I felt a great sadness come over me.
I don’t know what to say, other than this: What kind of a world do we live in, when children die like this?
If you feel the need to talk about this, please comment below. I won’t be posting anything Lovecraftian today. See realtime coverage from Google News here.
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sad indeed ! wish I could say it shocks me that humans can do such things but it has`nt been that long since the nazis were gassing innocent men women and children just because they were jews ! I do find it odd that no one seemed to mention on most news programs that there was a similar attack in china , also involving 20 children ! that animal used a knife ! something definitely wrong with humanity that causes the production of subhuman killers !
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I cannot begin to wrap my head around how horrific all of it is. I hope that the memories of life and love will remain, and that those memories will be of some comfort to all who are grieving.
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All of my thoughts and prayers are with the parents. I cannot imagine what they are going through. No parent should lost their precious children like this. It is so sad.
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Like everyone, the disgust and despair at this massacre has had me unable to think about anything else. Waking up this morning and remembering, knowing that the parents of the victims had to wake up and realize that it was all true, not some horrible nightmare, this is their new reality. Devastating doesn’t cut it. I’ll be spending the rest of the weekend glued to my six-year-old’s side. I hope everyone here is able to do the same with their loved ones.
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My profound sadness was deepend greatly when I chanced to see a report of a so called minister saying, “the children would have been safe if we had school prayer & the 10 Comandments in schools.” Are there no depths some people will sink for political sound bites in this time of profound and universal sadness?
Are the oceans not deep enough to quenched these angry, raging hearts?
Let us all ask for solice for all the broken hearts.
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I think it’s great that you’ve done this, Mike. You’re such a caring and deep-hearted soul.
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That’s a nice thing to say, Scott. Thank you.
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I’ve had to actively shut down what I was feeling most of the day on this, just in order to get my job done at work. Now that I’m home, I feel heartsick for all the families who lost either their children or an adult member (though the children especially hit me hard, as they do most, I think); but also I feel, frankly, enraged at our damned political system for not having the guts to tackle this issue and come up with some gun control laws with some teeth.
Yes, I know… from what they’re saying, the guns used belonged not to him, but to his mother. Nor were they the sort of assault weapons so often used in this sort of insanity. But at the very least, SERIOUS criminal background checks, and a complete ban on assault weapons are, I think, strongly indicated. I’d go so far as to recommend periodic psychological testing for those applying for weapons, or who have them already. After all, if a driver comes up with a medical condition which interferes with his ability to drive safely, then restrictions are (rightly) imposed. How much more sensible, then, to do so with something which is DESIGNED to fire a projectile intended to either injure, mutilate, or kill. (Yes, guns can be used for numerous other things. So can a wrench or a tire iron. But these are NOT what they were designed for.) All of these measures would, I am convinced, at least REDUCE the number of such horrors… and to sit there and say that we shouldn’t be talking about such things at such a time… well, I’m in full agreement with Bloomberg on this one. “Now is not the time”, indeed!
Aside from the rage that we’ve let this happen AGAIN, more horrifically than ever before, my heart goes out to all those who have suffered from this. I hope that they find the resources they need to help them through such a difficult time.
As for the criticism of horror or weird fiction on such a basis… this is an old canard which has NEVER had any basis in fact, and has indeed been refuted by the evidence time and time again. Such fiction serves a number of purposes, the majority of them very healthy (such as the old idea of “tolerable terror” which psychology posited, allowing a safe emotional outlet for exploring a common human experience — fear — and coming to grips with it; learning to control it rather than it controlling you). And, yes, as Wilum said, speakling for the “outsider” in society, something which has always been vital to our well-being.
At any rate, I agree with others in thanking you, Mike, for allowing a place to express our feelings on this matter. I don’t really think, though, that the full impact of this one has sunk in for most of us yet….
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I’ve felt sick all day.
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It’s the right call. Nothing Lovecraft ever wrote can compare with the horror of this incident.
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At some level, fiction– and particularly weird fiction– is about getting AWAY from every day reality. There’s no disconnect at all between loving gleefully horrible fantasies, and hating the horrors in the headlines. It always distresses me when I hear people “dis” horror stories as being, somehow, a precursor or stimulus to these outrages. Nothing farther from the truth, in my opinion.
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“Hate” is what brought this about in the first place, no matter what disguises it wore.
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I’d like to caution everyone that “Lovecraft eZine” is not the place to promote your religion or to preach that school shootings are the fault of atheists. I’ve removed that post, and I can promise that posting hate like that is a great way to get banned from this site.
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Thanks, Mike.
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If you have kids, Mr. Rogers has some great advice:
http://www.fci.org/new-site/par-tragic-events.html
-J.Q.
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Talk to your children.
http://www.pbs.org/parents/talkingwithkids/news/talking.html
Turn off the TV. The media blitz can be confusing to young minds. Sit down and listen. Be together.
The more the media blows this up, the more likely a copycat occurrence is. They do all the opposite things; naming the shooter, describing them in detail, etc. All these things can just encourage repeats. The same way that suicide rates go up after a famous celebrity dies at their own hand. Again, turn off the TV and be with your family.
My heart weeps.
-Juliana Q.
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Totally agree. In fact, we don’t even own a TV.
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This is one of the reasons I hope to never become desensitized to evil or violence. Evil is real, it exists.
But, so does goodness. The best thing that you can do in a world where these things happen is to consciously go do something kind for another person. Take no credit for it, other than in knowing that you did something kind and loving just for the sake of doing it.
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“Take no credit for it, other than in knowing that you did something kind and loving just for the sake of doing it.” <– What a wonderful world this would be, if everyone took that advice.
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When children die because of cruelty, insanity, or pure evilness, I despair – it’s hard for me to see this because I have a young daughter.
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I am devastated by this, and sickened. I had to turn off the news. Slaughter of innocent children is an unforgivable crime. I’ve had some people, who are not into horror fiction, ask me why I want to write such things, in a world that is overwhelmed with evil crimes against humanity and animals. I point out that my fiction, for the most part, deals with aspects of being an outsider, and many of my lost souls are seeking some kind of “belonging” and love. It gives me great joy to know that my fiction has brought delight to others. I feel that, in doing so, I have added a bit to the joy of a sad world. The Lovecraft eZine and we who write for it bring this kind of aesthetic and entertaining joy to our readers, and this is good work in a world gone bad. My prayers go out to those who lost their beloved wee ones to-day, and to those others who lost parents and loved ones.
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So well said, Wilum.
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Sadly, this didn’t surprise me. Shocked, angered, sick to my heart, yes. But not surprised any more. And I think that may make it worse.
There was a at the elementary school my son went to years ago and that was one of the most horrible things ever for me. But I can’t even begin to wrap my head around something like this.
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The worst part is that these shootings always seem to involve children. They always go out of their way to shoot at children. That’s the part I just can’t compute.
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I’m saddened and sick at heart that anyone could make a conscious decision to commit so evil a dead on so many innocents. I’m praying for the families of these mudered children and I hope others join me. They’ll need all the good kharma that they can get in the days and weeks to come, as shock fades and grief sets in.
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As a father of two cthuloids myself, my heart goes out to the parents:(
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I had the same reaction: just utter speechlessness and a deep sense of despair. My heart goes out to these families. This would be terrible ANY time of the year but it is especially poignant now.
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I keep thinking, “please let this not be true, please let it all be a mistake,” and then I wonder-would the End of the World soon really be so bad? Is THIS what modern society gives us? Where even little children are not safe? I don’t want to be in a world like this one…
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