We are creeped out by cold, slimy limbs, flesh that lacks bones. I recently experienced this feeling first-hand while snorkeling, when I got to touch a live octopus. The sensation was instinctively repulsive. That recoil of hand is the essence of the squidgy. (I’m not sure where the term ‘squidgy’ came from – I always assumed it was Sandy Petersen who coined it, but I’m not sure.) We are talking about that branch of Mythosian fauna that crawls on tentacles and enjoys snacking on occasional journal-writers. The tentacular horror is a familiar icon, though Lovecraft would probably have preferred something more adjectival such as ‘glutinous’, ‘ichorous’ or ‘palpitating’, but to fans, ‘squidgies’ they are.
The prehistory of the Mythos can be traced back to the writers who influenced HPL. These include H. G. Wells with “The Sea Raiders” (1896), in which squids attack a resort in Sidmouth, and the Martians from the War of the Worlds (1898):
“A big greyish rounded bulk, the size, perhaps, of a bear, was rising slowly and painfully out of the cylinder. As it bulged up and caught the light, it glistened like wet leather. Two large dark-coloured eyes were regarding me steadfastly. The mass that framed them, the head of the thing, was rounded, and had, one might say, a face. There was a mouth under the eyes, the lipless brim of which quivered and panted, and dropped saliva. The whole creature heaved and pulsated convulsively. A lank tentacular appendage gripped the edge of the cylinder, another swayed in the air.”
Read the rest:
http://www.innsmouthfreepress.com/blog/column-writing-the-mythos-a-lesson-in-squidgy-history/
