Cthulhu is a fictional cosmic entity created by horror author
H. P. LovecraftHoward Phillips Lovecraft was an American author of horror, fantasy, and science fiction, known then simply as weird fiction....
in 1926, first appearing in the
short storyA short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format or medium tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels or books...
"
The Call of Cthulhu"The Call of Cthulhu" is one of H. P. Lovecraft's best-known short stories. Written in the summer of 1926, it was first published in Weird Tales, February 1928...
" when it was published in
Weird TalesWeird Tales is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine first published in March 1923. The magazine was set up in Chicago by J.C. Henneberger, an ex-journalist with a taste for the macabre. Edwin Baird was the first editor of the monthly, assisted by Farnsworth Wright.-Edwin Baird:Baird...
in 1928.
Cthulhu is one of the central
Great Old OneA Great Old One is a type of fictional being in the Cthulhu Mythos based in the stories of H. P. Lovecraft. Though Lovecraft created the most famous of these deities, the vast majority of them were created by other writers, many after Lovecraft's death...
s of the
Lovecraft MythosThe Lovecraft Mythos is the term coined by the scholar S. T. Joshi to describe the imaginary mythical backdrop, settings, and themes employed by the American weird fiction writer H. P. Lovecraft...
. It is often cited for the extreme descriptions given of its hideous appearance, its gargantuan size, and the abject
terrorFear is an emotional response to a threat. It is a basic survival mechanism occurring in response to a specific stimulus, such as pain or the threat of danger. Some psychologists such as John B. Watson, Robert Plutchik, and Paul Ekman have suggested that fear is one of a small set of basic or...
that it evokes. Cthulhu is often referred to in
science fictionScience fiction is a genre of fiction. It differs from fantasy in that, within the context of the story, its imaginary elements are largely possible within scientifically-established or scientifically-postulated laws of nature...
and fantasy circles as a
tongue-in-cheekTongue-in-cheek is a term used to refer to humor in which a statement, or an entire fictional work, is not meant to be taken seriously, but its sarcasm is subtle...
shorthandShorthand is an abbreviated symbolic writing method that increases speed or brevity of writing as compared to a normal method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography, from the Greek stenos and graphē or graphie...
for extreme horror or evil.
After its first appearance in "The Call of Cthulhu", Cthulhu makes a few minor appearances in other Lovecraft works.
August DerlethAugust William Derleth was an American writer and anthologist. Though best remembered as the first publisher of the writings of H. P...
, a correspondent of Lovecraft's, used the creature's name to identify the system of lore employed by Lovecraft and his literary successors, the
Cthulhu MythosThe Cthulhu Mythos is a shared universe created in the 1920s by American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. The term Lovecraft Mythos is preferred by some — most notably the Lovecraft scholar S.T. Joshi....
.
Spelling and pronunciation
Cthulhu has also been spelled as
Tulu, Clulu, Clooloo, Cthulu, Cighulu, Cathulu, Kathulu, Kutulu, Q’thulu, Ktulu, Kthulhut, Kulhu, Kutunluu, Cuitiliú, Thu Thu, and in many other ways. It is often preceded by the
epithetAn epithet is a descriptive word or phrase accompanying or occurring in place of the name of a person or thing, which has become a fixed formula...
Great, Dead, or
Dread.
Lovecraft transcribed the pronunciation of
Cthulhu as "Khlûl'-hloo" ( ?).
S. T. JoshiSunand Tryambak Joshi — known as S. T. Joshi — is an award-winning Indian American literary critic, and a leading figure in the study of Howard Phillips Lovecraft and other authors of weird and fantastic fiction. Besides having written what critics such as Harold Bloom and Joyce Carol Oates...
points out, however, that Lovecraft gave several differing pronunciations on different occasions. According to Lovecraft, this is merely the closest that the human vocal apparatus can come to reproducing the syllables of an alien language. Long after Lovecraft's death, the pronunciation became common, and the game
Call of CthulhuCall of Cthulhu is a horror fiction role-playing game based on H. P. Lovecraft's story of the same name and the associated Cthulhu Mythos.The game, often abbreviated as CoC, is published by Chaosium.-Setting:...
endorsed it.
Physicality and origins
While the birthplace of Cthulhu is not definitively established, it is suggested that his birthplace is that of the planet Vhoorl; with his advent somehow connected with supernovae: "I learned whence Cthulhu first came, and why half the great temporary stars of history had flared forth." It is also suggested in both “
At the Mountains of MadnessAt the Mountains of Madness is a novella by horror writer H.P. Lovecraft, written in February/March 1931 and originally serialized in the February, March and April 1936 issues of Astounding Stories. It has been reproduced in numerous collections....
” and “
The Whisperer in Darkness"The Whisperer in Darkness" is a short story by H. P. Lovecraft. Written February-September 1930, it was first published in Weird Tales, August 1931. Similar to "The Colour Out of Space" , it is a blend of horror and science fiction...
” that Cthulhu is made up of some unknown and foreign matter.
The most detailed descriptions of Cthulhu appear in the short story "The Call of Cthulhu", and are based on the statues of the creature. One, constructed by an artist after a series of baleful dreams, is said to have "yielded simultaneous pictures of an
octopusThe octopus is a cephalopod of the order Octopoda. The octopus inhabits many diverse regions of the ocean, especially coral reefs. The term may also be used to refer only to those creatures in the genus Octopus...
, a
dragonDragons are legendary creatures, typically with serpentine or otherwise reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of worldwide cultures.The two most familiar interpretations of dragons are European dragons, derived from various European folk traditions, and the unrelated Oriental dragons, such as...
, and a human caricature.... A pulpy, tentacled head surmounted a grotesque scaly body with rudimentary wings." Another, recovered by police from a raid on a murderous cult, "represented a monster of vaguely
anthropoidAnthropoid may refer to:*Simian, monkeys and apes*Anthropoides, a genus of cranes*Operation Anthropoid, the codename for the assassination of SS-Obergruppenführer and Reichsprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia Reinhard Heydrich-See also:...
outline, but with an octopus-like head whose face was a mass of feelers, a scaly, rubbery-looking body, prodigious claws on hind and fore feet, and long, narrow wings behind."
When the creature finally appears, the story says that the "thing cannot be described", but it is called "the green, sticky spawn of the stars", with "flabby claws" and an "awful squid-head with writhing feelers." The phrase "a mountain walked or stumbled" gives a sense of the creature's scale.
Cult of Cthulhu
Cthulhu is depicted as having a worldwide
doomsday"Doomsday cult" is a term used to describe groups obsessed with Apocalypticism and Millenarianism, and can refer to both groups that prophesy catastrophe and destruction, and those that attempt to bring it about. The term was popularized in John Lofland's 1966 study of the Unification Church,...
cultCult may popularly refer to a religious group with relatively few adherents whose beliefs or practices are regarded by others as strange or sinister.The term "cult" was originally used to denote a system of ritual practices...
centered in Arabia, with followers in regions as far-flung as
GreenlandGreenland is an autonomous constituent country within the Kingdom of Denmark located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago...
and
LouisianaThe State of Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state divided into parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
. There are leaders of the cult "in the mountains of
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
" who are said to be
immortalImmortality is the concept of living in a physical or spiritual form for an infinite or inconceivably vast length of time....
. Cthulhu is described by some of these cultists as the "great priest" of "the Great Old Ones who lived ages before there were any men, and who came to the young world out of the sky."
The cult is noted for chanting its horrid phrase or ritual: "
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn," which translates as "In his house at
R'lyehR'lyeh is a fictional city that first appeared in the story, "The Call of Cthulhu," by H. P. Lovecraft. R'lyeh is also referred to in Lovecraft's "The Mound" as Relex...
dead Cthulhu waits dreaming." This is often shortened to "Cthulhu fhtagn," which might possibly mean "Cthulhu waits," "Cthulhu dreams," or "Cthulhu waits dreaming."
One cultist, known as Old Castro, provides the most elaborate information given in Lovecraft's fiction about Cthulhu. The Great Old Ones, according to Castro, had come from the stars to rule the world in ages past.
Castro points to the "much-discussed couplet" from
Abdul AlhazredAbdul Alhazred is a fictional character created by American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. He is the so-called "Mad Arab" credited with authoring the imaginary book Kitab al-Azif , and as such an integral part of Cthulhu Mythos lore...
's
NecronomiconThe Necronomicon is a fictional book appearing in the stories by horror novelist H. P. Lovecraft and his followers. It was first mentioned in Lovecraft's 1924 short story "The Hound", written in 1922, though its purported author, the "Mad Arab" Abdul Alhazred, had been quoted a year earlier in...
:
Castro explains the role of the Cthulhu Cult: When the stars have come right for the Great Old Ones, "some force from outside must serve to liberate their bodies. The spells that preserved Them intact likewise prevented them from making an initial move." At the proper time,
Castro reports that the Great Old Ones are telepathic and "knew all that was occurring in the universe." They were able to communicate with the first humans by "moulding their dreams," thus establishing the Cthulhu Cult, but after R'lyeh had sunk beneath the waves, "the deep waters, full of the one primal mystery through which not even thought can pass, had cut off the spectral intercourse."
Additionally, "
The Shadow Over Innsmouth"The Shadow Over Innsmouth" is a novella by H. P. Lovecraft. Written in November-December 1931, the story was first published in April 1936; this was the only fiction of Lovecraft's published during his lifetime that did not appear in a periodical....
" establishes that Cthulhu is also worshipped by the nonhuman creatures known as Deep Ones. While “
The Whisperer in Darkness"The Whisperer in Darkness" is a short story by H. P. Lovecraft. Written February-September 1930, it was first published in Weird Tales, August 1931. Similar to "The Colour Out of Space" , it is a blend of horror and science fiction...
” establishes that Cthulhu is one of many deities worshiped by the
Mi-GoThe Mi-go are a race of extraterrestrials in the Cthulhu Mythos. They were created by H. P. Lovecraft and first described in his sonnet cycle Fungi from Yuggoth...
.
Star-spawn of Cthulhu
The star-spawn of Cthulhu (or Cthulhi), although not extensively described in Lovecraft's works, are depicted as sharing physical characteristics similar to that of Cthulhu himself; although their overall size is far smaller. The narrator of
At the Mountains of MadnessAt the Mountains of Madness is a novella by horror writer H.P. Lovecraft, written in February/March 1931 and originally serialized in the February, March and April 1936 issues of Astounding Stories. It has been reproduced in numerous collections....
notes that "the Cthulhu spawn...seem to have been composed of matter more widely different from that which we know than was the substance of the
AntarcticThe Antarctic is the region around the Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica and the ice shelves, waters and island territories in the Southern Ocean situated south of the Antarctic Convergence...
Old Ones. They were able to undergo transformations and reintegrations impossible for their adversaries, and seem therefore to have originally come from even remoter gulfs of cosmic space.... " suggest that they too, like Cthulhu, have bodies made of materials foreign to Earth.
While the particulars of their relationship with Cthulhu are unknown, it is clear that they arrived on Earth with him, where they constructed the city of
R'lyehR'lyeh is a fictional city that first appeared in the story, "The Call of Cthulhu," by H. P. Lovecraft. R'lyeh is also referred to in Lovecraft's "The Mound" as Relex...
. Although it is said that they continue to dwell in the sunken city of
R'lyehR'lyeh is a fictional city that first appeared in the story, "The Call of Cthulhu," by H. P. Lovecraft. R'lyeh is also referred to in Lovecraft's "The Mound" as Relex...
, it has also been rumored that a few them escaped this city's fate, and can be found in hidden places on Earth.
In "At the Mountains of Madness" the "Spawn of Cthulhu" wage a great war against the
Elder ThingThe Elder Things are fictional extraterrestrials in the Cthulhu Mythos. The beings first appeared in H. P. Lovecraft's novella At the Mountains of Madness...
s after arriving on Earth. (See below).
Elsewhere in Lovecraft's fiction
Cthulhu is mentioned elsewhere in Lovecraft's fiction, sometimes described in ways that appear to contradict information given in "The Call of Cthulhu". For example, rather than including Cthulhu among the Great Old Ones, a quotation from the
Necronomicon in "
The Dunwich Horror"The Dunwich Horror" is a short story by H. P. Lovecraft. Written in 1928, it was first published in the April 1929 issue of Weird Tales . It takes place in Dunwich, a fictional town in Massachusetts...
" says of the Old Ones, "Great Cthulhu is Their cousin, yet can he spy Them only dimly." But different Lovecraft stories and characters use the term "Old Ones" in widely different ways.
For example, in his 1931
novellaA novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. While there is disagreement as to what length defines a novella, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count...
“
At the Mountains of MadnessAt the Mountains of Madness is a novella by horror writer H.P. Lovecraft, written in February/March 1931 and originally serialized in the February, March and April 1936 issues of Astounding Stories. It has been reproduced in numerous collections....
”, the “Old Ones” refers to a species of
extraterrestrialIn popular cultures, life forms —especially intelligent life forms— that are of extraterrestrial origin, i.e. not coming from the Earth are referred to collectively as aliens....
s also known as the Elder Things. In this piece, a group of human explorers discover a lost city of the Elder Things deep in the Antarctic mountains. Within this ancient city, a series of hieroglyphic murals depict a great conflict between the Elder Things and the star-spawn of Cthulhu:
As the narrator of “At the Mountains of Madness” notes, "the Old Ones might have invented a cosmic framework to account for their occasional defeats." This “cosmic framework” serves as an important element of other stories written by Lovecraft. In "
The Whisperer in Darkness"The Whisperer in Darkness" is a short story by H. P. Lovecraft. Written February-September 1930, it was first published in Weird Tales, August 1931. Similar to "The Colour Out of Space" , it is a blend of horror and science fiction...
", for example, one character refers to "the fearful myths antedating the coming of man to the earth--the
Yog-SothothYog-Sothoth is a cosmic entity of the Cthulhu Mythos and the Dream Cycle of H. P. Lovecraft. Yog-Sothoth's name was first mentioned in his novella The Case of Charles Dexter Ward...
and Cthulhu cycles--which are hinted at in the
Necronomicon."
According to correspondence between Lovecraft and fellow author James F. Morton, Cthulhu's parent is the deity Nug, itself the offspring of Yog-Sothoth and Shub-Niggurath. Lovecraft includes a fanciful family tree in which he himself descends from Cthulhu via Shaurash-ho, Yogash the Ghoul, K'baa the Serpent, and Ghoth the Burrower.
August Derleth & the Cthulhu mythos
August DerlethAugust William Derleth was an American writer and anthologist. Though best remembered as the first publisher of the writings of H. P...
, a literary protégé and founder of the publishing house that first printed Lovecraft's works, wrote several stories in the
Cthulhu MythosThe Cthulhu Mythos is a shared universe created in the 1920s by American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. The term Lovecraft Mythos is preferred by some — most notably the Lovecraft scholar S.T. Joshi....
(a term he coined) that dealt with Cthulhu, both before and after Lovecraft's death. In "The Return of Hastur", written in 1937, Derleth proposes two groups of opposed cosmic entities,
According to Derleth's scheme, "Great Cthulhu is one of the Water Beings". Derleth indicated that "the Water Beings oppose those of Air"--a departure from traditional elemental theory, in which water and fire were opposed—and depicted Cthulhu as engaged in an age-old arch-rivalry with a designated Air elemental,
Hastur the UnspeakableHastur is a fictional character in the Cthulhu Mythos. Hastur first appeared in Ambrose Bierce's short story "Haïta the Shepherd" as a benign god of shepherds. Robert W...
, whom he describes as Cthulhu's "half-brother".
Based on this framework, Derleth wrote a series of stories, collected as
The Trail of CthulhuThe Trail of Cthulhu is a series of interconnected short stories written by August Derleth as part of the Cthulhu Mythos genre of horror fiction...
, about the struggle of Dr. Laban Shrewsbury and his associates against Cthulhu and his minions, culminating, in "The Black Island" (1952), with the atomic bombing of R'lyeh, which Derleth has moved to the vicinity of
PonapePohnpei "upon a stone altar " is the name of one of the four states in the Federated States of Micronesia , and among the Senyavin Islands . Palikir, the FSM's capital, is located on Pohnpei...
. Derleth describes Cthulhu in that story as
Derleth's interpretations are not universally accepted by enthusiasts of Lovecraft's work, and indeed are criticized by many for injecting a stereotypical conflict between equal forces of objective good and evil into Lovecraft's strictly amoral continuity.
Artistic imagery
Cthulhu has served as direct inspiration for many modern artists and sculptors.
Prominent artists that produced renderings of this creature include Paul Carrick,
Stephen HickmanStephen Hickman is an award-winning American artist, illustrator, sculptor and author. He is best known for his work in science fiction and fantasy with over 350 book and magazine covers to his credit. His efforts have brought an extra dimension to the stories of Robert A. Heinlein, H. P....
, Kevin Evans, Dave Carson, Francois Launet and
Ursula VernonUrsula Vernon is a freelance writer, artist and illustrator. She is best known for the webcomic Digger and the children's book Nurk: The Strange, Surprising Adventures of a Brave Shrew . Other works include a fantasy novel entitled Black Dogs, and the upcoming children's book Dragonbreath...
. Multiple sculptural depictions of Cthulhu exist, one of the most noteworthy being
Stephen HickmanStephen Hickman is an award-winning American artist, illustrator, sculptor and author. He is best known for his work in science fiction and fantasy with over 350 book and magazine covers to his credit. His efforts have brought an extra dimension to the stories of Robert A. Heinlein, H. P....
's Cthulhu Statue which has been featured in the
Spectrum annual, and is exhibited in display cabinets in the
John Hay LibraryThe John Hay Library is the second oldest library on the campus of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Located on Prospect Street, opposite the Van Wickle Gates, it replaced the outgrown former library, now Robinson Hall, as the main library on the campus...
of
Brown UniversityBrown University is a private university located in Providence, Rhode Island, and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III...
of Providence. This statue of Cthulhu often serves as a separate object of inspiration for many works, most recent of which are the Cthulhu Worshiper Amulets manufactured by a Russian jeweler. For some time, replicas of Hickman's Cthulhu Statuette were produced by
Bowen DesignsFirst established in 1978 . Bowen Designs is a company dealing in the creation and sale of entertainment-based collectible statues...
.
Call of Cthulhu fiction
The character of Cthulhu and the
mythosThe Cthulhu Mythos is a shared universe created in the 1920s by American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. The term Lovecraft Mythos is preferred by some — most notably the Lovecraft scholar S.T. Joshi....
that surrounds him has come to inspire a great number of works, some of which are listed below.
- The Hastur
Hastur is a fictional character in the Cthulhu Mythos. Hastur first appeared in Ambrose Bierce's short story "Haïta the Shepherd" as a benign god of shepherds. Robert W...
Cycle.
- Mysteries of the Worm: New Second Edition, Revised & Expanded by Robert Bloch
Robert Albert Bloch was a prolific American writer, primarily of crime, horror and science fiction.Bloch wrote hundreds of short stories and over twenty novels, usually crime fiction, science fiction and, perhaps most influentially, horror fiction . He was one of the youngest members of the...
.
- Cthulhu's Heirs.
- Shub Niggurath Cycle: She who is to come.
- Encyclopedia Cthulhiana.
- The Azathoth
Azathoth is a deity in the Cthulhu Mythos and Dream Cycle stories of H. P. Lovecraft and other authors. Its epithets include Nuclear Chaos, the Daemon Sultan and the Blind Idiot God.-Inspiration:...
Cycle: the Blind Idiot God.
- The Book of Iod: The Eaters of Souls & other tales By Henry Kuttner.
- Made in Goatswood: New Tales of Horror in the Severn Valley.
- The Dunwich Cycle: Where the Old Gods Wait.
- The Cthulhu Cycle.
- the Disciples of Cthulhu Second Revived Edition.
- The Necronomicon
The Necronomicon is a fictional book appearing in the stories by horror novelist H. P. Lovecraft and his followers. It was first mentioned in Lovecraft's 1924 short story "The Hound", written in 1922, though its purported author, the "Mad Arab" Abdul Alhazred, had been quoted a year earlier in...
: Selected Stories and Essays.
- The Xothic Legend Cycle: The Complete Mythos Fiction of Lin Carter
The Xothic Legend Cycle: The Complete Mythos Fiction of Lin Carter is a collection of horror short stories by science fiction and fantasy author Lin Carter, edited by Robert M. Price. It was first published as a trade paperback by Chaosium in 1997 as book 13 of the publisher's "Cthulhu Cycle" series...
- Singers of Strange Songs.
- Scroll of Thoth: Simon Magnus and the Great Old Ones.
- The Complete Pegana by Lord Dunsany
- The Innsmouth
Innsmouth is a fictional town in the writings of H. P. Lovecraft, part of the Lovecraft Country setting of the Cthulhu Mythos.Lovecraft first used the name "Innsmouth" in his 1920 short story "Celephaïs" , where it refers to a fictional town in England...
Cycle.
- The Nyarlathotep
Nyarlathotep is a malign deity in the Cthulhu Mythos fictional universe created by H.P. Lovecraft. The character first appeared in Lovecraft's 1920 prose poem of the same name. He was later mentioned in other works by Lovecraft and by other writers and in the tabletop roleplaying games making use...
Cycle.
- Tales Out of Innsmouth
Innsmouth is a fictional town in the writings of H. P. Lovecraft, part of the Lovecraft Country setting of the Cthulhu Mythos.Lovecraft first used the name "Innsmouth" in his 1920 short story "Celephaïs" , where it refers to a fictional town in England...
.
- The Ithaqua
Ithaqua is a fictional character in the Cthulhu Mythos of H. P. Lovecraft. The titular creature debuted in August Derleth's short story "Ithaqua", which was based on Algernon Blackwood's tale "The Wendigo"....
Cycle.
- The Yellow Sign and Other Stories: the Complete Weird Tales of Robert W. Chambers
Robert William Chambers was an American artist and writer.-Biography:He was born in Brooklyn, New York, to William P. Chambers , a famous lawyer, and Caroline Chambers , a direct descendant of Roger Williams, the founder of Providence, Rhode Island...
.
- The Book of Eibon
- Book of Dyzan
- Nameless Cults: the Cthulhu Mythos Fiction of Robert E. Howard
Robert Ervin Howard was an American author who wrote pulp fiction in a diverse range of genres. His most famous character — created in the pages of the Depression-era pulp magazine Weird Tales — is Conan the Barbarian.With Conan and his other heroes, Howard created the genre of...
- The Tsathoggua
Tsathoggua is a fictional supernatural entity in the Cthulhu Mythos shared fictional universe. He is the creation of Clark Ashton Smith and is part of his Hyperborean cycle....
Cycle
- The Antarktos Cycle: At the Mountains of Madness
At the Mountains of Madness is a novella by horror writer H.P. Lovecraft, written in February/March 1931 and originally serialized in the February, March and April 1936 issues of Astounding Stories. It has been reproduced in numerous collections....
and other Chilling Tales
- Song of Cthulhu: Tales of the Sphere Beyond Sound
- The Disciples of Cthulhu II: Blasphemous Tales of the Followers
- The Three Impostors
The Three Impostors is an episodic novel by British horror fiction writer Arthur Machen, first published in 1895 in the Bodley Head's Keynote Series...
& other stories vol.1 of the best weird tales of Arthur MachenArthur Machen was a leading Welsh author of the 1890s. He is best known for his influential supernatural, fantasy, and horror fiction...
- The White People
"The White People" is a fantasy-horror short story by the Welsh writer Arthur Machen. Written in the late 1890s, it was first published in Horlick's Magazine "The White People" is a fantasy-horror short story by the Welsh writer Arthur Machen. Written in the late 1890s, it was first published in...
& Other Stories vol.2 of the best weird tales of Arthur Machen
- The Terror & Other Stories vol.3 of the best weird tales of Arthur Machen
- Arkham Tales
Arkham Tales is a 2006 Cthulhu Mythos anthology published by Chaosium. It is a shared universe anthology, meaning all the stories occur in the same fictional universe. The stories all take place in the fictional city of Arkham, Massachusetts, spanning a time period from 1873 to the present day...
- The Spiraling Worm
The Spiraling Worm is a science fiction and Lovecraftian horror novel written in the style of a spy thriller, by authors David Conyers and John Sunseri and published in 2007...
- Frontier Cthulhu
- The Strange Cases of Rudolph Pearson: Horripilating Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos
- Cthulhu's Dark Cults
Cthulhu’s Dark Cults edited by David Conyers is an anthology of ten Cthulhu Mythos short stories set in Chaosium’s Call of Cthulhu role-playing game setting...
- A Night in the Lonesome October
A Night in the Lonesome October is a satirical novel by Roger Zelazny published in 1993, near the end of his life.The book is divided in 32 chapters, each representing one "night" in the month of October . The story is told in the first-person, akin to journal entries...
by Roger ZelaznyRoger Joseph Zelazny was an American writer of fantasy and science fiction short stories and novels. He won the Nebula award three times and the Hugo award six times , including two Hugos for novels: the serialized novel ...And Call Me Conrad Roger Joseph Zelazny (May 13, 1937 – June 14, 1995)...
- "I, Cthulhu
"I, Cthulhu" is a short humorous story by fantasy author Neil Gaiman featuring H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu who is dictating an autobiography to a human slave, Whateley. The story reveals much about Cthulhu's 'birth' and early life. "I, Cthulhu" is currently featured on Gaiman's website.-External links:*...
", by Neil GaimanNeil Richard Gaiman is an English author of science fiction and fantasy short stories and novels, graphic novels, comics, audio theatre, and films. His notable works include The Sandman comic series, Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book...
- Neil Gaiman's Only the End of the World Again
Neil Gaiman's Only The End of the World Again is a 2000 compilation of a serialized fantasy story published by Oni Press and originally appearing in Oni Double Feature #6-8 during 1998. The story was created and written by Neil Gaiman, adapted to comic by P...
a graphic novel from 2000. Set in the town of InnsmouthInnsmouth is a fictional town in the writings of H. P. Lovecraft, part of the Lovecraft Country setting of the Cthulhu Mythos.Lovecraft first used the name "Innsmouth" in his 1920 short story "Celephaïs" , where it refers to a fictional town in England...
a decidedly fishy townspeople try and bring about the return of the Elder Gods the original short story appears in the 1998 collection Smoke & Mirrors
- A Colder War
"A Colder War" is an English language alternate history novelette by Charles Stross. It follows a "What If" scenario where the follow-up expedition in H. P...
by Charles StrossCharles David George "Charlie" Stross is a writer based in Edinburgh, Scotland. His works range from science fiction and Lovecraftian horror to fantasy. Stross was born in Leeds....
- "Jane Austen and" Ben Winters: Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters
Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters is a parody novel by Ben H. Winters. It is a mashup story containing elements from Jane Austen's 1811 novel Sense and Sensibility and common tropes from sea monster stories. It is the thematic sequel to another 2009 novel from the same publisher called Pride...
(Philadephia: Quirk Books: 2009). Parody. Cthulu (or another Old One) is ultimately disclosed as the cause of malevolent marine life.
- Why We're Here, by Fred Van Lente
Fred Van Lente is a Dutch-American writer, primarily of comic books and graphic novels.-Biography:He is the co-founder, along with artist Ryan Dunlavey, of Evil Twin Comics, which produces his and Dunlavey’s non-fiction comic books, the first and most famous of which is Action Philosophers.Recent...
and Steve EllisSteve Ellis is an American comic book artist who has worked for Moonstone Books, DC Comics, Wildstorm, White Wolf, and Marvel Comics.-Biography:...
(the author is given as "H.P.L." on the cover), draws on the Cthulhu Mythos to parody apocalyptic Christianist material. It is written in the style and format of a fundamentalist Chick tract.
See also
- Cthulhu Mythos
The Cthulhu Mythos is a shared universe created in the 1920s by American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. The term Lovecraft Mythos is preferred by some — most notably the Lovecraft scholar S.T. Joshi....
- Lovecraft Mythos
The Lovecraft Mythos is the term coined by the scholar S. T. Joshi to describe the imaginary mythical backdrop, settings, and themes employed by the American weird fiction writer H. P. Lovecraft...
- Cthulhu Mythos in popular culture
This article provides a list of cultural references to H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. For works that are stylistically influenced by Lovecraft, see Lovecraftian horror.- Literature :- On the Web :- Television :- Film :...
- Cthulhu Mythos anthology
A Cthulhu Mythos anthology is a type of short story collection that contains stories written in or related to the Cthulhu Mythos genre of horror fiction launched by H. P. Lovecraft...
- Call of Cthulhu (role-playing game)
Call of Cthulhu is a horror fiction role-playing game based on H. P. Lovecraft's story of the same name and the associated Cthulhu Mythos.The game, often abbreviated as CoC, is published by Chaosium.-Setting:...
External links