Given that Universal Pictures recently denied us of another exciting Guillermo del Toro monster movie””the H.P. Lovecraft adaptation, At the Mountains of Madness“”it’s no great shock that the director has integrated a little Lovecraft inspiration into other projects of his.

For those who didn’t know, del Toro is a geek and a gamer at heart, and he’s been hard at work stepping into the realms of video games. He admittedly was clueless going in, but he’s learned a lot as production on the game he’s working on with THQ and Volition Inc., inSANE, has moved forward. And now del Toro shares that the game has a “Lovecraftian” quality to it, making it even more exciting than it once was.

Continue reading for more, and to see the super teaser trailer for inSANE you have not yet seen it.

The video game deal of the day over at Amazon today is Splatterhouse for Xbox 360 and PS3 for only $19.99 each (that’s 33% off the list price of $29.99).

Note, this deal is valid only for today, Thursday, August 11, 2011, til midnight PST while supplies last.

Metal heads, horror freaks and hardcore action gamers, unite! Rick Taylor and the Terror Mask are back, tearing, cutting and beating their way through inhuman abominations and hordes of the undead in a tale of love, mutilation and near-insanity. A wall of metal tunes underscores blood-soaked battles with massive bosses, brutal weapons, over-the-top gore and real-time regeneration. And while your ears are ringing, a new Splatterkill System lets you get your hands bloody!

Sigh.

Since 2008’s Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Guillermo del Toro has been attached to direct some truly exciting movies. Unfortunately for we the fans, the Hollywood machine is a fickle beast and now two of said exciting projects have perished, and we’re hearing about the third movie that del Toro will be directing “next.”

It started with The Hobbit, which del Toro was attached to helm for a long while before constant delays forced him to walk away from the two-part movie. Next up was the thrilling announcement that he would instead be taking on At the Mountains of Madness, an adaptation of the H.P. Lovecraft story that Guillermo had been dreaming about making. With James Cameron by his side it appeared that this one would be a surefire success, but alas, after whispers of trouble on the horizon, we now know that Universal Pictures has decided not to back the passion project.

So why exactly did this ambitious project fail and what will del Toro do next? Keep on reading to find out!

Some things are just a little too good to be true, perhaps.

Back in July, it was reported that director Guillermo del Toro was finally making the movie he had been dreaming of making: an adaptation of the H.P. Lovecraft story, At the Mountains of Madness with none other than James Cameron helping out.

The director had big plans for the movie, sharing that it would be a big budget horror movie with the movie medal of honor, an R rating. The only problem with that is movie studios don’t like taking risks on horror and R-rated films, let alone ones that come with a massive price tag, so it was unclear whether or not the greenlight would be given…even with fan-favorite del Toro and a helping hand from Cameron.

The $10 t-shirt deal of the day over at Teefury today is the H.P. Lovecraft-themed shirt called “Miskatonic Uni,” by artist Andy Hunt.

The sale at Teefury began at midnight EST (Sunday, February 20, 2011) and will continue for 24 hours from then, and once it’s over, it’s gone from the site for good.

The design is an Astronomy Club t-shirt for Miskatonic University, the fictional college in the H.P. Lovecraft universe that’s located in Arkham, Massachusetts.