so I'm interested in how 'the thing' is lovecraftian? 

Yes, HPL is the source of inspiration for me. Some of the maps i made were influenced by his novels. I like his archaic style of writing, it helps to sink into the dark atmosphere.
The most impressive things for me are 'At The Mountains Of Madness' and 'The Shadow Over Innsmouth'.
Recently, i discovered that there are his followers like Clark Ashton Smith, so i started hunting for their books as well. Got CAS' first book called "The Black Diamonds" but haven't read it yet. Only thing i know he wrote in in the age of 15 :)
As for the movies based on HPL's books, i haven't seen a quality one. That Dagon movie is funny, but not scary. Probably because i imagined absolutely different/scarier things when reading the original.
But i'm interested in the upcoming game 'The Call of Cthulu'. Screenies are rather nice there.

There are times when i'm strongly into the HPL mood, and then the new qsp map can be spawned suddenly.... 

Yes there are a few Lovecraft "followers" that are actually very good (though most are poor). Another good source of Lovecraft-like work can be found among those he names as influences - particularly Algernon Blackwood, whose stories surpass Lovecraft's for atmosphere but lack the overall philosophy.

I have to agree that "Mountains" and "Shadow" (over innsmouth, not out of time) are definately Lovecraft's best long work. His other novellas - Shadow out of Time, Dream Quest, Case of Charles Dexter - aren't really as good. "The Dreams in the Witch House" is probably my favourite for how disturbing it is, and then there's always From Beyond, which seems to capture his general philosophy in a few short pages.

Nitin: Lovecraft's At The Mountains of Madness is a story about a research team in the Antarctic that finds the remains of a city impossibly old - hundreds of millions of years, so old that humans or even organic life as we know it couldn't have built them. The setting (Antarctic), concept (research team discovers something alien) and idea that there is an older race than men somewhere on earth bears much resemblance to The Thing. Not only that, but the monster - The Thing itself - bears much resemblance to Lovecraft's description of monsters who morph and change form as they move - Shoggoths for example, are described in the story as having things like temporary eyes, being shape-shifting and etc. Though the Thing's abilites are explained through DNA sampling and imitation (much like the T-1000 in Terminator 2), the horrible crosses between man, beast, alien with morphing qualities are very similar to some of the monsters Lovecraft describes.

However, The Thing is, I believe, based on a story written in the 1950s entitled "Who Goes There" by some author whom I forget. Interestingly enough, apparently the guy who directed Blade 2 (decent action movie, decent budget) has got a film version of AtMoM coming up at some point in the future. 

I was hoping you would mention From Beyond.

But saying music or games is based off of lovecraft is just ridiculus.
The lovecraft game in the works will just basicly be another FPS, walk around and shoot things, with a basic storyline envolving some lovecraft creature such as Lor or Azathoth. That is not really the lovecraft philosophy.
And i have no idea how lovecraft inspired music works... I guess it just tells a basic lovecraft type story?

I hope your kidding about blade2 being a decent action movie...

Also, if you want the highest ratio of lovecraft readers, I would suggest go to 2d Art forums.

Good logo to use for this topic btw. 

I know it's off topic but anyway.

I like it as an action flick. It's not pretentious like many other films ( in the genre in fact I dont think it gives a toss about story at all), the fight scenes are cool and there's some genuine gothicy atmosphere throughout the movie. Plus there's a decent amount of different fight scenes too, which is good (hello wachowski brothers!). 

I don't really want to turn this into a discussion about blade2...but...
First of all the fight scenes were not better than the first, and either was the style or the story, they all were a part of the sequal equation.
Basicly what they did, was just twist the story line again, make the main character(s) team up with the enemy, and fight a new villian (you might say this is just descriping blade2, but this is the same for: Xmen2, Fast and Furious 2, Men in Black 2, etc) 

However, The Thing is, I believe, based on a story written in the 1950s entitled "Who Goes There" by some author whom I forget.

Shamelessly ripped from IMDb: "This was based on the classic short story "Who Goes There?" by Don A. Stuart. The credits on this film list the author by his real name, the acclaimed science fiction editor/writer John W. Campbell, Jr."

Also, "Who Goes There?" was first made into a movie in 1951 in the movie The Thing From Another World.

And with regards to works based off Lovecraft stories, I should say that the game Blood (and subsequently Blood 2, as well) has many Lovecraftian references. Some of the locals are pretty obvious (Miskatonic Station, Pickman's Used Books, etc.), and the game takes place sometime around the turn of the twentieth century, right when other Lovecraft stories do. Also, the idea of a controlling and evil god (Tchernobog) resonates with Lovecraft.

And I doubt many of you have taken notice of any of the derivative Blair Witch works, but the back story involves (once again) an evil and controlling god named Heciotomix, and there are several different planes of existence that the characters enter to fulfill various quests. This is the part where I plug the Blair Witch Volume 1 game as a fun and interesting action/adventure/horror game that you all should buy or download. 

I don't really want to turn this into a discussion about blade2

Too late! But let's not get carried away.

You people should try The Call of Cthulhu RPG, too, by none other than Sandy Petersen. 

You people should try The Call of Cthulhu RPG, too, by none other than Sandy Petersen.

...Who created possibly the worst levels ever released with a commercial game. 

thats something for his cv, though 

If you've read any previews of The Call of Cthulu: Dark Corners of the Earth, you'd know that they're incorporating a lot more than "run around and shoot things gameplay." One preview states that entering the game, you have already lost, simply be being in a world where the Old Ones exist. There are other things like the sanity-meter, something that measures the player's sanity, and gameplay is affected accordingly. Also, the player will apparently spend a good deal of time doing research and talking to NPCs, as opposed to simply blowing away monsters. The Lovecraft philosophy - that humanity is entirely irrelevant, and not only that, but also screwed over completely - should be present in the game.

And Blade2 was a good action film. 

I've been interested in the new game for awhile. I hope it has good atmosphere and isn't frustratingly difficult (which spoils immersion.)

http://www.callofcthulhu.co.uk/ie.php

How is cthulhu pronounced? Sch-thul-who?