TWO GREAT TASTES THAT GO GREAT TOGETHER: WHEN THE EVANGELICAL MEETS THE LOVECRAFTIAN

One of the several books I'm reading at the moment is a comprehensive history and critical overview of the works of one Jack T. Chick, the guy behind those itty-bitty comics — better known as "Chick tracts" — meant to win souls to the way of Jesus, and when I finish reading it I promise a full review. Chick is way, way over the top with his fire-and-brimstone zeal and his tracts are usually examples of ludicrous dialogue that's unintentionally hilarious, but while I may disagree with his politics, both religious and not, I wholeheartedly believe that he's utterly sincere in what he's putting out there and I can't find fault with that sincerity (although I would like to kick him square in the batch for his rampaging homophobia). It may be bordering on madness, but I'm one hundred percent convinced that he's as serious as a heart attack.

But until I finish the book I'd like to steer you toward a dead-on and completely hilarious parody of the Jack T. Chick genre that combines Chick's "get right before it's too late" brand of preaching with the sinister, wiggly evil of the Elder Gods as envisioned by another florid writer, namely H.P. Lovecraft, creator of Cthulhu and a ton of other baleful, other-worldly nasties. I adore both Chick's and Lovecraft's work for their efforts in chronicling fearsome eventualities beyond the ken of man, so seeing the two collide head on is a joy to behold. Parodic genius Howard Hallis came up with WHO WILL BE EATEN FIRST?, a Chick-style tract distinguishable from the real thing only by its use of profanity and Lovecraft's concepts instead of the standard Christian scare-tactics propaganda, and I for one would love to have a copy of it to physically add to the overflowing shelves here in the Vault.

I won't give away the treats found within and will instead let the work speak for itself on the site where I discovered it, although I can't resist running the final page which mimics the format of the last section of the garden variety Chick tract to ridiculous perfection:

Who would have thought Lovecraft could be so intentionally funny? Certainly not me, and I've read a lot of his shit!