Stealing Cthulhu Teacher Guide

This is a guide to insane Lovecraftian classroom rigor. Is it intended to be used along with Stealing Cthulhu by Graham Walmsley.

An introduction from the guide:

WHAT ’S THE DEAL HERE?

Why You Should & How You Could (Use This)

H.P. Lovecraft is a ghost in some circles. To many readers,
he haunts silently and unrecognized in the background of the
very fiction that they enjoy, but he is always there. Lovecraft is
considered as one of the biggest influences of the 20th century
upon weird, strange, scary, and fantastical fiction. He is best
known for his stories that reveal his own fictional mythos,
an existential nightmare of cosmic horror filled with careless
and malevolent monsters. The most well-known monster of
this mythos is Cthulhu, a being that has not only grabbed
literary fiction by the throat but also all aspects of pop culture.
Cthulhu can be found unfurling his dark wings on behalf of
Lovecraftian fiction and its many cold-hearted beasts through
all manner of pop culture, including scary movies, plush toys,
and tabletop games.

Stealing Cthulhu by Graham Walmsley is a book written
with the intention of giving gamers tons of ideas and techniques
for writing roleplaying game scenarios that take place within
H.P. Lovecraft’s dark mythos. And it certainly does this, but it
does even more. Mr. Walmsley has unwittingly created a teacher
guide that can help you guide students through an in-depth study
of Lovecraft’s writing style and of the structure of his stories.
This active reading will culminate in the student composition of
scary stories inspired by a deep analysis of H.P. Lovecraft’s work.
Most, if not all, of the methods and approaches to Lovecraft’s
fiction could be applied successfully to other authors with a little
more planning on the teacher’s part. This certainly would be a
worthwhile pursuit. However, if you should choose to focus on
the fiction of Lovecraft as Mr. Walmsley has focused, you will
enjoy an unexpectedly rich and insightful teacher edition filled
with quick answers and examples tailor-made for the style and
structure of H.P. Lovecraft’s work. You could also choose to use
the book as a tome of techniques for approaching and analyzing
short stories, and for playing as characters within those stories.
How fun and interesting!

The plan that follows assumes usage of the stories of
Lovecraft recommended earlier in this unit. The ideas, methods,
and activities are inspired by and, in some cases, taken directly
from Stealing Cthulhu.