Changes: Pickman's Modem

Revision as of 19:32, 3 May 2021

Pickman's Modem is a short story by Lawrence Watt-Evans which is set in the fictional Cthulhu Mythos of H. P. Lovecraft.

Synopsis

The narrator, a man named George, tells the tale of his online friend Henry Pickman who buys a new modem from Miskatonic Data Systems in Arkham, Massachusetts. The modem corrupts his online posts, infusing them with bile and vitriol, and Pickman believes it to be watching him.

The story concludes by stating that Henry Pickman's house is set ablaze and the man himself never heard from again, but just prior to this he sends George a message telling of his fear of the modem, and concluding with a burst of line noise which reads "Iä! FThaGN!Iä!CTHulHu!"

Characters

George, the story's narrator.
Henry Pickman, George's online friend.

Behind the Mythos

Watt-Evans was inspired to write Pickman's Modem after an online chat session which was interrupted by a burst of line noise which formed text "that looked rather like a Lovecraftian invocation of the Great Old Ones," and another member of the group commented that "Pickman's modem [was] at work."

After completing the work, Watt-Evans sold it to Gardner Dozois at Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine. It was later reprinted in Arkham House's anthology Cthulhu 2000: A Lovecraftian Anthology, and again in Isaac Asimov's SF-Lite. It received an eBook release with the publication of the The Cthulhu Mythos Megapack by Wildside Press LLC in 2012. Watt-Evans also included it in his own collection, Celestial Debris.

Trivia

The serial number on the side of Pickman's new modem was #R1LYEH, a clear reference to R'lyeh, Cthulhu's resting place deep beneath the ocean.

References

http://www.watt-evans.com/PickmansModem.shtml, the author recounts the inspiration behind Pickman's Modem.

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 |title = ''Pickman's Modem''
 |image = IssacAsimovsSFMagazine.jpeg
-|author = Lawrence Watt-Evans
+|author = [[Lawrence Watt-Evans]]
 |language = English
 |genre = Short Fiction
@@ Line 11: / Line 11: @@
 |media_type = * Print
 * eBook
-|pub_date = February 1992}}
+|pub_date = February 1992
+}}
 {{Realworld}}
 {{Expandedmythos}}
 '''''Pickman's Modem''''' is a short story by Lawrence Watt-Evans which is set in the fictional [[Cthulhu Mythos]] of [[H. P. Lovecraft]].
@@ Line 29: / Line 29: @@
 Watt-Evans was inspired to write ''Pickman's Modem'' after an online chat session which was interrupted by a burst of line noise which formed text ''"that looked rather like a Lovecraftian invocation of the Great Old Ones,"'' and another member of the group commented that ''"Pickman's modem [was] at work."''
-After completing the work, Watt-Evans sold it to Gardner Dozois at ''Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine''. It was later reprinted in [[Arkham House]]'s anthology ''[[Cthulhu 2000]]'', and once again in ''Isaac Asimov's SF-Lite''. It received an eBook release with the publication of the ''[[The Cthulhu Mythos Megapack]]'' by [[Wildside Press|Wildside Press LLC]] in 2012. Watt-Evans also included it in his own collection, ''Celestial Debris''.
+After completing the work, Watt-Evans sold it to Gardner Dozois at ''Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine''. It was later reprinted in [[Arkham House]]'s anthology ''[[Cthulhu 2000: A Lovecraftian Anthology]]'', and again in ''Isaac Asimov's SF-Lite''. It received an eBook release with the publication of the ''[[The Cthulhu Mythos Megapack]]'' by [[Wildside Press|Wildside Press LLC]] in 2012. Watt-Evans also included it in his own collection, ''Celestial Debris''.
 == Trivia ==
@@ Line 37: / Line 37: @@
 * http://www.watt-evans.com/PickmansModem.shtml, the author recounts the inspiration behind ''Pickman's Modem''.
 [[Category:Cthulhu Mythos short stories]]
+[[Category:Lawrence Watt-Evans works]]
+[[Category:Short stories]]