Actually of all the conspiracy theories I have presented here, the Hollow Earth is one of my favorites.
It is just so crazy and so much fun.
In truth, many of these ideas come from my father-in-law who had a rather impressive collection of books and underground films about this stuff. I like to pretend he didn't believe them all and like me, he just got a lot of enjoyment out of them. Well, this is true, but ask me again when we get to Tesla.
So the Hollow Earth.
This one is a topic I have talked about a bit here in the past.
From the fantastic Ubiquity powered game from Exile Game Studio,
To the Hollow World of Msytara,
Tales of Journey to the Center of the Earth and Pellucidar filled my childhood. So as far as conspiracy theories go, this one was a welcomed one, but one that never left the realms of fiction for me.
Great tales when you are a kid, bad science when you are older.
It was not until my father-in-law introduced me to this strange book he got about the Hollow Earth by Raymond Bernard.
It ties then UFO literature and research to the Hollow Earth. A lot of it is crazy pseudo-scientific nonsense, premises stretched thin and beyond credulity, and shoddy correlations that are not even remotely connected. So it is easy to see why people who are not trained in science are taken in.
Yet, unlike the Flat Earthers (who are as you recall morons) the Hollow Earthers seem almost quaint in a naïve, harmless old uncle in his dotage. "Of course, the Earth is Hollow, now let's get you back to bed."
For NIGHT SHIFT
On Monday I mentioned two "alien" species that came from under the Earth. Could their origin be the Hollow Earth? It certainly sounds fun to think about, but I think I much prefer an "underdark" sort of Hollow Earth with large pockets of emptiness where these communities of Derro and Ophidians can live and where they do battle with the Reptilians in their underground bases.
Maybe not full-on Agartha or Pellucidar, but more akin to Jules Verne. There are Pulp roots to NIGHT SHIFT if one cares to look. The Hollow Earth also had pulp roots. It is therefore not inconceivable that a group of adventurers from NIGHT SHIFT could find themselves on their own Journey to the Center of the Earth.
The NIGHT SHIFT RPG is available from the Elf Lair Games website (hardcover) and from DriveThruRPG (PDF).
17 comments:
I like the idea of a hollow earth, it's just so daft, as if somehow the earth is like a balloon floating in space. Brilliant!
I do love science fiction about adventures to undiscovered places or centre of the earth...there is one in the Ice Age movie series too
Visiting from A to Z
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thanks for introducing me to this cool read.. I loved (and still do) Jules Verne growing up so I am sure I will enjoy this too.. My H post is here
Much as I enjoy Burroughs, my favorite Hollow Earth is still Skartaris from the old DC comic Warlord. It takes Pellucidar and dials the gonzo up to eleven with all sorts of random superscience, sword &sorcery and time travel chucked into the dinosaur stew. It was slightly spoiled by the retcon that made it a parallel dimension whose entrances just happen to be at the poles, but that's revisionist, the original was a proper Hollow-Earth-inside-the-planet deal. A ludicrous comics, but fun to read and Grell's artwork is generally pretty effective.
Cool post - I'm presently reading "Hollow Earth: The long and curious history of imagining strange lands, fantastical creatures, advanced civilizations, and marvelous machines below the Earth's surface" by David Standish.
I wasn't aware of "Hollow Earth Expedition" - have to check it out!
Ahh, you've hit on one of my favourites here, Tim. Boosted by the arrival of the excellent HEX rpg a coupe of decades ago, for a while, I had quite an extensive 'Hollow Earth' library and could always find gameable material in them.
This is a theory that has inspired my imagination in recent years. I started toying with the idea of writing a novel about it. The idea still floats around in my mind. Maybe someday. It's kind of a fun theory.
Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out
Hollow Earth is fun though I don't know how much except worms could live deep underground. The idea there could be sophisticated civilizations is pretty silly.
I've never followed such a theory, so I don't know much about it. Sci-fi isn't usually where my mind tends to go; though the original Star Trek and Star Trek the New Generation were fun.
Thanks for sharing.
https://thebookconnectionccm.blogspot.com/2022/04/blogging-from-to-z-2022-help.html
"Hollow Earth is fun though I don't know how much except worms could live deep underground."
You should probably look into the facts on underground ecosystems. They're not well understood or thoroughly researched even in 2022, but many caverns and subterranean bodies of water have a surprising variety of critters living in them. Actually kind of rare to find
abarren cave. They still regularly turn up previously unknown species while drilling for oil too - some scientists think there's an ecosystem evolved around critters that feed on crude oil and other critters that prey on them.
Hollow Earth is still stupid and there sure aren't any hidden cities underground, but it goes well beyond worms and bugs down there.
Journey to Plutonia. One of the all-time favorite books of my childhood :)
The Multicolored Diary
I did not realise this was an actual idea outside pure fiction. Makes me think of "For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky", but that's because I am a Star Trek geek.
Tasha
Tasha's Thinkings: YouTube - What They Don't Tell You (and free fiction)
I love some sci fi, the stranger things kind ;) where there is life beyond!
Surprised to see many books being written on hollow earth. Like in above comment, may be there is more life than we know but hollow earth seems all in all unreal. Nice to imagine the expeditions and adventures though!
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Interesting idea, that there are civilizations in the center of the earth. Can't prove or disprove it, I suppose. I vaguely remember reading "Journey to the Center of the Earth" in junior high, but I remember nothing more than that I read it enough to pass a test on it then promptly forgot it.
You got a great unique theme for the A to Z challenge. I don't think in the years I have participated in it that anyone has done conspiracy theories :) I haven't heard of this with the Hollow Earth but then I don't really know too much about conspiracy theories in general. I try to avoid them if I can :)
Enjoy the rest of the challenge!
betty
https://benchsnotebook.blogspot.com/
Hollow World is my favorite version of the Hollow Earth. I like the idea that the gods created it to preserve cultures. I'm trying to decide if the New Punverse has one or not.
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