Titan of terror: the dark imagination of H.P. Lovecraft - Silvia Moreno-García

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Helen Chang

Arcane books of forbidden lore,

關於禁忌傳說的神秘書籍，

disturbing secrets in the family bloodline,

令人不舒服的家族秘密，

and terrors so unspeakable the very thought of them might drive you mad.

以及難以言喻的恐懼， 光是想到它們就可能讓你發狂。

By now, these have become standard elements in many modern horror stories.

目前，在許多現代恐怖故事當中， 上述這些都是標準必備元素。

But they were largely popularized by a single author–

但，它們會這麼普遍， 卻是單單一位作家的功勞——

one whose name has become an adjective

他的名字已經變成了一個形容詞，

for the particular type of terror he inspired.

用來形容一種熱門的恐怖類型， 這類型的靈感就是來自於他。

Born in Providence, Rhode Island in 1890,

於 1890 年生於羅德島的

Howard Phillips Lovecraft grew up admiring the Gothic horror stories

霍華德 · 菲利普斯 · 洛夫克拉夫特

成長過程中很欣賞

艾倫坡和羅伯特 · 錢伯斯 寫的哥德式恐怖故事。

written by Edgar Allan Poe and Robert Chambers.

But by the time he began writing in 1917,

但到了 1917 年他開始寫作時，

World War I had cast a long shadow over the arts.

第一次世界大戰讓藝術蒙上了陰影。

People had seen real horrors,

人們見到了真正的恐怖，

and were no longer frightened of fantastical folklore.

對於奇幻的民間傳說 不再感到害怕。

Lovecraft sought to invent a new kind of terror,

洛夫克拉夫特開始尋求 發明另一種新的恐懼，

one that responded to the rapid scientific progress of his era.

這種恐懼要能夠因應 他的時代的快速科學發展。

His stories often used scientific elements to lend eerie plausibility.

他的故事通常會使用科學元素， 來增添令人毛骨悚然的可信性。

In "The Colour out of Space,"

在《星之彩》中，

a strange meteorite falls near a farmhouse,

一個奇怪的隕石落在一間農舍附近，

mutating the farm into a nightmarish hellscape.

讓農場突然變成惡夢般的地獄景象。

Others incorporated scientific methodology into their form.

其他的作品則是將科學方法論 整合到作品形式當中。

"At the Mountains of Madness" is written as a report of an Antarctic expedition

《瘋狂山脈》被寫成 一篇南極探險的報告，

that unearths things better left undiscovered.

這次探險發掘出了 最好不要發現的東西。

In others, mathematics themselves become a source of horror,

在其他作品中，數學本身 則成了恐怖的來源，

as impossible geometric configurations

比如不可能的幾何配置，

wreak havoc on the minds of any who behold them.

只要盯著這些配置看， 腦袋就會發生大混亂。

Like then-recent discoveries of subatomic particles or X-rays,

就像當時剛發現 亞原子粒子或 X 光一樣，

the forces in Lovecraft’s fiction were powerful,

洛夫克拉夫特的小說力量非常強大，

yet often invisible and indescribable.

但那些力量通常是 看不見且無法描述的。

Rather than recognizable monsters, graphic violence, or startling shocks,

「洛夫克拉夫特式」恐怖

並非來自可以辨識出來的怪獸、 寫實的暴力，或嚇人的驚嚇，

the terror of “Lovecraftian” horror lies in what’s not directly portrayed–

而是來自沒有直接描寫的東西，

but left instead to the dark depths of our imagination.

讓我們得以發揮黑暗想像力的深度。

Lovecraft’s dozens of short stories, novellas, and poems

洛夫克拉夫系特寫過數十篇 短篇故事、中篇小說和詩，

often take place in the same fictional continuity,

它們通常發生在 同樣的虛構連續背景當中，

with recurring characters, locations, and mythologies.

有著重覆出現的 角色、地點，和神話。

At first glance,

乍看之下，它們的場景像是在

they appear to be set within Lovecraft’s contemporary New England.

洛夫克拉夫特那時的新英格蘭。

But beneath the surface of this seemingly similar reality lie dark masters,

但在這看似相像的現實的 表面底下藏著黑暗大師，

for whom Earth’s inhabitants are mere playthings.

對它們來說，地球的居民只是玩物。

More like primordial forces than mere deities,

比較像是原始的力量， 而不僅僅是神靈，

Lovecraft’s Great Old Ones lurk at the corners of our reality.

洛夫克拉夫特的《舊日支配者》 隱藏在我們的現實的角落裡。

Beings such as Yog-Sothoth,

像猶格索托斯這樣的生命，

“who froths as primal slime in nuclear chaos

「會在空間和時間最下方 前哨基地之外的核子混亂中，

beyond the nethermost outposts of space and time.”

吐出白沫，當作主要的黏液。」

Or the blind, idiot god Azathoth,

或者像盲目且愚蠢的神阿撒托斯，

whose destructive impulses are stalled only by

能夠阻止祂的毀滅衝動的方法，

the “maddening beating of vile drums

只有「骯髒的鼓發出的惱人擊打聲

and the thin monotonous whine of accursed flutes.”

以及受詛咒的笛子 發出的空洞單調哀鳴。」

These beings exist beyond our conceptions of reality,

這些生命存在於我們 對於現實的概念之外，

their true forms as inscrutable as their motives.

它們真正的外形， 和它們的動機一樣無法測知。

Lovecraft’s protagonists–

洛夫克拉夫特的主角通常是

often researchers, anthropologists, or antiquarians–

研究者、人類學家、古董商，

stumble onto hints of their existence.

偶然發現了它們存在的暗示。

But even these indirect glimpses are enough to drive them insane.

但即使只有間接的一瞥， 也足以讓他們發狂。

And if they survive,

即使他們存活下來，

the reader is left with no feeling of triumph, only cosmic indifference–

讀者感覺到的不是勝利，

而是宇宙的冷漠這種很糟糕的感覺：

the terrible sense that we are but insignificant specks

我們不過是不重要的小東西，

at the mercy of unfathomable forces.

被深不可測的力量所支配。

But perhaps the greatest power these creatures had

但也許這些生物最強大的力量

was their appeal to Lovecraft’s contemporaries.

是它們對於洛夫克拉夫特 那個時代的人的吸引力。

During his lifetime,

一生中，

Lovecraft corresponded with other writers,

洛夫克拉夫特會和其他作家通信，

encouraging them to employ elements and characters from his stories in their own.

鼓勵他們在自己的故事中， 採用來自他的故事的元素和角色。

References to Lovecraftian gods or arcane tomes

他的筆友的許多故事中，

都會引用到洛夫克拉夫特的 神或是神秘巨著，

can be found in many stories by his pen pals,

such as Robert E. Howard and Robert Bloch.

比如勞勃 E. 霍華德 及羅伯特 · 布勒希的作品。

Today, this shared universe is called the Cthulhu Mythos,

現今，這個共享的宇宙 被稱為「克蘇魯神話」，

named after Lovecraft’s infamous blend of dragon and octopus.

名字來自於洛夫克拉夫特筆下 聲名狼藉的龍與章魚合體之生物。

Unfortunately,

不幸的是，

Lovecraft’s fear of the unknown found a less savory expression

在洛夫克拉夫特的個人的觀點中，

表達他對於未知恐懼的方式， 並不讓人愉快。

in his personal views.

The author held strong racist views,

這位作家的觀點 帶有強烈的種族主義，

and some of his works include crude stereotypes and slurs.

他的某些作品中有著 粗陋的刻板印象和汙辱。

But the rich world he created would outlive his personal prejudices.

但他創造出來的豐富世界 比他個人的偏見更歷久不衰。

And after Lovecraft’s death,

在洛夫克拉夫特死後，

the Cthulhu Mythos was adopted by a wide variety of authors,

形形色色的作家採用了克蘇魯神話，

often reimagining them from diverse perspectives

通常是從各式各樣的觀點 來重新想像它們，

that transcend the author’s prejudices.

超越了洛夫克拉夫特的偏見。

Despite his literary legacy,

儘管留下許多文學遺產，

Lovecraft was never able to find financial success.

洛夫克拉夫特在財務上未曾成功過。

He died unknown and penniless at the age of 46–

他死時沒名、沒錢，享年四十六，

a victim of the universe’s cosmic indifference.

是宇宙冷漠底下的受害者。

But his work has inspired numerous short stories, novels,

但他的作品啟發了 無數的短篇故事、小說、

tabletop games, and cultural icons.

桌上遊戲，以及文化圖像。

And as long as humans feel a sense of dread about our unknown future,

只要人類對於未知的未來 仍然會有懼怕的感受，

Lovecraftian horror will have a place in the darkest corners of our imagination.

洛夫克拉夫特的恐怖，

就仍然會躲在我們的想像當中 一個最黑暗的角落。