Join Tod and Congressional Candidate Claire as they discuss "The Last Test," by H.P. Lovecraft and Adolphe de Castro. It was first published in the November 1928 issue of Weird Tales, under de Castro's name.

Please note: this is a horror podcast, and may not be for everyone. In particular, this story touches on sensitive subjects such as suicide, the unethical treatment of animals, the unethical treatment of humans, the lost city of Atlantis, hypodermic needles, California politics, prison administration, unkind characterizations of Tibetans and Mexican-Americans, Nyarlathotep (also known as the Crawling Chaos), wildly unethical journalism, and the vilification of medical science. If this subject matter is likely to disturb or offend you, you may wish to skip this episode.

Specifically, in this episode, there's a very short story that's worth an extra warning. If you don't want to hear that, skip from 57m23s to 59m37.

You can read this story yourself at HPLovecraft.com.

Other Links

• Deep Cuts in a Lovecraftian Vein coverage of the story
• Learn about Roko's Basilisk, sucker!
• Man of science Lister did not "invent" Listerine, but it's named after him. Neat!
• We have two new podcasts, War in Pieces and War in Pages. They're both kind of dumb but also kind of not?
• Finally, you can listen to Claire not talk about Lovecraft nonsense, but actual things that matter, on the Wait WHAT?! podcast. She comes in at right about the half hour mark. Then she leaves and the guys talk about football. Check it out on Spotify and elsewhere.

You can text us now. Why? That’s between you and your Elder God.

Support the show

Like the show? Say so with money! Or just hang out with us on Mastodon, at @podsothoth@defcon.social. Or email us at hideous@podsothoth.club. Best thing? Rate us (positively!) in your favorite podcast app. That helps other people find the show!

A reading of "The Last Test" by H.P. Lovecraft and Adolphe de Castro. It was first published in the November 1928 issue of Weird Tales, under de Castro's name, and first read aloud here, by me, in January of 2026.

Please note: this is a horror podcast, and may not be for everyone. In particular, this story touches on sensitive subjects such as suicide, the unethical treatment of animals, the unethical treatment of humans, the lost city of Atlantis, hypodermic needles, California politics, prison administration, unkind characterizations of Tibetans and Mexican-Americans, Nyarlathotep (also known as the Crawling Chaos), wildly unethical journalism, and the vilification of medical science. If this subject matter is likely to disturb or offend you, you may wish to skip this episode.

You can read this story yourself at HPLovecraft.com, or enjoy the ambient "Chambers of Torture" by Michael Ghelfi Studios at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzYZQySL8Ac.

You can text us now. Why? That’s between you and your Elder God.

Support the show

Like the show? Say so with money! Or just hang out with us on Mastodon, at @podsothoth@defcon.social. Or email us at hideous@podsothoth.club. Best thing? Rate us (positively!) in your favorite podcast app. That helps other people find the show!

A reading of "The Tomb," by H.P. Lovecraft. It was first published in the March, 1922 issue of The Vagrant, and first read aloud here, by me, in November of 2025.

Please note: this is a horror podcast, and may not be for everyone. In particular, this story is concerned with loneliness, the idle rich, monomania, desiccated corpses, some lightly implied necrophilia, some ribald poetry, drunkenness, and an involuntary commitment. If this subject matter is likely to disturb you, you may wish to skip this episode.

If you're a French sort, check out Lovecraft L’intégrale des histoires, it sounds pretty great! Alternatively, if you want to see Tod and friends talk about cybersecurity and horror movies in English, see CVE's emerging threats and horror movies over on ThreatCon1.

You can text us now. Why? That’s between you and your Elder God.

Support the show

Like the show? Say so with money! Or just hang out with us on Mastodon, at @podsothoth@defcon.social. Or email us at hideous@podsothoth.club. Best thing? Rate us (positively!) in your favorite podcast app. That helps other people find the show!