is quite weird. Like Lovecraft\\u2019s Colour Out of Space, an abstract idea like a colour or an angle can be jarringly weird. Weird is all about juxtapositions that should not be, and taking things out of context because they are juxtaposed with other, odd contents.It sort of reminded me of H G Wells\\u2019 The Time Machine particularly the 1950s film version.\\xa0The Hounds of Tindalos was the first Cthulhu story written by anyone else than Lovecraft and we have references to Dholes and the Elder Races. Other than that, there is no clear connection, unless a Mythos buff can correct me. The Hounds of Tindalos are not actual dogs in this story. Other Mythos writers like Ramsey Campbell, Lin Carter, Brian Lumley and Peter Cannon reference the Hounds.\\xa0 The the name Tindalos sounds Greek and there are references \\u2018The Greeks had a name for them, \\u2018 I don\\u2019t think Tindalos means anything.The name Halpin is one I have only come across before in the work of Ambrose Bierce The Death of Halpin Frayser . Perhaps it is a common name in America, but I\\u2019ve heard in speech here.\\xa020lb of plaster of Paris seems a lot. Despite the plaster of Paris smoothing out the corners of the room (I should have liked to have seen that), the Hounds find a way in by causing an earthquake which causes the plaster to fall and thus angles are created\\u2026A hopeless maniac. I could tell you about those.\\xa0 \\xa0With the lSupport the showVisit us here: www.ghostpod.orgBuy me a coffee if you're glad I do this: https://ko-fi.com/tonywalkerIf you really want to help me, become a Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/barcudMusic by The Heartwood Institute: https://bit.ly/somecomeback\\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices"