Cthulhu myth

Shub-Niggurath is a redirect to this article. For the French band of this name, see Shub-Niggurath (band) .

The Cthulhu myth encompasses the people, places, beings and stories devised by the American writer HP Lovecraft and other authors of horror literature . The most famous part of this myth is the also fictional book Necronomicon , in which the interstellar beings with supernatural powers are described in detail. These beings are referred to by Lovecraft as the "Ancients" or the "Great Elders". They come from distant parts of the galaxy or even the universe and are not subject to any laws of nature known to us . By human standards, they have godlike power and appear to be immortal.

"The Call of Cthulhu," illustration of a scene by Hugh Rankin, first published in Weird Tales, February 1928

The origin of the myth

HP Lovecraft, photograph from 1915

The term Cthulhu myth was coined by the American author August Derleth , publisher and letter contact HP Lovecrafts. Cthulhu is originally a creation by Lovecraft. Cthulhu doesn't really have a prominent position at Lovecraft. It was only August Derleth who took up Cthulhu as the basis for the myth he spun on and made it the main subject of many of his stories, thereby creating the term.

Creation of a myth

The starting point of the myth are Lovecraft's short stories and narratives, most of which are set in New England in the 1920s and 1930s. As a stylistic device for his texts, Lovecraft used recurring elements in the form of fictional places, objects and beings. In doing so, he created an overarching structure that gives his stories an apparent connection without the stories directly relating to one another. Due to the mysterious nature of these recurring elements, he creates a corresponding atmosphere in his often very rational descriptions and, thanks to the increasing level of awareness of these elements for the recurring reader, he can build on them without having to reinvent them every time.

The connections between his narratives that Lovecraft brought to life in this way gained an even broader basis through his correspondence with like-minded authors and admirers. At first, Lovecraft only built elements from other authors into his stories. "The Hound" (dt. The dog ) for example, so many allusions to Poe and Arthur Conan Doyle , that it could be a parody.

Frank Belknap Long first used the Necronomicon that Lovecraft had invented (dt. In his story "The Space Eaters" The space-eater ). In the further course of his various correspondence with other authors, further elements were exchanged, whereby not only other authors used Lovecraft's elements, but also vice versa. In addition, Lovecraft often accepted the revision of other authors' narratives. He also built such overarching elements.

After HP Lovecraft's death, the basis for the myth expanded again. On the one hand, this happened from 1939 through the reprinting of Lovecraft's stories in bound form by Arkham House . Arkham House also released new stories that incorporated elements of Lovecraft and his fellow authors and added new elements. Both well-known and new authors were involved. On the other hand, the publication of the role-playing game Call of Cthulhu in 1981 expanded the circle of readers of Lovecraft or Mythos stories again and even contains a list of myth elements that are used by potential authors.

All these elements were taken up by various authors of fantastic literature and interpreted, expanded and processed in the most varied of ways. Due to the diversity of the use of Lovecraft's elements, and even the elements of authors who themselves only used and interpreted Lovecraft's elements, a delimitation of elements that belong to the Cthulhu myth is extremely difficult.

Reception by the readers

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Even during Lovecraft's lifetime, the various elements of the myth were received very differently. On the one hand, the readers of Weird Tales magazine noticed the parallels between elements of individual authors. On the other hand, certain elements were believed to be real, such as the already mentioned fictional Necronomicon. Lovecraft had taken the trouble to compile a history of the book for other authors. This story has been viewed by some authors as evidence that it must be a real book.

More myth authors

• Robert Bloch
• Lin Carter
• August Derleth
• Clark Ashton Smith
• Ramsey Campbell
• Graham Masterton
• Robert E. Howard
• Frank Belknap Long
• Brian Lumley
• Colin Wilson
• Lyubko Deresch
• Richard A. Lupoff
• Andrzej Sapkowski
• Wolfgang Hohlbein

Apart from these authors, the Cthulhu myth has also been taken up in individual aspects by other authors. This is how Illuminatus can be found in the novel trilogy! by Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea , it is speculated numerous references to the Cthulhu Mythos, for example, that the Pentagon would be a prison for one of the "old". Yog-Sothoth also appears as an opponent of the Eris . In Stephen King's novel In a Small Town , Leland Gaunt's garage wall reads “Yog-Sothoth rules”. Furthermore, Gaunt states elsewhere that he gets his cocaine supplies from the Leng plateau. Stephen King's short story Crouch End also mentions "the goat with a thousand cubs" and a description of a being that could represent it. Cthulhu, Shoggothen and many other elements from Lovecraft's stories play an essential role in the series of novels The Witcher , Nyarlathotep in the Genesis trilogy by Wolfgang Hohlbein . Likewise, has Michael Marrak for his novel Imagon of the Mountains of Madness inspiration. The Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski enriches the magical phenomena of the mystical 15th century of his tower of fools trilogy with cthuloid allusions.

The old ones

The earth of the last century described by Lovecraft attained the unreal element through the assumption of the existence of extraterrestrial races and very powerful beings, some of which have been on earth for billions of years. He portrays people as completely insignificant in the cosmic context. This fundamental insignificance is what often plunges the protagonists of his stories into ruin when they become aware of this fact.

While Lovecraft spoke of the most powerful of the extraterrestrial beings he described as the Old Ones or Great Old Ones , Sandy Petersen introduced another categorization in the role-playing game Call of Cthulhu and divided these beings into Great Old Ones and Outer Gods (English Outer Gods). August Derleth even went so far as to categorize these beings according to their belonging to the four elements , which, however, appears to be inconsistent on closer inspection.

Azathoth

Azathoth ( Fan Art , 2006)

also: Azazoth or Azag-Thoth

For HP Lovecraft, Azathoth, the demon sultan , is the original chaos in the center of infinity, the blind chaos on his throne in the middle of the void, surrounded by other gods, over whose dance he watches. Azathoth can be thought of as a never-ending explosion. It existed before the beginning of all time and before the creation of the universe.

As one of the Outer Gods, Azathoth is a being of immense, even infinite power. Rumor has it that he was punished with insanity for certain offenses, while other sources say that Nyarlathotep is the spirit and soul of Azathoth who has separated from his body. Nyarlathotep is the only one who can appease the mindless demon sultan.

Origin : Azathoth , HP Lovecraft

Others : "Strange Eons", Robert Bloch ; "The Insects from Shaggai," "The Mine on Yuggoth," John Ramsey Campbell ; "The Nameless Tower," John S. Glasby ; “Mandelbrot Moldrot”, Lois H. Gresh ; "Spawn of Azathoth," Keith Herber ; "Hydra", Henry Kuttner ; "Professor Peabody's Lat Lecture," Jack Laird ; "The Burrowers Beneath", "Elysia", Brian Lumley ; "The Last Night on Earth," Gary Myers ; "The Philosopher's Stone," Colin Wilson ; Call of Cthulhu , Petersen and Willis; "The Adoration of the Lizard Or How To Destroy Angels", "Cult" Ljubko Deresch

Cthulhu

Sketch by Lovecraft (1934)

Also: Thulu , Kutulu , Kthulhut , Thu Thu , Tulu or Tornasuk

Cthulhu is a creature of great power who came to earth several hundred million years ago and, according to August Derleth's interpretation , is imprisoned in a death-like sleep by a curse in the sunken city of R'lyeh in the Pacific Ocean . According to mythological sources , when the stars are right, he will rise again to exercise his reign of terror over the earth again, which would ultimately mean the death of all life on earth. His body is vaguely humanoid , but extremely bloated. Its head resembles an octopus and its face is made up of a tangle of tentacles . It has a pair of long, narrow wings.

The following best-known lines from the Necronomicon refer to Cthulhu. He is one of the old ones. This becomes clear in the story of Cthulhu's reputation : the police arrest members of a cult who believe in the ancient people. Among other things, they worship the dark god himself and worship a statuette with his likeness .

Cthulhu (Fan Art, 2006)

That is not dead which can eternal lie,

And with strange æons, even death may die

[It is not dead that which can lie (lie) forever,

and in strange ages even death may die]

Or in a more free translation:

It is not dead what lies forever

until time conquers death.

Version by Marco Frenschkowski :

It is not dead what lies forever

And in a strange time even death is conquered.

Version by Tim Dedopulos:

It is not dead that which is buried forever

and in the course of further eternity even death may perish.

Another relevant Necronomicon line is:

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn.

[The dead Cthulhu waits dreaming in his house in R'lyeh.]

It is conjectured that Cthulhu's awakening signaled the awakening of all the Ancient Ones.

Origin : " The Call of Cthulhu " (Eng. Cthulhus Ruf ), Lovecraft

More at Lovecraft : " At the Mountains of Madness " (Eng. Mountains of madness ); " The Mound " (Eng. The Hill ), with Bishop

Others : "Strange Eons", Bloch ; "The Tugging," Campbell ; “Star Spawn of Hyperborea”, Fulz ; "Necronomicon: The Book of Dead Names," Hay (ed.); "Castle Dark", Herber ; "The Philosopher's Stone," Wilson

Ghatanothoa

also: Ghanta or Gtantha

Ghatanothoa is a great old man who presumably ruled the "people" of the lost kingdom of K'naa on the sunken continent of Mu . He lived on the rock of Yaddith-Gho in his fortress. Every year twelve men and twelve women were offered to him as sacrifices so that he would not leave his feast. Because his face is said to be so terrible that anyone who sees him is mummified alive. The body freezes and only the ability to think remains, so that for eons nothing can be done but wait for redemption.

The high priest T'yog believed that he could see Ghatanothoa with a special scroll without becoming petrified and met him to free his people. However, envious priests stole the scroll and replaced it with a fake, so that T'yog was petrified. This legend is mentioned in the story From Aeons by HP Lovecraft.

Origin : " Out of the Aeons ", Lovecraft and Heald

Others : "The Thing in the Pit", Carter ; "False Mythologies", Ingham ; "The Sussex Manuscript", Pelton ; "House of the Toad", Tierney ; "The Return of the Lloigor," Wilson

Hastur

Also: the unspeakable ; He who must not be named ; Assatur ; Xastur or Kaiwan

Hastur is a great old man who lives on a dark star near Aldebaran or is trapped there in the constellation Taurus . It is associated with the king in yellow , the yellow sign, the lake of Hali and the city of Carcosa and often stands for decadence , nihilism and stagnation . However, he is also considered the god of shepherds. There is no clear description of this being. Supposedly speaking his name brings ruin.

There appears to be a close connection with Shub-Niggurath and a conflict with Cthulhu .

Origin : " Haita the Shepherd ", Bierce

Further templates : " The King in Yellow ", Chambers

Hastur at Lovecraft : " The Whisperer in Darkness "; " The Shadow Out of Time "; " The Mound ", Lovecraft and Bishop; "The Lurker at the Threshold", Derleth and Lovecraft; "Witch's Hollow", Derleth and Lovecraft

Others : "HP Lovecraft: The Gods", Carter; "The Return of Hastur", Derleth; "Delta Green: Countdown", Detwiller et al .; "Secrets of Japan", Dziesinski; "The Ring of the Hyades", Glasby; “Necronomicon”, Levenda; "Call of Cthulhu", Petersen and Willis; "The Seed of the Star-God", Tierney; "Deities and Demigods Cyclopedia", Ward and Kuntz

Comment on creation: In Bierce's case, Hastur appears in the story collection Can Such Things Be? where in Haita the Shepherd Hastur is referred to as a benevolent god. Another story in the same volume is also An Inhabitant of Carcosa . In Chambers, Hastur is mentioned on the one hand as a person, but on the other hand also as a place. Only Derleth calls Hastur the Great Old One. The epithet He who must not be mentioned is mentioned by Derleth; the concept that pronouncing the name is fatal does not appear until Deities and Demigod's Cyclopedia .

Nyarlathotep

Nyarlathotep (Fan Art, 2006)

also: The Creeping Chaos or the Mighty Messenger

Nyarlathotep is also one of the outer gods, whereby it is said that he is their soul and their messenger. Lovecraft him referred to as the soul of the utmost gods ( "ultimate gods") - which can be identified by its description as a blind, mute and mindless exterior with Petersen's gods. Nyarlathotep represents a contrasting aspect of Azathot. While the insane demon sultan embodies the maximum concentration of chaos on a single point, Nyarlathotep is omnipresent and slowly spreading chaos. It is a symbol and likeness of the chaos that is everywhere and in everything. This is made clear by the reference to the “999 masks of Nyarlathotep”, often used by Lovecraft. Nyarlathotep is the messenger of the outer gods and serves as their mediator.

Origin : " Nyarlathotep ", Lovecraft

Others : "The Faceless God" (Eng. The God without a face ), Bloch; "The Shadow from the Steeple", Bloch; "The Dweller in Darkness" (Eng. The Inhabitants of Darkness ), Derleth; "The Lurker at the Threshold" (Eng. The horror at the door / The gate of perdition ), Derleth and Lovecraft; "Delta Green", Detwiller, Glancy and Tynes; "Masks of Nyarlathotep", DiTillio and Willis; "Fungi from Yuggoth" (German seed from the stars ), Lovecraft; " The Rats in the Walls " (Eng. The rats in the walls ), Lovecraft; "The Burrowers Beneath", Lumley; "Elysia", Lumley; "The Worm of Urakhu", Tierney; "Alhazred," Tyson

The reference to his 999 (or sometimes a thousand) masks is probably an allegory . Some of the ones used by Lovecraft themselves are:

• The black man (England)

  A hairless man with pitch black skin and hooves for feet.

  Origin : " The Dreams in the Witch-House ", Lovecraft

  More : "The Faceless God" (Eng. The God without a face ), Bloch

• The Black Pharaoh (Egypt)

  A man with sharp, Egyptian features, dressed in dazzling robes and a pharaoh's headdress.

  Origin : " The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath " (Eng. The dream search for the unknown Kadath ), Lovecraft

  Others : "S. Petersen's Field Guide to Cthulhu Monsters", Petersen et al.

• Hunter of Darkness (Australia, Yuggoth )

  A huge thing with a single three-eyed eye and bat wings. This form is very sensitive to light. It is closely linked to the luminous trapezoid, with the help of which it can be summoned.

  Origin : " The Haunter of the Dark " (Eng. The shining trapezoid ), Lovecraft

  Others : " Call of Cthulhu RPG ", Cook and Tynes; "City beneath the Sands", DiTillio and Willis; "Selected Letters V," Lovecraft; "Clock of Dreams," Lumley

• The thing with the yellow mask

  A being wrapped in yellow silk

  Origin : " Celephaïs ", Lovecraft

  Others : “In 'Ygiroth”, DeBill; "The Elder Pharos" (Eng. The old lighthouse ), Lovecraft

Some more manifestations with other authors: Ahtu, Aku-Shin-Kage, The Beast, Der Schwarze Stier, The Black Demon, Black Lion, Black Wind, Bloated Woman, Bringer of Pests, Crawling Mist, Dark Demon, Dark Destroyer, Dark One , Dweller in Darkness, Eater of Souls, Effigy of Hate, The Faceless God, The Floating Horror, God of the Bloody Tongue, Geen Man, Horned Man, Howler in Darkness, Kruschtya Equation, Lrogg, Many-legged Goat, The Masked Messenger , Messenger of the Old Ones, Pool of Shadow, Queen in Red, Set, Shugoran, Skelettal Horror, Skinless One, Small Crawler, Spiraling Worm, Tezcatlipoca, Thoth, Tick Tock Man, Wailing Writher, White Man

Quote: [...] Again a rhythmic trumpet ... In this deep fanfare all the wonders and melodies of the heavenly dream echoed again ... Then a lonely figure strode down the broad street between the two rows; a tall, slender figure with the young features of an ancient pharaoh ... This royal figure walked right in front of Carter, whose proud posture and elegant features carried the fascination of a dark god or fallen archangel [...]

Rhan-Tegoth

Rhan-Tegoth is an amphibious, insect and ape-like old age. It has a large spherical body from which six arms with crab-like claws sprout. A spherical head with three eyes sits enthroned on this blasphemous body. In its face there is a 30 cm long, fly-like trunk. In addition to these characteristics, it also has gills and tentacles all over its body. He came from the Yuggoth and is probably related to Shub-Niggurath .

Origin : The Horror in the Museum , Lovecraft

Others : The horror of the Andes , Schrepfer

Shub-Niggurath

Shub-Niggurath (Fan Art, 2006)

also: The black goat of the woods with the thousand young , Shupnikkurat or Ishnigarrab

Shub-Niggurath belongs to the Outer Gods and represents a kind of dark fertility deity , whose gender is not clearly defined. Like most of the other mentions, the title of the black goat of the forests with the thousand cubs suggests a feminine aspect, but there is also the name of the goat with a thousand sheep . The figure of Shub-Niggurath is usually described as a poisonous cloud, from which hooves and tentacles constantly sprout, only to disappear again.

Hastur the Unspeakable is sometimes referred to as her husband and "father" of the thousand boys . Such a connection is also suspected to Yog-Sothoth or Yig (the latter could also be the "brother" of Shub-Niggurath). She is also said to have produced the lesser-known beings Nug and Yeb , together with Yog-Sothoth , with Nug said to have produced Cthulhu .

Shub-Niggurath's cult can be compared to those of earth mother and fertility cults such as the Astarte , Demeter or Gaia , but in a very dark form. Aspects of Hecate can also be found here. Their cult is most widespread in relation to other mythical deities. She gives successful harvests and lots of children in exchange for regular blood sacrifices. Her milk, which she sometimes gives to members of her cult, is said to have strongly mutagenic properties. The evocation of their form takes place at new moon times in areas remote from civilization. Their symbol is the three-headed goat.

Quote: […] a shrine of Shub-Niggurath, the All-Mother and wife of the Not-to-Be-Named One. This deity was a kind of sophisticated Astarte, and her worship struck the pious Catholic as supremely obnoxious. [...]

Origin : "The Last Test", Lovecraft and de Castro

Others at Lovecraft : "The Thing on the Doorstep" (The Thing on the Threshold), " The Whisperer in Darkness "; " The Mound " (Eng. The Hill ), with Bishop; " Out of the Aeons " (dt. For eons ), with Heald; "The color from space"

Others : "No Pain, No Gain", Adams, Isinwyll and Manui; "The Dark Stairway", Berglund and Weinberg; "Dreams in the House of Weir," Carter; "Visions from Yaddith," Carter; "Made of Meat", Conyers; "The Lurker at the Threshold", Derleth and Lovecraft; “The Judas Shrine”, Gruber ; "Further Notes on the Necronomicon ", Hamblin; "Necronomicon: The Book of Dead Names," Hay, (Ed.); “ Witcher cycle ”, hollow leg ; "The Transition of Titus Crow", Lumley ; "Scales of Justice," Mackey; " Call of Cthulhu RPG ", Petersen and Willis; "Lovecraft's 'Artificial Mythology'", Price; "Heir to Darkness", Rahman; "The Gardens of Lucullus", Rahman and Tierney; "The Seed of the Star-God", Tierney; "Deities and Demigods Cyclopedia", Ward and Kuntz

Tsathoggua

Tsathoggua (Fan Art, 2006)

also: Sadogui , Saint Toad or Zhothaqquag

The Great Old Tsathoggua has an amorphous body, but is mostly described as a huge, hairy toad with elephant legs, an extremely bloated body, sleepy eyes, and a toothy grin. Sometimes he is also depicted as a cross between a bat and a sloth. After he originally came to Yuggoth from a distant galaxy , he reached Earth, probably with a detour via Saturn, and inhabited the dark cave system N'kai . He had also settled for some time in the caves of Voormithadreth, a mountain in ancient Hyperborea , until it was swallowed up by the ice.

The Sleeper of N'kai was worshiped by the contortionists of Yoth , the people of K'n-Yan , the Voormis and people of Hyperborea and in Atlantis, from where he also came to Averoigne. It is said that there is a cult of Tsathoggua in France and that it was worshiped by certain Native American tribes. Important times for the cult are Walpurgis Night and Halloween .

Allegedly, Tsathoggua was even cast out by the other Ancient Ones for an unknown, heinous act.

Origin : "The Tale of Satampra Zeiros", Smith

More from Smith : "The Black Book of Clark Ashton Smith", "The Door to Saturn", "The Family Tree of the Gods", "The Seven Geases"

More on Lovecraft : "At The Mountains Of Madness", "The Mound" with Bishop, "Selected Letters III", "Selected Letters IV"

Others : "The Terror of Toad Lake", Ambuehl; "Death is an Elephant", Bloch; “Tsathoggua”, Fantina; "The Old One", Glasby; "The Oracle of Sàdoqua", Hilger; "The Round Tower", Price; "Oh, Baleful Theophany," Pugmire; "Cthulhu Live: Lost Souls", Salmon and others; “The Illuminatus! Trilogy, ”Shea and Wilson; "Necronomicon", Tyson; "The Resurrection of Kzadool-Ra", Vester

Yig

or Yyg

This great old man is referred to as the father of snakes and is worshiped as the snake god. He was particularly the contortionists of Yoth worshiped until these to the worship of Tsathoggua went over and fell at Yig favor. Yig's disgrace usually manifests itself in madness, deformed offspring and visits from his "children" (snakes with a white, sickle-shaped mark on their heads). If Yig is particularly upset, he turns the culprit himself into a snake.

Yig is described as a great mixture of man and snake, but also as a huge oriental dragon. Yig created the reptiles and insects on earth and is sometimes credited with creating mankind. He is said to be a rival of Nyarlathotep . He lives in the Pit of Ngoth in the Caves of Yoth or in K'n-yan , but also sends avatars .

Origin : " The Curse of Yig ", Lovecraft and Bishop

Others at Lovecraft : " The Mound " with Bishop; " Out of the Aeons " with Heald

Others : “Snakefarm”, Ambuehl; "Where a God Shall Tread", Aniolowski; "The Color from Beyond", Cabos; "The Vengeance of Yig," Carter; "Secrets of Japan", Dziesinski; "Pursuit to Kadath", Gallagher et al .; "Scales of Justice," Mackey; "Taste of Snake's Honey", Matsudono; "Necronomicon", Tyson; "The Jest of Yig," Webb

Yog-Sothoth

Yog-Sothoth (Fan Art, 2006)

also: Iog-Sotot or Yogge-Sothothe

Yog-Sothoth, "The Guardian" or "The Gate", is one of the outer gods. It is described as an irregular collection of differently colored shimmering spheres, the sight of which triggers dark associations. However, it can take on various solid, liquid, or gaseous forms. He is also on avatars as the Lurker at the Threshold (Engl. The Lurker at the Threshold ), a dark, amorphous terror or Ramasekva , a many-armed, human form.

He is also known as "The key to the gate where the spheres meet" and is also described as the key and guardian of the ways and gates, as a being that unites the past, present and future at the same time. Yog-Sothoth seems to exist in dimensions and spheres that are beyond the human imagination, and there are also theories that he himself is a prisoner where all time and space meet. He is said to be the father of Cthulhu and Hastur and fathered Nug and Yeb with Shub-Niggurath .

In the story The Horror of Dunwich Yog-Sothoth fathered two sons with a human woman. The one of the two who looks most like his supernatural father is described as a huge soft mass that appears to consist of numerous moving threads and is equipped with various legs, trunk and mouth.

It is said that Yog-Sothoth is the only one who knows when the great Cthulhu will awaken again.

As a god, Yog-Sothoth receives comparatively little veneration, mostly from magicians who sacrifice to him in order to obtain power over time and space in exchange. It can be conjured up with the help of ancient, black magic formulas.

Origin : " The Case of Charles Dexter Ward ", Lovecraft

Others at Lovecraft : " The Dunwich Horror "; "Selected Letters IV"; "Selected Letters V"; "The Electric Executioner" with de Castro ; " The Horror in the Museum " with Heald ; " Through the Gates of the Silver Key " with Price

Others : “Glimpses”, Attanasio ; "The Church on the High Street", Campbell ; "Zoth-Ommog", Carter; "The Lurker at the Threshold", Derleth and Lovecraft; "Necronomicon: The Book of Dead Names," Hay (ed.); "Outside the Circles of Time," Grant; "The Statement of One John Gibson," Lumley; "The Transition of Titus Crow", Lumley; "Prey", Masterton ; "The Holiness of Azedarac," Smith; "The Winds of Zarr", Tierney; "Cult", Ljubko Deresch

Other "gods"

Elder gods

The Elder Gods are neither Great Old Ones nor Outer Gods and are more turned towards people than these, although they too are sometimes more, sometimes less indifferent to humanity (depending on the author).

Lovecraft never used the term himself the Elder Gods (English. Elder Gods ), but later authors introduced this concept and extended it (among other Derleth, Lumley, Attanasio and Petersen) and include one used by Lovecraft entity to these:

Nodens

also Lord of the Great Abyss

Most well-known representative of the beings called the Elder Gods. He is usually depicted as an old man with an oak staff, standing on a sea shell chariot pulled by strange beings. Sometimes he also has a beard made of tentacles.

He is worshiped by many names, but the legends about him differ widely. Sometimes it is said that he left Earth a long time ago, for the arrival of the Ancient Ones, and fled to the future or to a distant planet, but sometimes sends an avatar . It is also said that he is an enemy of Yog-Sothoth . On the other hand, he seems to like dreamers and visionaries and sometimes take them on a journey through space and time. He is also the lord of the dark arrows (English Nightgaunts ).

Origin : " The Great God Pan ", Arthur Make

at Lovecraft : " The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath " (Eng. The dream search for the unknown Kadath or The dream trip to the unknown Kadath ); " The Strange High House in the Mist " (Eng. The strange high house in the mist )

Others : "Glimpses", "A Priestess of Nodens", AA Attanasio ; "Hell on Earth", "Power of the Druid", Robert Bloch ; "Nightside of Eden" (Eng. The night side of Eden ), Kenneth Grant ; "The House of the Worm," Gary Myers ; "The Fall of Cthulhu," Michael Alan Nelson

The big ones

also: The Earth Gods , The Great Gods

The great are the gods of the dreamlands . However, they are neither as powerful as the Ancient Ones, nor as intelligent as ordinary people. However, they are protected by the external or other gods, especially Nyarlathotep . The great once lived on low mountain tops in the dreamlands; but since the people there often climbed these peaks in order to be able to take a look at the gods, and they do not allow people to see their faces, they fled in their cloudships to ever higher peaks. But when the people themselves climbed these peaks, the gods found themselves forced to flee to the highest peak of the unknown Kadath in the cold desert. Since only a few know where Kadath is, and the highest peak is so high that it almost scratches the cosmic ether, the great live there in their titanic fortress, carved from black onyx, safe and protected from people.

Origin : " The Other Gods " (Eng. The other gods ); " The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath " (Eng. The dream search for the unknown Kadath or The dream trip to the unknown Kadath )

Other beings

In the stories that are counted as part of the Cthulhu myth, not only unimaginably powerful beings appear from the depths of the universe, but also those who worship them, serve them or are simply other, mostly extraterrestrial races, which either secretly inhabit the earth , or somehow make themselves felt in the present, although they were exterminated or driven away by disasters millions of years ago.

Older beings

also: the old race , the old , the older (engl. The Elder Things, Old Ones )

The Elderly Beings have both vegetable and animal characteristics and are amphibious. They have a cylindrical shape that tapers at both ends. The base is formed by a five-armed, starfish-shaped foot, while at the upper end there are several long tentacles and antennae that are both sensory organs and eating organs. In addition, the Elderly Beings have 5 tentacles in the middle of their body and retractable, membrane-like wings, with the help of which they could also travel through interstellar space.

After landing near the South Pole many millions of years ago, they initially spread over the entire earth, populating both land and oceans. They experienced the first setback with the arrival of the great Cthulhu and his star breed. After a long war, the newcomers were finally awarded newly created land masses. After another long period, however, they sank again in the sea, and with them Cthulhu. But then further problems followed: A revolt of the Schoggothen , the maritime servants of the Elderly Beings, was only put down after losing battles, and the loss of control over the once unwilling slaves could not be reversed. The newly arrived Mi-Go at the time of the Jura expelled the weakened Elderly Beings from the northern hemisphere. A slow but steady retreat to Antarctica followed . When this too became uninhabitable due to the onset of the Ice Ages, the elders built a last city in an underground sea deep below the Antarctic land mass. Lovecraft is silent about their further fate, but the events in Berge des Madness indicate that they were finally destroyed there by a second uprising of the Schoggothen.

Origin : " At the Mountains of Madness " (Eng. Mountains of Madness ), Lovecraft

Others : "Hive", Curran ; "Beyond the Mountains of Madness," Engan and Engan; "An Item of Mutual Interest," Glancy ; "In the Vaults Beneath" Lumley ; "Deities and Demigods Cyclopedia", Ward , Kuntz and Schick

Note: That the Elderly Beings also waged a war with the great race of Yith is a misunderstanding, since Lovecraft in Shadows from the time also referred to the race of flying octopuses (English. Flying Polyps) with "Elder Things" in some places.

Flying octopuses

Flying Octopus (Fan Art, 2009)

also: Flying Polyps (engl. Flying Polyps )

The beings that are referred to as flying octopuses are not clearly described because they can make themselves invisible at will and only partially consist of solid matter. However, they sometimes leave huge “footprints” that reveal five circularly arranged “toes”. They can control the air and wind, the exact way in which it does so, and can fly with no apparent wings or similar limbs. They are particularly sensitive to lightning discharges.

They arrived on Earth about six hundred million years ago and were initially prevented from colonizing the oceans by the Elderly Beings . They built basalt towers on land and hunted down a strange type of cone-shaped creature, whose spirit was later adopted by the Great Race of Yith , who knew how to defend themselves with lightning discharge weapons.

The Great Race of Yith imprisoned the flying octopuses in extensive cave systems, the entrances to which were sealed. But about 50 million years ago, the flying octopuses escaped and took revenge. They destroyed the cities of the conical beings and the beings themselves, but the Great Race of Yith had already transplanted into other beings in the distant future (when the flying octopuses are long gone) so they escaped annihilation.

Origin : " The Shadow Out of Time " (Eng. The shadow from time )

Others : "Papyrus of the Dark Wisdom", Carter and Smith ; "Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying Game" (Eng. Cthulhu ), Cook and Tynes; "The Horror from Yith," DeBill ; "Delta Green: Denied to the Enemy", Detwiller ; "The Shadow from Yith," Gullette ; "Other Nations," T. Marsh and P. Marsh; "Beneath the Dunes," Pons

Fungi from the Yuggoth

Mi-Go (Fan Art, 1990s)

also: Mi-go

These extraterrestrial beings are approximately the size of a person and have flesh-colored, crust-like skin. They have multiple limbs, arranged in pairs, armed with scissor-like claws - their appearance is sometimes described as cancerous. Their oval, knotty and soft head is covered by numerous antennae and constantly changes its color, which these creatures communicate about. Since these creatures come from a lightless planet, they are extremely sensitive to light and shy away from the day. The very presence of the Yuggoth creatures drives animals into a frenzied frenzy.

The Fungi have established bases throughout the universe, the most important base in our solar system being the " Yuggoth " (an outer planet of our solar system ). The crusty creatures came to earth during the Jurassic because they need a mineral that only exists on our planet and that they need to grow their food (a certain type of mushroom). A war broke out against the Elderly Beings , who were slowly pushed back into Antarctica by the Mi-Go .

The Mi-Go keep their earthly bases as secret as possible and also recruit people to support this or move others out of the way if they get too curious. They are also the origin of numerous legends that revolve around creatures such as the hideous snow people , the Indian Nagas or the Greek Kalikanzari.

The fungi of the Yuggoth worship Azathoth, Nyarlathotep and Shub-Niggurath, or always the higher being who is most favorable for the desired effect.

Origin : " The Whisperer in Darkness " (Eng. The Whisperer in the Dark ), Lovecraft

More at Lovecraft : " At the Mountains of Madness " (dt. Mountains of Madness , ") Through the Gates of the Silver Key " (dt. By the gates of the silver key , and Lovecraft) Price

Others : "The Temple of the Moon", Aniolowski and Szymanski ; "The Dweller in the Tomb," Carter ; "Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying Game," Cook and Tynes; Machinations of the Mi-Go, Delta Green, Detwiller, Glancy and Tynes; “Outer Gateways,” Grant ; "Keeper's Compendium", Herber; "Convergence", Tynes; "Necronomicon," Tyson

Note: The creatures of the Yuggoth are described in detail by Lovecraft, but never named exactly. The most common is the term "Fungi vom Yuggoth" from Lovecraft's own works, more rarely " Krustazeen " from the works by Dr. Frenschkowski commented on Lovecraft groups of works.

Great breed of Yith

The Great Race of Yith was a people of insubstantial time travelers who arrived on earth 150 million years ago. In doing so, they occupied the bodies of cone-shaped creatures, 10 feet in diameter and height, that were half vegetable, half animal, and reproduced with a type of seed. But they could still send their spirits into the bodies of other beings in ages to come or past, especially for historical research. They always sought out beings with a special intellect in order to gain as much knowledge as possible. They lived in constant fear of the flying polyps, which they initially subjugated, but which ultimately destroyed the Great Race - but not before they saved their spirits in the bodies of a beetle race that lived after humans.

Origin : " The Shadow Out of Time " (Eng. The shadow from time ), HP Lovecraft

Others at Lovecraft : "The Dark Brotherhood", "The Shadow out of Space", Derleth and Lovecraft

Others : “False Containment”, Conyers ; "The Changeling", "The Horror from Yith", DeBill ; "Delta Green: Denied to the Enemy", Detwiller; "The Shadow from Yith," Gullette ; "The Dreamer", Herber ; "Necronomicon," Tyson

Contortionists

( English Serpent Men, Serpent People )

The contortionists of Valusia are one of the pre-human races in myth. They were mainly created and worked out by Robert E. Howard in his stories of the heroes King Kull and Conan , who are set on the ancient continents of Thuria and Hyboria .

Contortionists are erect reptiles with an elongated, serpentine body. The Great Old Yig is considered the father of snakes and was originally worshiped by all contortionists . They emerged in the early days of the earth and developed their first civilization as early as the Permian period in the swamps of the primary continent of Pangea . Although they were very advanced in architecture, alchemy and magic, their great culture perished with the appearance of the great dinosaurs . The survivors established a new empire called Yoth in the vast underground cave systems, but at the height of their power they fell away from their belief in their god Yig and were cursed by him.

The contortionists were able to establish other civilizations in the following millennia, in the time of Hyboria , in Lemuria and Atlantis , but their race was doomed to become extinct. According to legend, it was King Kull who almost completely exterminated the contortionists.

Only a few, very powerful contortionists were ultimately able to hold out among the aspiring people of modern times - the time of reptile rule was over.

Origin : "The Shadow Kingdom", Howard

at Lovecraft : "The Haunter of the Dark"

Others : "Where a God Shall Tread", Aniolowski; "Zoth-Ommog", Carter; "Conan the Buccaneer", Carter and de Camp; “Outer Gateways,” Grant; “The Illuminatus! Trilogy, ”Shea and Wilson; "The Seven Geases," Smith; "The Starshine", Szymanski; "The Dragons of Mons Fractus," Tierney

Shoggoths

Shoggothe (Fan Art, 2006)

The Elderly Beings created the Shoggoths (artificially developed collections of protoplasm ) because they needed a vigorous and persistent race of slaves to build their cities. The shoggoths consist of gelatinous, black cell tissue of enormous dimensions and feed on all organic substances that they absorb through touch. Through hypnosis , the Elderly Beings were able to train and induce the Shoggoths to create a multitude of temporary limbs and sensory organs from their tissues, which made them effective workers.

By expanding their mass, shoggoths can grow to be enormous and carry even the heaviest loads. They give off an extremely penetrating odor that reveals their presence from a great distance and panics animals. They utter sounds that most closely resemble a high-pitched whistle. The diameter of a shoggoth in the normal spherical state is just under 5 meters, whereby its size and shape are constantly changing. Shoggoths reproduce through cell division, do not age and had acquired a rudimentary intelligence in the course of several million years, which enabled them to form limbs even without commands from the Elderly Beings .

About 150 million years ago they rebelled against their creators and were subdued by them in a bitterly waged war and laboriously tamed by the Elderly Beings , but about 3 million years before our era there was apparently another uprising that resulted in the final annihilation of the Older beings as a result. The shoggoths now live in extensive subterranean cave systems below the Antarctic city, which was once inhabited by the Elderly Beings, but apparently in other regions as well.

In the course of time, variant species have also emerged, with more or less intelligence and different possibilities to imitate other beings by changing their shape.

Origin : " At the Mountains of Madness " (Eng. Mountains of Madness ), Lovecraft

More at Lovecraft : " The Shadow Over Innsmouth " (dt. Shadows over Innsmouth )

Others : "A Case of Royal Blood", Altmann; "Weapon Grade", Conyers; "Perilous Legacy," DeBill; "Nightside of Eden" (German night side of Eden ), Grant ; "The Transition of Titus Crow", Lumley ; "A Guide to the Cthulhu Cult," Pelton; "Fat Face", Shea; "Not What One Does," Sunseri and Henderson; "Tomb of the Old Ones," Wilson

Star-bred

The star spawn , sometimes referred to as Cthulhi, was brought with him by Cthulhu when he arrived on Earth several hundred million years ago. The members of this breed look extremely similar to Cthulhu, but they are significantly smaller. They are best described as octopus-like, land-dwelling creatures.

Shortly after its arrival on Earth, the Star Breeding took up the fight against the Elderly Beings, which ended with a peace treaty and guaranteed the newcomers the land mass on which they would build the city of R'lyeh. After a while, however, this landmass sank into the sea, and the star-bred was caught in the city along with its master.

Origin : " At the Mountains of Madness " (Eng. Mountains of Madness ), Lovecraft

Others : "The Transition of Titus Crow", Lumley ; "Call of Cthulhu Rulebook" (Eng. On Cthulhu's trail ), Petersen and Willis

Deep beings

The Deep Ones (Engl. The Deep Ones ) are members of an amphibious race that lives on the ocean floor. They are approximately the size of a person and have a gray-green, moist skin that is flaky on the bulging back. Her stomach area is white and her head resembles that of an oversized fish or frog. Their claws are webbed and when they communicate it is reminiscent of a frog-like croak. They tend to hop and waddle rather than walk, which can be done on two or four legs. The life of a deep being can only be ended by external influence such as violence.

Deep beings can live above water, but most of their time they spend in their huge cities on the ocean floor. They pray to Cthulhu and especially to Father Dagon and Mother Hydra, who seem to be quite similar to them. The deep beings can be brought to the surface of the sea through certain ancient rituals. They can then often be persuaded to bring rich catches of fish and gold jewelry to the people they conjured up. In return, the deep beings usually require mating with some humans. The children that emerge from these connections become more and more similar to the deep beings over time (the so-called Innsmouth look), until they go under water to spend their (eternal) life there. Almost all residents of the port city of Innsmouth are affected by this phenomenon and at the end of their metamorphosis they go to the sea town of Y'ha-nthlei .

Origin : " The Shadow over Innsmouth " (German shadow over Innsmouth ), Lovecraft

Others at Lovecraft : "The Shuttered Room", "The Survivor", Derleth and Lovecraft;

Others : "The Room in the Castle", Campbell; "The Songs of Fantari", Detwiller and Isinwyll; "The Star of Istanbul", Donahue; "The Worlds of HP Lovecraft - Dagon," Jones; "The Burrowers Beneath," "The Return of the Deep Ones," Lumley; "Other Nations", Marsh and Marsh; "S. Petersen's Field Guide to Cthulhu Monsters", Petersen; "Escape from Innsmouth", Ross; “The Jennifer Morgue”, Stross; "The City in the Sea", Thomas and Willis; "The Deep Ones," Wade

People and groups

Among the elements that Lovecraft takes up several times in his stories, and which were later taken up again by other authors, are not only powerful, ancient beings and unearthly races, but also people and those who used to be. Here some examples:

Henry Armitage

Henry Armitage was born in 1855, but his childhood remains largely in the dark. He may be from Innsmouth . He graduated from Miskatonic University (class of 1881), received his PhD from Princeton, and did his Doctor of Letters at Cambridge . He first came into contact with the supernatural in 1882 when a mysterious meteor went down near Arkham . In the course of the investigation, he came into contact with the Necronomicon for the first time . He was appointed chief librarian at Miskatonic University, a position he held for many years until he, along with Professors Rice and Morgan, put an end to the horror that raged in Dunwich. After that, his health deteriorated and he was released from office sometime before 1936. The circumstances of his death are not entirely clear and contradicting stories exist, including that he died in 1939 trying to save a collection of rare books from fire, and that he had one on the Miskatonic University campus in 1946 Suffered a heart attack.

Origin : " The Dunwich Horror " (Eng. The horror of Dunwich ), Lovecraft

Others : "The Seven Cities of Gold", Burnham ; "The House of Azathoth", Cannon ; "Zoth-Ommog", Carter ; "Arkham Unveiled", Herber ; "A Resection of Time," Johnson ; "The Terror from the Depths", Leiber ; "The Black Brat of Dunwich", Sargent ; "Ex Libris Miskatonici", Stanley ; "Stacked Actors," Worthy

Randolph Carter

Randolph Carter was a writer and mystic from Boston . His family has a long history of ancestors who fought in the Crusades and nearly fell victim to the Salem witch trials . Randolph had the gift of seeing the future and traveled the dreamlands many times until he was thirty. After that a time of self-search began for him, which he could not end for the rest of his life. During the First World War he served in the Foreign Legion , where he befriended Etienne-Laurent de Marigny . He resigned from the Foreign Legion after he was almost killed and returned to the United States, where he became a student of the occultist Harley Warren . Warren later disappeared under mysterious circumstances while Randolph was with him. Randolph published a book about his war experiences in 1919 and a horror story in 1922, but he became known for his fantasy novels. On October 7, 1928, Randolph Carter disappeared in the ruins of his family's mansion near Arkham . Although some clues were found, he was never seen again - it is said that he returned to the Dreamlands to take his place as king.

Origin : " The Statement of Randolph Carter " (Eng. The statement of Randolph Carter ), Lovecraft

More at Lovecraft : " The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath " (dt. The dream search for the unknown Kadath , ") The Silver Key " (dt. The silver key ") The unnamable " (dt. The unnamable , ") The Case of Charles Dexter Ward “(Eng. The case of Charles Dexter Ward ); " Through the Gates of the Silver Key " (dt. By the gates of the silver key ), with Price

Others : “Prey” (Eng. The Sacrifice ), Masterton ; "The Lord of Illusion," Price

Richard Upton Pickman

Extremely talented painter from Salem , who was particularly known for his depictions of strange, monstrous creatures in cemetery or basement settings. Pickman graduated from Minneiska University in Wisconsin . He had an unusually realistic style that set him apart from his colleagues. Although the general public tended to ignore his work, he was highly valued by some collectors. In 1926 he disappeared without a trace, along with most of his unsold works. He reappears in the “dream search” as a person so closely assimilated to the ghouls that he almost only babbles in their language and hardly speaks any more English. He helps Randolph Carter in his search for Mount Kadath by initially providing him with a few, later a whole army of ghouls and dark drought (a kind of vampire).

Origin : " Pickman's Model " (German Pickman's model ), Lovecraft

More at Lovecraft : " The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath " (Eng. The dream search for the unknown Kadath )

Others : "Huitloxopetl IX: Pickman's God", Ambuehl ; "Strange Eons", Bloch ; "Principles and Parameters," Patterson ; "The Minneiska Incident", Rahman and Rahman ; "Pickman's Model", Sapinsley ; "Unfinished Business", Shiflet

Harley Warren

Harley Warren was an occultist from South Carolina and friend of Randolph Carter , who made a name for his investigations of the supernatural in the years 1916-18. After World War I, he continued his studies of the occult for more personal purposes, accompanied by the Boston mystic Randolph Carter. Harley Warren disappeared in the great cypress swamp of Florida in December 1919 , but although Carter was somehow involved, he had to be released for lack of evidence.

Origin : " The Statement of Randolph Carter " (Eng. The statement of Randolph Carter ), Lovecraft

More at Lovecraft : " Through the Gates of the Silver Key " (dt. By the gates of the silver key with) Price

The Whateleys

• Noah Whateley (also Elezer , Alter Whateley or Magician Whateley )

  Noah Whateley lived in Dunwich and was known as a magician. He was married at some point and is the father of Lavinia Whateley . His father, Oliver Whateley , was lynched by the townspeople on suspicion of witchcraft. Noah's neighbors feared and loathed him since certain events at the stone circle near Dunwhich. He died of natural causes in 1924.

• Lavinia Whateley

  Lavinia was born an albino around 1878 and was the mother of Wilbur Whateley . After the death of Old Whateley , she became increasingly estranged from her son. She disappeared on Halloween evening 1926, possibly a victim of her own son.

• Wilbur Whateley

  Wilbur was born in 1913 to Lavinia and an unknown father. He grew up very quickly, was able to speak at eleven months and was almost eight feet when he died. He was known to perform rituals like his grandfather on the hills near Dunwhich and was accordingly feared by the local population. He had a certain reputation in occult circles and got on with some notable figures such as Dr. Armitage of Miscatonic University in correspondence. He disappeared in shocking circumstances in 1928 and there are rumors of a twin brother.

Origin : " The Dunwich Horror " (Eng. The horror of Dunwich ), Lovecraft

Others : "The Shuttered Room", Lovecraft / Derleth ; "Return to Dunwich", Herber ; "Wilbur Whateley Waiting," Price ; "The Black Brat of Dunwich," Sargent

Erich Zann

Mute German violinist whose background is somewhat unclear. His neighbors in Paris noticed him because of his “unearthly violin sounds”. It seems to have disappeared without a trace in 1925 when he was rehearsing an experimental piece. A body was never found.

Origin : " The Music of Erich Zann " (Eng. The music of Erich Zann ), Lovecraft

Others : “La Musique de la Nuit”, Aniolowski ; "Suicide Watch," Dembo ; "Miscatonic University", Johnson et al .; "The Silence of Erika Zann", Wade

Books

Necronomicon (fan prop , 2004)

Lovecraft not only devised the beings themselves, but also their effect on humans in the form of occult books in which the origin of the extraterrestrial beings is revealed and which contain magical practices to get in contact with these beings. HP Lovecraft went to great lengths to give his creations a fictional credibility, so that a reader could easily ask himself while reading whether there was not traditional knowledge behind it, whether there was not actually a cult of the ancient ones or whether the Necronomicon actually existed.

The Necronomicon

also: Kitab al-Azif , Azif , Cultus Maleficarum , Sussex Manuscript , The Call of the Dead or The Book of Executors

→ Main article : Necronomicon

This part of the Cthulhu myth itself became something of a myth. In Lovecraft's stories, the Necronomicon is a mysterious book that contains various secrets about the background of the various beings and the Great Ancients, but which is dangerous to read because its content reaches the limits of the mind and the knowledge it conveys can the reader drive insane. Similar properties are attributed to other mysterious books in Lovecraft's tales, but the Necronomicon is the most frequently mentioned and is said to be one of the most complete, detailed, and oldest of these treatises. Sources, transcripts and translations in various languages ​​also appear in the stories, which reinforce the mystery of its origin. It is quoted in some stories. It is mentioned, quoted, searched for, found, used in many stories by a large number of other authors, and for many protagonists it is a great danger or even a help. The stories that are told about the Necronomicon are so varied that they even contradict each other in some statements, and it is extremely complex to study the subject.

Origin : " The Hound " (dt. The dog ), Lovecraft

More at Lovecraft : " The Festival " (Ger. Das Fest ), " The Descendant " (Ger. The Scion ), " The Call of Cthulhu " (Ger. Cthulhus Ruf ), " The Case of Charles Dexter Ward " (Ger. The case of Charles Dexter Ward ), " The Dunwich Horror " (Eng. The horror of Dunwich ), " The Whisperer in Darkness " (Eng. The Whisperer in the Dark ), " At the Mountains of Madness " (Eng. Mountains of madness ) " the dreams in the Witch house " (dt. the dreams in the Witch house ), " the thing on the Doorstep " (dt. the thing on the threshold ), " the shadow out of time " (dt. the shadow of the time ) , " The Haunter of the Dark " (Eng. The luminous trapezoid or hunter of the dark );

"The Last Test" (dt. The last experiment ) with de Castro ; " Medusa's Coil " (Eng. The hair of Medusa ), with Bishop ; “ The Horror in the Museum ” (German: The horror in the museum ), “ Out of the Aeons ” (German: From aeons ) with Heald ; " Through the Gates of the Silver Key " (dt. By the gates of the silver key ) with Price ; "The Diary of Alonzo Typer" (Eng. The diary of Alonzo Typer ) with Lumley

Many other authors mention the Necronomicon or make it the main subject of a plot or a storyline.

The book of Dzyan

also: Das Buch von Dzyan , Das Buch des Dzyan , Die Stanzen von Dzyan or Stanzen von Dzyan (English Book of Dzyan or Stanzas of Dzyan )

A book of ancient wisdom that exists on a higher, spiritual level. It was brought to the people by the Lord of Venus, who kept it in the lost city of Shamballah . A translation from the original Senzar language, which was brought to the people along with the book, into Chinese and Sanskrit became more widespread. It should contain a description of the seal of Solomon, with which one can ward off evil spirits.

Origin : "The Secret Doctrine" (Eng. The Secret Doctrine), Blavatsky

in Lovecraft : " The Haunter of the Dark " (Eng. The luminous trapezoid or hunter of the dark ); "Selected Letters IV"; "The Diary of Alonzo Typer" (Eng. The diary of Alonzo Typer ), with Lumley

Others : "The Fate", Detwiller with Ivey ; "The Dark Destroyer", Glasby ; "Keeper's Compendium", Herber ; "The Book of Dzyan," Maroney (ed.); "Ex Libris Miskatonici", Stanley

Comment: Lovecraft did not learn about Blavatsky's writings until the end of his life. His main source for describing the book of Dzyan was E. Hoffman Price , who knew it from other theosophical sources.

Book of Eibon

also: Liber Ivonis

The Book of Eibon , as the name suggests, was written by Eibon , a wizard from Hyperborea. The afterword is by Cyron von Varaad and tells that Eibon left him a disorganized manuscript which he then sorted for the book. The book was then passed on again and again and after the destruction of Hyperboreas during the Ice Age it also reached Atlantis and via traders to Egypt, where it was translated into hieroglyphics. 1600 BC It was then translated into Punic and further copies made during the Greco-Bactrian era. In 960 AD Theodorus Philetas then put together a Greek translation from several editions, whereby a Latin translation from the 9th century is said to exist, which was printed in Rome in 1662. There are also the stories according to which the book came to France and Ireland via the land of Averoigne after the fall of Atlantis and was translated into French by Gaspard du Nord in the 13th century. A translation into English is said to have been made during the reign of James I. The book contains descriptions of the sorcerer's youth, of other worlds, of rites and incantations and of chemical and alchemical experiments. The knowledge imparted, however, varies greatly, depending on the edition, as there should be many different versions that omit different, original sections or in which too much was lost in the translation.

Allegedly, Clark Ashton Smith tried to put together a version himself, and Robert M. Price is said to have succeeded in doing just that.

Origin : "The Holiness of Azedarac" (Eng. The holiness of Azedarac ), Smith

More at Smith : "The Beast of Averoigne" ( Eng . The Beast of Averoigne ), "The Colossus of Ylourgne" (Eng. The Colossus of Ylourgne ), "The Coming of the White Worm" ( Eng . The arrival of the white worm ), "Ubbo-Sathla"

in Lovecraft , " The Man of Stone " (dt. The man of stone , "Dreams and Fancies", "Selected Letters V")

Others : "The Horror from the Bridge", Campbell ; "The Book of Eibon", "History and Chronology of the Book of Eibon", "In the Vale of Pnath", "The Life of Eibon according to Cyron of Varaad", "Papyrus of the Dark Wisdom", "Shaggai", Carter ; "The Adventure of the Six Silver Spiders", Derleth ; "Cults Exposed! The Starry Wisdom Church, ” Harms ; “By the Bay, Part I”, “Keeper's Compendium”, “Pickman's Student”, Herber ; "The Thing at the Threshold," McConnell and Sutton; "To Call Forth Tsathoggua to Smith Thy Enemy," Joseph S. Pulver ; "Ex Libris Miscatonici", Stanley

Cultes Des Ghoules

→ Main article : Cultes des Goules

De Vermis Mysteriis

also: The mysterious worms , Das Grimoire (English Mysteries of the Wyrm ) Das De Vermis Mysteriis (German Mysteries of the Worm) was written by a Ludwig Prinn, either in 1542 or 1484, depending on which source one believes and should was smuggled out of his cell by the Inquisition shortly before the author's death. A year after his death, the book, written in Latin, was printed in Cologne before it was banned by Pope Pius V in 1569. There were various translations into German and English, most of which were severely shortened and "defused". Few editions have survived and these are widely scattered, owned by various collectors and libraries. The book is to be divided into sixteen chapters, each on a different topic, including the most famous one on "Saracen rituals". A certain amount of the text is said to be written in Celtic runes, either to lay down Druidic rituals or to encode the content, under certain circumstances these strange runes can suddenly become legible. It contains various spells and rituals along with secret knowledge of some of the beings of the myth. However, it supposedly also contains unknown, dangerous errors that can be fatal if the instructions are followed.

Origin : "The Shambler from the Stars" (Eng. The butcher of the stars ), Bloch

More at Bloch : "Black Bargain" (Eng. The Pact with the Shadow ), "Philtre Tip", "The Secret of Sebek" (Eng. The Secret of Sebek )

at Lovecraft : "Haunter of the Dark" (Eng. The luminous trapezoid or hunter of darkness )

Others : "Real Magic", Bonnewits ; "The Darkest Part of the Woods," Campbell ; "The Adventure of the Six Silver Spiders", Derleth ; "The Survivor" (Eng. The Descendant ), Derleth and Lovecraft; "Castle Dark", Herber ; "Jerusalem's Lot" (German letters from Jerusalem ), King ; "The Invaders", Kuttner ; "The Long-Lost Friend," Lobdell ; "Lord of the Worms", Lumley ; "Signs Writ in Scarlet," Ross ; "Ex Libris Miskatonici", Stanley

Ineffable cults

also: unspeakable cults , The Black Book , Nameless Cults (English also. Nameless Cults )

This book was written by the explorer and occultist Friedrich Wilhelm von Junzt (1795-1840). Von Junzt came to a strange end while working on his next book. The book was originally published in German in 1839, but the entire edition was burned by the Düsseldorf publisher before it was sold. A translation into French was made and published in 1843. An English translation was again made by the French and published under the title Nameless Cults in 1845 - unfortunately the translation is not very good and full of errors. Another English translation (from a surviving German edition) was published by Golden Goblin Press, but it has been shortened by a good quarter.

In the book, von Junzt describes his discoveries about parallels in the worship of certain gods around the world.

Origin : " The Children of the Night ", Howard

More on Howard : " The Black Stone ", "The Thing on the Roof", "Untitled Fragment"

in Lovecraft , " The Dreams in the Witch-House (dt." The Dreams in the Witch House ), " The Haunter of the Dark " (dt. The shining trapezohedron or hunters of darkness ); " The Shadow Out of Time " (German. The shadow from the time ), " Out of the Aeons " (German. From aeons ), with Heald

Others : "Real Magic", Bonnewits ; "Zoth-Ommog", Carter ; "The History of Unspeakable Cults," Harris; "Dope War of the Black Tong," Price ; "Ex Libris Miskatonici", Stanley

Fictional places

Lovecraft invented places in his stories in which the knowledge of these supernatural beings or the connection to them is particularly widespread. These are fictional New England towns and villages such as Arkham , Dunwich and Innsmouth . Real cities like Lovecraft's birthplace Providence are also the setting for his stories.

In New England

Lovecraft Country (Fan Card, 2009)

The fictional New England described by Lovecraft is often referred to as Lovecraft Country (also: Miskatonic Country ; German Miskatonic region ). This region is traversed by the Miskatonic , a likewise fictional river, which also flows through the capital of this region and is also the namesake for the university of this city. The region essentially comprises the realm of Massachusetts , but also some other regions of New England . When describing the places Lovecraft used analogies to places known to him in New England, so that the fictional cities and places acquire a kind of real dimension and thus gain credibility. A number of Lovecraft's stories take place in this fictional region.

Arkham

→ Main article : Arkham

Arkham is an old town on the east coast, the main location and backdrop for some of Lovecraft's tales, and the seat of Miskatonic University, Arkham's main public institution . Lovecraft placed his fictional town in Essex County , Massachusetts, on the banks of the fictional Miskatonic River , a few hours drive from Boston .

Arkham was founded in the late 17th century by some freethinkers who found the surrounding towns too strictly religious. The city got its name possibly from the name of the Arkham family, who were among the first inhabitants of the place. The city became a prosperous sea trading port in the mid-18th century, which laid the foundation for the establishment of Miskatonic University . However, the city was hit by several disasters and in 1980 a storm surge almost completely destroyed it.

Origin : The picture in the house , Lovecraft

Others at Lovecraft : The Dreams in the Witch-House , The Dunwich Horror (German: The Horror of Dunwich ), Herbert West — Reanimator (German: Herbert West - The Revivalist )

Others : Arkham Unveiled , Herber ; A Resection of Time , Johnson ; Season of the Witch , Launius ; The Transition of Titus Crow , Lumley ; The Fall of Cthulhu , Nelson

Note: The publishing house Arkham House , which has been particularly prescribed pressure from Lovecraft's works, was named after devised by Lovecraft city.

Aylesbury

Aylesbury is a small town near Dunwich. The name was probably derived from Amesbury , where HP Lovecraft stayed several times.

Origin : The Dunwich Horror (dt. The horror of Dunwich ), Lovecraft

Dunwich

also: New Dunnich Dunwich is a village in the forested mountainous country of Massachusetts , which was founded in 1692 by settlers from Salem . It stretches between a river and the steep face of a mountain. Most of the houses in the village are centuries old and many of them are uninhabited. The church is in ruins and there is only one shop in the entire village. All signs to Dunwich were removed a long time ago.

Due to the isolation of the village and the resulting inbreeding , a run-down race has developed in Dunwich. The stone circles on the peaks of the surrounding mountains are apparently used by some residents of Dunwich for ancient, sinister rituals. Human bones were found on the summit of the so-called Sentinel Hill near the village, increasing suspicion of black magic practices.

The rundown branch of the Whateley family is particularly unscrupulous . In the story The Dunwich Horror, a member of the Whateley family conjures up the external god Yog-Sothoth and begets two sons with him. With a last effort, the son, who is most similar to his father, is destroyed on the summit of Sentinel Hill before he can summon his sinister father.

Origin : The Dunwich Horror (dt. The horror of Dunwich ), Lovecraft

Others : The Lurker at the Threshold , Derleth and Lovecraft; Keeper's Compedium , Return to Dunwich , Herber

Comment: According to Robert M. Price, Lovecraft was named Dunwich from a work by Arthur Make . Dunwich is the name of a real place in Great Britain that has been swallowed up by the sea.

Innsmouth

→ Main article : Innsmouth

Innsmouth is a semi-derelict, apparently barely inhabited coastal town at the mouth of the Manuxet, which even the residents of Arkham avoid. The residents of Innsmouth have a reputation for engaging with (deep) beings from the sea and for engaging in black magic practices. The Waite family (Ephraim and his daughter Asenath) and the Marsh family, who brought the cult of the Dagon to the region, had a particularly bad reputation.

Origin : The Shadow Over Innsmouth (dt. Shadow over Innsmouth ), Lovecraft

more at Lovecraft : The Thing on the Doorstep (dt. Das Ding auf der Schwelle )

Others : Memories , Berglund ; The Black Island , Derleth ; Delta Green , Detwiller, Glancy, and Tynes; From Cabinet 34, Drawer 6 , Kiernan ; Deepnet , Langford ; Nightmare's Disciple , Joseph S. Pulver ; Escape from Innsmouth , Price and Ross

Comment: Actually, Lovecraft used Innsmouth first in the poem Clephaïs , but where it is in England.

ling

also: The high plateau of Leng , The Plateau of Leng (engl. Plateau of Leng ) the place named Leng to locate is not easy. It is said to be a vast, cold and barren plateau in the Himalayas , probably in Tibet ; however, it is also in Antarctica or Burma , depending on who is reporting on it. Dream travelers state that it is located in the northern hemisphere of the Dreamlands , near the unknown Kadath . According to Alhazred (see: Necronomicon ), Leng is a place where several realities come together, which could explain some of the discrepancies.

In any case, Ling is a dangerous place. Members of several expeditions tried to find the legendary high plateau; however, the participants of these expeditions returned mentally shattered or not at all. The missing may have been captured by the half-human Tcho-Tchos , or have fallen victim to one of the many other dangers of the plateau.

On the high plateau there is said to be a now abandoned town called Sarkomand , which was built by the Tcho-tchos, but who now live in stone villages. A lighthouse emits a light that spreads horror and a monolithic stone circle surrounds a stone monastery, in whose labyrinth-like corridors only the high priest lives.

Origin : " The Hound " (dt. The dog ), Lovecraft

more at Lovecraft : "The Elder Pharos" (Eng. The old lighthouse ), " The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath " (Eng. The dream search [or dream trip] for the unknown Kadath ), " At the Mountains of Madness " (Eng . Mountains of Madness )

Others : "The Dweller in the Tomb", Carter ; "The Lure of Leng," DeBill ; “Beyond the Threshold,” Derleth ; "The Alchemist's Notebook", Hurd , Baetz and Simonson ; "The House of the Toad", Tierney ; "The Complete Dreamlands", Williams and Petersen

K'n-Yan

(closely related to Yoth and N'kai ; see below)

K'n-Yan consists of an extensive cave system under the North American continent, which is illuminated by a bluish radiation. Within these caves, an independent branch of mankind has developed since the earliest times, whose high-quality technology appears almost extraterrestrial and which has supernatural abilities such as teleportation and telepathy.

The residents of K'n-Yans trace their origins back to Cthulhu, who once brought them with him from Xoth and whom they revere under the name of Tulu . Their "historical" sources tell of the early days of the earth and the past realms of Lemuria , Mu and Atlantis , during which their subterranean realm developed undiscovered by the other realms. Due to their gigantic wealth and luxury, a creeping degeneration of the people of K'n-Yan began; In modern times, this once powerful people lives secluded in its last capital, Tsath, between the remains of its high technology and keeps all entrances to its empire closed and under heavy guard.

Below the blue-lit K'n-Yan lies the red-lit Yoth , another level of extensive cave systems; beneath Yoth is the night-black N'Kai , which in turn forms a world of its own.

Origin : " The Mound " (Eng. The Hill ), Lovecraft and Bishop

More at Lovecraft : "Selected Letters III"; " Out of the Aeons " (dt. For eons ), Lovecraft and Heald

Others : “Keeper's Compendium”, Herber; "The Epistles of Eibon", Price and Cornford; "The Cthulhu Myth in Mesoamerican Religion", Tierney

R'lyeh

Position of R'lyeh in the Pacific (after Lovecraft and after Derleth)

also: Ryeh , Arlyeh or Urilia R'lyeh is a sunken city that lies deep under the Pacific Ocean (geographical location: 47 ° 9 'south latitude and 126 ° 43' west longitude, near Point Nemo ). The architecture is described as gigantic and strange. The geometrical shape of the stones from which R'lyeh was built cannot be precisely described in human words. According to myth, Cthulhu and his entourage built the city millions of years ago and fought the Elderly Beings and others from here until a major disaster that sank the city into the sea. Since then, Cthulhu has slumbered in the city, only to rise again to the surface with R'lyeh at a certain constellation. This city is guarded by the deep beings who, after mutating from human to fish, go there and serve the undead god.

Origin : " The Call of Cthulhu " (Eng. Cthulhus Ruf ), Lovecraft

Others : "The Black Island", "The Seal of R'lyeh", Derleth ; "The Lurker at the Threshold", "Innsmouth Clay" (German Innsmouth clay ) Derleth with Lovecraft; "An Item of Mutual Interest," Glancy ; "The House of Cthulhu," Lumley

Dreamlands

The Dreamlands are in the stories of the Cthulhu Mythos a kind of parallel universe or alternative dimension that can achieve his dreams a man. Everyone has the ability to enter the dreamlands at a young age, but loses this ability in the course of growing up. Very few adults retain this ability. There are also physical gates between the “waking world” and the dreamlands, but there are very few that are always very remote in dangerous places (in both worlds). People from the “waking world” are considered to be great heroes of the dream lands, as they can partially control their dreams and thus even create entire cities. Some dreamers simply withdrew to the dreamlands after their death, as is said by Randolph Carter .

In principle, other worlds such as Saturn or Jupiter also have their own dream lands, which can be reached by dreamers of the earth. The influence of the Ancient Ones in the Dreamlands is limited but present, and Nyarlathotep has most of the power of them there. The earth gods are said to have withdrawn here on the tip of Kadath, in the middle of a cold wasteland.

Origin : " The Silver Key " (dt. The silver key ), Lovecraft

more at Lovecraft : " Celephaïs " (dt. Celephaïs ), " The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath " (dt. The dream search for the unknown Kadath or the dream trip to the unknown Kadath )

Others : "The Clock of Dreams", Brian Lumley ; "The House of the Worm," "The Three Enchantments," Gary Myers

Note: Lovecraft's Dreamland Stories were written between 1919 and 1926 and are directly influenced by Lord Dunsany . According to Plaschka, the dreamlands form a kind of roof structure for Lovecraft's other narratives and a kind of poetic refuge for the author from the banalities of everyday life. While other myth stories tell of the failure of the people in this world, the dreamland stories tell of the successes of the people there .

Valusia

An ancient empire of contortionists . It included southern Europe, the Mediterranean and North Africa. Valusia was conquered by the humans and the contortionists were driven out.

Origin : "The Shadow Kingdom", Howard

at Lovecraft : "The Haunter of the Dark"

Others : "Exile of Atlantis", Howard

Y'ha-nthlei

Y'ha-nthlei , like R'lyeh, is apparently a city below the surface of the sea. It seems to be one of the capitals of the deep beings. It is described as the "cyclopean and columnar place of the deep beings" and is located near Devil's Reef near the town of Innsmouth .

Origin : " The Shadow over Innsmouth " (German shadow over Innsmouth ), Lovecraft

Others : "Delta Green", Detwiller, Glancy and Tynes; "The Transition of Titus Crow", Lumley

Yuggoth

also: Iukkoth

Yuggoth is a planet at the very edge of the solar system, definitely beyond Neptune. Most often, Yuggoth is identified with Pluto , but sometimes it is identified as a 10th planet . It is one of the numerous planets inhabited by the Mi-Go . There are vast cities there, made up of innumerable black, windowless towers. The planet is almost completely dark and rivers of bad luck run through it. Before the Mi-Go, another race lived on the Yuggoth, as evidenced by various ruins. Here the luminous trapezoid was constructed by the Mi-Go and various beings and ancient people come from Yuggoth or came by there on their way to earth.

Origin : " Recognition " (German knowledge ), HP Lovecraft

More at Lovecraft : " The Haunter of the Dark " ( Eng . The shining Trapezoder or Hunter of Darkness ), " The Whisperer in Darkness " (Eng. The Whisperer in the Dark ); " The Horror in the Museum " (dt. The horror in the museum ), " Out of the Aeons " (dt. For eons ), with Heald

Others : "The Mine on Yuggoth", Campbell ; "The Discovery of the Ghooric Zone" (dt. Discovery of Goorischen zone ), "Documents in the Case of Elizabeth Akeley" Lupoff ; "A Guide to the Cthulhu Cult," Pelton ; "Family Tree of the Gods," Smith ; "The Throne of Achamoth", Tierney and Price ; "Necronimicon," Tyson

reception

Music and entertainment industry

The Cthulhu myth is - apart from a large number of books - also the subject of other media. It has also been picked up in computer games, music, films and board games. A selection:

• The pen & paper role-playing game Call of Cthulhu takes up the subject of the Cthulhu myth and expands it with numerous source books.
• In 1987 Chaosium released the board game Arkham Horror , in which players work together to save the city of Arkham from destruction by the Ancient Ones. It was later reissued as the Splatterhouse . In 2013, the also cooperative board game Eldritch Horror , launched by Fantasy Flight Games, followed , in which the players try to thwart the old man's plans in a worldwide scenario.
• The 1986 film From Beyond - Aliens of Horror by Stuart Gordon is based on the short story of the same name by Lovecraft, but interprets this story very freely and adds a few elements. According to the director, the film's main adversary, an ever-changing creature, is a shoggoth. In 1990 the Spanish director Juan Piquer Simón shot the film La Mansión de Cthulhu , which is said to be based on literature by Lovecraft. The 2001 film Dagon by Stuart Gordon, which is said to be based on Lovecraft's stories The Shadow Over Innsmouth and Dagon . In 2005 the myth was filmed under the title Call of Cthulhu . In 2010 Cthulhu appeared in the Spanish film La herencia Valdemar II - La sombra prohibida by José Luis Alemán.
• The card game series Munchkin and Chez Geek playfully take up the Cthulhu myth in their own decks.
• The mythological background of the comic series Hellboy by Mike Mignola contains numerous borrowings from the Cthulhu myth.
• The Japanese novel series Haiyore! Nyaruko-san , which has also been filmed several times, adapts the material parodistically as a (romantic) comedy.
• Themes of the myth can often be found in band names and songs, for example the instrumental song The Call of Ktulu ( Ride the Lightning , (1984)), The Thing That Should Not Be ( Master of Puppets ) and Dream No More ( Hardwired… To Self-Destruct ) by the American heavy metal band Metallica .

Computer games

Some relevant computer games that have components of the Cthulhu myth to a large extent are:

year	title	Studio	Publisher	genre	System (s)
1992	Alone in the Dark	Infogrames	Infogrames	Survival horror	Various
1995	Prisoner of Ice	Infogrames	Infogrames	Adventure	Various
2005	Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth	Headfirst Productions	Bethesda Softworks	Survival horror	Microsoft Windows , Xbox
2006	Sherlock Holmes: The Trail of the Awakened	Frogwares	Focus Home Interactive	Adventure	Microsoft Windows
2018	Call of Cthulhu	Cyanide Studio	Focus Home Interactive	Survival horror	Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 , Xbox One
2019	Gibbous - A Cthulhu Adventure	Stucco In Attic	Stucco In Attic	Adventure	Microsoft Windows, macOS , Linux
2019	The Sinking City	Frogwares	Bigben Interactive	Adventure	Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch

science

The beings of the Cthulhu myth and especially Cthulhu himself have also found their way into science as namesake. So far there are:

• Cthulhu macrofasciculumque and Cthylla microfasciculumque , two protists , the latter named after Cthulhus- daughter Cthylla inventedby Brian Lumley .
• Sollasina cthulhu , an extinct echinoderm , closely related to the sea ​​cucumber .
• Cthulhu macula , a macula near the equator of the tiny planet Pluto .

Works

• HP Lovecraft: Collected Works: Work Group I . Edition Phantasia , limited edition; 2005, ISBN 3-924959-65-X .
• HP Lovecraft: Collected Works: Work Group II . Edition Phantasia, limited edition. 2005, ISBN 3-924959-73-0 .
• HP Lovecraft: Collected Works: Work Group III . Edition Phantasia, limited edition. 2007, ISBN 978-3-924959-77-7 .
• HP Lovecraft: The Music of Erich Zann . Edition Phantasia, limited and color illustrated edition, ISBN 978-3-924959-59-3 .
• HP Lovecraft: Seed from the Stars / Funghi from Yuggoth . Edition Phantasia, limited, bilingual and color illustrated edition, ISBN 978-3-924959-55-5 .
• Frank Festa (Ed.): The Seed of Cthulhu . Festa Verlag , 2005, ISBN 3-935822-85-5 .
• Frank Festa (Ed.): The Cthulhu Myth 1917–1975 . Festa Verlag, 2002, ISBN 3-935822-51-0 .
• Frank Festa (Ed.): The Cthulhu Myth 1976-2002 . Festa Verlag, 2003, ISBN 3-935822-52-9 .

Secondary literature

• Mark Browning: Lovecraft's Cthulhu Myth in Music. In: Alexander Nym (Ed.): Schillerndes Dunkel. History, development and topics of the Gothic scene. Plöttner Verlag, Leipzig 2010, ISBN 978-3-86211-006-3 , p. 200 ff.
• Lin Carter : HP Lovecraft: A Look Behind Cthulhu Myth. Ballantine, 1972, ISBN 0-345-02427-3 .
• Marco Frenschkowski: Lovecraft as a creator of myths. In: Andreas Kasprzak (ed.): HP Lovecraft. Of monsters and myths. Pp. 109-181. Verlag Thomas Tilsner, 1997, ISBN 3-910079-05-9 . Texts and materials on fantastic literature 6.
• Daniel Harms: The Cthulhu Mythos Encycolpedia, 3rd updated and expanded edition. Eldar Signs Press, 2008, ISBN 978-1-934501-05-4 .
• Gary Hill: The Strange Sound of Cthulhu. Music inspired by HP Lovecraft. Red Dragon Edition, 2011, ISBN 978-3-939459-40-8 .
• Chris Jarocha-Ernst: A Cthulhu Mythos Bibliography & Concordance. Wizard's Attic, Seattle 1999, ISBN 1-887797-01-7 .
• Sunand T. Joshi : An Index to the Fiction and Poetry of HP Lovecraft. Necronomicon Press, 1994, ISBN 0-940884-44-5 .
• Sunand T. Joshi: HP Lovecraft. A Comprehensive Bibliography. University of Tampa Press, 2009, ISBN 978-1-59732-069-6 .
• Sunand T. Joshi, David E. Schultz: To HP Lovecraft Encyclopedia. Hippocampus Press, 2004, ISBN 0-9748789-1-X .
• Marcus Rauchfuß: The Stars are Right! The Cthulhu Myth 70 Years After Lovecraft's Death. An investigation into the influences of a literary idea on media and subcultures. VDM Verlag, 2009, ISBN 978-3-639-16495-4 .
• Darrell Schweitzer (Ed.): Discovering HP Lovecraft. 2001, Wildside Press, ISBN 1-58715-470-6 .
• Philip A. Shreffler: The HP Lovecraft Companion. Greenwood Press, 1977, ISBN 0-8371-9482-2 .
• Robert E. Weinberg , EP Berglund: Reader's guide to the Cthulhu mythos. Silver Scarab Press, Albuquerque 1973.

Web links

Commons : Cthulhu Mythos  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Wikisource: en: Portal: Cthulhu Mythos  - Sources and full texts

• The HP Lovecraft Archive (English)
• HP Lovecraft website with texts and audio book excerpts
• HP Lovecraft Historical Society (English)

Remarks

1. ↑ The Cthulhu Mythos Encyclopedia (updated and revised third edition) states that Dunwich comes from work N by Make - but the term “Dunwich” cannot be found in this work (see N - PDF, 56 kB ). More likely this is The Terror by the same author.
2. ↑ HP Lovecraft used in this context often "Cyclopean" (dt. Zyklopisch ), and sometimes even explicitly " Cyclopean masonry " what a special design of masonry (see: cyclopean ).

Individual evidence

1. ^ First appearance in The Call of Cthulhu , written 1926, published in Weird Tales Magazine , 1928; Title of the German translation: Cthulhus Ruf
2. ↑ u. a. Dissertation by Oliver Plaschka : Lovecraft himself speaks of his "Arkham Cycle" (Selected Letters, II 246); Shreffler suggests "New England Myth" (cf. Shreffler, The HP Lovecraft Companion, 24)
3. ↑ Darrell Schweitzer (Ed.): Discovering HP Lovecraft, 2001, Wildside Press, ISBN 1-58715-470-6 - p. 7 ff: A Literary Copernicus, by Fitz Leiber, jr. (Essay from 1949) ( Book on the Internet )
4. ^ Philip Shreffler, HP Lovecraft Compendium, 1977, Greewood Pub Group, USA
5. ^ Harms, The Cthulhu Mythos Encycolpedia, pp. Ix – x
6. ^ Harms, The Cthulhu Mythos Encycolpedia, pp. Xiii – xvi
7. ^ Harms: The Cthulhu Mythos Encyclopedia. x refers to a letter to the editor from NJ O'Neail that was published in Weird Tales magazine in 1930 and asks for related contexts
8. ^ HP Lovecraft: History of the Necronomicon. 1927; published in: A History of the Necronomicon. The Rebel Press, 1938; read in The HP Lovecraft Archive
9. ^ Donovan K. Loucks: Quotes Regarding the Necronomicon from Lovecraft's Letters. The HP Lovecraft Archive
10. ↑ August Derleth & Donald Wandrei, Selected Letters II, Arkham House, 1968, ISBN 0-87054-029-7 , p. 150: Letter from Lovecraft to Farnsworth Wright, 1927.
11. ↑ Marco Frenschkowski et al: Collected Works: Work Group I - Foreword
12. ^ Harms, The Cthulhu Mythos Encyclopedia, xv
13. ^ Harms: The Cthulhu Mythos Encyclopedia. P. 92.
14. ^ HP Lovecraft , Innsmouth Sound. In: ders. Ua, Azathoth · Vermischte Schriften , Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt am Main 1989, p. 182 u. passport.
15. ^ Harms: The Cthulhu Mythos Encyclopedia. P. 128.
16. ↑ HP Lovecraft: The Dream Search for the Unknown Kadath. In: The cats of Ulthar. Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt am Main 1980.
17. ↑ Fabian Schrepfer: The horror from the Andes . 2016, ISBN 978-3-8316-1927-6 .
18. ↑ " The Mound, " Lovecraft and Heald
19. ↑ HP Lovecraft: The thing on the threshold . Ed .: suhrkamp. 2nd Edition. suhrkamp, ISBN 3-518-06857-1 .
20. ↑ First mention of the term Eldar Gods in "The Lair of the Star Spawn", Derleth and Schorer
21. ↑ An Item of Mutual Interest. Retrieved February 6, 2019 . 
22. ↑ Marco Frenschkowski et al.: Collected works: group of works I
23. ↑ Annotation by Robert M. Price and ST Joshi on HP Lovecraft: The Books by Lin Carter [as annotated by Robert M. Price and ST Joshi]. In: Discovering HP Lovecraft by Darrel Schweitzer (Ed.), P. 107.
24. ^ Daniel Harms: The Cthulhu Mythos Encyclopedia . Updated & Expanded. Elder Signs Press, 2008, ISBN 978-1-934501-05-4 , pp. 341 .
25. ^ Helena Petrovna Blavatsky : The Secret Doctrine . ISBN 978-1-55700-228-0 ( theosociety.org [PDF; accessed February 6, 2019]).
26. ^ Daniel Harms: The Cthulhu Mythos Encyclopedia . Updated & Expanded. Edler Signs Press, 2008, ISBN 978-1-934501-05-4 , pp. 28 .
27. ↑ Steven Marc Harris: History of Unspeakable Cults. In: scribd.com. September 5, 2008, accessed June 10, 2001 . 
28. ^ Adrian Zagler: Visions of the city in the horror genre: Representation and function of the city in the prose of HP Lovecraft (1890-1937) . Thesis. GRIN Verlag, 2010, ISBN 978-3-640-85152-2 , chapter: 1.4. Fictional New England in Lovecraft's Stories: The "Miskatonic Region", p. 11 ff .
29. ^ Daniel Harms: The Cthulhu Mythos Encyclopedia . 3rd revised and expanded edition. Eldar Signs Press, 2008, ISBN 978-1-934501-05-4 , Dunwich, pp. 84 .
30. ^ Daniel Harms: The Cthulhu Mythos Encyclopedia . 3rd revised and expanded edition. Eldar Signs Press, 2008, ISBN 978-1-934501-05-4 , pp. 141 .
31. ↑ August Derleth , HP Lovecraft : Innsmouth tone . In: Kalju Kirde (Ed.): Azathoth · Mixed writings . Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt am Main 1989, ISBN 978-3-518-38127-4 , p. 182 u. pass .
32. ↑ Oliver Plaschka: Lost Arcadia . Inaugural dissertation to obtain the doctoral degree. 2008, II.1.3 The Dreamland, p. 72–74 ( PDF: 3.5 MB [accessed June 19, 2011]).
33. ↑ Interview with the director from 2012 in the featurette Stuart Gordon on From Beyond
34. ↑ Website on the silent film ( Memento of the original from May 8, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. As of November 21, 2008. 
35. ↑ Music directory on The HPLovecraft Archives as of September 12, 2008.
36. ↑ in German-speaking countries
37. ↑ Erick R. James, Noriko Okamoto et al. a .: Cthulhu Macrofasciculumque ng, n. sp. and Cthylla Microfasciculumque ng, n. sp., a Newly Identified Lineage of Parabasalian Termite Symbionts. In: PLoS ONE Volume 8, No. 3, 2013, doi : 10.1371 / journal.pone.0058509 , p. 5 ( PDF; 752 kB ).
38. ↑ David Bressan: 430 Million-Year-Old Fossil Of Sea Creature Named After Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos . In: Forbes.com , April 11, 2019, accessed April 11, 2019.
39. ^ S. Alan Stern, William Grundy, William B. McKinnon, Harold A. Weaver, Leslie A. Young: The Pluto System After New Horizons. In: Annual Reviews of Astronomy and Astrophysics. 2018, No. 56, 2018, doi : 10.1146 / annurev-astro-081817-051935 , p. 12 ( PDF; 8.9 MB ).