If you're a frequenter of mythos forums, then chances are you've already stumbled across a post or two announcing Cthulhu One, a new mythos convention based in Madison, Wisconsin. This month, the Dunwich Herald asks Darrick Dishaw, Cthulhu One's founder and organizer about himself and his project. Enjoy . . .
 
 

Who are you, and what are you doing that may interest readers of The Dunwich Herald?

I'm Darrick Dishaw, long-time sorcerer, High Priest of the Cult of Cthulhu, and the guy that's putting on Cthulhu One, a mythos convention in Madison WI over walpurgisnacht weekend 2005.
 
 

You've billed yourself as the "High Priest of the Cult of Cthulhu," which leads us to ask the following questions:

Since Cthulhu himself is a priest and not a god, doesn't that make you more of a groupie?

hahahaha! the way i figure it, you've always got to be your own high priest, and there's always something greater than yourself. in a way, the high priest is just as important, if not more, than the god itself.
 

Do you realize that membership in a Cthulhu cult implies that your parents are blood relatives?

ah, no i didn't realize that. although i only have one bilious green tentacle appendage, so perhaps they were merely distant cousins...?
 

Just how high are you, and where can we score some?

as time goes by, i am drawn to liquor and drugs less and less. although i do immerse myself in a state of weirdness which creates its own hallucinatory "reality". and yes, i can legally prescribe some. there's got to be some benefits to being high priest!
 
 

How is Cthulhu One going to be different from other fan conventions, and how many dorks do you think will show up dressed as Klingons?

not many Klingons, i hope. the NecronomiCon i went to years back didn't have any practicing occultists (that i was aware of). and that sucked. it was literary people, gamers, and sellers, which was very cool, but Cthulhu One is about celebrating the esoteric truth behind the mythos. it's about saying, "yeah, i'm pretty much a cultist like in the stories and i'm gonna summon some dark stuff up." read up on Chaos Magic, for instance Condensed Chaos or Prime Chaos by Phil Hine. also Book of Lies by Disinformation publishing is a great beginners book to magic and the occult.
 
 

Who did you have to sleep with to get both Robert M. Price and S.T. Joshi to commit to Cthulhu One, and can we expect Price to go off on the 99% of "authors" who butcher Lovecraft's mythos?

i don't know what to expect from S. T. and Price, except i'm sure they'll be fun to be around and will provide an authenticity that i can't conjure up by myself, cool as i am. unfortunately, i didn't have to sleep with anybody to get them. i asked, and they came. $ didn't hurt though.
 
 

The Cthulhu One web page offers enough to grab a fan's attention, but it isn't very specific on the convention's organization. Will interested fans be able to view a schedule of events before they decide to drop their hard-earned cash on the entry fee?

the link has just been updated, so it's a little more specific now. some things will just have to be "on the fly" and i hope people can understand that and be cool with it. i've tried to designate certain things, like the May Eve ritual, but have you ever tried to plan lunch with somebody? it rarely goes smoothly. things will not go as planned or expected. perhaps that is the chaos element? although, i trust that things will go very well. i think $30 for the entire weekend is quite reasonable.
 
 

Who would win the following fights and why:

The Cult of Cthulhu vs. The Church of Scientology:

our Drowned Lord, of course. did you think i'd route for the other guy when i'm C's p.r. man?

Cthulhu vs. Mother Hydra (with PMS):

C again.

H.P. Lovecraft vs. Urkel:

i'd love to see Lovecraft kick somebody's ass. that should be a new reality tv show on Fox. a guy made up to look like HPL beating the shit out of somebody, and then comes the slime and the boobies. aww jeah!

Azathoth vs. Brett Favre:

Azathoth, you vile dog! bow your head before the daemon sultan!
 
 

What companies have agreed to demonstrate their "dark, investigative, and/or occult" roleplaying games at Cthulhu One? Do you know what the games are?

i hope: Obsidian, Kult, Beyond the Supernatural, Dead Lands, cool D&D; stuff too etc. of course all those pale in comparison to my own RPG: ... this new dark fantasy RPG inspired by Lovecraft, Thomas Ligotti, Hellraiser, and my own personal nightmares. it's called:

Empire of Satanis

this will officially debut at Cthulhu One, but you can check it out and download it for free here: http://grumblingdwarf.no-ip.com/forum/files.asp
 
 

With Cthulhu One being held in Madison, WI, aren't you concerned that some out-of-state attendees may be awed and distracted by the many Cheese Castles they'll see along the way?

it all goes with the horror, dear interviewer. finally, i thought, i can do something really cool without having to drive at least 3 hours! and then i've saddled myself with about 200 hours of work. :( ah, well. it's been fun promoting it. i've come into contact with some serious mythos shit. i wouldn't have done it different.
 
 

Instead of screening mythos films, shouldn't you screen good horror movies, like Aliens, The Thing, and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory?

i just might. are you trying to say that lovecraft film classics are... Not Good??? i love Re-Animator, Dagon, The Haunted Palace, the Dunwich Horror, etc.

i'd love to screen the new director's cut of From Beyond that is being released on DVD very soon. The Thing, Prince of Darkness, In the Mouth of Madness, Evil Dead, all those are options. we shall see.
 
 

	"Cthulhu" by Darrick Dishaw. This painting, created with a pallet knife, will probably be on display at Cthulhu One.

Finish the following sentences:

H.P. Lovecraft should have . . .

created the first role-playing game_or better yet, started to really believe in all the things he was writing about.

I'm hoping Cthulhu One will . . .

entomb us in the black spaces of the inside, where the howling, creeping abominations will reverberate the blasphemy and madness that i need to break free from "reality's" prison.

The best mythos authors I've read are . . .

besides HPL... Thomas Ligotti... and all the others. sorry, i'm going to have to copp out on this one cause i don't want to leave anyone out._ it's all a matter of taste anyway.

Point Beer should be . . .

what?!? do i need to bring Satanis in here, beeatch? do I???_ make with the better questions already. damn, haus!

The Necronomicon is . . .

like the Bible. better left imagined than actually read. i'd prefer people making up their own horrible tomes, although it's hard to not borrow a classic like the Necronomicon...

Green Bay Packers fans are like mythos cultists because . . .

dear lord, no more football questions.

The worst things about organizing a fan convention are . . .

the worry. i worry about the con being good enough for people that do spend their hard earned money, come from far away, and expect something magical. they should get something magical, and i hope i can deliver.

When I'm not working on Cthulhu One, I'm usually . . .

writing the Empire of Satanis rpg , painting, doing magic, spending time with the girlfriend, gaming, and playing the Cthulhu collectable card game by FFG, it's very cool.
 
 

Other than the distressing lack of wet t-shirt contests, what do you hope Cthulhu One attendees will talk about after it's all over?

Lack of wet t-shirt contests? i don't understand? all the sexy girls in slime covered t-shirts will be talked about for aeons!

what else? ...i hope they feel a disquieting dark current traveling through hyperspace. i hope that attendees think that something big has just occured and new horrors are a-foot.
 
 

Is there anything else that you wish to say to our readers?

this is about changing "reality"
this is about changing "reality"
this is about changing "reality"
this is about changing "reality"
this is about changing "reality"...
 
 
 

There you have it, folks, another in-depth, thought-provoking look into the mind of a mythos fan. Many thanks to Darrick for taking time to answer our questions. Don't forget to register for Cthulhu One. Not only does it promise to be a blast, but it's close to Ithaqua territory, and you might just get a chance to watch the Wendigo do something cool, like turn a bus full of school kids into a block of ice.