CTHULHU MYTHOS ENCYCLOPEDIA, OR ENCYCLOPEDIA CTHULHIANA, BEING AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE MYTH-PATTERNS OF THE XOTHIC AND COMMORIOM LEGEND-CYCLES WITH NOTES ON THE ALHAZREDIC DEMONOLOGY, OR, A COMPENDIUM OF LORE RELATING TO THOSE BEINGS WHO ONCE RULED THE UNIVERSE AND THOSE WHO HAVE REVERED AND RENOUNCED THEM, AS EXPRESSED THROUGH THE MYTHOLOGY OF ALL CULTURES AND EXPLAINED IN THE WORKS OF H. P. LOVECRAFT AND OTHERS IN A MANNER THOUGHT TO BE FICTIONAL BY THE UNINITIATED AND RATIONAL

The electronic edition of The Cthulhu Mythos Encyclopedia is published by Arc Dream Publishing.

This book is © 2012 Daniel Harms. All rights reserved. All content in this book is copyrighted by the author.

Design by Simeón Cogswell. Cover art by Dennis Detwiller, © 2012. Edited by James Knevitt.

COPYRIGHT INFORMATION

Rhan-Tegoth: Formula from “The Horror in the Museum,” copyright 1989 by Arkham House.

Sixth Sathlatta: From “The Horror at Oakdeene,” copyright 1977 by Brian Lumley.

Tsathoggua: From Selected Letters III, copyright 1971 by Arkham House.

Vach-Viraj: From The Burrowers Beneath, copyright 1974 by Brian Lumley.

Descriptions of specific story elements in this work are for the purposes of reference and commentary. They are not intended in any way as a challenge to the ownership of relevant trademarks, copyrights, or intellectual property.

FIRST ELECTRONIC EDITION

Published in May 2012

Arc Dream Publishing

12215 Highway 11, Chelsea, Alabama, 35043, USA.

www.arcdream.com

ISBN: 978-0-9853175-2-2

DISCLAIMER

The material within this volume is as accurate as current knowledge in the field of medieval metaphysics permits, but inaccuracies may appear nonetheless. Daniel Harms, Arc Dream Publishing, and any distributor or retailer of this volume may not be held accountable for any use or misuse of the material within this volume which results in physical, psychological, or financial harm to its owner, any of his/her family or associates, large sections of the population, the earth, or the cosmos itself, including the higher dimensions.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks to Scott David Aniolowski, Shannon Appel, Az0th, Alex Beckers, Guy Bock, Monika Bolino, Nancy A. Collins, Georg Datterl, Paul Dietzel, W. Paul Ganley, Alan Glover, John W. Gonce III, Frank Hummel, Tani Jantsang, Susan Jata (a real miracle-worker), S. T. Joshi, Matthew Leonard, Chick Lewis, Philip Marsh, Dru Myers, David Papayanopulos, Robert M. Price, Philip Rahman (thanks for setting me straight — again), Kevin A. Ross, Paul Rydeen, Christophe Thill, John Tynes, David Watson, Patrick White, everybody on alt.horror.cthulhu, and that nameless librarian at VU who must have wondered what the hell was going on.

Special thanks to my family, E. P. Berglund, Catharine Good, Steven “The Evil” Harris, Chris Jarocha-Ernst, Laura Junker, Steven “The Good” Kaye, Gary Libby, Donovan Loucks, Alan T. Pyotreh, Janice Sellers, Steve Shartran, Lynn Willis, and the inter-library loan departments at Pulaski County Library and the John and Alexandra Heard Library at Vanderbilt.

Third edition: Thanks to Fabien Amlin, Martin Andersson, E. P. Berglund, Hervé Boudoir, James “Jeb” Bowman, Matt Carpenter, Dan Clore, David Conyers, Patricio Gonzaga, Steven Marc Harris, C. J. “Two-Gun” Henderson, Keith “Doc” Herber, Tani Jantsang, Steven Kaye, Bret Kramer, Donovan Loucks, Thomas McGrenery, Dru “the Reverend” Myers, Terje Nordin, Kevin Ross, Troy Sagrillo, Takeoka Hiraku, and Leigh Ann Vrabel for their comments and suggestions.

“. . . we demand rigidly defined areas of doubt and uncertainty!”

— Douglas Adams

FOREWORD

This book is not a historical work. Instead, it represents one person’s perspectives on the present state of the phenomenon known as the “Cthulhu Mythos” — a collection of fictional monsters, books, places, people, and other elements that weave together the works of Howard Phillips Lovecraft and other authors through a stream of common references — in all of its confusion and glory. It is a phenomenon with its roots dating back over a century, with a development based on carefully crafted narratives, philosophy, mythology, systematization, oversystematization, deconstruction, mistakes, hunches, and outright errors. Nonetheless, an examination of its development may help to clarify its origins and future.

But why embark on such a project at all? Isn’t all of this just fiction? I think that nothing is “just” fiction, as jokes are never “just” jokes and entertainment is never “just” entertainment. That’s not to say they can’t be entertaining or ridiculous, but all of them also address more serious topics in ways that might not be possible through “serious” communication. The marginal status of this material is the source of its power, and it can provide outlets that might not always be available for people to express themselves.

My starting proposition, therefore, is that Lovecraft used the Mythos to talk about issues that he did not have an avenue to address otherwise. We begin with the following passage from his letters — one familiar to many readers, though it has seen little critical attention:

When about seven or eight I was a genuine pagan, so intoxicated with the beauty of Greece that I acquired a half-sincere belief in the old gods and nature-spirits. I have in literal truth built altars to Pan, Apollo, Diana and Athena, and have watched for dryads and satyrs in the woods and fields at dusk. Once I firmly thought I beheld some of the sylvan creatures dancing under autumnal oaks…

What we have here is not a childhood game, but an experience that many people across the world have had over the centuries. We might debate whether this originates in the external world or simply in the mind, or some combination of the two. Nonetheless, experiences such as this do occur and have a profound effect on the lives of people around them. Those who have studied modern Neopaganism might point to similar (if usually less dramatic) childhood narratives of encounters with beings from another level of reality.

Also of crucial import for understanding Lovecraft and his Mythos are his dreams. Lovecraft’s accounts of them are nothing short of breathtaking:

Space, strange cities, weird landscapes, unknown monsters, hideous ceremonies, Oriental and Egyptian gorgeousness, and indefinable mysteries of life, death, and torment, were daily — or rather nightly commonplaces to me before I was six years old.

In another time or culture, Lovecraft’s childhood experiences and intensive dreaming would have led him to great acclaim — or death — as such individuals were often seen as people of great power. As it happened, he was born into Victorian New England, in which the dominant paradigms were either materialistic science or mainline Protestantism. Both of these encouraged the dismissal of Lovecraft’s experiences as childish, ridiculous, or signs of mental disorder. One of the few acceptable outlets for these sentiments was aesthetic expression.

Was Lovecraft an occultist, a modern-day shaman? No credible evidence indicates that Lovecraft had more than a superficial grasp of occult topics and terminology. Critics are correct to point out the vast material in his letters and essays detailing his mechanistic materialism.  Still, Lovecraft was a man, not a philosophy, and we cannot assume that his thoughts can completely explain his output. What makes Lovecraft’s writing so compelling is that it brings together the rationality of Western civilization with impulses and experiences that it downplays but that nonetheless cannot be denied.

Lovecraft took quite some time to find a mixture that he found aesthetically pleasing. His works before “The Call of Cthulhu” draw on a wide variety of source material, through the use of which he tried to reconcile these divergent demands. In some cases, he made reference to religion and folklore. “Dagon” and “Hypnos” draw upon his love of mythology, while folk beliefs inspired “The Temple” and “The Rats in the Walls.” “The Horror at Red Hook” combines long-circulated rumors surrounding Oriental religion with the trappings of ceremonial magic. A supposedly scientific rationale drives such stories as “Herbert West — Reanimator,” “Beyond the Wall of Sleep,” and “From Beyond.” Lovecraft’s cobbled-together cosmologies for these tales are mirrored by such otherworldly works as “Polaris” and “The Other Gods.” Finally, we have stories including creations of Lovecraft’s own invention, such as Alhazred (“The Nameless City”) and the Necronomicon (“The Hound”), though these still take on the logic of a dream, or perhaps a story by his idol, Edgar Allan Poe.

August Derleth has been criticized for choosing the label the “Cthulhu Mythos” for this developing system, as Cthulhu hardly forms an important part in the overall Mythos pantheon. (Lovecraft himself referred to it jokingly as “Yog-Sothothery.”)  Nonetheless, “The Call of Cthulhu” is perhaps the first tale in which Lovecraft successfully weaves together real-world legend and belief, the outlook and tools of scientific inquiry, and his own fantastic creations to create a belief system — albeit a fictional one — combining the power of myth with the conviction of science.

Lovecraft built up the Mythos through two methods. First, he spun his stories together with a weave of shared allusions. Many assume that Lovecraft took this technique from Lord Dunsany’s The Gods of Pegana (1905), in which the Irish lord created a set of interlocking prose poems about the gods of a fantastic realm. Nonetheless, we have no indication that Lovecraft set out to create a pantheon; his early creations are mostly places, individuals, and forbidden books. A more immediate source of inspiration was probably Dunsany’s Tales of Three Hemispheres (1919), in which we find three stories (“Idle Days on the Yann”, “A Shop in Go-By Street”, and “The Avenger of Perdondaris”) that refer to events, individuals, and places from each other, thereby creating a world that the reader explores with the narrator.

The second component of Lovecraft’s Mythos was its inclusion of others’ creations in his work. We see the first signs of this in “The Hound”, which as Philip Shreffler points out in his H. P. Lovecraft Companion, contains so many in-joke references to the works of Poe and Arthur Conan Doyle that it might be considered parody. In “The Festival”, Lovecraft deliberately introduces the works of another author into his story. When the narrator examines the books on his host’s table, he finds, in addition to the Necronomicon and such anti-witchcraft literature as Saducismus Triumphatus and Daemonolatreia, a book called Marvells of Science by Morryster. This book was the creation of Ambrose Bierce, who refers to it once in his story “The Man and the Snake”. We will never know why Lovecraft chose this book, but it seems to have been his only attempt at making such a reference for many years.

Lovecraft’s protégé Frank Belknap Long took the first step at cross-author referencing, thereby starting the Mythos as we know it. While writing his story “The Space-Eaters”, he included an introductory quote from a previously unknown translation of Lovecraft’s Necronomicon made by the Elizabethan magus John Dee. The quote was not printed with the story, but Lovecraft saw it in Long’s manuscript. As a result, he referred to the John Dee translation in his story “The Dunwich Horror”, a story which Joshi has noted had a major impact on conceptions of the Cthulhu Mythos.

After this, Lovecraft and his circle of friends began a process of borrowing gods, books, and people from each other’s stories. Lovecraft played along, often including long lists of references to the creations of authors past and present in his later stories. HPL might use Clark Ashton Smith’s Tsathoggua in one of his stories, and the California author would return the favor by including the Necronomicon in one of his. The exact process by which these elements were exchanged is difficult to determine in some cases, because no scholar has yet examined the chronology through which these stories were written and exchanged through correspondence. Thus, in some cases, the first appearance of an element in a story might not be the first published, leading some to believe it originated with another author. At this point, the Mythos became more

than a device to inspire horror; it also signified the friendships between the writers.

Lovecraft also adopted names from authors who went before. One of these was the Welsh author Arthur Machen, best known today for his stories of prehistoric resurgences of magic and primitivism. Lovecraft’s use of a black stone in “The Whisperer in Darkness” echoes the appearance of the Ixaxar in Machen’s “The Black Seal,” and “The Dunwich Horror” not only refers to phrases like “Aklo” and “Voorish” from “The White People,” but also explicitly alludes to “The Great God Pan.” After reading Robert W. Chambers’ The King in Yellow and The Maker of Moons, Lovecraft mentioned Yian, Hastur, the Yellow Sign, and the Lake of Hali. (Some of the names in Chambers, such as Hastur and Carcosa, in fact originated in Ambrose Bierce. Commentators have stated this was the inspiration for the Mythos, but Lovecraft was borrowing names well before he had read Chambers’ works.) Finally, Lovecraft turned to Poe, whose “Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym” contributed not only the inspiration for “At the Mountains of Madness,” but the source for the hideous phrase “Tekeli-li!”

If Lovecraft worried that these references would discourage readers, a letter from N. J. O’Neail to Weird Tales, printed in the March 1930 issue, added a new dimension to this cross-pollination. O’Neail asked whether Robert E. Howard’s “Kathulos” and Lovecraft’s “Cthulhu” were inspired by the same source (they were not). He also noted the appearance of Yog-Sothoth in both “The Dunwich Horror” and “The Last Test”. Here was proof that readers found the in-jokes to be conducive to their enjoyment of the stories. While they did not see the behind-the-scenes connections between the writers, the fans enjoyed puzzling out and bringing together the pieces of what seemed to be an ancient and esoteric lore. The frequent letters to Lovecraft and other writers suggests that many had no idea that these background elements were fictional.

The Mythos also signified another sort of relationship between Lovecraft and his revision clients. A good portion of Lovecraft’s income came through revising the manuscripts of other authors. Lovecraft took such work because payment was guaranteed, whereas original stories might not be accepted due to Farnsworth Wright’s inconsistent editorial policies. However, Lovecraft often took on too much work for his money, writing or rewriting entire stories for which his clients received all the published credit. His letters show that he found this situation frustrating. Lovecraft may have dealt with these feelings by inserting his creations into these stories — in effect, placing his stamp of ownership on them. He also created a new set of creations for them — the gods Nug and Yeb, Yig, the underground land of K’n-yan, and Rhan-Tegoth, the horror from the Arctic.

When Lovecraft died in 1937, fans responded with an outpouring of grief, but this did not spur a corresponding renaissance in Lovecraftian fiction. Some of his friends left off the cross-references, and his close friend Clark Ashton Smith stopped most of his fiction writing. Still, the numerous reprints of Lovecraft’s fiction in Weird Tales and elsewhere kept his work in the public eye. At this time, August Derleth and Donald Wandrei founded Arkham House and published a huge omnibus of Lovecraft’s fiction entitled The Outsider and Others (1939).

Derleth’s legacy is a multi-faceted one, and it is appropriate to evaluate its impact on the Mythos. Arkham House was a business into which Derleth sank a great deal of time and money. Over the decades, when the pulp authors no longer appeared in magazines, Arkham reprinted their works. Derleth and Wandrei also brought new authors, including Ray Bradbury, A. E. Van Vogt, J. Ramsey Campbell, and Brian Lumley, to the public’s attention.

Derleth became a controversial figure among Mythos fans because of his interpretations of the Mythos. He has been criticized for his interpretation of the Mythos as a battle between the white-hat Elder Gods and the black-hat Great Old Ones. This reading, however, does have some precedent — the minor supporting role of Nodens in “Dream-Quest”, or Keziah Mason shunning Gilmore’s crucifix in “Dreams in the Witch-House”. Likewise, Lovecraft often encouraged other Mythos writers to create such material; Long’s original Dee Necronomicon quote, which started the exchange of concepts between stories, dealt with the cross warding off the forces of evil.

At one time, it appeared that even Lovecraft advocated this view. Harold Farnese, a correspondent of Lovecraft’s, claimed that Lovecraft had sent him the following quote:

All my stories, unconnected as they may be, are based on the fundamental lore or legend that this world was inhabited at one time by another race who, in practising black magic, lost their foothold and were expelled, yet live on outside ever ready to take possession of this earth again.

In addition, Lovecraft had a chance to stop the Elder Gods before they appeared. Derleth and his friend Mark Schorer turned out the story “Lair of the Star-Spawn” in a single day. This tale adds a panoply of beings to the pantheon — the Great Old Ones and Elder Gods (the titles are reversed from their later appearances!), the Star-Warriors, Zhar, Lloigor, and others. Lovecraft, as usual, complimented his fellow author, and stated that he’d use the tale’s most minor creation — the Tcho-Tcho people — in his stories. If Lovecraft meant this to be a mild critique of Derleth’s reinterpretation of his cosmology, it was a failure.

Despite these precedents, Derleth could have been more conscientious about his depiction of Lovecraft. Lovecraft’s fiction and letters, with which he was intimately familiar, included few signs of a cosmic war and many passages indicating that cosmic indifferentism was his chosen framework for the tales. Even if he had missed these, Clark Ashton Smith pointed them out to him in a letter written shortly after Lovecraft’s death.  It appears that Derleth received some misleading information in his career on these topics and chose never to re-evaluate his conclusions.

Derleth’s other innovation, the elemental theory, associated some of the Great Old Ones with the four traditional elements — fire, air, earth, and water.  Some have attributed the “elemental theory” to Francis T. Laney, whose error-ridden “The Cthulhu Mythology: A Glossary” in Beyond the Wall of Sleep (1943) was the first attempt to create a “guide” to the Mythos. Nonetheless, Derleth was using the elemental theory in such stories as “The Thing That Walked in the Wind” long before Laney published his piece. Within this system, a few beings (such as Cthulhu and Dagon) were defined as water elementals, with the vast bulk being earth elementals. Derleth decided to remedy this “imbalance”, creating or reassigning Great Old Ones to both fire (Cthugha) and air (Ithaqua, Lloigor, Zhar).

While these are Derleth’s best remembered changes, perhaps the greatest — or most enduring — was the concept of the Cthulhu Mythos itself. His reasoning behind the title remains obscure. Cthulhu did show up regularly in Lovecraft’s stories after he wrote “The Call of Cthulhu”, but the king of R’lyeh is not the most important or most frequently mentioned of Lovecraft’s creations. (He is more prominent than Hastur, the being Derleth wanted to name the Mythos after originally.) Still, it was “The Call of Cthulhu” that might be seen as the basis for Derleth’s organization, as he brought together a wide array of gods and monsters from Lovecraft’s fiction and that of others to comprise the “Great Old Ones” mentioned in that story. Overall, Derleth tended to emphasize the material from certain of Lovecraft’s stories — “The Call of Cthulhu,” “The Shadow over Innsmouth,” and especially “The Dunwich Horror” — a circumstance that affected how future authors employed the Mythos.

As Derleth created the Cthulhu Mythos, he created another category — the Cthulhu Mythos story. As Robert M. Price points out, the Mythos may also be seen as a collection of tales surrounding these imaginary beings, books, and places. While Lovecraft referred once to his “Arkham cycle” of tales, it is unlikely that any of the Weird Tales authors thought of their in-jokes as a means of categorizing their stories. It cannot be said that the original stories defined as belonging to the Mythos have a common setting, plot, or tone — the connections between them are often tenuous and not readily discernible. Still, Derleth had his corpus, and he took it upon himself to add to it a series of tales that he admitted were potboilers. This was a shame, as Derleth was a talented writer who could have provided a fresh look at the same themes that Lovecraft treated. Instead, readers were treated to a set of tired motifs — New England settings used for their own sake, libraries bulging with endless series of books, professors who spouted forth codified lore, and tale upon tale of ancestral vengeance and resurrected wizards. Sadly, many took these stories to be the epitome of Cthulhu Mythos tales, and stories like them continue to be written today.

For these definitions to be accepted, much of what Lovecraft and others said about their creations had to be overlooked. Arkham House gave Derleth a forum to advocate these views through his introductions and articles, not to mention publishing his stories and those of others that shared his interpretation. His “posthumous collaborations”, tales based on Lovecraft’s story seeds and mostly Derleth’s work, confused the issue by associating Derleth’s concepts of the Mythos with Lovecraft’s name. All of this occurred at a time when Weird Tales authors received little attention from other sources. In this way, Derleth made his position the default for understanding the Mythos he created.

Arkham House went on to publish new Mythos stories by established and new authors. Some hold up Derleth as a defender of the Mythos, but I feel this support may be misplaced. Most Mythos aficionados prize the mythology’s social aspect — by writing and sharing a story, they become part of a grand tradition reaching back to Lovecraft. Derleth would have none of this — he claimed ownership of not only Lovecraft’s stories, but also Lovecraft’s creations. Both assertions were of dubious legality; Derleth only bought the copyright to some of the stories, and no renewals for them have been found. In addition, enough people had used the Mythos that claiming rights to its components was a hopeless case. This did not stop Derleth from telling new authors not to write such stories. Near the end of their tenure, Derleth and Wandrei stated that Lovecraft authorized only a few authors to write Mythos stories, and now only Arkham House could do the same. Of course, no one else has found a letter in which Lovecraft excludes other authors or permits anyone else to exclude them.

During the Sixties, matters Lovecraftian began to pick up speed. It was during this time that Lovecraft began to gain critical attention, though his overseas reception was much warmer than that in the States. More importantly, new paperback editions of Lovecraft’s works began to appear, as did the first movie adaptations. Possibly as a result of Arkham House’s profits from the sale of these movie rights, Arkham House released the three‑volume set of Lovecraft’s tales which has remained in print even today ‑‑ The Dunwich Horror, At the Mountains of Madness, and Dagon. Arkham House also published the Mythos stories of two new authors ‑‑ Ramsey Campbell and Brian Lumley ‑‑ who would leave their mark on the world of horror fiction.

After Derleth’s death in 1971, Lovecraft’s popularity grew at a phenomenal rate ‑‑ though whether these two events were connected is hotly debated. What is known is that the Seventies saw a boom of Lovecraft‑ related material on several different fronts. L. Sprague de Camp published his famous work Lovecraft: A Biography (1975), the occultist Kenneth Grant linked Lovecraft’s fictional symbols to the works of Aleister Crowley in The Magical Revival (1972), and Mythos books such as Brian Lumley’s The Burrowers Beneath (1974) and E. P. Berglund’s anthology The Disciples of Cthulhu (1976) appeared at a surprising rate. One of the guiding lights of this period was Lin Carter, a prolific author and the editor of the Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series who would often include Mythos fiction in his anthologies. Amateur press organizations such as the Esoteric Order of Dagon flourished, their members sending each other chapbooks and newsletters filled with both literary criticism and fiction. It was a good time for Lovecraft devotees.

To the chagrin of many in the Lovecraft‑Mythos community, the most influential Lovecraftian works to come out of the Seventies were not among those mentioned above. Instead, they were different editions of the Necronomicon, Lovecraft’s fictional book. The most influential of these, known as the “Simon” Necronomicon, was a grimoire originating from the Warlock Shop in Brooklyn that linked Lovecraft’s Mythos with Sumerian mythology. Running close behind was the “George Hay/Colin Wilson” Necronomicon, which asserted that Lovecraft had received his inspiration from Masonic lore gained through his father. Though neither Sumerian mythology nor Freemasonry impacted Lovecraft’s work in any significant way, most of the readers of these Necronomicons have not realized this, and these misconceptions are still circulated today.

During this period, a split occurred between those concerned with literary criticism of Lovecraft and those more interested in the Cthulhu Mythos. When Derleth was alive, he would often publish critical essays along with Mythos fiction in his anthologies, but after his death the situation deteriorated. Lovecraft scholars became incensed at Derleth for foisting his own interpretation of Lovecraft’s work on all his readers. In addition, they decided to de-emphasize the Cthulhu Mythos’ significance, in order to separate Lovecraft from other writers in the genre and to stress other aspects of his work, such as its philosophy and literary influences. This split does not appear to have been entirely amicable, and though some authors are comfortable with writing both Lovecraft criticism and Mythos fiction, tension still exists between members of the two groups.

In 1980, the Arkham anthology New Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos brought new voices into the Mythos arena. Instead of sustaining the Seventies trend, however, New Tales signaled an end to the Mythos boom. It is difficult to say why enthusiasm flagged, but it might have had something to do with the way in which material was circulated. After Jim Turner took over the editorship of Arkham House following Derleth’s death, that publisher moved away from Cthulhu Mythos fiction. Although it still issued Lovecraft’s work, it became more concerned with more traditional varieties of science fiction and horror. No publisher truly rose to the occasion as Arkham House’s successor, leaving many of the Cthulhu Mythos stories to be printed in a variety of anthologies, magazines, and small‑press publications. There was no way for potential fans to find out about this material save by word of mouth, a difficult proposition when so much of it received limited circulation to begin with. Though other factors were probably at work, this was probably the most important. For the time being, Mythos publishing went into hibernation.

For the next fifteen years, little Lovecraftian material appeared on the market, and the movement appeared to have been merely a passing fad. The groundwork for the next resurgence was already being laid, however. One of the most important factors was the release of the Call of Cthulhu role-playing game in 1980. Its creator, Sandy Petersen, combined the lore from many different Cthulhu Mythos authors to assemble the monsters and books to create the background for his game. Call of Cthulhu brought Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos to the attention of many who would otherwise not have encountered it, providing key information on its own selection of elements in a single place. Until recently, it had little influence on writers — Petersen’s “Other Gods”, a term coined for the more powerful beings in the Mythos, has only appeared in fiction in the past five years — but it nonetheless established a broad base of fans to whom future work would appeal.

As Call of Cthulhu was finding success, other aspects of the Mythos were slowly germinating. Mythos fiction continued to circulate through amateur press associations such as the Esoteric Order of Dagon. The magazine Crypt of Cthulhu, started in 1981 by Robert M. Price, served as a forum for fiction, essays on the Mythos, and other materials of interest to fans. Kenneth Grant’s teachings and the Necronomicons came to influence occultists, especially those involved with chaos magick, a belief system aimed at destroying the practitioner’s beliefs. Peter Carroll, the founder of chaos magick, utilized fictional beings such as Azathoth as a means of deconstructing notions of what is real and powerful.

A revival eventually came, starting with Arkham House’s re-release of a revised Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos (1990). Fedogan and Bremer followed suit in 1992 with Tales of the Lovecraft Mythos, with other Mythos anthologies quickly on their way. In 1993, Chaosium released The Hastur Cycle, the first in a series of mass-market paperbacks dealing with different aspects of the Mythos. Mythos anthologies and fanzines appear each year, and while many of the magazines and publishers have vanished over the years, Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos are more popular than ever, with new material appearing constantly in many different media, ranging from computer games to graphic novels.

One of the most recent factors to affect the growth of the Cthulhu Mythos has been the expansion of the Internet. Though it may be too early to fairly assess the impact of this new technology, it has already done much to bring together Mythos fans across the world. In addition, it is likely to make publication of Mythos stories much easier, especially with the blossoming of “fanfic”, or fiction based in particular worlds by fans. Whereas before amateurs printed their work in low circulation journals, now they can put it on a Web page where thousands or millions of people can read it. Given the nature of the Web, most of this material vanishes as user accounts vanish or are no longer maintained, but new sites are always appearing. This will probably continue as more people join the Internet community, allowing the Mythos to reach an even wider audience than before.

So why has the Cthulhu Mythos become so popular? There are a variety of reasons that may account for this. The first of these may be its diversity. The mythologies of Dunsany, Machen, and Chambers were limited; they appeared in one author’s stories, and thus had a single mood and style about them. The early Mythos writers wrote using a variety of styles and subject matter, making it interesting to more people. Someone who doesn’t like the Deep Ones may like the Yithians, and vice versa. Another reason may be its resemblance to existing mythologies. In creating his own pantheon, Lovecraft used his own prodigious knowledge of folklore, leading to many of the same fundamental ideas and concepts turning up in both. This has led to his popularity among occultists, many of whom find their own beliefs and ideas mirrored in his work. But there may be another reason we should consider.

In my belief, much of its appeal has to do with filling in the “holes in the text.” Since my first proposal of this idea, a similar one has been explored by H. S. Versnel in his article “The Poetics of the Magical Charm: An Essay in the Power of Words” from Magic and Ritual in the Ancient World. A common feature of many incantations is their use of voces magicae, words without any known meaning. Versnel argues that these are not mere distortions, but in fact integral to the spells’ perceived powers:

…the specificity of voces magicae and other anomalous expressions conveys them a special function of passwords that take us literally “out of our place” into a different world, where paradox reigns… in short a reversed reality, the world of abnormality, the world of otherness.

The Mythos uses the same strategy, but instead of using these names to create the impression of power, it does so to entertain the reader. Each Mythos story includes only a few pieces of the puzzle, and one who reads a story can do either of two things. One can either accept the uncertainty and terror that go along with these allusions, or one can attempt to fill them in by reading more Mythos fiction. People who follow the latter course may even write their own stories expanding on one of these mysterious elements or including their own experience within the framework. Thus, the very element that provides these tales with so much of their horror may also have led people to systematize and re-interpret the pantheon.

If one risk arises from the Mythos, it is that of overexposure. Many fans see the Mythos as a list of names and a source of in-jokes (“Cthulhu saves, in case he gets hungry”), filling fanzines and the Internet with knockoffs of Derleth and Carter. As a proud owner of plush Cthulhus, I certainly cannot condemn anyone for having fun or sharing it with others. Still, a proliferation of Mythos material has led to a growing reluctance among authors and editors to promote the genre. For example, Guillermo del Toro ruled against quoting from the Necronomicon at the beginning of his movie Hellboy because he feared the book was too exposed. He settled for De Vermis Mysteriis, but his concerns were well-founded.

On the other side of the matter are those who feel that the Mythos is a cheap gimmick that distracts from other elements of Lovecraft’s fiction. The question, “What does the Mythos really mean?” is a welcome antidote to the overemphasis on lists of names, and it certainly deserves to be asked. Nonetheless, we must be careful that the question does not become “What did the Mythos mean to Lovecraft specifically, as judged by his explicit statements?” or that it becomes the only question that is asked. The creations of Lovecraft and other authors have had a resonance that derives from their ability to embody numerous meanings within an appealing, albeit horrific and often squamous, exterior. To say that Cthulhu is merely an expression of humanity’s insignificance in an indifferent cosmos is just as fallacious as announcing that he is a huge squid-like monster.

Whatever the reason, the Cthulhu Mythos genre has outlasted its creators and likely last into the foreseeable future. Its success in doing so will likely be tied to the creativity of new creators to re-envision its tenets while paying attention to what has come before.

FOR WRITERS, AND A CASE FOR CONTINUITY

A frequent question is how a Mythos creator can handle intellectual property. As a non-legalistic guideline, any Mythos creation of Lovecraft or his contemporaries has likely been used so often that it can be used in a story with no repercussions. Projects in particular fields, such as graphic novels or roleplaying games, or those that are money-making ventures are on more dubious grounds. If in doubt, always ask the author or the estate for permission before proceeding.

While rewriting the Encyclopedia, I’ve heard a fair amount of railing against Mythos continuity. After all, Lovecraft’s pantheon is inherently contradictory, with its monsters that dwell beyond time and that can hardly be understood by human minds. Why shouldn’t other authors introduce such contradictions into their own works, whether deliberately or accidentally? Besides, all of those names and dates and pat definitions interfere with the authors’ creativity, and what’s important is for people to find their own voices.

I have to agree with this, to a point. Lovecraft’s Mythos does have its contradictions, and I’d like to see more people use it creatively. I’ve seen some work done to reinterpret the Mythos in fiction and essay that is simply brilliant. On the other hand, I don’t think that abandoning continuity is the answer. Lovecraft did change the meanings of elements between his stories — the Plateau of Leng may shift from Central Asia to Antarctica, and Tsathoggua may help whoever tries to figure out who the Old Ones really are. However, this was a result of his own personal development and changes in knowledge and philosophy, rather than being simply arbitrary attempts at contradiction. It should also be noted that when it came to the Necronomicon, Lovecraft wrote out a history of it so he’d use it consistently in his stories.

As for those creative authors — in my experience, what stifles creativity is not adhering to the Mythos, but to the traditional format of the Mythos story a la Derleth: New England settings, old houses, dead relatives who practiced sorcery, shelves of crumbling old books, family secrets, and other elements with which most would-be authors are unfamiliar.

I’ve also seen condemnation of attempts to explain the behavior of different Mythos beings. After all, shouldn’t they be inexplicable and unfathomable? Perhaps, but we should recall that Lovecraft gives motivations to his Deep Ones, Great Race, Old Ones, etc., that are fairly clear. I am not arguing that we should transform these creatures into humans in funny costumes, filled with the hackneyed romanticism that Lovecraft despised. Those who advocate the other side, however, often confuse “lack of recognizable motive” with “lack of motive”, being content if their monsters simply crush and eat the important characters. Neither of these was Lovecraft’s goal.

People can use the Mythos however they wish, of course. Yet I would stress that continuity is the heart of what makes the Mythos so powerful. The force that propels so many readers through Mythos stories is not their arbitrariness, but the sense that a vast and intricate puzzle lies before them. Some pieces may not seem to fit, but perhaps if enough information is gathered — the “piecing together of dissociated knowledge” which Lovecraft champions in “Cthulhu” — everything will make sense. As long-term Mythos fans know, this is an illusion, but it is nonetheless a comforting one. Readers often seek these stories for it, and deliberately changing the Mythos can drive them away from reading these tales.

I’m not saying that authors shouldn’t be creative, or bend the pantheon if it suits them. If a story cannot proceed without contradiction, however, then why not take it out of the Mythos altogether? To me, one good story of any genre is worth a hundred mediocre stories of any particular classification. Or if the Mythos is to be used, leave an out. Perhaps the book is wrong, or the character is mistaken about the being’s motivation. This doubt need not be stated explicitly, but the possibility should exist.

ON THIS BOOK

The study of the Cthulhu Mythos is one with many pitfalls, as reading any work attempting to catalogue it (including this one) will show. Such efforts are often biased toward particular stories which the author likes, while elements which others might consider important are omitted. I had not looked at any of these when I began this book in 1990, but in later years I read many such essays and noted their imperfections. I’ve taken care in this book to keep my own prejudices out of the text, presenting a comprehensive and complete view of the Mythos, but in a work like this, absolute objectivity is impossible. If in doubt about the material in this book, consult the original source material.

One of the first problems I confronted in writing this book was deciding whether to use the term “Cthulhu Mythos”. Derleth invented the term after Lovecraft’s death, and there have been numerous attempts to create a new label for the pantheon such as the “Lovecraft Mythos” and “Necronomicon Mythos.” I see no reason for using any of these; why exchange a commonly used term that really offends no one for another which has the exact meaning of the other? To eliminate any confusion prompted by adopting another label, I kept the term “Cthulhu Mythos.”

My next task was finding source material on the Cthulhu Mythos. This was not such a difficult task as it might sound at first, as many people were willing to suggest hundreds of different sources to me. My main problem was deciding what might have useful information and obtaining it. In the end, I was only able to cover approximately half of the material on the Cthulhu Mythos. This would normally be considered a severe liability in such a work, but this half includes over a thousand sources covering many different genres. Much of the remaining material appeared only in small‑circulation fanzines that are out of the reach of most researchers. I have tried to choose material which was readily available and which might add something important to this book, and feel that I have been relatively successful in that task.

Next I had to decide which of these stories included elements of the Cthulhu Mythos. This was a considerable undertaking in itself. Even among Mythos fans, there is considerable disagreement about what stories are “Cthulhu Mythos” tales. A degree of subjectivity often enters into these decisions, based on what the individual likes and dislikes. Some people I have met even exclude the creations of August Derleth or other authors solely because they don’t like their stories. At the same time, most of those I heard from agreed on the works that should be covered — those of Lovecraft, Smith, Howard, Long, and so forth — so I knew it wasn’t a hopeless case. As will be explained later, I tried to keep my analysis to stories mentioning the terms listed in these “core” stories.

For the purposes of this book, I define “Cthulhu Mythos” as a collection of fictional monsters, books, places, people, and other elements which appear in the works of Lovecraft and other authors. It might help to think of Mythos stories as existing in a web strung together with these terms. For instance, Lovecraft’s “The Call of Cthulhu” contains allusions to Cthulhu, the Necronomicon, and Professor George Gammell Angell. All stories which include the same elements connect up with “The Call of Cthulhu”, and are thus part of the Mythos. Then other stories which use the new characters from this group of connected stories attach themselves to these other stories, and so forth. Sometimes an author’s creation is not used in other stories, but when it is, another connection is formed. In this book, I’ve tried to look for the most important connecting elements and to cover them as fully as possible.

My definition of the Cthulhu Mythos both includes and omits a great number of stories and elements which previous commentators have listed. Many would prefer to confine the Mythos solely to the “gods” or extraterrestrials in the stories, but since the characters and locations in the fiction show up so often in connection with them I have added entries for them. Previous authors have tried to define certain of Lovecraft’s tales as belonging to the Cthulhu Mythos or another of his “cycles”, but Lovecraft himself never used such a system and many of these distinctions seem arbitrary. As such, I have included information on the Dreamlands tales and some of Lovecraft’s work which others might consider “non‑Mythos”. On the other hand, I have left out works which others have kept in due to their authorship or their “Lovecraftian” tone (such as Donald Wandrei’s The Web of Easter Island and most of Thomas Ligotti’s stories). I have usually left out real-life people, books, and places, along with gods, places, and beings from traditional mythology, but have written entries for those that have been changed significantly in Mythos fiction. I tried to emphasize Mythos works of Lovecraft and his immediate circle, as well as those elements that have appeared in more than one author’s stories. I hope that my reasons for the inclusion or exclusion of each element are clear, but if not, the reader is invited to contact me.

Finally, I want to say that this book is in no way a substitute for reading the original stories from which this information is derived. I would encourage new readers to try to find these works. I’ll be the first to admit that Mythos fiction can be pretty bad at times, but reading these stories will be more entertaining than looking over this book, and you may find another favorite author. These sources may be hard to find, but they are definitely worth the search. I hope this book will in some small way encourage further interest in Lovecraft’s pantheon and help to keep it alive in the years to come.

—Daniel Harms

Cortland, NY

December 17, 2007

ON THIS EDITION

The third edition constitutes a revision of the second edition, which was greatly expanded from the first. I had tried to trim the second edition of entries particular to only one source; such material is often fascinating, but it rarely serves much use as a reference. As it turned out, plenty of people wanted those entries from the first edition, and some even made use of them in their own stories.

To prevent future confusion, nothing from the list of entries for the second edition was removed, though individual entries were revised and updated. Only two types of entries were added:

Material from the first edition that has proven useful or inspirational; and 

Material found in two works written by two different authors, or those present in major published novels centering on the Cthulhu Mythos. 

The coverage of the Encyclopedia has never covered all the Mythos fiction available. In the case of this edition, I concentrated mainly on published books, under the assumption that these would be more available in the future than fanzines, Web pages, and other sources largely inaccessible to future readers. Thus, it might be that some works eminently worthy of inclusion have been omitted inadvertently. Nonetheless, I have attempted to track down the most influential sources from other media for inclusion.

As with previous editions, a large variety of sources — stories, poems, novels, films, occult works, and others — have been used. At the request of the previous publisher, material for the Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game was not given as high a level of attention as in previous editions. The book was never thought of as a guide to that game’s continuity, and readers of that game should be happy with the coverage nonetheless.

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

The entries in the book are alphabetized word by word; for example, “De Vermis Mysteriis“ comes before “Deep ones”. Some entries include material in brackets; this may be comments on the historical or occult origins for a given allusion, or notes on the item‘s history. Following each entry is a paragraph of cross-references (“See...) and a list of sources. These are not necessarily all of the sources in which the topic appears, but include the ones used to compile the entry. The original appearance of the topic, as best I can determine it, is listed with (O). This usually refers to first date of publication, save for Lovecraft himself, for whom it signifies the date of composition.

For those entries with multiple definitions, cross-references and/or sources specific to an individual definition are listed in a separate paragraph at the end of the entry.

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING

Previous editions included a complete guide to further reading. I have not done so here, as the growth of the Internet makes checking particular facts or publication details easy, if not always accurate. Further, many of the books of interest go out of print rapidly and are reissued elsewhere, making any list of addresses and titles inaccurate.

The only book I will recommend here is Chris Jarocha-Ernst’s out of print A Cthulhu Mythos Bibliography and Concordance (Seattle: Armitage House, 1999). Thousands of entries cover the stories of hundreds of authors who have written for the Mythos. More recent works are not included, and some of the material might require double-checking, but it is a highly useful reference nonetheless.

I should add that one’s local library (or that of the nearest university) can be a wonderful resource that provides much information not available online to the dedicated reader. Also, many libraries can lend to other libraries, meaning your inquiries are not limited to one particular collection.

A

ABBITH

World of seven suns beyond which the binary star of Xoth may be found. (Others say it orbits the star Algol.) The inhabitants of this planet are metal brains that hold many of the universe’s secrets. According to von Junzt, Nyarlathotep lives or is imprisoned on Abbith, though others state that the Crawling Chaos holds court at Sharnoth. The being known as Ossadogwah, or Zvilpogghua, supposedly dwells there.

See Nyarlathotep; Xoth; Ymar; Zaoth. (“The Feaster from the Stars”, Carter; “Out of the Ages”, Carter (O); Visions from Yaddith, Carter; “Zoth-Ommog”, Carter.)

ABDUL ALHAZRED

See Alhazred, Abdul.

ABHOTH

Being connected with filth and disease. Abhoth lives beneath Mount Voormithadreth (or possibly behind the Dreamland’s Grey Barrier Peaks), and takes the form of a huge pool of grey slime. It continually spawns its children, beings of infinite anatomical diversity. Abhoth devours most of these immediately, but the rest may escape from their parent’s cavern home.

In one recorded encounter with this being, Abhoth put out a pseudopod to feel the intruder, communicated with him telepathically, afterward magically compelling him to leave its presence. Others may not be so lucky, as Abhoth finds the existence of humans vexatious.

Few instances of Abhoth’s worship have been reported. The Hyperborean colony of Krannoria revered Abhoth, but in the end their ungrateful deity destroyed them. An “Abhoth the Dark” is also mentioned in many Hittite inscriptions. Abhoth seems not to care that such cults exist, and is unlikely to provide them with any favors. It does require sacrifices from time to time, but may gather them itself by cloaking itself in illusion and calling to unsuspecting victims.

Some have attributed the creation of all evil to Abhoth, but this seems unlikely.

See Haon-Dor; Hyperborea; Outer Gods; Sothoth; Ubbo-Sathla; Voormithadreth. (Return to Dunwich, Herber; A Guide to the Cthulhu Cult, Pelton; “The Seven Geases”, Smith (O); The Complete Dreamlands, Williams and Petersen; The Mind Parasites, Wilson.)

ACHERON

Evil kingdom founded at the Tybor River’s mouth as a Stygian colony in pre-Hyborian times. It soon threw off Stygian control, reaching its height three thousand years before the time of Conan. It was known for its embrace of the darkest sorcery, and its rulers were also mighty magicians. The King of Koth raised a massive alliance, destroying the purple towers of its capital, Python. Its former lands became the kingdoms of Argos, Nemedia, and Aquilonia. Only a few tribes of hill dwellers survived. Acheron’s dark lore nonetheless was passed down to Hyboria and Egypt.

See Koth-Serapis; Kuthchemes; Nephren-Ka; Serpent Ring of Set; Set. (“Black Colossus”, Howard (O); “The Hour of the Dragon”, Howard; “The Hand of Nergal”, Howard and Carter; “Acheron — A Revisionary Theory”, Yaple.)

ADUMBRALI

Entities from another dimension which appear as globules of darkness. The most complete references to the adumbrali can be found in the Song of Yste. These creatures are said to send messengers to other dimensions to attract prey for their own hunting pleasure. These messengers seem to be members of the native species. They have an unnatural grace and are capable of great feats of hypnotism, which they use to ensnare their victims. The minds of these unfortunates are sent to the adumbrali homeland, where they are tortured and devoured.

See Song of Yste. (“The Abyss”, Lowndes.)

AHTU

See Nyarlathotep (Ahtu).

AHU-Y’HLOA

Deep one city located in the sea off Cornwall. A group of deep ones, with the aid of their brethren from Y’ha-nthlei, is still constructing this metropolis. During World War II, this city formed a loose alliance with the Karotechia before a joint raid of Delta Green and PISCES brought it to an end.

See Deep ones; Y’ha-nthlei. (Delta Green: Countdown, Detwiller et. al.; “The Return of the Deep Ones”, Lumley (O).)

AKELEY, GEORGE GOODENOUGH (1901–1971)

Son of Henry Akeley and founder of the Spiritual Light Brotherhood. George Akeley’s mother passed away due to complications resulting from his birth, and his father and a number of caretakers raised the young man.

Following his father’s retirement, George Akeley moved to San Diego, where he married. Of four children, only one (Aimee Doyle Akeley) survived the first few months of life. He continued his father’s studies, and provided Albert Wilmarth with uncanny data when the professor visited him in 1937. Sometime during these years, Akeley met the evangelist Aimee McPherson and was inspired to set up his own church, the Spiritual Light Brotherhood. He served as the “Radiant Father” of the religion his death, whereupon his granddaughter, Elizabeth Akeley, took up the post.

See Akeley, Henry Wentworth. (“The Terror from the Depths”, Leiber; “The Whisperer in Darkness”, Lovecraft (O); “Documents in the Case of Elizabeth Akeley”, Lupoff.)

AKELEY, HENRY WENTWORTH (1871–1928?)

Noted folklorist and correspondent of Albert Wilmarth.

Akeley was supposedly the son of Abednego Akeley, a minister who served the Townshend, Vermont branch of the Starry Wisdom Church, and Sarah Phillips, a servant in Abednego’s household. Though his mother’s story was dubious, the townsfolk accepted him as Abednego’s heir.

Little has been said of Akeley’s early years, though he had a successful career in academics, most likely as a folklorist. He was married at one time, but his wife died in 1901 shortly after the birth of the pair’s only child, George Goodenough Akeley.

Following his retirement, Akeley moved back into the ancestral mansion near Townshend. Near the end of his life, he wrote frequent letters to the young Professor Wilmarth on the legends of his region. Akeley vanished in September of 1928, following wild stories and bouts of paranoia which led many of his neighbors to believe that the aged scholar had lost his mind. Some say he returned to Earth later in mysterious circumstances.

See Akeley, George Goodenough; Wilmarth, Albert. (“The Whisperer in Darkness”, Lovecraft (O); “Documents in the Case of Elizabeth Akeley”, Lupoff; “Disconnected”, Sammons.)

AKLO

Language of the Valusian serpent-men. It is still used in a modified form by the priests of the Great Old Ones (to whom it was given by their masters), as well as the Little People of Welsh legend. The term “Aklo” may also be used to refer to a series of magical rituals (see below), or a specific time at which an incantation should be performed.

E. A. Hitchcock’s book Remarks upon Alchemy makes reference to “the now unattainable secrets of the AKLO tablets”, a set of writings which has never been discovered. However, Alonzo Typer, an occultist of some note, might have read these “Aklo writings” or others, as he described rituals known as the Aklo formulae in his diary. The third of these formulae is useful in making the unseen visible, but the proper use of the rest remains a mystery.

[One occultist has suggested to me that Aklo bears many similarities to Enochian, the pre-human language John Dee supposedly discovered through contact with angels and used by occult groups until the present. Though most passages usually considered to be Aklo have little resemblance to Enochian, the link does bring up some interesting possibilities. (See especially “Aklo Sabaoth” and “Aklo Unveilings”.)]

See Aklo Sabaoth; Aklo Unveilings; Iä; Kuen-Yuin; Remnants of Lost Empires. (Letter (9/23/94), Az0th; The Necronomicon, Culp; Keeper’s Compendium, Herber; “Aliah Warden”, Johnson; “The Haunter of the Dark”, Lovecraft; “The Diary of Alonzo Typer”, Lovecraft and Lumley; “The White People”, Machen (O); “Plant y Daear”, Ross; “The Return of the Lloigor”, Wilson.)

AKLO SABAOTH (or AKLO FOR THE SABAOTH)

Formula in the Aklo language used to invoke extradimensional beings. The Aklo Sabaoth may only be performed on clear nights when the moon is in its first phase. It is only effective for those spirits that are “answerable from the hill”; there may be another version which will invoke those of the air.

Some have linked the Aklo Sabaoth with John Dee’s incantations known as the “Enochian Keys”, as the nineteenth Key summons the angels of the “Aires”. Thus, the version that calls the spirits of the hill might be an inferior variant of the original Aklo Sabaoth. It should also be noticed that “Sabaoth” is the Hebrew word for “Hosts,” a term usually used for angels. All of this is speculation, and experimenters are advised to be cautious.

See Aklo. (Letter (9/23/94), Az0th; “The Tower on Yuggoth”, Campbell; “The Dunwich Horror”, Lovecraft (O).)

AKLO UNVEILINGS

Levels of initiation in the cult of Glaaki. A cult member may undergo up to forty-eight of these Unveilings, and the forty-ninth takes place when Glaaki calls his worshiper to him for the last time. It is interesting to note that John Dee’s Enochian system of magic also includes forty-eight Keys, or incantations, as well as an unknown forty-ninth which could invoke God.

See Aklo; Glaaki. (Letter (9/23/94), Az0th; “The Inhabitant of the Lake”, Campbell; Selected Letters IV, Lovecraft (O).)

AL AZIF (also KITAB AL-AZIF)

Original Arabic title for Alhazred’s Necronomicon. Al-Azif supposedly refers to the sounds made by insects at night, which the people of Alhazred’s time took to be the calls of djinn. The occultist Kenneth Grant has noted the buzzing noises heard during magical rituals and flying saucers encounters as a possible explanation for the title. Others, though, have given alternate meanings for Al Azif, such as “to soar or fly”.

[Lovecraft took this name from a footnote in Beckford’s Vathek.]

See Alhazred, Abdul; Necronomicon (appendices); Philetas, Theodorus; Sadowsky, Phileus P. (Outside the Circles of Time, Grant; “History of the Necronomicon”, Lovecraft; “The Last Test”, Lovecraft and de Castro (O); Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

ALALA

Being alluded to in the infamous Green Book. Alala is a Great Old One who is a native of the Gulf of S’glhuo. It is a sound that can manifest itself as a huge monstrous being, and the Gulf’s inhabitants serve and fear it.

[Alala turned up as the name of a deity for both the Greeks and the Mesopotamians. Whether Machen knew this or not is unknown.]

See Green Book; S’glhuo. (“The Plain of Sound”, Campbell; “The White People”, Machen (O); “The Voice of the Animals”, Adair.)

ALAOZAR

Legendary city located on the fabled Plateau of Sung. The city was built upon the Isle of Stars, where extraterrestrial beings landed thousands of years ago, within the Lake of Dread. No party of explorers has ever found this site, but it is a holy place for the Tcho-tcho people. Beneath Alaozar lie the caverns in which Lloigor and Zhar dwell. If reports from the Burmese interior are accurate, this city may have been destroyed.

See E-poh; Lloigor; Sung; Zhar; Zhou Texts. (“The Lair of the Star-Spawn”, Derleth and Schorer (O).)

ALAR

1) Character from the play The King in Yellow, in one account. 2) City that besieges the metropolis of Hastur in the same play, according to others.

See Demhe; Hastur; King in Yellow; Yhtill. (“More Light”, Blish; “The Repairer of Reputations”, Chambers (O); “Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?”, Ross.)

ALDONES

1) Character who seeks the throne of Yhtill in The King in Yellow. 2) The founder of the city of Hastur’s ruling dynasty in the same play.

See King in Yellow; Last King. (“More Light”, Blish; “The Repairer of Reputations”, Chambers (O); “Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?”, Ross.)

ALHAZRED, ABDUL (also ABD AL-AZRAD) (655?–738)

Poet and mystic of Sanna in Yemen, best known for his Kitab al-Azif (later re-titled Necronomicon). The deeds of this man, who is said to have been a descendent of the mythical tribe of Ad, are still matters of legend in the Middle East.

The early life of Abdul Alhazred remains a mystery. Several different and contradictory accounts have appeared:

Our first mention of Alhazred is during his travel to Egypt, where he studied necromancy under the wizard Yakthoob. After his master’s death, he led Yakthoob’s disciples on his travels, until most of them were destroyed. (Carter)

Alhazred — who in this account is unnamed — was a young shepherd who narrowly escaped death when he witnessed a cult of the Old Ones. Having seen their power, he forsook his former life. (Levenda)

The son of a prostitute and a silver merchant, Alhazred was recognized as a brilliant scholar even in his youth. He married into the family of the Governor of Tabez and had two children. Shortly thereafter, he seemed to become possessed by a demon, turning to impious conduct. Being brought before the Caliph for judgment, he was cast into the desert. (St. Albans.)

Alhazred was a young herder’s son who was brought to the court of King Hasan of Sana’a due to his beautiful voice. He lived in the palace for many years as a favored son of the court. Due to an affair with the king’s daughter, Alhazred was mutilated and abandoned in the depths of the desert. (Tyson)

Alhazred grew up in a poor family and gained recognition for himself as a soldier. Finding the work not to his taste, he apprenticed himself to a silk merchant, becoming enamored of one of his customers. Upon learning that she was the lover of a local prince, Alhazred absconded with the business’ profits. (Larkin)

No matter what Alhazred’s origin, the substance of his later life is less debated. He is known to have spent much time in the Empty Quarter of the Arabian desert, where he discovered both Irem, the City of Pillars, and the Nameless City. In search of mystical knowledge, he made extensive travels throughout the Middle East and beyond. The exact destinations are debatable, but Alexandria, Memphis, and Babylon are commonly named stops upon his route. In the end, he dwelt in Damascus, where he penned the Al Azif.

In his Biographical Dictionary, Ibn Khallikan tells of an invisible beast devouring the “mad” poet in the marketplace of Damascus in the middle of the day. Even this legend is disputed; some state it is a confused re-telling of his former trance-states or the death of his master Yakthoob. Others claim that his death was illusory and that he was borne off to the Nameless City to be tortured and killed. A few heretics of his time proclaimed that he returned to the Empty Quarter, from which he would one day return. Legend has it that his voice can still be heard in the insects of the desert, teaching apprentice magicians his forgotten lore.

It seems that an earlier scribe who copied the Necronomicon made an error with regard to the name of the book’s author, as “Abdul Alhazred” has no real meaning in Arabic. Scholars have suggested various solutions to the puzzle of the mad Arab’s true name:

Abd al-Azrad, “the worshiper of the great devourer” (from “abd” = worshiper/servant, “al” = the, Azrad = “strangler/ devourer”) (Hamblin) 

Abd Al-’Uzza, “servant of Al-Uzza [a pre-Muslim goddess]” (Stanley) 

Abdallah Zahr-ad-Din, “Servant-of-God Flower-of-the-Faith” (given the mad Arab’s religion, an unlikely name at best) (de Camp) 

al-Hazred, a name which has only kept its meaning of “one-who-sees-what-shouldn’t-be-seen” in Yemenite (Farmer)

Aside from the Necronomicon, only a few of Alhazred’s works have survived, including the short story “Al Jeldah” (“The Scourge”) and a few of his poems, which were quite popular with the nobles of his time.

[“Abdul Alhazred” was a play-name of Lovecraft’s that either he or the Whipple family lawyer, Albert Baker, invented when HPL was very young.]

See Al Azif; Book of Thoth; ghouls; Great Old Ones; Hadoth; Ibn Ghazi; Ibn Schacabao; Irem; Kara-Shehr; Lamp of Alhazred; Leng; Maze of the Seven Thousand Crystal Frames; Nameless City; Necrolatry; Necronomicon (appendices); shoggoths; That is not dead...; Yakthoob; Yhe Rituals. (“The Doom of Yakthoob”, Carter; “In the City of Pillars”, Carter; “Mnomquah”, Carter; “The Shadow from the Stars”, Carter; “The Thing under Memphis”, Carter; “The Vault beneath the Mosque”, Carter; “A Brief Biography of Abdul Alhazred”, Cornford; “Foreword” to Al Azif, de Camp; “The City without a Name”, Hamblin; “Notes on a Fragment of the Necronomicon”, Hamblin; Keeper’s Compendium, Herber; “The Saga of Abdul Alhazred”, Larkin; Necronomicon, Levenda; “History of the Necronomicon”, Lovecraft; “The Nameless City”, Lovecraft (O); “The Transition of Abdul Alhazred”, Price; “The Life of the Master”, St. Albans; “The Scourge”, Saplak; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley; Alhazred, Tyson; “Key to the Mysteries”, Webb.)

ALLEN, ZADOK (1832–1927?)

Town drunk of Innsmouth, Massachusetts. When he was around fifteen, the plague struck Innsmouth, and Allen’s father died as a result of it, a blow from which Allen never recovered. He became a member of the Esoteric Order of Dagon with the rest of the townsfolk, but was never admitted into the inmost circle. He left Innsmouth to fight in the Civil War, but returned to the town thereafter. He vanished during the summer of 1927 after a conversation with Robert Olmstead.

(“The Shadow over Innsmouth”, Lovecraft (O); “The Weird Shadow over Innsmouth”, Lovecraft and Glasby.)

ALPHABET OF NUG-SOTH

See Nug-Soth.

AMULET OF THE HOUND (also JADE HOUND)

Talisman of green jade in the shape of a winged hound, believed to be a stylized version of a Hound of Tindalos. These items are the emblems of a cannibalistic cult of Leng, providing one of its members with the ability to do as they please without regard to law or custom. The hound supposedly represents the corpse-eating spirits of the region.

Each amulet captures and destroys the souls that the wearer consumes in cannibalistic rites, adding to the magician’s power. A supernatural force slays those who take one of these amulets from its owner, whether living or dead, so long as the amulet is taken without permission. Other texts claim that the amulet protects the owner from the Hound until it is removed. The wizard Yakthoob might have owned such an amulet.

See Hounds of Tindalos. (“The Madness out of Time”, Carter; “The Hound,” Lovecraft (O); “An Eidolon of Nothing”, Pugmire; “Arcane Antiquities”, Sammons; “Then Terror Came”, Thomas; Necronomicon, Tyson.)

ANCIENT ONES

Transmogrified beings who have passed through the Ultimate Gate guarded by Tawil at’Umr. Though originally of many different species, they appear in Tawil at’Umr’s great temple as cloaked, sleeping figures bearing scepters and seated on pedestals. The Ancient Ones only wake to aid those who desire to enter the Ultimate Gate and join their number. It may be that the Ancient Ones are the Great Old Ones themselves.

See ‘Umr at-Tawil; Vatican Codex. (“Through the Gates of the Silver Key”, Lovecraft and Price.)

ANGELL, GEORGE GAMMELL (1857–1926)

Professor Emeritus of Semitic Languages at Brown University, who succumbed to a heart attack on November 23, 1926. Angell pioneered the research on the worldwide Cthulhu cult. Subsequent scholars, beginning with his nephew Francis Thurston, have built their conclusions upon this man’s work. He is also known for the creation of a library classification system dedicated to esoteric works.

See Cthulhu; R’lyeh; Thurston, Francis Wayland. (“The Call of Cthulhu” (graphic adaptation), Coulthart and Lovecraft; “The Call of Cthulhu”, Lovecraft (O); “The Atrocity Archives”, Stross.)

ANGLES OF TAGH CLATUR

Set of incantations that may bring beings from the Other Side to this world. Only the reversed angles, which make these creatures partly corporeal, may be used before the stars are right. (Some Egyptian high priests may have known these ceremonies and used them to bring Glaaki to Earth temporarily before his later physical arrival on a meteorite.) The Reversed Angles may also be used to provide protection against such beings.

See Glaaki. (“The Inhabitant of the Lake”, Campbell (O); “The Render of the Veils”, Campbell, “Something in the Moonlight”, Carter.)

ANTARKTOS, MOUNT

Mountain located near the South Pole, beneath which dwells the Great Old One Gol-goroth.

See Gol-goroth. (“The Fishers from Outside”, Carter; “Antarktos”, Lovecraft (O).)

APHOOM ZHAH

Flame-being spawned by Cthugha after that Great Old One was imprisoned. Aphoom Zhah appears as a gray flickering flame that freezes whatever it touches.

After leaving Fomalhaut, Aphoom Zhah spent some time on Yaksh before finally coming to Earth on Mount Yarak (or Yaanek) at the North Pole. According to the Pnakotic Manuscripts, the Elder Gods found him there and bound him in a deep pit beneath it. Aphoom Zhah poured out cold in its fury, freezing the land around it. This being was later responsible for directing Rlim Shaikorth to destroy the land of Mhu Thulan. In years to come, Aphoom Zhah himself created the cold which destroyed Hyperborea, Zobna, and Lomar.

Aphoom Zhah is believed to have spawned Gnoph-keh, Rhan-Tegoth, and Voorm. The Gnophkeh and the voormis are known to revere it, but it has no known human cult attached to it.

See Remnants of Lost Empires; Rlim Shaikorth; Voormish Tablets; Yaanek. (“Acolyte of the Flame”, Carter; “Zoth-Ommog”, Carter (O); “The Light from the Pole”, Carter and Smith.)

ARAN, MOUNT

Peak which lies in the Valley of Ooth-Nargai, near Celephaïs. Its lower slopes are covered with a lush forest of ginkgoes, while its summit remains snow-capped throughout the year. Though the Gods of Earth never danced upon this mountain, tales of strange ice sculptures make travelers reluctant to climb its slopes.

See Celephaïs. (“Celephaïs”, Lovecraft (O); “Iced on Aran”, Lumley.)

ARKHAM

Town located on the Miskatonic River in Essex County, Massachusetts.

Arkham was founded in the latter 17th century by freethinkers who found the area’s religious communities too strict. Its name might derive from that of the Arkham family, who numbered among the town’s first inhabitants. The town grew slowly at first, with agriculture being the primary source of revenue. Around the year 1692, the witchcraft-fever that swept Salem also touched Arkham. The Arkham authorities sent at least one witch, Keziah Mason, to Salem for trial, and Goody Fowler was hung by an angry mob upon her return to town in 1704.

During the middle of the 18th century, Arkham became a thriving seaport. It was one of the town’s most influential captains, Jeremiah Orne, who imparted the books and funds that led to the founding of Miskatonic Liberal College. By the beginning of the 19th century, the sea trade had failed, but many mills began to spring up upon the banks of the Miskatonic. In 1861, Miskatonic Liberal College, which already enjoyed the highest reputation, became Miskatonic University, an institution that became the town’s most famous landmark. The flood of 1888 and the typhoid outbreak of 1905 led to a serious decline in the town’s fortunes. Mostly due to the revenue generated by the University, Arkham was able to recover and flourish until the disastrous storm and flood of 1980, which destroyed much of the town.

Different accounts of Arkham’s present conditions exist; some say that the town is rundown and serves as a suburb to nearby Beverly, while others tell of its booming population and Miskatonic’s state-of-the-art facilities. In either case, the town is a paradise for the scholar and antiquarian, but offers little for the casual traveler.

See Armitage, Henry; Aylesbury; Aylesbury Pike; Azathoth and Other Horrors; Billington’s Wood; Bolton; Brown Jenkin; Carter, Randolph; Cult of the Skull; Derby, Edward Pickman; Dewart, Ambrose; Fowler, Goody; Gilman, Walter; Hoag, Wilbur; Kingsport; Mason, Keziah; Meadow Hill; Miskatonic River; Miskatonic University; Phillips, Ward; Shrewsbury, Laban; Smith, Morgan; S’ngac; Thaumurgatical Prodigies; Themystos’ Island; Theron Marks Society; Upton, Daniel; Wilmarth, Albert; Witch-House. (Arkham Unveiled, Herber; A Resection of Time, Johnson; “Season of the Witch”, Launius; “The Dreams in the Witch-House”, Lovecraft; “The Dunwich Horror”, Lovecraft; “Herbert West — Reanimator”, Lovecraft; “The Picture in the House”, Lovecraft (O); The Transition of Titus Crow, Lumley; “The Fall of Cthulhu”, Nelson.)

ARMITAGE, HENRY (1855–1939/1946?)

One-time head librarian at Miskatonic University, and the author of Notes toward a Bibliography of World Occultism, Mysticism, and Magic (Miskatonic University Press, 1927), and Devils and Demons in the Miskatonic Valley.

Armitage’s childhood remains a mystery; scurrilous rumors have circulated that he came from Innsmouth and that his parents were killed in the government raid on that town. Armitage attended Miskatonic University (Class of 1881), later obtaining his doctorate at Princeton and his Doctor of Letters degree at Cambridge. The young man first became interested in uncanny subjects in 1882 when he heard of a mysterious meteor which had landed near Arkham. This occurrence led him to obtain a copy of the Necronomicon for the library and consult it for the first time. Later, Armitage returned to this volume to solve the mysterious death of Wilbur Whateley, a correspondent of his who lived in Dunwich and had been killed in the library. With the aid of Professors Rice and Morgan, he put an end to the horror that had ravaged Dunwich. His health failed thereafter, and he was relieved of his station in favor of Cyrus Llanfer sometime before 1936, though he appears to have continued at the library in some capacity.

The circumstances around Armitage’s death remain unclear. One source states that he perished while trying to save the Rare Book collection from a fire in 1939, though others maintain he worked for U. S. intelligence during World War II. Another says that he died in 1946 of a heart attack brought on by being knocked down by the guard dogs outside the library.

See Dunwich; Llanfer, Cyrus; Morgan, Francis; Whateley, Wilbur; Wilmarth, Albert. (“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 Dunwich Horror”, Lovecraft (O); “The Black Brat of Dunwich”, Sargent; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley; “Stacked Actors”, Worthy.)

ATAL

High priest of the Elder Gods in Ulthar. Atal was born the son of an innkeeper but apprenticed to Barzai, Ulthar’s priest of the gods of Earth. He accompanied Barzai on his climb of Mount Hatheg-Kla. Atal himself is now High Priest there and still presides over worship, though he is over three hundred years old. He keeps many secrets but is known to divulge them when in his cups.

See Barrier of Naach-Tith; Barzai; Hatheg-Kla; Ulthar. (“The Cats of Ulthar”, Lovecraft (O); “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft; “The Other Gods”, Lovecraft.)

ATLACH‑NACHA

Great Old One which appears as a huge spider with an anthropoid head, and on rare occasion as a beautiful, multi-armed woman. Atlach-Nacha was said to have come to Earth from Saturn along with Tsathoggua; in other version of the myth, the spider god spun a web between the two planets that allowed Tsathoggua to arrive.

The spider-god lives within a great chasm beneath Mount Voormithadreth in Hyperborea, though reports of the god have also come from Siberia and Peru. Atlach-Nacha spends all its time bridging a bottomless chasm between the waking world and the Dreamlands with its web, a task which will keep it occupied until the end of the world.

Atlach-Nacha may be summoned from its chasm to possess one of its statues, though it hates to leave its spinning. A few cults devoted to Atlach-Nacha have existed at various times. The Phoenicians held this Great Old One in reverence, and small groups of worshipers are known to have existed in India and the Andaman Islands. The Esoteric Order of Dagon speaks of Atlach-Nacha as a being who dwells on a “Tree of Death” and punishes those who do not breed with the deep ones and each other. Atlach-Nacha deals mostly with sorcerers, however, who contact it in exchange for arcane knowledge and visions of other dimensions. She has even acted as an emissary for Atlach-Nacha.

Atlach-Nacha is said to control all spiders, and was at one time the lord of the Children of Atlach-Nacha, arachnid beings that lived during the early Mesozoic Era and which now exist only as curious fossils found at a few sites around the world. Atlach-Nacha’s most devoted priests know arcane procedures that may return these remains to life. Some say that these Children are identical to the purple spiders of Leng.

There has been one major attempt to find the dwelling place of Atlach-Nacha, the Barton-Doherty expedition. This brave band of explorers set out around 1985 for the Andes to attempt to locate the Great Old One, wearing fiberglass armor so that it would be too difficult for Atlach-Nacha to devour them. Unfortunately, nothing has been heard of them since.

See Cykranosh; Gray Weavers; Tcho-tchos; Tsathoggua. (“The Andaman Islands”, Herber; “Heterodox Churches in Innsmouth”, Marsh; A Guide to the Cthulhu Cult, Pelton; S. Petersen’s Field Guide to the Creatures of the Dreamlands, Petersen; “Rede of the Gray Weavers”, Schwader; “The Seven Geases”, Smith (O); “Web of Memory”, Szymanski; “The Letter”, Vance; The Complete Dreamlands, Williams and Petersen; The Philosopher’s Stone, Wilson.)

ATLANTIS

Lost continent in the Atlantic Ocean.

Much of Atlantis’ history remains shrouded in mystery. The first kingdom of Atlantis, Caiphul, was founded by Valthoth, the Prince of the Last Days known later as the god Thoth, who led the refugees from the destruction of Lemuria. This first kingdom eventually fell (possibly due to battles against monsters from the depths of the sea), and there was confusion for quite some time. (It may have been during this time that the Atlantean warrior Kull conquered the land of Valusia.)

The Second Empire was established by a dynasty springing from Cleito and the sea-god Pazadon, or Poseidon. These two had ten children, each of whom established a kingdom on Atlantis. The oldest of these, Atlas, was placed as king of the City of the Golden Gates, a beautiful place arranged in a circular pattern and filled with waterways and defensive walls.

The Atlanteans excelled in the fields of science and magic, but much knowledge was lost after the fall of Lemuria. Its pantheon was diverse, including such gods as Daoloth, Gloon, Bast, and Ghatanothoa. As time went on, the forces of Chaos became powerful once again, and many Atlanteans practiced black magic. The cult of Dagon became strong, and the deep ones mingled their blood with that of the Atlanteans.

Twenty thousand years ago, at the beginning of the Hyborian Age, a great portion of Atlantis sank beneath the waves. The causes behind this are unknown, and may range from geologic catastrophe to a failed sorcerous experiment to the wrath of the gods. Some say that their magical might became so great that Thelatha the Demon King, who served the agents of Chaos, was able to conquer the City of the Golden Gates. In the end, these wizards’ magical experiments went horribly awry, and the City sank into the sea. Others say that the same disaster came about when the hybrid children of the deep ones sought to overcome the nobility, who fought back with crystal-powered weaponry.

The ensuing cataclysm destroyed the surrounding continent and made much of the rest uninhabitable. As a result the Atlanteans lost much of their knowledge and reverted to barbarism. They did manage to conquer some land on other continents, but their glory had faded.

Some isles, including Poseidonis and Bal-Sagoth, survived the inundation, but most of these eventually sank beneath the ocean. The survivors of the disaster fled to such far-flung locales as the Sahara, Averoigne, and the Caribbean. Atlantis’ lore, as preserved by the high priests Klarkash-Ton and Luveh-Kerapht, has survived in fragments kept by the priests of Sais in Egypt. The ruins of Atlantis itself may survive beneath the waves, but if so no one has seen them and lived.

One alternate tradition is that of Beloe’s Wonders Witnessed, which holds that Atlantis, or “Alanhati”, was inhabited by the Elder Things who caused it to vanish to avoid the eyes of men. This information contradicts much of the other information we have on this period, however.

[Atlantis first appeared in Plato’s dialogues Timaeus and the unfinished Critias. Debates as to whether Plato’s tales were allegories or re-tellings of actual legends or events have gone on for millennia. Some have claimed that Atlantis did exist (though they often describe it in terms of their own political, national, and racial utopia), while others say that another cataclysm, such as the volcanic destruction of the isle of Thera in 1500 B. C., served as its model. The modern fascination with Atlantis began with Ignatius’ Donnelly’s Atlantis: The Antediluvian World (1882), and shows no sign of abating.

[Lovecraft and his fellow authors took much of their Atlantean lore from Theosophy. The most famous Theosophical book on the subject is W. Scott-Elliot’s The Story of Atlantis and the Lost Lemuria (1925).]

See Bal-Sagoth; Book of Dzyan; Book of Eibon; Bugg-Shash; Cimmeria; Commoriom; Hyborian Age; Hyperborea; K’n-yan; Lemuria; L’mur-Kathulos; Nodens; Shining Trapezohedron; Tsathoggua. (The Secret Doctrine, Blavatsky; “The Mannikin”, Bloch; “The Render of the Veils”, Campbell; The Black Star, Carter; “The Seal of Zaon Sathla”, Carter; Conan of the Isles, Carter and de Camp; The Hyborian Age, Howard; Selected Letters V, Lovecraft; “The Strange High House in the Mist”, Lovecraft; “The Temple”, Lovecraft; “The Whisperer in Darkness”, Lovecraft; “The Last Test”, Lovecraft and de Castro; “Out of the Aeons”, Lovecraft and Heald; “In the Vaults Beneath”, Lumley; The Transition of Titus Crow, Lumley; Critias, Plato; Timaeus, Plato (O); The Story of Atlantis and the Lost Lemuria, Scott-Elliot; “The City in the Sea”, Thomas and Willis; Necronomicon, Tyson.)

AVALOTH

Being referred to in the fifth Eltdown Shard, and known for its voracious appetite. Avaloth created a great sheet of ice that crept south and threatened to cover the entire world. The wizard Om Oris pitted his might against Avaloth, and presumably caused its destruction by means of a tremendous source of heat. Some have said that “Avaloth” is actually the secret name of Ithaqua.

See Eltdown Shards. (“Wrath of the Wind-Walker”, Ambuehl and Price; Selected Letters V, Lovecraft; “The Warder of Knowledge”, Searight (O).)

AVEROIGNE

South central French province more commonly known as Auvergne, and considered the most witch-ridden in the entire country. The Annales of Flavius Alesius state that the land was settled in the time of the Gauls by the Averones, a people who originally dwelt in a western land which sank beneath the ocean. During the Roman period, the towns of Simaesis and Avionium (known later as Ximes and Vyones, respectively) were greatly feared due to the presence of cults dedicated to a god called Sadoqua. The Church attempted to suppress this worship, but by the eleventh century many highly placed churchman of the region had taken up these older practices and little could be done.

Undoubtedly the most famous inhabitant of Averoigne was Gaspard du Nord of Vyones, a reputed wizard who translated the Book of Eibon into Norman French in the thirteenth or fourteenth century. This volume, when put into such an accessible form, resulted in a resurgence of sorcery for the region that never quite came to an end.

[Auvergne is indeed a French province; though not lying within it, it is possible that the nearby cities of Lyons and Limoges became Vyones and Ximes, respectively, in Smith’s imagination. Lyons was the site of a witch-trial, and Auvergne itself has at least one werewolf legend to its credit.]

See Book of Eibon; Chateau des Faussesflammes; Du Nord, Gaspard; Ring of Eibon; Tsathoggua. (Selected Letters V, Lovecraft; “The Colossus of Ylourgne”, Smith; “The End of the Story”, Smith.)

AYLESBURY

Town in north central Massachusetts. An Arkham industrialist, Elihu Beckworth, founded the town on the site of the former village of Broton in 1802. Beckford built a town based on his vision of a utopian factory community and funded construction of the Aylesbury Pike.

Beckford’s ideal community perished with him, but the town continued to grow, primarily due to the textile industry. By the end of the century, most of the production of these goods had moved south, and Aylesbury’s economy slumped. Today, there is little to distinguish Aylesbury from any number of small manufacturing centers in New England.

See Aylesbury Pike; Dean’s Corners; Dunwich. (Return to Dunwich, Herber, “The Dunwich Horror”, Lovecraft (O).)

AYLESBURY PIKE

Road built by industrialist Elihu Beckford which runs from Arkham and follows the Miskatonic River west to Aylesbury. Travelers along the Pike should be careful near Dean’s Corners not to take the wrong fork that leads to Dunwich.

See Billington’s Wood. (Return to Dunwich, Herber; “The Dunwich Horror”, Lovecraft (O).)

AZAG-THOTH

See Azathoth.

AZATHI

Children of Azathoth formed from thermonuclear energy. Periodically in his mindless writhings, Azathoth disgorges one of these creatures. Most of these births result in the death of the child, as it is unable to control its body and explodes. Only a few are able to hold their internal energies in check and thus remain alive to leave the court of their father. Three Azathi, the beings titled Azatha, Azathe, and Azathu, still exist somewhere within the cosmos.

See Azathoth. (Elysia, Lumley.)

AZATHOTH (also AZAZOTH or AZAG-THOTH)

Outer God also known as the Primal Chaos and the Daemon Sultan. Azathoth normally is a shapeless chaotic mass, but has been known to take on other forms when he has been summoned.

Azathoth sits in his court at the center of Ultimate Chaos (others say the center of the universe, or even caverns beneath the earth), mindlessly bubbling and blaspheming as he presides over the dance of the Other Gods. A veil of colors seals off the rest of the universe from the court of Azathoth where conventional laws of space and time break down. Azathoth may only leave his throne if summoned through incantation or through one of the special portals located in the temples of the insects from Shaggai.

Legend has it that Azathoth gave birth to the universe, and will destroy it in the end. Some modern thinkers have equated Azathoth with the Big Bang; this corresponds with the Greek and Norse creation myths, which hold that the universe was created out of primal chaos. He may also be a personification of radioactivity; in fact, the formula in De Vermis Mysteriis for calling Azathoth requires a large quantity of fissionable material. Azathoth has also been given credit for the Tunguska explosion of 1908, though most scientists credit this destructive event to an asteroid impact.

Some scholars have drawn parallels between Azathoth and the Gnostic Achamoth, the mother of the Demiurge who created the universe, or the Egyptian cult of Aten the sun-disk. Overall, however, worship of Azathoth in his normal guise seems rare. The only true earthly cult was that of the Gnophkehs, but isolated madmen have served him more recently. Azathoth also has a large following among the shan, whose temples hold an image of his avatar Xada-Hgla. The rites the shan perform for Azathoth are wholly abominable.

The utterance of Azathoth’s name gives one great power over beings from outside, and his unknown secret name gives even more influence and may permanently damage one who hears it. This respect has its limits, though, and not even the Necronomicon contains Azathoth’s secret name.

Some assert that the Daemon Sultan was not always an Idiot Chaos; instead, he lost his intellect and body in a great intercosmic battle, in which he may have been thrust entirely outside this dimension. This interpretation is only found within a few works, though. Azathoth has also been said to be merely the puppet of something infinitely more horrible.

See Azathi; Azathoth and Other Horrors; Book of Azathoth; Cxaxukluth; elemental theory; Gnophkehs; Great Old Ones; Grey Rite of Azathoth; Hounds of Tindalos; Kuranes; L’gy’hx; Massa di Requiem per Shuggay; Nameless Mist; Nyarlathotep (Dark Destroyer); Other Gods; Outer Gods; Shaggai; shan; shantaks; Shub-Niggurath; S’ngac; Sothoth; Stygia, Thyoph; Tond; Tulzscha; Ubbo-Sathla; Vach-Viraj; Xada-Hgla; Yog-Sothoth; Yoth; Zylac. (Strange Eons, Bloch; “The Insects from Shaggai”, Campbell; “The Mine on Yuggoth”, Campbell; “The Nameless Tower”, Glasby; “Mandelbrot Moldrot”, Gresh; Spawn of Azathoth, Herber; “Hydra”, Kuttner; “Professor Peabody’s Last Lecture”, Laird; “Azathoth”, Lovecraft (O); The Burrowers Beneath, Lumley; Elysia, Lumley; “The Last Night of Earth”, Myers; Call of Cthulhu, Petersen and Willis; The Philosopher’s Stone, Wilson.)

AZATHOTH AND OTHER HORRORS

Book of Edward Derby’s poetry, and the only one to be published within his lifetime. The identity of the publishers remain unclear; some say that it was put out in 1919 by Onyx Sphinx Press of Arkham, Massachusetts (possibly Derby’s own imprint), while others maintain that a Cambridge firm published it in 1916, putting out several more editions before it went bankrupt in 1931. More recently, Bagdasarian’s imprint Azathoth House put out a new edition in the spring of 1946.

The work “Azathoth”, which takes up half the volume, describes a dream-encounter with the daemon-sultan Azathoth. Other poems included are “Nemesis Rising”, “Charnel House”, “Dead but Not Gone”, and “Medusa’s Kiss”. While relatively unknown, Azathoth and Other Horrors influenced several other books, including Georg Fischer’s The Tunneler Below.

See Derby, Edward Pickman; Dho-Hna formula; The Tunneler Below; Waite, Asenath. (“The House of Azathoth”, Cannon; “The Revenge of Azathoth”, Cannon; “Azathoth”, ‘Derby’; Keeper’s Compendium, Herber; “The Terror from the Depths”, Leiber; “The Thing on the Doorstep”, Lovecraft (O).)

AZATHOTH, BOOK OF

See Book of Azathoth.

AZATHOTH, SEED OF

See Seed of Azathoth.

B

BAALBO

Dead star. Baalbo is one of a binary system about which the planet Tond revolves. (“The Inhabitant of the Lake,” Campbell.)

BAHARNA

Main port on the isle of Oriab in the Dreamland’s Southern Sea. Its builders constructed it upon a steep slope, with the more expensive shops and dwellings on the higher levels and the less reputable establishments further down. The town’s most famous landmarks are its twin lighthouses, Thon and Thal, as well as the canal that runs from the ocean beneath the town to the Lake of Yath in Oriab’s interior.

See Oriab. (“The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft (O); “A-Mazed in Oriab”, Lumley.)

BAL-SAGOTH

Island in the Atlantic said to be the last surviving fragment of Atlantis. At the time of the Crusades, Norsemen landed upon this isle. They later reported the nature of its natives, their highly advanced civilization, and their worship of the god known as Gol-goroth.

See Gol-goroth. (“The Fishers from Outside”, Carter; “The Gods of Bal-Sagoth”, Howard (O).)

BARRIER OF NAACH-TITH (also WALL OF NAACH-TITH)

Incantation that will “seal the souls” of the chanter when Yibb-Tstll is summoned, and which can also be used to provide a larger barrier to protect against or contain evil forces. This ritual is hinted at in the Cthaat Aquadingen, but the complete version may only be found in the library of Celaeno or in the Fourth Book of D’harsis.

See Celaeno; Cthaat Aquadingen; Sixth Sathlatta. (“Halls of Celaeno”, Herber; The Clock of Dreams, Lumley; “Dylath-Leen”, Lumley (O); “The Horror at Oakdeene”, Lumley.)

BARZAI

One-time high priest of Earth’s gods in Ulthar. Barzai had read the Pnakotic Manuscripts and the Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan, and was very knowledgeable about the Great Ones and their ways. His desire for knowledge, however, proved to be his undoing, for he attempted to gaze upon the gods themselves. As his apprentice Atal later reported, he vanished from atop Mount Hatheg-Kla, on which he had hoped to see the gods dancing. Atal has preserved Barzai’s handwritten notes on the Great Ones at the Temple of the Elder Ones.

The Necronomicon includes a chapter on creating the Scimitar of Barzai, a bronze weapon used to inscribe magical symbols and frighten spirits. Its connection with the historic Barzai is unknown.

See Atal; Hatheg-Kla; Pnakotic Manuscripts. (The Necronomicon, Hay, ed.; “The Other Gods”, Lovecraft (O); The Complete Dreamlands, Williams and Petersen.)

BAST

Egyptian goddess who took the form of a woman with the head of a cat. Bast was originally worshiped in Atlantis, and her worship was probably carried from that land to Egypt along with much of the sunken continent’s lore. The center of Bast’s cult in the land of the Nile was the city of Bubastis. The people of Bubastis revered felines, and many cats were mummified upon their deaths to please the goddess. Bast was also the goddess of pleasure, and was thus one of Egypt’s most popular deities.

During the reign of Nephren-Ka, the cult of Bast was subverted and her priests joined the Black Pharaoh in his dark worship. Prinn writes in De Vermis Mysteriis that the city of Bubastis was destroyed by the other religious factions of the Nile valley, due to the repulsive nature of Bast’s rites. Most of the cult was put to the sword, but rumor has it that some escaped to Britain, keeping their practices a secret. Bast’s worship underwent a reformation, with her priests taking it upon themselves to destroy those who threatened the pharaohs. Cults of Bast may survive in the modern world, though most of them have gone underground if this is so.

[Bast was an actual Egyptian deity, though there is no evidence linking her to any dark and evil rituals.]

See Black Rites; Luveh-Keraphf; Nephren-Ka; Saracenic Rituals. (“The Brood of Bubastis”, Bloch; “The Mannikin”, Bloch; “The Suicide in the Study”, Bloch (O), “Cults Exposed!: The Sacred Flame of Bubastis”, Harms.)

THE BEAST

See Nyarlathotep (The Beast).

BEINGS FROM IB

See Thuun’ha.

BEL YARNAK (also YARNAK?)

City on the planet Yarnak. The city was beautiful, consisting of many high minarets of silver and streets paved with precious metals. Bel Yarnak was brought to its doom due to the actions of the wizard Thorazor, and no one lives there now.

See Vorvadoss; Yarnak. (“The Eater of Souls”, Kuttner (O); “The Jest of Droom-Avista”, Kuttner.)

BELED EL-DJINN

See Kara-Shehr.

BENDAL-DOLUM

Fabled city in the depths of the Belize jungle. Various expeditions to find Bendal Dolum, especially that of Dr. Eric Williamson, have failed to find any sign of it.

(A Resection of Time, Johnson; “The Pits of Bendal-Dolum”, Lyons (O).)

BERKELEY TOAD

See Byatis.

BETHMOORA

City located somewhere beyond the hills of Hap in the Dreamlands. Bethmoora was once a thriving city with green copper gates where song and dance filled the streets.

One day, when a festival was held in Bethmoora, three men riding mules came from the desert, bringing a message whose exact nature and origin remains unknown. Some say it came from the desert itself, which desired to overrun the fair city; others assert that the messengers brought a decree from the emperor Thuba Mleen or the gods, or even a warning of the plague. Upon hearing the words of these men, the entire population of Bethmoora deserted their city in one day, leaving it empty and shunned by all travelers. A drug-crazed madman who visited the court of Thuba Mleen in his dreams claims that this emperor was to blame, but he is hardly a credible source.

Rumor has it that the priests of Bethmoora periodically mated a human woman with the gods Lloigor and Zhar to create tyrants who ruled Bethmoora for millennia before being overthrown. The departure of the people from the city left the cycle incomplete, and the gods wait inside Bethmoora’s gates for the prophecy to be fulfilled. This does not explain the message of the three men on mules, however.

In one incantation, Bethmoora is referred to as a conscious being.

(“The Isle of Dark Magic”, Cave; “Bethmoora”, Dunsany (O); “The Hashish-Man”, Dunsany; “The Whisperer in Darkness”, Lovecraft; “Meet Me on the Other Side”, Navarro.)

BHOLES

Creatures that dwell in the Dreamlands’ Vale of Pnath. No one has ever seen a bhole, but Randolph Carter’s encounter with them suggests that they are worm-shaped. Some say that bholes are a subspecies of dhole, or that the bholes give birth to the dholes and then send them through wormholes to other worlds.

[This word originally appeared as “Dholes”, but S. T. Joshi’s corrected versions of Lovecraft’s texts show that the word is “Bholes”. It seems that one of the creators of the Dreamlands sourcebook for Call of Cthulhu read a corrected version of “Dream-Quest” and thought that “bholes” were a new creature, thus leading to the creation of two different creatures. The most recent edition has corrected this, however.]

See Carter, Randolph; dholes; Pnath. (“The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft; H. P. Lovecraft’s Dreamlands, Petersen et. al.; S. Petersen’s Field Guide to Cthulhu Monsters, Petersen et. al.)

BILLINGTON, ALIJAH

Descendant of Richard Billington who dwelt on the family estate during the first years of the nineteenth century. He took exception to what was written about his forebear in Reverend Phillips’ Thaumurgatical Prodigies in the New-English Caanan. A lively debate ensued, during which Phillips and his allies charged that Alijah was carrying on the dark practices of his ancestor in secret. After a few months of this controversy, John Druven, one of the Reverend’s fellow advocates, disappeared following an inspection of the Billington estate. Shortly thereafter, Alijah left with his son Laban and an Indian servant, Quamis, for England, and Reverend Phillips, now surprisingly penitent, attempted to purchase and destroy all copies of his book. Billington died in England, far from his homeland.

See Bilington, Richard; Billington’s Wood; Dewart, Ambrose; Misquamacus; Thaumaturgatical Prodigies. (“The Lurker at the Threshold”, Derleth and Lovecraft (O).)

BILLINGTON, RICHARD

Wealthy landowner who dwelt near New Dunnich, later known as Dunwich, in colonial times. Billington was reputed to be a wizard who worshiped Satan in an old stone circle near his house and learned a great deal from the Wampanoag shaman Misquamacus. After several murders in the area, Billington himself dropped out of sight and was not heard from thereafter.

See Billington, Alijah; Billington’s Wood; Misquamacus; Of Evill Sorceries Done in New England; Thaumurgatical Prodigies. (“The Lurker at the Threshold”, Derleth and Lovecraft (O).)

BILLINGTON’S WOOD

Virgin forest north of Arkham, near the Aylesbury Pike. This place was once the property of Richard and Alijah Billington. In its depths stood the Billington house, along with a stone tower and ring on an island in a dry streambed. The latter was destroyed in 1924. The deeper parts of the woods are rumored to hold even stranger wonders.

See Dewart, Ambrose. (“Arkham Pets”, Ambuehl; “The Lurker at the Threshold”, Derleth and Lovecraft (O).)

THE BLACK

Dark, flaky substance, which serves as blood for the Great Old One Yibb-Tstll. Sorcerers sometimes call the Black itself to assault their foes. To do so, the caster must first inscribe the Sixth Sathlatta in its original Ptetholite characters (shown in the Cthaat Aquadingen) on a wafer of flour and water. This wafer then must be given to the intended victim. Some say that the victim must touch the wafer for the spell to take effect, but evidence from one attack suggests otherwise. Then, when the target can hear the caster, the wizard must recite the Hoy-Dhin Chant from the Necronomicon.

As the sorcerer chants, the Black will manifest itself, falling upon and adhering to the spell’s target. Soon the victim will be completely covered and suffocate. The Black will then return to Yibb-Tstll with the person’s soul, leaving behind no trace. If a person afflicted by the Black is able to reach running water, the spell will cease and return to its caster, taking full effect upon the would-be murderer.

See Hoy-Dhin chant; Ptetholites; Sixth Sathlatta; Yibb-Tstll. (“The Black Recalled”, Lumley; “The Caller of the Black”, Lumley (O); “The Horror at Oakdeene”, Lumley.)

BLACK BOOK

See Unaussprechlichen Kulten.

BLACK BOOK OF THE SKULL (originally SURTHAGGITH: VTHAEGGAISH EAERTH)

Volume written long ago by J’Cak Igguratian, the court sorcerer to the Vang, or King, of the lost continent of Quy. J’Cak vanished after he killed five women to attain immortality, in accordance with the book’s instructions.

The first known edition of the Black Book of the Skull was in Greek, but the Inquisition burned almost all of these. Later, the Black Book of the Skull was translated into Latin, although the translators refused to transcribe certain passages. The occultist Aleister Crowley translated the book into English. Starry Wisdom Press issued this translation during the 1920s, but this one is slightly inaccurate on several points. The only known surviving copy of the Greek edition is kept at Dwayne University in Amoston, Kansas, and a Latin edition may be found at Miskatonic University.

This book gives a history of the earth’s beginnings account of the author’s occult experiments and his warnings on dealing with the Great Old Ones. The beings Othuyeg and Quyagen are discussed.

(“Huitloxopetl VI: Lieutenant August Investigates”, Burnham; “History of the Empire of the Continent of Quy”, Burnham; “Invocation”, Burnham (O); “The Seven Cities of Gold”, Burnham; “Huitloxopetl XI: The Ripening of Huitloxopetl”, Davey.)

BLACK BROTHERHOOD

International terrorist organization devoted to the cause of the Old Ones. Some claim that the group dates back to the reign of Nitocris, who once commanded them, and that they were also connected with the Assassins. The members of the Black Brotherhood, who come from all backgrounds and ethnicities, carry out covert assassination attempts against various government officials, choosing their targets in no discernible pattern. The perpetrators of these attacks usually die shortly thereafter, so very few interrogations of its members have taken place. Those of the Brotherhood believe that the Great Old Ones will awaken soon, and that their actions will make the earth ready for their masters.

(“Coming of Age”, Ballon; Strange Eons, Bloch (O).)

BLACK DEMON

See Nyarlathotep (Black Demon).

BLACK GOAT OF THE WOODS WITH A THOUSAND YOUNG

See Shub-Niggurath.

BLACK GOD OF MADNESS, (THE)

Novel by Amadeus Carson, a one-time romance novel writer whose writing took on sinister overtones after living in a witch-house in Salem. No publisher accepted the book, and most authorities in the field consider it to be lost, though it has turned up in at least one private collection.

(“The Winfield Heritance”, Carter; “The Land of the Reflected Ones”, Collins; “The Salem Horror”, Kuttner (O).)

BLACK GODS OF R’LYEH

Oath spoken in both Pictish Britain and Hyperborea. To which gods of the corpse-city it refers is unknown.

(“The Fear of Liqoimkh”, Cornford; “Worms of the Earth”, Howard (O).)

BLACK LITANIES OF NUG AND YEB

Rituals of worship for the twin entities Nug and Yeb that include references to the “Black Fire.” The only complete rendering of Yeb’s Litany was found on a wall in ancient Irem, though the inhabitants of K’n-yan are known to practice both rites. One composite litany may be found in the Book of Eibon.

See Nug and Yeb. (“The Mound”, Lovecraft and Bishop (O); “To Clear the Earth”, Murray; “The Black Litany of Nug and Yeb”, Pulver.)

BLACK LOTUS

Ebon-hued flower from Khitai, an eastern country of the Hyborian Age. Only the priests of the mysterious god Yun who dwelt in that land’s jungles could harvest the Lotus. Its scent could induce slumber in even the most ferocious beast, and the priests of Stygia made use of its properties to control the minds of others. The only ones who dared to take the black lotus powder knowingly were the necromancers of the Black Ring, though its use became more prevalent in later times.

After the end of the Hyborian Age the flower was taken to the Plateaus of Leng and Sung, where the priests of forgotten religious orders cultivated it. Legend has it that the Black Lotus was the basis of the poison used to kill the Buddha, inspiring his final, suppressed teachings. Its effects became so notorious that the khans of the East attempted to ban its use. It is still grown by the Tcho-tcho people, who consider it vital in the worship of Zhar and Lloigor.

Modern cults occasionally use the lotus to create drugs such as Liao which open up the mind to dreams of other dimensions. Dosages, methods of application, and precise effects may vary. Taken improperly, however, it may incite the user to homicidal frenzies or provide them with terrifying and uncontrolled hallucinations. The black lotus itself is sometimes seen in these visions, and it could be that the flower itself exerts a malign influence through them.

See Liao. (“Black Lotus”, Bloch; “The Black Lotus”, Carter; “Dreams of the Black Lotus”, Carter; “The Madness Out of Time”, Carter; Secrets of Japan, Dziesinski; “The Hour of the Dragon”, Howard; “Red Nails”, Howard; “The Tower of the Elephant”, Howard (O); “Dope War of the Black Tong”, Price.)

BLACK MAN

See Nyarlathotep (Black Man).

BLACK PHARAOH

Individual, sometimes named “Khotep”, who lived at the end of the Sixth Dynasty. This title has also been given to both Nephren-Ka and Nyarlathotep, often referring to individuals in vastly different periods. The Black Pharaoh is often symbolized by an inverted ankh, or cross of life.

See Nephren-Ka; Nyarlathotep (Black Pharaoh). (“Fane of the Black Pharaoh”, Bloch (O); Curse of the Black Pharaoh, Carter; S. Petersen’s Field Guide to Cthulhu Monsters, Petersen et. al.)

THE BLACK RITES

Section of the Scroll of Bubastis written by the Atlantean or Egyptian high priest Luveh-Keraphf, who worshiped Bast. The oldest copy known dates to the Thirteenth Dynasty. The Black Rites were usually omitted from the scrolls, but copies were secretly kept at Egypt’s most powerful temples. The original was written in Khemite hieratic script, and a Greek translation may also exist. The book may have been passed down to the present day, though finding a copy in these times is nearly impossible.

The book contains a great deal of information on Bast’s worship, a general overview of the other Egyptian gods, the tale of the discovery of Sebek’s Golden Crocodile, and a cautionary note on Nyarlathotep and the Black Pharaoh.

(“The Suicide in the Study”, Bloch (O); “Zoth-Ommog”, Carter; Complete Masks of Nyarlathotep, DiTillio and Willis; “The Curse of the Crocodile”, Tierney; “The Treasure of Horemkhu”, Tierney.)

BLACK RITUALS OF KOTH-SERAPIS

See Koth-Serapis.

BLACK SEAL OF IRAAN

Item brought to earth by the mi-go which came into possession of the wizard Iraan of Mu. Zanthu later acquired it, and used it in his bid for power in the temple of Ythogtha. Carved on its surface are the Seven Lost Signs of Terror, which can command obedience from any creature. It may be that this stone bears a relation to the Black Stone or the Ixaxar.

(“The Offering”, Carter; “The Whisperer in Darkness”, Lovecraft (O).)

BLACK STONE

1) Monument near the town of Stregoicavar, Hungary. The Black Stone is shaped like an obelisk and carved from a strange translucent stone. This monument is engraved with indecipherable carvings, but most of these have been chipped or weathered away.

No one knows what civilization erected the Black Stone. Some say that the Huns left it, but others, including Friedrich von Junzt, insist that it is a remnant of an even earlier time.

For hundreds of years, the Black Stone was the site of rituals for the hill people of the region. In 1526, a Muslim army marched into the area. When its commander, the scribe Selim Bahadur, discovered the locals’ practices, he ordered all the tribesmen killed and their village destroyed, ending the cult’s reign of terror over the region.

Even though over four centuries have passed since the land’s purging, those who live nearby shun the Black Stone. Gazing at the stone for any length of time causes insanity, and those who have slept nearby are haunted in their dreams for the rest of their lives. At one time, the natives set out to destroy the Stone, but all those who attempted to do this were cursed and the people allowed it to stand. This monument might have inspired Justin Geoffrey’s poem “People of the Monolith,” as the poet is known to have visited this area. Another visitor is said to have constructed a replica of the Stone in the Sesqua Valley.

See Magyar Folklore; Remnants of Lost Empires; Stregoicavar; Terrible Old Man; Unaussprechlichen Kulten; Xuthltan. (“The Black Stone,” Howard (O); “Your Metamorphic Moan”, Pugmire.)

2) A smaller object revered by the Worms of the Earth. These creatures kept it at Stonehenge until the invasion of the Picts, after which they bore it away into their underground caverns. A person who is able to steal the Black Stone from its keepers may request a service in return, though doing so will doom the thief after many years. The description of this stone seems to be quite similar to that of the Ixaxar, and the two might be the same object. See Black Seal; Zegrembi Seals. (“The People of the Dark”, Howard (O); “The Worms of the Earth”, Howard.)

BLACK SUTRA

Volume written by U Pao, one of Burma’s earliest scholars, around the year 700. His Black Sutra shows great insight into the nature of life on Earth, including passages suggesting the theory of evolution. In addition, it deals with Yidhra at some length. Some say that von Junzt’s last manuscript indicated he had read this book.

(“Where Yidhra Walks”, DeBill (O); Keeper’s Compendium, Herber, Nightmare’s Disciple, Pulver.)

BLACK TOME OF ALSOPHOCUS (also THE BLACK TOME)

Book written by the great wizard Alsophocus of Erongill. An unknown monk partially translated the Tome into Latin in 1517, entitling it Extractus Alsophocus. No one knows where any surviving copies of this book might be found, though Miskatonic University may hold one. The Black Tome held such powerful information as the citing of Boromir, the secrets of the Shining Trapezohedron, and the calling of Cthulhu from his tomb.

See Hounds of Tindalos. (“Coming of Age”, Ballon; “The Black Tome of Alsophocus”, Lovecraft and Warnes (O); Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

BLACK TOWER OF LENG

See Pharos of Leng.

BLACK WIND

See Nyarlathotep (Black Wind).

BLAINE, (DOCTOR) HENRY STEPHENSON

Manuscript curator at the Sanbourne Institute. In 1928, while cataloging and publishing the papers of Harold Hadley Copeland, Blaine suffered a mental breakdown and was confined.

See Hodgkins, Arthur. (“The Dweller in the Tomb”, Carter (O); “Out of the Ages”, Carter.)

BLAKE, ROBERT HARRISON

Milwaukee painter and weird fiction author. Due to difficulties in finding work, Blake turned to writing as a source of income. Though his works met with little commercial success at first, over time they began to gather acclaim, and Miskatonic University Press published the collection The Feaster from the Stars in 1928. Later, Blake took up painting as well, mainly depicting scenes of alien landscapes.

In search of greater thrills for use in his fiction, Blake searched for forbidden books, discovering a copy of De Vermis Mysteriis. He made a journey to Providence so that a friend might translate the archaic Latin in which the book was written. During this visit, his friend’s house burned to the ground with its tenant trapped inside. Blake left Providence hastily following this incident.

During the winter of 1935, Blake took up residence in an apartment on College Street in Providence. It was here that Blake completed many of his most famous stories. That spring and summer, however, Blake became increasingly obsessed with a deserted church on French Hill. He disclosed to friends that a series of strange events connected with this structure had befallen him; many consider these assertions to be part of a tremendous hoax engineered at least partially by Blake himself. On August 8, 1935, Blake was found dead from electrical shock in his rooms following a thunderstorm. His writing is still quite popular, and the short story collections The Stairs in the Crypt and his Collected Works have been reprinted after his death.

[Blake first appeared in Bloch’s “Shambler”, but was not named until Lovecraft’s “Haunter”. Lovecraft chose the name “Blake” due to its similarities to “Bloch,” so that he could return the favor Bloch had done by killing a Lovecraft-based character in “Shambler.” According to Lovecraft, the title story of the collection Feaster from the Stars (invented later) was not written until 1935.]

See Dexter, Ambrose. (“The Shadow from the Steeple”, Bloch; “The Shambler from the Stars”, Bloch (O); “The Franklyn Paragraphs”, Campbell; “The Freshman”, Farmer; “The Haunter of the Dark”, Lovecraft.)

BLASTED HEATH

Five-acre area to the west of Arkham covered with nothing but grey dust. No plants will grow on the Heath. At its center are the remains of a house and well. The Blasted Heath is believed to have been submerged beneath the new Arkham reservoir.

(“The Colour Out of Space”, Lovecraft (O).)

BLAYNE, HORVATH (c. 1925–1948)

Student of mythology and religion. Blayne was born Horvath Waite, but cousins in Boston adopted him when his home town of Innsmouth was destroyed and his family killed. He later became a student of Asian culture, centering his studies upon Indo-China and the isles of the Pacific. After the end of the Second World War, Blayne spent his time almost exclusively in the South Pacific, where he became known for his work with the ruins on Ponape.

In 1947, Blayne was sighted in Singapore with the noted scholar Laban Shrewsbury, and he is believed to have taken part in a secret government action somewhere in the Pacific. His fate is unknown, though a testament found among his papers hints at some disturbing possibilities.

(“The Black Island”, Derleth (O).)

BLOATED WOMAN

See Nyarlathotep (Bloated Woman).

BLOODY TONGUE

See Cult of the Bloody Tongue.

B’MOTH (also BEHEMOTH or PHEMAUT)

Oceanic deity worshiped in many parts of the world. B’moth desires to return all of humanity to the savage state that it once held, and can control weather and animals to accomplish this purpose. This creature may be another name for Cthulhu, or may be associated with the Great Old One in some way.

See Magic and the Black Arts. (“The Scourge of B’Moth”, Russell (O).)

BOKRUG

God who took the shape of a water-lizard and who was worshiped by the Thuum’ha of Ib. He is especially infamous for his vengeance upon those who offend him. His revenge may take hundreds of years to overtake his foes, but when it comes, it is swift and devastating. The entire city of Sarnath blasphemed against this deity for many centuries, but Bokrug’s wrath eventually destroyed the metropolis. Bokrug is worshiped today in the city of Ilarnek in the Dreamlands, and possibly in the lost pre-human city of Lh-Yib.

Some evidence suggests that Bokrug may not actually be a god, but is in fact one of a race of humanoid beings who have set themselves up as gods of the Thuum’ha, as the people of Ib are known. Others disagree, and say that “Bokrug” is only a mask for a more dangerous entity.

See Ib; Ilarnek; Sarnath. (“The Book of Dismissals”, Carter; “The Doom that Came to Sarnath”, Lovecraft (O); Beneath the Moors, Lumley.)

BOLTON

Factory town north of Arkham. The first settlers built their town on the banks of the James River in 1650, but Bolton was not incorporated until 1714. Today, Bolton is a major site for industry; its mills primarily employ immigrants, and the town has acquired an unsavory reputation due to the frequent quarrels which occur between the different ethnicities. The brilliant young doctor Herbert West practiced in this town for a short while, and Thomas de la Poer lived here before his ill-fated departure for England.

[It is uncertain whether Lovecraft knew that Bolton was a real town before he included it in his stories.]

See Miskatonic River. (“Herbert West — Reanimator”, Lovecraft (O); “The Rats in the Walls”, Lovecraft; “Freak Show”, Ross and Woods.)

THE BOOK OF AZATHOTH

Volume carried by some forms of Nyarlathotep. Anyone who enters the service of the Outer Gods must sign the Book with their blood. It may possibly be the book spoken of by the victims of the witchcraft trials; if so, it would explain only a few of these volumes were ever found. The Book of Azathoth also contains material in parody of Scripture, praising the Outer Gods and denigrating Christianity.

Another “Book of Azathoth”, a spiral notebook containing a long rambling discourse about the nature of the universe, was found in a hotel room in Midium’s Grove, New York. Since the other volume is in Nyarlathotep’s possession, any comparison between the two is impossible.

See Azathoth; Nyarlathotep (Black Man). (Devil’s Children, Conyers, Godley, and Witteveen; “The Higher Mythos”, Hensler; “The Dreams in the Witch‑House”, Lovecraft (O).)

THE BOOK OF DAGON

Set of inscribed conical stones. The Book was a gift from the Deep Ones to Captain Obed Marsh after he had founded the Esoteric Order of Dagon. Through help from his inhuman visitors, Marsh was able to translate the R’lyehian glyphs into English. The book was never published, and only a few handwritten copies exist. After the raid on Innsmouth, the cones were taken into government custody, where they were destroyed in 1955 in a freak accident.

This book, which serves as the scripture for the cult of the Deep Ones, provides the history of that species and describes their religious ceremonies.

(Delta Green, Detwiller, Glancy, and Tynes; Escape from Innsmouth, Ross (O).)

THE BOOK OF DZYAN (also the STANZAS OF DZYAN)

Book of ancient wisdom that exists on a higher spiritual plane, where psychically sensitive travelers can find it. According to tradition, the Lords of Venus brought the first six chapters of this book, as well as the Senzar language, to humans. The grateful humans preserved the Book in the lost city of Shamballah. The book was later translated into Chinese and distributed widely, though only a few copies survive today.

Traders discovered the oldest known written copy in a Chinese cave in 595, from which it made its way to the Wharby Museum in England. This copy was written in Chinese, Sanskrit, and characters resembling those in the G’harne and Sussex Fragments, and proved instrumental in Gordon Walmsley’s deciphering of both books. Chinese and Sanskrit copies once rested in many monasteries of the East, though most of these have been destroyed or lost. Others have turned up in the van der Heyl mansion near Chorazin, New York, and the Starry Wisdom Church in Providence. In 1901, Wallace Deely supposedly translated the book from the Tsath-Yo language into English.

The contents of this book remain a mystery. One section relates to the Seal of Solomon, a variant Elder Sign, and incantations that ward off evil might be found within.

[The Book of Dzyan originally appeared in the works of the Theosophist Helena Blavatsky. In her book The Secret Doctrine, Blavatsky quotes it at some length, supposedly having viewed the original during a trip to Tibet. According to her account, the Book of Dzyan is the first of fifteen esoteric commentaries on the thirty-five books of Kiu-te, a likely transliteration of a term used to describe the Tibetan Buddhist corpus. According to Blavatsky, the Book of Dzyan was written on palm leaves in the Atlantean language of Senzar. Lovecraft did not encounter Blavatsky’s work until the end of his life, and his main source for his descriptions of the book were the accounts of his friend E. Hoffman Price derived from later Theosophical sources.

[Blavatsky stated “Dzyan” (pronounced “Djan”) is derived from “Dhyan,” the Sanskrit term for mystical meditation.]

See Feery, Joachim; Study of the Book of Dzyan, A. (The Secret Doctrine, Blavatsky (O); The Fate, Detwiller with Ivey; The Dark Destroyer, Glasby; Keeper’s Compendium, Herber; “The Haunter of the Dark”, Lovecraft; Selected Letters IV, Lovecraft; “The Diary of Alonzo Typer”, Lovecraft and Lumley; The Book of Dzyan, Maroney, ed.; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

THE BOOK OF EIBON

Tome penned by the Hyperborean wizard Eibon. Legend has it that it was found amid the ruins of his blasted tower, but Cyron of Varaad’s afterword to the book tells of how Eibon left him the manuscript, which Cyron then arranged into sequential order. The Book was then passed from teacher to pupil for many years, with occasional notes being added by subsequent readers. After the destruction of Hyperborea during the Ice Ages, copies of the Book made their way to Zobna and Lomar, and later Atlantis and Hyboria, by way of a secretive cult that revered Eibon and may have been related to that which preserved the Pnakotic Manuscripts. The priesthood of Mithra in Brythunia, a country of the Hyborian Age, might have preserved a copy, but if so it has been lost.

There seem to have been two paths by which the Book of Eibon made its way into the modern world. The first route was through Egypt, as traders from Atlantis brought their goods and knowledge to that land. The volume was translated into hieroglyphics, and the so-called “Kishite recension” made by the former high priest of Sarnath may have derived from one of these. It then made its way through the Mediterranean area, where the Syro-Phoenician scholar Imilcar Narba made a Punic translation around 1600 B.C. Byzantine Greek (or Graeco-Bactrian) copies were later made, and around 960, Theodorus Philetas correlated several of the surviving texts into a medieval Greek volume. A Greek copy may still exist, but the oldest confirmed copy is the ninth-century Latin translation of C. Philippus Faber, which was likely the source of the Latin text printed in Rome in 1662. The Latin copies of the Book of Eibon at Miskatonic and Harvard stem from this particular tradition.

The second path was through a mysterious culture known as the Averones. These people fled to the east from the sinking Atlantis, bearing the Liber Ivonis on tablets with them. The Averones settled in a land that was to become Averoigne, and these tablets formed an important part of their rituals even centuries later. One book in the original Hyperborean tongue may have been kept here, at least until the fourteenth century. The Averonian version eventually made its way to Ireland, where Latin and Irish translations may still be found. One Latin version might have been found in the library of the notorious Aleister Crowley.

In the 13th century, Gaspard du Nord of Averoigne made a French translation of the Book, most likely from a Greek manuscript (though the possibility of influence from his region’s traditions should not be ruled out). This Gaspard was a sorcerer of some note, who saved his home city of Vyones from the designs of the evil magician Nathaire, who might have owned the copy that Gaspard later translated. In their gratitude, the authorities allowed him to continue in his occult studies, which presumably gave him the freedom to translate the Book of Eibon free from all popular censure. Many sorcerers and witches of the area used this particular edition to great effect, even centuries after its completion. Several copies of this edition still survive, including those at the van der Heyl mansion and another at the Starry Wisdom Church of Providence.

During the reign of James I, an unknown scholar, presumably a translator of the King James Bible, translated the Book of Eibon into English. A dedicated searcher may still find a few of these copies. To the best of our knowledge, the Book has never been printed. A more recent French translation by the noted author Clark Ashton Smith vanished after his death. One Randall Flagg, a member of the Church of Starry Wisdom, created an unpublished set of Notes from the Book of Eibon.

It should also be noted that a copy was passed down among the van Kauran family of New York, though it is uncertain which edition they held.

A great deal of Eibon’s book is devoted to tales of his own youth, his magical experiments, and his journeys to Shaggai and the Vale of Pnath. The book contains information on the rites of Tsathoggua, the artist Rhydagand, and tales of the great Rlim Shaikorth. Incantations for calling the emanation from Yoth and the Green Decay are held within, along with formulas for a chemical that petrifies living flesh and a powder that will destroy certain star-spawned monstrosities.

Though the Book of Eibon covers a vast amount of knowledge, only a fraction of the original work survives. For instance, certain rituals intended to call down dholes to serve the summoner have survived have been lost, and an encoded one-page appendix regarding the Antarctic Old Ones is found in only a few volumes.

[A reconstruction of this work has been compiled by Robert M. Price and recently published.]

See Averoigne; Bugg-Shoggog; dark young; dholes; du Nord, Gaspard; Eye of Tsathoggua; Ghorl Nigral; Green Decay; Grey Rite of Azathoth; Hyperborea; Iagsat; Liber Ivonis; Livre d’Ivon; N’tse-Kaambl; Papyrus of the Dark Wisdom; Parchments of Pnom; Rhydagand of the Brush; Rlim Shaikorth; Selections de Live d’Ivon; Testament of Carnamagos; Zon Mezzamalech. (“The Horror from the Bridge”, Campbell; “The Book of Eibon”, Carter; History and Chronology of the Book of Eibon, Carter; “In the Vale of Pnath”, Carter; The Life of Eibon according to Cyron of Varaad, Carter; “Papyrus of the Dark Wisdom”, Carter; “Shaggai”, Carter; “The Adventure of the Six Silver Spiders”, Derleth; “Cults Exposed!: The Starry Wisdom Church”, Harms; “By the Bay, Part I”, Herber; Keeper’s Compendium, Herber; “Pickman’s Student”, Herber; Dreams and Fancies, Lovecraft; Selected Letters V, Lovecraft; “The Man of Stone”, Lovecraft and Heald; “The Thing at the Threshold”, McConnell and Sutton; “To Call Forth Tsathoggua to Smith Thy Enemy”, Pulver; “The Beast of Averoigne”, Smith; “The Colossus of Ylourgne”, Smith; “The Coming of the White Worm”, Smith; “The Holiness of Azedarac”, Smith (O); “Ubbo-Sathla”, Smith; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

THE BOOK OF HIDDEN THINGS

Volume mentioned in a manuscript discovered by Alonzo Typer. Nothing else is known of this book, though it may have to do with the lost city of Yian-ho.

(“The Diary of Alonzo Typer”, Lovecraft and Lumley (O).)

BOOK OF IOD

Book of unknown origin, though some attribute it to a mysterious author named “Khut-Nah”. Only one copy in the original “Ancient Tongue” (which may be a mixture of Greek and Coptic) exists. It has been suggested that the Druids used some of the rites therein. Johann Negus later published an expurgated Latin (or possibly English) translation, a copy of which is kept at the Huntingdon Library in San Marino, California.

The book discusses Iod, the Shining Hunter, Vorvadoss, and the being Zuchequon. Its philosophy seems to have much in common with that of the Gnostics.

See Pott, Johannes; Von Junzt, Friedrich; Vorvadoss. (“Bells of Horror” (O), Kuttner; Letters to Henry Kuttner, Lovecraft; “Beneath the Tombstone”, Price; “The Mythos Collector”, Sammons; “The Looking-Glass”, Worthy et. al.)

BOOK OF KARNAK

Tome of occult knowledge. From its title, it may consist of rituals taken from the Egyptian temple complex of Karnak. The book also contains information regarding Iod, the Hunter of Souls.

(“The Hunt”, Kuttner; “Hydra”, Kuttner (O).)

BOOK OF K’YOG

Work that was old even in the age of Eibon. It has been lost on Earth for millennia, but supposedly tells how Tsathoggua was brought to earth from Yuggoth by an alien species that built a city now beneath the waves.

(“The Haunting of Uthnor”, Cornford; “The Old One”, Glasby (O).)

BOOK OF NIGHT (also NOCTUARY OF VIZOORANOS)

Dangerous work on necromancy written by the Hyperborean wizard Vizooranos. Eibon is the only one known to have seen a copy, and he quickly rid himself of it.

(“Annotations for the Book of Night”, Price (O).)

BOOK OF SKELOS

Grimoire written by the blind sage Skelos and preserved by his devotees, though some attribute it to the serpent-people wizards of Valusia. There has been considerable disagreement as to whether “Skelos” penned one or several books, but wizards throughout the world have put great stock in his reputation. In the Hyborian Age only three known copies existed, and none of these is known to have survived until today. Although all of Hyboria’s mages coveted this book, we only know it contains information on an artifact called the Hand of Nergal and an isle on which monsters guard a great treasure.

(Conan the Buccaneer, Carter and de Camp; “Black Colossus”, Howard; “The Hour of the Dragon”, Howard; “The Pool of the Black One”, Howard (O); “The Hand of Nergal”, Howard and Carter.)

BOOK OF THOTH (or SCROLL OF THOTH-AMMON)

Volume supposedly written by Thoth, the Egyptian god of wisdom and magic who is said to have written thousands of books on occult subjects. Current scholarship holds that Thoth-Ammon, a powerful Stygian wizard and priest of Set, was actually the author. After the destruction of that continent, the Book of Thoth was preserved by the high priests of Egypt in their temple at Alexandria. The Roman emperor Caligula took this volume from Egypt for his own experimentation, but it was destroyed shortly before his death. Abdul Alhazred is known to have perused another copy, and others may exist in Tibetan monasteries, but no outsider has seen the book for many years.

The Book of Thoth discusses the being known as Tawil at’Umr, as well as the Great Old Ones and the history of Hyboria. It also contains a spell that confers life to the dead (of a temporary nature), extensive astronomical data, hints on the nature of Ngyr-Khorath, and the secret of humanity’s creation. The third volume of the Book may deal with the opening of gates. One spell claimed to be within is the Rite of Abomination, which supposedly can plunge the world into darkness.

[Though many different books that Thoth is said to have written have survived, there is not one specifically called the “Book of Thoth”. Many occultists use the term as another name for the Tarot deck, though in Mythos stories it is an actual text. The Mythos “Book of Thoth” should not be confused with Aleister Crowley’s treatise on the Tarot of the same name.]

See ‘Umr at-Tawil. (The Secret Doctrine, Blavatsky; “Ngyr-Khorath”, DeBill; “The Dweller Beyond the Gate”, Glasby; “Through the Gates of the Silver Key”, Lovecraft and Price; “The Lord of Illusion”, Price (O); The Gardens of Lucullus, Rahman and Tierney; “The Ring of Set”, Tierney; “The Scroll of Thoth”, Tierney; “The Soul of Kephri”, Tierney; The Winds of Zarr, Tierney.)

BOREA. World in a parallel universe upon which Ithaqua was at one time imprisoned. The world has three moons, Dromos, Numinos, and another unnamed satellite. Due to the physics of this particular dimension, however, none of these bodies turns around another, and the planet itself does not circle the sun. Thus, parts of Borea are left in perpetual cold, while others enjoy an eternal tropical summer.

Legend has it that the Elder Gods confined Ithaqua in a plateau near Borea’s southern pole following the revolt of the Great Old Ones. After many years, the Wendigo obtained his freedom and traveled to other worlds and dimensions, yet he still returns to Borea from time to time.

Ithaqua’s habit of taking away with him those who have stirred his displeasure is well known. Though Ithuaqua usually drops these victims from the sky after weeks or months, others are taken to Borea. Over the years, Ithaqua has brought many sorts of life to this world and its moons, including various sorts of plants, bats, wolves, bears, whales, and even humans. These unfortunates are altered so that not even the bitterest cold may affect them; this trait, however, also makes them somewhat vulnerable to the same forces that repel the Great Old Ones.

Upon their arrival, most of the humans are inducted into the Children of the Winds, Ithaqua’s cult on Borea, which boasts hundreds of thousands of members. Some, however, rebel against the Wind-Walker; colonies of these outcasts may be found in the plateau in which Ithaqua was imprisoned, as well as upon the Isle of Mountains on Numinos. These colonies are a consistent irritation for Ithaqua, but his cult’s forays against them have never been completely successful in eradicating them.

See Elder Sign; Ithaqua; Khrissa; Numinos; Silberhutte, Hank. (In the Moons of Borea, Lumley; Spawn of the Winds, Lumley (O).)

BORELLUS

Writer on science and mysticism, most likely Petrus Borel (1620–1689), who wrote the following passage:

The essential Saltes of Animals may be so prepared and preserved, that an ingenious Man may have the whole Ark of Noah in his own Studie, and raise the fine Shape of an Animal out of its Ashes at his Pleasure; and by the lyke Method from the essential Saltes of humane Dust, a Philosopher may, without any criminal Necromancy, call up the Shape of any dead Ancestour from the Dust whereinto his Bodie has been incinerated.

[Borellus is a real-life figure. The passage quoted above comes from Cotton Mather’s Magnalia Christi Americana. It has yet to be found in any of Borellus’ works.]

(“The Case of Charles Dexter Ward”, Lovecraft.)

BOWEN, (PROFESSOR) ENOCH (1795?-1868)

Noted occultist and archaeologist from Providence, Rhode Island. He taught at history and philology at Brown University, though another source states he taught at, and donated a valuable Biblical manuscript to, Miskatonic University. His most memorable accomplishment was his excavation of the crypt of the forgotten pharaoh Nephren-Ka in 1843. The following year, Bowen inexplicably stopped his excavations and, upon returning to Providence, established the infamous Church of Starry Wisdom. His books include Description of Excavations at Tell-Basta (1833), Sacrificial Cults in Ptolemaic Egypt (1839), Excavations of Early Dynastic Egypt (1842), and the secret manual of the cult, The Pathway to the Darkness.

In 1927, another individual named Enoch Bowen headed a branch of the Starry Wisdom cult in Arkham, but this can hardly have been the same person.

See Starry Wisdom cult. (“Coming of Age”, Ballon; “The Shadow from the Steeple”, Bloch; “Cults Exposed!: The Starry Wisdom Church”, Harms; “The Haunter of the Dark”, Lovecraft (O); “Acute Spiritual Fear”, Price; Sherlock Holmes in the Adventure of the Ancient Gods, Vaughan.)

BOYD, CLAIBORNE

Student of Creole culture. Boyd was born in Mississippi, and later resided in New Orleans, from which he continued his studies. After the death of his grand-uncle, a former professor at Harvard, Boyd came into possession of his papers detailing his mythological speculations. Boyd vanished shortly thereafter, though not before mailing off his papers to Miskatonic University. He may have been killed in 1986 in Fort Myers, Florida.

(“The Gorge beyond Salanpunco”, Derleth (O); Other Nations, Marsh and Marsh.)

BRAN MAK MORN (?-ca. 210)

King of the Pictish peoples of Caledonia (Scotland) during the Roman occupation of Britain. Bran was born as the son of a Wolf clan chief, but quickly gained power until he became the king of the Picts, who had been split into small feuding tribes for over five hundred years. Bran was a brave and just ruler who attempted to wean the Picts away from the bloody rituals that they once practiced. His most famous deed, however, was the summoning of the Worms of the Earth to take revenge against the Roman legions. Bran eventually fell in battle due to the treachery of a Roman officer, and his kingdom crumbled apart.

Over time, the tales of Bran’s deeds have become distorted, and many legends about his abilities have been invented. In his Unaussprechlichen Kulten, von Junzt mentions a statue of the king that the spirit of Bran inhabited after his death. This effigy was hidden in a cave, which remains the focus for a religion centering on Bran to this day. Members of this cult, made up of the descendants of the Picts, are expected to make a pilgrimage to this statue once in their lifetimes. According to this group’s teachings, one day the statue of Bran will return to life, and he and his people will come forth from his cavern to rule the world.

[One mythological Bran was a Welsh deity of tremendous size, while another was the British hero whose severed head protected the British Isles from invasion after his death. Howard seems to have been unaware of this tradition, and named his hero after Brennus, a barbarian at the siege of Rome, and Gol Mac Morn, an Irish folk hero.]

See Worms of the Earth. (“The Children of the Night”, Howard (O); “The Dark Man”, Howard; “Kings of the Night”, Howard; “Men of the Shadows”, Howard; “The Worms of the Earth”, Howard; Chronicle of the Black Labyrinth, Inabinet; “The Whisperer in Darkness”, Lovecraft.)

BRAVING, MINNESOTA

Town in Minnesota notable for its numerous cases of missing persons and mysterious deaths. An uneasy air hovers over the town, and even Royceton University is known for the tension of its students and faculty.

(“The Deep-Lord Awakens”, Ambuehl; “Sculpture”, Ambuehl (O).)

BRICHESTER

Commercial hub of England’s Severn River Valley. Known in medieval times as Bicestre, today’s Brichester may be split into three parts: Mercy Hill to the north, Brichester proper, and Lower Brichester in the south. Brichester is home to Brichester University, one of the region’s most respected institutions of learning.

This town has been the site of many strange happenings. Brichester University once held a copy of the Revelations of Glaaki donated in 1958, but this has since disappeared or been destroyed. A congregation of Brichester University students worshiping the Great Old Ones was broken up in the Twenties, and many of the professors at that institution also possess knowledge of the paranormal events in the surrounding countryside. It was in Brichester that the eccentric cult leader Robert Franklyn lived and published his book on reincarnation We Pass from View. Finally, a man living on Mercy Hill was induced through dream-communications to write the twelfth volume of the Revelations of Glaaki.

See Devil’s Steps; Eihort; Glaaki; Goatswood; Mercy Hill; Revelations of Glaaki; Sentinel Hill; Severnford; Temphill; Undercliffe; We Pass from View. (“13 Place of Interest in Brichester”, Brownlow; “The Church in High Street”, Campbell (O); “Cold Print”, Campbell; The Darkest Part of the Woods, Campbell; “The Franklyn Paragraphs”, Campbell; The Horror from the Bridge”, Campbell; “The Mine on Yuggoth”, Campbell; “The Plain of Sound”, Campbell; “Behold, I Stand at the Door and Knock”, Price.)

BRICK CYLINDERS OF KADATHERON (also CYLINDERS OF KADATHERON)

Seven artifacts brought out of the Middle East by an expedition led by a Mr. Angstrom. They were translated through use of the late Gordon Walmsley’s work, but the characters are so archaic that only a few scholars can read them. The Cylinders are currently kept at the British Museum. The Dreamlands city of Kadatheron holds another set.

The Cylinders deal primarily with the history of the land of Mnar, especially as it relates to the pre-human city of Ib. They also include information on the Sarnath-sigil and tell the tale of the wizard Ilathos who went to speak with the high priest of Leng (though the ending of that story has been effaced). Another section provides the history and ruling dynasties of Kadatheron itself.

See Ib; Kadatheron; Lh-yib. (“The Book of Dismissals”, Carter; “The Book of the Gates”, Carter; “The Lure of Leng”, DeBill; “The Doom that Came to Sarnath”, Lovecraft (O); Beneath the Moors, Lumley; “Passing of a Dreamer”, Myers.)

BRINGER OF PESTS

See Nyarlathotep (Bringer of Pests).

BROKEN COLUMNS OF GEPH

Monuments located within the coastal jungles of Liberia. No one knows how old the columns of Geph are, but they are mentioned in the writings of Teh Atht, a great wizard from the primal land of Theem’hdra. Upon these pillars the elders of the Ptetholites carved warnings against those who would use black magic against their foes, as well as the images of the Great Old Ones. Though the followers of the Old Ones have struck out some inscriptions and attempted to destroy the Columns themselves, these monuments have survived to this day, and are thought to be the center of worship for the natives of that region. With the help of Professor Gordon Walmsley of Goole, the characters upon these monuments were deciphered several years ago.

See Geph Transcriptions; Ptetholites; Walmsley, Gordon. (“The Caller of the Black”, Lumley (O); “The Return of the Deep Ones”, Lumley; “Rising with Surtsey”, Lumley; “The Sorcerer’s Dream”, Lumley; The Transition of Titus Crow, Lumley.)

BROTHERHOOD OF THE BEAST

Organization founded in the twelfth century by a Chinese sage and a Romanian noble, so that the prophecy of Nophru-Ka, an Egyptian priest of the XIV Dynasty, might be fulfilled. The Brotherhood’s founders led the followers of Nophru-Ka from their exile in G’harne and brought them to Europe to intermarry. As this assimilation of Egyptian blood into the European population progressed, the Brotherhood kept detailed genealogical records of these matings. They hoped that one day a child would be born who would fulfill the high priest’s prophecy and aid Nyarlathotep in returning to Earth.

Over the centuries, the Brotherhood has gained a great deal of power and has greatly expanded its membership as it continues to strive toward its goals. It has failed in several of its schemes, however, such as an attempt to found a country in Eastern Europe in the territory of the Teutonic Knights. More recently, the Brotherhood, having realized that the time of the Old Ones’ return is approaching, has begun preparations for a great globe-spanning operation calculated to destroy much of human civilization.

See Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh. (“The Brotherhood of the Beast”, Herber (O).)

BROTHERHOOD OF THE BLACK PHARAOH

Cult devoted to the return of the Black Pharaoh avatar of Nyarlathotep. The group’s leadership has remained primarily Egyptian, but in recent years its branches have been attracting members from all backgrounds and nationalities. This group has known affiliations with the Cult of the Bloody Tongue, the Starry Wisdom church, and the Brotherhood of the Beast. One sub-cult of this group, the Children of the Sphinx, is dedicated to the production of animal-headed composite mummies.

See Nyarlathotep (Black Bull). (Cairo Guidebook, Anderson; Masks of Nyarlathotep, DiTillio and Willis (O).)

BROTHERS OF CHAUGNAR FAUGN

Creatures that look like smaller versions of Chaugnar Faugn. When the Miri Nigri took Chaugnar to the East, the Brothers remained beneath the Pyrenees, to Chaugnar’s great displeasure. They have been known to come forth from the mountains and wreak havoc when Chaugnar Faugn himself is active. When Chaugnar awakens and devours the world, his brothers will be awakened to join him and be devoured by their master.

See Chaugnar Faugn. (The Horror from the Hills, Long (O).)

BROTHERS OF THE YELLOW SIGN (also CULT OF THE YELLOW SIGN)

Cult of Hastur in his form of the King in Yellow. There are conflicting accounts of its origins; some say it began among the serpent people of Valusia, but it seems more likely that it started in the underground land of K’n-yan. Whatever the source, it now enjoys a small following among humans.

The Brothers identify each other through hand signs or by rings or pendants with a yellow stone. Occasionally they congregate to destroy mi-go outposts and to worship Hastur and Shub-Niggurath. One of their secondary goals is the suppression of archaeology in the Gobi Desert, where they hold their most sacred rites. It has been suggested that the Cult of the Yellow Sign founded every religion ever created to strengthen the Great Old Ones, but this sounds unlikely.

See Hastur; Yellow Sign. (Keeper’s Compendium, Herber; “The Whisperer in Darkness”, Lovecraft (O); The Illuminatus! Trilogy, Shea and Wilson.)

BROWN JENKIN

Rat-like being with tiny paws like hands and a human face. According to Essex County court records, Keziah Mason claimed Brown Jenkin was her familiar. Though the witch herself has been dead for three centuries, reports from as far away as England, but centering in Mason’s home city of Arkham, have spoken of reports of her familiar’s ghost. Bones found when Arkham’s Witch-House was demolished in 1931 confirm at least that the creature existed.

See Mason, Keziah; rat-things. (“The Dreams in the Witch-House”, Lovecraft (O); Prey, Masterton; “Small Ghost”, Minnis.)

BUGG-SHASH

Great Old One who takes the form of an inky blackness covered with many eyes and mouths which make a chittering sound. Sorcerers have known Bugg-Shash since Atlantean times and called it into this dimension.

Bugg-Shash may be called up quite easily, though it is important that the “Pentacle of Power” should imprison him when summoned. The would-be summoner should also be quick in telling Bugg-Shash where it may find a victim, or Bugg-Shash may take the caster instead. Bugg-Shash can only exist in darkness, but bringing the Great Old One into the light will not banish it permanently. Bugg-Shash must remain in this dimension until it has found and feasted upon a victim, after which it will return to its home. It may also have power over the dead, so those dealing with it should be especially cautious.

Bugg-Shash is known to be one of the servants of Yog-Sothoth. Though often included among the Great Old Ones, some say that it is in fact only one of the parasites that feed off such beings. It is considered especially close in nature to Yibb-Tstll, and both are often classified as the “Drowners”, a term of uncertain meaning.

[As far as I can tell, Lumley had mentioned Bugg-Shash in “Rising” before he read Sutton’s “Demoniacal”. Though Sutton’s story did not mention Bugg-Shash, Lumley wrote “Kiss” as a sequel which attached the name “Bugg-Shash” to Sutton’s monster.]

See Cthaat Aquadingen; Mad Berkley’s Book; Necronomicon (appendices); Notes on the Cthaat Aquadingen; Sathlattae. (Elysia, Lumley; “The Kiss of Bugg-Shash”, Lumley; “Rising with Surtsey”, Lumley (O); The Transition of Titus Crow, Lumley; “Demoniacal”, Sutton.)

BUGG-SHOGGOG

Mysterious word at the lips of Wilbur Whateley upon his death. Interpretations include that it was part of an invocation to Yog-Sothoth, a generic term for an offspring of Yog-Sothoth, the title of Whateley’s brother, or Wilbur’s own name in Yian-Ho when the earth was cleared off. A seal of Bug-Shaggog, Grim Sentinel of Ild-Ryn, is employed in the Book of Eibon to ward off those unworthy of its rites.

(“The Dunwich Horror”, Lovecraft (O); R’lyehian as a Toy Language, Marsh; “The Grey Rite of Azathoth”, Pulver; “Acute Spiritual Fear”, Price; Necronomicon, Tyson.)

BUOPOTHS

Shy creatures of the Dreamlands that leave their forests to drink from the river Oukranos. Buopoths appear to be small elephants with brightly-colored hide and ridges on their backs, but in truth they are more closely related to the Rhinogradentia, or snouters. They are especially fond of the root of the tofflebol bush.

(“The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft (O); S. Petersen’s Field Guide to Creatures of the Dreamlands, Petersen et. al.)

BYAGOONA

Being called “the Faceless One” to whom a “Secret Parable” is attributed. Byagoona was born to a creature named “Lu-Kthu” in the “Great Vortex”. Byagoona’s “Secret Parable” supposedly refers to his arrival on Earth at the time of the lost civilization of Altuas. At that time, Byagoona was known as the Lord of the Dead who would bring the dead to life and then feed upon their essences. He was said to bestow a great boon — those who created a statue of him from their own hands would be remembered forever. In later times, Byagoona became known as Nyarlathotep.

See Nyarlathotep. (“The Bane of Byagoona”, Ambuehl; “The Faceless God”, Bloch; “The Grinning Ghoul”, Bloch (O); “The Sphinx of Abormis”, Cornford.)

BYAKHEE

Creatures resembling bats, birds, moles, and rotting corpses, but not quite like any of them. Byakhee were once intelligent inhabitants of a city drawn into Carcosa, an experience which drove their species mad. Some say they made a deal with Hastur to support them in a conflict that led to their home world’s destruction. The byakhee now dwell in Carcosa and interstellar space, though they have been known to frequent Yuggoth and other worlds.

Byakhee serve the Great Old One Hastur, and are often involved in his rituals. They are also used as mounts that may carry a rider between the stars, provided that they have drunk space-mead. By activating an organ in its abdomen called a hune, the byakhee creates a state that allows it to span interstellar distances so quickly that it may seem to be teleportation to the unknowing spectator.

To summon a byakhee, the wizard waits until a night when Aldebaran is above the horizon. Then they blow a special whistle and chant the following words:

Iä! Iä! Hastur! Hastur cf’ayak ‘vulgtmm, vulgtmm, vulgtmm! Ai! Ai! Hastur!

After this is done, the byakhee will fly down from space to the caster. Usually an Elder Sign is also required.

[Call of Cthulhu has taken its description of the byakhee from the creatures in Lovecraft’s “The Festival,” but it is uncertain whether Lovecraft and Derleth’s creations are one and the same.]

See Hastur; Legends of the Olden Runes; space-mead. (“The Book of the Gates”, Carter; “The House on Curwen Street”, Derleth (O); “The Watcher from the Sky”, Derleth; Delta Green: Countdown, Detwiller et. al.; Secrets of Japan, Dziesinski; S. Petersen’s Field Guide to Cthulhu Monsters, Petersen et. al.; Deities and Demigods Cyclopedia, Ward with Kuntz.)

BYATIS

Great Old One known as “serpent‑bearded Byatis” and “the Berkeley Toad.” As its titles imply, it appears much like a multi-colored, one-eyed, shimmering toad with a proboscis, crab-like pincers, and a row of tentacles below its mouth. Byatis is capable of hypnotizing those it chooses to prey upon, and with each victim devoured by Byatis, the Great Old One grows larger.

According to Prinn’s De Vermis Mysteriis, obeisances made to Byatis’ image, which the deep ones brought to earth, called up the Great Old One. The serpent-men of Valusia and the people of the lost continent of Mu worshiped Byatis later on. His cult was strongest in Britain, where the people worshiped him as a fertility god, merging his cult with that of the Greek monster Medusa whom traders had brought to them. Many years later, Roman legionnaires occupying Britain’s Severn River Valley discovered Byatis behind a stone door in an ancient camp. Horrified by what they saw, they imprisoned it with a five-pointed star before continuing on their way.

From time to time, Byatis broke free of its prison to stalk and feast upon its victims, creating the legend of the “Berkeley Toad,” a monster whose activities were centered on that town. During the 18th century, the wizard Sir Gilbert Morley purchased the Norman castle where Byatis had been chained. In return for sacrifices, Byatis allowed him to communicate with the other Great Old Ones. One day, after Morley had closed the prison of Byatis, he vanished and was never seen again.

Some sources label Byatis as the son of Yig. It has been said that the Greek worshiped Byatis under the name “Hypnos”, though the two beings have seemed quite different in appearance and motivations when encountered.

See Atlantis; Camside; De Vermis Mysteriis; deep ones; Notes on Witchcraft…; Revelations of Glaaki; serpent-people. (“The Shambler from the Stars”, Bloch (O); “The Room in the Castle”, Campbell; “Zoth-Ommog”, Carter; “Unseen”, Love; “The Beard of Byatis”, Price.)

C

CABALA OF SABOTH

Book of divine (?) lore that may have appeared around 100 BC. A Greek translation of the Cabala was made in 1686, and one copy in Yiddish has also been found. The book contains much angel lore, and the title suggests that it may cover many esoteric topics of Jewish mysticism.

(“The Mannikin”, Bloch; “The Secret in the Tomb”, Bloch (O); Keeper’s Compendium, Herber; “Beneath the Tombstone”, Price.)

CABOT MUSEUM OF ARCHAEOLOGY

Institution in Boston’s Beacon Hill district that specializes in ancient artifacts not classified as art. The date the Cabot Museum was founded is unknown, but the famous architect Charles Bulfinch helped to design the western wing dedicated to mummies in 1819.

Until 1932, the museum was famous among scholars for its collections, though few of the public knew of its existence. In the spring of that year, however, a visiting member of the press noticed a mummy found on a Pacific island, and soon the museum was awash with visitors. Events came to a head on December 1st, when two intruders died while trying to steal the mummy. Within the following year, many of the staff died mysteriously, and the museum went into a decline which was only halted in 1940, when Miskatonic University took over the collection.

See Chandraputra, Swami; Chateau des Faussesflammes. (“Out of the Aeons”, Lovecraft (O); Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

CAMILLA

Character from The King in Yellow.

See King in Yellow. (“The Repairer of Reputations”, Chambers (O); “Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?”, Ross.)

CAMSIDE

Village located between Severnford and Berkeley in the Severn River Valley. Byatis, or the Berkeley Toad, often prowled near this town during its brief freedom. Beneath a house in this town is an entrance to Eihort’s labyrinth.

See Legendry and Customs of the Severn Valley. (“The Church in High Street”, Campbell (O); “The Room in the Castle”, Campbell.)

CARCOSA

Alien city in the Hyades on the shore of the Lake of Hali (though others have placed it in the Gobi Desert or near the Lake of Galilee). Carcosa is a metropolis of tall, black buildings, mysterious events, and inexplicable sounds and sights. The architecture varies widely in style, and a traveler’s surroundings often change when his or her attention is elsewhere. Across the lake from the city is the palace of Yhtill, where the coming of the King is re-enacted for all eternity. Overhead are the planet’s two moons, as well as Aldebaran and the Hyades.

Carcosa has connections to our world, though these are often tenuous. Portals, sometimes in the form of works of art, can conduct a person into Carcosa. In addition, a city found to be degraded enough may be incorporated into Carcosa wholesale, after an evaluation of its worthiness by the Pallid Mask.

Very few have visited Carcosa and returned to tell the tale. It is here that the play The King in Yellow takes place. It has been said that Carcosa was the original home of humanity.

[Bierce’s original description of Carcosa as a city completely in ruins is not borne out in the work of subsequent authors.]

See byakhee; Celaeno Fragments; Hali; Hastur; King in Yellow; Naotalba; Pallid Mask; Revelations of Hali; Uoht; Yellow Codex; Yellow Sign; Yhtill. (“An Inhabitant of Carcosa”, Bierce (O); “The Yellow Sign”, Chambers; Delta Green: Countdown, Detwiller et. al; “Tatterdemalion”, Love, Ross, and Watts; “Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?” Ross; The Illuminatus! Trilogy, Shea and R. Wilson; House of the Toad, Tierney.)

CARTER, (DOCTOR?) RANDOLPH (1873–1928?)

Boston author and mystic. Carter’s family was of an old and distinguished line. His ancestor Geoffrey Carter, a Crusader, was imprisoned for eleven years at Alamut, and an Edmund Carter was nearly hung during the Salem witch-trials. Beginning at the age of ten, Randolph himself began to show a gift for prophesying the future that never left him.

In his early years, Randolph Carter became known as one of the Dreamlands’ greatest travelers. The people of that land still tell the tale of his journey to Kadath in the Cold Waste to ask for the sunset city of his dreams, possibly the greatest task undertaken by any dreamer. As Carter grew older, however, his dream-voyages became less and less frequent, until at the age of thirty they ceased entirely. It was at this time that Carter began a search for personal meaning that would last the rest of his life.

During World War I, Carter served in the French Foreign Legion. It was here that he made the acquaintance of Etienne-Laurent de Marigny, a fellow dreamer with whom he travelled into the crypts below the town of Bayonne and forged a friendship that would last for years. He returned home after being nearly killed near the town of Belloy-en-Santerre.

After his discharge, Carter returned to the United States. Shortly thereafter, he became the pupil of Harley Warren, a scholar who had delved deeply into the occult. One night, Warren vanished after Carter accompanied him to a cemetery in Florida. The police questioned Carter, who gave them a strange account of what had happened, but he was released due to lack of evidence.

Randolph Carter was a writer of great ability, though he was not well known during his lifetime. His book A War Come Near, published in 1919, detailed his wartime experiences, and his horror story “The Attic Window”, printed in the magazine Whispers in 1922, was so disturbing that many newsstands kept the issue off their shelves. (Shortly after writing it, Carter and a friend were found near Meadow Hill with strange injuries that they never explained.) Carter is best known, though, for his fantasy novels. His earlier ones, written during his years of dreaming, met with little success. The later, more sophisticated ones garnered him some attention, but by the time of his disappearance, Carter had burnt all of his manuscripts, having found his career as an author unsatisfying.

On October 7, 1928, Randolph Carter vanished in the ruins of his family’s ancestral mansion outside Arkham. Searchers discovered his car and a handkerchief that might have belonged to him, but no other trace of Randolph Carter was ever found. A few of his friends asserted that Carter had gone back to the land of dreams to become the king of Ilek-Vad, but this speculation was not taken seriously.

[Carter was one of Lovecraft’s fictional alter egos, and in many ways represents how Lovecraft would have liked to present himself.]

See bholes; Chandraputra, Swami; Dreamlands; Elton, Basil; Ilek-Vad; Kadath; Klarkash-Ton; Leng; Marigny, Etienne-Laurent de; Meadow Hill; Phillips, Ward; Silver Key; time-clock; Warren, Harley. (“The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft; “The Silver Key”, Lovecraft; “The Statement of Randolph Carter”, Lovecraft (O); “Through the Gates of the Silver Key”, Lovecraft; “The Unnamable”, Lovecraft; Prey, Masterton; “The Lord of Illusion”, Price.)

CASSILDA

Character from The King in Yellow.

See King in Yellow. (“The Repairer of Reputations”, Chambers (O); “Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?”, Ross.)

CASTAIGNE, (HILDRED)

1) Individual from New York in an alternate reality. He fell under the influence of the play The King in Yellow after a fall from horseback inflicted a head injury. He became obsessed with the play, to the extent of making his own translation. After attempting to kill his brother’s fiancée, he was confined to the Asylum for the Criminally Insane, where he died. (“The Repairer of Reputations”, Chambers (O); “Typo”, Winkle.)

2) Author of the play The King in Yellow. Almost nothing is known of this individual, save that he disappeared from an institution after writing it. It is uncertain whether he was related to the first Castaigne. (“The Yellow Play”, Houarner; “Tatterdemalion”, Love, Ross, and Watts (O).)

CASTRO

Ancient sailor captured during a raid on a sacrificial ritual in Louisiana on November 1, 1907. Of all the prisoners taken during that night, Castro proved to be the best informant on the nature of the cult. He said that he was a worshiper of Cthulhu, and had met its immortal leaders who dwelt in China. Castro’s confession later formed a cornerstone of George Angell’s work on the Cthulhu cult.

See Cthulhu; Legrasse, John; Zuchequon. (“The Call of Cthulhu”, Lovecraft (O).)

CATHURIA

Land of the Dreamlands that once lay beyond the Basalt Pillars of the West, held to be the land where all ideals are true. Cathuria has many golden cities built of marble and porphyry with roofs of gold. The land is ruled by the king Dorieb, whose people see him as a god. Unfortunately, the gods took Cathuria away from the land of dream, and no one knows where it now lies. The great dreamer Basil Elton failed in his quest to attain this land; his grandson Nathaniel was said to have found this land, but was cast out soon thereafter.

See Elton, Basil. (“The Return of the White Ship”, Breach; “The White Ship”, Lovecraft (O).)

CELAENO

One of the seven stars in the Pleiades. On Celaeno’s fourth planet lies the Great Library of Celaeno, where the lore stolen by the Great Old Ones from the Elder Gods is kept. Just how the information is stored is unclear; some references indicate that it is held on books and tablets, but others assert that the elder lore rests in living organisms designed for that purpose. Visitors to the Library should bear the sign of the Elder Ones and not remove any written knowledge from the library, lest the Sleeper of the Lake prevent their escape. The noted scholar Laban Shrewsbury spent much time here, and may have deciphered the Celaeno Fragments from stone tablets he found in this place.

[Celaeno is an actual star, though no one has ever reported a huge library being found nearby. I am not sure why Derleth chose this particular star, but it is possible that he was considering a link between the byakhee and the harpies of Greek myth, whose queen “Celaeno” is mentioned in the Aeneid.]

See Barrier of Naach-Tith; Celaeno Fragments; Elder Gods; Naotalba. (“The House on Curwen Street”, Derleth (O); “The Watcher from the Sky”, Derleth; “Halls of Celaeno”, Herber; House of the Toad, Tierney.)

THE CELAENO FRAGMENTS

Transcript deposited at the Miskatonic University Library in 1915 by Doctor Laban Shrewsbury, who disappeared shortly thereafter. Shrewsbury had seen the original broken stone tablets in the Great Library of Celaeno, and left behind notes which he claimed were a translation of the Fragments, which dated back to at least the mid-Triassic period. Archaeological expeditions have subsequently turned up stone shards inscribed with portions of the Fragments, and a copy also turned up later in the Amos Tuttle Bequest made to the Miskatonic University Library.

The Fragments are short, constituting only fifty pages of Shrewsbury’s notes. In most respects, they are quite close to the Eltdown Shards and the Pnakotic Fragments in content. They may include information on the King in Yellow and Carcosa, and a small amount of data on the deep ones.

See Celaeno; Necronomicon (appendices); Shrewsbury, Laban; Zanthu Tablets. (“Behind the Mask”, Carter; “H. P. Lovecraft: The Gods”, Carter; “The House on Curwen Street”, Derleth (O); “The Gable Window”, Derleth and Lovecraft; Keeper’s Compendium, Herber; A Resection of Time, Johnson; Miskatonic University Graduate Kit, Petersen et. al.; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

CELEPHAÏS

City of the Dreamlands found in the Valley of Ooth-Nargai. Its marble walls and bronze gates make it one of the most impressive cities in all the Dreamlands. In Celephaïs, time seems not to pass at all, and a visitor may return many years later to find things exactly as they were when he or she left.

Celephaïs was built in the dreams of Kuranes, a London dreamer of some note. When he passed away, he went to dwell in Celephaïs forever as its ruler.

See Aran, Mount; Cerenerian Sea; Dreamlands; Kuranes; Nath-Horthath; Nithy-Vash; Ooth-Nargai; Serannian; Tanarian Hills. (“Celephaïs”, Lovecraft (O); “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft.)

CERENERIAN SEA

Azure ocean of the Dreamlands. It may be crossed between the towns of Hlanith and Celephaïs in only two days, but the journey across it to Inquanok takes three weeks. One who travels on this sea might encounter the cloud-city of Serannian, or the nameless rock inhabited by the moon-beasts.

See Hlanith; Inquanok; moon-beasts; Oukranos. (“Celephaïs”, Lovecraft (O); “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft.)

CHAG-HAI

See Shaggai.

CHALMERS, HALPIN (1891–1928)

Noted occultist and horror fiction author. Chalmers was born in Partridgeville, New York, and graduated from Miskatonic University at a surprisingly late date (Class of 1918). Afterward, he moved to Brooklyn, where he served as the Curator of Archaeology at the Manhattan Museum of Fine Arts for some time. He was the author of a large number of occult volumes, including The Secret Watcher, published by London’s Charnel House Press.

Chalmers was found dead in his apartment in Patridgeville on July 3, 1928, and his apparent murder has never been solved. Since then, his fiction has achieved immense popularity. The interested reader should consult The Collected Letters of Halpin Chalmers and Fred Carstairs’ memoir Halpin Chalmers: Voyager of Other and Many Dimensions.

See Einstein Formula; Morton, James; Partridgeville; The Secret Watcher. (“The Letters of Halpin Chalmers”, Cannon; “The Winfield Heritance”, Carter; “The Horror from the Hills,” Long; “The Hounds of Tindalos”, Long (O); Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

CHANDRAPUTRA, SWAMI SUNAND

East Indian individual who first appeared in 1930, taking up residence in Boston’s West End. He is known to have sent letters of inquiry to many occultists, and visited the Cabot Museum to view an ancient mummy housed there. The Swami impressed all who met him as an intelligent man who possessed a prodigious knowledge of uncanny subjects, though his garb and mannerisms made his listeners uneasy.

In 1932, the Swami left Boston for the New Orleans home of Etienne-Laurent de Marigny so that he might provide evidence of Randolph Carter’s survival. During the reading of the will, however, the Carter family’s lawyer died of apoplexy, and the Swami, who is believed to have been responsible in some way, disappeared.

See time-clock. (“The Strange Doom of Enos Harker”, Carter and Price; “Out of the Aeons”, Lovecraft and Heald; “Through the Gates of the Silver Key”, Lovecraft and Price (O).)

CHATEAU DES FAUSSESFLAMES

Ruined manor located in the woods of Averoigne, near the abbey of Perigon. In medieval times, the chateau was the home of Sieur du Malinbous and his wife, who were suspected of practicing witchcraft. Even after the pair’s death, the site’s ill repute remained. Many who visited the ruins of the Chateau did not leave, and even centuries later most curiosity-seekers shun its ruined walls. In 1932, the Cabot Museum in Boston displayed some curious mummies from the crypts beneath the manor.

(“Out of the Aeons”, Lovecraft and Heald; “The End of the Story”, Smith (O); “A Rendezvous in Averoigne”, Smith.)

CHAUGNAR FAUGN

Hyperdimensional creature slightly resembling an elephant-headed human with webbed ears and a large disk at the end of its trunk. It spends most of its time immobile in a cavern on the Plateau of Tsang, only shifting its bulk when feeding upon a sacrificial victim.

When Chaugnar came to earth, the most advanced life forms on this planet were amphibians. Desiring to have a race of servitors, Chaugnar Faugn used amphibian tissue to create the Miri Nigri. Over the long eons, these beings continued to worship Chaugnar. The Miri Nigri consorted with the first humans to create a hybrid race, eventually giving rise to the abominable Tcho-tcho people.

In Roman times, Chaugnar Faugn and his “brothers,” beings who bore a likeness to Chaugnar but were lesser in power, dwelt beneath the Pyrenees in northern Spain, near the town of Pompelo. The Miri Nigri who lived in the nearby hills would kidnap villagers to be sacrificed to their gods each year before Halloween. Eventually, the Roman governors sent out an expedition to put an end to the hill-dweller’s depredations. Though the Miri Nigri destroyed this force, Chaugnar knew that this would not put an end to the Roman threat. He might be able to destroy his foes himself, but his time had not yet come. Instead, he journeyed to the East to wait for the age of his greatness. When his Brothers balked at making the trip, Chaugnar cursed them and promised to devour them after his resurgence.

Currently, Chaugnar Faugn is worshiped in a cavern on the Plateau of Tsang; diffusion of such rites may account for the curious physical similarities between Chaugnar and the Indian elephant-god

Ganesha. Though he rarely awakens, his one-time high priest, Mu Sang, prophesied that one day the White Acolyte would come from the West and bear Chaugnar away to a new land. In this land, the elephant-god will awaken and feed until he devours the universe. Chaugnar was brought to the West and displayed in the Metropolitan Museum, but he was sent back into the past via a curious time-ray device.

In his guise of Ganesha, Chaugnar is said to possess the body of the Sacred White Elephant of Jadhore in Malaysia. He is also claimed to be another name for Tsathoggua. More research is required to verify these claims.

See brothers of Chaugnar Faugn; Magnum Innominandum; Pnakotic Manuscripts; Tcho-tchos; Tsang; Tsathoggua; White Acolyte. (“The Curse of Chaugnar Faugn”, Barton; “Death is an Elephant”, Bloch; “The Horror from the Hills”, Long (O); Selected Letters IV, Lovecraft; “The Very Old Folk”, Lovecraft.)

CHESUNCOOK WITCH COVEN

See Cult of the Skull.

CHHAYA RITUALS

Manuscript famous for its vagueness. Only the most knowledgeable occultists understand its allusions.

[“Chhaya” is Blavatsky’s transliteration of a Sanskrit term meaning “shadow.” Kenneth Grant lists the “Chaaya” as an astral shadow that a mystic seeking to release the Chakra energy in their body must overcome.]

(“Hydra”, Kuttner (O).)

CHIAN

Language mentioned in the Green Book that the Little People sometimes speak. Other references to “Chian games” and a “Chian pentagram” have been found, but the significance is unknown.

[Chian was originally a drink composed of garlic, leeks, cheese, oil, vinegar and dried herbs imbibed at the mysteries of Artemis at Ephesus, so it seems likely that the “Ephesian letters of good omen” mentioned by Athaenus are actually the Chian language. These Greek letters were supposed to form words representing the words for darkness, light, the earth, the sun, the year, and truth. They adorned the feet, girdle, and crown of the statue of Artemis at Ephesus. The possession of these letters made their possessor invincible at sports, but their use was illegal in such contests; one wrestler won three hundred bouts before the nature of his victories became known. King Croesus was said to have escaped being burned to death by saying the words over his pyre, and King Solomon himself was said to have used the Chian letters to exorcise demons. Certain cults may have passed down the mystical traditions of Chian down to present times.

[It should be noted that at least one Machen scholar has objected to this interpretation, but I find it to be an interesting one nonetheless.]

See Green Book. (“Something in the Moonlight”, Carter; “The White People”, Machen (O).)

CHILDREN OF THE NIGHT

See Worms of the Earth.

CHORAZIN

1) Cthulhu’s will or id. This is Cthulhu’s most psychically accessible part and is responsible for most of his dream sendings. See Cthulhu. (“Dreams Dark and Deadly”, Szymanski (O).)

2) Ruined city in Israel. This city was condemned by Jesus in the Bible (Matthew 11:21, Luke 10:13). Evil sorcerers often make a “Black Pilgrimage” to Chorazin in hope of gaining great power. Both Abdul Alhazred and Ludwig Prinn are said to have made such a pilgrimage and lived among the city’s ruins for some time. See Alhazred, Abdul. (“Count Magnus”, James; “Lord of the Worms”, Lumley; “The Transition of Abdul Alhazred”, Price (O).)

3) Town in upstate New York near both Attica and the ancestral Van der Heyl mansion visited by Alonso Typer. Most of the people here belong to a loathsome cult that meets on a hill near the old mansion. (“The Diary of Alonzo Typer”, Lovecraft and Lumley (O).)

CHORAZOS CULT

Sect of Yog-Sothoth worshipers established in the mountains of Rumania in the late 16th century. Its leader was a man named Chorazos, who was supposedly of Gypsy extraction. The members of the cult came from such diverse places as Hungary, Africa, Arabia, and China. In 1594, the cult was exiled from its former Continental site to England, where a temple was established in Finchley. Though at first popular with Queen Elizabeth, the cult was hounded out of London in late 1595 due to an investigation by their former patron on the advice of Doctor John Dee. They moved their base of operations to a house known as the Oaks.

Though the Chorazos Cult spent only a year in the Oaks, it became infamous throughout the area. When Parson Goodly of the local church asked Chorazos about the cult’s worship, Chorazos cursed the surrounding land, which to this day remains poor and deserted. Finally, the countrymen banded together and burned down the Oaks. Chorazos and a few other members escaped to Scotland.

Chorazos’s cult received land in the Pentland Hills due to its supposed acts of healing. Before any official action took place, the people living nearby rose up following a series of disappearances, destroying the sect once and for all.

See Yog-Sothoth. (“The House of the Temple”, Lumley (O); “The Running Man”, Lumley.)

THE CHRONICLES OF NATH (originally CHRONIKE VON NATH)

Volume written by Rudolf Yergler, a German mystic who finished it in 1653, shortly before he became completely blind. When the first edition was published in 1655, the authorities in Berlin sent Yergler to a madhouse, where he died under mysterious circumstances. In 1781, James Sheffield made an expurgated English translation of the Chronike. A copy of the latter might be found at the Croydon University Library.

The tome deals with the history of Nath, Land of the Three Suns. In addition, it contains certain musical compositions said to bring star‑spawned monstrosities into our dimension, mathematical formulae that can be used to view other dimensions, and information on the mystical traditions of Hermes Trismegistus. It warns would-be wizards that they must have good character and copy magical characters carefully if they seek to command the powers of this world.

See Nath. (“The Tree on the Hill”, Lovecraft and Rimel (O); “Chief White Cloud”, Rimel; “The Hampdon Horror”, Rimel; “The Hills beyond Hampdon”, Rimel; “Music of the Stars”, Rimel; “The Mythos Collector”, Sammons.)

CHRONICLES OF THRANG

Volume originating with the ‘Ithra, an alien species who came to earth from Betelgeuse three billion years ago. They set themselves up in Antarctica, which they referred to as Thrang. Later, another species called the Dhraion Throl found the book and added their own material, as did an Australian civilization started by humans from the rogue planet Wu’unaya. The magicians of the land of Ngarathoe in Asia Minor amended it between the last Ice Age and the rise of Sumer. An occultist named Algernon Braithwaite, a member of the mysterious Society of Paighon, rendered a partial and often inaccurate translation into English before being murdered. Seven copies of the Ngarathan translation exist.

The Chronicles deals in some detail with Yidhra and ‘Ymnar, and it includes a technique to contact Ngyr-Khorath.

(“The Barrett Horror”, DeBill; “From the Sea”, DeBill (O); “Where Yidhra Walks”, DeBill.)

CHRONIKE VON NATH

See Chronicles of Nath.

CHTHONIANS

See cthonians.

CHTHONIC REVELATIONS

Laotian or ancient Thai book by Thanang Phram. Only three copies of the original have survived. Graf von Könnenberg, author of Uralte Schrecken, translated it into German and added notes of his own. This edition was in turn translated into English later.

The Revelations includes discussions on Yidhra and disembodied entities called the Dark Ghosts, as well as a variation on the infamous elemental theory.

(“Twilight of the Elder Gods”, Clore; “The Changeling”, DeBill; “What Lurks Among the Dunes”, DeBill (O); “Where Yidhra Walks”, DeBill; Call of Cthulhu Rulebook, Petersen and Willis.)

CHTHONIOI

See Great Old Ones.

CHURCH OF STARRY WISDOM

See Starry Wisdom cult.

CIMMERIA

Land of northwestern Hyperborea to which descendants of the Atlanteans fled after their continent’s destruction. Its inhabitants in turn gave rise to the Gaelic people of Ireland and Scotland. It is this country from which the famous warrior Conan originally came. Today, most of Hyboria lies beneath the ocean. Only the portions that are now north-eastern England and southern Scandinavia lie above the waters.

[A group called the Cimmerians dwelt in Anatolia around the eighth century B.C., and it is likely Howard appropriated their names and used them in his fiction.]

See Conan; Crom-Ya; Lh-Yib; Testament of Carnamagos. (“The Hyborian Age”, Howard; “The Phoenix on the Sword”, Howard (O); Beneath the Moors, Lumley.)

CIRCLES OF THAOL

Diagram consisting of three concentric circles. It can be drawn on the ground or turned into an amulet and held aloft. When used in conjunction with the star-stones of Mnar, the Circles can be used to imprison a summoned creature. The Vach-Viraj incantation can add further strength to the binding.

See star-stone of Mnar. (“Nothing To Fear but Dust”, Henderson; “Andalous and the Chimera”, Hjort (O).)

CITY OF THE SINGING FLAME

See Ydmos.

CLITHANUS

See Confessions of the Mad Monk Clithanus.

CLOTTON

Village located on the Ton River, a tributary of the Severn. Clotton has declined greatly since its heyday and cannot be found on most maps. Following events in 1931 of which the townspeople are disinclined to speak, the people of Clotton tore down many of the riverfront buildings and erected a huge concrete pillar on the Ton’s bank.

(“The Horror from the Bridge”, Campbell (O).)

COBRA CROWN

Artifact made by the serpent people. A conical golden piece wrought in the shape of a serpent and encrusted with diamonds, the Crown became the chief agent of the serpents’ conquests. According to legend, the Crown allowed its user to read the thoughts of anyone nearby and to control the minds of men and animals. The Crown’s power varied with that of the one who used it; one of weak will might control one man, while a mighty magician could command thousands with it.

After the fall of the serpent people’s kingdom, the survivors concealed the Crown in a shrine on an Atlantic isle. During the Hyborian Age, a pirate bore it away, and for a short time it came into the possession of Thoth-Amon. Before he could use it to build his own empire, it was wrested from him and drained of its power. The Crown has not been seen since.

(Conan the Buccaneer, Carter and de Camp (O).)

CODEX DAGONENSIS

Book which bears a striking resemblance to the Codex Maleficium (now at the Vatican), the Codex Spitalsk (Uppsala, Sweden), and the Cthaat Aquadingen. All of these were first seen in the towns of northern Germany around the year 400, and each of them contains similar material, such as the Nyhargo Dirge, a set of Tsathogguan rituals, and information on the Elder Sign. The original compilers, and their reasons for creating these books, are unknown.

The Codex Dagonensis came into the possession of Obed Marsh, who used it in the rituals of the Esoteric Order of Dagon. Following the disbanding of the cult in 1928, the volume was granted to Miskatonic University, where members of the Order still consult it occasionally.

Aside from the material mentioned above, the Codex also contains magical protections against summonings, along with the Third and Eight Sathlattae.

See Codex Maleficium, Codex Spitalski, Cthaat Aquadingen. (Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley (O).)

CODEX MALEFICIUM

Volume very similar in content to the Codex Dagonensis, the Cthaat Aquadingen, and the Codex Spitalski. The only known copy is kept at the Vatican, which does not allow access to it. It contains a copy of the First Sathlatta.

See Codex Dagonensis; Codex Spitalski; Cthaat Aquadingen. (Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley (O).)

CODEX SPITALSKI (“Leprous”)

Volume very similar in content to the Codex Dagonensis, the Cthaat Aquadingen, and the Codex Maleficium. It is believed to be the oldest of these codices. It is kept somewhere in Uppsala, Sweden (most likely in the library of the University of Uppsala) and contains the Second Sathlatta.

See Codex Dagonensis; Codex Maleficium; Cthaat Aquadingen. (Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley (O).)

COLD WASTE

Region to the north of the Dreamlands in which the mountain of Kadath may be found. Kenneth Grant has connected this with the other side of the Kabalistic Tree of Life where the qliphoth, or the remnants of a former destroyed creation, may be found.

See Carter, Randolph; Dreamlands; Kadath; Leng; Yr-Nhhngr. (Nightside of Eden, Grant; “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft; “The Other Gods”, Lovecraft (O).)

COLOUR OUT OF SPACE

Being from outer space that appears to be a color of no known spectrum (though it may take on a more material form after some time on earth). The Colour’s life cycle in space is unknown, as the only encounters with it so far have been made on earth. The Elder Things seem to revere these beings, while other species, including the mi-go and shan, fear them.

The Colour’s embryonic stage is that of a small sphere three inches in diameter. When it enters a planet’s atmosphere, the sphere is broken and the Colour larva emerges. It then begins to exert a subtle influence over life in the surrounding area, feeding first on the lower levels of the food chain and working its way up to animals and humans. Affected lifeforms often grow to abnormal sizes and mutate, though soon after they crumble into dust. When the Colour has gained enough energy, it drains the surrounding area and flies off into space, leaving a blasted area devoid of all life behind it.

The best-known Colour appearance was near Clark’s Corners, Massachusetts in 1882, on a site now covered by the new Arkham reservoir.

See S’ngac. (“The Killer out of Space”, Barton; Hive, Curran; “The Colour out of Space”, Lovecraft (O); “A Little Color in Your Cheeks”, Minnis; The Color out of Time, Shea.)

COLUM, NAYLAND

Author from London who became known for his novel The Watchers on the Other Side. Colum was planning to follow up this novel with another, but he vanished from a ship on his way home from a vacation in Arabia.

(“The Keeper of the Key”, Derleth (O).)

COMMORIOM

One-time capital city of Hyperborea. Some say that the White Sybil of Polarion prophesied that Commoriom would be destroyed. Upon hearing these words, the entire population of the doomed city fled, leaving Commoriom to the jungle, and set up the new capital of Uzuldaroum a day’s journey away. However, other accounts state that the city was deserted due to the depredations of a criminal whose execution proved especially troublesome.

Klarkash-Ton of Atlantis preserved the myth-cycle of Commoriom, which included tales of Tsathoggua and other deities.

See Satampra Zeiros. (“The Whisperer in Darkness”, Lovecraft; “The Tale of Satampra Zeiros”, Smith (O); “The Testament of Athammaus”, Smith.)

COMTE D’ERLETTE

See D’Erlette, Comte.

CONAN OF CIMMERIA

The most famous hero of the Hyborian Age. Conan was born to a tribe in northwestern Cimmeria during a battle between his people and the Vanir to the north. By the time he reached young adulthood, Conan had distinguished himself in war many times. Soon thereafter, he set out for adventure, and traversed a great deal of the world working as a thief and mercenary.

Around the age of forty, Conan seized the throne of Aquilonia, the most powerful kingdom in the Hyborian lands. What happened after this is only conjecture; some say he conquered a vast empire, while others hold that he placed his son on the throne and went west to battle a great evil.

[Given the vast amount of contradictory material on Conan and his marginal use in the Mythos, I will leave a full account of his life for others to compile.]

See Acheron; Cimmeria; Hyborian Age; Quy; Set; Stygia. (Letter from Robert E. Howard to P. S. Miller, March 10, 1936; “The Phoenix on the Sword”, Howard (O); The Illuminatus! Trilogy, Shea and Wilson.)

CONFESSIONS OF THE MAD MONK CLITHANUS

Name bestowed upon an untitled volume written by Clithanus circa 400.

Clithanus had read a great deal of the Necronomicon, and used this information to free a “follower of mad Cthulhu” which was imprisoned within the tunnels beneath an abbey at Lynwold, on England’s northeastern coast. After seeing what he had done, Clithanus became afraid and went to St. Augustine, the Bishop of Hippo, for assistance. (Why and how he consulted the bishop in Africa is not known.) Through the use of a star-shaped symbol, Augustine returned the monster to its prison. The saint then sent Clithanus, who had been driven out of his mind, to Rome.

The Confessions was printed in a Latin edition in 1675, most likely in Milan. The British Museum, the Field Museum in Chicago, and Union Theological Seminary in Manhattan hold copies of this book.

This book contains the formulas for calling a lesser being much like Cthulhu, another for sending the creature back on its original summoner, and the signs of protection needed to avert its wrath. One of the chants within may be the one required to enchant the star-stones of Mnar. Clithanus also tells of a time when a large number of Cthulhu-spawn were called out of the deeps, ravaged the land, and were imprisoned once again in a faraway land by priests from Central Europe.

(“The Incantation of the Elder Sign”, Carter, Derleth, and Schorer; “The Passing of Eric Holm”, Derleth (O); “Something from Out There”, Derleth; “The Horror from the Depths”, Derleth and Schorer; “Fischbuchs”, Ross; “The Mythos Collector”, Sammons.)

COPELAND, HAROLD HADLEY (c. 1860–May 15, 1926)

Leading anthropological authority on Pacific cultures, as well as co-founder and president of the Pacific Area Archaeological Association. Copeland studied at Cambridge and graduated from Miskatonic University in 1881. He traveled extensively in Asia during the 1890s, and his travelogues gained a small measure of popularity. Copeland’s first scholarly work, Prehistory in the Pacific: A Preliminary Investigation with References to the Myth-Patterns of Southeast Asia, established his reputation in the field of anthropology when it was published in 1902.

In 1906 Copeland completed his second volume, Polynesian Mythology, with a Note on the Cthulhu Legend-Cycle. Even here, Copeland’s material remains on solid scientific ground, but this book also shows the first signs of what was to become an obsession with obscure myth-cycles, manifested even more strongly in his translation of the Ponape Scripture (1907).

Copeland’s preoccupation with lost civilizations came to the fore in his next two works, The Ponape Figurine (1910) and The Prehistoric Pacific in Light of the ‘Ponape Scripture’ (1911). The former dealt with a mysterious statuette the Professor had come across in his travels, while in the latter he asserted that the continent of Mu, which occultists believe to lie sunken beneath the Pacific, had actually existed. To support his hypothesis, Copeland cited the colossal stone ruins found on many Pacific islands, the similar myth-patterns of the widely-scattered people of the region, and the Ponape Scripture, a work discovered on the isle of Ponape in 1734 by Captain Abner Ezekiel Hoag. The Prehistoric Pacific was derided in the scientific community, and Copeland was forced to step down from the presidency of the Pacific Area Archaeological Association.

In 1913, Copeland, accompanied by his colleague Ellington, set off for the mountains beyond the Plateau of Tsang in central Asia. The Copeland-Ellington expedition met with disaster; Ellington died in the first few days, most of the group’s bearers perished or deserted, and Copeland was not heard from until three months later. When he was discovered in Mongolia, he raved about the things he had seen and carried ten stone tablets that he vowed had been inscribed with the words of the Muvian high priest Zanthu. Three years later, he released the Zanthu Tablets: A Conjectural Translation. Shortly after its release Copeland was confined to a San Francisco sanitarium, where he later slit his throat. He left his estate, including all his notes and a sizable collection of Polynesian artifacts, to the Sanbourne Institute of Pacific Antiquities.

See Blaine, Henry; Hodgkins, Arthur; Lesser Old Ones; Polynesian Mythology…; Ponape Figurine; Ponape Scripture; Prehistoric Pacific in Light of the “Ponape Scripture”; Prehistory in the Pacific; R’lyeh Text; Sanbourne Institute; Tsang; Yuggya Chants; Zanthu Tablets. (“The Dweller in the Tomb”, Carter (O); “Out of the Ages”, Carter; “Zoth-Ommog”, Carter; A Resection of Time, Johnson; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

CORDELIA

Possible character in the play The King in Yellow. Some accounts of the play give her a prominent role, while others do not mention her at all.

(“In Memoriam”, Johnson and Price; “Cordelia’s Song from the King in Yellow”, Starrett (O).)

CORSI, BARTOLOMEO (c. 1176– c. 1274)

Florentine monk of the Franciscan Order who lived during the twelfth century. During a bout of insanity following a Yithian mind transfer, Corsi was imprisoned by the local authorities, who believed him to be supporting the Holy Roman Emperors. Having received a message from an eastern envoy calling for leniency for Corsi, Pope Innocent IV freed and exiled him to the isle of Stromboli. Corsi returned to Florence in 1266, where he wrote the Harmaticon, a book which displayed his unorthodox views on the nature of sin. It is possible that he might have met the young Dante Alighieri while there, as some portions of the Inferno bear some resemblance to what is known of the Harmaticon.

(“The Shadow out of Time”, Lovecraft (O); Other Nations, Marsh and Marsh.)

CRAWLING CHAOS

See Nyarlathotep.

CREGOIVACAR

See Stregoicavar.

CROM-YA

Cimmerian chief who lived seventeen thousand years ago and worshiped Tsathoggua. He may have become the Cimmerian god Crom.

[“Crom-Ya” may be a reference to Robert E. Howard’s “Crom”, an indifferent god of the mountain revered by Conan. The name Crom is derived from Crom Cruach, “The Lord of the Mound”, a Celtic god to whom human sacrifices were reputedly made.]

(“The Shadow out of Time”, Lovecraft (O); The Sussex Manuscript, Pelton.)

CROW, TITUS (1916–1969?)

British occultist and psychic who dedicated his life to the study of the paranormal, especially the Cthulhu Mythos.

Titus Crow was born on December 2, 1916, into a well-to-do London family. He inherited his love of learning from his father, an archaeologist of some note, and attended the University of Edinburgh. He seems to have been well-known enough, even at an early age, that the young Henri-Laurent de Marigny was sent to England by his father with only a letter of introduction to Crow.

During World War II, the War Department hired Crow as an adviser on the occult and the Third Reich, and asked for his help in breaking the German military’s codes. After the war, the occultist Julian Carstairs employed Crow as his private secretary for a brief while. Though Carstairs would vanish shortly thereafter, he was nonetheless impressed enough with the young Crow to leave most of his estate to him.

Using these funds, Titus Crow purchased a country estate, Blowne Manor, and began his probing into the occult in earnest along with de Marigny. The two of them investigated the runestone of Ragnar Gory-Axe, the death of the industrialist Sturm Magruser, and the whereabouts of a certain Transylvanian nobleman. He became one of the country’s greatest occultists and the possessor of a noteworthy occult library. In his last years, Crow joined Miskatonic University’s Wilmarth Foundation in their assault upon the Great Old Ones, and for a brief while became the head of the Foundation’s British operations.

Crow’s life came to an end when occult forces destroyed Blowne Manor on October 4, 1969, though some reports suggest otherwise. Interested readers should turn to Dr. Ryan Millbue’s Titus Crow: A Memoriam.

See Cthaat Aquadingen; Cultes des Goules; Davies, Chandler; Frontier Garrison; Geph Transcriptions; G’harne Fragments; Legends of the Olden Runes; Marigny, Henri-Laurent; Tiania; time-clock; Yian-Ho. (“Titus Crow: A Sketch of His Life”, Harris; “Billy’s Oak”, Lumley (O); The Burrowers Beneath, Lumley; “Inception”, Lumley; “The Lord of the Worms”, Lumley; “Name and Number”, Lumley; “Titus Crow vs. Dracula”, Lumley; “The Viking’s Stone”, Lumley; Miskatonic University Graduate Kit, Petersen and Willis.)

CRYSTAL OF CHAOS

See Shining Trapezohedron.

CRYSTALLIZER OF DREAMS

Yellow egg-shaped item that periodically emits a whistling noise. The Revelations of Glaaki states that the Crystallizer can be used to view far-off places (such as the world of Tond) in dreams, as well as allowing its possessor to perceive higher dimensions. According to some, the Crystallizer allows its user to bring items or creatures back from the Dreamlands to the waking world for a brief while. The user must always be cautious to avoid the Crystallizer’s guardian, a creature like a translucent jellyfish that is a servant of Hypnos.

See Revelations of Glaaki; Tond. (“Mysterious Manuscripts”, Aniolowski et. al.; “The Inhabitant of the Lake”, Campbell (O); “The Render of the Veils”, Campbell; H. P. Lovecraft’s Dreamlands, Petersen et. al..)

CTHAAT AQUADINGEN

Mythos tome by an unknown early medieval author. The origin of the word “Cthaat” is unknown; it might be a reference to the Kthatans, who predate the speakers of Naacal, or to a god of darkness and water not noted elsewhere than this book. “Aquadingen” is a mixture of German and Latin meaning “things of the water.”

The book’s history has been a matter of considerable controversy. Some say that the Cthaat Aquadingen is only one in a series of similar books of forbidden lore collected in Northern Europe around the year 400, as the manuscripts found within this volume bear great resemblance to those in the other volumes (see Codex Dagonensis for more on this matter). A few state that the book was originally a German text, while others maintain that the first copies were a mixture of Gothic and R’lyehian. The more recent copies of this book are in English, and at least one Hindi copy has turned up. The author Edward Roberts is purported to have issued Cthaat Aquadingen: A Translation, though few references to that volume have been found.

Only five copies of the Cthaat Aquadingen exist (supposedly). The British occultist Titus Crow owned one of these, bound in human skin and with two of the most sensitive chapters bound separately. This one was probably destroyed when wind-demons demolished Crow’s home in 1969. The British Museum has repeatedly denied possessing any copy of this work, though it has been suggested that the restricted collections hold one in secrecy. One copied manuscript and partial translation is kept at Oakdeene Sanitarium in England, and the Great Library of the Dreamland possesses this book as well.

The Cthaat Aquadingen holds information about Yibb-Tstll, as well as the Small Crawler aspect of Nyarlathotep. It also contains certain Tsathogguan rituals, the Sixth Sathlatta, a spell to dismiss Bugg-Shash, and information on the Barrier of Naach-Tith. One of the rites within claims to bring immortality, so long as the caster consumes the flesh of the dead and their own body. As its title implies, though, the Cthaat Aquadingen is mainly focused on myths dealing with water spirits, and various spells used in their invocation.

See Barrier of Naach-Tith; the Black; Codex Dagonensis; Codex Maleficium; Codex Spitalski, Feery, Joachim; Hoy-Dhin; Mad Berkley’s Book; Notes on the Cthaat Aquadingen; Nyarlathotep (Small Crawler); Nyhargo Dirge; Sathlattae; Sixth Sathlatta; Spellman, Martin. (“The Plague of St. James Infirmary”, Asamatsu; Masks of Nyarlathotep, DiTillio and Willis; “The Curse of the Toad”, Hall and Dale; Keeper’s Compendium, Herber; “Ulthar and Beyond”, Herber; “Billy’s Oak”, Lumley; The Burrowers Beneath, Lumley; “The Cyprus Shell”, Lumley (O); “The Horror at Oakdeene”, Lumley; “The House of the Temple”, Lumley; “The Kiss of Bugg-Shash”, Lumley; “The Return of the Deep Ones”, Lumley.)

CTHONIANS (or CHTHONIANS)

Race of subterranean burrowers resembling short-tentacled, eyeless squids, which are led by a gigantic member of their species named Shudde-M’ell. These beings were imprisoned near the African city of G’harne, but escaped their bondage and spread throughout the world by tunneling through the earth’s crust. The cthonians move by burrowing through rock, using a process that seems to melt the stone through which they travel. By use of a similar ability, the cthonians may create earthquakes and subsidences wherever they desire. In fact, the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 has been credited to this species.

The cthonians possess amazing telepathic powers. Not only are they able to communicate with each other (and psychically sensitive members of other species) telepathically, they can also overpower a person’s will to chain him or her to one place or confuse his or her senses. Fortunately, the cthonians only use the latter ability when they or their young are threatened, or sometimes against those who have made themselves nuisances to the species.

The life cycle of cthonians is quite lengthy. A female only lays a few eggs at a time. As a consequence of this, cthonians are quite protective of their eggs (which appear to be spherical mineral formations) and young, and will go to great lengths to rescue them if they are removed from their nests.

Cthonians are vulnerable to very few substances. High-powered explosives only hurt them slightly, and due to their tunneling activities, extremes of temperature do not affect them. On the other hand, the Tikkoun Elixir, the ankh, the Vach-Viraj chant, and especially the Elder Sign, can be of some use against these beings. Radiation or immersion in water can also cause serious damage to cthonians. Cthonians are quite intelligent, however, and unlikely to put themselves into a position where they might be in danger. Their telepathic contact with each other makes it unlikely that any strategy will work twice.

The cthonians are not known for their technology, though some believe that curious devices on the ocean’s floor might have belonged to them at one time.

See Elder Sign; G’harne; Kagwamon K’thaat; Lesser Old Ones; Marigny, Henri-Laurent; Shudde-M’ell; Tikkoun elixir; Vach-Viraj chant; Wilmarth Foundation. (“The Statue of the Sorcerer”, Edwards and Eliot; The Burrowers Beneath, Lumley; “Cement Surroundings”, Lumley (O); “The Jennifer Morgue”, Stross.)

CTHONIC REVELATIONS

See Chthonic Revelations.

CTHUGHA

Great Old One who takes the form of a huge airborne conflagration. Cthugha was the first of the Great Old Ones to come to the earth, which was still molten at the time. As the planet cooled, Cthugha and his children retreated beneath the surface until the Elder Gods expelled him. Cthugha now dwells in a small star called Korvaz near Fomalhaut, though a possible gate to his home may exist in a palace within a volcano in an alternate reality.

Cthugha has been classified as a fire-elemental, in his case an appropriate label. Some say Cthugha participated in a war between the Great Old Ones and Elder Gods, during which he was irradiated and became permanently insane. Enmity exists between Cthugha and Nyarlathotep.

The priests of Stygia revered Cthugha, and his worship later became entwined with that of the Carthaginian gods Melkart and Moloch. The most famous cult dedicated to Cthugha was that of Nestar Mobedan Mobed, a Zoroastrian prophet who lived during the sixth century. Cthugha is usually served only by his attendant fire-vampires, and beings called the “Jinni” which may or may not be the same as the former.

If a person wishes to summon Cthugha, the following chant must be repeated three times when Fomalhaut is over the horizon:

Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthugha Fomalhaut n’gha-ghaa naf’l thagn! Iä! Cthugha!

Some sources hold that the caller should have a fire nearby as well, though this is not always the case. Those who would summon Cthugha should be cautious; the calling up of one of his servitors alone is believed to have caused the Great Fire of London in 1666, and those unable to dismiss the Great Old One may find themselves unpleasantly surprised. The Tunguska explosion has been attributed to Cthugha, though others argue Azathoth was responsible.

See Aphoom Zhah; elemental theory; fire vampires; Fthaggua; Letters of Nestar; Nestar Mobedan Mobed; Nyarlathotep; Yamath; Yomagn’tho; Zegrembi Manuscript. (“This Fire Shall Kill”, Bishop; “The Dweller in Darkness”, Derleth; “The House on Curwen Street”, Derleth (O); “The Black Mirror”, Glasby; “The Nameless Tower”, Glasby; Elysia, Lumley; Call of Cthulhu Rulebook, 5th edition, Petersen and Willis; “To What Green Altar”, Sunseri; “The Pillars of Melkarth”, Tierney; Deities and Demigods Cyclopedia, Ward with Kuntz.)

CTHULHI

See Mu, star-spawn of Cthulhu.

CTHULHU (also KUTULU or KTHULHUT or THU THU or TULU)

Great Old One resembling a bat-winged, clawed, octopus-headed humanoid. Cthulhu sleeps in a deathlike trance beneath the Pacific Ocean, but he will one day awaken to rule the world.

Records of Cthulhu’s origins are fragmentary, but it seems that he originated on the world of Vhoorl in the twenty-third nebula. He later traveled to the green double star of Xoth, where he mated with a creature named Idh-yaa to produce the Great Old Ones Ghatanothoa, Ythogtha, and Zoth-Ommog. From here, Cthulhu, his children, and a species known as the star-spawn flew to Saturn, descending to Earth from there.

Upon their arrival, Cthulhu and his retinue took up residence on a continent in the Pacific Ocean, on which they built the great stone city of R’lyeh. At first, Cthulhu’s spawn encountered resistance from the Elder Things, who had dwelt on the earth for millions of years before Cthulhu’s coming. Following a war in which Cthulhu’s spawn destroyed all of the Elder Things’ land cities, the two species declared peace and agreed not to interfere with each other. Following this arrangement, Cthulhu enjoyed many years of freedom on this world, but soon they fell into a period of deep hibernation.

During these millions of years, humanity slowly evolved. According to later doctrine, Cthulhu spoke to these new beings in their dreams, telling them where to find the statues in his image he had brought down from the stars and instructing them in the proper worship of the lord of R’lyeh. In this way, the cult of Cthulhu began.

One day, disaster struck black R’lyeh. It may have been the vengeance of unknown deities, changes in the stars, or the moon being ripped from the earth (though evidence suggests that Cthulhu’s followers might have had a hand in this). The time of this catastrophe is also uncertain; according to cult doctrine, this happened after the founding of his first cults, but others suggest that it occurred long before humanity’s rise. No matter the cause or time, the city of R’lyeh sank beneath the Pacific Ocean, trapping Cthulhu and all of his spawn. The water blocked most of their telepathic signals, cutting off all contact with their worshipers except through occasional dreams. Cthulhu was helpless to do anything but wait until the stars came right, when he would be freed from his prison.

Since then, Cthulhu’s tomb has emerged from the water from time to time, freeing Cthulhu for a brief while. These have only been short respites for the Great Old One, for each R’lyeh has sunk back beneath the sea after a few days or weeks. A day will come, however, when the black city will not return to the sea floor. Cthulhu will then raven and slay across the world, ushering in a new age.

The pioneering work of Professor Angell and his successors has given us much information about this secretive organization. Cthulhu’s cults are quite widespread; traces of his worship have appeared in Haiti, Louisiana, the South Pacific, Mexico, Arabia, Siberia, K’n-yan, and Greenland. The deathless priests who lead the cult live somewhere in the mountains of China, but the cult’s true center is or was located somewhere in the Arabian desert near Irem. For the most part, this cult has remained secret, but the Hawaiian islanders still tell legends of Kana-loa, the evil squid-god who was imprisoned in the underworld. Cthulhu’s rites are often performed near the ocean or a large body of water, and Halloween is considered to be one of his high holy days.

Rumor has it that Cthulhu himself is merely the high priest of Yog-Sothoth. He is mentioned more often than the other Old Ones, and it has been suggested that his coming signals the rise of the others. Some enmity exists between Cthulhu and his “half-brother,” Hastur the Unspeakable. Still, no one knows just how Cthulhu and Hastur are related or why this conflict between them exists.

A good number of apocryphal beliefs about Cthulhu and his nature have sprung up. In some texts, Cthulhu is called a water elemental, even though it is the ocean that blocks his telepathic signals to humanity. The Sussex Manuscript mentions Cthulhu as a manifestation of Nyarlathotep, though no other source interprets him in this way. Francis Laney attempted to link Cthulhu to the Quicha-Ayar war-god Huitzilopochtli. This is seriously flawed, however; not only is Huitzilopochtli an Aztec god, but he bears absolutely no resemblance to Cthulhu. Finally, some have drawn parallels between Cthulhu and K’tholo of Souchis, a high priest of Mu who fled that continent’s destruction and took up residence in South America. Few accept any of these hypotheses.

See Alhazred, Abdul; Angell, George Gammell; Black Tome of Alsophocus; B’moth; Castro; Chorazin; Confessions of the Mad Monk Clithanus; Copeland, Harold Hadley; Cthaat Aquadingen; Cthulhu Among the Victorians; Cthulhu in the Necronomicon; Cthylla; deep ones; Dreamlands; Dwellers in the Depths; Elder Sign; Elder Things; elemental theory; Esoteric Order of Dagon; Fishers from Outside; Ghatanothoa; Great Old Ones; Hastur; Idh-yaa; An Investigation into the Myth-Patterns; Irem; Kassogtha; K’n-yan; Kthanid; Kuen-Yuin; Laniqua Lua’huan; Legends of the Olden Runes; Legrasse, John Raymond; Mark of Cthulhu; Masters of the Silver Twilight; mi-go; Mylakhrion; Notes on Nessie; Nug and Yeb; Nyarlathotep; Othuum; Ph’nglui mglw’nafh; Ph’thya-L’yi; Polynesian Mythology…; Ponape Scripture; Prehistoric Pacific in Light of the “Ponape Scripture”; R’lyeh; R’lyeh Text; R’lyehian; sand-dwellers; Seal of R’lyeh; shoggoths; Sorcerie de Demonologie; star-spawn of Cthulhu; Thurston, Francis Wayland; Unaussprechlichen Kulten; Vhoorl; Xoth; Xuthltan; Yian; Yog-Sothoth; Ythogtha. (Strange Eons, Bloch; “The Tugging”, Campbell; “Star-Spawn of Hyperborea”, Fultz; Necronomicon: The Book of Dead Names, Hay ed.; “Castle Dark”, Herber; “At the Mountains of Madness”, Lovecraft; “The Call of Cthulhu”, Lovecraft (O); “The Mound”, Lovecraft and Bishop; The Philosopher’s Stone, Wilson.)

CTHULHU AMONG THE VICTORIANS

Volume by Laban Shrewsbury published by Miskatonic University Press in 1929. Since the book was issued during Shrewsbury’s twenty-year absence, it was likely assembled from the professor’s notes and published in the memory of the vanished anthropologist.

This book seems to be a collection of Cthulhoid events that happened during the last few decades of the nineteenth century. Shrewsbury asserts that this age was one of the critical times in our planet’s history, when the Mythos made great strides in re-taking the world.

See Shrewsbury, Laban. (Cthulhu by Gaslight, Barton(O); The Trail of Cthulhu, Derleth.)

CTHULHU CYCLE DEITIES

See Great Old Ones.

CTHULHU IN THE NECRONOMICON

Manuscript by Professor Laban Shrewsbury, and intended as a sequel to his Investigations into the Myth-Patterns of Latter-Day Primitives. The first part of Shrewsbury’s unfinished book arrived at the publishers in 1938, shortly before the Professor’s supposed death in a mysterious fire at his home. This portion was probably published even though the rest of the manuscript no longer exists, as the book has turned up in several places since then.

In this book, Shrewsbury correlates the Cthulhu Mythos as outlined in the Necronomicon and the R’lyeh Text with the myths of cultures around the world. He also speculates on whether it might be effective to pit the Great Old Ones, especially Cthulhu and Hastur, against each other.

See Necronomicon (appendices); Shrewsbury, Laban. (“Introduction” to Dreams from R’lyeh, Carter; “The House on Curwen Street”, Derleth (O).)

CTHYLLA

Cthulhu’s daughter, mothered by Idh-yaa, a creature from the black star Xoth. Cthylla appears to be a six-eyed octopus whose number of tentacles varies between eight and twelve. She once dwelled near the underwater city of Y’ha-nthlei, but more recent sightings indicate that she has moved her feeding grounds to the Pacific or to Lake Titicaca between Peru and Bolivia.

Cthylla is rarely alluded to within the books of the Mythos, for her destiny was so hideous even the authors of these volumes feared to speak of her. If ever Cthulhu is destroyed, his spirit will depart and be reincarnated in the womb of Cthylla. Thus Cthulhu might return to the world, even in the event of his complete destruction.

(“In His Daughter’s Darkling Womb”, Jens; The Transition of Titus Crow, Lumley (O); “Aus den dunklen Zwischenreichen”, Schiemichen.)

CULT OF THE BLOODY TONGUE

Kenyan religion worshiping an avatar of Nyarlathotep. The cult’s power is great, and few in the area speak of its rites. It has a few branches elsewhere in the world, but these are quite weak in comparison to the main organization. The Cult was possibly responsible for the Mau Mau campaign of terror in the 1950’s.

See Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh; Nyarlathotep (Black Wind, God of the Bloody Tongue). (Masks of Nyarlathotep, DiTillio and Willis (O).)

CULT OF THE NEW MILLENNIUM

Organization founded by Adam Searle, a musician and artist, in 1990. Based in Gaithersberg, Maryland, the group began as a half-joking attempt to encourage human evolution. After returning to the States in 1992 after a year in England, Searle taught a new message foretelling the fiery destruction of the world in the year 2000. Basing this vision on the Ha-Sepher shel Teefays Or (Book of the Climbing Light), the sect grew until hundreds of people followed Searle’s vision. The cult’s headquarters in the Catskills burned in 1993, but some branches of the group may survive.

(“The Truth Shall Set You Free”, Ballon; 1990s Handbook, Rucka et. al.(O).)

CULT OF THE SKULL

Cult that meets in the deep woods outside Chesuncook, Maine. The organization’s high rites are held on Halloween, though worship may also be held at other times. The cult is said to worship Shub-Niggurath among the standing stones in the woods, though few details of their rites have emerged. Those few that have escaped their rites have described vast underground caverns down six thousand steps and pits where the shoggoths feast.

The Cult of the Skull is said to have a rivalry with the witch-cult based in Arkham. Its membership remains mostly secret, though both Asenath Waite and Edward Derby were thought to have joined the cult.

See Kamog; Waite, Ephraim. (“The Dark Stairway”, Berglund and Weinberg; Keeper’s Compendium, Herber; “The Thing on the Doorstep”, Lovecraft (O).)

CULT OF THE YELLOW SIGN

See Brothers of the Yellow Sign.

CULTE DES MORTS, LE (“The Worship of the Dead”)

Little is known about this book. The commonly-available edition is highly censored. A portion of the book that was removed has been seen, but only four copies of this section are known to exist.

(“The Strange Doom of Enos Harker”, Carter and Price; “The Isle of Dark Magic”, Cave (O).)

CULTES DES GOULES

Book dealing principally with a Parisian ghoul-cult. The author was Antoine-Marie Augustin de Montmorency-les-Roches, Comte d’Erlette, a French nobleman of occult leanings who became involved in the Affair of the Poisoners, in which high-ranking nobles were accused of murder and black magic. The group circulated copies of the book in manuscript, but never published it. A later Comte of the same line, Francois Honore-Balfour, found the book, expanded it, and had it published at his own expense in 1703. Later, an expurgated edition was published in Rouen in 1737 (though the source for this date is suspect).

A few sorcerers also made handwritten copies in Italian or Spanish. Fourteen copies of the original French publication are known to exist. One may be found in the Miskatonic University library, another was kept by the Starry Wisdom cult of Providence, and yet another was in the personal library of Titus Crow (though this was probably destroyed). One Lazarus Garvey is believed to have translated part of the book into English, but he disappeared into the Himalayas before the work could be completed.

In this book, the Comte speaks of his membership in a ghoul‑cult, and gives a set of prophecies concerning its future. Along with this appear descriptions of pagan fertility rites dedicated to the earth-deities, some of which have survived to the present. Also mentioned are Nyogtha, Shub-Niggurath (whom the book links to lycanthropy), and tales of the Yeti, for which no clear explanation is given. At least one authority, however, has stated that this book is more fancy than fact.

[There has been considerable debate over who invented this particular tome, with Lovecraft, Bloch, and Derleth all cited as potential sources. Since the book appears in Bloch’s stories a year before it shows up in Lovecraft’s and nine years before Derleth’s, I have noted him as the original author.]

See D’Erlette, Comte. (“Darkness, My Name Is”, Bertin; “The Grinning Ghoul”, Bloch; “The Suicide in the Study”, Bloch (O); Realm of Shadows, Crowe; “The Adventure of the Six Silver Spiders”, Derleth; Keeper’s Companion, Herber; “Books of the Cthulhu Mythos”, Herber and Ross; Spawn of Azathoth, Herber; “The Haunter of the Dark”, Lovecraft; “The Caller of the Black”, Lumley; “They Only Come Out at Night”, Medoff; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

CULTUS MALEFICARUM (also THE SUSSEX MANUSCRIPT)

Partial English translation of the Latin Necronomicon, made by a Baron Frederic of Sussex and published in 1598 in an octavo edition. Reverend Winters-Hall’s “translation” of the Sussex Manuscript (whatever that means) is kept at Miskatonic University.

[The Cultus Maleficarum is a real illuminated manuscript created by Fred Pelton, a Lovecraft fan in the Forties who tried unsuccessfully to have Arkham House publish his work. As with many books in Mythos stories, the original has disappeared while the text has been passed on. Since many of Pelton’s ideas of the Mythos diverge considerably from the more-accepted lore, I have tried to note them where they appear.]

See Necronomicon (appendices); Sothoth; star-stones; Ulthar. (“Zoth-Ommog”, Carter; The Sussex Manuscript, Pelton (O).)

CURWEN, JOSEPH (1663–1771)

Wealthy trader and reputed sorcerer from Providence, Rhode Island. Born in Danvers (then Salem-Village), Massachusetts, Curwen went to sea at an early age. Having returned to Salem after several years, he was forced to leave at the beginning of the great witchcraft panic. He then took up residence in Providence, where he lived for the rest of his life while keeping up an extensive correspondence with his friends Simon Orne and Edward Hutchinson.

Joseph Curwen quickly became one of Providence’s most powerful merchants, bringing the colony great wealth from his overseas trade. His generous acts of philanthropy toward his hometown and the fledgling Arkham College, later to become Miskatonic University, established his reputation as a civic-minded individual. Despite this, his fellow townspeople spread tales about disappearances seemingly connected with him. Rumors told of the mysterious cargo brought to his house and a Pawtuxet farm in which he had set up a laboratory, not to mention the advanced age Curwen had reached without any signs of physical deterioration.

Joseph Curwen was married to Eliza Tillinghast in 1763, and the couple had a daughter, Ann, two years later. While at first his alliance to one of Providence’s most influential families brought Curwen some public acceptance, the old rumors began again soon thereafter. By 1770, it was clear that Curwen was indeed performing some sort of illegal acts, and a secret committee of Providence’s most powerful men met to decide what action should be taken. On April 12, 1771, a party of raiders led by this committee marched on Curwen’s Pawtuxet farm. What exactly happened during the raid is unclear, but following this, Joseph Curwen was seen no more.

See Hutchinson, Edward; Liber Damnatus; Necronomicon (appendices); Orne, Simon; Reflections; Ward, Charles Dexter. (“The Case of Charles Dexter Ward”, Lovecraft (O); Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

CXAXUKLUTH (also KSAKSA-KLUTH)

Androgynous spawn of Azathoth who was the progenitor of both Hziulquoigmnzhah and Ghisguth, who was in turn Tsathoggua’s father. He and his children dwelt on Yuggoth for a while, but his companions soon left him on account of his cannibalistic tendencies. He is the lord of our particular sector of space, but pays no attention to prayers.

See Ghisguth; Hziulquoigmnzhah; Tsathoggua; Yuggoth. (“The Family Tree of the Gods”, Smith (O); “The Unresponding Gods”, Tierney; “The Throne of Achamoth”, Tierney and Price.)

CYÄEGHA

Great Old One appearing as a great black mass of tentacles with one green eye at the center. Cyäegha is a god of the caverns and darkness, as well as an embodiment of hatred. He sleeps for centuries on end, but when he is awakened, his wrath is terrible.

Millennia ago, Cyäegha’s genetic material somehow mingled with that of humans in Europe. As a result, most people from the continent bear the legacy of the Great Old One. Those who express these markers most strongly remember their heritage, journeying to a place where the god might appear and becoming members of his cult. Although the group is ostensibly dedicated to serving the Great Old One, in fact its members are dedicated to keeping their god imprisoned so that they might draw upon his power and vitality in their rites before the time is right for his rising. To help in keeping Cyäegha immobile, the people use five guardian spirits housed in statues known as Vaeyen, who not only protect Cyäegha but act as its jailers as well.

Beginning in the seventeenth century, the small German town of Freihausgarten worshiped Cyäegha. According to the cult, their god dwelt beneath the Dark Hill near the town, where all the townspeople journeyed to worship him. Cyäegha seemed to exert some sort of hypnotic control over the people; they came unfailingly to his rites, but afterward could remember nothing of what had happened. Around the year 1860, however, a young priest came to Freihausgarten and broke up the cult.

See elemental theory; Othuyeg; Vach-Viraj. (“Darkness, My Name Is”, Bertin (O); “Sufficient Unto the Day”, Ingham.)

CYKRANOSH

The planet Saturn, as it was known in Mhu Thulan. Tsathoggua and Atlach-Nacha came to Earth from that world, and Tsathoggua’s paternal uncle Hziulquoigmnzhah still resides there. When the priests of Yhoundeh came to capture Eibon, that wizard made his escape through a magical portal to Cykranosh.

(“The Door to Saturn”, Smith (O); The Philosopher’s Stone, Wilson.)

CYLINDERS OF KADATHERON

See Brick Cylinders of Kadatheron.

CYNOTHOGLYS

1) Deity appearing as a formless mound topped with an arm-like appendage. Cynothoglys is the god of transformation and death. If properly supplicated, Cynothoglys may provide his supplicant with whatever death they may desire. This death may not take place immediately, but its eventual coming is certain. (“The Prodigy of Dreams”, Ligotti (O).)

2) Book that may contain prayers or information on the Mortician God Cynothoglys. (“Vastarien”, Ligotti (O).)

D

DAEMONOLORUM

Book that may have been written around the year 200. It tells of an Egyptian sect that believed its gods could take on a human form.

(“The Brood of Bubastis”, Bloch; “The Dark Demon”, Bloch (O); Keeper’s Compendium, Herber.)

DAGON

Minor being that leads the deep ones and in turn serves Cthulhu. Dagon appears as a deep one of tremendous proportions, or more rarely as a cloud of mist. One description provides him with a single lidless eye in a bullet-shaped head and translucent skin. The deep ones and some coastal humans worship him alongside his mate, Mother Hydra.

Dagon spends much of his time sleeping in a crevasse in the ocean floor beneath layers of muck. He comes forth to meet his human or deep one worshipers when they call out the proper rites. Legend has it that Dagon may come no further ashore than the low tide mark, though on at least one occasion he came further inland.

Dagon’s cults have existed for millennia. Legend has it that the Phoenicians came to power through the influence of Dagon, and that the end of their supremacy came when they turned away from him to other gods. One of his modern-day cults, the Esoteric Order of Dagon in Innsmouth, Massachusetts, was raided by government agents in 1927 due to reports of strange disappearances and illegal activities in that town. Rites held in common with deep ones, as well as black pillars covered with mysterious characters, are norms for the cult.

It has been claimed that Dagon is only an avatar of Cthulhu, a portion of that being which was not trapped beneath R’lyeh. Past encounters with the god, however, suggest that Dagon is merely an exceedingly large deep one, and that the names “Dagon” and “Hydra” may be titles given to the largest of their species.

[Dagon or Dagan was originally a Semitic fertility god worshipped by the Sumerians, Akkadians, Canaanites, and Philistines. Samson knocked down a temple of Dagon upon his tormentors (Judges 16:23). Later, when the Ark of the Covenant was left in the temple of Dagon, the statue of that deity was mutilated (1 Samuel 5:2). While in the past it was thought that Dagon was a fish-god, this seems to have been a misinterpretation of his name, a word meaning “grain”.]

See Atlantis; deep ones; elemental theory; Esoteric Order of Dagon; Hydra; Invocations to Dagon; Lesser Old Ones; Oaths of Dagon; Pth’thya-L’yi; Ponape Scripture; Yhe. (Escape from Innsmouth, Ross; “Dagon”, Lovecraft (O); “The Shadow Over Innsmouth”, Lovecraft; “Dagon’s Bell”, Lumley; “The Return of the Deep Ones”, Lumley; A Guide to the Cthulhu Cult, Pelton; Necronomicon, Tyson.)

DAGON, ESOTERIC ORDER OF

See Esoteric Order of Dagon.

DAGON, OATHS OF

See Oaths of Dagon.

DANFORTH, PAUL (or THOMAS or STEVEN)

Graduate student, and possibly later professor, at Miskatonic University. He accompanied Professors Pabodie and Dyer on the Pabodie Expedition of 1930–31 and went insane after accompanying Dyer on a survey flight.

A number of possibilities for Danforth’s future conduct have appeared. Some say he secretly joined a later Antarctic expedition and met his fate in the icy wastes. Others say he recovered through the use of experimental “anti-hallucinogens”, though he did not recall the cause of the insanity, and became a professor of psychology at Miskatonic, becoming involved in the Wilmarth Foundation.

See Emeritus Alcove. (Beyond the Mountains of Madness, Charles and Joyce Engan; “At the Mountains of Madness”, Lovecraft (O); “The Terror from the Depths”, Leiber; “To Arkham and the Stars”, Leiber; “A Private Inquiry into the Possible Whereabouts of Clara Boyd”, Marsh et. al.; Cthulhu Live: Lost Souls, Salmon et. al..)

DANNSEYS, (PROFESSOR) PETER

Professor of Medieval Metaphysics at Miskatonic University. Dannseys received his Masters in Library Science at Provo State College and his Ph.D. at Miskatonic. He now serves as the editor for The Journal of the American Kynikos Society, and his most recent publication was Elegant Symmetry: Inversion and Reversion in Dark Dimension Demi-Life (1988, Houghton and Mifflin).

[See E. C. Fallworth.]

(“Miskatonic University Graduate Kit”, Petersen and Willis (O); S. Petersen’s Field Guide to Creatures of the Dreamlands, Petersen et. al.)

DAOLOTH

Being known as the Render of the Veils. Daoloth appears as a shapeless mass of color surrounded by plastic-like rods, between which eyes seem to peer at the viewer. It dwells in a region of space-time anomaly, constantly moving in order to avoid stagnation.

The seers of Atlantis held Daoloth in esteem, and the inhabitants of Yuggoth and Tond still worship the Render of the Veils. A few groups, such as the Egyptian cult of Ma’at (Truth) and the Gnostic Cult of the Sacred Light, sought to bring the god’s message to the masses.

Daoloth bestows the ability to view the past and future to his worshipers, and may allow them to perceive higher dimensions. He is also the keeper of the true names of every being; the speaking of a true name causes a person’s hideous inner nature to be revealed to all.

A person who desires to call Daoloth must wait until a cosmically significant time, and must obtain an image of Daoloth, an object that exists nowhere on this planet. When Daoloth is summoned, the Render of the Veils should be contained within the Pentacle of Planes and allowed to taste a small amount of the caster’s blood. Daoloth will then perform one service for the wizard before vanishing. Daoloth can allow the caller to see the true nature of the universe, though this often drives the caster mad.

See Atlantis; Outer Gods; Pentacle of Planes; Revelations of Glaaki; Saaamaaa Ritual; We Pass from View. (“The Truth Shall Set You Free”, Ballon; “The Other Names”, Campbell; “The Render of the Veils”, Campbell (O); “Ghostnet”, McConnell.)

DARK DEMON

See Nyarlathotep (Dark Demon).

DARK DESTROYER

See Nyarlathotep (Dark Destroyer).

DARK STONE

Artifact of brown crystal carved in the rough shape of a body. The Dark Stone provides its owner with great physical and psychic power, especially if enhanced with blood sacrifices. Those who hold onto the stone for too long become prey to the telepathic sendings of a being known only as “The Thing Hanging in the Void”.

(“The Wild Hunt”, Ballon; “Mansion of Madness”, Behrendt (O).)

DARK YOUNG OF SHUB-NIGGURATH

Creatures that are the spawn of the Outer God. They have tremendous black bodies with many thick tentacles sprouting from their tops, hoofed feet, and slobbering mouths protruding from their sides. Shub-Niggurath’s children normally dwell only in forests where cults of that deity meet.

Dark young may be summoned by a ceremony in the Book of Eibon. The caller must wait until the dark of the moon and make a blood sacrifice on a stone altar deep within the woods. Only then will the dark young come forth to accept the offering.

[Bloch’s original description of this creature referred to it as a “shoggoth.”]

See Thousand Young. (“Notebook Found in a Deserted House”, Bloch; “Mr. Skin”, Milan; Call of Cthulhu Rulebook, 5th edition, Petersen and Willis (O).)

THE DARKNESS (also MAGNUM TENEBROSUM)

Being that is the child of Azathoth, and in turn spawned Shub-Niggurath at Shumath-Ghun in the Black Nebula.

(“The Shadow from the Stars”, Carter; Selected Letters V, Lovecraft (O).)

DAVENPORT, ELI

Folklorist and author of the 1839 monograph, Legends of New England, detailing some of the folktales of Vermont. The monograph focused on the folklore of the native tribes and mountain people of the region. These tales suggested that a species of crustacean-like beings dwelt beneath the mountains of the region.

(Miskatonic University, Antunes; “The Whisperer in Darkness”, Lovecraft (O).)

DAVIES, CHANDLER

Noted British weird painter, connoisseur of horror fiction, and friend of Titus Crow. Davies’ work in the field of horrific art remains unparalleled, with his most famous work being “Stars and Faces”, printed in Grotesque magazine and now considered a collector’s item. Nevertheless, Davies is best remembered for the events of the last days of his life. In May of 1962, the artist, working in a feverish trance-state, completed an arrangement in black and grey which he entitled “G’harne Landscape.” His mistress set fire to the painting immediately thereafter, sending Davies into a frenzy of rage. He was committed to Woodholme Sanatorium, where he died several days later.

(The Burrowers Beneath, Lumley; “The Fairground Horror”, Lumley; “An Item of Supporting Evidence”, Lumley (O); “Rising with Surtsey”, Lumley.)

DE LA POER (also DELAPORE), THOMAS (c. 1855–?)

New England manufacturer who went insane in 1923. The De La Poer line was one of Exham’s most infamous, and a great amount of the region’s folklore testified to their cruelty. After centuries of terror, Walter de la Poer killed the rest of his family and fled to Virginia, where Thomas was later born.

Northern troops burned the Delapore home at Carfax during the Civil War, and Thomas grew up in Massachusetts. His son Alfred was severely wounded during World War I and died in 1921, following which Thomas decided to re-furbish and move to Exham Priory, his family’s ancestral seat.

In 1923, during an investigation of newly discovered crypts beneath the Priory, De La Poer (who had adopted the ancestral spelling of his family’s name) was driven homicidally insane and confined.

See Bolton. (“The Rats in the Walls”, Lovecraft (O); “Exham Priory”, Price.)

DE MARIGNY, ETIENNE-LAURENT

New Orleans mystic and expert on Eastern antiques, known for his work The Tarot: A Treatise and his translation of the Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan. The De Marigny family name has made its mark on French history; one of the most famous members of this family was Enguerrand de Marigny, a court official who was executed on trumped-up charges of sorcery in 1315. There were unconfirmed rumors that the family associated with a cult of subterranean beings, but the de Marigny name is a distinguished one nonetheless.

Etienne-Laurent de Marigny numbered such individuals as James Churchward, Ignatius Donnelly, and Margaret Murray among his friends. His closest companion was Randolph Carter, the two meeting in the French Foreign Legion during the First World War. The two’s friendship was sealed during an expedition into the tunnels beneath the town of Bayonne. After Carter’s disappearance in 1928, De Marigny was appointed the executor of his estate, and became involved in a scandal when, at the meeting held to apportion Carter’s property, the Carter family’s lawyer died and a Hindu mystic who had been asked to attend vanished. The particulars of this case are still unknown.

Later, de Marigny became involved in the Coffin Club, a group of magical adepts based in New Orleans which was dissolved shortly after the death of its founder, Henricus Vanning. In 1940 Silver Key Press of Boston published de Marigny’s translation of the Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan. The exact date of his death is unknown, but some dreamers say that de Marigny rejoined his friend Randolph Carter in the city of Ilek-Vad following his demise.

See Carter, Randolph; Chandraputra, Swami; De Marigny, Henri-Laurent; Dreamlands; Hiamaldi; Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan; time-clock; Yian-Ho. (“The Secret of Sebek”, Bloch; “The Summoning”, Lotstein; “Through the Gates of the Silver Key”, Lovecraft and Price (O); Clock of Dreams, Lumley; “Lord of the Worms”, Lumley; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley; “Typo”, Winkle.)

DE MARIGNY, HENRI-LAURENT (1923–?)

Son of Etienne-Laurent de Marigny and a famous occultist in his own right. During the late Thirties, when Henri was only a boy, his father sent him to England, where he made the acquaintance of Titus Crow, a mystic who would later enjoy worldwide acclaim and notoriety. The two were virtually inseparable, and de Marigny often accompanied Crow on his occult investigations.

In the Sixties, de Marigny and Crow became embroiled in the Wilmarth Foundations’ ongoing investigation of Britain’s Mythos horrors. The two took an active part in the battle against the cthonians and served for a time as the heads of the Foundation’s English branch. The opposition took note, and on October 4, 1969, de Marigny was present at Blowne Manor, Crow’s residence on Leonard’s-Walk Heath, when a freak windstorm destroyed that place.

Though neither his nor Crow’s remains were found in the ruins, de Marigny was given up for dead. Then on September 4, 1979, a boater discovered Henri clinging desperately to a buoy in the Thames, with all of his limbs broken and no recollection of how he had spent the last ten years. In March 11, 1980, de Marigny vanished again, leaving behind a lengthy manuscript to Wingate Peaslee, the director of the Wilmarth Foundation, the contents of which are known only to the members of that organization.

See Crow, Titus; de Marigny, Etienne-Laurent; time-clock. (The Burrowers Beneath, Lumley; “The Mirror of Nitocris”, Lumley (O); “Name and Number”, Lumley; The Transition of Titus Crow, Lumley.)

DE VERMIS MYSTERIIS (also MYSTERIES OF THE WORM or the GRIMOIRE)

Book written by Ludwig Prinn circa 1542. (Though a date of 1484 has also been given, this time is more historically likely.) Just before the author’s death at the hands of the Inquisition, unknown individuals smuggled this volume out of his cell.

One year after its author’s death, a Latin edition of De Vermis Mysteriis was published in Cologne. This is considered the sole reliable printing of this manuscript. When the Church found out about the book, they considered it to be so dangerous that Pope Pius V banned it in 1569. In 1587, a black-letter German translation was made in Dusseldorf; this edition, however, is of less usefulness to the scholar, as much of the material found in the Latin edition was expurgated. Another (perhaps Latin?) edition was published in Prague in 1809, though no other information on this run has been found.

Several English translations of De Vermis Mysteriis have been made over the centuries. The first, which came from the noted fraud and magician Edward Kelley, was published in London in 1573. In 1670, Johann Lindenmuth of Nuremberg translated the book into German as Die geheimnisvollen Wurme; it was never printed, and the location of the manuscript is unknown. During the 19th century, a “Clergyman X” published a heavily expurgated English pamphlet delineating the contents of the book’s most famous chapter, “Saracenic Rituals,” but due to certain omissions, it is almost useless to the serious scholar. A Mr. Charles Leggett translated an English version of the book from the German in 1821, and a few copies, published in a very limited edition and illustrated by woodcuts from the original Latin. However, this book is not considered as valuable as the Latin edition. Another edition, published in 1895 by Starry Wisdom Press, has not yet been located.

Copies of De Vermis Mysteriis may be found at the Huntingdon Library in California, the Starry Wisdom Church in Providence, and Miskatonic University. The British Museum possesses a complete German edition as well as half of the original Latin, though the latter is in very poor condition. A copy kept at the Brichester University Library was burned in the Sixties.

One Latin copy was kept at one time in the now-deserted town of Jerusalem’s Lot, Massachusetts, but it probably disappeared with that town’s inhabitants in 1789. A great deal of this copy was written in characters that resembled the runic alphabets of the Celts. It may be that Prinn came upon a copy of the Druidic rituals which the Roman scribes preserved and used it in a portion of his manuscript, or possibly the “runes” are part of a cipher used to conceal matters of great import. With the lack of any readily accessible copy of the book, it is difficult to tell whether this manuscript is unique or if this oddity may also be found in the other editions.

De Vermis Mysteriis is divided into sixteen chapters, each dealing with a different topic such as divination, familiars, necromancy, elementals, and vampires. The most famous chapter deals with the rituals of the Saracens, from whom Prinn had learned during his imprisonment after the Crusades (see Saracenic Rituals). This book includes spells to call down invisible monsters from the skies, along with tales of Byatis and the worm-wizards of Irem, the true nature of the Egyptian crocodile-god Sebek, the formula of the drug known as Liao, and a series of operations intended to speed the transformation of a human-deep one hybrid. Users should be cautious — a love philter described therein has had unexpected effects, while a rite involving aconite, belladonna, corpse-fat candles, a blue chalk circle, and an animal sacrifice may only bring short-term prosperity to the magician.

See Azathoth; Bast; Blake; Byatis; Chorazin; Feery, Joachim; Han; Jerusalem’s Lot; Liao; Magnum Innominandum; Nyarlathotep; Prinn, Ludwig; Saracenic Rituals, star vampires. (“Black Bargain”, Bloch; “Philtre Tip”, Bloch; “The Secret of Sebek”, Bloch; Real Magic, Bonewitz; “The Shambler from the Stars”, Bloch (O); The Darkest Part of the Woods, Campbell; “The Adventure of the Six Silver Spiders”, Derleth; “The Survivor”, Derleth and Lovecraft; “Castle Dark”, Herber; “Jerusalem’s Lot”, King; “The Invaders”, Kuttner; “The Long-Lost Friend”, Lobdell; “Haunter of the Dark”, Lovecraft; “Lord of the Worms”, Lumley; “Signs Writ in Scarlet”, Ross; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

DEAN’S CORNERS

Village in north central Massachusetts near the Aylesbury Pike. A mile west of Dean’s Corners is the fork that leads to Dunwich.

See Aylesbury; Aylesbury Pike. (“The Dunwich Horror”, Lovecraft (O).)

DEE, (DOCTOR) JOHN (1527–1608)

Astrologer and magician in the service of Queen Elizabeth I. Dee was born in Mortlake, and entered Cambridge at the age of fifteen. He soon gained a reputation as an astrologer, and was jailed by Queen Mary for showing her horoscope to her imprisoned sister, Elizabeth. When Elizabeth gained the throne in 1558, Dee was high in her favor, though she was careful not to associate herself too much with him. For his part, Dee is believed to have acted as a spy for the Queen, using his interests in the occult and cryptography to conceal his true dealings.

In 1581, Dee began his experiments in crystal-gazing. Since he was not a medium, he enlisted the services of scryers, and eventually settling upon the mountebank Edward Kelley. Through his work, he was able to get in touch with “angels” who dictated their language of Enochian. Kelley accompanied Dee during his travels in Europe from 1583–89. In 1586, the two arrived in Prague, and it was there that Dee first came upon the Necronomicon. He was to spend several years translating the book into English.

Dee’s arrangement with Kelley went sour in 1587 after a summoned “angel” commanded the two to share their wives in common. Dee returned to England in 1589 to find a mob had ransacked his home and library. Queen Elizabeth appointed him Warden of Christ’s College in Manchester, but Dee was unhappy with the post and eventually returned home to Mortlake where he died.

[All of the information given above is true, save for the part on the Necronomicon. With all his dealings with angels, Dee would have been quite surprised to find himself named as the translator of the twentieth century’s most notorious grimoire.]

See Aklo; Aklo Sabaoth; Aklo Unveilings; Necronomicon; Shining Trapezohedron. (Necronomicon: The Book of Dead Names, Hay ed.; “The Space-Eaters”, Long (O).)

DEEP DENDO

Place where “wicked voorish domes” may be found, and whose people may help a wizard who appeals to them properly. It is to this cavern-world that the people of Voor withdrew after deserting their native land.

(“The Secret in the Parchment”, Carter; “Something in the Moonlight”, Carter; “The White People”, Machen (O).)

DEEP ONES

Fish-like humanoid beings that worship Dagon, Hydra, and Cthulhu, though this title may also be applied to other aquatic creatures that worship the Great Old Ones. Some believe that the deep ones came to earth at the same time Cthulhu and his kin arrived and evolved to live in water, but others in direct contact with these creatures believe that these amphibious creatures evolved upon this planet. Most deep ones look much like bipedal frogs with scales, bulging eyes, gills, and webbed hands and feet. Communication between deep ones seems to be telepathic in nature, though they may also speak to their human agents through croaking noises.

These creatures are immortal, never dying except due to acts of violence. Because of their great lifespans, the deep ones have become scientists and priests of great ability. Over the course of its life, a deep one continues to grow; Father Dagon and Mother Hydra, the leaders of the race, may only be the two largest and oldest of the species. Prolonged starvation may cause the deep one to shrink until it is only a tiny fraction of its former size, but the creature will never die from its condition.

Deep ones dwell beneath the world’s oceans in cities built of stone and decorated with mother-of-pearl coating. These metropolises, which may be found in all major seas of the world, include Y’ha-nthlei off the coast of Massachusetts, Ahu-Y’hloa near Cornwall, and G’ll-Hoo and Witch’s Hole in the North Sea. Activity within these cities is efficiently coordinated; each deep one carries out what is necessary for the community without question. Though this race is highly individualistic, dissent among deep ones is virtually unknown. The deep ones worship Dagon and Hydra, the leaders of their race, as well as Great Cthulhu; some also revere Byatis and others of the Great Old Ones, but Cthulhu’s cult is definitely the most popular among them.

For the most part, the deep ones remain apart from humanity. Chance meetings do occur, however. Some of these encounters have given rise to sailors’ tales of “mermaids” and other people of the ocean, such as the adaro sea-spirits feared in the Solomon Islands. Sometimes deep ones establish cults among coast dwellers that have contacted them by accident or by dropping specially inscribed tablets into the ocean. The most famous of these sects was the Esoteric Order of Dagon, which was destroyed in the government raid on Innsmouth, Massachusetts in 1928. Polynesia is the major center of the deep one’s worship, and other contacts may be suggested through the Babylonian myths of Oannes and the esoteric beliefs of the Dogon of Mali. It might be that government agencies have learned of and signed treaties with the Deep Ones to prevent them from unleashing underwater geothermal events that could cause massive casualties.

A major part of the rites of human-deep one cults is the mating between the two races. The children who result from these unions appear to be normal humans (but see Innsmouth look), but after many years they undergo a metamorphosis into deep ones, diving down into the ocean to join their kindred. The length and effects of this change vary widely between individuals. Some never complete the transition, while others, affected in their mothers’ wombs by Cthulhu’s dreams, turn into monstrosities. Rare breeds with powers of hypnosis are given great status in the cult of Cthulhu. Some maintain that the variations are due to the parentage of the half-breeds, with those with human mothers being healthier and more easily integrated. It is interesting in this context to note that both the Romans and the Merovingians of France claimed that their ruling dynasties came about from matings between humans and sea-beings. A transformation into a deep one may also take place in dolphins as well as humans, but little is known of how the deep ones and the dolphins interact.

See Ahu-Y’hloa; Atlach-Nacha; Atlantis; Book of Dagon; Byatis; Celaeno Fragments; Dagon; De Vermis Mysteriis; Dwellers in the Depths; Fischbuch; G’ll-hoo; Gol-Goroth; Hydra; Laniqua Lua’huan; Legrasse, John Raymond; Lesser Old Ones; Nameless City; Oaths of Dagon; Old Ones; Pth’thya-l’yi; Polynesian Mythology…; Prehistoric Pacific in Light of the “Ponape Scripture”; Shining Trapezohedron; shoggoths; Unter-Zee Kulten; Yatta-Uc; Y’ha-nthlei; yuggs; yuggya. (“The Room in the Castle”, Campbell; “The Shuttered Room”, Derleth and Lovecraft; “The Survivor”, Derleth and Lovecraft; “The Songs of Fantari”, Detwiler and Isinwyll; “The Star of Istanbul”, Donahue; “The Worlds of H. P. Lovecraft — Dagon”, Jones; “The Shadow Over Innsmouth”, Lovecraft (O); The Burrowers Beneath, Lumley; “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.)

DELAPORE

See de la Poer.

DELTA GREEN

Secretive government organization devoted to the investigation of paranormal events. Delta Green had its roots in the Office of Naval Intelligence’s P Division. During the 1928 raid on Innsmouth, they uncovered evidence of an underwater civilization that constituted a threat to U. S. interests. In 1942 it became affiliated with the Office of Strategic Services under its new title Delta Green, so called for the green triangular stickers placed on the folders of its personnel. The new organization immediately set about exploring the Nazi interest in the occult, playing cat and mouse games with German and Russian agents around the world.

Delta Green was disbanded after 1945, but was reassembled in 1947 after the Roswell crash. The group carried out operations in Antarctica, Russia, the Congo, and Vietnam, with the goal of eliminating supernatural threats to national security. After a botched operation in Cambodia in 1970, Delta Green was officially disbanded, but its members had other ideas.

Today, Delta Green exists as an informal network operating illegally within the Federal government. The organization recruits from a wide variety of federal agencies with law enforcement powers. Agents are arranged in cells, with each cell having limited contact with agents in the others. A-Cell, made up of agents Alphonse, Adam, and Andrea, are the leaders of Delta Green, though agents in the field are given a great deal of leeway. Delta Green continues its fight against the forces of the Mythos from the shadows.

See Ahu-Y’hloa; Karotechia; PISCES; Y’ha-nthlei. (Delta Green, Detwiller, Glancy, and Tynes; “Convergence”, Tynes (O).)

DEMHE

Lake whose “cloudy depths” are mentioned in references to Hastur and the King in Yellow. The city of Alar may stand on this shore.

(“More Light”, Blish; “The Repairer of Reputations”, Chambers (O).)

DENDO, DEEP

See Deep Dendo.

DERBY, EDWARD PICKMAN

Poet whose most famous book is Azathoth and Other Horrors. Derby grew up in Arkham, and was admitted to Miskatonic University at the age of sixteen. He was a good friend of the poet Justin Geoffrey. When he was eighteen, Derby published Azathoth and Other Horrors, a book of poetry that earned him some acclaim. Some of his later poetry, still uncollected, appeared in the magazine Whispers.

Following the death of his mother, Derby joined the bohemian circles of the university, where he participated in black magic rituals. It was at one of these gatherings that he met Asenath Waite, a woman from Kingsport and the daughter of the reputed wizard Ephraim Waite. The pair married a few months after they met, afterward moving into the Crowninshield mansion on the outskirts of Arkham.

At first, Derby was highly satisfied with the union, even writing “To Asenath”, a poem considered almost as praiseworthy as “Azathoth” itself, in his wife’s honor. After three years of increasing tension between the two, Asenath disappeared and Edward applied for a divorce, afterward being committed to the Arkham Sanitarium. After a few months at the institution, he seemed to recover, but then Daniel Upton, a close friend of the poet, shot his friend in an apparent fit of madness.

Through the efforts of Vartan Bagdasarian, Derby has gained much posthumous fame for his short fiction. Before the young Armenian scholar’s disappearance, Bagdasarian’s Azathoth House imprint released the anthology Forever Azathoth (1947), the collection of “posthumous collaborations” called Son of Azathoth (1948), and The Derby-Geoffrey Letters (1949). Miskatonic University Library has maintained possession of Derby’s other papers.

[Lovecraft gives no dates for Derby’s life, and the sources often conflict in their information.]

See Azathoth and Other Horrors; Cult of the Skull; Geoffrey, Justin; People of the Monolith; The Tunneler Below; Upton, Daniel; Waite, Asenath. (“The House of Azathoth” Cannon; “The Revenge of Azathoth”, Cannon; “The Thing on the Doorstep”, Lovecraft (O).)

D’ERLETTE, COMTE

Title of eccentric French nobleman to whom Cultes des Goules is attributed. (Erlette was a place located near Vyones in France.) Three different individuals bearing this title may have been the author:

1) Paul Henri d’Erlette, of whom nothing else is known. This name is most likely false. (“The Adventure of the Six Silver Spiders”, Derleth (O).)

2) Antoine-Marie Augustin de Montmorency-les-Roches (1635–c. 1693), a young man who was interested in the pre-Christian rites practiced by the natives of southern France, especially the Pyrenees. If this hypothesis is correct, Cultes des Goules was published around 1665. Antione-Marie made himself quite unpopular due to his introducing several members of the nobility to the occult, not to mention his anti-Catholic sentiments. He vanished in 1681, most likely as a result of a royal edict, and probably died in prison some years later. (Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley (O).)

3) Francois-Honore Balfour (1678–1724), an extremely eccentric individual who may have been a member of a Parisian cannibal cult. In 1703, the Comte secluded himself until his son found his mutilated body on his estate in 1724. According to his wishes, the Comte was placed in a sealed casket and buried in the family vault. (“Darkness, My Name Is”, Bertin (O); Keeper’s Compendium, Herber.)

4) The Comte never existed, and the title is a pseudonym for a real author. Once again, this is of dubious origin. (Peace, Wolfe (O).)

Whatever the case, the d’Erlettes were forced to flee to Bavaria at the time of the French Revolution, there changing the family name to Derleth. The last titled member of the line died in 1919.

[As with “Cultes des Goules”, it is uncertain whether this individual was invented by Bloch, Derleth, or Lovecraft, so I have listed the first story appearance. The Comte d’Erlette was supposedly a real title held by Derleth’s ancestors, though no one has found evidence of it.]

See Cultes des Goules. (“The Suicide in the Study”, Bloch (O); “The Adventure of the Six Silver Spiders”, Derleth; “The Black Island”, Derleth.)

DEVIL’S HOP YARD

Slope near Dunwich bare of plant life.

(“The Dunwich Horror”, Lovecraft (O).)

DEVIL’S REEF

Low outcropping just outside the harbor of Innsmouth, Massachusetts, at 42° 44’ N 71° 16’ W. Captain John Smith, who landed here during an exploration of the New England coast, gave the reef its name. Around the middle of the 19th century, this place saw many visits from Captain Obed Marsh, whom the locals said was looking for pirate treasure hidden within the many caverns dotting the top of the reef. Later, Marsh’s Esoteric Order of Dagon visited the reef until that cult was closed down by Federal agents in 1928. Despite this, the local fishermen still refuse to sail near Devil’s Reef, and the Navy still requires its vessels to report any unusual activity they may encounter nearby. Some maps today name it Allen’s Reef.

See Innsmouth; Wilmarth Foundation; Y’ha-nthlei. (Delta Green, Detwiller, Glancy, and Tynes; “From Cabinet 34, Drawer 6”, Kiernan; “The Shadow over Innsmouth”, Lovecraft (O); Escape from Innsmouth, Ross.)

DEVIL’S STEPS

Rock formation located to the northeast of Brichester. Erosion has carved this tremendous outcropping into what appears to be a staircase. No one in memory has climbed this formation, and the locals shun the place.

(“The Mine on Yuggoth”, Campbell (O).)

DEWART, AMBROSE (c. 1870–1924)

Scholar and lineal descendent of Alijah Billington. Little is known of Dewart’s early life, save that his only son died during the first World War and thereafter he returned to live on his family’s property in Billington’s Wood near Arkham. Even though he was solitary by nature, those who had known him soon noticed a change in his personality, and the area’s inhabitants attributed a series of inexplicable disappearances to him. Shortly after his cousin Stephen Bates vanished in 1924, an unknown assailant slew Dewart on his property.

See Lapham, Seneca; Phillips, Winfield. (“The Lurker at the Threshold”, Derleth and Lovecraft (O).)

DEXTER, DOCTOR AMBROSE (1898–December 28, 1973)

Renowned physician of Providence who nonetheless maintained an interest in the occult and folklore for much of his career.

In 1935, Doctor Dexter took a minor role in the mystery of Robert Blake’s death by breaking into the old Starry Wisdom Church and bearing away the Shining Trapezohedron and the church’s library. He had been treating Robert Blake, but his knowledge of the true situation and motivations still remain a mystery. He left Providence for sixteen years following these events, taking up an inexplicable study of nuclear physics and even acting as an adviser at the Manhattan Project.

Following his return home in 1951, another baffling incident occurred within the doctor’s house, but the police did not detain him. Shortly thereafter, he disappeared and was thought to have defected to the Russians. Documents leaked from British Intelligence show that one of their agents killed Dexter somewhere in the South Pacific in 1973.

(“Coming of Age”, Ballon; “The Shadow from the Steeple”, Bloch; “Doctor Dexter”, Cabos; “The Haunter of the Dark”, Lovecraft (O).)

DHO-HNA FORMULA (also DHO-NHA)

Incantation that allows the wizard to view the inner city at the two magnetic poles and the ultimate gulf beyond space and time, along with other locations. The repetition of the Dho formula gives the caster a view of the desired location (without the danger of attracting the Hounds of Tindalos). The Hna portion gives the caster the power to travel to the location visualized, as well as allowing contact between different realities that can be amplified with sufficient power.

Both formulae may also be looped into a protective device to hold entities from other dimensions, but exposure to such a diagram might be fatal for a human.

The poem “They from the Air” in Azathoth and Others mentions that the Dho formula may be used to manifest certain air-spirits who may then achieve bodily form through the use of human blood. Sometimes the Hna portion of the formula does not perform correctly; it is possible that it will only work when the Great Old Ones return.

See inner city at the magnetic poles. (“The Book of the Gates”, Carter; The Necronomicon: The Book of Dead Names, Hay, ed.; “The Dunwich Horror”, Lovecraft (O); “Past the Gate of Deepest Slumber”, Pugmire; “The Atrocity Archives”, Stross; “The Concrete Jungle”, Stross; “The Jennifer Morgue”, Stross.)

DHOL CHANTS

1) Book from the Plateau of Leng. A Chinese copy was discovered in an Asian monastery of undisclosed location in 1650, and English copies have appeared since then. Metaphysical research has proven a link between this manuscript and the beings known as “Dholes”, but whether or not they influenced its text in some way remains uncertain. Miskatonic University holds a copy of the Dhol Chants.

This book contains five hundred and fifty-five different “chants”, which are not meditative in nature. They include one which calls the “Blue Glow” (whatever that may be), and others which are used to command spirits. The reader should be warned, though, that the beneficial spells within are often ineffectual, while the spells of vengeance (pp. 101–127) usually only take effect after the caster’s death.

See Leng; Nyarlathotep (Ahtu); Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan. (“The Horror in the Museum”, Heald and Lovecraft (O); “Spaghetti”, Lumley; “Yohk the Necromancer”, Myers; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

2) Before World War I, Heinrich Zimmerman wrote a German volume of the same name. The book deals with similarities between the music of the Caribbean and that of West Africa, but also presents a number of songs from these traditions.

The chants in the books may be performed by a human voice or an unfretted stringed instrument, such as a violin. One of the chants, when used in conjunction with a golden amulet, will call up Nyarlathotep’s avatar Ahtu, while others can invoke lesser spirits. Also mentioned is a pair of binoculars capable of viewing other dimensions. Zimmerman’s volume may have incorporated material from the original Dhol Chants, whether the author credited his sources or not.

(“Dead of Night”, Herber (O); “Asakusa Ryōunkaku,” Yasujiro.)

DHOLES (also DOEL or DHOL or DOL)

1) Creatures which resemble huge white worms with an open cavity at one end which serves as a mouth. From this cavity, the dhole may spit a huge quantity of mucus that engulfs its target.

Dholes usually are only encountered in the Vale of Pnath, but they may also be found at other ossuaries in the Dreamlands’ Underworld. They have even been reported living on other worlds, tunneling through them and thereby making them uninhabitable. Dholes have destroyed many worlds, including Yaddith, in this manner.

How these beings travel between worlds is unknown. Some suggest that dholes are the spawn of the Dreamland beings known as bholes, who send their children through the universe through wormholes. More recent findings indicate that infant dholes are parasitic organisms, taking up residence in the bodies of other beings. Their waste products stop the host’s aging process, and so long as the host obtains suitable narcotics, the dhole’s growth will be stunted. Some say the Egyptian pharaohs used this dangerous method of obtaining eternal life.

In most cases, dholes have been described as being larger than an ocean liner, but their sizes often vary. Much smaller ones with pig-like snouts have been reported, for instance, and the parasitic stage can take the form of wormlike colonies or a single dhole the size of a snake in a person’s abdominal cavity.

In the earlier copies of the Book of Eibon, there was a formula for the calling of dholes to earth. Fortunately, the last edition to contain this ritual was the Egyptian, of which all copies have been lost.

It has been also said that the dholes have the ability to follow those who escape them through their dreams and various incarnations, but no one knows how these beasts may use this power. The dholes might also be the servitors of Shub-Niggurath who pave the way for the arrival of her other minions on a world.

[This is undoubtedly one of the most confusing problems in Mythos scholarship. Machen made a passing reference to “Dôls” in his story “The White People.” Lovecraft, likely inspired by this, created a work called the “Dhol chants”. When his friend Frank Long created the creatures known as “Doels” in one of his stories (possibly with the same inspiration), Lovecraft alluded to them in “The Whisperer in Darkness”. However, none of these are the worm-like creatures Mythos fans are familiar with. In his “Dream-Quest”, Lovecraft mentions these beings as “bholes”. August Derleth misread this as “dholes”, and Mythos authors since then have read the incorrect spelling and included “dholes” into their fiction. In his corrected editions of Lovecraft, S. T. Joshi has restored the spelling “bholes”, which has created new problems (see bholes).]

See bholes; Book of Eibon; Dhol Chants; Ghorl Nigral; hounds of Tindalos; Nug-Soth; Pnath, Vale of; Shub-Niggurath; Yaddith; Zkauba. (The Art of Playing Mythos, Aniolowski et. al.; “Dreams in the House of Weir”, Carter; “The Lambton Worm”, Hatherley; “Locked Room”, Henderson; “Sands of Time”, Herber; “Through the Gates of the Silver Key”, Lovecraft and Price; “The White People”, Machen (O); Cthulhu Live: Shades of Gray, McLaughlin et. al.; S. Petersen’s Field Guide to Cthulhu Monsters, Petersen; “Sabbath of the Black Goat”, Rainey.)

2) Another type of being known as a “Dhol” exists. This creature looks like a black, quadrupedal animal that is able to secrete poison from its body. Usually, a Dhol possesses a living creature, such as a farm animal or even a human, to perform its mission. A Dhol-possessed being becomes extremely hostile, often attacks or kills other creatures for no apparent reason, and might even have a poisoned claw or bite. Whenever it desires, the Dhol moves from one body to another, leaving its former host dead. This sort of Dhol may be connected with the Little People of Welsh legend, and is believed to play a role in their most important ceremonies.

See Green Book. (The Ceremonies, Klein; “The White People”, Machen (O).)

D’HORNA-AHN ENERGIES

Energy beings that communicate through humming. The wizards of Mu seem to have used such beings to create spatial pockets to protect the user from the dangers of space travel. This protection has been known to fail at crucial times, however.

(“The Book of Gates”, Carter; “Something in the Moonlight”, Carter; The Transition of Titus Crow, Lumley (O); Elysia, Lumley.)

DIE UNAUSSPRECHLICHEN KULTEN

See Unaussprechlichen Kulten.

DIMENSIONAL SHAMBLERS

Humanoid creatures with wrinkled hides and huge claws. Shamblers live in the same alternate dimension in which Yog-Sothoth dwells. Wizards often summon them to earth using a ritual that requires a dagger of pure metal, but shamblers occasionally appear spontaneously in our dimension. When shamblers encounter humans, they usually grab a victim and vanish with them. Little meaningful interaction with this species has occurred.

(“The Horror in the Museum,” Lovecraft and Heald (O); Call of Cthulhu Rulebook, 5th edition, Petersen and Willis; S. Petersen’s Field Guide to Cthulhu Monsters, Petersen et. al..)

DIRKA

Family who protected the mystical work The Song of Yste down through the ages. The “Dirka song” is a spell that causes the death of a person in an unspecified manner.

See Song of Yste. (“The Abyss”, Lowndes; Annals of Arkya, Lowndes (O).)

DOELS

Flesh-eating creatures living in a dark dimension that only mystical voyagers may visit. Often confused with dholes (which see).

(“The Hounds of Tindalos”, Long (O); H. P. Lovecraft: Dreamer on the Nightside, Long.)

DOLS

See dholes.

DREAMLANDS

Alternate dimension accessible through a person’s dreams. Earlier in life, most people can enter the Dreamlands at will, but as adulthood approaches, this gateway closes for the majority of these dreamers. Only a few adults have been able to enter this land again, through the use of certain narcotics or simply by searching their dreams. Some physical portals between the Dreamlands and the waking world do exist, but these gateways are few and often found in dangerous locales in both realms.

A journey to the Dreamlands typically begins with the dreamer descending the Seventy Steps of Light Slumber to the Cavern of Flame, where they will meet the high priests Nasht and Kaman-Tha. If the two priests find the dreamer worthy, they may then continue down the Seven Hundred Steps of Deeper Slumber to the Enchanted Wood. After avoiding the dangers of this wood, the dreamer is free to roam the lands of dream.

Waking-worlders are the Dreamlands’ greatest heroes. These individuals may create entire cities in their dreams, and many take up residence in the Dreamlands following their deaths in the waking world. This dimension’s most famous individuals include King Kuranes, who dreamt of the timeless city of Celephaïs; Etienne-Laurent de Marigny, the New Orleans mystic; and Randolph Carter, whose quest to the home of the gods on unknown Kadath is one of the Dreamlands’ greatest legends.

Usually, the name “Dreamlands” is only applied to that dimension visited by humans, but other dreamlands do exist. Such worlds as Saturn, Jupiter, and Pluto have their dream-reflections as well, which are visited by the respective denizens of those bodies. Persistent dreamers may reach these lands from Earth’s Dreamlands, but such visits may prove quite dangerous to the unprepared traveler.

The influence of Cthulhu and the other Great Old Ones in the Dreamlands is minimal, though these beings do possess some power over this realm. Out of all the Mythos, Nyarlathotep holds the most power in this land. The main deities of the Dreamlands are the gods of earth, or the Great Ones, who are weak beings that mortals may overcome or outwit, yet who do take part in mortal affairs on rare occasions. These gods used to dance on the highest peaks of the Dreamlands, but as humans began to climb their beloved mountains, they withdrew to their home in Kadath in the Cold Waste, to be ruled by Nyarlathotep. Only Randolph Carter ever ascended Kadath, and his journey was fraught with the greatest perils.

[Many of Lovecraft’s tales later said to be “Dreamlands” stories, including “The Doom that Came to Sarnath”, were actually set in the distant past and incorporated into the Dreamlands later. Some authors, especially Lumley, have placed locations from these earlier stories in the waking world.]

See Abhoth; Atal; Baharna; Barzai; Bethmoora; bholes; Bokrug; Carter, Randolph; Cathuria; Celephaïs; Cerenerian Sea; Cold Waste; Crystallizer of Dreams; Cthaat Aquadingen; dholes; Dreamlands; Dylath-Leen; Elder Gods; Elder Sign; Eldin the Wanderer; Elton, Basil; Enchanted Wood; Fourth Book of D’harsis; Ghadamon; ghasts; ghouls; Gleeth; gods of earth; gugs; Hagarg Ryonis; Haon-Dor; Hatheg; Hatheg-Kla; Hero, David; Hlanith; Ilek-Vad; Inganok; Kadath; Kadatheron; Karakal; Kiran; Kled; Koth; Koth, Sign of; Kuranes; Leng; Lerion; Lobon; Lomar; Marigny, Etienne-Laurent; Nasht and Kaman-Tha; Nath-Horthath; Nir; Nithy-Vash; Nodens; N’ste-Kaambl; Nyarlathotep; Oorn; Ooth-Nargai; Oriab; Other Gods; Oukranos; Parg; Pickman, Richard Upton; Phillips, Ward; Pnath; Sarkomand; Sansu; Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan; Seven Hundred Steps of Deeper Slumber; Seventy Steps of Light Slumber; shantaks; Skai; Sona-Nyl; Southern Sea; Tamash; Tanarian Hills; Thok; Thran; Ulthar; vooniths; wamps; Yibb-Tstll; Zo-Kalar. (“Celephaïs”, Lovecraft; “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft; “The Silver Key”, Lovecraft (O); The Clock of Dreams, Lumley; “The House of the Worm”, Myers; “The Three Enchantments”, Myers.)

DU NORD, GASPARD

Wizard who dwelt in Averoigne, a part of modern-day France, during the thirteenth century. Born of a well-to-do family, du Nord earned his father’s displeasure through his study of the magical arts. For a year, he studied under the sorcerer Nathaire, but he eventually left his master due to his repugnant acts. He then took up residence in Vyones, where he continued his experiments. In 1281, Gaspard du Nord rendered Vyones a great service by dispelling one of Nathaire’s mightiest works of sorcery. Having done this, du Nord earned himself immunity from any persecution by the church and was able to live peacefully until his death.

Gaspard du Nord is best remembered for translating the Book of Eibon from Greek to French later in his life. (Other estimates have placed this translation in the twelfth century or around 1240, but this is impossible from what we know of his age.) No one knows where du Nord obtained the Greek volume or why he decided to translate it, however. Some claim that du Nord was a member of Tsathoggua’s cult, and that he called the dread god twice. The second time, the god foretold the sorcerer’s death.

See Averoigne; Book of Eibon; Selections de Livre d’Ivon. (Selected Letters V, Lovecraft; Cthulhu Live: Lost Souls, Salmon et. al.; “The Colossus of Ylourgne”, Smith (O); “Ubbo-Sathla”, Smith; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

DUNWICH

1) (originally NEW DUNNICH) Town in north central Massachusetts, a few miles east of Aylesbury. Dunwich was founded in 1692 by a group of settlers who left Salem just before the infamous witch-trials, along with former inhabitants of the Merrymount (later Mount Dagon) community. Members of the Whateley family later built a large number of mills in the area, and Dunwich prospered until a tragedy in 1806 caused the mental collapse of George Whateley, the owner of these industries. From that time onward, the Dunwich economy spiraled downward as more people left the area to look for jobs outside town.

Today, Dunwich is mostly deserted. Over the years, the remaining population has become so inbred and degenerate that during the First World War, the township was unable to meet its quota of recruits for the draft. Crimes of the most hideous nature occur on a regular basis, though the townspeople attempt to keep outsiders out of their affairs as much as possible. Some branches of the Whateleys and Bishops have remained above the town’s degradation. For the most part, however, the people of Dunwich are uneducated and depraved.

During the late summer of 1928, a strange calamity occurred which has since been dubbed “the Dunwich Horror”. On August 3, a Dunwich resident named Wilbur Whateley, noted by his neighbors for his magical delvings and unnatural size, was killed while trying to obtain the Necronomicon from the Miskatonic University library. A month later, the horror began in Dunwich. A mysterious blast destroyed Wilbur Whateley’s unoccupied house, and tales of the disappearances of cattle and people began to filter out of the township. When Henry Armitage, Miskatonic University’s librarian and a long-time correspondent of Whateley, heard of what was occurring in Dunwich, he set out for Dunwich along with Professors Rice and Morgan. On September 15, they performed an exorcism on Sentinel Hill, bringing the horror to an end. Following these events, all of the signs to Dunwich were torn down, and the town was nearly forgotten.

Although the scenery in the surrounding countryside is breathtaking, there is little else to attract the casual visitor to Dunwich. Archaeologists and geologists know Dunwich for the stone circles which top many of the nearby hills, as well as mysterious underground noises heard around Walpurgis and Halloween.

[Lovecraft found the name “Dunwich” in Arthur Machen’s novel N, according to Robert M. Price. It refers to an actual town in Great Britain that the sea washed away.]

See Armitage, Henry; Aylesbury Pike; Billington, Richard; Hoadley, Abijah; Miskatonic River; Sentinel Hill; Sesqua Valley; Whateley, Wilbur; Whateley, Wizard. (“The Lurker at the Threshold”, Derleth and Lovecraft; Keeper’s Compendium, Herber; Return to Dunwich, Herber; “The Dunwich Horror”, Lovecraft (O).)

2) Town in the Flint Hills of Kansas. Dunwich was founded in 1833 by the Reverend Ezekiel O’Sullivan, who received a vision of a golden city to the west. He led some of the people from the New England Dunwich to the new land. The townspeople of Dunwich avoided most of the nearby communities, and the town took a neutral stance during the Civil War. In 1893, the entire population of Dunwich vanished over the space of a few days. (“The Seven Cities of Gold”, Burnham.)

DWELLER IN DARKNESS

See Nyarlathotep (Dweller in Darkness).

DWELLERS IN THE DEPTHS

Book on Cthulhu and his minions. Dwellers was the work of Gaston Le Fe, who, according to the book’s introduction, died insane. It was later published in both French and English editions.

This book details the race of aquatic beings known as deep ones and hints at the monstrous entities which they often worship.

(“The Aquarium”, Jacobi (O); “Fischbuchs”, Ross.)

DYER, WILLIAM. (c. 1875–?)

Professor of geology at Miskatonic University. Dyer is especially remembered for his leadership of the University’s 1930–31 Pabodie Expedition to Antarctica, as well as for his role in the 1935 trip to the pre-human ruins in the deserts of Australia. He might have been involved in OSS operations during the Second World War, though it is unclear in what capacity he worked.

See Danforth; Emeritus Alcove; Pabodie Expedition; Peaslee, Nathaniel; Starkweather-Moore expedition. (“To Arkham and the Stars”, Leiber; “At the Mountains of Madness”, Lovecraft (O); “The Shadow Out of Time”, Lovecraft; “Stacked Actors”, Worthy.)

DYLATH-LEEN

Basalt city on the Dreamlands’ Southern Sea. Dylath-Leen is unpopular with its neighbors, due to the mysterious black galleys that dock there to sell their cargoes of rubies in exchange for slaves from Parg.

See Parg; Southern Sea. (“The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft.)

DZYAN, BOOK OF

See Book of Dzyan.

E

E-POH

Leader of the Tcho-tcho people of the Plateau of Sung. E-poh is over seven thousand years old. He was able to take over the cult of Lloigor and Zhar by promising his followers access to the black lotus drug, a decision which might have begun the Tcho-tcho’s degeneration. E-poh may have been destroyed along with the city of Alaozar. E-poh is considered by some to be the Tcho-Tcho Lama of Leng, though this identification might not be accurate.

(“Lair of the Star-Spawn”, Derleth and Schorer (O); Miskatonic University, Johnson et. al.; “Dope War of the Black Tong”, Price.)

EFFIGY OF HATE

See Nyarlathotep (Effigy of Hate).

EIBON

Sorcerer and author of the Book of Eibon, known as “the Unfathomable”. Eibon was born to Milaab, the Keeper of the Archives for the king of Iqqua, in the same year that the people of Hyperborea deserted Commoriom. Milaab was a student of the rituals of Tsathoggua who died after the priests of Yhoundeh exiled him and his family to the wilderness of Phenquor. Eibon was only seven at the time of his father’s death, but he never forgave the priests of Yhoundeh.

Zylac, a wizard who owed his father many favors, bore Eibon away to his tower of black gneiss by the sea on the peninsula of Mhu Thulan. Eibon studied under Zylac, who many considered to be the greatest mage of his day. Following the death of Zylac from a botched incantation when Eibon was twenty-three, Eibon left this tower, wandering the land in the company of his friend Zaljis. After nine years and many adventures, he returned to Zylac’s tower and took up permanent residence there.

Eibon derived much of this power from a pact with Tsathoggua, whom he worshiped in return for greater magical ability. The great wizard once penetrated the caverns beneath Mount Voormithadreth to see his master sleeping on his throne. The legends of his works are legion. One Hyperborean tale tells how Eibon looked through a magical viewing portal to the future to see the Earth being destroyed by some huge celestial body. His response was to construct two great webs across space in which to trap the entity. Then he planned to freeze the Earth in time, so that it would never be destroyed. These accounts have probably been exaggerated; even so, Eibon was one of the greatest sorcerers who ever lived on this planet.

Two contradictory tales are associated with Eibon’s end at the age of one hundred and thirty-two. According to the first, Eibon’s tower exploded one starry night; the Book of Eibon was found in the ruins, but the great magician’s body was never recovered. The more-commonly accepted account, though, relates that Eibon fled from the persecution of the priests of Yhoundeh through a door made of a mysterious metal and emerged on the planet Saturn. This account, included in the book itself, then tells how Eibon foresaw his end and conveyed his magical books, including his famous Book, to his former pupil Cyron of Varaad.

One scholar has recently suggested that Eibon is not a real person at all, and derives from a Greek word meaning “to trickle down.” This derivation does not explain the numerous references Eibon makes to himself within his book.

See Book of Eibon; Book of K’yog; Book of Night; Cykranosh; Haon-Dor; Hyperborea; Life of Eibon; Mhu Thulan; Pharol; Ring of Eibon; Rituals of Yhe; Rlim Shaikorth; Eibon, Sign of; Koth, Sign of; Voormish Tablets; Voormithadreth; Xiccarph; Yhoundeh; Zylac. (“Tsathoggua”, Carter; The Life of Eibon according to Cyron of Varaad, Carter; “The Utmost Abomination”, Carter and Smith, Spawn of Azathoth, Herber; Selected Letters V, Lovecraft; “The Coming of the White Worm”, Smith; “The Door to Saturn” (O), Smith; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

EIBON, BOOK OF

See Book of Eibon.

EIBON, SIGN OF

Glyph resembling a three-legged swastika. It aids the user in escaping the notice of the minions of Nyarlathotep, but not that of the Crawling Chaos himself.

See Eibon; Nyarlathotep. (Masks of Nyarlathotep, DiTillio and Willis (O).)

EIHORT

Great Old One known as the God of the Labyrinth. Eihort is a huge white oval mass with innumerable legs and eyes. It lives in a maze beneath an abandoned house in Camside, England, but can create gates that lead to other parts of the world.

Eihort telepathically contacts visitors to its labyrinth and asks if they wish to become its servant. If they answer no, Eihort crushes them. If a victim says yes, Eihort paralyses him or her and channels immature members of its brood into his or her body. Since this process includes a form of hypnosis, the person may not remember what happened upon waking.

At first, an infested person seems normal, but soon visions of horrific alien events begin. After a while, these visions increase in intensity and duration. Finally the Bargainer bursts open, with hundreds of Eihort’s tiny spawn emerging and running away. Few people make the Bargain with Eihort.

We Pass from View by Roland Franklyn contains a curious reference to Eihort. According to this self-styled prophet, an initiate of his cult must be cremated so that the person’s soul can escape. Otherwise, if the initiate is buried, the soul will remain in the body, and burrowing monsters will drag the believer’s corpse down beneath the earth to Eihort’s feast. (Franklyn himself, sad to say, was not cremated.)

See Camside; Revelations of Glaaki. (“Before the Storm”, Campbell (O); “The Franklyn Paragraphs”, Campbell; “The Pale God”, Ross.)

EI’LOR

Old One resembling a vast growth of weeds with prehensile vines. It may be called to Earth to germinate here via incantations in the Ei’lor Fronds.

(“The Star-Seed”, Ambuehl (O); “Ei’lor”, Gruetzmacher.)

EINSTEIN FORMULA

Spell developed by Halpin Chalmers using the works of Albert Einstein. It may protect from Hound of Tindalos attacks, but it also has a number of dangerous side effects. No copy of this incantation is known to have survived its inventor.

(“The Wild Hunt”, Ballon; “The Hounds of Tindalos”, Long (O).)

ELDER BEINGS

See flying polyps.

ELDER GODS

Beings opposed to the Great Old Ones. The Elder Gods supposedly live somewhere near Betelgeuse, or in an alternate dimension known as Elysia, or even in a place called the Hourless House in the realm of dreams.

At some point in the past, the Great Old Ones, who may have been created as the Elder God’s servants or even numbered among them, “rebelled” against the Elder Gods, taking certain documents from the possession of their foes and hiding them in the Great Library of Celaeno or with Ubbo-Sathla. In retribution for this affront, the Elder Gods came to earth and battled the Great Old Ones. This war concluded with the imprisonment of the Great Old Ones and the return of the Elder Gods to their homes. According to myth, the Elder Gods, including Nodens, Kthanid, and Yad-Thaddag, will arise to combat their ancient foes when the stars are right again and the Great Old Ones break free of their prisons.

Other Elder Gods mentioned include Adaedu, Alithlai-Tyy, DveahtehsEyroix, Othkkartho (Nodens’ first-born son), Ovytonv, Urthuvn, Xislanyx, Xuthyos-Sihb’Bz, and Zehirete (the Pure and Holy Womb of Light). Very little is known about any of these.

Most scholars do not accept this distinction, finding it unconvincing to equate the amoral Great Old Ones with “evil” and to postulate a “good” force opposing them. Some other myths acknowledge the Elder Gods’ existence while disagreeing about their nature:

A. The Elder Gods may be the Great Ones, the little gods of Earth which rule the Dreamlands. According to these myths, the Great Ones came into existence during the sleep of the Great Old Ones. Finding the Old Ones in their tombs, the Elder Gods became terrified, sealed the tombs of the evil ones with the Elder Sign, and placed them in the care of Nodens, Lord of the Great Abyss. When Nodens sleeps, then the Great Old Ones will emerge to rule the world. The Great Ones will be powerless to stop this or protect humanity.

B. The Elder Gods were the creators of this universe, and made pain and suffering possible. The Great Old Ones hope to destroy the universe, and may make a better one in the aftermath.

C. The Elder Gods are the Antarctic Elder Things, who imprisoned the Great Old Ones for unknown reasons.

D. The Elder Gods do exist, but are no better in nature than the Great Old Ones; the outcome for humanity will be the same in the end.

See Aphoom Zhah; Atal; Borea; Celaeno; Cthugha; Elder Key; Elder Sign; Elysia; Glyu-Vho; Great Old Ones; gods of earth; Kthanid; Mu; Nodens; N’tse-Kaambl; R’lyeh; S’ngac; star-stone; time-clock; Ubbo-Sathla; Tiania; Ulthar; Ultharathotep; Vorvadoss; Yad-Thaddag; Zathog. (“Time in the Hourless House”, Attansio;”The Book of Preparations”, Carter; “The Lurker at the Threshold”, Derleth and Lovecraft; “The House on Curwen Street”, Derleth; “The Lair of the Star-Spawn”, Derleth and Schorer (O); Outside the Circles of Time, Grant; Keeper’s Compendium, Herber; Elysia, Lumley; “The House of the Worm”, Myers; Nightmare’s Disciple, Pulver.)

ELDER HIEROPHANT

See High-Priest Not to Be Described.

ELDER KEY

1) (also ELDER KEYS or ELDER RECORDS) Stone tablets inscribed by the Elder Gods which Ubbo-Sathla now preserves. Their power is tremendous; the use of only one of these incantations brought our world into this universe from the parallel dimension of the Elder Gods, and others unknown may release humanity from the Great Old Ones. Only two copies of the Keys exist on earth, but they are almost inaccessible.

It has been suggested that the Elder Keys are identical to the Tablet of Destiny, an artifact in Sumerian and Babylonian myth which allowed its user to know and control all things.

(“The Unbegotten Source”, Carter; “Hydra”, Kuttner (O); “From the Journals of Alexander Hale, Ph. D.: The Tablets of Destiny”, Lewis; “The Snout in the Alcove”, Myers.)

2) Sign which antehuman wizards used to ward off powerful creatures. (“The Descent into the Abyss”, Carter and Smith.)

ELDER SCRIPT

See Tsath-Yo.

ELDER SIGN (also SARNATH-SIGIL, SIGN OF KISH, and STAR-STONE OF MNAR)

Magical symbol which the Elder God N’tse-Kaambl (or possibly the Elder Things) created. The Elder Sign usually is drawn as a star with an eye in the center, with a pillar of flame where the pupil should be. Other versions, including one resembling an eye in a pentagon, another which looks like a leafy branch, and a sign made with the hand, are lesser-known variants that may or may not substitute for the more traditional design.

The Elder Sign protects its user from the minions of the Great Old Ones. Why this glyph has these effects can only be conjectured. As the Elder Gods thrust the Great Old Ones into their prisons, they might have inserted memory patterns into their foes’ minds that rendered the Great Old Ones helpless against certain syllables and sigils, of which the Elder Sign was one. An Elder Sign is carved on the doorway of Cthulhu’s tomb, the supposed handiwork of three Elder Things. Likewise, large quantities of stones engraved with this symbol imprisoned Shudde-M’ell and his cthonians in G’harne and Ithaqua on Borea.

The degree to which the Elder Sign will protect a human who holds it in front of a Mythos creature is debatable. Some say it will protect them from even human servants of the Mythos, others from the non-human followers of the Great Old Ones only, and still others hold that it provides no measurable defense whatsoever in such cases. A single stone holding off a Great Old One for even a few seconds is very unlikely.

One reference cites the Elder Sign as setting free the imprisoned forces of darkness. The meaning of this is unclear, though, and may refer to another design entirely. The people of the Dreamlands believe that only a human can make the Elder Sign, using this to discover whether suspicious individuals are demons in disguise. At least one reference states that an Elder Sign made in the mind can be sufficient to oppose the Old Ones.

[Lovecraft himself seems to have had no consistent idea of what the Elder Sign was supposed to mean, though later authors decided it was a protective sign. HPL once drew the Elder Sign in one of his letters, reprinted in Selected Letters III (p. 216), making it look like a short branch. Derleth did not see this letter before he came up with his own conception of the Elder Sign, the more familiar star-sign that is known today.]

See Book of Dzyan; byakhee; Codex Dagonensis; cthonians; Elder Gods; G’harne; Mnar; Necronomicon (appendices); nightgaunts; N’tse-Kaambl; R’lyeh; Saaamaaa Ritual; Shudde-M’ell; Kish, Sign of; star-stone; T’sman Manuscript; Wilmarth Foundation; Yog-Sothoth; Ythogtha. (“The Lurker at the Threshold”, Derleth and Lovecraft; “Spawn of the Maelstrom”, Derleth and Schorer; The Necronomicon: The Book of Dead Names, Hay, ed.; “The Descendant”, Lovecraft (O); “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft; “The Messenger”, Lovecraft; Selected Letters III, Lovecraft; The Burrowers Beneath, Lumley; Spawn of the Winds, Lumley; “The Snout in the Alcove”, Myers; Nightmare’s Disciple, Pulver; Necronomicon, Tyson.)

ELDER THINGS (or PRIMORDIAL ONES; see also OLD ONES)

1) Alien creatures whose features included elements of both the animal and vegetable kingdoms. An Elder Thing resembled a cylinder that tapered at either end. From the top of this cylinder sprouted a starfish-shaped head with an eye at the end of each appendage, a set of cilia which enabled the Thing to sense its surroundings without light, and five tubes for eating. Five muscular tentacles tipped with paddles sprouted from its base, five sets of tentacles protruded at regular intervals around the cylinder’s center, and five retractable wings rounded out the creature’s anatomy. The Elder Things preferred to live beneath the water, but they could dwell on land or fly with equal ease.

The Elder Things came to our planet when it was still young, flying to our world through outer space, possibly from Uranus or Neptune. Previously, they had conquered and seeded hundreds of other worlds with life. They built a great city near the South Pole, and migrated from there to settle much of the planet. While performing these feats of colonization, they may have created Ubbo-Sathla, the source of all earthly life, a servitor race, the shoggoths, and many forms of earthly life, including humans.

The culture of the Elder Things was highly developed. Their art is best manifested in their bas-reliefs, which depicted their history and lives in stunning detail. Their architecture allowed them to create stupendous stone buildings, often showing a five-pointed pattern in imitation of their anatomy. This same pattern could be found in their writing, appearing as dots in concentric circles along five radii, and their coinage, made of green soapstone. They appeared to have no religion, though they feared an unknown entity lurking beyond their city and revered the DNA helix as the source of all life.

During their heyday, these beings fought wars with a wide variety of races, including the spawn of Cthulhu, the mi-go, and the Great Race of Yith. They also experienced an insurrection of their shoggoth servants that was brutally put down. Though they often triumphed, the conflicts took their toll, and the Elder Things eventually abandoned most of their cities. Their science and art, however, remained as great as ever.

As the cold crept over their Antarctic home, the Elder Things decided that they wanted no more to do with the outer world. They removed themselves to a vast underground lake beneath their first and greatest city in the mountains near the pole. No traces of them have been discovered since, unless Professor Gordon Walmsley’s research and the reports of the Pabodie and Starkweather‑Moore expeditions are to be believed.

Recent reports from Kharkhov Station have attributed spectacular psychic abilities, including psychokinesis, telepathy, and the domination of others, to the Old Ones. These abilities may be strong enough that they manifest even after the Old Ones in an area have passed on. They also suggest that these creatures created humanity for their mental potential, which will be harvested in the near future. This is the only report that this time that suggests such abilities and goals, however.

[In “At the Mountains of Madness”, Lovecraft uses the term “Elder Things” to refer to these beings, but he uses “Old Ones” more often in that story. The “Elder Things” in “The Dunwich Horror”, on the other hand, seem much more akin to the Great Old Ones. Chaosium applies the term “Elder Things” to these creatures so as not to confuse them with the other “Old Ones”.]

See Atlantis; Colour out of Space; Cthulhu; Elder Sign; Elder Things; Eltdown Shards; flying polyps; G’harne Fragments; mi-go; Mu; Nath; Nyogtha; Old Ones; Pnakotic Manuscripts; proto-shoggoths; R’lyeh; Shining Trapezohedron; shoggoths; Spheres of Nath; star-spawn of Cthulhu; Ubbo-Sathla; Winged Ones; Yian-Ho; yuggs. (Hive, Curran; Beyond the Mountains of Madness, Engan and Engan; “An Item of Mutual Interest”, Glancy; “At the Mountains of Madness”, Lovecraft (O); “In the Vaults Beneath”, Lumley; Deities and Demigods Cyclopedia, Ward with Kuntz.)

2) The creatures known more commonly as flying polyps. (“The Shadow out of Time”, Lovecraft (O).)

ELDIN THE WANDERER (?-1979)

Hero of the Dreamlands. In the waking world, Eldin was Leonard Dingle, a professor of psychology and anthropology and a lecturer on the significance of dreams. He had been a well-travelled dreamer during his lifetime, and he took up residence in those lands permanently following his death. With his partner David Hero, he has been on journeys throughout the dream world. He currently serves King Kuranes as a special agent.

See Hero. (Hero of Dreams, Lumley (O); Mad Moon of Dreams, Lumley; Ship of Dreams, Lumley.)

ELEMENTAL THEORY

Classification system that links each Great Old One with one of the four elements. This system first appears in the works of the Comte d’Erlette, and Professor Shrewsbury later advocated the system. These classifications are as follows:

Air: Hastur the Unspeakable, Ithaqua, Lloigor, Zhar

Earth: Azathoth (?), Cyäegha, Nyarlathotep (?), Nyogtha, Shub‑Niggurath, Tsathoggua, Yog-Sothoth (?)

Fire: Aphoom Zhah, Cthugha

Water: Cthulhu, Dagon, Ghatanothoa, Hydra, Zoth-Ommog

While this theory looks workable at first glance, it falls apart upon scrutiny. For example, if Cthulhu is indeed a water-elemental, why is he currently imprisoned under the ocean, where the water blocks his telepathic signals? And how can Yog-Sothoth, the Outer God who exists in all times and places, be connected with any certainty to the element of earth? (Some have attempted to solve this problem by classifying Azathoth, Nyarlathotep, Shub-Niggurath, and Yog-Sothoth as “aethyr” elementals, but this does little to alleviate the confusion.) Also, traditional thought holds that the forces of earth and air were opposites, as were those of fire and water. In this cosmology, however, the fire beings oppose their counterparts of earth, as the air beings fight those of water.

In short, the elemental theory does appear to apply in some cases (especially in the use of the Vach-Viraj incantation on “earth” beings), but in others it easily leads to confusion and is not particularly useful.

See Cthugha; Cthulhu; Vach-Viraj. (“Darkness, My Name Is”, Bertin; “The Book of Preparations”, Carter; “Zoth-Ommog”, Carter; “The Thing that Walked on the Wind,” Derleth (O); Keeper’s Compendium, Herber; “Those Who Wait”, Wade.)

ELLERY, (PROFESSOR) DEWART

Professor in the Miskatonic University Department of Metallurgy who analyzed the metallic structure Gilman found in the witch-house. He later joined with other faculty members of Miskatonic to investigate the Mythos.

See Emeritus Alcove. (Arkham Unveiled, Herber et. al.; “To Arkham and the Stars”, Leiber; “The Dreams in the Witch-House”, Lovecraft (O).)

ELTDOWN SHARDS

Pottery shards found near Eltdown in southern England in 1882 (though one source maintains that they were found in Greenland in 1903). Psychic evidence from Professor Turkoff of Beloin College suggests that the Elder Things inscribed these ceramics and buried them when Great Britain was part of Pangaea. Lin Carter speculates that the original authors of the work were instead the Great Race of Yith. Comparisons of these shards to similar documents, however, suggest that the Elder Things were the authors, so any Great Race copies were probably translated later.

The shards, which were discovered in a Triassic rock stratum, are inscribed with many strange markings of unknown meaning. The first two scholars to examine the Shards, Doctors Woodford and Dalton, hastily pronounced them to be untranslatable. Since the discovery of the Shards, however, several manuscripts purported to hold the true secrets of these artifacts have been circulated among certain occult groups. Around 1912, the Sussex clergyman Reverend Arthur Brooke Winters-Hall made an attempt to decipher the fragments and in 1917 published a thick pamphlet including the results of his own translation. The pamphlet was seen as being much too long to be a translation of the relatively small amount of writing found on the Shards. Nonetheless, it has been quoted in the works of many occult writers since its publication. (Gordon Whitney’s The Eltdown Shards: A Partial Translation confirms much of Winters-Hall’s work, as does Dr. Everett Sloan’s translation.)

The book refers to the planet of Yith, from which the Great Race came to Earth, the entity known as the Warder of Knowledge, and the imprisoned mist-being PneephTaal. It also tells of the Yekubian’s colonization attempts. Many sections of this book bear a striking resemblance to the Pnakotic Manuscripts, though further work in this direction must wait for the discovery of more of the original Shards.

Recently, another version of the Eltdown Shards was discovered inscribed on metal plates in a proto-Semitic tongue. These plates supposedly date back millions of years, but no comparison between them and the more-accepted version of the Shards has yet been attempted.

See Avaloth; Celaeno Fragments; Pnakotic Manuscripts; Warder of Knowledge; Yekub. (“Wrath of the Wind-Walker”, Ambuehl and Price; “Zoth-Ommog”, Carter; Keeper’s Compendium, Herber; Selected Letters V, Lovecraft; “The Shadow Out of Time”, Lovecraft; “The Diary of Alonzo Typer”, Lovecraft and Lumley; “The Challenge from Beyond”, Moore et. al., “The Guardian of the Pit”, Searight; “The Warder of Knowledge”, Searight (O); “Mists of Death”, Searight and Searight; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

ELTON, BASIL (c. 1870–?)

Keeper of the North Point lighthouse near Kingsport. Basil Elton was one of the Dreamland’s greatest travelers, until he lost his dream-self in the pursuit of lost Cathuria. He was also a friend of Randolph Carter. His grandson Nathaniel continued his quest.

See Cathuria. (“The Return of the White Ship”, Breach; “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft; “The White Ship”, Lovecraft (O).)

ELYSIA

Home of the Elder Gods. Elysia is a seemingly infinite land in which the chosen of the Elder Gods from many different worlds and dimensions live together in harmony. Only those whom the Elder Gods deem worthy may enter Elysia, and the journey there is long and difficult, even with the help of Elysia’s lords themselves.

See Elder Gods; Great Trees; N’hlathi; Tiania. (Elysia, Lumley; The Transition of Titus Crow, Lumley (O).)

EMERITUS ALCOVE

Faculty lounge on the Miskatonic University campus that served as a meeting place for senior professors who had met with the forces of the Mythos. Its membership has included Danforth, William Dyer, Dewart Ellery, Francis Morgan, Nathaniel Peaslee, Wingate Peaslee, Hiram Upham, and Albert Wilmarth. This group was known to have continued the research which brought its members to the Mythos, and its views toward some alien species might not have been entirely unsympathetic. By the mid-Eighties, only Danforth and Morgan remained of this group.

(“To Arkham and the Stars”, Leiber (O); Other Nations, Marsh and Marsh.)

ENCHANTED WOOD

Forest beyond the Gate of Deep Slumber through which a dreamer enters the Dreamlands. The Enchanted Wood is relatively safe, save for the furry zoogs that inhabit it. More dangerous creatures are rumored to live in its depths.

See Dreamlands; Oukranos; Seven Hundred Steps of Deeper Slumber; zoogs. (“The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft (O); “Kadath/The Vision and the Journey”, Winter-Damon.)

EPHIROTH

Mythical land mentioned in connection with the Cthulhu myth-cycle.

[Lin Carter used this as a synonym for Lh-Yib at one point, but this was most likely a mistake.]

(The Burrowers Beneath, Lumley; “The Sister City”, Lumley (O).)

ESOTERIC ORDER OF DAGON

Cult devoted to the worship of Dagon, Hydra, and Cthulhu. Captain Obed Marsh, who had learned a great deal in Polynesia about Dagon, founded the Order around 1840 in Innsmouth, Massachusetts. The new religion he preached included elements of the native tales intermingled with Holy Scripture and the doctrines of Middle-Eastern fertility cults. The Esoteric Order of Dagon drove out all other churches and fraternal orders in Innsmouth and set itself up as the only religious center in the community.

The Order was decimated in the government raid on Innsmouth in 1928. Other secret branches of this church still exist elsewhere, and a charitable organization with the same title might be affiliated with the cult.

[This particular organization must not be confused with two other groups of the same name, one of which is a small amateur press club and the other an organization of Lovecraftian magical practitioners.]

See Allen, Zadok; Atlach-Nacha; Codex Dagonensis; Dagon; deep ones; Devil’s Reef; Innsmouth; Marsh, Obed; Ponape Scripture. (“The Shadow Over Innsmouth”, Lovecraft (O); Escape from Innsmouth, Ross; Arkham Horror, Launius, Willis, and Krank.)

THE ETHICS OF YGOR

Book written in Latin by an unknown author. The Ethics gives the meanings of such things as the Magnetic Ring and the Great White Space. It also possibly provides a map of the route leading to the latter.

See Great White Space. (The Great White Space, Copper (O).)

EXHAM

English town near Anchester and east of the Severn River Valley. Despite its large number of used bookshops and other antiquarian attractions, Exham receives very few visitors.

The town’s most famous landmark was Exham Priory, a place of great architectural interest inhabited at one time by the Barons Exham but deserted during the reign of James I after one of the family’s sons massacred all his kin. Three months later, a horde of rats emerged from the place, eating two people and numerous livestock before dispersing.

The Priory was bought by a descendent of the family in 1918 and restored, but a hideous murder and the heir’s insanity led to the senseless dynamiting of the structure. The area is now the corporate park of a Fortune 500 company.

See de la Poer. (“The Moon-Lens”, Campbell; “The Rats in the Walls”, Lovecraft (O); Cthulhu Live: Lost Souls, Salmon.)

EXIOR K’MOOL

Former apprentice of Mylakhrion and Theem’hdra’s third most powerful mage, after his former master and Teh Atht. At first a mere fortune-teller and philter-manufacturer, Exior was inexplicably made Mylakhrion’s apprentice and took over his master’s advisory post to the King of Humquass when Mylakhrion left to pursue immortality. After a while, Exior too made his search for eternal life, making the same bargain Mylakhrion had made with the Great Old Ones. Exior thought he could avoid his former master’s fate, but in the end he was overwhelmed when Nyarlathotep came to deal with him personally, destroying the wizard’s home and the ruined city of Humquass in the process.

See Mylakhrion; Theem’hdra. (Elysia, Lumley; “The Sorcerer’s Book”, Lumley (O).)

EYE KILLERS

See Ossadogwah.

EYE OF LIGHT AND DARKNESS

Sigil created only on the night of the full moon. At moonrise, the pupil of the Eye must be filled with the blood of an innocent, and a chant must be maintained by a large group of people until the morning. When properly enchanted, the eye will protect the land within ten miles from the forces of evil. This sigil may be removed, but it requires the discovery of another enchantment individual to each Eye created.

The formula for creating the Eye of Light and Darkness can be found in a complete edition of the fifth scroll of the Cryptical Books of Hsan.

See Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan. (Masks of Nyarlathotep, DiTillo and Willis (O).)

EYE OF SITAR (also DAEMON HEART)

Ruby of 78 carats that some say is cursed. The explorer “Buck” Shott brought it out of Central Africa in the 1850s. After his murder in 1874, an English jeweller bought the gem, but was killed shortly thereafter. The German businessman bought it in 1910, but it disappeared in San Francisco while on tour in 1922. It later turned up at a Los Angeles museum, but vanished from there as well. It is said to have the power to return the dead to life.

(“The Wild Hunt”, Ballon; “The Eye of Sitar”, Tschida (O).)

EYE OF TSATHOGGUA

Mystical gem or gems mentioned in the Book of Eibon. The Eye can be found in an underground temple of Tsathoggua. The toad-god spent many aeons staring at its beauty, thereby infusing the gem with its essence. A human who places the Eye in an empty eye socket becomes a focus for the power of Tsathoggua, either being able to take in the blood of sacrifices and exert its power upon the world.

(Selected Letters IV, Lovecraft (O); “The Baleful God”, Pugmire; “O, Baleful Theophany”, Pugmire.)

EYE OF UBBO-SATHLA (also TREGARDIS CRYSTAL and MEZZAMALECH STONE)

Cloudy sphere with flattened ends discovered by the wizard Zon Mezzamalech of Hyperborea. The London occultist Paul Tregardis may have purchased this crystal from a curiosity shop. If so, it disappeared at the same time he did. The Washington Museum of Natural History kept it on display for decades, its true nature unknown, until it was stolen recently. It might have turned up in another shop in London where it was destroyed by fire.

Looking into the Eye brings visions of the past, though it is important not to go too far back into time, lest the person vanish into the past. Tsathoggua might have some influence over this device, using it to cause mysterious blazes near the Eye.

(“The Sphinx of Abormis”, Cornford; “The Source and the End”, Jones; “Fire”, Larson; “Ubbo-Sathla”, Smith (O).)

EYE OF ZEUS

See Polar Star.

F

FABLE OF NYARLATHOTEP

The history of Nyarlathotep’s rise to power, the forgetfulness of his worshipers, and his eventual return. The high priests of Egypt’s orthodox faiths suppressed this fable, but it has survived until the present nevertheless.

(“The Faceless God”, Bloch (O); “The Grinning Ghoul”, Bloch.)

FACELESS GOD

See Nyarlathotep (Faceless God).

FALCON POINT

Peninsula jutting into the Atlantic Ocean a few miles south of Innsmouth, and named for the large number of raptors that may be seen there. This place was the home of the fisherman Enoch Conger before his disappearance, and his ruined house may still be seen there.

(“The Fisherman of Falcon Point”, Derleth and Lovecraft (O).)

FALLWORTH, (PROFESSOR) ELIPHAS CORDVIP

Professor-Emeritus at Miskatonic University, and founder of modern medieval metaphysics. Fallworth has been conducting work on occult subjects since the early 1920s. Those interested in the impact of Fallworth’s scholarship are advised to consult Fallworth Festscrift (1987, Miskatonic University Press), a collection of essays in his honor.

[Those who study Professor Fallworth’s full name may come to a startling conclusion.]

(“Miskatonic University Graduate Kit”, Petersen and Willis (O); S. Petersen‘s Field Guide to Creatures of the Dreamlands, Petersen et. al.)

FATE, THE

Criminal organization based in New York City. The Fate began as a club of spiritualists headed by parapsychologist Otto Schmidt and the mysterious Madame A. After a murder on their premises in 1930, Schmidt and Madame A went underground, using magic to establish a foothold in the New York crime scene. Their fame and reputation grew until they were seen as a threat, and in 1951, Madame A was rubbed out in a Mafia hit.

Two years later, the Fate appeared again, with the mysterious Stephen Alzis at its head. When the dust cleared, Alzis and his cadre of wizards were the effective heads of organized crime in New York, though they rarely made their influence felt. The Fate is headquartered at the city’s most notorious nightspot, Club Apocalypse, where almost anything can be had — for a price.

(Delta Green, Detwiller, Glancy, and Tynes (O); The Fate, Detwiller with Ivey.)

FAVEOLATE COLOSSI

See Zone of the Thirteen Faveolate Colossi.

FEASTER FROM THE STARS

See Yomagn’tho.

FEERY, JOACHIM (?-1934)

Son of Baron Kant and noted researcher of the occult. Feery published many limited-edition books containing quotes from such books as the Cthaat Aquadingen and De Vermis Mysteriis. His most famous works were his Notes on the Necronomicon, Notes on the Cthaat Aquadingen, and A Study of the Book of Dzyan. Though the author said he had taken his quotes for his books from the original works, there are often many discrepancies between Feery’s versions and the originals. When readers called these contradictions to his attention, Feery declared he had gained this “extra“ occult knowledge through his dreams. Because of this, his books have fallen into scholarly disfavor.

See Kant, Ernst; Necronomicon (appendices); Notes on the Cthaat Aquadingen; Notes on the Necronomicon; Original Notes on the Necronomicon; Study of the Book of Dzyan. (Keeper’s Compendium, Herber; “Aunt Hester”, Lumley; “The Fairground Horror”, Lumley; “An Item of Supporting Evidence”, Lumley (O).)

FERENCZY

Family that dwelt for centuries in a fortress in Halmagiu, a region of Transylvania. The legends of the cruel depredations of this family, especially those of Faethor and Janos Ferenczy, may still be heard there today. After the last Ferenczy died, the castle was abandoned.

Hundreds of years later, another man took up residence in the castle, claiming to be the lineal descendant of the Ferenczys. He began a new line of barons who lasted for almost two hundred years and became as infamous as those of old. The last Baron Ferenczy was about to be summoned by the Rumanian government to account for his actions when an explosion leveled the castle.

See Hutchinson, Edward. (“The Case of Charles Dexter Ward”, Lovecraft (O); Deadspeak, Lumley.)

FIRE OF ASSHURBANIPAL

Gem found in the ruins of Kara-Shehr in the hands of a long-dead king. Legend has it that the wizard Xuthltan brought the gem out of Hell. Evil befell the land, and the king blamed the sorcerer, torturing him to death. With his last breath, his victim called the vengeance of the stone’s guardian down upon that land. Wanderers in the desert tell of finding the palace’s throne room with the mummified king sitting in his throne, the stone in his hand.

The gem could be used to scry the future, but only by a powerful magician who could bind the demon who guarded the stone.

(“The Wild Hunt”, Ballon, “The Fire of Asshurbanipal”, Howard (O).)

FIRE VAMPIRES (also FLAME CREATURES OF CTHUGHA)

1) Beings resembling thousands of pinpoints of firelight who serve the Great Old One Cthugha. Fire vampires come to earth when Cthugha is summoned, forming an escort for their ruler. They may be called up individually when Fomalhaut is in the sky and a flame moved in a prescribed manner. When summoned, they attempt to ignite any flammable materials present. See Cthugha; Lesser Old Ones. (“The Dweller in Darkness”, Derleth (O); Call of Cthulhu Rulebook, Petersen and Willis.)

2) Creatures resembling red flashes of lightning. They dwell with their lord Fthaggua on the planetoid Ktynga, on which they travel through the cosmos, seeking out intelligent life from which they may draw energy.

The attack of a fire vampire is heralded by a flash of crimson lightning, and leaves the victim destroyed by what appears to be spontaneous human combustion. Not only does this attack provide the fire vampire with the energy it requires to survive, it also bestows upon the victorious creature all of the target’s memories. Fire vampires seem to possess a hive mentality, so that all other vampires, as well as Fthaggua, gain knowledge whenever someone is killed by the vampires. Using this information, Fthaggua and his minions plot their strategy for subjugating worlds to provide themselves with a ready source of energy. See Fthaggua; Fthagguans; Ktynga. (“Zoth-Ommog”, Carter; “The Fire-Vampires”, Wandrei (O).)

[The fire vampires originally appear in Wandrei’s story as the lightning-like servants of Fthaggua. The Call of Cthulhu game uses the name to refer to the servitors of Cthugha in Derleth’s “The Dweller in Darkness”, the interpretation which most readers are familiar with.]

FISCHBUCH

Book written by Konrad von Germer and published in 1598. It deals mostly with mundane marine life, but the author also expresses his belief in aquatic beings called “the deep ones”.

(“Name and Number”, Lumley (O); “Fischbuchs”, Ross.)

FISCHER, GEORG REUTER

See Tunneler Below.

FISHERS FROM OUTSIDE

Creatures from outer space which the explorer Slauenwaite credited with building the ruins of Zimbabwe. These beings presumably at one time had a great interstellar empire, of which the Zimbabwe cities are only the merest outposts. The Fishers may serve Tsathoggua and Cthulhu. Some have stated that the Fishers are shantaks, though these are usually considered to be unintelligent and thought to live only to the Dreamlands. Whatever the true nature of the Fishers, the natives realize the danger of such places, and shun them whenever possible.

See Gol-goroth; Remnants of Lost Empires; Voormish Tablets; Winged Ones. (“The Fishers from Outside”, Carter; “The Outpost”, Lovecraft (O); “Winged Death”, Heald and Lovecraft.)

FLAME CREATURES OF CTHUGHA

See fire vampires.

FLY-THE-LIGHT

See Nyarlathotep (Haunter of the Dark).

FLYING POLYPS (also ELDER BEINGS, ELDER THINGS or POLYPOUS RACE)

Species which teleported to Earth, Yaksh, Tond, and one other planet in our solar system around six hundred million years ago from the Ogntlach solar system. Details of this race are sketchy, but they seem to be able to make themselves invisible at will, leave five-toed tracks, and are able to control winds in some way not fully understood. (The latter has suggested an alliance between the polyps and the Zarrians.)

While on this world, the flying polyps built great basalt towers in which to live. They attempted to expand into the ocean, but the Elder Things fought them off. From then on the polyps confined their activities to land. After a few million years, however, the Great Race of Yith possessed the minds of the conical beings upon which the polyps preyed. The Race struck against the polyps, using lightning guns that played off the species’ vulnerability to electricity to drive the creatures beneath the ground. Afterward the Great Race sealed off all but a few of the entrances into the caverns. It is believed that the entire polyp race was in the middle of its mating cycle at this time, causing resistance to the Great Race to be minimal.

(According to some sources, this was not the Great Race’s first encounter with these beings. In fact, the flying polyps might have been pursuing the Great Race in hopes of destroying them. Others, however, consider the meeting on Earth to have been the species’ first encounter.)

The flying polyps did not require light to sense their surroundings, so their imprisonment did not unduly affect them. They built their towers in the vast chambers beneath the ground, and waited for the time for their revenge. Fifty million years ago, the opportunity came. The polyps burst forth from the caverns, destroying the cities of the Great Race with their winds and massacring the Yithians. The Great Race, however, had already projected their minds forward into the future, so the flying polyps were ultimately unsuccessful in their endeavor.

Following their triumph, the polyps returned to their caverns. Since then, this species has supposedly been in decline. In our own time, these creatures are few in number or extremely reluctant to come to the surface, though reports of increased expansion of their caverns have been made. On very rare occasions they might take control of a person’s lower nature, causing them to commit acts of violence during blackouts, but for the most part they ignore humanity. By the time the Great Race takes up residence in the insectoid intelligences of Earth’s future, the flying polyps will be extinct.

See Elder Things; Great Race of Yith; Lloigornos; Pnakotic Pentagram. (“Papyrus of the Dark Wisdom”, Carter and Smith; Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying Game, Cook and Tynes; “The Horror from Yith”, DeBill; Delta Green: Denied to the Enemy, Detwiller; “The Shadow from Yith”, Gullette; “The Shadow Out of Time”, Lovecraft (O); Other Nations, Marsh and Marsh; “Beneath the Dunes”, Pons.)

FORGOTTEN ONES

Beings that are either “entities” from Outside, or expressions of our primal subconscious needs and desires. Only by making contact with these beings, occultists say, may humanity be drawn to the next level of its spiritual evolution. It has been said that the Forgotten Ones are manifestations or microcosmic counterparts of the Great Old Ones, though their exact relationship remains uncertain.

(“Return of the Elder Gods”, Anonymous (O); Outer Gateways, Grant.)

FORMLESS SPAWN

Amorphous beings resembling pools of black tar. Their bodies may be manufactured from the congealed blood shed before the idols of Tsathoggua. These beings can shapeshift to whatever form allows them to catch their prey, flowing down a stone trough at one instant and walking on huge stilt-like legs the next. If commanded, they can even take on a human-like form, though some work must be done to allow them to pass for a person. They are usually encountered in N’kai and other caverns, though they may also turn up in surface temples to their lord.

See Kythamil. (“The Mound”, Lovecraft and Bishop; “The Tale of Satampra Zeiros”, Smith (O); “Servile”, Thomas; Necronomicon, Tyson.)

FOURTH BOOK OF D’HARSIS

Book written by D’harsis, one of the Dreamlands’ greatest wizards. The only known copy is kept in the library of the Temple of the Elder Gods at Ulthar. The Fourth Book includes information on the entity Fly-the-Light and the evil queen Yath-Lhi, and possibly the formula for the Barrier of Naach-Tith. D’harsis wrote at least eleven books, but these are even rarer than the Fourth.

(“A-Mazed in Oriab”, Lumley; “Dylath-Leen”, Lumley (O); The Dreaming Stone, Ross.)

FOWLER, GOODY

Witch best known for the potions she brewed in her small cottage near Arkham. Fowler was lynched in 1704. Her ghost is said to haunt Hangman’s Hill in Arkham.

See Arkham. (Arkham Unveiled, Herber et. al.; “The Silver Key”, Lovecraft (O); “Through the Gates of the Silver Key”, Lovecraft and Price.)

FRANKLYN, ROLAND (?-1967)

Leader of a Brichester cult in the mid-1960s. Almost nothing is known of his past. It is believed that he attended Brichester University, but if this is true he was later expelled from that institution. In 1963 he became the head of a small sect of young men from the Brichester area. The cult advocated heavy drug use, and often made journeys to places of occult power in the Severn River Valley. This organization is also believed to have stolen Brichester University’s copy of the Revelations of Glaaki around this time.

In January of 1964, Franklyn published his cult’s doctrine in the book We Pass from View. Most of the copies were stolen shortly after publication, however, so Franklyn’s ideas did not receive as great a circulation as he had hoped. Franklyn died on July 3, 1967, and was buried in the Mercy Hill cemetery.

See Brichester; Eihort; Mercy Hill; Undercliffe; We Pass from View. (“Cold Print”, Campbell (O); “The Franklyn Paragraphs”, Campbell; “Behold, I Stand at the Door and Knock”, Price.)

FREEBORN, TYLER M

Professor of anthropology at Miskatonic University and expert on the cultures of the Pacific. He received his bachelor’s from the University of New Mexico and his doctorate from Princeton. He worked at the University of New Mexico, studying the cliff-dwellers of the region, before gaining his appointment to Miskatonic. Freeborn accompanied Nathaniel and Wingate Peaslee on the Australian expedition of 1935.

(“The Spawn”, Cleaver; “The Shadow Out of Time”, Lovecraft (O); “Stacked Actors”, Worthy.)

FRONTIER GARRISON (originally PRAESIDIA FINIUM)

Volume written in 183 by Lollius Urbicus, a Roman scholar living near present-day York. (Some scholars say this was the Roman governor Q. Lollius Urbicus, but occult scholar Titus Crow insists they are different.) An English translation was published around the beginning of the eighteenth century in London. Of the two originals, the more complete one is kept at the Wharby Museum, while a fragmentary copy may be found at Miskatonic University.

This tome documents many mysterious events that took place during the Roman occupation of Britain, including an explosion a few miles from Urbicus’ home and the assault made upon the vicious Yegg-Ha near Hadrian’s Wall.

See Yegg-ha. (“An Item of Supporting Evidence”, Lumley (O); The Transition of Titus Crow, Lumley; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

FTHAGGUA

Being which appears as a huge mass of blue-tinged lightning. Fthaggua has dominion over the fire vampires. These beings seem to have a hive mentality, and Fthaggua could be the nerve center of all the vampires.

Fthaggua and his minions dwell upon a comet known as Ktynga, the trajectory and speed of which are controlled by Fthaggua. The fire vampires travel between the stars on this comet, seeking out worlds inhabited by intelligent beings. Whenever they find such a planet, they return at periodic intervals, demanding the sacrifice of thousands of the world’s natives to appease their hunger. They will arrive at our world in four hundred years.

The relationship between Fthaggua and Cthugha remains unclear. Cthugha seems to have some control over the “fire vampires”, as does Fthaggua, though their minions take different forms. Some have speculated that Cthugha and Fthaggua are the same, but the two entities seem dissimilar in their manifestations, and Cthugha is usually thought to be imprisoned somewhere near Fomalhaut. Fthaggua might serve the Great Old One, or could possibly be one of Cthugha’s avatars.

See Cthugha; fire vampires; Fthaggua; Ktynga. (“Zoth-Ommog”, Carter; “The Fire-Vampires”, Wandrei (O).)

FUNGI FROM YUGGOTH

See mi-go.

G

GALVEZ, JOSEPH D

Officer of Spanish descent present at Inspector Legrasse’s 1907 raid on the Cthulhu cult. He claimed to have seen something huge and winged in the swamp during the raid. Despite being labeled “excitable,” he went on to achieve the rank of Lieutenant and often called upon his former supervisor’s expertise in handling difficult cases.

(“The Call of Cthulhu”, Lovecraft (O); “Locked Room”, Henderson; “Nothing to Fear but Dust”, Henderson.)

GARDNER, NAHUM (c. 1832–November 1883)

Farmer near Clark’s Corners on whose property a mysterious meteorite fell in 1882. Gardner was a respected local man who had worked on his farm with his wife and three sons for many years. After the fall of the meteorite, the vegetation on his land mutated and eventually crumbled. His family members died, vanished, or disappeared. Gardner himself succumbed to this mysterious malady shortly thereafter. His farmland later became the center of the Blasted Heath.

(“The Colour Out of Space”, Lovecraft (O).)

GEOFFREY, JUSTIN (1898–1926)

Poet who wrote the collection The People of the Monolith. Accounts of Geoffrey’s early life conflict. Some say he was born John Ernest Tyler, with Justin Geoffrey being a pseudonym the young man adopted after travelling from his home in Texas to New York at the age of nineteen. (This is probably due to confusion between Geoffrey and his friend John Tyler, who some claim wrote Geoffrey’s poems.) Others assert that he came from the Geoffrey family of merchants who came to New York in 1690. In this version, he was inspired to become a poet after a strange experience he had in the Catskills when ten years old. Whatever his origins, his career as a poet was brilliant, prompting correspondence with such colleagues as Edward Derby, but largely unsuccessful.

While travelling in Europe in 1921 or 1922, Geoffrey made a stop at a place called “Xuthltan” that is believed to have affected him greatly. He vanished shortly after his return to the States, turning up years later in Chicago, half-mad, addicted to alcohol and drugs, and holding the finished manuscript to his book The People of the Monolith. (His exact whereabouts during this time remain a mystery, but in 1922 he published a very limited edition of Secrets of the Hanged Man, a treatise on the symbolism of a tarot card.) Soon after he reappeared Justin Geoffrey was committed at an Illinois asylum, in which he died under strange circumstances.

The style of Geoffrey’s poetry varies so widely that a few critics have suggested that it was the work of several different people under the same name, but its underlying thematic unity makes this unlikely. Those who enjoy The People of the Monolith should also seek out his two other collections, Scarlet Runes and Other Poems (New York, Chimera Press) and Out of the Old Land, along with a book of fantastic fiction, Towers in the Sky.

See Black Stone; Derby, Edward; The People of the Monolith; Stregoicavar. (Keeper’s Compendium, Herber; “The Black Stone”, Howard (O); “The Door to the Garden”, Howard; “The House in the Oaks”, Howard and Derleth; “The Key of the Poet”, Kane; “The Thing at the Doorstep”, Lovecraft; “Dark Shapes Rising”, Shoffner; The Devil’s Auction, Weinberg.)

GEPH, BROKEN COLUMNS OF

See Broken Columns of Geph.

GEPH TRANSCRIPTIONS

Translations of the glyphs on the Broken Columns of Geph, probably made with the aid of Gordon Walmsley. The only known copy could be found in the library of British occultist Titus Crow, but others are likely to exist.

See Broken Columns of Geph. (“Name and Number”, Lumley.)

GHADAMON

Great Old One who lives beneath a sterile lake in the Dreamlands’ Underworld. Ghadamon is a bluish-brown slimy monstrosity covered with malformed animal heads and orifices. Its origins are uncertain; some say the mi-go created Ghadamon in their laboratories, afterward placing it in the lake. Others claim that it was the offspring of a Hyperborean wizard and a woman of the Dreamlands who sought revenge on his father for abandoning him in the world of dreams. The Old One wants to leave the Dreamlands, but it must possess a human to do so. After it escapes, deep ones will lead it to the House of Ghadamon under the sea, where it will feed and grow.

Ghadamon’s lake is filled with its spawn — conical, wide-mouthed fish-like creatures — which guard Ghadamon’s body.

(“The Offspring of the Tomb”, Cornford; “Pickman’s Student”, Herber (O).)

G’HARNE

Prehuman city located deep in the jungles of central Africa which, if the G’harne Fragments are correct, existed since the Triassic period. G’harne was most likely an outpost of the Elder Things. At a later time, the Great Old One Shudde-M’ell and his children, the cthonians, were imprisoned with the Elder Sign at G’harne until they were freed by meddling shamans and natural disasters. The cult of Nophru-Ka fled to this city after the high priest’s death, and G’harne was the objective of Sir Wendy-Smith’s last expedition, which left the noted archaeologist mentally unstable.

[The evidence from Lumley suggests G’harne is near a Swahili-speaking area. Other sources, most notably the Chaosium books, place G’harne in northern Africa, most often in Mali.]

See Brotherhood of the Beast; cthonians; Davies, Chandler; Elder Sign; G’harne Fragments; Nophru-Ka; Shudde-M’ell; Wendy-Smith, Sir Amery. (“Appendix B: The Brotherhood of the Beast,” Herber; Keepers’ Compendium, Herber; The Burrowers Beneath, Lumley; “Cement Surroundings”, Lumley (O).)

G’HARNE FRAGMENTS

Translation of shards possessed by a little-known African tribe. Where this group originally acquired the shards is unknown; according to the tribe’s legends, these prized possessions were merely copied portions of a larger work. Later examination of the originals has shown that parts of the document bear some resemblance to the characters in the Pnakotic Manuscripts. Tests performed upon the originals, which are held at the British Museum, prove that these artifacts have somehow survived since the Triassic period.

In his expedition to the African interior, an explorer named Windrop somehow obtained the Fragments from the tribe that owned them. (The time that this occurred is uncertain; the date 1934 has been given, but since much of Sir Amery Wendy-Smith’s later career was centered on the book, an earlier date is likely.) Upon his return to civilization, he found that the curious inscribed dot-patterns could not be equated with the alphabet of any known language. His translations, when published in The Imperial Archaeological Journal in 1912, were not taken seriously. The explorer’s shards became popularly known as “Windrop’s Folly.”

Sir Amery Wendy-Smith, the noted archaeologist who was the sole surviving member of an expedition to G’harne, was the first to make a serious effort to translate the Fragments. Wendy-Smith became interested in the Fragments and is known to have made a partial translation of them, publishing this in 1919. It may have been Wendy-Smith who dubbed Windrop’s discovery the “G’harne Fragments,” due to the reference to that city he found when he first broke the Fragments’ code. No one knows how much of the G’harne Fragments Amery Wendy-Smith translated, as his notes were lost in the collapse of his house which caused his death. Some of Wendy-Smith’s work may have survived him; the noted occultist Titus Crow is known to have had a partial copy of the archaeologist’s translation in his library, but this version remains relatively unknown.

Though ignored by the greater part of the scientific community, the Fragments were not entirely forgotten. The Annotated G’harne Fragments, a translation made by Ryan Millbue, was published by Miskatonic University Press in 1965. The first reputable translation of the G’harne Fragments was made in the 1970s by the Wilmarth Foundation. This work was based on the notes of Professor Gordon Walmsley of Goole, who had been ridiculed for his “spoof-notes,” which he asserted were a translation of several chapters of this work.

The G’harne Fragments, which the Elder Things may have written, contain many references to Shudde-M’ell and his children, as well as a more-or-less accurate map of the solar system. The information within gives a history of the city of G’harne, including its eventual destruction by earthquake. Many locations mentioned within the book have been identified by some scholars as such sites as Stonehenge and Avebury, possibly hinting that the book was changed at a later date. Scholars have noted many similarities between this volume, the Pnakotic Manuscripts, and the Sussex Fragments.

[As Lumley’s timeline as given in “In The Vaults Beneath” is contradictory, I have used Keith Herber’s here instead.]

See Book of Dzyan; G’harne; Sussex Fragments; Thyoph; Walmsley, Gordon; Wendy-Smith, Amery. (Keeper’s Compendium, Herber; The Burrowers Beneath, Lumley; “Cement Surroundings”, Lumley (O); “In the Vaults Beneath”, Lumley; “Name and Number”, Lumley; The Transition of Titus Crow, Lumley; Miskatonic University Graduate Kit, Petersen et. al.; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

GHASTS

Humanoid creatures with hoofed feet, kangaroo-like legs, and noseless faces. Direct sunlight kills these creatures, but they can survive for many hours in illumination of lesser intensity.

Ghasts spend most of their lives in the vaults of Zin, but have been known to issue from their homes to attack gugs or ghouls in the Underworld of the Dreamlands. If they are unable to find prey of this sort, they have no qualms about devouring each other. Despite their cannibalistic tendencies, ghasts often band together in packs for raids outside the vaults.

See gyaa-yothn; Yoth; Zin. (“The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft (O).)

GHATANOTHOA (also GHANTA or GTANTHA)

Great Old One left by the fungi from Yuggoth within the mountain Yaddith-Gho in the now-sunken land of Mu. The people of Mu made many sacrifices to the god and its priests, fearing that Ghatanothoa would leave its home and seek prey among humanity if it was not placated. The sight of the Great Old One was especially feared, as it would petrify anyone who looked upon it, leaving them encased in leathery skin for eternity.

In his Unaussprechlichen Kulten, Friedrich von Junzt tells of T’yog, the high priest of Shub-Niggurath, who opposed Ghatanothoa and its servants. T’yog created a scroll covered with magical writings that would protect the holder from the effects of seeing Ghatanothoa. Having done so, he resolved to climb the mountain to the god’s home and confront the horror. Ghatanothoa’s jealous priests opposed this. When they could not prevent T’yog from making the journey, they secretly switched his magical scroll for a worthless one. T’yog never returned from his journey to the top of Yaddith-Gho, and his fate remains a mystery.

Due to T’yog’s failure to destroy Ghatanothoa, the cult of this Great Old One gained even greater power. Ten thousand years later after the high priest’s ascent, the high priests finally possessed enough influence to close the temples of all of Mu’s other deities. Zanthu, the newly-appointed high priest of Ythogtha, took umbrage at this decree and unwittingly brought about the continent’s destruction when he attempted to summon his own god.

Although the land of Mu sank beneath the ocean, entrapping Ghatanothoa, many branches of its cult survived. According to von Junzt, traces of such worship have been found in Egypt, Atlantis, K’n‑yan, Persia, Babylon, Africa, China, Mexico, and Peru. Most of Ghatanothoa’s present-day worship occurs near the Pacific Ocean, beneath which Ghatanothoa is imprisoned. These cults hold the god responsible for certain natural disasters, such as the offshore earthquake which took place in 1970 near Peru, and hope for a day when they will be able to free their master from his watery prison. Some have disguised their rites, in which lloigor psychically feed on their servants, under the guise of other faiths, expanding their influence further than has been suspected.

Along with Ythogtha and Zoth-Ommog, Ghatanothoa is one of the three “sons” of Cthulhu and Idh-yaa spawned near Xoth. The astral race known as the Lloigor also serve Ghatanothoa.

See Cthulhu; elemental theory; Idh-yaa; K’n-yan; Kn’aa; Legends of the Olden Runes; lloigor; Mu; Nath-feast; Ponape Scripture; T’yog; Unaussprechlichen Kulten; Vatican Codex; Yaddith-Gho; Yeb; Ythogtha; Zanthu. (“The Thing in the Pit”, Carter; “Out of the Aeons”, Lovecraft and Heald (O); “False Mythologies”, Ingham; The Sussex Manuscript, Pelton; House of the Toad, Tierney; “The Return of the Lloigor”, Wilson.)

GHISGUTH (or GHIZGHUTH or GHISGHUTH)

Child of Cxaxukluth and sire of the Great Old One Tsathoggua by his mate Zstylzhemghi. In his youth, Ghisguth raged across the galaxy, destroying planets and stars in his path. After his brother Hziulquoigmnzhah left Yuggoth due to the cannibalistic depredations of their father, Ghisguth and his family remained a while longer in deep caverns where Cxaxukluth could not reach. The mi-go may perform rites in his honor.

See Cxaxukluth; Tsathoggua; Zstylzhemghi. (“The Family Tree of the Gods”, Smith (O); “The Appeasement of Ghizguth”, Tierney.)

GHOORIC ZONE

Caverns on Thog, one of the moons of Yuggoth. This was once a mine for the tok’l metal placed by the mi-go, until they found more deposits on Yuggoth and abandoned it. In the Ghooric Zone, strange lights glow, fungi bloom, and shoggoths splash beside a foul lake.

(“The Color from Beyond”, Cabos; “Stranger’s Race”, Kershaw-Moore; “Alienation”, Lovecraft (O); “Discovery of the Ghooric Zone,” Lupoff.)

THE GHORL NIGRAL

Book of which only one copy (supposedly) exists on earth. Many aeons ago, the Book of Eibon says, the great wizard Zkauba discovered the Ghorl Nigral, or the Book of Night, in the dhole-burrows that had honeycombed his home world of Yaddith.

Later, one copy of the Ghorl Nigral was brought to our world. The priests of Mu discovered it and added chapters of historical data on that sunken land. The Ghorl Nigral was later deposited at the city of Yian-Ho, where it lay forgotten for many years. Then the noted German occultist Friedrich von Junzt and his friend Gottfried Mülder journeyed to a monastery high in the mountains of China to find the book. There, in a bargain with the holy men of that place, von Junzt was allowed to gaze upon the Ghorl Nigral. The experience left a deep impression on von Junzt, and he discussed the book’s contents at length with Mülder. Mülder later used this information in his book The Secret Mysteries of Asia, with a Commentary on the “Ghorl Nigral” (1847).

Some say that other copies of the Ghorl Nigral exist on this planet, and one has even been placed at Miskatonic University. It is possible that this is a case of mistaken identity in which The Secret Mysteries of Asia and the Ghorl Nigral itself have been confused. Access to the Miskatonic volume is very difficult due to an incident that took place in the library’s reading room some years ago, so it is unlikely that the question will be answered any time soon.

See Secret Mysteries of Asia; von Junzt, Friedrich; Yian-Ho; Zkauba. (“The Thing in the Pit”, Carter; “Zoth-Ommog”, Carter; Lovecraft at Last, Conover and Lovecraft (O).)

GHOULS

Beings that live in tunnels beneath graveyards in both the waking world and the Dreamlands. Ghouls can be identified by their canine features, hoofed feet, rubbery skin, moldy odor, and disgusting habits. They usually bear their repast back to the Crag of the Ghouls in the Dreamlands, where they devour their burdens and cast the remnants into the Vale of Pnath.

Various types of social organization exist among the ghouls.  The main colony in the Underworld is fairly disorganized, though they may at times follow one of their species whom they respect. Alhazred’s account of the ghouls of the Empty Quarter, with whom he lived for several months, describes them as bands that dwell in caves near hidden oases and stalk caravans for prey. More recently, a colony beneath Providence, Rhode Island has taken to kidnapping human infants, raising them, and using them as their servants and enforcers above ground.

Ghouls are allied with the nightgaunts, who serve them as mounts and for reconnaissance.

Though individuals of the species may make deals with the Great Old Ones — especially Nyogtha — ghouls as a whole have not committed themselves to any spiritual practice save a vague reverence for Mordiggian. Many Russian ghouls who saw the bounty of Stalin’s purges came to revere him as the great provider. Recent years have seen the ghouls of New York split into two factions: the Traditionalists, who worship Mordiggian and believe in conventional graverobbing, and the Renegades, who may serve Nyarlathotep and are not averse to kidnapping to satisfy their cravings.

Ghouls are not necessarily unfriendly to humans who know them and take the time to learn their language of gibberings and meepings, or who present the sign of the ankh to them. On the other hand, they can be quite unfriendly to those who enter their delvings unbidden.

The exact origins of the ghouls are unknown, but it has been proven that over time a human can transform into one of these creatures. Proximity of other ghouls and a radical change in diet seem to bring about this metamorphosis. (Some have speculated that this transformation is a result of a prion-based neurological disease.) At times, ghouls have stolen human infants and replaced them with young of their own kind, so that they might induct their hostages into their species.

A few variant ghouls have been reported. Some say these creatures have a more advanced and human-like subspecies that serves as the priests of Mordiggian. Also of note are the “hu-ghouls” — offspring of humans and ghouls that never develop into one or the other — who are considered the bottom of the ghoulish hierarchy.

[Ghuls were originally monsters of Arabian folklore that dwelt in the desert and graveyards, preying on hapless passers-by. Lovecraft encountered them through The Arabian Nights and Vathek. The ghoul’s dog-like appearance and their habit of substituting human babies as their own are probably original to Lovecraft.]

See ghasts; Hydra; Mordiggian; Naggoob; Ngranek; nightgaunts; Nyogtha; Pnath; Rhydagand of the Brush; Shunned House; tomb-herd; wamps. (Realm of Shadows, Crowe; Delta Green, Detwiller, Glancy, and Tynes; Delta Green: Countdown, Detwiller et. al.; “Pickman’s Student”, Herber; Daughter of Hounds, Kiernan; Low Red Moon, Kiernan; “Identity Crisis”, Kruger; “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft; “Pickman’s Model”, Lovecraft (O); Alhazred, Tyson.)

GHROTH

Outer God known as the Harbinger. This being appears as a dark object the size of a planet with one huge red eye (which Ghroth often closes when it wants to remain inconspicuous). When the stars are right, Ghroth will travel through the universe, visiting each world where the Great Old Ones reside to awaken them. Ghroth has visited our world in the past, thereby initiating the cycles of extinction usually believed to have been caused by meteors or comets.

See Revelations of Glaaki; Shaggai. (“The Tugging”, Campbell (O); Spawn of Azathoth, Herber.)

GILMAN, WALTER (?–May 1, 1928)

Student of mathematics from Haverhill, Massachusetts. Gilman attended Miskatonic University, spending the last months of his life living in Arkham’s “Witch-House”. Though he displayed brilliance in his chosen field, his professors forced him to cut back on his work due to his nervous temperament. Over the spring of his last year, Gilman became more and more nervous, experiencing strange dreams and bouts of sleepwalking culminating on May-Eve. Ironically enough, his death seems not to have been due to his nervous deterioration, but to a rodent attack.

See Ellery, Dewart; Upham, Hiram. (“The Dreams in the Witch-House”, Lovecraft (O).)

GLAAKEEN

Undead servitors created by Glaaki (see).

(“The Inhabitant of the Lake”, Campbell (O); Cthulhu Live: Lost Souls, Salmon et. al.)

GLAAKI

Great Old One resembling a slug with three eyes on stalks, small pyramids on its underside, and innumerable metal spikes rising from its back. Glaaki dwells in a lake near Brichester. (Recent sightings suggest that it may be manifesting itself in other bodies of water throughout the world, such as New Britain Island in New Guinea, Raquette Lake in the Adirondacks, or even in the London sewers.)

Glaaki’s unnamed home world was a place with acid lakes and foul vapors. The Great Old One traveled on a comet between the worlds of Yuggoth, Shaggai, and Tond. Eventually, it became imprisoned behind a crystal trapdoor beneath an asteroid city. When the meteor crashed into Earth, it created the lake where Glaaki later resided. Some insist that Glaaki had come to earth before for a short time through the priests of Egypt’s use of the Reversed Angles of Tagh Clatur, as a number of hybrid mummies have been discovered with spines similar to those of Glaaki. The Great Old One’s influence on our world was negligible before the meteor’s fall.

Glaaki’s modern worship began around 1790, when Thomas Lee led his group to the lake from nearby Goatswood. This cult built a row of houses along the shore so they could be close to their god. These people remained until the 1860s, when all of them disappeared. Some suggest that the people came to make Glaaki serve them, but were caught and enslaved to him instead. Others have lived in the area since then, but few stay long, being frightened away by Glaaki’s dream-sendings. This lake was subsequently drained after complaints about missing persons, but no trace of the city or the god himself was found.

Glaaki commanded a cult of undead slaves, or Glaakeen, which it created by driving a spine from his back into their bodies and injecting a chemical into their bloodstream. If the spine could be severed before the fluid was injected, the victim would die but was spared from becoming Glaaki’s slave. The fluid created a network of tissue in the corpse’s body, apparently taking the place of the circulatory and pulmonary systems, which Glaaki could then manipulate so that the Glaakeen did its bidding. Although capable of independent thought and action, these creatures were forced to do Glaaki’s bidding whenever it telepathically commands them. After sixty years, a rapid rotting known as the Green Decay affected these servants whenever sunlight struck them, so most of Glaaki’s servants remained under shelter during the day.

Glaaki used a special psychic “dream-pull” to call nearby humans to join its cult. This was usually ineffectual, as Glaaki’s power did not extend far enough to reach anyone who was more than a few miles from the lake.

See Aklo Unveilings; Angles of Tagh Clatur; Green Decay; Revelations of Glaaki; tomb-herd; Tond; Yuggoth. (“Ghost Lake”, Burleson; “Invocation from Beyond”, Burnham; “The Inhabitant of the Lake”, Campbell (O); Delta Green, Detwiller, Glancy, and Tynes; Call of Cthulhu Rulebook, 5th ed., Petersen and Willis; “The Further Files of Prof. Grant Emerson: Report on Adirondack Cadaver”, Price; Cthulhu Live: Lost Souls, Salmon et. al.)

GLASS FROM LENG

Cloudy type of glass said to come from the Hyades to the Plateau of Leng. To be used, the glass must be mounted in a frame so that it appears to be a window. If the owner desires to use it, he or she should draw a pentagram in red chalk on the floor before the window, sit within the diagram, and say the words “Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn.” The glass from Leng will turn clear and show a scene with Mythos significance. The user cannot choose the location viewed. This person must be wary, since beings on the other side might see and pass through the magical gateway if they desire.

The glass from Leng may also be crafted into the moon-lens used in Shub-Niggurath’s worship.

See moon-lens. (“The Gable Window”, Derleth and Lovecraft (O); “Dark Harvest”, Ross.)

GLEETH

Moon-god and advisor to the other divinities who the people of Theem’hdra and the Dreamlands revered. He is often said to be identical to Mnomquah, but in fact Gleeth is almost entirely blind and deaf to the prayers of his worshipers, unlike the other god. As such, only the Suhm-Yi people of Theem’hdra worshiped him, and he had no formalized cult or priests elsewhere.

See Mnomquah. (“The House of Cthulhu”, Lumley (O); “Isles of the Suhm-Yi”, Lumley; Mad Moon of Dreams, Lumley.)

G’LL‑HOO (or GELL-HO)

Deep one city in the ocean north of Britain, close to the isle of Surtsey.

See deep ones. (The Burrowers Beneath, Lumley; “Rising with Surtsey”, Lumley (O).)

GLOON

Lesser Other God appearing to be a handsome youth wearing a laurel wreath while in his temple, though his true form is that of a wattled, slug-like horror. Gloon is bound to a temple beneath the Atlantic Ocean, having been imprisoned there long before the sinking of Atlantis.

Gloon may only interact with the outside world through the agency of small Atlantean statuettes made in his image. When someone discovers one of these statues, they have strange dreams of a sunken city dominated by a huge basalt temple with a glowing light inside. These dreams become more and more vivid as time progresses. The dreamer is also doused with salt water, and sometimes seaweed, while asleep. This result is insanity, as the person’s soul is taken back to the temple where Gloon may torture it until the life-force dissolves completely.

See Atlantis. (“The Temple”, Lovecraft (O); “The City in the Sea”, Thomas and Willis.)

GLYU-UHO (also GLYU-VHO or K’LU-VHO)

Naacal title for the star commonly known as Betelgeuse. According to those who believe in the Elder Gods, these beneficent beings came down from Glyu-Uho to battle the Great Old Ones. The Elder Gods may dwell in an alternate dimension known as Elysia; if this is true, there may be a gateway leading to this place near Glyu-Uho.

Glyu-Uho was also at one time the home of a race of amphibian beings that journeyed to earth and built their stone cities here. Strangely enough, when the Elder Gods battled the Great Old Ones, they also imprisoned these creatures.

[Lovecraft suggested this word to Derleth as an alien name for Betelgeuse, though he never used it in his own fiction.]

See Elder Gods; Great Old Ones. (“The Horror in the Bridge”, Campbell; “The Thing in the Pit”, Carter; “The Lurker at the Threshold”, Derleth and Lovecraft; “The Lair of the Star‑Spawn”, Derleth and Schorer; Selected Letters IV, Lovecraft (O); “The Throne of Achamoth”, Tierney and Price.)

GNOPH‑KEH

Horned, furred monsters from Greenland that walk on two, four, or sometimes six legs. The Voormis pushed the gnoph-keh into the polar wastes when the beast-men broke free of the Valusian serpent-men and established their own kingdom. These creatures are intelligent and adept at stalking prey across tundra and ice, calling up storms to immobilize their victims.

Sometimes Gnoph-Keh is also said to be an avatar of Rhan-Tegoth. Others maintain that these creatures are worshipers of Ithaqua.

See Aphoom Zhah; Rhan-Tegoth; voormis. (“The Scroll of Morloc”, Carter and Smith; Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying Game, Cook and Tynes; “The Lurker at the Threshold”, Derleth and Lovecraft; “The Horror in the Museum”, Lovecraft and Heald (O).)

GNOPHKEHS

1) Tribe of cannibals who dwelt in the north. The inhabitants of Zobna destroyed them when they established the empire of Lomar. Whether there is any link between this tribe and the non-human Gnoph-keh remains a mystery; the beast Gnoph-keh may be a totem animal for this group. See Aphoom Zhah; Lomar. (“Polaris”, Lovecraft (O).)

2) Reptilian species of Azathoth worshipers responsible for the destruction of Lomar. Fleeing the cold, they later migrated to the south, where they built the Nameless City. How they fit in with the Gnoph-kehs and Gnophkehs is anyone’s guess. (“The Nameless Tower,” Glasby (O).)

GNORRI

Bearded sea-dwellers of the Dreamlands who have a long prehensile tail in place of legs and two, three, or four arms. They spend much of their time building the intricate underwater mazes in which they live. Their most famous colony is at the base of the glass cliff of Ilek-Vad, though a larger abandoned city may be seen at the Bight of Benna, east of Sarkomand. The gnorri are generally peaceful in disposition.

See Ilek-Vad. (“The Silver Key”, Lovecraft (O); S. Petersen’s Guide to Creatures of the Dreamlands, Petersen et. al.)

GOATSWOOD

Village in England’s Severn River Valley, southwest of Brichester. Much like its neighbor Temphill, former Templars founded Goatswood in the first years of the fourteenth century. The people of the surrounding towns usually avoid Goatswood, as visitors there were known to vanish without a trace. Many of the town’s inhabitants were members of a strange religious cult which centered around goat-worship and held a special glass-topped pylon known as the “moon-lens” as holy.

The forest near Goatswood also has an evil reputation. In the 17th century, a coven met in a clearing there, where they worshiped a stone which had fallen from the sky. After a while, the people of the surrounding countryside grew nervous about this activity and called in Matthew Hopkins, the infamous witch-hunter, who put all of the coven’s members to death.

Goatswood may have been destroyed in a government raid in 1968, though others maintain it has survived.

See Glaaki; moon-lens. (“The Church in High Street”, Campbell (O); “The Insects from Shaggai”, Campbell; “The Moon-Lens”, Campbell; “The Curate of Temphill”, Cannon and Price; Delta Green: Countdown, Detwiller et. al.)

GOD OF THE BLOODY TONGUE

See Nyarlathotep (God of the Bloody Tongue.)

GODDESS OF THE BLACK FAN

Book in classical Chinese, and the central tome for Nyarlathotep’s Cult of the Bloated Woman. The book is a series of poems by the monk Liu Chan-fang, detailing his liaison with the Bloated Woman and the hideous outcome, causing him to write the last poem in his blood after gutting himself with a sickle. A copy is in the hands of the cult’s leaders.

See Nyarlathotep (Bloated Woman). (“Shanghai,” DiTillio and Willis (O).)

GODS OF EARTH (also GREAT ONES)

Weak deities of the Dreamlands who listen to the prayers of humanity. The gods of Earth appear much like humans, but their pointed chins, long-lobed ears, and thin noses set them apart from mortals. At times, these beings come down from their home atop Kadath to mate with human women to create demigods. It is said that wherever the features of the gods are most prominent among the people, Kadath must surely be nearby. For the most part, the Great Ones are weak and forgetful, but their attention is greatly preferable to that of the Other Gods that protect them.

According to one author, the Great Ones are in fact the Elder Gods. Instead of defeating the Great Old Ones, these Elder Gods arrived from Betelgeuse and found the Great Old Ones already sleeping. The Elder Gods placed their seal upon their tombs and entrusted their care to Nodens. When the Great Old Ones awaken, however, the Elder Gods will be powerless to protect humanity.

See Barzai; Elder Gods; gugs; Kadath; Nasht and Kaman-Tha; Nath-Horthath; Nyarlathotep; Ubbo-Sathla. (“The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft; “The Other Gods”, Lovecraft (O); “The House of the Worm”, Myers.)

GOF’NN HUPADGH SHUB-NIGGURATH

Term applied to worshipers of Shub-Niggurath whom the goddess has found especially worthy of her favor. In a special ceremony, the Black Goat of the Woods devours the cultist, transmogrifies him or her, and regurgitates his or her new form. Following this ceremony, the person may have sprouted horns, the feet of the goat, claw-like hands, or even less human characteristics. The change also “blesses” the victim with virtual immortality. It was sightings of these transformed worshipers that inspired the classical legends of satyrs, dryads, and other fantastic sylvan creatures. Some claim that these beings have become more active in recent years, starting their own cults around the world and interacting on a limited basis with humans.

See Shub-Niggurath. (“The Moon-Lens”, Campbell (O); Cthulhu Live: Lost Souls, Salmon et. al.)

GOL-GOROTH

God of darkness known as the “forgotten Old One”. He is described as a being with tentacles, scales, and ribbed wings. It is likely that Gol-Goroth presents itself in different forms to different observers.

The people of Bal-Sagoth, a city located on an isle in the Atlantic Ocean, once worshiped Gol-goroth. At every rising and setting of the moon, the god’s priests sacrificed a victim and placed the heart upon its altar. Likewise, he was revered in Stygia in a domed temple overseen by Koth-Serapis.

A variant species of winged deep ones known as the Golgors serves Gol-Goroth.

[The first publication of “The Fishers from Outside” made Gol-Goroth the leader of the shantaks, ascribing many of the traits of Groth-Golka to him. Robert M. Price has since edited that story for continuity.]

See Antarktos; Bal-Sagoth; Koth-Serapis; Stygia. (“Free the Old Ones”, Henderson; “Kolchak: The Night Stalker: The Lovecraftian Horror”, Henderson; “The Children of the Night”, Howard (O); “The Gods of Bal-Sagoth”, Howard; “Dagon Manor”, Howard and Henderson; “Black Eons”, Howard and Price.)

GOLDEN GOBLIN PRESS

New York publishing house founded by Samuel and John Addleton in 1908 and named after a small statuette of Native American manufacture that one of the brothers owned. When founded, their intention was to republish the out of print works that they had used in composing their never-completed opera based on the history of the world. The most famous of these were von Junzt’s Nameless Cults (1909) and Bayrolles’ translation of Revelations of Hali (1913). The publishing house is believed to have closed during World War One, but restarted in Philadelphia a decade later, putting out such books as C. A. Smith’s The Dream of the Spider and the Awakening (1931) and Wingate Peaslee’s The Shadow out of Time (1936). Its most infamous work was The Dream-Script of Yeg’lalanoth, which a judge ordered to be burnt. The publishing house was still putting out books as recently as 1988.

(“The History of Von Unaussprechlichen Kulten”, Harris; “The Black Stone”, Howard (O); S. Petersen’s Guide to Creatures of the Dreamlands, Petersen et. al.; S. Petersen’s Guide to Cthulhu Monsters, Petersen et. al., “The Skull: A History”, Webb.)

GORDON, EDGAR HENQUIST

Author of several horror tales, including “Gargoyle” and “The Principle of Evil.” While Gordon’s work did receive some attention earlier in his career, soon his morbid choice of subjects drove away most publishers and readers. Due to this bias, his first novel Night-Gaunt was a failure. Gordon was forced to publish The Soul of Chaos and three other novels himself. After a while, Gordon disappeared and has not been heard of since.

(“The Dark Demon”, Bloch (O).)

GRAY WEAVERS

Servants of Atlach-Nacha who drink the souls of their victim. Their leader is Tch’tkaa.

(“The Descent into the Abyss”, Carter and Smith (O); “Rede of the Gray Weavers”, Schwader.)

GREAT ABYSS

Region beneath Sarkomand which Nodens is said to rule. Its people have never seen the sun and consider the moon and stars to be myths.

In another context, Kenneth Grant uses this term to mean the hypothetical space which separates humans from the true knowledge of the true universe, or the human subconscious. Consequently, Nodens’ role as the “Lord of the Great Abyss” may be more important to humanity than has been previously thought.

See nightgaunts; Nodens; Sarkomand; Yog-Sothoth. (Aleister Crowley and the Hidden God, Grant; “The Case of Charles Dexter Ward”, Lovecraft; “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft; “The Strange High House in the Mist”, Lovecraft (O); “The Summons of Nuguth-Yug”, Myers and Laidlaw.)

GREAT OLD ONES (also OLD ONES, CHTHONIOI or CTHULHU CYCLE DEITIES)

Ultrapowerful alien beings that have mastery over technology, magic, or some combination of the two. The Great Old Ones seem almost godlike in power, but are still subject to certain laws of nature. The physical appearances and individual abilities of the Great Old Ones may vary widely, but they seem to share several characteristics such as telepathy, great size, and a limited area to which they are confined.

Millions of years ago, Great Old Ones came down from the stars to take up residence on Earth. (The Great Old Ones probably inhabit many other worlds like ours, and thus the large number of these beings who dwell here may not be a unique condition.) Few decipherable records of this period survive. It was during this time that Cthulhu, the mightiest of the Great Old Ones, ordered his spawn to construct the city of R’lyeh on a continent in the Pacific.

After thousands or millions of years, a great change occurred. The true cause of this alteration remains a mystery, though scholars have developed two theories. The first hypothesis is that the Great Old Ones were at one time members or servants of beings titled the Elder Gods. The Great Old Ones committed a horrid crime against these beings. Perhaps they practiced black magic, or stole the Elder God’s sacred records, or even attacked the home of the Elder Gods themselves. Whatever the reason, the Elder Gods cast out the Great Old Ones and imprisoned them in various places on Earth, in the stars, and even in other dimensions. Having done this, the Elder Gods returned to their home near the star Glyu-Uho, leaving the Great Old Ones within their prisons. There will come a time, though, when the Great Old Ones will break free of the strictures imposed by the Elder Gods, and they will come forth from their jails to challenge the supremacy of their captors once again.

The second theory states that the Great Old Ones’ restrictions have been self-imposed for some unguessable purpose. If this is true, however, we are left to wonder why they would do such a thing as a group. A related theory favored by this author holds that, as the earth has its seasons, the cosmos has its cycles. As certain animals hibernate during winter, many of the Great Old Ones have gone into a long, deathlike slumber. For millennia they have dreamt in their tombs, awaiting the time when they will come forth again to conquer the world. For it shall be as the mad Arab Abdul Alhazred wrote:

That is not dead which can eternal lie,

And with strange aeons even death may die.

When humanity first came into being, the dream-sendings of the Great Old Ones reached many of its members. Although some of these telepathic messages may have been distorted, creating the legends of the imprisoned titans and of sleeping heroes in many different mythologies, some clear visions managed to get through to especially sensitive humans. These chosen ones began a number of cults on earth dedicated to the Great Old Ones. With the aid of the “Lesser Old Ones,” alien creatures which do not sleep as their masters do but possess more limited power, these cults hope to reawaken the Great Old Ones so that their gods may be free once more and they shall receive the rewards, real or imaginary, of their labors. Other evidence, however, suggests that the earth will be “cleared off” and made completely uninhabitable before the Old Ones’ return.

More Great Old Ones exist than can be fully detailed in this entry, but a few of the more important ones are listed below. Great Cthulhu, the octopoid lord of the corpse-city of R’lyeh, sleeps yet beneath the Pacific Ocean. The toad-thing Tsathoggua drowses in the lightless caverns of N’kai. Hastur, Lord of the Interstellar Spaces, may dwell in outer space or might be imprisoned within the Lake of Hali, somewhere near Aldebaran. Ithaqua, the source of the northern Native American’s legends of the Wendigo, is confined to the cold regions of our own planet and other worlds. Though some Great Old Ones might be free, the majority of these beings remain in their lengthy slumber.

The Great Old Ones are sometimes distinguished from the Outer Gods, which includes such entities as Shub-Niggurath, Azathoth, Nyarlathotep, and Yog-Sothoth. Though the Great Old Ones have some limited power, the Outer Gods seem to represent personified cosmic forces, such as chaos and fertility, and are almost unlimited in range and ability. It should be noted, however, that some confusion may exist over the category in which a given creature should be placed, and many scholars classify both as “Great Old One”.

[In “The Call of Cthulhu”, the term “Great Old Ones” referred to Cthulhu’s spawn, while in “At the Mountains of Madness”, it was another name for the Elder Things. Subsequent authors have dropped both of these definitions and now use “Great Old Ones” for the beings listed above.]

See Aklo; Ancient Ones; Atlach-Nacha; Black Brotherhood; Book of Thoth; Borea; Broken Columns of Geph; Brothers of the Yellow Sign; Bugg-Shash; Byatis; Celaeno; Chaugnar Faugn; Cthugha; Cthulhu; Cyäegha; Eihort; Elder Gods; Elder Key; Elder Sign; elemental theory; Forgotten Ones; Furnace of Yeb; Ghadamon; Ghatanothoa; Ghroth; Glaaki; Gloon; Han; Hastur; Ithaqua; Kassogtha; Kthanid; Lam; Leng; Lloigor; Nug and Yeb; Nyarlathotep; Nyogtha; Old Ones; Outer Gods; Pharos of Leng; Quachil Uttaus; Rhan-Tegoth; Sarnath; Shudde-M’ell; That is not dead...; Tsathoggua; Ubbo-Sathla; Ulthar; Vorvadoss; Watchers on the Other Side; Y’golonac; Yibb-Tstll; Yig; Yith; Ythogtha; Zarr; Zathog; Zhar; Zoth-Ommog. (“Zoth-Ommog”, Carter; “The Return of Hastur”, Derleth; “The Thing that Walked on the Wind”, Derleth; The Trail of Cthulhu, Derleth; “The Call of Cthulhu”, Lovecraft (O); The Burrowers Beneath, Lumley; Prey, Masterton; Heir of Darkness, Rahman; “The Tale of Satampra Zeiros”, Smith.)

GREAT ONES

See Gods of Earth.

GREAT RACE OF YITH

Time-travelling beings that dwelt on this world millions of years ago. The Yithians had no true physical forms but took up residence in whatever bodies they desired.

The Great Race’s history begins on the world of Yith. Though this was not their world of origin, the Yithians eliminated all information in their archives about their history before this migration for reasons that remain a mystery. According to one individual, the Great Race first took over the bodies of an amphibian-like race, which they used to build the spherical mechanical devices in which their minds were to dwell. (According to some, however, these particular details regarding forms actually pertain to a group of Yithians who returned to their world after their exodus to Earth.) The Yithians spent aeons on this world and built many great cities there. In the end, an unknown doom befell them — possibly related to a wormhole technology experiment, or an attack by the flying polyps from the second world of that system — and they were forced to flee to Earth.

Upon arriving on this world, the Great Race inhabited the bodies of immense cone-shaped creatures. Upon their arrival the Yithians were forced to fight off the flying polyps, the conical entities’ natural predators. With their mastery of technology, the Yithians beat back the invaders, imprisoning them beneath the ground. Periodic resurgences did occur, but the Yithians deal with these quickly and ruthlessly.

After their victory over the polyps, the Great Race set about building their cities of buildings thousands of feet tall, creating their nuclear-powered vehicles and flying machines, and engaging in historical research. It was in the latter field that they made use of their extraordinary mental time‑travel powers. To study the past, certain scientists would project their minds backward in time using a method much like astral projection. The Race was unable to physically interact with the past.

The Race used a different technique to journey to the future. Usually, one of the exceptional members of the Race sent its mind into the future, selecting a body there from which it could study that time. When it found an individual, usually a scholar of exceptional ability, it exchanged minds with him or her, displacing the host’s mind into the Yithian’s former body. The exchange lasted around five years, during which time the Yithian grasped the basics of life in its new society, afterward embarking on an exploration of the history, sociology, and mythology of the culture. Meanwhile, the host’s mind wrote a history of its own time for the Great Race and, if cooperative, was allowed to make excursions outside the cities, consult the Great Race’s libraries, and speak with other visitors from different worlds and times.

After the Yithian learned all it could about the period it was visiting, it constructed a device that sent its mind back to the original body. The alien mind was hypnotized to forget the experience, and returned to its own time. One flaw in this procedure was that the alien would have dreams of its imprisonment, and might even recall information about their world that they had learned from the Yithians. The Great Race considered these lapses to be annoyances and often dealt with them by another possession or through their operatives in that period, but did not cease their research because of them.

The Great Race also started a cult or cults known as the Motion which helped Great Race visitors in assimilating into the new period and silencing those formerly-possessed minds who remembered too much of their captivity. These cults have on occasion set the stage for broader infiltration into a particular period. The Tower of Babel, for instance, is said to have been a massive beacon allowing a physical gateway to form between their age and ancient Mesopotamia. Another experiment in modern times involved cloning new bodies for the visitors, but this is believed to have failed.

Around fifty million years ago, the flying polyps imprisoned by the Yithians rose up and defeated their ancient foes. The Great Race sent the minds of their brightest scientists through time, ensuring the species’ survival. They spent some time on Jupiter and then a dark star near Taurus (where they inhabited forms very similar to those they used on earth), and from there will travel to earth again, taking up the bodies of a coleopterous hive-mind fifty million years in the future. After that cycle comes to a close, they will inhabit the vegetables of Mercury, and continue their civilization in this manner. Some say that the remnants of the Great Race, incapable of possessing bodies, will return to this world someday, becoming known as the Dlyrion Tharkos or Dark Ghosts.

[A previous entry in this section maintained that the cult of the Yellow Sign that pursued the mi-go also chased members of the Great Race. I was mistaken about this, but it nonetheless served as the inspiration for a series of adventures for the game Dungeons and Dragons published by Green Ronin. Green Ronin was aware that the entry was inaccurate but found the plot compelling enough to continue.]

See Alhazred, Abdul; Brothers of the Yellow Sign; Corsi, Bartolomeo; Eltdown Shards; flying polyps; Lemuria; Nug-Soth; Pnakotic Manuscripts; Pnakotus; Woodville, James; Yekub; Yith. (“False Containment”, Conyers; “The Changeling”, DeBill; “The Dark Brotherhood”, Derleth and Lovecraft; “The Horror from Yith”, DeBill; Delta Green: Denied to the Enemy, Detwiller; “The Shadow out of Space”, Derleth and Lovecraft; “The Shadow from Yith”, Gullette; “The Dreamer”, Herber; “The Shadow Out of Time”, Lovecraft (O); Necronomicon, Tyson.)

GREAT TREES

Sentient, telepathic plants thousands of feet tall. The Great Trees once lived on a world whose climate was becoming too cold for them to survive. The wizard Ardatha Ell bore away the life-leaves, or “seeds”, of the last three trees and planted them, one in Elysia, one in the hinterlands of Thalarion, and one in an undisclosed location. The trees are very empathic, but are often unable to defend themselves from attacks.

(Elysia, Lumley; Hero of Dreams, Lumley (O).)

GREAT WHITE SPACE

Extradimensional belt that connects positions trillions of miles apart. The Old Ones used it to journey through the universe, and hold it in reverence. The Earthly entrance to this place lies somewhere in the mountains of China or Mongolia, where a door five hundred feet high leads to a vast underground cavern with the Space at its far end. The minions of the Old Ones protect the Great White Space, so any journey there is inadvisable.

See Ethics of Ygor; Trone Tables. (The Great White Space, Copper (O).)

GREEN BOOK

Diary of an unnamed young girl, in which she tells of her many unwitting experiments in sorcery. Only one copy exists, but its contents have proved invaluable to those investigating the Mythos.

See Aklo; Alala; Chian; Deep Dendo; Mao; Voor. (“The White People”, Machen (O).)

GREEN DECAY

1) Incantation from the Book of Eibon that may convert its victim into a greenish pile of mold. The spell involves the creation of a bronze statue of the victim, which is buried, and the speaking of curses. The spell is slow-acting and degenerative, and many wizards dislike it due to the mess it creates. See Book of Eibon. (“The Man of Stone”, Lovecraft and Heald (O); “The Green Decay”, Price; “The Green Decay”, Sennitt.)

2) Affliction from which the undead servants of Glaaki suffer after they have served their master for sixty years or more. If one of these servants is exposed to direct sunlight, rapid putrefaction sets in, quickly destroying the servitor.

According to some, an extract made from those killed by the Green Decay is used in creating the zombies of Haiti. See Glaaki. (“The Inhabitant of the Lake”, Campbell (O).)

GREEN MAN

See Nyarlathotep (Green Man).

GREY RITE OF AZATHOTH

Spell from the Book of Eibon that, if performed by nine adepts, is said to force Azathoth to do one’s bidding, an operation of questionable efficacy. A lesser version of the rite might be used to provide some manner of protection. (Selected Letters IV, Lovecraft (O); “The Grey Rite of Azathoth”, Pulver.)

GRIMLAN, JOHN (March 10, 1630?–March 10, 1930)

Occultist. Grimlan’s date of birth is uncertain, and the assertion that he lived three hundred years is probably a misinterpretation of the data. (One scholar, a Von Boehnk, insists that he saw Grimlan in Vienna around 1880 and that he had not aged since, but this is most likely due to his faulty memory.) Whatever his origins, Grimlan was known as a knowledgeable scholar on the subjects of voodoo and Shintoism, though his unpleasant demeanor kept most potential students away. His travels took him as far away as Mongolia, but he spent the last twenty years of his life in a small town just outside San Francisco. After his death, his body was lost in a house fire, and his library was distributed among the bookstores of the nearby city.

[See note to Zarnak.]

(“Dig Me No Grave”, Howard (O); “Dope War of the Black Tong”, Price.)

GROTH-GOLKA

Creature once worshiped on the isle of Bal-Sagoth. It resembles a tremendous bird with one foot and one eye, and dwells under the mountain Antarktos, somewhere near the South Pole. Shantaks revere and serve Groth-Golka.

Certain inscriptions within the ruins of Zimbabwe, supposedly built by the Fishers from Outside, bear the name of this god as well.

[See note for Gol-Goroth.]

(“The Fishers from Outside”, Carter; “The Gods of Bal-Sagoth”, Howard (O).)

GUGS

Huge black-furred beings native to the Dreamlands. A gug’s arms are split at the elbow, with each of their four forearms ending in a tremendous paw. The most hideous characteristic of a gug, though, is its face, with a pink eye on each side and its fang-lined mouth running vertically down its head. Despite their monumental stone architecture, the gugs seem unintelligent and make little use of tools, weaponry, or fire. Gugs worship the Other Gods, and give especial service to the “Nameless Mist”.

The gugs once dwelt upon the surface of the earth, where their great monoliths still remain. The gods of Earth, however, grew frightened of the gugs’ worship of Nyarlathotep and the Other Gods. Upon hearing one night of a great blasphemy these creatures had performed, the Great Ones banished the gugs to caverns below the earth’s surface. The gugs now live in a tremendous stone city near the vaults of Zin in the Dreamlands’ Underworld.

See ghasts; Koth; Koth, Sign of; Nameless Mist; Zin. (“The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft (O); The Complete Dreamlands, Williams and Petersen.)

GULF OF S’GLHUO

See S’glhuo, Gulf of.

GUSTAU, THELRED (?–1972)

Accomplished scientist who lost much of his standing in the scientific community due to his supposed translation of the Legends of the Olden Runes. After nine years of work with the manuscript, Gustau vanished after a mysterious explosion at his house in Woolwich.

See Legends of the Olden Runes. (“The House of Cthulhu”, Lumley (O); “Introduction” to The House of Cthulhu, Lumley.)

GYAA-YOTHN

Animals resembling humans save for their size, bestial appearance, and horned head. The people of K’n-yan bred these from certain quadrupeds native to the caverns of Yoth and the remnants of conquered peoples. They use beasts for carrying burdens and as mounts. They do possess a rudimentary intelligence that proves useful to their masters. Some have speculated that the ghasts of the Vaults of Zin beneath Yoth and the gyaa-yothn are related in some way.

See K’n-yan. (“The Mound”, Lovecraft and Bishop (O); S. Petersen’s Guide to Cthulhu Monsters, Petersen et. al.)

H

HADDATH (also HADDOTH or possibly URAKHU)

World that was at one time the home of Shudde-M’ell. This fiery world is still the home of many cthonians. The star it circles may be the eye of the constellation Hydra.

(“The Color from Beyond”, Cabos (O); “The Shadow from the Stars”, Carter; “The Worm of Urakhu”, Tierney.)

HADOTH

Sealed valley by the Nile amidst the hills of Neb, possibly just east of the Pharaoh Akhenaten’s city of Tel el-Amarna. This vale holds the catacombs of Nephren-Ka, also known as the Labyrinth of Kish. Abdul Alhazred dwelt in Hadoth during his apprenticeship to the wizard Yakthoob.

(Cairo Guidebook, Anderson; “The Doom of Yakthoob”, Carter; “The Thing under Memphis”, Carter; “The Outsider”, Lovecraft (O).)

HAGARG RYONIS.

Great One of the Dreamlands. Hagarg Ryonis usually appears as a huge reptilian monster with black scales, six irregularly spaced eyes, and obsidian claws and teeth. In Hyperborea, Hagarg Ryonis was considered the guard of tombs and houses who extracted justice upon the unjust. She is still worshiped in the Dreamlands, but has lost her beneficial traits and is sent out to kill when the Great Ones have been offended.

(“Wizards of Hyperborea”, Fultz and Burns; H. P. Lovecraft’s Dreamlands, Petersen et. al. (O).)

HALI (or HALEY)

Place or person often linked with the King in Yellow and Hastur. Three possible interpretations exist for this name.

1) Lake whose cloud-waves wash the shores of the alien city of Carcosa. Though some have suggested that this lake has dried up and its basin become the Gobi Desert, those who have seen it assert otherwise. The Lake is the dwelling of Hastur the Unspeakable One, and beneath its waters live tentacled horrors whose faces are terrible beyond words. Hastur or his minions visit those who gaze upon the Lake soon thereafter. See Carcosa; Great Old Ones; Hastur; King in Yellow. (“The Yellow Sign”, Chambers (O); “The Gable Window”, Derleth and Lovecraft; “The Ring of the Hyades”, Glasby; “Tatterdemalion”, Love, Ross, and Watts, The Illuminatus! Trilogy, Shea and Wilson.)

2) According to Marion Zimmer Bradley, Hali is also the Arabic name for the constellation Taurus, in which Aldebaran and the Hyades lie. Since these constellations are said to be the home of Hastur and the King, this explanation is also possible.

3) Hali might also be a necromancer who lived in the Immemorial City on the planet of Carcosa. This Hali may be the one whose name has been given to the lake of Hali. See Revelations of Hali; Thale; Uoht; Yellow Sign. (“Carcosa Story about Hali” (fragment), Carter.)

[Two individuals have come to be known by the name “Hali” or “Haley”. The first of these, as Marco Frenschkowski points out, is Khalid ibn Yazid ibn Mu’awiyah (668–704/709?), a potential heir to the caliphate who gave up his claim for the life of a scholar. Though there is nothing in the historical record to suggest it, he later became known as an alchemist, and many medieval treatises on the subject were attributed to him.

[The name “Hali” was also a corruption of Ali ibn-Ridwan, an Arabian doctor, philosopher, and astrologer of the eleventh century. He was one of the foremost medical authorities of his time and the author of over a hundred books, but at the end of his life he went insane after a servant-girl stole most of his money. This doctor was later mentioned in The Canterbury Tales.

These Halis may be unconnected with the one mentioned in The King in Yellow, but it is likely that at least Bierce was aware of one of them when he used the name in his stories.]

(“The Death of Halpin Frayser”, Bierce; “An Inhabitant of Carcosa”, Bierce (O); “The Repairer of Reputations”, Chambers.)

HAN (also DARK HAN)

Lesser deity of divination mentioned in De Vermis Mysteriis. It appears as a tall cloaked man with glowing eyes enshrouded in fog. Han provides insight into the future, but brings with him the risks of blindness and madness.

Han is often spoken of along with Yig, and may in fact be Yig’s child. It is known that the serpent people once worshiped both of them. Upon the return of the Great Old Ones, Han will come forth from the frozen Plateau of Leng.

[The Lakota of the Great Plains call their personification of darkness Han, but this is probably only a coincidence.]

(Malleus Monstrorum, Aniolowski; “The Shambler from the Stars”, Bloch (O); “The Book of Preparations”, Carter; “The Utmost Abomination”, Carter and Smith; “Scales of Justice”, Mackey.)

HAON‑DOR

Powerful prehuman sorcerer who lived in Hyperborea. He usually appears as a figure cloaked in a brown robe that keeps his face hidden, but he has also been known to manifest himself as a fifteen-foot rattlesnake.  

Haon-Dor is one of an obscure species driven from their homes on the isle of Ultima Thule by the “Voors”. Haon-Dor once had a glimpse of the tablets of Ubbo-Sathla, and this vision left him fearful of light and the sky for the rest of his life. To control his phobia, he took up residence beneath Mount Voormithadreth in Hyperborea, where he was accompanied by thousands of vampiric familiars. Later, Haon-Dor departed for the Hyperborean colony of Krannoria; when Abhoth attacked that colony, he used Eibon’s gateway to Saturn to escape. He now lives on in the Dreamlands, where he may be developing a way to reattain his former power in our world.

As with many other sorcerers, Haon-Dor left behind his own grimoire known as the Testament of Haon-Dor. Little is known of its contents, save for the eleventh chapter dealing with reincarnation. No records of it have been found since the time of Hyperborea, however.

See Atlach-Nacha; Mnomquah; Voormish Tablets. (“The Descent into the Abyss”, Carter and Smith; Return to Dunwich, Herber; “The Pits of Bendal‑Dolum”, Lyons; “The House of Haon-Dor”, Smith; “The Seven Geases”, Smith (O); “The Letter”, Vance.)

HARAG-KOLATH

Underground city in southern Arabia to which Shub-Niggurath came when she left her former home on Yaddith. She waits here, served by her spawn, until Hastur is free to come to earth once again. It has been said that “dreams” swarm here, though what this means is unknown.

See Shub-Niggurath. (“Harag-Kolath”, Tierney (O); “The Seed of the Star-God”, Tierney; “The Soul of Kephri”, Tierney.)

HASTUR (also known as THE UNSPEAKABLE ONE, HE WHO IS NOT TO BE NAMED, ASSATUR, XASTUR, or KAIWAN)

Great Old One who lives or is imprisoned on a dark star near Aldebaran in the constellation of Taurus. He is related to Carcosa, the Yellow Sign, the Lake of Hali, and the King in Yellow, and is often associated with decadence, nihilism, and stagnancy. Paradoxically, the Unspeakable One also is sometimes referred to as the patron of shepherds.

There is considerable confusion about Hastur’s appearance, with possibilities ranging from an invisible force that can only be sensed psychically, to a two-hundred-foot bipedal lizard covered with tentacles. He has at least one avatar, the Emerald Lama, an alien-looking monk in a green robe. In the rare cases of possession, the victim’s skin becomes scaly and their limbs seem boneless. The nature of Hastur’s true form (if he has a “true form”) is still a mystery.

The Tcho-Tchos and the people of K’n-yan are both known to worship Hastur. In the past, he was also revered in Samaria, Attluma, and Hyboria. His cult is considered particularly abhorrent, even when compared with those of the other Great Old Ones. The members of the cult are dedicated to bringing Hastur to Earth, as well as torturing mi-go to gain knowledge. Worshipers may call up Hastur when Aldebaran is in the sky (the best time being Candlemas Night when Mercury is in trine), usually in the presence of nine monoliths in a V-shape in imitation of the constellation Taurus.

In addition to his cults, Hastur is served by the interstellar race known as the byakhee. Some say the mi-go and Ithaqua are Hastur’s minions, but there is little evidence to support this and much to contradict it. The Outer God Shub-Niggurath and Hastur are closely linked, having mated to produce their own foul offspring called the Thousand Young. There seems to be some conflict between Hastur and Cthulhu; when the minions of the two beings have met, they have endeavored to destroy each other.

According to some sources, Hastur is not an actual entity at all, but rather an embodiment of the cosmic principle of entropy.

[In Bierce’s “Haïta the Shepherd”, Hastur is the benevolent god of shepherds. Chambers later appropriated Hastur and used the term as both a person and a place in his own stories. Derleth took Hastur from Chambers’ fiction and referred to it as a Great Old One. The title “Him Who Is Not to be Named” does appear in Derleth, but the idea of people being destroyed merely for speaking his name appears first in the Deities and Demigods Cyclopedia, and later in Call of Cthulhu.]

See Alar; Aldones; Brothers of the Yellow Sign; byakhee; Cthulhu; Demhe; elemental theory; Great Old Ones; Hali; Hastur; Ithaqua; King in Yellow; K’n-yan; Legends of the Olden Runes; L’mur-Kathulos; Magnum Innominandum; Nug and Yeb; Outer Gods; Pallid Mask; Sapientia Magorum; Set; Shub-Niggurath; Tcho-Tchos; Unspeakable Promise; Yellow Codex; Yellow Sign; Yhtill; Yog-Sothoth; Zann, Erich. (“Haïta the Shepherd”, Bierce (O); “H. P. Lovecraft: The Gods”, Carter; “The Return of Hastur”, Derleth; “The Lurker at the Threshold”, Derleth and Lovecraft; Delta Green: Countdown, Detwiller et. al.; Secrets of Japan, Dziesinski; “The Ring of the Hyades”, Glasby; Necronomicon, Levenda; “The Mound”, Lovecraft and Bishop; “The Shadow Out of Time”, Lovecraft; “The Whisperer in Darkness”, Lovecraft; Call of Cthulhu Rulebook, 5th ed., Petersen and Willis; “The Seed of the Star-God”, Tierney; Deities and Demigods Cyclopedia, Ward with Kuntz.)

HATHEG

Town on the Dreamlands’ river Skai established forty thousand years ago, at the same time as Nir and Ulthar. Hatheg is a quiet town renowned for its iridescent textiles. In the desert beyond it lies the mountain Hatheg-Kla.

See Hatheg-Kla; Lerion. (“In ‘Ygiroth”, DeBill; “The Cats of Ulthar”, Lovecraft (O); “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft; “The Other Gods”, Lovecraft.)

HATHEG-KLA, MOUNT

Peak in the Great Stony Desert beyond the Dreamlands town of Hatheg. On certain nights, the gods of Earth come to Hatheg-Kla in their cloud-ships to dance upon its summit and recall the days of their youth.

Only two humans have climbed to the top of Hatheg-Kla to find the gods. One of these was Sansu, who, according to the Pnakotic Manuscripts, found nothing at the top but wind and stone. The other was Barzai, a high priest who vanished as he approached the peak in hopes of seeing the gods.

See Atal; Barzai; Hatheg; Pnakotic Manuscripts; Sansu. (“The Other Gods”, Lovecraft (O).)

HAUNTER OF THE DARK

See Nyarlathotep (Haunter of the Dark).

HERO, DAVID

Traveler in the Dreamlands and companion of Eldin the Wanderer. In his waking life, Hero was a moderately successful artist who was killed in the same accident that took the life of Professor Dingle.

See Eldin the Wanderer. (Hero of Dreams, Lumley (O); Mad Moon of Dreams, Lumley; Ship of Dreams, Lumley.)

HE WHO IS NOT TO BE NAMED

See Hastur.

HERMETIC ORDER OF THE SILVER TWILIGHT

See Masters of the Silver Twilight.

HIDDEN THINGS, BOOK OF

See Book of Hidden Things.

HIERON AIGYPTON (roughly “Temple of Egypt”)

Work in Greek written on papyrus and dating from 200 B.C. It details the rites of the miri nigri and other unpleasant secrets, including a revelation granted to one Anacharsis.

(Selected Letters III, Lovecraft (O); Cthulhu Dark Ages, Gesbert et. al.)

HIGH PRIEST NOT TO BE DESCRIBED (also ELDER HIEROPHANT, TCHO-TCHO LAMA OF LENG)

Being which dwells alone in a monastery on the Plateau of Leng and wears a yellow silk robe and mask. Its servitors are the men from Leng, with whom it communicates by playing a flute. Some have said that this figure could be a moon-beast or Nyarlathotep himself, but those who have been in close contact with him dispute this. According to them, he is a human who contains the tulku, or psychic avatar, of Nyarlathotep, and who is periodically replaced. Kenneth Grant has equated the High Priest with his Old One Lam.

[Lovecraft developed this character before reading Robert W. Chambers’ collection The King in Yellow.]

See Leng; Nyarlathotep (Thing in the Yellow Mask). (“The Book of the Gates”, Carter; “The Strange Doom of Enos Harker” Carter and Price; “Celephaïs”, Lovecraft (O); “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft; “The Elder Pharos”, Lovecraft; Selected Letters V, Lovecraft.)

HIKE, HERBERT

Professor of medieval metaphysics at Miskatonic University (M.A. U. Michigan, Ph.D. University of Salamanca). He is best known for his A Preliminary Celaeno Catalog (1983, U. of Michigan Press) and Lamp-Eft Anatomy and Physiology (1981, U. of Michigan Press).

[See E. C. Fallworth.]

(“Miskatonic University Graduate Kit”, Petersen and Willis (O); S. Petersen’s Field Guide to Creatures of the Dreamlands, Petersen et. al.; S. Petersen’s Field Guide to Cthulhu Monsters, Petersen et. al.)

HINTERSTOISSER, DOCTOR STANISLAUS (August 23, 1896 – October 10, 1977)

Viennese occult scholar and the president of the Salzburg Institute for the Study of Magic and Occult Phenomena. Hinterstoisser received his Ph.D. in political theory from the University of Dresden in 1925. He became a well-known cryptographer and even accompanied a German expedition into the Antarctic in the early Thirties.

In 1933, Hinterstoisser had a nervous breakdown and moved to Zurich, where Carl Jung treated him for two years. It was under Jung’s guidance that the doctor first became interested in the occult. The Nazis destroyed his magnum opus on the subject, Prolegomena zu Einer Geschichte der Magie (1943), although a few copies may still exist. After World War II, Hinterstoisser founded the Salzburg Institute, which he ran in his spare time. The doctor is most famous for his discovery of Lovecraft’s father’s ties to the Freemasons, but he died shortly after he made this public and was unable to attain the prestige that he deserved.

See Necronomicon (appendices). (The Necronomicon: The Book of Dead Names, Hay, ed. (O).)

HLANITH

Town of the Dreamlands at the mouth of the Oukranos on the Cerenerian Sea. Hlanith has tall granite walls and oak wharves. Its people are known for being more rational than other Dreamlands inhabitants, and scientists of great creativity dwell there.

See Cerenerian Sea. (“The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft (O); The Complete Dreamlands, Williams and Petersen.)

HOADLEY, REVEREND ABIJAH

Clergyman who took up a post at the Congregational Church in Dunwich in 1747.  He is known as the author of Of Evill Sorceries Done in New-England of Daemons in No Human Shape, and as a possible correspondent of the younger Ward Phillips. He preached a sermon (later published in Springfield, Massachusetts) on strange underground voices which he claimed were those of demons. Hoadley vanished shortly after delivering the sermon.

See Of Evill Sorceries… (“The Dunwich Horror”, Lovecraft (O); “Acute Spiritual Fear”, Price.)

HOAG, CAPTAIN ABNER EZEKIEL (1697–?)

Arkham mariner credited with discovering the original manuscript of the Ponape Scripture. Hoag’s father Isaiah came to Arkham from New Plymouth in 1693, and dark rumors were to follow their family for quite some time. Hoag began sailing at the age of fifteen, and married Bathsheba Randall Marsh of the Innsmouth Marshes a year later. He served as a captain for the first time at the age of twenty-one, and in 1732 he became one of the first New England traders to trade rum and copra among the Pacific islands.

Around 1734, Hoag discovered the Ponape Scripture during his stay on the isle of Ponape. He spent many years translating the volume with the help of his servant Yogash, but the Scripture remained unpublished due to ecclesiastical outcry until after the captain’s death.

See Ponape Scripture. (“The Dweller in the Tomb”, Carter (O); “Introduction” to Dreams from R’lyeh, Carter; Keeper’s Compendium, Herber.)

HOAG, WILBUR NATHANIEL

Poet and last of the Hoag family line who vanished from his home in Arkham on September 13, 1944.

(Dreams from R’lyeh, Carter (O).)

HODGKINS, ARTHUR WILCOX (c. 1900–?

Assistant curator of manuscripts at the Sanbourne Institute who took over the collection after the confinement of Dr. Henry Blaine in 1928. After a brief trip to Arkham, Hodgkins returned to the Institute on March 26, 1929, when he allegedly killed a night watchman, torched a gallery, and attempted to steal a statuette called the “Ponape Figurine”. Following his capture, Hodgkins was himself committed.

(“Out of the Ages”, Carter (O); ”Zoth-Ommog”, Carter.)

HOLT, RICHARD

See Terrible Old Man.

HOUND, AMULET OF THE

See Amulet of the Hound.

HOUNDS OF TINDALOS (also TIND’LOSI HOUNDS)

Creature which comes from the distant past, or possibly another dimension. The Hounds appear much like green hairless dogs with blue tongues, or like black formless shadows — it is difficult to be sure of the Hounds’ true forms. They dwell in Tindalos, a city of corkscrew towers, but have been known to travel to other places and times to track their prey.

The Hounds of Tindalos are the embodiment of foulness, and they lust after something found in humans. Long ago, an event took place in which the Hounds of Tindalos and humanity both took part and upon which the tale of the Fall from Paradise is based. The Black Tome of Alsophocus suggests that the cause was both species’ attraction to the power of the Shining Trapezohedron. Humanity did not wholly participate, thereby retaining some element of “pureness” which was lost to the Hounds. The Hounds hate all natural life because of this, seeking to destroy any such beings they encounter.

Attempts to journey back in time via psychic means attract the Hounds’ attention. After an observer has been “scented,” the Hounds can follow them through time and space until the person is caught and killed. According to Halpin Chalmers, the noted occultist, these creatures have descended through “angled” time, while normal life has developed through “curves.” This is not readily understood, but it is known that a hound must materialize itself through an angle; thus, a person kept in a perfectly round room would be safe from the beast’s attack. When this occurs, however, the hounds usually contact some of their metaphysical allies in this time-period, such as the “satyrs” (possibly Shub-Niggurath’s minions) and the dholes, to do away with these defenses in some way and allow them access to their prey. They may also send telepathic images of the hunt to these individuals, slowly driving them mad.

One sage has hypothesized that the hounds are unable to enter our three dimensions, and anyone who is not traveling through time is safe from their depredations. Cases of hound attack, however, show that this is not the case. It may be that the hounds can only indirectly affect this dimension, which makes them no less of a threat.

Analysis of the blue slime left after Hound attacks reveal that the Hounds have no enzymes within their bodies. Enzymes are helpful in that they speed chemical reactions, yet their presence eventually causes a being to die. Not only are the hounds masters of time travel, they seem to be immortal as well; whether or not this means that hounds cannot be permanently destroyed by violence or other means remains to be seen.

The hounds are the spawn of Noth-Yidik and K’thun, and may serve Azathoth in some capacity. They serve the Lords, mighty exemplars of their species, of whom the most powerful is Mh’ithrha. They may oppose Yog-Sothoth, who represents the curves of time that repel them from our reality. Interaction of hounds with humans is limited — supposed “spells” to contact these creatures are most likely admonitions on how not to contact other realities.

Friendly relations are rare between hounds and humans, though Romulus propitiated them while building Rome into an empire. A few hounds, known as ny’rela, serve a particular master, though these are very rare and the means for securing their service is unknown. Some have also connected them with the corpse-cult of Leng, whose symbol is the winged hound.

See Amulet of the Hound; Einstein Formula; K’thun; London, Terry; Noth-Yidik; Scarlet Circles; Tindalos; Walters, Harvey. (“The Wild Hunt”, Ballon; “The Orb”, Campbell; “The Madness out of Time”, Carter; “The Hounds of Tindalos”, Long (O); Elysia, Lumley; The Transition of Titus Crow, Lumley; S. Petersen’s Field Guide to Cthulhu Monsters, Petersen; “One-Way Conversation”, Sammons.)

HOY-DHIN CHANT

Incantation found in the Necronomicon and used by sorcerers to call the Black. The chant must be used in conjunction with other formulae found in the Cthaat Aquadingen.

See The Black; Necronomicon (appendices); Sixth Sathlatta. (“The Horror at Oakdeene”, Lumley (O).)

HSAN, SEVEN CRYPTICAL BOOKS OF

See Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan.

HUITLOXOPETL

Being which is known for its control over dreams. When the Great Old Ones rebelled against the Elder Gods, Huitloxopetl remained in Syrgoth, a galaxy at the rim of the universe. His father Azathoth punished him by imprisoning him there.

Huitloxopetl’s name appears in many medieval Arabic manuscripts, and it has been suggested that the Aztec cult of Huitzilopochtli was connected to him. Some say that vampires and the living dead serve Huitloxopetl, while others state that these are actually mindless creations controlled by the being itself.

(“Huitloxopetl IX: Pickman’s God”, Ambuehl; “Huitloxopetl IV: Vision of Madness”, Berglund (O); “Huitloxopetl XII: Plagued by Dreams”, Cornford; “Huitloxopetl XI: The Ripening of Huitloxopetl”, Davey.)

HUNTING HORRORS

Creatures resembling black-winged serpents of immense size. Horrors originally dwelt on only a few worlds, but they have been sighted flying through space in several galaxies. Extremely bright light may destroy a hunting horror, but such a powerful light-source is rarely available to its victims.

The hunting horrors serve Nyarlathotep, who often sends them to deal with those who displease him. An enterprising wizard who is outside at night may summon one of these monsters, providing a sentient being as a sacrifice for it. If none is available, the horror is happy to devour the magician and depart.

[The “hunting horrors” turn up briefly in “Dream-Quest”, but they are never described there. “Lurker” is the source for their appearance.]

(“Mysterious Dan’s Legacy”, Baugh; “The Lurker at the Threshold”, Derleth and Lovecraft; “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft (O); Call of Cthulhu Rulebook, 5th ed., Petersen and Willis; S. Petersen’s Field Guide to Cthulhu Monsters, Petersen et. al..)

HUTCHINSON, EDWARD (alias NEPHREN-KA NAI HADOTH)

Gentleman of Salem-Village (present-day Danvers), Massachusetts. Edward Hutchinson was a man of some learning who had many discussions on science with both Simon Orne and Joseph Curwen. His neighbors considered him to be a wizard, a situation that may have lead to his disappearance around the time of the witch-trials. Questionable evidence suggests that he later turned up near Rakus, Transylvania, near the ruins of Castle Ferenczy. Buzrael Press of Liverpool published one of his most famous works, The Opener of the Way, in 1864. His links with the historic Nephren-Ka are unknown.

See Curwen, Joseph; Orne, Simon. (“The Case of Charles Dexter Ward”, Lovecraft (O); S. Petersen’s Field Guide to Cthulhu Monsters, Petersen et. al.)

HYBORIAN AGE

Period between the destruction of Atlantis and the rise of civilization in Sumeria. This age is named for the Hyborian people, who fled to the north from Atlantis and later came south, sweeping all before them and founding such kingdoms as Hyperborea and Aquilonia. The Hyborians were later conquered by the Picts and annihilated. Ironically, the most famous hero of this age was neither Pict nor Hyborian, but a Cimmerian named Conan.

[I have not provided an article on every country of the Hyborian Age, but only those which turn up regularly in other authors’ Mythos stories.]

See Acheron; Atlantis; Book of Eibon; Book of Skelos; Cimmeria; Conan; Hastur; Koth; Kuthchemes; Lemuria; Quy; Set; Stygia; Unaussprechlichen Kulten. (“The Hyborian Age”, Howard (O).)

HYDRA (also MOTHER HYDRA)

1) Tremendous deep one who is the mate of Dagon, as well as one of the deep ones’ gods. She has much the same form as Dagon, and is reverenced by many of the same cults that worship her husband, as well as one sect of ghouls. See Dagon; deep ones; elemental theory; Lesser Old Ones; Pth’thya-L’yi; Revelations of Glaaki. (Low Red Moon, Kiernan; “The Shadow over Innsmouth”, Lovecraft (O).)

2) Being that appears as an endless sea of grey slime dotted with the heads of its victims. The Hydra lives in an alternate dimension, and can only interact with our own when a person travels astrally through its territory. The Hydra may follow this person to their destination and capture another person (but not the original traveler) in the material world. It bears the person’s head, and with it their consciousness, back to its astral form. See On the Sending Out of the Soul (“Hydra”, Kuttner (O).)

HYDROPHINNAE

Book on aquatic life by a Mr. Gantley. It appears in both Latin and English, though no publication date for either edition is known. This book details a wide variety of aquatic organisms, including a species of fish-like bipedal beings.

[The hydrophiinæ are a subfamily of venomous snakes.]

(“The Aquarium”, Jacobi (O); “Fischbuchs”, Ross.)

HYPERBOREA

1) Fabled northern civilization that came to power during the Miocene Period between nineteen and twenty-five million years ago. A long-eared, fair-haired people from the south originally populated Hyperborea. These settlers first traded with, and later exterminated, the sub-human voormis who had inhabited the area before them.

At this time in history, the northern lands were warm and fertile. Vast jungles, filled with exotic life from saber-toothed tigers to the last remaining dinosaurs, covered much of the continent. The people of Hyperborea were cultured and learned in the arts of science and magic. Their capital, first at Commoriom and later Uzuldaroum, was a marvel to behold.

For many years after their arrival in Hyperborea, the people of this region worshiped the toad-god Tsathoggua, as the voormis had before them. Later, the worship of this deity fell out of practice as the populace turned to more urbane deities. Soon, the worship of Tsathoggua was so uncommon that when the priests of the elk-god Yhoundeh declared an inquisition to deal with the Tsathogguan infidels, they were not opposed. Many among the black god’s congregation were killed, and others fled the persecution to the southern colony of Krannoria. Though they were initially successful, Yhoundeh’s clerics soon lost favor with the populace. The worship of Tsathoggua began a short resurgence before the end of the Hyperborean civilization.

Of the many sorcerers who dwelt in Hyperborea, two are of especial note. The first, Zon Mezzamalech, who lived upon the northern peninsula of Mhu Thulan, is barely mentioned by the ancient texts despite his great feats. The second, Eibon, gained himself more renown. Though his exploits and astral journeys of this wizard are matters of legend, he is better known for penning the Book of Eibon. Sadly, Yhoundeh’s inquisitors cut short Eibon’s career, discovering that the sorcerer had made a pact with Tsathoggua. Though he was able to escape his would-be captors by magical means, Eibon was never again seen in Hyperborea.

Near the end of the Miocene Period, glaciers rolled over the northern portions of Hyperborea. Many of the land’s lords and wizards fought to save their land from the cold, but their efforts were to no avail. After many centuries, the ice covered all of Hyperborea. The lore of the lost continent was not forgotten, however. The Atlantean high priest Klarkash-Ton recorded the myths of Tsathoggua and the rest of the Commoriom myth-cycle, and the Greeks believed that a race known as the Hyperboreans lived in a warm paradise far to the north.

See Abhoth; Aphoom Zhah; Atlach-Nacha; Black Gods of R’lyeh; Book of Eibon; Book of Night; Commoriom; Eibon; Ghadamon; Hagarg Ryonis; Haon-Dor; Karakal; Klarkash-Ton; Knygathin Zhaum; Kythamil; Lemuria; Lobon; Mhu Thulan; Mu; Naacal; Nug and Yeb; Parchments of Pnom; Pnakotic Manuscripts; Ptetholites; Rlim Shaikorth; Satampra Zeiros; Sfatlicllp; Shub-Niggurath; Silver Key; Tamash; Testament of Carnamagos; Tsath-yo; Tsathoggua; Ubbo-Sathla; Uzuldaroum; voormis; Voormithadreth; Yhoundeh; Zo-Kalar; Zylac. (Return to Dunwich, Herber; “The Trail of Tsathogghua (sic)”, Herber; Selected Letters III, Lovecraft; “The Whisperer in Darkness”, Lovecraft; “The Door to Saturn”, Smith; “The Ice-Demon”, Smith; “The Last Incantation”, Smith; “The Seven Geases”, Smith; “The Tale of Satampra Zeiros”, Smith (O); “Ubbo-Sathla”, Smith.)

2) Two thousand years after Atlantis sunk, another kingdom named Hyperborea occupied the area around the present-day Gulf of Finland. A group of nomadic Hyborian tribesmen, who settled down there to build their great stone cities, became the founders of this new Hyperborea. (“The Hyborian Age”, Howard (O).)

[In Greek myth, Hyperborea was a land to the north whose people lived in a mild clime and worshiped Apollo, god of the sun and music. Madame Blavatsky later placed Hyperborea in a previous age of earth before Atlantis and Lemuria, a model picked up by the early Mythos writers. In his letters Lovecraft sometimes drew parallels between Smith’s Hyperborea and his own Lomar, and at other times recorded them as existing at different times.]

HYPNOS

Greek god of sleep, and the brother of Thanatos (“Death”). Hypnos dwells in the Corona Borealis and concerns himself little with mortals. If a person does attract his attention in some unguessable way, Hypnos sends down a beam of red-gold light from his starry home to that person. The beam pulls the victim back to Hypnos, who may leave some token of this visitation behind. The god may only be hurt by objects and individuals who are dreaming.

[Lin Carter stated that he was unable to find any Greek god named Hypnos, but one exists all the same. Hypnos lived in a cave near the river Lethe and could put both gods and humans to sleep effortlessly. The other material above is Lovecraft’s invention.]

See Byatis; Crystallizer of Dreams. (“Hypnos”, Lovecraft.)

HZIULQUOIGMNZHAH (also ZIULQUAZ-MANZAH)

Son of Cxaxukluth and the paternal uncle of Tsathoggua. He resembles his nephew to some degree, save for his head being at the lower end of his body. After a brief sojourn on Yuggoth, Hziulquoigmnzhah left for Yaksh, where he was annoyed by the religious worship practiced by that world’s curious inhabitants. A short while later, he journeyed to Saturn, where he now lives in a cavern, emerging to drink at a nearby lake and warn off passerby.

See Cxaxukluth; Cykranosh; Ghisguth. (“The Door to Saturn”, Smith (O); “The Family Tree of the Gods”, Smith; “The Contemplative God”, Tierney; “The Throne of Achamoth”, Tierney and Price.)

I

IÄ

Word often used in rituals to the Great Old Ones and Outer Gods. It literally means, “I hunger!” in the original Aklo, and may be linked to the cry of “IAO!” made by the worshipers of Dionysus.

(“No Pain, No Gain”, Adams, Isinwyll, and Manui; “The Last Test”, Lovecraft (O).)

IAGSAT

Lesser avatar of Yog-Sothoth, known primarily for an exorcism for him in the Book of Eibon.

(Selected Letters IV, Lovecraft (O); “The Exorcism of Iagsat”, Pulver.)

IAK SAKKAK

See Yog-Sothoth.

IB

City of grey stone which once stood within the land of Mnar by the lake of Thune. Ib’s people were strange frog-like beings known as the Thuum-ha. In this city, which had existed for centuries before discovered by humans, these beings from the moon propitiated Bokrug the water-lizard with curious rituals. The humans living in the nearby city of Sarnath felt uneasy about their neighbors and blamed the disappearance of their children upon them. In the end, Sarnath rose up and slaughtered the amphibians, bringing about their own doom centuries later. Some claim that the Sumerians used magical gates to travel back in time to this city.

See Bokrug; Brick Cylinders of Kadatheron; Ilarnek Papyri; Lh-Yib; Mnar; Sarnath; Thuum’ha. (“The Book of Dismissals”, Carter; “The Doom that Came to Sarnath”, Lovecraft (O); Prey, Masterton.)

IBIGIB

Title of a book supposedly containing references to the invocation of supernatural forces. The British Museum once held a copy of this book.

(“The Caller of the Black”, Lumley (O).)

IBN GHAZI

Arabian wizard credited with inventing the Powder of Ibn Ghazi. Alhazred mentions that Ibn Ghazi once perceived the end of humanity, but the gods denied him any knowledge of what he saw. For his daring, his mouth was sewn shut, his tongue severed, his head cut off, and he was turned over to the shoggoths of the Vaults of Zin as a slave.

(The R’lyeh Text, Turner, ed. (O).)

IBN SCHACABAO

Heretical Arab scholar, sheik, and author of two books — Reflections, and another with no known title — which Alhazred quotes in his Necronomicon.

Ibn Schacabao claimed to have obtained a great deal of esoteric knowledge from his conversations with the djinn. His critics referred to him as the “Boaster,” for his outlandish claims regarding the symbols on the tomb of Cthulhu and a mysterious “wisdom seat” in the Garden of Eden. He is believed to have been one of the teachers of Abdul Alhazred. Legend has it that he died with a prayer to the Old Ones on his lips.

Like Alhazred, Ibn Schacabao’s name has no meaning in Arabic and is likely a corruption made by non-Arabic scribes. Possible derivations include Ibn Muschacab (“Son of the Dweller”), Ibn Shayk Abol (“Son of the Sheik Abol”), or a derivative of the word shakhabh (“bestiality”, signifying his unnatural origin).

See Reflections. (“The Plain of Sound”, Campbell; The Necronomicon, Culp; “The Festival”, Lovecraft (O); The Burrowers Beneath, Lumley; “A Critical Commentary on the Necronomicon”, Price; Necronomicon, Tyson.)

IDH-YAA

Monstrosity from the double star Xoth who is referred to in the Ponape Scripture as Cthulhu’s mate. The Great Old Ones Zoth-Ommog, Ghatanothoa, and Ythogtha came from the mating of Idh-yaa and Cthulhu. The ancient texts do not tell whether Idh-yaa came to earth with its “husband.”

See Cthulhu; Cthylla; Ghatanothoa; Xoth; Ythogtha. (“Out of the Ages”, Carter.)

ILARNEK

Dreamlands city on the river Ai in the land of Mnar. Ilarnek is near to the former site of Sarnath, and its high temple holds the statue of Bokrug that was found after Sarnath’s destruction.

See Bokrug; Ilarnek Papyri; Mnar. (“The Doom that Came to Sarnath”, Lovecraft (O).)

ILARNEK PAPYRI

Manuscript found only at the British Museum that originates from Ilarnek in the land of Mnar. It tells the history of the two cities, Ib and Sarnath, and also mentions that humanity originated in the far north.

See Ilarnek. (“The Book of Dismissals”, Carter (O); “The Doom that Came to Sarnath”, Lovecraft (O); Beneath the Moors, Lumley.)

ILEK-VAD

City of the Dreamlands. Ilek-Vad stands on glass cliffs above a sea in which the Gnorri live. Its many high turrets and domes beneath a red star are famous throughout the lands of dream. Ilek-Vad’s king, who sits upon an opal throne, travels once a year to a temple in Kiran on the river Oukranos to pay respects to the gods of his youth. The dreamer Randolph Carter may have become the king of this city following his disappearance.

See Carter, Randolph; Gnorri; Kiran; Marigny, Etienne-Laurent. (“The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft; “The Silver Key”, Lovecraft (O); “Through the Gates of the Silver Key”, Lovecraft and Price.)

ILYTH’LA

Female being created by Cthulhu and Nyarlathotep who founded their cults among humans. Many cultists, according to the Sussex Manuscript, consider themselves to be her children, and she is often equated with the Hebrew demon Lilith.

See Virklyu. (A Guide to the Cthulhu Cult, Pelton; The Sussex Manuscript, Pelton (O).)

IN PRESSURED PLACES

Hartrack’s book of undersea horror.

(“De Marigny’s Clock”, Lumley (O).)

INCENSE OF ZKAUBA

See Zkauba.

INGANOK (or INQUANOK)

Onyx city on the northern shore of the Dreamlands’ Cerenerian Sea. This city trades mostly in onyx mined in quarries further inland. On a hill in the city’s center stands the Temple of the Elder Ones, which only the temple’s priests and the Veiled King of Inganok himself are permitted to enter. Inganok is a very pleasant city, but its proximity to the Plateau of Leng keeps most travelers away.

[The name “Inquanok” is the result of August Derleth’s mistaken reading of Lovecraft’s manuscript to “Dream-Quest”.]

See Cerenerian Sea; nightgaunts; Quumyagga. (“The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath,” Lovecraft (O).)

INNER CITY AT THE MAGNETIC POLES

Location that may be seen by using the Dho formula. It may be possible to reach it by using the Dho-Hna formula. It will be even more accessible when the earth is cleared off in anticipation of the Great Old Ones’ return. The city is the spawning-ground for hideous monsters, and one scholar has said that it is identical with the lost city of Yian-Ho.

See Dho-Hna formula; Yian-Ho. (“Rigid Air”, Anderson and Anderson; “The Dunwich Horror”, Lovecraft (O); “The Strange Fate of Alonzo Typer”, Price.)

INNSMOUTH

1) Massachusetts town at the mouth of the Manuxet River. At one time the town was a thriving seaport, but today it is almost deserted.

Innsmouth was founded in 1643, quickly becoming a major center of commerce upon the Atlantic due to its large harbor. Ships from this town sailed all over the world, bringing back goods from many ports of call.

During the war of 1812, the captains of Innsmouth turned privateer and attacked the British fleet. Half of Innsmouth’s sailors perished during skirmishes with the enemy, marking the end of the town’s prosperity.

After the war, Innsmouth’s revenue came mainly from the mills built on the banks of the Manuxet and Captain Obed Marsh’s successful trading ventures in the Indies. Around 1840, Marsh lost a source of the gold upon which he had depended, and the town’s economy spiraled downward. It was around this time that Marsh began the Esoteric Order of Dagon, a cult based on a combination of Scripture and the beliefs of the Polynesian islanders Obed Marsh had visited. Some whispered that Marsh’s Order worshiped darker gods, and the Order’s nocturnal trips to Devil’s Reef are legendary.

1846 was the year of the Innsmouth plague. The exact disease responsible has never been identified, though it might have been a malady brought to the town on one of the remaining traders. What precisely happened during the plague remains a mystery, though evidently rioting and looting were widespread. When visitors from neighboring villages arrived, they found half of the town’s people dead and Obed Marsh and his Order in firm control of the town.

Despite Innsmouth’s curious newfound wealth in fishing and gold refining, the town’s fortunes continued to decline. Also, degenerative traits began to turn up in the resident’s children, most likely the aftereffects of the plague. During the Civil War, the town was unable to meet its quota of draftees due to these widespread deformities. Innsmouth remained under the Marsh family’s rule for many years, and over time became shunned by the people of the surrounding countryside.

This state of affairs continued until 1927, when the government launched an investigation into supposed bootlegging taking place in the town. This inquiry culminated in a raid in mid-February, 1928 (though one source places it in early summer), in which Federal Agents dynamited many of the town’s abandoned buildings, disbanded the Esoteric Order of Dagon, and removed the bulk of Innsmouth’s population to military prisons. Rumors persist that a submarine fired torpedoes off of Devil’s Reef at an unknown target. The Innsmouth residents remained at the camps until the Forties, but rumor has it that many are still kept at secret government facilities.

Accounts of Innsmouth after this disaster have become muddled. It might have become a ghost town, the home of an innovative software company taking the industry by storm, an abandoned area under military quarantine, or a tourist trap filled with historical exhibits and ghastly museums.

See Allen, Zadok; Armitage, Henry; Blayne, Horvath; Book of Dagon; Dagon; deep ones; Delta Green; Devil’s Reef; Esoteric Order of Dagon; Falcon Point; Innsmouth look; Invocations to Dagon; Marsh, Obadiah; Marsh, Obed; Peaslee, Olmstead, Robert Martin; Von Denen Verdammten; Wingate; Waite, Asenath; Waite, Ephraim; Y’ha-nthlei. (“Memories”, Berglund; “The Black Island”, Derleth; Delta Green, Detwiller, Glancy and Tynes; “From Cabinet 34, Drawer 6”, Kiernan; “Deepnet”, Langford; “The Shadow over Innsmouth”, Lovecraft (O); Nightmare’s Disciple, Pulver; Escape from Innsmouth, Ross.)

2) Coastal town in Cornwall. Its major landmark, Trevor Towers, was once the home of a distinguished line of nobles, but now it is the home of a noxious brewer. See Kuranes. (“Celephaïs”, Lovecraft.)

[Innsmouth first appeared in Lovecraft’s “Celephaïs”, but in that story it was placed in England. Lovecraft later used it in “The Shadow over Innsmouth”, and later authors have set it there as well.]

INNSMOUTH LOOK

Hereditary condition taking its name from Innsmouth, Massachusetts, where the majority of the population possessed this malady. An infected person seems normal at birth, but undergoes a slow, debilitating metamorphosis later in life. These changes often begin between the subject’s twentieth birthday and middle age, though sometimes the disease’s effects may be noticed earlier or later.

A person affected by the Innsmouth look is characterized by large, bulging eyes, scaly and peeling skin, flattened nose, abnormally small ears, partially webbed fingers, and a wattling around the neck. In the later stages, the bone structure of the skull and pelvis shifts, forcing the victim to adopt a slow, shambling gait. The most advanced cases may involve the development of what appear to be rudimentary gills in the subject. Usually strange dreams of underwater realms and a growing obsession with the ocean accompany these physiological mutations. Often, the person with the look drops out of sight after having the condition for many years; presumably, the sense of self-preservation is overridden by their desire for the water, and they drown themselves while answering this call.

Sometimes, a person with the Innsmouth look will progress only through the early stages of the malady, remaining in this state for the rest of their lives. The exact cause of this is unknown. Also, proximity to the ocean or certain artifacts has been known to trigger the change in seemingly healthy individuals, though more research is needed before these factors can be predicted with any degree of certainty.

See deep ones; Marsh, Obadiah. (“The Shadow over Innsmouth”, Lovecraft (O); Escape from Innsmouth, Ross.)

INQUANOK

See Inganok.

INSECTS FROM SHAGGAI

See shan.

INUTOS

Yellow-skinned people who destroyed the mighty Arctic civilization of Lomar, and from whom today’s Eskimos descended.

See Lomar; Noton and Kadiphonek; Olathoë. (“Polaris”, Lovecraft (O).)

AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE MYTH‑PATTERNS OF LATTER‑DAY PRIMITIVES WITH ESPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE R’LYEH TEXT

Book written by Dr. Laban Shrewsbury before his disappearance. Miskatonic University Press published the book in 1913. (Another publication date given is 1936, but this might have been a different edition.) In this book, Professor Shrewsbury put forth his own conjectures regarding the rites and centers of the worldwide Cthulhu Cult.

See R’lyeh Text; Shrewsbury, Laban. (“Zoth-Ommog”, Carter; “The House on Curwen Street”, Derleth (O); Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

INVOCATIONS TO DAGON

Manuscript written by Asaph Waite, who died in the Federal raid on Innsmouth. Evidence suggests that this manuscript was passed down in his family, though no outsider knows which member now possesses it. Miskatonic University also holds a few pages from this work. The Invocations are mainly rituals and prayers dedicated to Father Dagon.

(“Zoth-Ommog”, Carter; “The Black Island”, Derleth (O).)

IOD

Being which is partly animal, vegetable, and mineral. Iod came down to earth in the days of our world’s youth. He was worshiped in Mu as the Shining Hunter, and the Greeks and Etruscans knew him in the guise of Trophonius and Vediovis, their respective gods of the underworld. Beings beyond the farthest galaxies revere him as Iod the Source.

Some wizards have been able to summon Iod to do their bidding. Such conjurations are perilous, as the entity may hunt the wizard in order to devour their soul if not properly contained. No known volume contains the complete ceremony for calling up Iod, however.

See Book of Iod; Book of Karnak; Ixaxar. (“The Hunt”, Kuttner; “The Invaders”, Kuttner; “The Secret of Kralitz”, Kuttner (O).)

IOD, BOOK OF

See Book of Iod.

IOG-SOTOT

See Yog-Sothoth.

IREM (also IRAM or UBAR)

Lost city somewhere in the depths of the Arabian desert. Irem is the City of a Thousand Pillars, and is called “many‑columned” in the Koran. That text states that it was destroyed because of the sins of its inhabitants.

Various myths have been told about this city’s origins. One tells of Iram being built by creatures of great size and colossal strength. With our knowledge of the creatures of the Mythos, this should not be lightly dismissed.

Another tells of Shaddad and Shaddid, two brothers and the joint rulers of the great city of Ad. After they had ruled Ad for a time, Shaddid died. Following this tragedy, Shaddad became more egotistical, deciding to create an imitation of the celestial paradise on earth. He gave orders to build a great city and garden in the desert of Aden, and named this new paradise Iram, after his great‑grandfather Aram. When the garden was completed, Shaddad traveled with his entire entourage to view his new creation. A day’s journey from the site, a “noise from heaven” destroyed him and all his courtiers.

This is hardly the only tale of the city’s destruction. Some tell of creatures from the sky, which remain in the city to this day, that killed or drove out all of the garden’s inhabitants. Some have said that Irem was actually built by minions of Shudde-M’ell, who had the city destroyed due to its inhabitants’ ignoring his commands. Still others believe that the men from Irem journeyed beneath to fight the creatures from the Nameless City who ate their inhabitants.

Abdul Alhazred opened up the first gate to allow the Great Old Ones’ minions into this world in the ruins of Irem. Ludwig Prinn placed the beginnings of the cult of the worm-wizards in these ruins, and some suggest that an inhuman “Supreme One” who dwells here sends out orders to the cults of Cthulhu around the world. Travelers lost in the deserts of Arabia have been known to stumble upon this city, later bearing their delirious tales back to civilization.

Over the gateway to Irem, a tremendous hand is carved, which is said to reach for the artifact known as the Silver Key. A myth much like this is connected with the Alhambra in Granada. When a carved hand above a doorway in that palace grasps a long-lost key again, the palace will be instantly destroyed. This might have derived from an older myth relating to Irem. Seekers after wisdom on this and other points might seek the witch I’thakuah in the caverns beneath, provided she does not strangle them first.

[The actual ruins of the city of Iram, or Ubar, were found in 1992, though some scholars dispute this identification. Those who hope for a thousand-pillared city will be disappointed, as it seems to be only a small fortress surrounded by tents.]

See Abdul Alhazred; Black Litanies of Nug and Yeb; Cthulhu; De Vermis Mysteriis; Lamp of Alhazred; Nameless City; Nephren-Ka; Nug and Yeb; Saracenic Rituals; Silver Key. (“The Lamp of Alhazred”, Derleth and Lovecraft; “The Lurker at the Threshold”, Derleth and Lovecraft; “The Call of Cthulhu”, Lovecraft; “The Nameless City”, Lovecraft (O); “Through the Gates of the Silver Key”, Lovecraft and Price; “Lord of the Worms”, Lumley; “What Goes Around, Comes Around”, Moeller; “The Lord of Illusion”, Price; Necronomicon, Tyson; “Those Who Wait”, Wade.)

ISHAKSHAR

See Ixaxar.

ISHNIGARRAB

See Shub-Niggurath.

ISINWYLL, L. N

Associate professor of medieval metaphysics (M.A., Oral Roberts U., Ph.D., University of North Dakota) at Miskatonic University. His works include Yog-Sothoth in the Eastern Pacific (1975, University of California Press) and The Shadow in the Wood (1987, Oxford U. Press). Professor Isinwyll currently heads the Miskatonic University Pacific Basin Studies Group in Fiji.

[See E. C. Fallworth.]

(“Miskatonic University Graduate Kit”, Petersen and Willis (O); S. Petersen’s Field Guide to Creatures of the Dreamlands, Petersen et. al.; S. Petersen’s Field Guide to Cthulhu Monsters, Petersen et. al..)

ITHAQUA (also WIND-WALKER, DEATH-WALKER, and WENDIGO)

Great Old One whose domain includes most of the northern regions of Earth. Ithaqua appears as a tremendous anthropomorphic shape with glowing red eyes and webbed feet that walk through the air as if on solid ground, or as a cloud of mist or snow with eyes. The Wendigo often emits eerie howling noises, but seeing the creature is worse; any that gaze upon Ithaqua are doomed to be taken by him.

Like many of his fellow Great Old Ones, Ithaqua seems to be limited or imprisoned in a certain area. It originally rested beneath a plateau on the world of Borea, until it was able to escape. (Much of its lifeforce may still be held in the Temple of the Winds at the North Pole, which only appears on the night of the winter solstice.) On our own planet, Ithaqua is unable to leave the area between North Manitoba and the North Pole, though in certain circumstances the Wind-Walker may travel further into temperate climates. Whether Ithaqua may also manifest itself in the Antarctic is uncertain, as few humans have spent much time in that region. Ithaqua is not confined to our own world, however; it possesses the ability to fly through space, and is known to travel often to the world of Borea. The Great Old One returns from its journeys elsewhere to earth for one year in every five, when his cult experiences a stunning revival among the peoples of the north. Those in warmer latitudes who consider themselves safe from the Wind-Walker’s wrath should beware, however; the Arctic boundaries do not constrain the servitor winds and other minions of Ithaqua, who may be sent anywhere in the world at their master’s command.

Ithaqua has been worshiped worldwide, with scholars drawing parallels between the Great Old One and the gods Quetzalcoatl, Thor, and Enlil. In the north where his true nature is known, Ithaqua is more widely feared than worshiped, and most of his cults died out in the early 19th century. Centers of this cult existed in the town of Stillwater, Manitoba, the inhabitants of which all vanished in the space of one night, and Cold Harbor, Alaska. In all instances, these cults involved human sacrifice and kidnapping of those opposed to their worship.

The Wind-Walker is also responsible for a series of disappearances in Canada and the North. In most of these cases, a person vanishes and nothing is heard of them for months or even years. Later they are found encased in a shroud of downy snow with evidence of having fallen from a considerable height. Such victims may also be alive, babbling of the glories of Ithaqua, and have in some cases carried strange items that have plainly originated in widely-removed parts of the world. Those who have been in close physical proximity with the Wind-Walker are often able to endure the coldest temperatures without discomfort, or even transform into a creature physically resembling Ithaqua. None survive long after their return.

Some say that Ithaqua serves the Great Old One Hastur, but there seems to be little hard evidence to support this.

Ithaqua is probably one of a race of similar beings, as at least one encounter between Ithaqua and another wendigo has been reported. If this is true, Ithaqua is still the only wendigo to visit Earth regularly.

[See the entry on wendigo for background information on the mythological basis for Ithaqua.]

See Avaloth; Borea; Elder Sign; elemental theory; Gnoph-Keh; Great Old Ones; Hastur; Khrissa; Numinos; Ptetholites; Remnants of Lost Empires; Silberhutte, Hank; voormis; Wendigo. (“The Wendigo”, Blackwood; “H. P. Lovecraft: The Gods”, Carter; Walker in the Wastes, Crowe; “Ithaqua”, Derleth; “The Thing that Walked on the Wind”, Derleth (O); “Born of the Winds”, Lumley; Clock of Dreams, Lumley; In the Moons of Borea, Lumley; Spawn of the Winds, Lumley; Alone against the Wendigo, Rahman; Deities and Demigods Cyclopedia, Ward with Kuntz.)

IUKKOTH

See Yuggoth.

IXAXAR (also ISHAKSHAR, IXAXAAR, or SIXTYSTONE)

Artifact mentioned by Pomponius Mela in his De Situ Orbis. According to this authority, the Ixaxar is a black stone with sixty characters in an unknown tongue inscribed upon it. Bestial people of Libya’s interior hold the Ixaxar sacred, and it is present at their sacrificial rites. Stones such as this, however, have shown up in Wales and other sites around the world. The stone’s inscription deals with Iod, the Hunter of Souls.

The stone sounds similar to the “Black Stone” found in Roman Britain. Occultist Kenneth Grant says it is the same as the Stele of Revealing, an Egyptian tablet which inspired Aleister Crowley’s workings, but the description of the actual Sixtystone is vastly different.

[De Situ Orbis is a real book, but no scholar has found the passage that appears in Machen.]

See Black Seal; Black Stone; Zegrembi Seals. (Hecate’s Fountain, Grant; “The Hunt”, Kuttner; “The Novel of the Black Seal”, Machen (O).)

J

JADE HOUND

See Amulet of the Hound.

JEELOS

Shy beings that lived in the wastes of Ultima Thule, an isle somewhere near Hyperborea.

(“The Secret in the Parchment”, Carter; “The White People”, Machen (O).)

JERMYN, (BARONET) ARTHUR (?–August 3, 1913)

Ethnologist and poet. The Jermyns were a decayed line of English nobility, its most notable member being the explorer Lord Wade Jermyn. Arthur Jermyn’s mother was a music-hall singer, and his father Alfred left his family to join the circus when Arthur was still young. Arthur graduated with honors from Oxford, and set out to corroborate the research of his ancestor Sir Wade Jermyn. He travelled to Africa, where he was able to confirm some of Sir Wade’s findings, but then set himself on fire after receiving a mummy that a group of natives worshiped.

(Delta Green: Denied to the Enemy, Detwiller; “Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and his Family”, Lovecraft (O).)

JERUSALEM’S LOT

Religious community founded on the coast of Massachusetts in 1710. Its people were a splinter group of Puritans led by James Boon, a young charismatic preacher around whose meeting house the small town was constructed. The doctrines taught by Boon were strange even by modern standards; his sermons were filled with talk of demons, and Boon asserted his right to take any woman in the community to himself whenever he desired to do so. As a result, Jerusalem’s Lot became a town filled with insanity and degeneration.

In 1789, when James Boon, now an old man, was still the head of the community, the aged pastor gained a copy of Prinn’s De Vermis Mysteriis. He incorporated this book into his services, and on Halloween of that year he and his congregation attempted a ceremony contained within that volume. On that night, all of the people of Jerusalem’s Lot vanished and were never seen again.

[Though Stephen King also uses a town called ‘Salem’s Lot in the novel of the same name, the two are not the same.]

See De Vermis Mysteriis. (“Jerusalem’s Lot”, King (O).)

JOHANSEN, GUSTAF

Sailor from Oslo who served as the second mate of the ship Emma. On March 22, 1925, during a voyage between Valparaiso, Chile, and Auckland, New Zealand, the Emma was set upon by the ship Alert, resulting in the deaths of the captain and first mate. Johansen took command and pushed on, landing on an island the next day where six of his crew were killed. Rescuers found Johansen, the only survivor of the Emma’s crew, on April 12. An enquiry at Sydney turned up very little, and Johansen and his wife moved from Dunedin back to Oslo. Shortly thereafter, Johansen died in a dockside accident.

See Johansen Narrative. (“The Call of Cthulhu”, Lovecraft (O).)

JOHANSEN NARRATIVE

Diary written by Gustaf Johansen in which he tells of his accidental journey to the risen corpse-city of R’lyeh on March 23, 1925, and what he encountered there. The anthropologist Francis Thurston bore it away from Johansen’s widow, and it has since become an important document for investigators of the Cthulhu Mythos.

See Johansen, Gustav; R’lyeh. (“The Call of Cthulhu”, Lovecraft (O); The Burrowers Beneath, Lumley.)

JUK-SHABB

Great Old One resembling a shining sphere which constantly changes color and speaks with its worshipers telepathically. This being rules the world of Yekub and its centipede-like inhabitants. Though not necessarily malevolent toward humans, Juk-Shabb will protect any Yekubians who are harmed in its presence.

See Yekub. (“The Eyes of a Stranger”, Aniolowski; “The Challenge from Beyond”, Moore et. al. (O).)

JUNZT, FRIEDRICH WILHEIM VON

See von Junzt, Friedrich Wilheim.

K

KA-HARNE

See G’harne.

KA-RATH

See Quachil Uttaus.

KADATH IN THE COLD WASTE

Mountain on the peak of which the onyx Castle of the Great Ones was built. Kadath usually lies in the far north of the Dreamlands, beyond the Plateau of Leng. According to other tales, it may be found on a gigantic mountain chain in the Antarctic, somewhere near Mongolia, or in ruins far underground in modern-day Turkey. Some have even gone so far as to say that Kadath was a vast city of the Elder Gods that covered our entire planet at one time.

Kadath is the home of the gods of Earth, and there they remain, protected by the Other Gods. Kadath is a terrible place for mortals to visit, as the gods do not take kindly to anyone invading their mountain retreat, and the dreamer Randolph Carter is the only one known to have done so. Kenneth Grant equated Kadath with Kether, the Kabalistic sephiroth whose attainment leads to oneness with God.

See Carter, Randolph; Cold Waste; Dreamlands; gods of Earth; Leng; Ngranek; Yr-Nhhngr; yuggs. (“The Seal of R’lyeh”, Derleth; “The Alchemist’s Notebook”, Hurd and Baetz; “At the Mountains of Madness”, Lovecraft; “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft; “The Other Gods”, Lovecraft (O); The Mind Parasites, Wilson .)

KADATHERON

Town on the river Ai which is located in either the Dreamlands or the distant past, depending on which authority is consulted. Kadatheron lies near Sarnath, though it never achieved that city’s grandeur. It has seen numerous ruling dynasties over the years. It is most famous for the brick cylinders of ancient lore that are held there.

See Brick Cylinders of Kadatheron. (“The Lure of Leng”, DeBill; “The Doom that Came to Sarnath”, Lovecraft (O); “The Sister City”, Lumley.)

KADIPHONEK, MOUNT

See Noton and Kadiphonek, Mounts.

KAGWAMON K’THAAT

Book written by Adolphus Clesteros in the 13th century. For reasons which are still unclear, Clesteros chose to write the volume in a language of own invention called W’hywi.

Only one copy of the Kagwamon K’thaat exists. The book appeared once in France in the hands of a secretive cult, whose members annotated the pages in Latin. Its present whereabouts are unknown. The book probably deals with cthonians and other such beings.

(“Dark Carnival”, Hargrave (O); “The Summoning”, Lotstein.)

KAMAN-THAH

See Nasht and Kaman-Thah.

KAMOG

Name by which Ephraim Waite was known to the members of a coven in Maine. It might also have been the magical name of Noah Whateley, and that of a beaked spirit evoked by the Cult of the Skull.

(“The Thing on the Doorstep”, Lovecraft (O); “Acute Spiritual Fear”, Price; “A Mate for the Mutilator”, Price.)

KANT, ERNST

German baron and witch-hunter who lived around the turn of the century. The Baron dedicated his life to investigating the supernatural. In his later years, however, he came to believe that an alien being called Yibb-Tstll was controlling his mind. Shortly thereafter, he was confined to a Westphalian sanitarium, in which he later died. Kant was the father of Joachim Feery.

See Feery, Joachim; Yibb-Tstll. (“Aunt Hester”, Lumley; “The Horror at Oakdeene”, Lumley; “The Mirror of Nitocris”, Lumley (O).)

KARA-SHEHR (Turkish for “The Black City” and known to the Arabs as Beled el-Djinn, “City of Devils”)

Deserted city located in the wastes of Arabia. Refugees from Assyria whose homeland had been conquered by the Babylonians were the builders of Kara-Shehr.  A magician named Xuthltan cursed the city when its king tried to learn the location of a great treasure from him, and the native tribes still shun its ruins. Abdul Alhazred had spent some time there, and he refers to it in the Necronomicon as the “City of Evil”.

Some have said that the Nameless City is identical with Kara-Shehr, but this is not the case. Kara-Shehr has been described as a relatively intact fortress built by humans, while the Nameless City was built by reptilian creatures and has been almost completely destroyed.

[Karashar or Karashahr (also known as Agni or Yen-Ch’i) is in China’s Xinjiang province, and was at one time an important site on the Silk Road. I have been unable to find any Turkish folklore relating to it.]

See Fire of Asshurbanipal; Xuthltan. (“H. P. Lovecraft: The Gods”, Carter; “Mnomquah”, Carter; “The Fire of Asshurbanipal”, Howard (O); “The Nameless City”, Lovecraft.)

KARAKAL

Great One who dwells in the Hall of the Flowing Stones at Kadath. In Hyperborean times, he was thought of as the sun god who guarded against the darkness beyond the sky. In the Dreamlands, he has some celestial attributes, but has become more of a fire-god. He is the lord of the lightning-based creatures known as the minions of Karakal, and his priests maintain an altar with an ever-burning flame.

(“Wizards of Hyperborea”, Fultz and Burns; H. P. Lovecraft’s Dreamlands, Petersen et. al. (O); S. Petersen’s Field Guide to Creatures of the Dreamlands, Petersen et. al.)

KARNAK, BOOK OF

See Book of Karnak.

KAROTECHIA

Occult studies department formed within the SS in 1939. The Karotechia reported directly to Hitler and Himmler, seeking magical and other unconventional methods of warfare to aid the Nazi cause. The United States anti-paranormal organization Delta Green foiled many of the Karotechia’s attempts to alter the war in their masters’ favor. It is unlikely that any remnants of the Karotechia survived the end of Hitler’s Germany.

See Ahu-Y’hloa; PISCES. (Delta Green, Detwiller, Glancy, and Tynes (O).)

KASSOGTHA

Great Old One resembling a mass of writhing snakes, with a mouth filled with sharp teeth at one end. Kassogtha was Cthulhu’s brother and mate, who sired twin daughters, Nctosa and Nctolhu, who are confined to the Great Red Spot of Jupiter. Imprisoned in a black hole in the Monoceros constellation, she can be summoned to earth through a ritual involving sex, death, and a chant from Fu-Shen’s Zhou Texts.

See Zhou Texts. (Nightmare’s Disciple, Pulver (O).)

KATH

Distant world the Nug-Soth once visited.

(“Through the Gates of the Silver Key”, Lovecraft and Price (O).)

KATHULOS

See L’mur-Kathulos.

KEANE, ABEL

Student from New Hampshire who came to Boston to study divinity. After becoming involved in the affairs of Andrew Phelan, a former inhabitant of his apartment, Keane vanished. He is believed to have drowned under mysterious circumstances.

(“The Watcher from the Sky”, Derleth (O); Other Nations, Marsh and Marsh.)

KEEPER OF THE YELLOW SIGN

Entity which is entrusted with keeping the Yellow Sign out of the hands of the uninitiated. The Keeper possesses a human corpse to carry out its mission, following a trail of those who have been in possession of the Sign until it has regained it. One individual afflicted with multiple personalities once called upon the Keeper to destroy his other “self”; how this would have been accomplished is unknown.

(“The Yellow Sign”, Chambers (O); “The Madman”, Harmon; “Hands of the Living God”, Harms.)

KESTER LIBRARY

Library located in Salem, Massachusetts. Miskatonic University acquired it in 1977 and has moved its collection of books on American history, religion, and folklore to that collection. The prizes of its occult collection are a Wormius Necronomicon and the original text of the Ponape Scripture.

See Necronomicon (appendices). (“The Fishers from Outside”, Carter; “The Salem Horror”, Kuttner (O); Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

KHEM

Prehistoric Egypt. Khem was founded around 9,500 BC by the Vanir when they overthrew ancient Stygia; its name probably derives from that of Khemi, Stygia’s chief port. The pharaohs of the first dynasty of Khem were drawn from the northerners, and they ruled for thousands of years. The people of Khem were visited by a space ship that became the first pyramid. As an experiment, the alien inhabitants of the ship bred with the humans of Khem, spawning deformed half-human monstrosities. They then overthrew the first dynasty and placed their disguised offspring on the throne.

The second dynasty of Khem ruled for six generations, and its pharaohs built the first stone pyramids of Khem. The last pharaoh was Khasathut, whose mind was as deformed as his body. Around 7,000 BC Khasathut was overthrown by a commoner named Khai of Khem, whose victory stemmed from his use of surprising technological innovations against the pharaoh.  With his queen, Ashtarta, Khai founded the third dynasty of Khem. At this same time, possibly due to the great magics unleashed during the war between Khasathut and Khai, the once fertile lands of Khem turned to desert.  This may have led to the nation’s destruction, as the period between Khem’s fall and Egypt’s rise is mostly unknown.

[“Khem” is an Egyptian word meaning “black”, a reference to the fertile soil by the Nile. The Egyptians used this word, or the associated “Kemet” (“black land”), to refer to their own land. Khem was also an Egyptian god of agricultural fertility. Some writers refer to Khem as a pre-Egyptian country, but others such as Tierney, use the name to refer to the time of Egyptian history between the fall of Stygia and the ancient world of the first century A.D.]

See Stygia. (“The Hour of the Dragon”, Howard; “The Hyborian Age”, Howard; Khai of Ancient Khem, Lumley (O); The Winds of Zarr, Tierney; “The Worm of Urakhu”, Tierney)

KHEPHNES

Man who lived during Egypt’s Fourteenth Dynasty and learned the secrets of Nyarlathotep.

(“The Shadow out of Time”, Lovecraft (O).)

KHRISSA

City of basalt which sat at the northern edge of Theem’hdra. Khrissa’s priests vowed that only they could keep the glaciers from rolling over the rest of the world, demanding hundreds of human sacrifices every year for success in their task. After a war, however, savages from further south besieged Khrissa. The outcome of this siege has been lost to history, but Ithaqua took up his faithful ice-priests to the moon Dromos circling Borea, where they have dwelt ever since.

See Mylakhrion. (In the Moons of Borea, Lumley (O).)

THE KING IN YELLOW

1) Play formerly thought to have been written in the late 19th century by an unknown playwright (possibly named Castaigne) who later attempted suicide. New evidence suggests that the first two scenes were the work of Christopher Marlowe, the author of Doctor Faustus. John Croft and William Shakespeare made an abortive attempt to finish it, but Shakespeare’s scruples intervened. The Shakespeare/Croft section was destroyed in a house fire in 1666, and the homeowner accidentally bound the Marlowe section into a book of his wife’s poetry. “Castaigne” rediscovered it in 1891 and completed the play, possibly while staying at the Broadalbin Hotel in New York.

Some details of the play remain unclear, such as whether it was originally in French (as Le Roi en Jaune) or English, or whether the first publication was in 1890 or in 1895. After its appearance, the government and churches denounced it, and the city of Paris banned the play. Since then, other editions have been published secretly.  Publications, some in the original tongue and others translated, have appeared in London, Edinburgh, Chicago, Zagreb, Budapest, Berlin, Warsaw, Prague, Belgrade, Sofia, Bucharest, and Sarajevo. Daniel Mason Winfield-Harms translated a French edition into English in 1930 in Buffalo before his unfortunate death. The Cassilda Press edition of 1919 is the only one on which we have reasonably complete bibliographic data.

Though it contains much contradiction and allegory, The King in Yellow is a dangerous work which leads the imaginative and unstable to madness. The first act is relatively bland, but this only allows the second, more horrible act to have a greater impact.

Fragments of the play have turned up among the work of other authors, such as the late playwright Charles Vaughan (1902–66). It may be that the play is in actuality one of Kenneth Grant’s “akashic grimoires” which exist on a higher plane and may be perceived subconsciously by authors who then record them. The less mystical authorities insist that a work called the “Yellow Codex” served as the source for all of these poets.

Unconfirmed reports of the play’s performance continue to circulate, though most of these have never been completed.

During my research into this topic, I have found two different versions of this play, each having its own interpretation of its various elements. A synopsis of both is included herein, in the interest of completeness. Which one is truly correct is unknown; evidence from one performance suggests that The King in Yellow is different for every reader or member of the audience.

A. The two act play begins on another world in the city of Yhtill, under the stars of Aldebaran and the Hyades. The majority of the play concerns the intrigue in the royal court between the claimants to the throne of Yhtill — the Queen, Thale, Uoht, Cassilda, Aldones, and Camilla. Cassilda, the Queen, was selected by her father over Aldones. For revenge, he now convinces Uoht to forge documents with the Queen’s seal and Camilla to arrest him for doing so. Thale, the third child who has joined the priesthood, witnesses these events with the High Priest Naotalba.

The royal family hears of a mysterious stranger who wears a Pallid Mask and the horrid Yellow Sign who comes to Yhtill at about the same time as a strange ghostly city appears across the Lake of Hali. The royal family questions this figure, but they learn nothing. At a masked ball, the figure reveals that he wears no mask and has come to announce the end of the dynasty. Camilla goes mad, and the queen tortures the Stranger to death. At the same time, she orders the death of the prisoners, inadvertently killing her son Uoht who is imprisoned with them.

Madness sweeps the land, and the sounds of invasion are heard. The dreaded King in Yellow appears in Yhtill as the mysterious city on the lake’s far side disappears. The King states that Yhtill has passed away and now only the city of Carcosa lies on the shore of the lake. He slays both Aldones and Thale, proclaiming the death of both rationality and irrationality and his own eternal rule.

B. The setting is the city of Hastur, which has been at war with its neighbor Alar for countless years. The children of the ruling queen, Uoht, Thale, and Camilla, pester their mother, Cassilda for the crown so that the dynasty might continue, but she puts off giving it away. Cassilda then learns that a figure wearing a pallid mask and bearing the Yellow Sign has been seen in Hastur. Counseled by the high priest Naotalba, she calls this stranger into the palace. The stranger, named Yhtill, offers the queen a chance to break free from the domination of the King in Yellow, who dwells in Carcosa across the Lake of Hali and rarely interferes in the works of humans. By wearing the Pallid Mask, all those in the city may throw off the dread of the Yellow Sign as he has.

Believing what the stranger has told her, the queen holds a masquerade at which each person wears the Pallid Mask. When the time comes to unmask, Yhtill reveals that he wears no mask, and has come from Alar to wreak vengeance upon Hastur’s people. This outrage does not go unnoticed by the King in Yellow, who comes to bear away Yhtill. The King promises Cassilda that he will allow the victor of the war between Hastur and Alar to rule the world, but on one condition: that the people of Hastur and their descendants wear their Pallid Masks for all time. As the play ends, the King in Yellow departs, leaving the courtiers in despair.  

See Alar; Aldones; Camilla; Cassilda; Cordelia; Demhe; Hali; Hastur; Last King; Naotalba; Pallid Mask; Thale; Uoht; Yellow Codex; Yellow Sign; Yhtill. (“More Light”, Blish; “In the Court of the Dragon”, Chambers; “The Repairer of Reputations”, Chambers; “The Yellow Sign”, Chambers (O); “The King of Shreds and Patches”, Hynes; “In Memoriam”, Johnson and Price; “Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?”, Ross; The King in Yellow, Ryng; “Tattered Souls”, Schwader; “Sosostris”, Tynes; Tatters of the King, Wiseman; “The Peace that Will Not Come”, Worthy.)

2) An avatar of Hastur, or possibly Nyarlathotep, who is the title character of this play. The King in Yellow usually appears as a gigantic human dressed in tattered yellow robes, occasionally with wings or a halo. It usually appears in places of depression and madness wearing the Pallid Mask, which conceals the hideousness of its appearance. Worship of this being has increased dramatically in recent years, and many artists and intellectuals have fallen under the King’s sway. Some say that the King might have been human in the past, and that another might someday take his place.

A tale has been heard of a king in Carcosa whose speech was so horrific that it may have led to battle. Whether this was the King in Yellow is unknown.

See Brothers of the Yellow Sign; Celaeno Fragments; Hastur; Nyarlathotep (Queen in Red, Thing in the Yellow Mask); Yellow Sign. (“More Light”, Blish; “The Silent Land”, Chambers; “The Yellow Sign”, Chambers (O); Delta Green, Detwiller, Glancy, and Tynes; Delta Green: Countdown, Detwiller et. al.; “The King, in: Yellow”, Keene; “Tatterdemalion”, Love, Ross, and Watts; “Sosostris”, Tynes; “The Peace That Will Not Come”, Worthy.)

KINGSPORT

Town north of Salem and Arkham on the coast of Massachusetts.

In 1639, settlers from southern England and the Channel Islands founded Kingsport, and the town quickly became a center for shipbuilding and overseas trade. At least four witches were hung in 1692, witchcraft fever struck the town, and four reputed witches were hung. Thirty years later, a raid was made on the Congregational Church in response to rumors of pagan rituals being performed beneath it, and over thirty people were taken into custody. During the Revolutionary War, many of Kingsport’s merchants fought as privateers on the Colonial side, leading to a short British blockade of the town. During the 19th century, the sea trade in Kingsport declined and fishing became the port’s major industry. At this time, Kingsport’s economy steadily faded until the first years of the 20th century.

Today, Kingsport is a small seaside town in which the primary source of revenue is tourism. Kingsport boasts a large artistic community, and sailing and sightseeing are popular among its visitors. One point of especial interest is the Strange High House in the Mist, a one-story structure that stands atop one of the highest of the nearby cliffs.

See Elton, Basil; Martin’s Beach; Miskatonic River; Necrolatry; Necronomicon (appendices); Ponape Scripture; Tulzscha; Waite, Asenath. (“The Festival”, Lovecraft (O); “The Strange High House in the Mist”, Lovecraft; “The Terrible Old Man”, Lovecraft; Kingsport, Ross.)

KIRAN

City with terraces of jasper which lies on the banks of the Oukranos. Near the riverside sits a seven-towered temple that only the king of Ilek-Vad may enter.

See Ilek-Vad; Oukranos. (“The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft (O).)

KIROWAN, (PROFESSOR) JOHN (also STANLEY?)

Expert on the occult. Kirowan was the black sheep of an Irish noble line, one of the fourteen families that ruled Galway in ancient times.  He studied occultism in Budapest with a Yosef Vrolok, and he fell in love with a woman there who died soon after due to a curse, a tragedy that Kirowan never overcame. Seeking revenge against the wizard who had killed her, he travelled to Zimbabwe, Mongolia, and the South Pacific to learn occult lore. He was so shocked by what he discovered that he gave up practice forever and returned to his home near San Francisco. There he took up teaching anthropology and attending the Wanderers’ Club. Rumor has it that he left one hundred million dollars to Duke University upon his death to establish an occult investigation team.

During this period, a “Stanley Kirowan” edited a controversial magazine called “The Cloven Hoof”, which published articles, poetry, and stories of the occult. It is uncertain whether there is a link between this person and John Kirowan, though John was a friend of its one-time editor, Mr. Clemants.

(“Screaming in Silence”, Henderson and Gehweiler; “The Children of the Night”, Howard (O); “Dermond’s Bane”, Howard; “Dig Me No Grave”, Howard; “The Haunter of the Ring”, Howard; Chronicle of the Black Labyrinth, Inabinet.)

KISH

1) Catacombs where the Pharaoh Nephren-Ka held the Shining Trapezohedron and the mysterious mirror later connected with Nitocris. After he was dethroned, the Black Pharaoh dug these catacombs in the space of only a few days and hiding there until the time of his resurgence. It was in these labyrinths that he did the horrible deed that caused later generations to strike his name from every monument.

[This “Kish” is probably not the same as the Sumerian city of the same name, as Egypt never controlled the area in which the remains of that city are located.]

See Hadoth; Kish, Sign of; Nephren-Ka; Nitocris; Shining Trapezohedron. (“The History of Nephren-Ka”, Harris; “At the Mountains of Madness”, Lovecraft (O); “The Mirror of Nitocris”, Lumley.)

2) High priest of the city of Sarnath. When Sarnath was young, this holy man railed against the people of Ib, inciting the people of Sarnath to destroy them. Afterward, the Elder Gods took him away to live with them.

A thousand years later, a prophet claiming to be Kish came to Sarnath. He called upon people to escape the city and its doom, but few believed him. Just before his city’s destruction, Kish and his congregation escaped the city, bearing with them the star-stones of Mnar. It may be that Kish and his followers escaped to Egypt, constructing the catacombs that bear the hierophant’s name. Before his death, Kish wrote a book called the “Testament of Kish” (now lost) which told of Sarnath’s destruction. A collection of his sayings later became part of the Pnakotic Manuscripts.

See Book of Eibon; Elder Sign; Kish, Sign of; Necronomicon (appendices). (“The Book of Dismissals”, Carter; “Zoth-Ommog”, Carter (O); “The Shunpike”, Price.)

3) God worshiped in a temple close to the city of Shand, which may lie in the Dreamlands. (“The Keeper of the Flame”, Myers (O).)

KISH, SIGN OF

Another name for the Elder Sign. Its name is derived from that of Kish, high priest of Sarnath, who used the Sign to escape his doomed city. It may also appear as a sign made with the hand.

See Elder Sign; Kish. (“Zoth-Ommog”, Carter; The Trail of Cthulhu, Derleth (O); Necronomicon, Hay.)

KITAB AL-AZIF

See Al Azif.

KITAB RASUL AL-AKBARIN

See Rasul Al-Akbarin.

KLARKASH-TON

High priest of Atlantis credited with preserving the Commoriom myth‑cycle of Hyperborea. He is believed to have been a high priest of Tsathoggua. Favored by the king of Atlantis, he met his end after an experiment involving astral projection and the wives and concubines of the most prominent men of the land.

In the Sussex Manuscript, Klarkash-Ton is said to be Yog-Sothoth himself. This might mean that Klarkash-Ton was a manifestation of the Outer God, as it was revealed to Randolph Carter by Umr at’Tawil. The Sussex Manuscript also states that Klarkash-Ton was the original speaker of Alhazred’s famous quote (“That is not dead...”).

[“Klarkash-Ton” was actually Lovecraft’s joke-name for his friend Clark Ashton Smith.]

See Commoriom; Hyperborea; Luveh-Keraphf. (Selected Letters III, Lovecraft (O); “Through the Gates of the Silver Key”, Lovecraft; “The Whisperer in Darkness”, Lovecraft; The Sussex Manuscript, Pelton; “The Incubus of Atlantis”, Price.)

KLED

Dreamlands jungle near the river Oukranos. This orchid-filled forest contains many ivory palaces once inhabited by forgotten kings. Though the gods have preserved these temples for their future needs, the merchants of the elephant caravans who pass them do not stop, for fear of what guards them.

See Yibb-Tstll. (“The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft; “The Silver Key”, Lovecraft (O).)

K’LU-VHO

See Glyu-Vho.

K’N-YAN (also XINAIAN)

Blue-lit cavern beneath Oklahoma. This immense underground land contains an amazing variety of plant and animal life, as well as a highly developed though decadent civilization of human-like beings.

The natives of K’n-yan appear to the untrained eye much like the Native Americans of the surface region; only their curious garb and tools set them apart from the surface-dwellers. According to their legend, they came down to earth with their god Tulu (or Cthulhu) from the Black Nebula of Yl’glhuh, though many consider this to be untrue. (These people may have been the ancestors of the Aztec people, since that tribe’s mythology told of their origin in caverns to the north of their lands.) The underground dwellers also possess three other abilities unavailable to those on the surface. Firstly, they use telepathy for communication, with spoken language almost being a thing of the past. Secondly, they are able to dematerialize themselves (and other objects) so that they may pass through solid objects almost effortlessly. Finally, the people of K’n-yan have the secret of immortality, so that death is an almost unheard-of occurrence among them.

The people of K’n-yan cut themselves off from the upper world after the sinking of Atlantis and Lemuria. At one time they boasted many great works of art, technology, and science, but the last recorded visitor to K’n-yan, Pánfilo Zamacona, reported that the inhabitant’s civilization had stagnated, and the people had forgotten much of their former science. The people of the land put more value on experiencing new sensations than on their former pursuits. They still possessed many technological artifacts, however, such as disintegrating-ray projectors and various forms of transportation, which they used in their day-to-day life.

According to Zamacona, most of the population of K’n-yan lived in the central city of Tsath, whose inhabitants spent much of their time looking for novel experiences and emotions. To help them achieve these aims, they held gladiatorial games, conducted ritual torture, dreamed, experimented with intoxicating substances, and held religious ceremonies to various deities. Of these gods, Yig and Tulu (Cthulhu) were the most important, but they also held rites in honor of Hastur, Shub-Niggurath, Ghatanothoa, Nug, and Yeb. At one time, most of K’n-yan’s people revered Tsathoggua, but after they discovered the true nature of his worship, they destroyed all of his temples and images.

Several passages connect K’n-yan with the surface. Once in a while, a surface-dweller finds their way into the world of K’n-yan. The natives usually treat these people kindly, but forbid them from leaving the caverns. In more recent years, the people of K’n-yan have posted guards at these entrances to discourage the people on the surface from entering their land.

We have heard nothing of K’n-yan since the sixteenth century, and if the older accounts are any indication, it would be unwise to investigate and remind its people of the surface world.

See Brothers of the Yellow Sign; Cthulhu; Ghatanothoa; gyaa-yothn; Hastur; Nug and Yeb; Old Ones; Sansu; Tsath; Tsathoggua; y’m-bhi; Zamacona y Nuñez, Pánfilio de; Zuchequon. (“The Mound”, Lovecraft and Bishop (O); Keeper’s Compendium, Herber; Selected Letters III, Lovecraft; “Out of the Aeons”, Lovecraft and Heald; “The Epistles of Eibon”, Price and Cornford; “The Cthulhu Mythos in Mesoamerican Religion”, Tierney.)

KN’AA

Kingdom of the sunken continent of Mu, mentioned in von Junzt’s Unaussprechlichen Kulten as the original site of Ghatanothoa’s worship on earth.

See Ghatanothoa; Yaddith-Gho. (“Out of the Aeons”, Lovecraft and Heald (O).)

KNYGATHIN ZHAUM

Outlaw of Hyperborea who was the child of Voormi and Sfatlicllp. Recruiting among his fellow Voormis, he assembled a band of robbers and murderers who terrorized the land until the constabulary of Commoriom found him. Due to the excessive plasticity of his body, the headsman Athammaus found it impossible to carry out Knygathin’s execution, and Knygathin’s depredations continued. These events unnerved the people of Commoriom so much that they eventually fled the city.

(“Family Tree of the Gods”, Smith; “The Testament of Athammaus”, Smith (O).)

KORVAZ

See Cthugha.

KOTH

1) Black cyclopean city. No one knows precisely where this city is, but it is possibly that great city of the gugs sometimes seen by dreamers.

A Dark Lord whose face is hidden resides in Koth; this might be Nyarlathotep, but this has not been confirmed. If a mortal comes to the city and beseeches him, the Dark Lord may bestow great riches and a lifespan of hundreds of years upon the petitioner. At the end of the person’s life, the Dark Lord takes away their body and soul in exchange for services rendered. Only one mortal is known to have made the bargain.

See Koth, Tower of. (“The Book of the Gates”, Carter; “Dig Me No Grave”, Howard (O).)

2) Being who lives in the Dreamlands and is known as the “God of Dreams.” He may also be the Dark Lord of the city of Koth. (“H. P. Lovecraft: The Gods”, Carter; “Dig Me No Grave”, Howard (O).)

3) Kingdom of the Hyborian Age founded by the Hyborians themselves. It extended across what is today the Mediterranean Sea and Italy, and its people became the Etruscans.  See Acheron. (“The Hyborian Age”, Howard; “The Scarlet Citadel”, Howard (O).)

See Koth, Sign of; Uoht.

KOTH, SIGN OF

Sigil found on the Tower of Koth in the City of the Gugs and at various physical gates from the waking world to the lands of dream. It may be useful in sealing other gates as well, as it prevents certain nightmares from entering the waking world. If meditated upon, the Sign may be used to project one’s spirit to faraway worlds. Those who view it in a state of fear may find that the world around them alters.

According to some sources, the Yellow Sign is a specialized representation of the Sign of Koth.

See Koth; Koth, Tower of; Uoht; Yellow Sign. (“Shaggai”, Carter; The Necronomicon: The Book of Dead Names, Hay; “Terror Rate”, Konaka; “The Case of Charles Dexter Ward”, Lovecraft; “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft (O); “The Lurker in the Crypt”, Miller; House of the Toad, Tierney.)

KOTH, TOWER OF

Structure which stands in the City of the Gugs in the Dreamlands. The Tower links the Underworld with the upper lands, but the Sign of Koth at its base reminds the gugs of their covenant. Kenneth Grant has linked this with the word “Kotha”, meaning “Thou hollow one”, which appears in Crowley’s writing and suggests certain sex rituals.

(Nightside of Eden, Grant; “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft (O).)

KOTH-SERAPIS

Wizard of ancient times. Some say he lived in the kingdom of Acheron, while others maintain that he was the last high priest of Gol-Goroth in Stygia. Koth-Serapis used unholy means to achieve immortality, though in what form he did so is questionable. His knowledge is collected in the Black Rituals of Koth-Serapis.

(“Black Eons”, Howard and Price (O); “The Burrower Beneath”, Price.)

KRYPTICON

Book written by Silander, a Greek. Miskatonic holds an illuminated manuscript of this book. Nothing is known of its contents.

(Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley; The New Adam, Weinbaum (O).)

KSAKSA-KLUTH

See Cxaxukluth.

KTHANID

The mightiest of all the Elder Gods. Kthanid is a tentacled horror much like Cthulhu, differing in appearance only in his golden, peaceful eyes. This Elder God dwells in Elysia, where he presides over the entire land from his iceberg palace. Kthanid bears a special hatred for the Great Old Ones, who killed his mate and children while he lay sleeping.

See Elder Gods; Tiania. (The Transition of Titus Crow, Lumley (O); Nightmare’s Disciple, Pulver.)

KTHULHUT

See Cthulhu.

K’THUN

A being whose odor or vapor is considered particularly abhorrent. Mating with Noth-Yidik, it spawned the hideous Hounds of Tindalos.

See Noth-Yidik; Zarnak, Anton. (“The Madness Out of Time”, Carter; “The Horror in the Museum”, Lovecraft and Heald (O).)

KTYNGA

Comet near the star Arcturus. It will journey past our own world some four centuries from now.  This body possesses some peculiar traits: It travels between solar systems instead of maintaining a steady orbit around a star, makes inexplicable changes in its trajectory, and may at times move faster than the speed of light.

When more closely observed, the comet seems to have a curious reddish-blue tinge and an extremely high surface temperature. Upon Ktynga rests a tremendous building which houses the fire-being Fthaggua and his fire vampires, who guide the comet and use it to transport themselves between the stars.

See fire vampires; Fthaggua. (“Zoth-Ommog”, Carter; “The Fire-Vampires”, Wandrei (O).)

KUEN-YUIN

Cabal of Chinese sorcerers who worship Cthulhu. Each member of the Kuen-Yuin separates himself into two bodies, one of which is covered with Aklo inscriptions and pierced with numerous needles. The other may travel about at will, doing the will of the god. They are said to control a hundred million people in China from their capital city of Yian. In one recent scheme, the Kuen-Yuin attempted to destroy the U.S. economy through the manufacture of gold.

(“The Maker of Moons”, Chambers (O); Cthulhu Live: Lost Souls, Salmon et. al.).

(KING) KULL

(100000 BC?) Barbarian from the continent of Atlantis. After Kull’s tribe cast him out, Lemurians captured him and forced him to serve on a galley for two years. He later became an outlaw until captured by Valusians, who made him into a gladiator and later a soldier. With the support of the foreign mercenaries in Valusia’s army, Kull killed the old king and took the throne. With the aid of his companion Brule the Spear-slayer, he beat off the serpent people’s attempt to retake their ancestral kingdom.

See Shining Trapezohedron; Valusia. (“By This Axe I Rule!”, Howard; “Exile of Atlantis”, Howard; “Kings of the Night”, Howard; “The Shadow Kingdom”, Howard (O).)

(KING) KURANES

Former author and king of Celephaïs. Kuranes (whose real-world name is unknown) at one time lived at Trevor Towers in Innsmouth, but fell on hard times and moved to London. He was one of the world’s foremost dreamers; he created the city of Celephaïs at an early age, and was one of three dreamers to visit the court of Azathoth (and the only one to return sane). He wrote of his dreams, but ceased to do so when others laughed at his works. Kuranes met his earthly end when he fell over the cliffs of Innsmouth, but he lives on in the Dreamlands as the king of Celephaïs and Serannian. Recently, Kuranes has begun to yearn for the waking world that he will never see again.

See Celephaïs; Dreamlands; Eldin; Ooth-Nargai; Serannian; S’ngac. (“Celephaïs”, Lovecraft (O); “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft.)

KUTHCHEMES

City of the emperor of Acheron that lay near the present-day site of the Suez Canal. Invaders destroyed it, and for much of the later Hyborian Age, it lay in ruins. Nearby is the Black Mountain beneath which, some claim, Yog-Sothoth was once imprisoned.

(“Black Colossus” Howard (O); The Winds of Zarr, Tierney.)

KUTULU

See Cthulhu.

[Kutulu doesn’t mean “Man of Cutha”, and in fact makes no sense at all in Sumerian.]

KYTHAMIL (or KTHYMIL)

Double planet that once circled the star Arcturus and served as the dwelling place for certain fungoid beings. The worse-than-formless worshipers of the Great Old One Tsathoggua came to Hyperborea from this star.

(“Shaggai”, Carter; “Through the Gates of the Silver Key”, Lovecraft and Price (O).)

L

LADEAU, ALEXIS (October 28, 1794 – 1840)

Frenchman and friend of Friedrich von Junzt. Ladeau came from the noble line of de Laudeau de Nevers; his father was killed during the Reign of Terror, but his mother escaped and gave birth to Alexis in Vienna. Ladeau returned to France in 1799, and he met von Junzt in Paris in 1825. In 1827 the two travelled to America and lived in New York for a while. While exploring in the Everglades, Ladeau caught malaria and was forced to return home in early 1829.

In 1835, von Junzt called Ladeau to his family manor, where the two lived together until the completion of Unaussprechlichen Kulten the following year. On the day after the book was completed, however, von Junzt took a train to Saint Petersburg, and Ladeau was not to see him alive again.

In 1840, Ladeau was present when von Junzt’s Dusseldorf hotel room was opened and his body discovered. Ladeau bore away a manuscript von Junzt had been writing, and pieced it back together. Sadly, after he had read it, he destroyed it and cut his throat with a razor. (Some say that a few pages of this manuscript were buried with Ladeau, but if so they were taken when the Nazis dug up his body in 1942 in hopes of obtaining knowledge of sorcery.)

Ladeau’s only known book was Reminiscences of Friedrich Wilheim von Junzt (1846, Bridewall; Kielkopf, 1898), a slightly inaccurate look at the famous author’s life.

See Unaussprechlichen Kulten; Von Junzt, Friedrich Wilheim. (Delta Green, Detwiller, Glancy, and Tynes; “The History of Von Unaussprechlichen Kulten”, Harris; “The Black Stone”, Howard (O).)

LAKE OF HALI

See Hali.

LAM

Being with a large forehead, small slanted eyes, and a small mouth depicted in one of Aleister Crowley’s paintings. Kenneth Grant has stated that Lam is one of the Great Old Ones, and has linked him to the High Priest Not to Be Described and the “grays” seen during UFO abductions.

(The Magical Revival, Grant (O); Outer Gateways, Grant.)

LAMP OF ALHAZRED

Device constructed by the mythical Arabian tribe of Ad, the builders of Irem, and possessed at one time by the mad Arab Abdul Alhazred. The Providence author Ward Phillips was the last to own the Lamp, and it was disposed of following his disappearance. When filled with oil and lit, the Lamp projected images of Mythos-connected locations upon the walls and objects around it. It may have also acted as a gateway to various times and places, though this effect probably worked only at certain times.

(“The Lamp of Alhazred”, Derleth and Lovecraft (O).)

LANG, PAUL DUNBAR

Professor at the University of Virginia at Charlottesville, specializing in English literature and known for his work on Poe and Chatterton. Near the end of his life, he became interested in the Voynich Manuscript, professing he had discovered flaked ink in the manuscript. While following up leads from the translation, he fell in with a Colonel Urquart, an author of occult literature, who convinced him the human race was in peril from invisible monsters. He, the Colonel, and the plane on which they were traveling to Washington, DC vanished on February 19, 1969. The wreckage was never found.

(“The Return of the Lloigor”, Wilson (O).)

LANIQUA LUA’HUAN

Deep one-dolphin hybrids whose life cycle resembles that of the human cross-breeds. Though confined to the ocean, they occasionally construct elaborate snares to entrap victims to be sacrificed to Cthulhu. Their leader is Tsur’lhn, a being that resembles a giant razor clam.

(“The Sand Castle”, Berglund (O).)

LAPHAM, SENECA

Graduate of Miskatonic University’s class of 1879, and later Professor of Anthropology at the same institution. He is best known for his role in the investigation of the death of Ambrose Dewart, managing to obtain several of Dewart’s books for the university library.

(“Zoth-Ommog”, Carter; “The Lurker at the Threshold”, Derleth and Lovecraft (O).)

LAST KING

Title given sometimes to Aldones, a character from the play The King in Yellow, and sometimes to the King in Yellow himself.

See Aldones; The King in Yellow. (“More Light”, Blish; “Carcosa Story about Hali” (fragment), Carter; “The Repairer of Reputations”, Chambers (O).)

LEGENDRY AND CUSTOMS OF THE SEVERN VALLEY

Work by Victor Hill (though some sources give the names Professor Winston Hill or A. P. Hill) describing odd occurrences in the Severn River Valley. Published in 1954, it includes pictures of standing stones and a lengthy description of Ploughman’s Path near Camside. Some of the information is related to the Mythos, though no specific names are used.

(Ramsey Campbell’s Goatswood, Aniolowski and Sumpter; “The Pattern”, Campbell; “The Room in the Castle”, Campbell (O); “Unseen”, Love.)

LEGENDS OF LIQUALIA

Book on aquatic horrors by Oswald. Titus Crow’s library had a copy of this book.

(“De Marigny’s Clock”, Lumley (O).)

LEGENDS OF THE OLDEN RUNES

Manuscript found in a golden box thrown from a volcano during the rise of Surtsey in 1963. Thelred Gustau discovered the box and spent the next nine years translating the hieroglyphics on the documents within, sometimes assisted by Titus Crow. When he released news of his discoveries to the world, his colleagues ridiculed Gustau, despite his formerly high reputation. After his disappearance, his work was published in a very limited version.

The manuscript was the work of the sorcerer Ten Atht, a wizard of the primal land of Theem’hdra. The volume contained information regarding the land and inhabitants of Theem’hdra, with tales regarding some notable events in this land’s history. Along with these are notes regarding the worship of such beings as Ghatanothoa, Cthulhu, Hastur, and Yibb-Tstll. Some incantations, such as a ritual intended to summon a byakhee, and another that protected the user from all baneful magical influences, were also included.

See Gustau, Thelred; Teh Atht; Theem’hdra. (“Introduction” to The House of Cthulhu, Lumley (O); “Name and Number”, Lumley.)

LEGRASSE, JOHN RAYMOND

New Orleans police inspector who led a raid in 1907 against a bayou cult of particularly abhorrent nature. Legrasse could learn little of this sect, but his arrival at the American Archaeological Society Meeting in 1909 with a small idol taken in the raid was one of the first clues to the existence of the worldwide Cthulhu cult.

In his later investigations, Legrasse returned to the bayous to confront the Cthulhu cult again, and attended a séance with Anton Zarnak. Scarred by what he had seen, Legrasse withdrew from society for fifteen years to study the lore of the Mythos. Re-emerging to fight off a Deep One incursion on his beloved New Orleans, he set out for Nepal to find the cult of Cthulhu’s headquarters. Although he returned and lived for many more years thereafter, the inspector of police never seemed to be himself again.

See Zarnak, Anton. (“Nothing to Fear but Dust”, Henderson; “Patiently Waiting”, Henderson; “To Cast Out Fear”, Henderson; “Where Shadow Falls”, Henderson; “The Call of Cthulhu”, Lovecraft (O).)

LEMURIA

Lost continent in the Pacific Ocean. According to one (probably exaggerated) estimate, it reached from the Himalayas to Antarctica and from Madagascar to the Pacific past Easter Island.

Lemuria was at one time inhabited by a species of tentacled, human-headed beings, but these had probably died out by the time humans arrived. In Hyperborean times, barbarians already inhabited Lemuria. When glaciers rolled across Hyperborea, the Dragon Kings, or serpent people, fled to Lemuria, where they were defeated by the humans in the Thousand Year War.

After this war (which occurred around half a million years ago), the humans settled in the first kingdom of Nemedis. The forces of Chaos destroyed this land, and the humans migrated to the west, where they founded the Nine Cities. The wizards of the eastern land of Nianga were corrupted by Chaos and threatened to overcome the world, until their own sorcery destroyed them. After the threat had passed, the Nine Kingdoms bickered among each other constantly until they were united by the barbarian Thongor and his Golden Empire of the Sun, which went on to conquer half the world with its flying ships.

This age of prosperity would not last forever. A series of volcanic eruptions sent much of the land into the ocean, leaving only a chain of large islands. Many of the land’s people fled to Atlantis, but some remained behind.

By the Hyborian Age, the land’s high civilizations had fallen, and it was renowned for its pirates. At the same time, however, its magical lore was regarded as powerful, and its mercenaries often became generals and kings of more civilized lands. Though it showed signs of recovery, Lemuria would never again become a world power.

The remnants of Lemuria were destroyed at the beginning of the Hyborian Age in the same cataclysm that sunk Atlantis. Refugees from Lemuria fled to both K’n-yan and Shamballah, but the majority went to the Thurian continent to the west, where they were enslaved. Millennia later, they overthrew their masters and headed west, where they established the kingdoms of Stygia and Hyrkania. Some have suggested that the Sanskrit language may be a descendant of Lemuria’s tongue.

[Nineteenth-century evolutionists sought to explain the presence of a number of different animals, including the primates known as lemurs, in both Africa and India. They hypothesized that a land bridge had once existed between the two lands, and the zoologist Philip Sclater coined the name “Lemuria” for this area. Since then, biologists have come up with more reasonable scenarios for this situation, so Lemuria’s supporters are now mainly occultists who have decided the continent was actually in the Pacific.

[Most of Howard, Lovecraft, and Carter’s information on Lemuria came from writings of Theosophists Madame Blavatsky and W. Scott-Elliot. They picked and chose what they took, and they omitted some of the Theosophists’ more bizarre assertions — such as that the earliest humans on Lemuria were beings of spirit which reproduced by budding. Lin Carter stated that the two continents of Lemuria and Mu were the same, but since this contradicts other sources on the Mythos, I have chosen to list them separately. Their relationship to each other and to the “lost continent” of R’lyeh is a matter I leave to future scholars to puzzle over.]

See Atlantis; Hyperborea; Kull; Quy; Shamballah; Shining Trapezohedron. (The Secret Doctrine, Blavatsky (O); The Black Star, Carter; “The Seal of Zaon Sathla”, Carter; Thongor and the Wizard of Lemuria, Carter; Thongor Fights the Pirates of Tarakus, Carter; The Hyborian Age, Howard; “The Tower of the Elephant”, Howard; “The Mound”, Lovecraft and Bishop; “The Diary of Alonzo Typer”, Lovecraft and Lumley; “Captives of Two Worlds”, Petersen; The Story of Atlantis and the Lost Lemuria, Scott-Elliot.)

LENG (or PLATEAU OF LENG)

Area near Kadath in the Cold Waste. Scholars usually place the Plateau in central Asia, and one even names China’s Xinjiang Province as its location. Reports from the Pabodie Expedition of 1930–31 place Leng somewhere in the frozen wastes of Antarctica. Others hold that it is in Burma, and experienced dreamers say it lies in the northern part of earth’s Dreamlands. Alhazred mentions it as a place where various alternate realities come together, which may explain these discrepancies.

No matter where it is, the casual visitor should avoid the Plateau, since its semi-human inhabitants — the Tcho-tchos, or possibly a race with hoofed feet and horns — do not take kindly to being visited. Many belong to a cult, the symbol of which is the amulet of a winged hound, that practices cannibalism. At one time, these beings built the great city of Sarkomand to the south of the Plateau and fought against the great purple spiders which lived in Leng’s vales. Today they are content to live in their small stone villages, carrying out their religious duties and serving their moon-beast masters. Even more remarkable beings might be encountered on Leng, wearing robes that conceal their shapes.

A lighthouse on the Plateau sends forth a beacon across many miles which fills all who see it with dread. Nearby a ring of monoliths surrounds a great stone monastery. Within the labyrinthine corridors of this monastery are murals depicting the history of the Plateau’s people. The only living thing to dwell in this place is its High Priest, whose face, according to the experienced dreamer Randolph Carter, is not good to look upon.

[Frenschkowski suggests that the origin of Leng may lie in “Ling”. According to legend, Ling was a fabled southern land and the home of Gesar, hero of the Mongolian and Tibetan national epics.]

See Amulet of the Hound; Atlach-Nacha; black lotus; Brick Cylinders of Kadatheron; Dhol Chants; glass from Leng; Han; High Priest Not to be Described; hounds of Tindalos; Inganok; Kadath; Mnomquah; moon-beasts; Naggoob; nightgaunts; Nug and Yeb; Nyarlathotep (The Thing in the Yellow Mask); Nyogtha; Pharos of Leng; Pnakotic Manuscripts; Sarkomand; Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan; shantaks; Sung; Tcho-tchos; Tsang; Unaussprechlichen Kulten; Yian-Ho; Zin. (“The Dweller in the Tomb”, Carter; “The Lure of Leng”, DeBill; “Beyond the Threshold”, Derleth; “The Alchemist’s Notebook”, Hurd and Baetz; “At the Mountains of Madness”, Lovecraft; “The Dream‑Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft; “The Elder Pharos”, Lovecraft; “The Hound”, Lovecraft (O); The House of the Toad, Tierney; The Complete Dreamlands, Williams and Petersen.)

LERION, MOUNT

Dreamlands mountain near the towns of Hatheg and Nir. The river Skai flows from the valley of Mynartha at the mountain’s base. Some say that the breezes from Lerion at sunrise carry with them the sighs of the gods of earth. On the mountain’s northern face lies the ruined city of ’Ygiroth; this, and rumors of goblin activity, keep most people away from the mountain.

See Nyarlathotep (Thing in the Yellow Mask); Skai. (“In ‘Ygiroth”, DeBill; “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft; “The Other Gods”, Lovecraft (O); H. P. Lovecraft’s Dreamlands, Petersen et. al..)

LESSER OLD ONES

Name given by Harold Hadley Copeland to the servitors of the Great Old Ones. Included among the Lesser Old Ones are Dagon, Hydra, the deep ones, the fire vampires, the mi-go, and the cthonians. Unlike the Great Old Ones, the Lesser Old Ones are usually free to move about and do their masters’ biddings.

See Great Old Ones. (“Zoth-Ommog”, Carter (O).)

LETTERS OF NESTAR

Book providing the rituals of Cthugha. The letters were written in Pahlavi by the Persian Nestar Mobedan Mobed. A Rabbi Hatikva rediscovered this work in the twelfth century and created a Hebrew translation and reinterpretation of the book, entitling it Ha-Sepher Shel Teefays Or or The Book of the Climbing Light.

(“The Truth Shall Set You Free”, Ballon; “This Fire Shall Kill,” Bishop (O); 1990s Handbook, Rucka et. al.)

L’GY’HX

Planet known to humanity as Uranus. Its inhabitants are a species of cubical, many-legged creatures made of metal, living in the core of the planet, that worship the curious bat-god Lrogg.

Many years ago, the shan arrived on this world in their teleporting temple of Azathoth. The natives allowed them to remain on this world for a while. Soon, however, various individuals from both groups became converts to the religion of the other. In the end, this caused a conflict that forced the Azathoth-worshiping shan to leave in their temple, leaving their heretical fellows on L’gy’hx with the natives.

See Nyarlathotep (Lrogg); shan. (“The Insects from Shaggai”, Campbell (O); Delta Green: Countdown, Detwiller et. al.)

LH-YIB

“Sister city” of Ib. Its exact location is unknown, but according to the Brick Cylinders of Kadatheron, it lies buried beneath the land of Cimmeria. It is likely that this city survived long past the destruction of Ib.

See Bokrug; Ephiroth; Ib; Thuum’ha. (Beneath the Moors, Lumley (O).)

L’HISTOIRE DES PLANETES (or HISTORY OF THE PLANETS)

Tome written in 1792 by the Frenchman Laurent de Longnez. It may have been a translation of a seventeenth-century work called Die Geschichte den Planeten by Eberhard Ketzer, a monk or tutor from Schleswig-Holstein who lived in the court of the King of Prussia. (Surprisingly enough, this book recently appeared in a prestigious series of history’s greatest scientific works.) If this is correct, the book describes the cacophonous “music of the spheres” and the consequences that will befall humanity when all may hear them.

[The data on the French book is from Joshi, while the other material comes from Price. I have attempted to rectify it as best I am able.]

(“The Recurring Doom”, Joshi (O); “Saucers from Yaddith”, Price.)

LIAO (also known as the PLUTONIAN DRUG)

Mind‑altering substance distilled from the black lotus. Centuries ago, a Chinese alchemist named Liao discovered the formula for this substance. During his use of Liao, Lao Tze envisioned the universal concept of Tao that served as the foundation of his philosophy. The formula for Liao travelled from the East and reached the Saracens. While a captive of the Saracens, Ludvig Prinn learned of it from his teacher Emendid Kejir, and Prinn dutifully copied the formula into De Vermis Mysteriis. Considered rare for many years, Liao is increasingly seen as an ingredient mixed with other drugs to provide different mind-expanding effects.

The drug allows the user to perceive the past, usually from the viewpoint of his ancestors. This may extend far back along the evolutionary chain with a higher dosage, but the user should be carefully that they avoid certain beings that can travel to the future and exact their vengeance.

[The Plutonian drug of Smith’s tale was not the same as Liao, but authors have since been used the two terms to mean the same substance.]

See black lotus; De Vermis Mysteriis; Pnakotic Pentagram. (“A Dangerous High”, Berglund; “The Madness out of Time”, Carter; “The Invaders”, Kuttner; “The Hounds of Tindalos”, Long (O); “Signs Writ in Scarlet”, Ross; “The Plutonian Drug”, Smith.)

LIBER DAMNATUS DAMNATIONUM

Volume written by Janus Aquaticus and published in London in 1647. Miskatonic University possessed a handwritten Latin copy of this book at one time, but it has likely been stolen. Another copy could be found in the library of Joseph Curwen. Those who despair of finding a copy should known that much of this book was shamelessly plagiarized in Janus Cornelius Wasserman’s The Occult Foundation.

The book contains a great deal of information on the “Great Dying”, a time when most of humanity will be destroyed and those who aid the Great Old Ones will be admitted to their ranks. It also contain a formula which allows a sorcerer to become immortal through the actions of one of his descendants, an incantation for contacting Yog-Sothoth, and information on places where the veil between the dimensions becomes thin around the equinoxes.

(“The Case of Charles Dexter Ward”, Lovecraft (O); House of the Toad, Tierney; “The Barrens”, Wilson.)

LIBER IVONIS

See Book of Eibon.

LIFE OF EIBON

Book by Cyron of Varaad dealing with the Hyperborean sorcerer Eibon and the world in which he lived.

(“The Fishers from Outside”, Carter (O); The Life of Eibon According to Cyron of Varaad, Carter.)

LILLIBRIDGE, EDWIN M.

Reporter for the Providence Telegraph who vanished in 1893 while investigating the Starry Wisdom cult.

[Robert M. Price’s story “The Prying Investigations of Edwin M. Lillibridge” contradicts material in Lovecraft’s original, such as the Starry Wisdom cult having vacated the church.]

(“The Haunter of the Dark”, Lovecraft (O).)

LIN TANG-YU

Decadent Kweilin antiquities collector. The brother of a warlord who supported Chiang Kai-Shek, Mr. Lin is remembered among bibliophiles for his unscrupulous practices, and for a daring theft of many valuable works, including a complete copy of the Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan, from his collection. An old man in the 1920s, it is unknown whether Lin Tang-Yu or his descendants survived until the present day.

(“The Truth Shall Set You Free”, Ballon; Masks of Nyarlathotep, DiTillio and Willis (O).)

LIVRE D’IVON

See Book of Eibon.

LIYUHH

German translation/analysis of the R’lyeh Text, including notes on the text. A four hundred-copy limited edition of this book was printed in the eighteenth century. An unnamed private collector holds at least one copy.

(“Darkness, My Name Is”, Bertin; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

LLANFER, DOCTOR CYRUS (also WILFRED?) (?–c. 1950)

Armitage’s successor to the directorship of Miskatonic University Library. Having finished his education at Miskatonic in 1902, Llanfer went on to become assistant director of the library, taking over his superior’s post some time before 1936. Llanfer presided over the acquisition of many important volumes, carefully screening the individuals he allowed to consult the Special Collections of occult books. His greatest contribution to the library was “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”, a massive catalog that listed and gave extensive information upon the books in Special Collections which was nearly complete at the time of his death.

(“The Strange Doom of Enos Harker”, Carter; “The House on Curwen Street”, Derleth; “The Return of Hastur”, Derleth (O); Arkham Unveiled, Herber; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

LLOIGOR

1) Zhar’s twin. Lloigor is imprisoned beneath the plateau of Sung in Burma, but can manifest itself elsewhere when Arcturus, from whence it came, is above the horizon. In its natural form, Lloigor is a huge winged mass of wailing tentacles that uses winds to trap and seize its foes.

Lloigor is worshiped by the Tcho-tchos’ Brotherhood of the Star Treader. See Bethmoora, black lotus; E-poh; elemental theory; lloigornos; Nug and Yeb; Sung; Tcho-Tchos; Twin Obscenities; Zhar. (“Cold War”, Aniolowski; “The Sandwin Compact”, Derleth; “The Lair of the Star-Spawn”, Derleth and Schorer (O); The Sussex Manuscript, Pelton.)

2) Immaterial beings composed of some unknown type of psychic energy, but who manifest themselves at times in tremendous reptilian bodies. Long ago, they came down from the Andromeda Galaxy and ruled over the land of Mu, using human slaves to further their designs. As time progressed, however, the lloigor slowly lost power and withdrew into the ground, leaving their slaves free to leave Mu and populate the earth.

The lloigor still survive today, but are unable to muster enough strength to overthrow humanity. They can still use their power in underground places to demagnetize compasses, affect photographic equipment, and to exert psychokinetic force on people and objects. If the lloigor require more energy than this, they may draw more power from the sleeping inhabitants of nearby populations. Those drained by the lloigor awaken the next day feeling ill, but they recover their vitality by nightfall. Using the energy so gained, the lloigor can cause a ship or plane to disappear for a short length of time (causing the “lost time” effect often reported in UFO encounters), or create a huge explosion which leaves great crevices and pools of blue-green water in its wake. Many believe that the lloigor caused the Llandalffen explosion and a detonation near Al-Kazimiyah in Iraq.

The lloigor’s mental influence extends to the people who live near them, and rampant crime and degradation characterize the regions in which they live. Sometimes, the lloigor recruit the most degenerate members of the population to do their bidding in the upper world. Though these individuals often believe that they will gain great power from their masters, they mean nothing to the lloigor, who casually dispose of them if they prove unnecessary or troublesome.

At times, the lloigor have been known to take on material form, creating bodies which resemble the dragons of legend. This may explain why myths of huge reptilian beings are prevalent in many cultures but no physical traces of any such entities have been found. Taking this hypothesis further, that the lloigor are possibly the basis for the lake and sea-monsters which have been sighted for millennia yet have never been caught or discovered via technological means.

The lloigor are filled with a never-ending pessimism. Their minds are not divided into the id, ego, and superego, as those of humans are. As a consequence of this, they are unlikely to put any of their plans into action. Still, it should be realized that they may be dangerous foes to those who learn of their existence.

Centers of lloigor activity include Iraq, Wales, Lebanon, Ceylon, and Providence, Rhode Island. The lloigor are servitors of the Great Old One Ghatanothoa, but the extent of his control over them is unknown. One source claims that the lloigor are only localized manifestations of their master. They may be linked to the Great Old One Lloigor in some way, and one authority has stated that all Great Old Ones and lesser spirit-entities are their work.

See Ghatanothoa; lloigornos. (“False Mythologies”, Ingham; Call of Cthulhu Rulebook, 5th ed., Petersen and Willis; The Illuminatus! Trilogy, Shea and Wilson; “The Return of the Lloigor”, Wilson (O).)

LLOIGORNOS

Beings of the air that serve Lloigor and Zhar. Though the title suggests the lloigor, the Sussex Manuscript states that they are actually the creatures more commonly known as flying polyps, even though these are usually thought to be independent of any Great Old One.

(A Guide to the Cthulhu Cult, Pelton; The Sussex Manuscript, Pelton (O).)

L’MUR-KATHULOS

Being associated with the League of Hastur. In ancient times, initiates would undergo the most excruciating tests to become one of his pupils. This being might also be the same as Kathulos, a sorcerer from the lost continent of Atlantis who one source names as an embodiment of the spirit of Cthulhu.

[Lovecraft included a “L’mur-Kathulos” in “The Whisperer in Darkness” as homage to Robert E. Howard’s creation “Kathulos”.  Howard stated that there was no link between his “Kathulos” and Lovecraft’s “Cthulhu”, but Carter and Price link them anyway.]

(“The Strange Doom of Enos Harker”, Carter and Price; “Skull‑Face”, Howard (O); “The Whisperer in Darkness”, Lovecraft; The Sussex Manuscript, Pelton.)

LOBON

Great One worshiped in Sarnath. Lobon is generally depicted as an ivy-crowned youth with a spear in one hand. In Hyperborea, he was thought of as the god of warriors who protected against enemies, but the people of the Dreamlands think of him as being a more peaceful god.

(“Wizards of Hyperborea”, Fultz and Burns; “The Doom that Came to Sarnath” (O), Lovecraft; H. P. Lovecraft’s Dreamlands, Petersen et. al.)

LOMAR

Legendary northern land that rose from the depths of the ocean in prehistoric times. In Hyperborean times, a species of prehuman beings who could exchange minds with beings in the future dwelt in Lomar. Popular tradition, however, begins with the invasion of the Zobnarians who fled the northern cold, slaying the cannibalistic Gnophkehs who lived there to establish their own kingdom. Their civilization prospered and grew, and a number of cults, including that of Tsathoggua, flourished there.

The capital of this land was Olathoë, which lay between the mountains of Noton and Kadiphonek. The people of Lomar were quite accomplished; they raised great monuments out of marble and devoted their time to the studying of the Pnakotic Manuscripts and the annals of their Zobnarian forebears. Despite the encroachment of the cold that had destroyed Zobna, the Lomarians flourished for over a hundred thousand years. In the end, the primitive Inutos destroyed them, leaving no trace of their splendor. (In other versions, Lomar was destroyed when the Gnophkeh returned to slaughter all its inhabitants, or when the cold overwhelmed it as it did Zobna.) Some of the inhabitants fled south, pursued by the Gnophkeh, until they passed through a magical gate to the Dreamlands. There, the land of Lomar survives, the product of the dreams of a reincarnated inhabitant.

Some of the Native American tribes who lived in the Massachusetts area claimed to have come from “Lamah”, which possibly indicates a modern link with the people of the polar land. A gateway to an underground realm where a colony of Lomarians survives may exist somewhere in the region.

See Aphoom Zhah; Book of Eibon; gnoph-keh; Hyperborea; Inutos; Noton and Kadiphonek; Olathoë; Pnakotic Manuscripts; Tsathoggua; Zobna. (“At the Mountains of Madness”, Lovecraft; “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft; “Polaris”, Lovecraft (O); Selected Letters IV, Lovecraft; “The Shadow out of Time”, Lovecraft; “The Mound”, Lovecraft and Bishop; “Through the Gates of the Silver Key”, Lovecraft and Price; “The Round Tower”, Price; “The Shunpike”, Price; The Complete Dreamlands, Williams and Petersen.)

LONDON, TEDDY (THEODORE)

New York private eye and foe of the Mythos.

London grew up in the small town of Rosie, Arkansas. He studied law at a major northern school, returning home to marry Genevieve Hollister, his childhood sweetheart. Genevieve died in a car accident four months later, and a heartbroken London dropped out of sight for some years.

When Teddy London resurfaced, he was running a detective agency in New York City. An assignment to protect Lisa Hutchinson brought him into contact with the Mythos. Some attribute the Conflagration — the destruction of the Elizabeth, New Jersey refineries that led to a great loss of life in Manhattan — as a last-ditch effort to stave off the forces seeking Lisa, but no credible evidence of this exists.

Since then, Teddy London and his partner Paul Morcey have fought against psychic vampires and stopped a major incursion of the Hounds of Tindalos that led to massive deaths in Switzerland and Russia. Some say he even took on a case for the Great Old Ones themselves, and fought Nyarlathotep to a standstill.

(“False Prophets”, Henderson; “Juggernaut”, Henderson; One Grain at a Time, Henderson; The Things That Are Not There, Henderson (O).)

LROGG

See Nyarlathotep (Lrogg).

LUVEH-KERAPHF

High priest of Bast who lived during Egypt’s Thirteenth Dynasty. He is best known for writing the Black Rites, which are in truth only one of his Scrolls of Bubastis.

[Elsewhere, Bloch claimed that Luveh-Keraphf lived at the same time as Klarkash-Ton, which would probably have placed him in Atlantean times.]

See Black Rites. (“The Suicide in the Study”, Bloch (O); Complete Masks of Nyarlathotep, DiTillio and Willis; “The Treasure of Horemkhu”, Tierney.)

M

MAD BERKLEY’S BOOK

Untitled grimoire by a man named Berkeley a few centuries ago. This English writer brought together material from several different works, including the Cthaat Aquadingen, the Necronomicon, and Unaussprechlichen Kulten, to compile his work. Within may be found an incantation to summon Bugg-Shash.  The rock group Fried Spiders used portions of this rite on their LP Ocean of Minds.

(“The Kiss of Bugg-Shash”, Lumley; “Demoniacal”, Sutton (O).)

MAGIC AND THE BLACK ARTS

Book by “Kane” that contains a passing reference to B’Moth, the Devourer.

(“The Scourge of B’moth”, Russell (O).)

MAGLORE, SIMON

Poet and author. Maglore’s ancestors were regarded as sorcerers in their native Italy, and were forced to immigrate to the New World due to the Inquisition. Maglore’s life was a tragic one; his mother died giving birth to him, and Maglore spent much of his life in boarding schools far away from his native Bridgetown. His college career held promise, and his short poem “The Witch is Hung” earned him the Edsworth Memorial Prize, but his father’s death forced him to leave school in 1933 and return to his home, where he died after a few years.

(“The Mannikin”, Bloch (O); “The Winfield Heritance”, Carter.)

MAGNUM INNOMINANDUM (roughly “Great-One-Who-Is-Not-To-Be-Named”)

Deity mentioned in the incantation to summon a star vampire in De Vermis Mysteriis. The Miri Nigri worshiped this being long ago. It may also be a book.

[“Magnum Innominandum” means roughly “The Great Not-to-be-Named One”, and thus could refer to Hastur. Given the use of Lovecraft’s fragment in “The Horror from the Hills”, however, it might also be seen as a title of Chaugnar Faugn. Lin Carter took it to be a title of the Nameless Mist.]

See Chaugnar Faugn; De Vermis Mysteriis; Hastur; Miri Nigri. (“The Shambler from the Stars”, Bloch; “The Shadow from the Stars”, Carter; “The Horror from the Hills”, Long; Selected Letters II, Lovecraft (O); “The Whisperer in Darkness”, Lovecraft; Nightmare’s Disciple, Pulver.)

MAGYAR FOLKLORE

Book by Dornly that discusses the Black Stone in its chapter on “dream-myths”.

(“The Black Stone”, Howard (O).)

MAINE WITCH COVEN

See Cult of the Skull.

MAJESTIC 12 (or MJ-12)

Top-secret government organization dedicated to retrieving and studying alien life and technology. Majestic-12 was formed in response to a crash of an alien spacecraft near Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947. Informed of the crash, President Truman ordered the creation of a group headed by twelve scientists and military officials to investigate this and future alien encounters. Activities within the group remain secret, but leaked documents hold that Majestic-12 forged a treaty with an interstellar species in 1980. Further information on this organization is available only to those with TOP SECRET MAJIC clearance.

[Majestic-12 is a legend in the UFO community, relating to a series of “leaked” documents sent to various researchers in the paranormal field.]

(Delta Green, Detwiller, Glancy and Tynes (O).)

MAK MORN, BRAN

See Bran Mak Morn.

MALONE, THOMAS F.

New York police detective who was instrumental in the Red Hook raid. He was born near Phoenix Park, Ireland, and attended the University of Dublin. Malone had delved deeply into the occult, an avocation that stood him in good stead when sent to investigate the mysterious events in Red Hook. During a raid on one of the smuggling centers, a row of buildings collapsed, killing several officers and leaving Malone so shaken that he was given a leave of absence.

(“The Horror at Red Hook”, Lovecraft (O).)

MANUXET RIVER

River in eastern Massachusetts that reaches the ocean near Innsmouth.

(“The Shadow over Innsmouth”, Lovecraft (O).)

MAO

Ceremony or game that may be found in the Necronomicon, and that aids in communication with the beings from the Gulf of S’glhuo. After using the incantation, the caster falls asleep and may speak with the Gulf’s inhabitants through dreams. The Mao ritual is dangerous if used over long periods, though, and the people in the Gulf prefer other methods of speech.

The Mao games, witnessed only by select initiates, were played every fourteen years in the theater of Ool Athag in the Dreamlands town of Monat until that place was burned to the ground.

See Necronomicon (appendices). (“The Plain of Sound,” Campbell; “The White People,” Machen (O); “Ool Athag”, Webb.)

MARIGNY, ETIENNE-LAURENT DE

See De Marigny, Etienne-Laurent.

MARIGNY, HENRI-LAURENT DE

See De Marigny, Henri-Laurent.

MARSH, OBADIAH

Ancestor of Obed Marsh and a famous captain in his own right. Obadiah is most famous for turning up in a rowboat in Innsmouth harbor in 1797 with his first mate Cyrus Phillips, claiming that his ship and the rest of his crew had been lost in the South Pacific. The captain married a woman from Ponape, and some have said that it was around this time that the Innsmouth look began to show itself among the Marshes and Phillipses.

(“The Seal of R’lyeh”, Derleth (O).)

MARSH, OBED

Innsmouth’s most prominent merchant-captain and founder of that town’s Esoteric Order of Dagon. Obed’s three ships, the Columbia, Hetty, and Sumatra Queen, did a brisk business in the Pacific trade beginning in 1820 and lasting for over twenty years. As a result of this prosperity, the Marshes became Innsmouth’s most powerful family.

On one of his early trips, Captain Marsh stumbled across a group of Polynesian islanders who possessed a large number of golden ornaments. According to Walakea, the tribe’s chieftain, a race of fish-beings had brought these to them in exchange for human sacrifices. For a few rubber and glass trinkets, Marsh procured a large amount of the natives’ gold.

In the following years, Obed visited the islanders many times, trading for more gold and listening to their legends. When Marsh journeyed to this island in 1838, however, he found that natives from the surrounding isles had killed his trading partners, and that his source of revenue was lost. The repercussions of this disaster were felt throughout Innsmouth, and the town soon plunged into a depression.

It was then that Marsh began to preach a new religion based on the Polynesian’s beliefs. If the people of Innsmouth followed the gods of his islander friends, he proclaimed, they would become rich and the nets of the fishermen would always be full. After a while, Marsh’s Esoteric Order of Dagon became so popular that all of Innsmouth’s churches were forced to close down due to lack of worshipers (or the Order’s strong-arm tactics). During the chaos instigated by the plague of 1846, in which half the town’s people died, Marsh became the town’s de facto leader, a post that he held until his death in 1878. Following his demise, the Marsh family kept its hold on local power until the government raids of 1928.

See Book of Dagon; Codex Dagonensis; Devil’s Reef; Esoteric Order of Dagon; Innsmouth; Marsh, Obadiah. (“The Shadow over Innsmouth”, Lovecraft (O); Escape from Innsmouth, Ross.)

MARTIN’S BEACH

Oceanside village located a few miles northeast of Kingsport. Its only notable landmark is the Wavecrest Inn, a popular resort site. In 1922, Martin’s Beach was scandalized by the inexplicable drownings of several men in the same night.

(“The Horror at Martin’s Beach”, Lovecraft and Greene (O); Kingsport, Ross.)

MARVELLS OF SCIENCE

Book written by Bertrand Morryster and published in 1790. Morryster claimed to obtain knowledge from voices that spoke to him in his sleep, an assertion that did not hold well with the scientific community. After he died in 1799, most of his discoveries were lost.

Most of the book provides instructions for creating a perpetual motion machine, but it also deals with other discoveries, including the supposed hypnotic powers of snakes. Some say that this book describes a procedure for calling up angels or demons, and fanciful topographies of heaven and hell. However, this set of details appeared in a hoaxed copy created by bookseller Louis Gold.

(“The Man and the Snake”, Bierce (O); “Call of Duty”, Detwiller; Peace, Wolfe.)

MASON, KEZIAH

Supposed witch from Arkham, Massachusetts, apprehended during the witch-scare of 1692. Keziah Mason confessed freely to her crimes, saying that the Devil had given her the secret name of Nahab and taken her to secret rites at various isolated locations. To aid her mischievous deeds, he had given her a familiar named Brown Jenkin. She had also discovered certain combinations of lines and angles allowing travel through the dimensions.

After she gave the names of her fellow coven members, the judges condemned Keziah to death — an unusual sentence, since most witch-trial participants who confessed were not killed. Shortly thereafter, she escaped from her cell, leaving nothing behind but a mysterious drawing upon the wall of her prison. When the judges went to arrest her co-conspirators, they found them gone and the same markings in their homes. Rumors of long standing in Arkham maintain that the ghost of the witch and her familiar are seen occasionally.

See Arkham; Meadow Hill; Themystos’ Island; Witch-House. (“Idiot Savant”, Henderson; “The Dreams in the Witch-House,” Lovecraft (O).)

MASSA DI REQUIEM PER SHUGGAY (“Requiem for Shaggai”)

Italian opera written in 1768 by Benvento Chieti Bordighera. Bordighera, a gifted young composer, was born in Rome in 1746, and made many travels throughout Europe. Only one performance of the opera was made, but this was enough for Pope Clement XIII to ban it in 1769. Bordighera was imprisoned for heresy in 1770 and executed in the following year.

Many professional musicians have declared the score to be unplayable, since certain parts have been written for unknown instruments and notes that cannot possibly be rendered. Copies of the opera are kept at the British Museum, Bibliotheque Nationale, and the Vatican Library, and others are held by private collectors in India, Japan, and the United States. The German band Knochen Maschine adapted the piece into a modern format; the two singers hired to perform the main portions died shortly thereafter.

The opera tells the story of the destruction of Shaggai, and the journeys of its former inhabitants throughout space, a tale filled with death, incest, and rape. It also details the insects from Shaggai’s worship of Azathoth and a being known as Baoht Z’uqqa-Mogg, the Bringer of Pestilence. Performing the entire opera will result in the summoning of Azathoth.

See Shaggai; shan. (“Fade to Grey”, Aniolowski; “Mysterious Manuscripts”, Aniolowski et. al. (O); Keeper’s Compendium, Herber, Nightmare’s Disciple, Pulver.)

MASTERS OF THE SILVER TWILIGHT

Organization founded in 1657. Its primary goal is to raise the corpse‑city of R’lyeh from the ocean and to bring Cthulhu from his tomb, so he may slay all of humanity. No link between this organization and the charitable society “The Hermetic Order of the Silver Twilight” has ever been proven.

See Stanford, Carl. (“The Coven at Cannich”, Clegg; “The Hermetic Order of the Silver Twilight”, Hutchinson (O).)

MAZE OF THE SEVEN THOUSAND CRYSTAL FRAMES

Concept alluded to by Abdul Alhazred, but whose true meaning is unknown. Some cults are believed to have traveled its ways nonetheless. Traveling through the frames may give access to a new level of reality that gives the traveler more occult knowledge, yet this also makes him more likely to be subjugated by the Great Old Ones. The 3333rd frame is supposed to consist of many mouths that moan and gibber, and this frame is very hard to pass.

(“The Inhabitant of the Lake”, Campbell (O).)

MEADOW HILL

Prominence near Arkham that seems to attract uncanny events. Nearby is the burned-down Chapman farmhouse where Herbert West performed his earliest experiments. In a valley nearby is a large white stone. No vegetation grows around the stone, and it was reputed to be a site for witch-cult meetings in Keziah Mason’s time and the present. Randolph Carter and Joel Manton were once found nearby, with curious and inexplicable wounds.

(“The Dreams in the Witch-House”, Lovecraft; “Herbert West — Reanimator”, Lovecraft (O); “The Unnamable”, Lovecraft.)

MERCY HILL

Area of Brichester deriving its ironic nickname from the town gallows which were located here at one time. Mercy Hill is now primarily lower-class tenements built with the rise of industrialization. It is distinguished by a hospital at the peak of the hill. This area is considered a rough part of town, and is avoided by all “respectable” people.

Folk legend holds that unpleasant dreams afflict some children who dwell on Mercy Hill, and this serves to keep many potential homebuyers away from this area. The author of the twelfth volume of the Revelations of Glaaki lived in this area, and the reclusive cult leader Roland Franklyn had his headquarters at the base of Mercy Hill.

See Brichester. (“13 Places of Interest in Brichester”, Brownlow; “Cold Print,” Campbell; “The Franklyn Paragraphs,” Campbell; “The Inhabitant of the Lake,” Campbell (O); “Return of the Witch,” Campbell.)

MEZZAMALECH STONE

See Eye of Ubbo-Sathla.

MHU THULAN

Utmost northern portion of Hyperborea. Connected with the rest of Hyperborea by a peninsula, Mhu Thulan is supposedly an early name for Greenland. The great wizards Zon Mezzamalech and Eibon both lived in Mhu Thulan.

See Aphoom Zhah; Cykranosh; Eibon; Hyperborea; Zon Mezzamalech. (“The Door to Saturn,” Smith; “Ubbo-Sathla,” Smith; “The Weird of Avoosl Wuthoqquan”, Smith (O).)

MI-GO (or FUNGI FROM YUGGOTH or OUTER ONES)

Beings with a vast empire reaching beyond the stars, with its closest outpost on Pluto, otherwise known as Yuggoth. These beings resemble winged crustaceans with egg‑shaped heads that constantly change color, their chief means of communication.

The mi-go arrived on our world earth during the Jurassic period. They fought off attacks from the Elder Things in order to settle in the Northern Hemisphere, where for the most part they have remained ever since. On occasion, they have fought on the side of Cthulhu and his spawn, due to the god of R’lyeh’s influence in the cult of Yog-Sothoth.

The fungi show a great deal of interest in our planet, because Earth contains deposits of certain minerals that are not found in other parts of the universe (or at least gates to other dimensions with these deposits). These substances are used to grow the fungi that they use as food. To obtain these minerals, the fungi have set up mining bases in the Andes, the Appalachians, and the Himalayas. Such bases are usually hidden, with the mi-go recruiting members of the local population to help them keep their activities secret. Word of their actions usually spreads despite this secrecy, and references to these curious creatures are often found in the legends of the countryside surrounding the creatures’ lairs. Their bodies sometimes appear after floods, as mi-go drown if submerged in water, adding substance to the local folklore. Myths ranging from those of the callikanzaros of Greece to the nagas of India and Tibet have been attributed to contacts with these beings.

The mi-go eat a variety of fungus that does not grow on earth, passing a metal capsule containing this substance through their bodies. Reproducing may only be performed through rites to Shub-Niggurath. In some cases, the young grow in pods on the ground in special incubator chambers, but otherwise they nest in the bodies of dead mi-go who sacrifice themselves for that purpose. Through consuming their forebears, the new mi-go can access their memories and knowledge.

A recent development is the appearance of different castes of mi-go, including soldiers, workers, and scientists. Some breeds are able to fly to other worlds, stars, and realities, though others must use magical gateways and other means to attain this goal. All these physical attributes, however, may be changed at a whim, for the fungi are masters of surgery who can attach or remove body parts, or even outfit a mi-go with organs capable of creating a buzzing human speech.

One of the mi-go’s most amazing feats of body alteration involves a device known as a brain-cylinder. Through their surgery, the fungi can remove the brain of any being and transplant it into a curious metal cylinder, leaving the body in a state of suspended animation until the mind’s return. The brain can observe and interact with its surroundings via certain apparatuses connected with the cylinder. The device may be taken by the mi-go on trips back to Yuggoth, other stars inhabited by the fungi, and even other dimensions and times. This procedure is usually reserved for those whom the mi-go especially favor or despise.

The mi-go mentality is nearly impossible for humans to understand. A mi-go purges its memory of any information that is not necessary for its immediate purposes. This keeps out irrelevant information, but leaves some facts, such as the species’ origins, a mystery to the mi-go themselves. A mi-go’s thought processes operate on a strictly cause-and-effect basis, with none of the intuitive leaps that allow humans increased creativity and quick technological advancement. At one time the mi-go performed experiments on humanity to reduce their psychic and creative potential, but today they are studying humans in hope of discovering how they can develop the same faculties.

The mi-go living in the Himalayas have been known to cover their bodies with the pelts of various animals. According to some, this is the source of the legends of the Abominable Snowman. The mi-go’s surgical propensities also suggest that they may be responsible for the ongoing cattle mutilations reported in the southwestern U. S.

Possessing a pragmatic attitude toward the Old Ones, the mi-go single out both Shub-Niggurath and Nyarlathotep for worship. They worship Yog-Sothoth as the Beyond-One and perform rites of devotion to other deities as necessary.

[The name “Mi-go” does appear in Tibetan folklore, though the beings it describes bear little resemblance to Lovecraft’s.]

See Black Seal; Brothers of the Yellow Sign; Colour out of Space; Elder Things; Ghadamon; Ghatanothoa; Ghisguth; Ghooric Zone; Hastur; Lesser Old Ones; N’gah-Kthun; proto-shoggoths; Seed of Azathoth; Shining Trapezohedron; shoggoths; Shub-Niggurath; Winged Ones; Yog-Sothoth; Yuggoth. (“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, Detwiller; Delta Green, Detwiller, Glancy, and Tynes; Outer Gateways, Grant; Keeper’s Compendium, Herber; “At the Mountains of Madness”, Lovecraft; “The Whisperer in Darkness”, Lovecraft (O); “Through the Gates of the Silver Key”, Lovecraft and Price; “Convergence”, Tynes; Necronomicon, Tyson.)

MIGHTY MESSENGER

See Nyarlathotep.

MILLION FAVOURED ONES

Beings said to be Nyarlathotep’s spawn, although this relationship is likely only symbolic. These Favored Ones are said to come from all the worlds of the universe and serve their lord Nyarlathotep unswervingly.

(“The Million Favored Ones”, Carter; “The Whisperer in Darkness”, Lovecraft (O).)

MIRI NIGRI

“Strange dark folk” created by Chaugnar Faugn from amphibian tissue. These beings worshiped their maker, living near his home in the Pyrenees. In Roman times, they came down from their homes to trade in the nearby town of Pompelo and kidnap sacrificial victims for their May-Eve and Halloween rites. One year the Romans sent a cohort to disrupt these rites, and the Miri Nigri destroyed them to a man. After these events, Chaugnar ordered them to leave the area, so the Miri Nigri bore Chaugnar to his new home on the Plateau of Tsang. The intermingling of Miri Nigri with normal humans created the Tcho-tcho people.

[The name “Miri Nigri” came to Lovecraft in a dream.  “The Very Old Folk”, another version of this story published elsewhere, does not include this name.]

See Chaugnar Faugn; Tcho-tchos. (“The Curse of Chaugnar Faugn”, Barton; “The Horror from the Hills”, Long; Selected Letters II, Lovecraft (O).)

MISKATONIC RIVER

Body of water that springs from the hills to the west of Dunwich, Massachusetts. The river flows east past the town of Dunwich and continues in that direction for many miles before turning to the southeast a few miles south of Bolton. Next, the Miskatonic runs through the town of Arkham and empties into the sea two miles to the south, just northeast of Kingsport.

The Miskatonic’s name may have originated from a Native American tribe known as the Misqat, an offshoot of the Massachusetts Indians who lived within this valley.

[Lovecraft described the word “Miskatonic” in a letter as “simply a jumble of Algonquin roots” that he had invented.]

See Arkham; Aylesbury Pike; Dunwich; Kingsport; Themystos’ Island. (“With Malice Afterthought”, Anderson and Lehmann; Tales of the Miskatonic Valley, Aniolowski et. al.; “Dreams in the Witch-House”, Lovecraft; “The Dunwich Horror”, Lovecraft; “The Picture in the House”, Lovecraft (O).)

MISKATONIC UNIVERSITY

Educational institution located in Arkham, Massachusetts. The origins of this university remain shrouded in obscurity. One history holds that this school began as the Salem Academy in 1690, which moved to Arkham in 1776 and renamed the Miskatonic Liberal Seminary. Another states that “the College of the Miskatonick Vallye”, or Arkham College, was founded in 1690 and reinvigorated in 1765 with a bequest from Jeremiah Orne, one of Arkham’s foremost merchants. (It is possible that this college merged with the Salem Academy in 1776, thus accounting for the discrepancy.)

At first, classes were held in only one building, but Miskatonic College grew so quickly that soon after the Revolutionary War, the people of Arkham presented their former town common to the school in recognition of its achievements. In 1861, Miskatonic College combined with Elder Faith Seminary to become a university, and in 1880, its world-famous medical school opened.

Over the years, Miskatonic University has gained a great deal of prestige and is often considered to be one of the Ivy League schools. Even now, over two hundred years after its foundation, Miskatonic remains at the fore in scholarship and research. Its expeditions into the far parts of the world, such as the Pabodie expedition of 1931 and the later Australian excavations of 1935, though not entirely successful, have earned the university acclaim from the scientific community.

Of especial note to the visiting scholar is the University’s library, which includes the largest collection of rare occult material in the Western Hemisphere. Also of interest is the Miskatonic University Exhibit Museum, which is known to hold some intriguing artifacts of an unknown culture, and the Nathaniel Derby Pickman Nuclear Laboratory.

[Much recent Mythos fiction has depicted Miskatonic as a place where magic and witchcraft are taught as a matter of course. Lovecraft himself, on the other hand, depicted Miskatonic as a bastion of rationality and scientific thought.]

See Arkham; Armitage, Henry; Black Book of the Skull; Book of Eibon; Boyd, Claiborne; Celaeno Fragments; Chalmers, Halpin; Codex Dagonensis; Copeland, Harold Hadley; Crow, Titus; Cthulhu Among the Victorians; Cultes des Goules; Dannseys, Peter; De Vermis Mysteriis; Derby, Edward; Dhol Chants; Dunwich; Dyer, William; Ellery; Emeritus Alcove; Fallworth, Eliphas; Freeborn, Tyler M.; Frontier Garrison; Ghorl Nigral; Hike, Herbert; An Investigation into the Myth-Patterns; Invocations to Dagon; Kester Library; Krypticon; Lapham, Seneca; Llanfer, Morgan; Necrolatry; Necronomicon (appendices); Orne, Simon; Pabodie Expedition; Peaslee, Nathaniel; Peaslee, Wingate; Phillips, Ward; Pnakotic Manuscripts; Revelations of Hali; R’lyeh Text; Sanbourne Institute; Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan; Shrewsbury, Laban; Sorcerie de Demonologie; Spellman, Martin; star-stones; Starkweather-Moore Expedition; True Magik; Tunneler Below; Unaussprechlichen Kulten; Upham; Upton, Daniel; Waite, Asenath; Walters, Harvey; Whateley, Wilbur; Wilmarth, Albert; Wilmarth Foundation; Witch-house. (Miskatonic University, Antunes; Arkham Unveiled, Herber; Miskatonic University, Johnson et. al.; “To Arkham and the Stars”, Leiber; “At the Mountains of Madness”, Lovecraft; ““The Dreams in the Witch-House”, Lovecraft; “The Dunwich Horror”, Lovecraft; “Herbert West — Reanimator”, Lovecraft (O); “The Shadow out of Time”, Lovecraft; Miskatonic U. Graduation Kit, Petersen and Willis.)

MISQUAMACUS (also QUAMIS)

Native American wonder-worker who was possibly the most powerful shaman on the North American continent. He is believed to have lived through many lives as a member of several different tribes, who keep their tales of him as one of their greatest secrets. The records of outsiders, however, only relate his incarnation among the Wampanoags of Massachusetts. While among them, he taught Alijah Billington a great deal about spirits, including the god Ossadagowah, but was forced to take action after Billington’s departure to stop what he had done.

[Misquamacus was Lovecraft’s creation, as he appears in one of the short fragments from Lovecraft’s notes that Derleth incorporated into “Lurker.”]

See Billington, Alijah; Billington, Richard. (“The Lurker at the Threshold”, Derleth and Lovecraft (O); Return of the Manitou, Masterton.)

M’NAGALAH

Being appearing as a mass of entrails, eyes, and tentacles. M’nagalah once dwelt on another world, later dwelling in the sea of Tethys between Laurasia and Gondwanaland. During telepathic contact with other beings, M’nagalah has claimed that its will gave rise to life on earth and created the savage side of human personality. When summoned, M’nagalah takes on the form of a growth on its summoner’s arm which quickly grows by devouring its host and other victims. This creature must reach its full size before the stars are right. M’nagalah is mentioned in the Revelations of Glaaki.

(“The Tugging,” Campbell; Nightmare’s Disciple, Pulver; Swamp Thing #8, Weir and Wrightson (O).)

MNAR

Land of the Dreamlands, though according to others, it is actually present-day Saudi Arabia. Wherever it may be, Mnar is a very ancient land which time has left untouched. Upon the winding river Ai in the land of Mnar, the towns of Thraa, Ilarnek, and Kadatheron sprang up. The great cities Ib and Sarnath were also built within the land of Mnar, though neither survives today. An unknown being or beings took a grey-green stone from Mnar and created the artifacts called the “star‑stones of Mnar.”

See Brick Cylinders of Kadatheron; Elder Sign; Ib; Ilarnek; Ilarnek Papyri; Sarnath; star-stone. (“The Lurker at the Threshold,” Derleth and Lovecraft; “The Doom that Came to Sarnath,” Lovecraft (O); The Burrowers Beneath, Lumley; The Transition of Titus Crow, Lumley.)

MNEMABIC FRAGMENTS

Work of which almost nothing is known. Its translator is supposedly one “deLancre,” perhaps a reference to the seventeenth-century witchcraft judge Pierre de Lancre.

(“The Last Work of Pietro de Apono”, Aletti (O); “The Tree-House”, Pugmire and Price.)

MNOMQUAH

God worshiped in both Theem’hdra and Earth’s Dreamlands who often takes the form of a bipedal saurian. In Theem’hdra, Mnomquah and the moon deity Gleeth were often linked, but the two were entirely different beings. Gleeth was the blind, deaf god who did not answer his worshiper’s prayers, while Mnomquah’s great influence made its cult rich and powerful.

Mnomquah is imprisoned within the Black Lake of Ubboth at the moon’s core. At one time its power was much greater, but then a rogue spawn of Azathoth was sighted on a collision course with the Dreamlands’ moon. Working with the sorcerer Haon-Dor, Mnomquah wove a spell which kept the spawn at bay but drained most of his energy. Someday, Mnomquah will be freed from its prison, coming down from the moon to Sarkomand to mate with Oorn.

The Thuun’ha and the creatures of the Nameless City once served Mnomquah. In the Dreamlands, the moon-beasts and their servitors from the Plateau of Leng worship the god.

See Gleeth; Oorn; Ubboth; Yarnak. (“Mnomquah”, Carter; “Something in the Moonlight”, Carter (O); “Introduction” to The House of Cthulhu, Lumley; Mad Moon of Dreams, Lumley; “The Sorcerer’s Book”, Lumley; The Complete Dreamlands, Williams and Petersen.)

MONSTRES AND THEIR KYND

(also MONSTERS AND THEIR KINDE, full title Monstres and Theyr Kynde, Being a Compyled Historie of the Earlie Kings and Druids, Bifore Christendome Come to These Shores, and Also a Bestiarie of Theyr Unhallowed Servants and the Means by Which They Were Brought Forth and Bound Faste). Book compiled from a number of Mythos texts. It was most likely the work of a monk working for a rich patron. (Rumors linking it with a Protestant minister named William Pynchon are most likely apocryphal.) Censors destroyed the only published edition, from the press by Fisher’s Market, in 1577. The only known surviving copy was stolen from the British Museum in 1898, though some say the Marsh family of Innsmouth has another.

Both the Necronomicon and the Book of Eibon influenced the author of this book. Among other subjects, Monstres says much about the Dragon Kings, a line of cannibalistic warlords who ruled over Britain in prehistoric time, and an incantation which Eibon was said to have used to obtain knowledge.

(“Sacraments of Evil”, Behrendt; “Horror at Vecra”, Hasse (O); Keeper’s Compendium, Herber; Mythos: Dreamlands Expansion, Krank and Vogt; Nightmare’s Disciple, Pulver.)

MONTAGNY, PIERRE-LOUIS

French courtier who was old in the time of King Louis XIII and who is known for his “secular meditations.”

(“The Terror from the Depths,” Leiber; “The Shadow Out of Time,” Lovecraft (O); “The Adventure of Exham Priory”, MacIntyre.)

MOON-BEASTS

Creatures native to the Dreamlands’ moon. They are slippery white toad-like beings whose only sensory organs are pinkish tentacles protruding from their snouts. (How the moon-beasts perceive their surroundings is unknown, though they seem to communicate by playing flutes.) They prefer to dwell on the dark side of the moon, but may also be found aboard the black galleons of the men from Leng as rowers and officers.

Unlike the same region in the waking world, the dark side of the Dreamlands moon has vast forests and oily seas, providing an ideal habitat for the moon-beasts. Here these creatures have reared great cities, built with the labor of many different slave races, and plied the oceans of their home in their black galleons, which may also fly them through space to other worlds. In addition to this body, the moon-beasts are known to have colonies on earth, especially on the nameless rock in the Cerenerian Sea.

The moon-beasts realize that the civilized folk of the Dreamlands would not abide their presence if they came to trade openly. Therefore, these creatures have enslaved many people from the Plateau of Leng. Unlike the moon-beasts, the Lengites can usually pass for humans if they wear the proper attire. These almost-human agents usually disembark at ports to sell the rubies mined by their masters and obtain slaves with their profits, though the moon-beasts themselves remain below-decks during this time.

These creatures are known to be allied with the cats from Saturn, and at times serve Nyarlathotep and Mnomquah as well.

See High Priest not to be Described; Leng; Mnomquah; Sarkomand. (“The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath,” Lovecraft (O); Mad Moon of Dreams, Lumley; The Complete Dreamlands, Williams and Petersen.)

MOON‑LENS

Device built by worshippers of Shub‑Niggurath and stationed in Goatswood. The mysterious Glass from Leng was used in its construction. The lens is usually set on a high tower with several mirrors positioned about it to concentrate a beam of moonlight on a certain spot.

The moon‑lens is used so that Shub‑Niggurath may be summoned at full moon, instead of the dark of the moon, the normal time for her summoning.

See glass from Leng; Goatswood; Shub-Niggurath. (“The Moon-Lens,” Campbell (O); “Dark Harvest,” Ross.)

MORDIGGIAN

Dark god who is revered through ritual cannibalism and other unsavory activities. This being usually takes the form of a cloud of darkness which changes shape at will.

Mordiggian was at one time the god of the ghouls, though only one faction of older ghouls openly supports him today. His cult was once strong in the catacombs beneath Paris before relocating to South America, from which it has spread. The god travels around the world in search of corpses to eat and has spent the past century in Egypt. Mordiggian is said to provide his worshipers with the ability to speak with the dead, immortality, and reversal of aging. His cult among humans will be revived in Zothique, centered in the city of Zul-Bha-Sair.

In 1804, a heresy began among the worshipers of Mordiggian. A ghoul from Calcutta named Daggaggibree claimed that the next stage of ghoul evolution will occur when his fellows devour their god. Most ghouls view this position with disgust and animosity.

(“Reflections of Dust and Death”, Ambuehl; Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying Game, Cook and Tynes; Realm of Shadows, Crowe; Delta Green, Detwiller, Glancy, and Tynes; “Identity Crisis”, Kruger; Cthulhu Live: Lost Souls, Salmon et. al.; “The Charnel God”, Smith (O).)

MORGAN, (DOCTOR) FRANCIS

Professor of Medicine and Comparative Anatomy (or Archaeology) at Miskatonic University. Along with Professors Rice and Armitage, Morgan was one of the three individuals who confronted the Dunwich Horror, and he is believed to have had a greater role in that matter than many scholars have hitherto believed. Morgan was driven insane and vanished during the ill-fated Miskatonic expedition to British Honduras in 1937, but eventually reappeared to be recruited into the OSS during World War II. He was still active in university affairs as late as 1993. Many of the older faculty members at Miskatonic considered him to be untrustworthy and watched him carefully.

See Armitage, Henry; Dunwich; Emeritus Alcove. (Arkham Unveiled, Herber et. al.; A Resection of Time, Johnson; “To Arkham and the Stars”, Leiber; “The Dunwich Horror”, Lovecraft (O); Other Nations, Marsh and Marsh; “Stacked Actors”, Worthy.)

MORTON, JAMES.

Expert in both bacteriology and chemistry at the Partridgeville Chemical Laboratories. He analyzed certain material found on the corpse of Halpin Chalmers and vanished shortly after completing his analysis.

(“The Wild Hunt”, Ballon; “The Hounds of Tindalos”, Long (O).)

MOTHER HYDRA

See Hydra.

MOUNTAINS

See under name of mountain.

MTHURA

Dark world whose inhabitants are of a crystalline nature. Wizards of Yaddith visited this place while searching for the formulae that would save their home world. Mthura is the home of the Great Old One Q’yth-az.

See Q’yth-az. (“An Early Frost”, Aniolowski; “Shaggai”, Carter; Visions from Yaddith, Carter; “Through the Gates of the Silver Key”, Lovecraft and Price (O).)

MU

Sunken continent one thousand miles south of Easter Island. Mu rose from the Pacific Ocean in the time of the Elder Things. It was later colonized by the Cthulhu-spawn, who retained it after the war with the Elder Things until they sank beneath the waves with R’lyeh.

Mu was supposedly the land where humans first appeared, spreading from there to the rest of the world. In Hyperborean times, Mu paid tribute to the polar kingdom, but at the same time even the wizard Eibon acknowledged the potency of Mu’s incantations. Mu’s civilization reached its heyday around 200,000 years ago, when its nine kingdoms were in full flower.

The gods were much closer to the people of Mu than to those of later times. Alongside humanity lived another more powerful species, described in various sources as the lloigor, another resembling the Great Race in material form, or the serpent people. Most of the population of Mu viewed these as deities and worshiped through their intermediary, the god-priest K’tholo of Souchis.  Aside from these, the Muvians called on a thousand different gods, including Cthulhu, Iod, Yig, Shub-Niggurath, Byatis, and Vorvadoss (who saved the continent from an invasion of extradimensional beings). The three most popular gods, however, were the three “brothers” Zoth-Ommog, Ghatanothoa, and Ythogtha. The Muvian’s devotion to these beings may have led to their downfall.

Over time, the cult of Ghatanothoa became more powerful, until the Year of the Red Moon (173,118 B. C.) T’yog, priest of Shub-Niggurath, set out to challenge their authority by entering the god’s prison in Mount Yaddith-Gho in the kingdom of K’naa. T’yog failed in his mission, and the Ghatanothoa cult became even more powerful until it threatened to close down the temples of all of Mu’s other gods.

The causes of Mu’s destruction remain a mystery. Explanations include the following:

Gas pockets beneath the continent exploded, causing it to sink beneath the ocean. (Churchward) 

The species which lived alongside the humans attempted to reach the next stage in their spiritual evolution too quickly. This attempt released psychokinetic forces so powerful that they sank Mu, and these beings were forced to knock themselves unconscious to prevent themselves and the world from being destroyed. (Wilson) 

According to the Zanthu Tablets, in the Year of the Whispering Shadow (161,844 B. C.) Zanthu, high priest of Ythogtha, tried to summon up his god to counter the power of Ghatanothoa. The Elder Gods took notice of this offense and sank Mu before Ythogtha could be unleashed. (Carter) 

The humans of Mu and the serpent people spliced together their genes to create a new hybrid species embodying the best of both species. These creatures not only sought to become gods through the worship of Ghatanothoa, contacted Yig and ridiculed him, leading the Great Old One to destroy the continent. (Dziesinski) 

The survivors of Mu fled to the regions around the Pacific, where most of them remain to this day. The high priest K’tholo traveled from Mu to South America, and thence to Yucatan, where he was killed in a volcanic explosion. Zanthu made his way to the Plateau of Tsang, where he was buried. Evidence of Mu may be found in the ruins on Ponape and Easter Island, and also in the books Unaussprechlichen Kulten, the Ponape Scripture, the Zanthu Tablets, and the works of Harold Hadley Copeland.

[The source of Mu lies in the priest Diego de Landa’s mistaken attempts to reconstruct a phonetic Mayan alphabet. Much later, the Abbé Brasseur tried to read the Troano Codex using this alphabet and believed that it told how a land called “Mu” sank beneath the ocean (the book is actually an astronomical treatise). Some earlier Muvian scholars such as Augustus Le Plongeon thought Mu and Atlantis were the same. The most famous proponent of Mu, “Colonel” James Churchward, placed it in the Pacific, where most subsequent authors of both occultism and fiction have left it. See Lemuria.]

See Black Seal of Iraan; Copeland, Harold Hadley; Cthulhu; D’horna-ahn Energies; Ghatanothoa; Ghorl Nigral; K’naa; Lloigor; Naacal; Nug and Yeb; Remnants of Lost Empires; Rituals of Yhe; Shamballah; Thasaidon; Tiania; Tsang, Plateau of; Tsathoggua; T’yog; Ubb; Vorvadoss; Yaddith-Gho; Ygoth Records; Yhe; Ythogtha; Zanthu; Zuchequon. (Manuscrit Troano, Brasseur de Bourbourg (O); “The Book of the Gates”, Carter; “The Dweller in the Tomb”, Carter; “The Fishers from Outside”, Carter; “The Offering”, Carter; “Out of the Ages”, Carter; “The Thing in the Pit”, Carter; “The Papyrus of the Dark Wisdom”, Carter and Smith; “The Utmost Abomination”, Carter and Smith; The Lost Continent of Mu, Churchward; Secrets of Japan, Dziesinski; “The Invaders”, Kuttner; “Out of the Aeons”, Lovecraft and Heald; Elysia, Lumley; The Philosopher’s Stone, Wilson; “The Return of the Lloigor”, Wilson.)

MÜLDER, DOCTOR PROFESSOR GOTTFRIED (or HERMANN) (c. 1795–1858)

Scientist from Heidelberg, friend of Friedrich von Junzt, and publisher of Unaussprechlichen Kulten. The two men met in 1815, most likely at the University of Berlin, and became close friends, a bond which grew even stronger after Mülder saved von Junzt’s life after a botched occult experiment. Mülder accompanied von Junzt in his Asian travels in 1818–9, but the two grew apart after their return to civilization.

Von Junzt did not re-enter Mülder’s life until the mid-1830s. At that time, Mülder was operating a publishing house in Dusseldorf, and von Junzt made arrangements with him to have Unaussprechlichen Kulten published. Mülder received the book in 1837; why he waited two years to publish it remains unclear, but it did appear in 1839 with an introduction by Mülder himself. Mülder had commissioned von Junzt to write a second book, but these plans were cut short by his friend’s death.

Mülder’s publishing house never recovered from the scandal that attended von Junzt’s death and soon went bankrupt. Mülder went on to Leipzig, where he used hypnotism to recall von Junzt’s conversations with him and published this information as The Secret Mysteries of Asia in 1847. Unfortunately for him, this printing led to trouble with the authorities. Mülder escaped to Metzengerstein, where he was incarcerated in a madhouse until his death.

[Mülder was originally the creation of Willis Conover who wrote about him in a letter to H. P. Lovecraft. According to Conover, Dr. Prof. Hermann Mülder was an individual who was still alive in 1937. Lin Carter did not see Conover’s side of the correspondence and created an alternate history — and first name — for Mülder. It is possible that one of the doctor’s descendants might have joined the FBI.]

See Ghorl Nigral; Secret Mysteries of Asia; Unaussprechlichen Kulten; Von Junzt, Friedrich. (“Zoth-Ommog”, Carter; Lovecraft at Last, Conover (O); “The History of Von Unaussprechlichen Kulten”, Harris; “The Von Junzt Timeline”, Harris.)

MUM-RATH PAPYRI

Documents translated and commented upon by Ibn Shoddathua. They are said to deal with the Great Old Ones, and provide advice for those who would deal with them.

(“The Book of Preparations”, Carter; “The Fairground Horror”, Lumley (O).)

MY UNDERSTANDING OF THE GREAT BOOKE

Book by Joachim Kindler written in English and published in Buda in 1641. The book purports to gain its material from a Gothic version of the Necronomicon.

See: Necronomicon (appendices). (“The Lurker in the Crypt,” Miller (O).)

MYLAKHRION

Greatest magician to have ever lived in Theem’hdra. Originally from the land of Tharamoon, Mylakhrion studied under such masters as the ice-mages of Khrissa. Despite his great mastery of sorcery, he followed many other wizards of his time in seeking immortality. Through his magic, Mylakhrion could prolong his life for hundreds or even thousands of years, but eternal life continued to elude him.

After many years of futile research, Cthulhu contacted him and offered Mylakhrion his long-sought goal in exchange for freeing the Great Old Ones from their prisons. When Mylakhrion refused to follow through on his part of the bargain, Cthulhu destroyed him.

See Exior K’mool; Teh Atht; Theem’hdra. (“Cryptically Yours...”, Lumley (O); Elysia, Lumley; “Kiss of the Lamia”, Lumley; “Mylakhrion the Immortal”, Lumley; “The Sorcerer’s Book”, Lumley; “Told in the Desert”, Lumley.)

MYSTERIES OF THE WORM

See De Vermis Mysteriis.

MYTH PATTERNS OF THE SHONOKINS

Work by New York occultist John Thunstone dealing with a supposed race of creatures, human-like in appearance, who populated North America before the arrival of the Native Americans. They were reputed to be great wizards, but the newcomers annihilated them for their wicked ways. Some say the Shonokin still exist in small colonies, and Thunstone has much to say about what lies beneath certain mounds on the Plains.

(“Those Beneath the Waves”, Arnold; “Casting the Stone”, Pocsik; “Blood from a Stone”, Wellman (O).)

N

NAACH-TITH

See Barrier of Naach-Tith.

NAACAL

Language spoken on the lost continent of Mu. This tongue may have originated in Hyperborea and was the sacred language of the priests of Mu. It later served as the basis for Mayan hieroglyphic writing. Naacal is now known only to a handful of lamas in the Himalayas, and can be split into two dialects, the common and the hieratic, or “priestly”. The originals of the Ponape Scripture and the Zanthu Tablets were written in hieratic Naacal. The author James Churchward wrote an unpublished guide to the language, the Naacal Key.

[James Churchward first mentioned the Naacal people in The Lost Continent of Mu. According to Churchward, tablets inscribed in their language were located at temples in India and Tibet and told the history of Mu. Very few people take Churchward seriously any more, but the authors of the Cthulhu Mythos were happy to appropriate his language and mention it in their stories.]

See Cthaat Aquadingen; Glyu’Uho; Naacal Key; Ponape; Zanthu Tablets. (“The Dweller in the Tomb”, Carter; “The Fishers from Outside”, Carter; “The Ring of the Hyades”, Glasby; A Resection of Time, Johnson; “Out of the Aeons”, Lovecraft and Heald; “Through the Gates of the Silver Key”, Lovecraft and Price (O).)

NAGAAE

Amphibious creatures living somewhere in western Germany. A nagaae has the body and hind legs of frog with four arms like those of a human. Each has two bulging eyes and a slit with two forked tongues for a mouth. The nagaae move by pushing themselves along with their two hind feet, leaving wide furrows in their wake.

The nagaae are the servitors of the Great Old One Cyäegha and often attend its rituals. See Cyäegha. (“Darkness, My Name Is,” Bertin (O).)

NAGGOOB

Personage known as the “Father of Ghouls”, and head of the servitors of Nyogtha. Though some claim that he is the leader of all ghouls, it seems more likely that he is the head of a small faction that dwells beneath the Plateau of Leng. Naggoob is believed to have presided over the coven-meetings of the Salem witches.

(“Zoth-Ommog”, Carter (O); The Complete Dreamlands, Williams and Petersen.)

NAMELESS CITY

Ruins buried somewhere in the deserts of Arabia, near Hadramaut. At one time the city lay beneath the ocean, but it came to the surface after a cataclysmic buckling of the earth’s crust. A species of reptilian humanoids, possibly a branch race of the deep ones or the serpent men, populated the city. These creatures are believed to have been aquatic, since their power was still great when the city lay on the seacoast but declined as its climate became drier.

The creatures of the city created an advanced civilization and settled several other outposts when the land was still rich and green. A major cataclysm destroyed their surface dwellings, causing them to live underground. When humans appeared in the Middle East and constructed the city of Irem, the reptiles fed on their people and inspired numerous cults that the people of Irem tried desperately to ferret out.

In the end, conflict erupted between the dwellers in Irem and the Nameless City, causing the reptiles to collapse the city of Irem. The remaining reptiles withdrew further to their deepest cavern-temples, carving through the rock to an underground paradise their prophets had promised them. All the inhabitants of the Nameless City departed to this subterranean world, leaving their city uninhabited. The squabbling remnants rest in that underground world, waging war between the clans over the preserved bodies of their ancestors. Today, only a few walls and cavern shrines remain to show their might.

Though it has been empty for centuries, the natives of this region still shun the Nameless City. Before he wrote the Necronomicon, Abdul Alhazred spent much time here. According to Professor Shrewsbury, the forces of evil took Abdul Alhazred to this city following his illusory “demise” in Damascus.

[Though it has become customary to place the Nameless City beneath Irem in Mythos fiction, the descriptions of both from Lovecraft’s fiction make this unlikely. Given that most of these are the descriptions of heat-crazed madmen, perhaps some reconciliation is possible.]

See Abdul Alhazred; Irem; Kara-Shehr; Mnomquah; That is not dead... (“The Keeper of the Key”, Derleth; “The Lurker at the Threshold”, Derleth and Lovecraft; “A History of the Necronomicon”, Lovecraft; “The Nameless City”, Lovecraft (O); “The Return of the Deep Ones”, Lumley; Alhazred, Tyson; Necronomicon, Tyson.)

NAMELESS CULTS

See Unaussprechlichen Kulten.

NAMELESS MIST (possibly also MAGNUM INNOMINANDUM)

Being spawned by Azathoth which in turn gave rise to Yog-Sothoth in the Hour of the Spiral Wind from Nith. It is served by the gugs.

See gugs; Magnum Innominandum; Yog-Sothoth. (“Dreams of the Black Lotus”, Carter; “The Shadow from the Stars”, Carter; Selected Letters IV, Lovecraft (O).)

NAOTALBA

1) High priest of Yhtill in the play The King in Yellow. See King in Yellow. (“The Repairer of Reputations”, Chambers (O); “Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?”, Ross.)

2) King of Carcosa who sent the “record-keepers” out from the library of Celaeno to the far corners of the earth to disseminate the knowledge of the Great Old Ones. See King in Yellow. (“The Repairer of Reputations”, Chambers (O); House of the Toad, Tierney.)

NASHT AND KAMAN-THA

Two mysterious individuals dressed as Egyptian priests.  They are never encountered outside of the Cavern of Flame at the Dreamlands’ entrance. Nasht and Kaman-Tha seem indistinguishable, though some consider Nasht to have a greater understanding of the waking world. The two decide whether a visitor is worthy to enter the lands of dream, and they may be asked about the Dreamlands and the ways of its gods. Some people of the Dreamlands revere Nasht and Kaman-Tha as gods, but it is unclear whether they number among the Great Ones or merely serve as their priests.

See Dreamlands; Seventy Steps of Light Slumber. (“The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft (O); “Passing of a Dreamer”, Myers; H. P. Lovecraft’s Dreamlands, Petersen et. al.)

NATH

Location known as the Land of the Three Suns. The history of this place is detailed in the Chronike von Nath. Nath may be identical with the infamous Vale of Pnath, but the descriptions of the two places seem greatly different. Another possibility is that it is a world home to the Elder Things. One dreamer records such a world as having three suns, and documents of that race speak of artifacts known as the “Spheres of Nath.”

See Chronicles of Nath; Pnath; Spheres of Nath; Tunneler Below. (“Dreams in the Witch-House”, Lovecraft (O); “The Tree on the Hill”, Lovecraft and Rimel; “In the Vaults Beneath”, Lumley.)

NATH-HORTHATH

Great One who is the chief god of Celephaïs. His temple in that city is turquoise, and its eighty priests have lived there for ten thousand years. In Hyperborean times, he was the god of the moon, who observed all dreams, protected humans from nightmares, and gave guidance to rulers. Nath-Horthath’s statues show him with two faces, and lions are sacred to him. Sometimes he will send forth a black, shadowy lion to help those especially favored by him.

See Nithy-Vash. (“Wizards of Hyperborea”, Fultz and Burns; “Celephaïs”, Lovecraft (O); “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft; H. P. Lovecraft’s Dreamlands, Petersen et. al.; “Kadath/The Vision and the Journey”, Winter-Damon.)

NAVISSA CAMP

Town in Manitoba that grew out of a trading post near the Olassie Trail. In 1930, Navissa saw the reappearance of three individuals, two living and one dead, who had vanished from Stillwater the year before. Both died shortly thereafter, and the investigating constable himself vanished, to reappear dead nearby after ten days.

(“Born of the Winds”, Lumley”; “The Thing that Walked on the Wind”, Derleth (O).)

NECROLATRY (“Worship of the Dead”; also NECROLOGY)

Book written by Ivor Gorstadt and published in the year 1702 in Leipzig. The Hoag family of Kingsport once held a copy of Necrolatry, which is now presumably in the library of Miskatonic University.

The book deals with people who have revealed the workings of secret cults and who have paid the price. A great deal of space is spent on Ludwig Prinn and Abdul Alhazred. Other sources indicate that the book may hold some sort of incantations as well.

(“Introduction” to Dreams from R’lyeh, Carter; “The Last Ritual”, Carter (O); Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

NECRONOMICON

See appendices.

NEPHREN-KA (also known as the Black Pharaoh)

Mythical ruler of ancient Egypt. The earliest such figure, mentioned in the Necronomicon, was a lord of Acheron buried in a shroud containing the secrets of Nyarlathotep. Little more is known about him, however.

Most scholars are in firmer agreement that Nephren-Ka was the last pharaoh of the Third Dynasty. Legend has it that Nephren-Ka was a mighty sorcerer, the greatest of Egypt’s priest-kings. He made a deal with Nyarlathotep in the lost city of Irem, and upon his return revived the worship of that god in that land (indeed, some even considered him to be Nyarlathotep’s avatar) and ruled the land as pharaoh. During his reign the priesthoods of Bast, Anubis, and Sebek flourished. The Black Pharaoh is also credited with the discovery of the Shining Trapezohedron.

There was great discontent within the populace due to these changes, and soon thereafter the people of Egypt were in revolt. In the end, Sneferu, the founder of the Fourth Dynasty who had received aid from the goddess Isis, prevailed over the Dark Pharaoh. Nephren-Ka made his way toward the coast, in order to escape to a “western island.” Enemy forces cut him off, however, somewhere near the site of modern-day Cairo. The evil pharaoh and his priests vanished, having buried themselves in an underground vault whose location has remained a secret to this day. Baffled, Sneferu declared the Black Pharaoh dead and had Nephren-Ka’s name stricken from all records and monuments.

In the depths of his hidden funeral vault, Nephren-Ka sacrificed one hundred victims to Nyarlathotep. In exchange for this gift, the Mighty Messenger bestowed the gift of prophecy upon his servant. Nephren-Ka spent the last days of his life drawing the future of the world on the walls of his tomb.

The Sixth Dynasty saw the rise of Queen Nitocris, who revived the worship of Nyarlathotep. Some say that another (or possibly the same?) Nephren-Ka appeared at the end of that dynasty, the child of Nitocris and Nyarlathotep. We have virtually no information about his reign, however.

During the Eighteenth Dynasty, Amenhotep IV (or Akhenaten) found the remains of Nephren-Ka and magically called up the dead wizard. Nephren-Ka influenced the young pharaoh, convincing him to transform his land’s religion into the disguised worship of his own gods. Nephren-Ka soon realized that the time for his resurgence was not right, and returned to his tomb, leaving Akhenaten’s reign to fall.

No one knows what happened to the remaining followers of the Black Pharaoh. Some say they were pushed south into the swamps beyond the Sudan. Others assert that the cultists traveled to Britain. A third school of thought holds that the magicians remained in Egypt, carrying on their worship in secret.

The tomb of Nephren-Ka likewise remains a mystery. Contemporary records state that the Collapsed Pyramid at Meidum and the Bent Pyramid of Dahshur were both built for the internment of Nephren‑Ka and that he rests in the Bent Pyramid. No explorers of this pyramid have found any trace of his remains, however. It has been suggested that seven thousand years after his death, the Black Pharaoh will rise again.

[Bloch mentions “biblical times” and The Book of the Dead in “Fane,” which places the dark pharaoh’s life sometime around the Twentieth Dynasty. Subsequent authors have placed him in the Third, Sixth, Fourteenth, and Eighteenth Dynasties.]

See Bast; Black Pharaoh; Bowen, Enoch; Hadoth; Hutchinson, Edward; Kish; Nitocris; Nyarlathotep (The Beast, Black Wind); Prinn, Ludwig; Saracenic Rituals; Shining Trapezohedron. (Cairo Guidebook, Anderson; “Fane of the Black Pharaoh”, Bloch; “The Strange Doom of Enos Harker”, Carter and Price; “The Papyrus of Nephren-Ka”, Culp; Masks of Nyarlathotep, DiTillio and Willis; “The History of Nephren-Ka”, Harris; Keeper’s Compendium, Herber; “The Haunter of the Dark”, Lovecraft; “The Outsider”, Lovecraft (O); “Ghoul’s Tale”, Price.)

NEPHREN-KA NAI HADOTH

See Hutchinson, Edward.

NESTAR MOBEDAN MOBED

Self-proclaimed Zoroastrian prophet of the sixth century. He and his followers mocked the excesses of the more orthodox priests, departing into the wilderness soon thereafter. Twenty years later, they returned in great numbers to Nestar’s home city, which they assaulted in order to attain and immolate the Tower of Gold, as they called the priests’ temple. The city guard slew Nestar, however, and most of his worshipers were captured and killed.

The remnants of Nestar’s followers returned to their secret dwellings in the hills, where they discovered Nestar’s letters of instruction to his people. Following his commands, the majority of the cult emigrated to India and Russia, where they live to this day. It is rumored that other branches survive elsewhere, but this has not been confirmed.

See Cthugha. (“This Fire Shall Kill”, Bishop (O); Keeper’s Compendium, Herber.)

NEW DUNNICH

See Dunwich.

NEW WORLD INCORPORATED

One of the largest international companies of the Twenties, involved in advanced technology, shipbuilding, and munitions. NWI came into prominence due to the hard work of Edward Chandler, a prominent businessman and philanthropist who perished in an accident in 1929. The company reorganized as New World Industries in the Fifties and moved to Bermuda in the Seventies. More recently, it has branching out into the latest areas of information processing and bioengineering. Even though turnover is high, NWI is known for its supportive attitude toward its employees.

(“Worms”, Harrigan; Fungi from Yuggoth, Herber (O); “Dawn Biozyme”, Isinwyll and Hike.)

N’GAH-KTHUN

1) Pre-human city in which the high temple of the Elder God Ulthar was built. Once every thousand years, the rulers and priests of all of Earth’s empires would come here to the ritual of B’kal to call the avatar of Ulthar to our world.

See Ultharathotep. (“The Whisperer in Darkness”, Lovecraft (O); The Sussex Manuscript, Pelton.)

2) The leader of the mi-go. (“Zoth-Ommog”, Carter (O).)

N’GAI, WOOD OF

The most sacred of all of Nyarlathotep’s places of worship, said to be located somewhere in Wisconsin.

See Nyarlathotep (Dweller in Darkness); Rick’s Lake. (“The Dweller in Darkness”, Derleth.)

NGRANEK

1) Dormant volcano located on the southern isle of Oriab in Earth’s Dreamlands. Its peaks are rugged and bare, and only lava-cutters collecting rock to make their famous carvings climb it. The place has a bad reputation, for many have vanished without a trace while climbing Mount Ngranek. On the mountain’s far side, the earth’s gods carved a huge stone face before they returned to their homes on Kadath. See Oriab; vooniths. (“The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft (O).)

2) God of the dark worshiped by a small cult of ghouls, who take the carved face on Mount Ngranek to be his image. (The Complete Dreamlands, Williams and Petersen (O).)

NGYR-KHORATH

Being that haunted the spaces in which our solar system was formed. It came to consciousness when earth began to spawn life, thereby developing a virulent hatred for it. At this point, the being Paighon came from the Andromeda Galaxy and beat back Ngyr-Khorath’s foul schemes. Ngyr-Khorath may only achieve its goals by contacting susceptible individuals and urging them to aid in its destruction of all life. This can occur through the minds of those using hallucinogens to have visions of the solar system, though the god has had little success in this regard so far. He may also manifest through an offshoot or avatar called ‘Ymnar who can contact its cultists without inducing immediate madness. Von Konnenberg asserts that Ngyr-Khorath is but a manifestation of a force he calls Mlandoth.

See Book of Thoth; Chronicles of Thrang, Uralte Schrecken. (“The Barrett Horror”, DeBill; “Ngyr-Khorath”, DeBill (O); “Where Yidhra Walks”, DeBill.)

N’HLATHI

Centipede-like beings that inhabit the Valley of Dreams at the base of the Purple Mountain in Elysia. They spend most of their time hibernating in tunnels behind metal doors bearing glyphs which even Elysia’s greatest sages are unable to decipher. These creatures are undoubtedly intelligent, but attempts to communicate with them have been futile. Once every ten thousand years, the poppies bloom in the Valley of Dreams, and the N’hlathi emerge to feed upon their seeds, returning afterwards to their homes to hibernate once more. The only time when this cycle is known to have been broken was during the Great Old Ones’ uprising.

(Elysia, Lumley; The Transition of Titus Crow, Lumley (O).)

NIGHTGAUNTS

Species found in both the Dreamlands and the waking world. Anatomically, they are much like humans, save for their whale-like skin, huge bat-wings, horns, and a blankness where their faces should be. (How these beings are able to sense their surroundings without the proper organs has not been determined.) Most are black in color, though one rare white one was reported. Sometimes they carry tridents, but otherwise they bear no tools or weapons.

Nightgaunts are usually found in desolate places, as far from humanity as possible. If a traveler intrudes upon their territory, the nightgaunts ambush and carry them through the air, tickling their victim with their large barbed tails if they struggle. Those who continue to fight back are dropped from a great height; those who do not are taken to strange and dangerous places, and then abandoned there (in the Dreamlands, the Vale of Pnath is a particular favorite.) Some say that even if the nightgaunts are defeated, they will return to the victim later until their mission of terror is satisfied.

Nightgaunts are said to follow Nodens, Lord of the Great Abyss, but are allied to some degree with the ghouls, Yibb-Tstll, Yegg-ha, and the Lords of Luz, a realm beneath the mountains separating Inganok from Leng. It has been suggested that the nightgaunts are native to the Dreamlands’ Great Abyss, and that those which serve other entities than Nodens and the ghouls were captured as infants and raised by these beings. The nightgaunts have formed alliances at times with other beings, and in at least one instance have willingly served a human master.

The summoning of a nightgaunt requires the use of a stone bearing the Elder Sign at night, but nothing else is known of this procedure.

See ghouls; Nodens; Pnath; shantak; Yegg-Ha; Yibb-Tstll. (“The Winfield Inheritance”, Carter; Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying Game, Cook and Tynes, “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft (O); Dreams and Fancies, Lovecraft; Hero of Dreams, Lumley; “The Horror at Oakdeene”, Lumley; “The Exorcism of Iagsat”, Pulver.)

NIGHT-GAUNT

First novel written by Edgar Henquist Gordon. Published by Charnel House of London, its morbid subject matter made it a commercial failure.

(“The Dark Demon”, Bloch (O); “The Winfield Heritance”, Carter.)

NIOTH KORGHAI

1) Monster which will come to earth in the time of Zothique, riding a comet out of the sky. The great king Ossaru will find the monster and bring it back to his palace, occasionally sacrificing youths to satiate its hunger. In the end, however, both Ossaru and Nioth Korghai will perish and be buried forever in the same tomb.

[Lin Carter linked this monster to the Mythos, but gave no reason for favoring Nioth Korghai over any of Smith’s other Zothique creature. He also stated that Nioth Korghai will be the last being to live on this planet, a fact the story directly contradicts.]

(“The Tomb-Spawn”, Smith (O).)

2) Aquatic creatures from the planet Karthis near Rigel that feed off human lifeforce. These beings travel between star-systems in a ship of immense size, taking their nourishment from the beings whose planets they pass. They refer to themselves as being “of the Ubbo-Sathla”, and may be related to that god in some way. (Ye Booke of Monstres, Aniolowski; The Space Vampires, Wilson (O).)

NIR.

Village that lies between the Enchanted Wood and Ulthar. It has only a single street and a stone bridge across the river Skai; the bridge had a human sacrifice interred within when it was built thirteen centuries ago..

See Hatheg; Lerion. (“The Cats of Ulthar”, Lovecraft (O); “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft.)

NITHON

According to some sources, one of the moons of the great world Yuggoth. Heavy phosphorescent clouds that block out all sunlight cover Nithon, and strange fungi sprout on its continents.

(“Nithon”, Fantina; “Star-Winds”, Lovecraft (O); “The Discovery of the Ghooric Zone”, Lupoff.)

NITHY-VASH

Dreamlands town to the south of Celephaïs. Nithy-Vash lies on a green hillside, and most of its buildings are quaint thatched cottages. Of especial note there are the temple of Nath-Horthath and the shop of Getech the curio-dealer.

(“The Four Sealed Jars”, Myers (O); H. P. Lovecraft’s Dreamlands, Petersen et. al.)

NITOCRIS

Sixth Dynasty queen of Egypt. During her reign, she revived the worship of the Black Pharaoh, or Nyarlathotep, and legend says her cruelty knew no bounds. She is said to have invited many of her officials and priests to a lavish banquet-hall one night, and then flooded the area, inundating the revelers. She is also known to have owned the Shining Trapezohedron used by the evil pharaoh Nephren-Ka.

One of the blackest tales of the reign of this queen involves the so-called “Mirror of Nitocris”. The queen unearthed this artifact from the vaults of Kish, where legend told that Nephren-Ka had left it, and Nitocris used it in many ways. She often left a condemned prisoner in a room with the mirror for one night; in the morning, the victim had vanished completely.

At the end of her reign, Nitocris was buried alive within her tomb, the exact location of which has never been revealed.

[While she has undergone considerable changes in Cthulhu Mythos fiction, Nitocris is a legendary figure. Her brother was the pharaoh before her, and her infamous drowning of her courtiers was said to be vengeance for his death. Nitocris is said to have killed herself afterward by throwing herself into a chamber of “hot ashes”. No contemporary Egyptian accounts of these events have been discovered, so they likely have no basis in fact. Two other women named Nitocris — a Babylonian queen and a Twenty-Sixth Dynasty daughter of a pharaoh — should not be confused with this one.]

See Black Brotherhood; Kish; Nyarlathotep; People of the Monolith; Shining Trapezohedron. (“Imprisoned with the Pharaohs”, Lovecraft and Houdini (O); “The Mirror of Nitocris”, Lumley.)

N’KAI (possibly also N’KEN)

Dark cavern that is the home of the Great Old One Tsathoggua. It is usually said to lie beneath the subterranean land of Yoth, though others place it beneath Mount Voormithadreth.  Entrances to it are as far apart as the Carlsbad Cavern and the Black Forest of Germany, so it may be that it lies in another dimension entirely.

The people of Yoth took images of Tsathoggua from these caverns. A later exploration to N’kai from the caves of K’n‑yan found only amorphous servitors of Tsathoggua which oozed down stone troughs and worshiped the toad-god’s many idols. The expedition’s survivors sealed off the passage. Since then, there have been several attempts to discover the location of this entrance, but none have been successful.

See formless spawn; K’n-yan; Tsathoggua; Yoth. (“The Grinning Ghoul”, Bloch; The Life of Eibon according to Cyron of Varaad, Carter; “The Alchemist’s Notebook”, Hurd and Baetz; Selected Letters III, Lovecraft; “The Mound”, Lovecraft and Bishop (O).)

NNG

See Nug.

NOCTUARY OF VIZOORANOS

See Book of Night.

NODENS (also LORD OF THE GREAT ABYSS)

Being who is often placed among the Elder Gods, and indeed may be the most famous of them. He is usually represented as an old man standing with an oaken staff in one hand on a seashell chariot drawn by fantastic beasts. At times he is depicted as having a beard of tentacles as well.

Nodens bears special love for dreamers and visionaries. He has been known to take such individuals on trips with him across space and time. He is also the lord of the nightgaunts, though at times his power over them seems limited.

According to some, Nodens last came to Earth billions of years in the past and was worshiped by certain beings of which we know nothing. He left when the Great Old Ones arrived, and he and his worshipers made their way to the far future, when Nodens would once again walk the lands of Earth. This myth holds that Nodens and Yog-Sothoth are opposed to one another. This is hard to reconcile with the other known manifestations of Nodens, unless Nodens has avatars that visit our planet periodically.

In other stories, the gods of Earth have entrusted Nodens with guarding the prisons of the Great Old Ones. There will come a time, though, when Nodens himself will cease his vigilance and sleep. Then the Great Old Ones will be freed from their tombs.

The Atlanteans worshiped Nodens under the name Chozzar, God of Magic, and the Druids also paid him homage as the “serpent of waters”. His temple at Lydney, England may be found by the dying, upon whom Nodens may bestow healing — at a high price. A pillar found near the town of Caermaen names Nodens in connection with what might be a mating ritual, but it is unknown whether the god endorsed or protected against those involved. A small modern cult sees Nodens as a hunter, emulating him by periodically tracking and killing cultists of other faiths.

One researcher claimed Nodens was identical with Satan, though this seems unlikely.

[Little information on Nodens exists. He might be a form of Nud or Lud or Nuada, one of the former heads of the Celtic pantheon. This god lost his arm in battle, and a silver one was forged for him. Due to his disability, however, he stepped down as head of the Celtic gods. He might have had a holy site in Lydney, on the banks of the Severn River, though inscriptions to other gods have also been found there. (See Hutton’s The Pagan Religions in the Ancient British Isles for more information.) Lovecraft likely chose to use Nodens because he was mentioned in Arthur Machen’s “The Great God Pan.”]

See Elder Gods; Gods of Earth; Great Abyss; nightgaunts; Yog-Sothoth. (“Glimpses”, Attansio; “A Priestess of Nodens”, Attansio; “Hell on Earth”, Bloch; “Power of the Druid”, Bloch; Nightside of Eden, Grant; “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft; “The Strange High House in the Mist”, Lovecraft; “The Great God Pan”, Machen; “The House of the Worm”, Myers; “The Fall of Cthulhu”, Nelson.)

NOPHRU-KA

High priest of a powerful cult of Nyarlathotep in Egypt during the Fourteenth Dynasty who attempted to overthrow the old regime and become the new pharaoh. To accomplish these ends, he called down monsters from the stars to wreak havoc across the land. In the confusion, Nophru‑Ka and his cultists would attack the pharaoh and set up their own government. Nyarlathotep himself smiled on their venture and promised to send a messenger to aid them.

The current pharaoh learned of the plot, and his assassins tracked down Nophru-Ka, killing him as he knelt to pray in his cult’s most sacred temple. As he died, Nophru-Ka pronounced a curse upon the head of the pharaoh and the ruling line of Egypt.

The high priest’s followers, demoralized by their leader’s death, were driven to the south until they arrived at the ruined city of G’harne.

Some claim that Nophru-Ka was a reincarnation of the Black Pharaoh Nephren-Ka, while others claim that his claim to such title was spurious and that the cults of the Black Pharaoh brought about his death.

[“Nophru-Ka” seems to have been a misreading of “Nephren-Ka” (which see), as Herber has named “Nephren-Ka” as the former head of the Brotherhood of the Beast in a later work.]

See Brotherhood of the Beast; G’harne; Nyarlathotep; Nyarlathotep (The Beast). (Fungi from Yuggoth, Herber (O); Cthulhu Live: Lost Souls, Salmon et. al.)

NORD, GASPARD DU

See du Nord, Gaspard.

NOTES ON NESSIE: THE SECRETS OF LOCH NESS REVEALED!

Book by Robert Allan McGilchrist of Edinburgh. After his wife and children deserted him because of his curious ways, McGilchrist published a series of studies on such mythological topics as the Lambton Worm and the naiads supposed to live in the lochs near Inverness. Notes on Nessie caused a small sensation when it appeared in 1900, despite its limited print run. McGilchrist was found one day drowned in a pool on his property.

Little information on what is in the book has appeared, though it might link Cthulhu to the sea-serpents and dragons of world myth.

(Keeper’s Compendium, Herber; Beneath the Moors, Lumley (O); “The House of the Temple”, Lumley.)

NOTES ON THE CTHAAT AQUADINGEN

Volume by Joachim Feery. This book is very rare, as are most of Feery’s limited editions. As with his Notes on the Necronomicon, it contains several quotes from the Cthaat Aquadingen that have been recreated and expanded upon. One section provides a long quote on the summoning of Bugg-Shash.

See Feery, Joachim. (“The Fairground Horror”, Lumley (O); “The Kiss of Bugg-Shash”, Lumley.)

NOTES ON THE NECRONOMICON

Book written by Joachim Feery. His Notes on the Necronomicon is the best known of the many limited-edition books he privately published. Despite his claims of obtaining the occult knowledge he put in his books through dreams, no one questions his knowledge of the paranormal.

Two editions of Notes on the Necronomicon were published, the first containing all of Feery’s researches (see Original Notes on the Necronomicon), the second an abridged and edited printing. A French edition might also exist. This slim volume contains many quotes from the Necronomicon as well as Feery’s commentaries upon the texts. Many of the quotes within differ significantly from the original volume, as Feery inserted much material he asserted he had received in dreams into these extracts.

See Feery, Joachim; Necronomicon (appendices); Original Notes on the Necronomicon. (“Aunt Hester”, Lumley; “Cement Surroundings”, Lumley (O); “The House of the Temple”, Lumley; “Name and Number”, Lumley.)

NOTES ON WITCHCRAFT IN MONMOUTHSHIRE, GLOUCESTERSHIRE AND THE BERKELEY REGION

William Thomas (or A. V.) Sangster’s 1962 book dealing with the witch beliefs of the area. It especially notes the legends surrounding Byatis, along with other Great Old Ones whose cults are active in the area.

(Ramsey Campbell’s Goatswood, Aniolowski and Sumpter; “The Room in the Castle”, Campbell (O); “Unseen”, Love.)

NOTH-YIDIK

Being whose children are considered especially repulsive, even by the worshipers of the Great Old Ones. It has been said that these children, made by Noth-Yidik’s mating with K’thun, are the Hounds of Tindalos.

See K’thun. (“The Madness out of Time”, Carter; “The Horror in the Museum”, Lovecraft and Heald (O).)

NOTON AND KADIPHONEK, MOUNTS

Two mountains in the land of Lomar that flanked the pass leading to the city of Olathoë. The Inutos came through this pass and, catching the Lomarians unaware, destroyed them and their city.

See Lomar. (“Polaris”, Lovecraft (O).)

N’TSE-KAAMBL

Elder God “whose splendour hath shattered worlds”. She often appears as a beautiful woman in flowing robes bearing a spear and shield. N’tse-Kaambl is primarily worshiped in the Dreamlands, especially by the priests of Yuth. Some credit the invention of the Elder Sign to her. A rite in the Book of Eibon calls upon her protection, but it may only be cast on a tall hill or tower with eight people present.

(“The House of the Worm”, Myers (O); “Xiurhn”, Myers; “The Adoration of the Black Flame”, Pulver; The Complete Dreamlands, Williams and Petersen.)

NUG (or NNG)

Creature who may the “Grandfather of Ghouls”, but who is probably the twin of Yeb instead.

See Black Litanies of Nug and Yeb; Nug and Yeb; Yeb. (“The Descent into the Abyss”, Carter and Smith; “The Mound”, Lovecraft and Bishop; “The Last Test”, Lovecraft and de Castro.)

NUG AND YEB

Two minor Mythos entities, the true origin and significance of which remain a mystery. They are said to be the children of Shub-Niggurath and Yog-Sothoth, and in turn have given birth to Cthulhu and Tsathoggua by way of asexual fission. (The link to Tsathoggua is unlikely, however, as the Parchments of Pnom deal at some length with the genealogy of this Great Old One, making no reference to either of these entities.) On the other hand, others allege that Nug and Yeb are the spawn of Shub-Niggurath and Hastur the Unspeakable; this seems more likely, considering that these beings are often mentioned together.

Nug and Yeb were worshiped together in Irem, Mu, and K’n‑yan. In Irem, their shrine has been found bearing the yin-yang symbol, implying that the two beings may represent cosmic opposites of some sort. Other texts refer to Nug and Yeb as the creator and keeper, respectively, of a garden in which Yig thrives. Their rites were said to be especially abhorrent. These two beings have been entrusted with the task of clearing off the earth to make it ready for the Great Old Ones’ return, and use two devices called the “Furnace of Yeb” and the “Torch of Nug” to accomplish this purpose.

The esoteric doctrines of the monks of Leng teach that Nug and Yeb are the secret names of Lloigor and Zhar respectively, and are known as Klulu (Cthulhu) and Nyarlathotep when the stars are right.

See Black Litanies of Nug and Yeb; Furnace of Yeb; K’n-yan; Nug; Shub-Niggurath; Yig; Yog-Sothoth. (“Carcosa Story about Hali”, (fragment) Carter; “The Strange Doom of Enos Harker”, Carter and Price; Selected Letters III, Lovecraft; Selected Letters IV, Lovecraft; “The Mound”, Lovecraft and Bishop; “The Last Test”, Lovecraft and de Castro (O), “Out of the Aeons”, Lovecraft and Heald; “Black Fire”, Murray; “To Clear the Earth”, Murray; “The Jest of Yig”, Webb.)

NUG-SOTH

1) Magician from fourteen thousand years in the future whose mind was at one time captured by the Great Race of Yith. (“The Shadow Out of Time”, Lovecraft (O).)

2) Species that at one time lived on the planet of Yaddith. They were humanoid in shape, encased in carapaces, and bore the snouts of tapirs. On their home world of Yaddith, the Nug-Soth built a highly advanced civilization, in which travel through space and other dimensions was an everyday occurrence. When the dholes came to Yaddith, however, the Nug-Soth were unable to save their world, and they scattered themselves throughout the cosmos. See Kath; Shub-Niggurath; Yaddith. (“Visions from Yaddith”, Carter; “Through the Gates of the Silver Key”, Lovecraft and Price (O).)

3) Alphabet given in the Necronomicon which is used for mystical inscriptions on ritual implements. Whether these letters are connected with either of the two “Nug-Soth” mentioned above is uncertain. (“The Book of the Gates”, Carter; Necronomicon: The Book of Dead Names, Hay, ed. (O).)

NUMINOS

Borea’s closest moon, which Ithaqua has populated with many sorts of animals and plants. Numinos is mostly covered with ocean, and is home to many fierce bands of Norsemen whose culture is much like that of Vikings. Almost all the world’s inhabitants revere the Wendigo unswervingly, having seen the destruction he wrought upon them many years before. One small colony of rebels does live on the Isle of Mountains.

See Borea. (In the Moons of Borea, Lumley; Spawn of the Winds, Lumley (O).)

NYARLATHOTEP (also the Crawling Chaos or Mighty Messenger)

The soul and messenger of the Outer Gods. It is said to dwell in a cavern at the center of the world, accompanied by two mindless flutists. It often carries messages and performs services for the Great Old Ones and Other Gods, being the only one of them who seems free and able to do so.

The Crawling Chaos acts as an intermediary between the Great Old Ones and their worshipers, as well as taking messages between the Great Old Ones themselves. In fact, Nyarlathotep may be a personification of the telepathic powers of the Great Old Ones. Nonetheless, Nyarlathotep seems to have a distinct personality which the Old Ones’ inhuman minds might find difficult to create, and it has been openly contemptuous of its supposed “masters” at times. His relations with particular Great Old Ones may vary. Cthugha displays open enmity toward it, and the cults of Nyarlathotep and Cthulhu vary in attitude from friendly cooperation to thinly-veiled dislike.

Nyarlathotep has been worshiped under several guises in all parts of the world. One of its most infamous cults was among the Stygians, who called it “Nyarlat” and brought its worship to Egypt. The Crawling Chaos was one of the greatest gods in the land of the Nile, where it was the ruler of the underworld, the master of the night, and the patron of sorcerers. After many years, however, the people of Egypt grew frightened of the dark god and struck out all references to it from their records and monuments, reassigning its attributes to other gods such as Set and Thoth. Though the enemies of the cult were able to suppress the memory of Nyarlathotep, a few remembered. Resurgences of its worship occurred throughout Egyptian history, the most famous of which were led by Nephren-Ka, the Hyksos, Nophru-Ka, and Nitocris. (It was during Nephren-Ka’s reign that the suffix “-hotep”, meaning “the gratified”, was added to the god’s name.)

Nyarlathotep is called the “all-seeing eye” in Prinn’s De Vermis Mysteriis and knows much about magic and technology. The Crawling Chaos sometimes appears to a chosen person and gives them a useful incantation or piece of machinery. Unfailingly, these gifts lead only to the madness and destruction of their wielders. Nyarlathotep seems to gain great pleasure from watching these victims destroy themselves.

The Outer God will eventually bring destruction to humanity and the earth. Several prophesies state that Nyarlathotep will come in the last days, dressed in red and with wild beasts following it, licking its hands. The Crawling Chaos will journey among the cities of the world, giving demonstrations of science and magic. Then “quaking auroras will roll down on the citadels of man”, and humanity will be destroyed as the Crawling Chaos turns the entire universe into a colossal graveyard. Nyarlathotep aided in the construction of the first nuclear weapons, so this prophecy may already be coming true.

Nyarlathotep’s true form is a noxious expanse of yellowish slime, but to carry out the bidding of the Other Gods, Nyarlathotep can take any one of its thousand forms. Whether Nyarlathotep truly is confined to a thousand forms is uncertain; recent findings suggest that Nyarlathotep may be able to take any form it desires. It has used only a few during its journeys to our world, however; those that are known are listed below.

AHTU (Congo): In this form, Nyarlathotep appears as a huge mound of viscous material, with several golden tentacles sprouting from its central mass. Ahtu’s worshipers are usually deformed or mutilated natives, though some Europeans likewise handicapped have also attained membership. The cult itself was at one time a revolutionary organization opposed to the Belgian overlords. The cult calls Ahtu by using a golden bracelet usually separated into two parts, to prevent Ahtu from being summoned by accident. Some have suggested a link between Ahtu and the Cambodian god Angka. See Dhol Chants. (Delta Green, Detwiller, Glancy, and Tynes; “Than Curse the Darkness”, Drake (O); “Dead of Night”, Herber.)

AKU-SHIN-KAGE (Japan): A man in the ceremonial armor of a samurai, with many small mouths in place of a face. He has caused war and destruction throughout the island’s history. (Secrets of Japan, Dziesinski (O).)

THE BEAST (worldwide): This form of Nyarlathotep manifests itself though one of the world’s great monuments. It is the principal being worshiped by the Brotherhood of the Beast. See Brotherhood of the Beast; Nophru-Ka. (Fungi from Yuggoth, Herber (O).)

THE BLACK BULL (Egypt): In the form of a bull or a human, Nyarlathotep will become the herald of the End Times in this guise. The heads of the cult are mummies who share a special hatred with the Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh. (“Im Zeichen des Stiers”, Schütte (O).)

THE BLACK DEMON: This form is not known to be worshiped anywhere. It is a black‑furred, snouted monster that fears the light (though it is not harmed by it). The formula for summoning it may be found in the N’gral Khul, a set of tablets in Aklo. A summoner may control the being using certain talismans, though the user runs a chance of being attacked himself. The Black Demon is much like the Dark Demon in form, but is much less intelligent than the other avatar is. (“One in Darkness”, Isinwyll and Lyons (O).)

BLACK LION (Egypt): A gigantic sphinxlike figure bearing a face of utter darkness. This form has only appeared once, in dynastic Egypt, but the destruction it wrought was horrendous. It might have ties to the Beast. (“Nyarlatophis”, Sargent (O).)

BLACK MAN (England): A hairless man with dead black skin and hooves on his feet. The Crusaders brought the worship of Nyarlathotep in this form back to Europe, and their descendants began the European witch-cults in which the Black Man played an important role. (“The Faceless God”, Bloch; “The Dreams in the Witch-House”, Lovecraft (O).)

BLACK PHARAOH (Egypt): A man of proud Egyptian features, garbed in prismatic robes and wearing the headpiece of a pharaoh. This form may be identical with that of the Black Man, and is much like the occultist Aleister Crowley’s description of Aiwaz, the spirit that dictated The Book of the Law to him. See Black Pharaoh. (“The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft (O); S. Petersen’s Field Guide to Cthulhu Monsters, Petersen et. al.)

BLACK WIND (Kenya): The cult of this avatar is the same as that of the God of the Bloody Tongue. At times, Nyarlathotep takes the form of the Black Wind, a great storm that destroys crops, forests, and houses for miles around. This avatar also swept Egypt during the reign of Nephren-Ka. (Masks of Nyarlathotep, DiTillio and Willis (O); “The History of Nephren-Ka”, Harris.)

BLOATED WOMAN (China): Nyarlathotep appears as a huge, obese woman, with five mouths and many tentacles. It carries the mystical Black Fan, with which it magically hides its unseemly bulk from humans until it has ensnared them. This cult has deep roots in China, and holds the books Goddess of the Black Fan and the Tale of Priest Kwan as holy. (Masks of Nyarlathotep, DiTillio and Willis (O).)

BRINGER OF PESTS (Egypt): Worshiped in Egypt’s Twelfth Dynasty, this manifestation can only be described as a horde of huge spitting supernatural locusts. It has no known modern cult. (“The Ten Commandments of Cthulhu Hunting”, Monroe and Petersen (O).)

CRAWLING MIST (Dreamlands): A sickly-colored fog which springs up without warning and moves purposefully toward the Messenger’s destination. (Elysia, Lumley (O).)

DARK DEMON: A form of Nyarlathotep which occasionally possesses a contactee. It appears much as the Black Demon (a snouted, clawed, black-furred being), but is larger and more cunning. It sometimes seduces those steeped in studies of black magic, promising them glory if they will allow him to enter their bodies. (“The Dark Demon”, Bloch (O).)

DARK DESTROYER: Though it is a shapeshifter, this avatar often appears as a glowing cloud that emanates terror or a horned, human-like form. This might also be an avatar of Azathoth, though this is unlikely. (The Dark Destroyer, Glasby.)

DARK ONE (California, Louisiana): Some Mythos cults are visited by Nyarlathotep in the semblance of an eight-foot, totally black man without a face, who can pass through any material barrier at will. (“Mr. Skin”, Milan (O).)

DWELLER IN DARKNESS (Wood of N’gai): In Nyarlathotep’s sacred wood, the Crawling Chaos takes the form of a wailing, faceless monstrosity which constantly puts out and reabsorbs various appendages. While in this form, Nyarlathotep can temporarily transform into any shape it desires. This avatar usually only manifests itself at night. (“The Dweller in Darkness”, Derleth (O).)

EATER OF SOULS (Egypt): An imposing man, garbed as a pharaoh, with a black gulf in place of a face. (Necronomicon, Tyson (O).)

EFFIGY OF HATE (Africa): One now-extinct African tribe worshiped the Mighty Messenger in this form, which manifested itself through their war totems. This winged monstrosity allowed its cultists to relive past battles and change the course of their history, a power that in the end did not help them. (“Regiment of Dread”, Gillan (O).)

THE FACELESS GOD (Ancient Egypt): In the elder days of the Egyptian civilization, the people worshiped Nyarlathotep in the form of a winged sphinx with a featureless head bearing the triple crown of a deity. The Faceless God manifested itself at times through the bodies of its idols. The other priesthoods later suppressed this cult. Its worship was nearly forgotten, though statues of this being still may be found in the Egyptian desert. This avatar may be identical with Nyarlathotep’s Beast aspect. (“The Faceless God”, Bloch (O).)

THE FLOATING HORROR (Haiti): This form of Nyarlathotep must manifest itself through the body of a specially chosen and prepared host, from whom it springs when the host body has been killed. It appears as a red-veined, jellyfish-like floating organism of a bluish color. This avatar is connected with certain fringe voodoo cults. [This being’s title is my own creation.] (“The Star-Pools”, Attansio (O).)

GOD OF THE BLOODY TONGUE (Kenya): For the rituals of the Cult of the Bloody Tongue, Nyarlathotep here takes the form of a huge monster with a long red tentacle where its face should be. The cult primarily consists of Kenyans, and its center is the Mountain of the Black Wind. This avatar might also have been the inspiration for K’awil, an important Mayan god. This form is also known as the Howler in Darkness. See Cult of the Bloody Tongue. (Masks of Nyarlathotep, DiTillio and Willis (O); A Resection of Time, Johnson.)

GREEN MAN (Celts): A possessed effigy of a man made of the leaves and stems from various plants. The Green Man is usually dormant, awakening only to answer questions as an oracle or to accept a sacrifice. (“Eyes for the Blind”, Hallett and Isinwyll (O); Keeper’s Compendium, Herber.)

HAUNTER OF THE DARK (Australia, Yuggoth): This cult originated on Yuggoth, but was prevalent during the reign of Nephren-Ka. Nyarlathotep appears as a huge bat-like thing with a tri‑lobed eye, a form that might be that of a huge hunting horror. It has been suggested that this being takes hypnotic control over those who summon it. This manifestation of Nyarlathotep must be kept in darkness, as intense light will banish it.

The cult’s most sacred item cult is the Shining Trapezohedron, which allows the Haunter to enter our dimension. A modern-day cult in Australia numbers Aborigines and slum-dwelling members of other races in its ranks, and is symbolized by a spiraling sign. The Starry Wisdom Church is its most famous group of followers. This form of Nyarlathotep is also known as Sand Bat, Face Eater, Father of All Bats, Dark Wing, and Fly-The-Light. See Shining Trapezohedron; Starry Wisdom. (Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying Game, Cook and Tynes; “City beneath the Sands”, DiTillio and Willis; “The Haunter of the Dark”, Lovecraft (O); Selected Letters V, Lovecraft; Clock of Dreams, Lumley.)

HORNED MAN (Celts): The Celts worshiped this aspect of Nyarlathotep. Resembling a human male with the horns of a stag, it can only be seen by those under the influence of hallucinogens. (Return to Dunwich, Herber (O).)

HOWLER IN DARKNESS: See God of the Bloody Tongue avatar.

KRUSCHTYA EQUATION: A mathematical formula that causes Nyarlathotep to possess the person who solves it. (Malleus Monstrorum, Aniolowski (O).)

LROGG (Uranus): On the world of L’gy’hx (Uranus), the metallic natives and some rebellious insects from Shaggai worship Nyarlathotep in the form of a two-headed bat. The rites are not particularly bloodthirsty, and the worshipers are only required to make an annual sacrifice of one of their number. (Ye Booke of Monstres, Aniolowski; “The Insects from Shaggai”, Campbell (O).)

MANY-LEGGED GOAT: This form is only known from references made in ceremonies dedicated to the Crawling Chaos. (A Night in the Lonesome October, Zelazny (O).)

THE MASKED MESSENGER: This female avatar wearing a bronze mask is best known in Morocco. (Secrets of Kenya, Conyers (O).)

MESSENGER OF THE OLD ONES: This avatar resembles a tremendous black mass which moves through the sky, constantly throwing out streamers with which it seems to pulls itself through the air. The Messenger only appears for extremely important events, such as the emergence of Cthulhu from his tomb. (Ye Booke of Monsters, Aniolowski; “The Willow Platform”, Brennan (O);”The Rise of R’lyeh”, Petersen.)

POOL OF SHADOW (Druids): One small Druid-cult has worshiped Nyarlathotep for millennia. He often appears at their rites in this form, but will transform into another if attacked. (The Arkham Evil, Diaper et. al. (O).)

QUEEN IN RED: A dangerous woman dressed in red who sometimes displays demonic features. She is considered a counterpart of the King in Yellow, though the relationship of the two figures is unclear. See Queen in Red. (Malleus Monstrorum, Aniolowski (O).)

SET (Egypt): Nyarlathotep has been known to appear in the guise of this Egyptian deity. Several hidden cults to it, including the “Majestic Order of the Great Dark One”, may still exist in Egypt. (“The Sundial of Amen-Tet”, Aniolowski (O).)

SHUGORAN (Malaysia): A black humanoid figure represented as playing a sort of horn. The Tcho-tcho people of Malaysia revere this being, calling it forth to take vengeance against those who have offended them. (“Black Man with a Horn”, Klein (O); Escape from Innsmouth, Ross.)

SKELETAL HORROR (Egypt): This rare manifestation resembles a twelve-foot living skeleton with the head of a human embryo and tremendous claws on his hands. Nyarlathotep only takes on this form when he transforms from one of his other avatars due to an attack. (“Thoth’s Dagger”, Hamblin (O).)

SKINLESS ONE (Middle East): A particularly despicable cult in Turkey and the surrounding area reveres Nyarlathotep in the guise of a flayed corpse. (Horror on the Orient Express, Gillan et. al. (O).)

SMALL CRAWLER (India): This form consists of a dwarfed human figure, with four arms and three tentacles as legs. It is mentioned in the Cthaat Aquadingen and has a small following in India. See Cthaat Aquadingen. (Masks of Nyarlathotep, DiTillio and Willis (O).)

SPIRALING WORM (Congo): Imprisoned long ago in the Temple of Akhnut in the depths of the jungle, this reality-devouring avatar is the focus of a cult led by the masked Skunga-Zu that seeks to free it. (“The Spiraling Worm”, Conyers and Sunseri (O).)

TEZCATLIPOCA (Mexico): A man with dark skin with a smoking mirror in place of one of his feet. Tezcatlipoca was one of the Aztec’s most important deities. (A Resection of Time, Johnson (O).)

THING IN THE YELLOW MASK (Dreamlands): An entity draped in yellow silk, it visited the abandoned city of ‘Ygiroth on Mount Lerion, and some say it dwells in the nameless monastery on the Plateau of Leng. Although most consider the King in Yellow to be an avatar of Hastur, this may provide an alternate explanation. See High Priest Not to be Described; King in Yellow. (“In ‘Ygiroth”, DeBill; “Celephaïs”, Lovecraft (O); “The Elder Pharos”, Lovecraft.)

THOTH (Egypt): This hypothetical form, resembling an ibis-headed human, may be the guise which Nyarlathotep adopted for use among the early Egyptians. (“Thoth’s Dagger”, Hamblin (O).)

TICK TOCK MAN: Nyarlathotep manifests as an artificial intelligence in this form, whether driven by electricity or clockwork. (“I Dream of Wires”, Aniolowski (O).)

WAILING WRITHER: A column of whirling black tentacles and screaming mouths. This particular form of Nyarlathotep has been known to possess a chosen victim, later bursting apart its host’s body upon its departure. Though it is alluded to in some Hindu tales, the Writher has no known worshipers. (Escape from Innsmouth, Ross (O).)

WHITE MAN (New England): A glowing blond young man wearing dazzlingly white robes. Nyarlathotep’s only known appearance in this form was to a splinter group of the Shakers, though once again parallels may be found in the witch-trial accounts. (“The Madness out of Space”, Cannon (O).)

See Abbith; Book of Azathoth; Black Rites; Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh; Byagoona; Cthugha; Cthulhu; Dreamlands; elemental theory; Fable of Nyarlathotep; ghouls; Great Old Ones; gugs; hunting horrors; Kadath; Koth; London, Teddy; Million Favoured Ones; moon-beasts; Necronomicon (appendices); Nephren-Ka; N’gai; Nitocris; Nophru-Ka; Other Gods; Outer Gods; sand-dwellers; Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan; shantaks; Sharnoth; Sign of Eibon; Smith, Morgan; S’ngac; Sorcerie de Demonologie; Stygia; T’sman Manuscript; World of Seven Suns; Yegg-ha; Yig; ‘Ymnar. (“The Faceless God”, Bloch; “The Shadow from the Steeple”, Bloch; “The Dweller in Darkness”, Derleth; “The Lurker at the Threshold”, Derleth and Lovecraft; Delta Green, Detwiller, Glancy, and Tynes; Masks of Nyarlathotep, DiTillio and Willis; Fungi from Yuggoth, Lovecraft; “Nyarlathotep” (prose poem), Lovecraft (O); “The Rats in the Walls”, Lovecraft; The Burrowers Beneath, Lumley; Elysia, Lumley; “The Worm of Urakhu”, Tierney; Alhazred, Tyson.)

NYHARGO CODE

Arabic script that should be written on a wall using blue and green chalk. Its powers and uses are unknown.

(“Lord of the Worms”, Lumley; “Rising with Surtsey”, Lumley (O).)

NYHARGO DIRGE

Chant contained within the Cthaat Aquadingen and the Codex Dagonensis. It may be used to destroy zombies and other of the living dead that possess a physical body.

(Keeper’s Compendium, Herber; “Billy’s Oak”, Lumley (O); Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

NYOGTHA (also the THING THAT SHOULD NOT BE)

Great Old One spawned of Tsathoggua or Ubbo-Sathla which appears as a dark amorphous mass. It possesses vampiric characteristics, feeding off the souls of those with whom it comes into contact.

Nyogtha dwells deep beneath the earth in the caverns of Yoth, or possibly within a dark world circling Arcturus. It can only manifest itself through certain openings to the upper world. Such openings have been found in Massachusetts, Syria, Tartary, Romania, New Zealand and the Plateau of Leng, but they undoubtedly exist in other places as yet undiscovered.

Nyogtha is not thought to have an active cult, though solitary sorcerers invoke it to gain personal power. It has been connected with at least one of the witches executed in the Salem witch-trials, and there have been other instances of worship scattered worldwide. Some cults associated with ghouls also serve Nyogtha. The Thing that Should Not Be may be summoned at the entrance of a cavern leading to its home.

One theory about Nyogtha suggests that Nyogtha possesses a link to the Elder Things. Nyogtha appealed to these aliens to aid its growth, and the Elder Things agreed, hoping to control it. However, as they had feared, Nyogtha began to break away from their control. In response, they constructed a huge magical shield that kept Nyogtha imprisoned in a cavern on his native New Zealand, unable to reach his full maturity. This theory does not explain how Nyogtha has manifested itself elsewhere in the world.

No matter what his nature, Nyogtha is relatively easy to drive off. Use of an ankh, the Vach-Viraj chant, or the Tikkoun Elixir will cause Nyogtha to return to the caverns from whence it came. Since these three items are all connected with life and purity, it may be that other chants or items with the same connections might be useful as well.

See elemental theory; ghouls; Naggoob; Pharos of Leng; Tikkoun elixir; Ubbo-Sathla; Vach-Viraj. (“The Acolyte of the Flame”, Carter; “The Book of Dismissals”, Carter; “Zoth-Ommog”, Carter; “The Stairs in the Crypt”, Carter and Smith; “Castle Dark”, Herber; “What Every Coin Has”, Henderson; “The Salem Horror”, Kuttner (O); The Thing at the Threshold, McConnell; Call of Cthulhu Rulebook, 5th ed., Petersen and Willis.)

O

OAKDEENE SANITARIUM

English mental institution located near Glasgow. Despite the high quality of care given to the patients, the Sanitarium is best remembered for the scandal caused by the death of five inmates and one attendant on the night of January 1, 1936.

See Cthaat Aquadingen; Spellman, Martin; Visions from Yaddith. (The Burrowers Beneath, Lumley; “The Horror at Oakdeene”, Lumley (O).)

OATHS OF DAGON

Vows taken by worshipers of Dagon to ensure loyalty to their god and his cult. All members take the First Oath; this vow ensures that the person will not allow the Order to come to harm. The second is intended for more devoted members and calls that person to actively aid the deep ones in their projects. Only a few take the third Oath, as it couples the oath-taker with a companion deep one, with whom the person must have children to perpetuate the deep one race. Some say that the Third Oath will also awaken the deep one blood in a person. Knowledge of the deep one tongue is also expected of those who take the third Oath. Evidence suggests that there may be even higher levels of oaths taken by deacons and priests in the Order.

(“It was the Day of the Deep One”, Cannon; “A New Beginning”, Hicks and Jantsang; “The Shadow over Innsmouth”, Lovecraft (O); “The Transition of Zadok Allen”, Price; Escape from Innsmouth, Ross.)

OBSERVATIONS ON SEVERAL PARTS OF AFRICA

Book by Sir Wade Jermyn, an explorer who made three trips to the Congo, published in 1768. Jermyn is best remembered not for his discoveries, but for his eccentricities.  After his second trip, for example, he brought back a Portuguese wife who he kept in seclusion and left in Africa on his third trip. After a while, Jermyn’s eccentricity turned to mania, and he was committed in 1765.

Observations on Several Parts of Africa tells of Jermyn’s discovery of a prehistoric white civilization within the Congo, its ruined city, and the survivals which inhabit it.

(Delta Green: Denied to the Enemy, Detwiller; “Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family”, Lovecraft (O).)

OCCULT FOUNDATION, THE

Book published in the late 1980s by the eminent occultist J. Cornelius Wassermann. Wasserman describes his beliefs on the “Primal Ones” and their eventual goals as they relate to humanity. The books sold well in the darker occult circles, but several other groups banned its author from their meetings.

The book contains much information about the Great Dying, how this will be brought about, and the benefits that will accrue to the Primal Ones’ worshipers when this event occurs.

See Liber Damnatus. (The House of the Toad, Tierney; “The Price”, Tierney (O).)

OCCULTUS

Book written by Hieriarchus around 150 AD.

(“The Secret in the Tomb”, Bloch (O); Keeper’s Compendium, Herber.)

OF EVILL SORCERIES DONE IN NEW-ENGLAND OF DAEMONS IN NO HUMAN SHAPE

Anonymous pamphlet printed in colonial times that may be a section of a larger work by Alijah Hoadley. It deals with reputed sorcerers and mysterious events in New England, especially the case of Richard Billington of Dunwich, Massachusetts. Stories of the same events might also be found in Cotton Mathers’ Magnalia Christi Americana, though each author highlights different details.

[In the fragment which Derleth incorporated into “Lurker”, Lovecraft mentioned “Of Evill Sorceries” as being part of Thaumaturgical Prodigies in the New-English Canaan. Derleth removed this reference, separating the two works.]

See Hoadley, Abijah. (“The Lurker at the Threshold”, Derleth and Lovecraft (O); “Acute Spiritual Fear”, Price; “The Round Tower”, Price.)

O’KHYMER

Town in Oregon (Oklahoma, according to one source) near the South Umpqua River. It is home to the University of Nyingtove. Its buildings are incredibly dilapidated, and few people are visible on the streets.

(“The Deep-Lord Awakens”, Ambuehl; “Feast with a Few Strangers”, Berglund (O); “The Feaster from the Stars”, Berglund.)

OLATHOE

Capital city of Lomar. This town’s buildings were all of marble, and the images of men with beards adorned the peaks of pillars set throughout the city. Olathoë was a center for culture and learning, until the Inutos came from over the mountains and destroyed the people of Lomar.

See Lomar; Noton and Kadiphonek. (“Polaris”, Lovecraft (O).)

OLD ONES

Term often applied to the Great Old Ones, or the Elder Things. Some say that they are an entirely different type of being which contact humans through possession, but so little is known of them that making this distinction may be impossible.

[Lovecraft used the term “Old Ones” to mean, at different times, a group of beings associated with Yog-Sothoth, the people of K’n-yan, the Antarctic aliens known as the Elder Things, beings whose magic warded off the Deep Ones, and the Great Old Ones. The two definitions given above are the most popular ones.]

See Black Brotherhood; Book of Eibon; Broken Columns of Geph; Brotherhood of the Beast; Elder Gods; Elder Things; Great White Space; Nyarlathotep; Quy; Rhan-Tegoth; stars are right, the; Yaddith-Gho; Zkauba. (Keeper’s Compendium, Herber; “At the Mountains of Madness”, Lovecraft; “The Dunwich Horror”, Lovecraft (O); “The Horror in the Museum”, Lovecraft and Heald; “The Shadow over Innsmouth”, Lovecraft; “The Mound”, Lovecraft and Bishop.)

OLMSTEAD, ROBERT MARTIN (1906?–?)

College student from Toledo who was instrumental in bringing about the government raid on Innsmouth. Olmstead, a junior at Oberlin College, visited this town on July 15, 1927. Following a harrowing experience with the townsfolk, he fled the town and convinced the government to begin an investigation of the town. In 1930, Olmstead and a cousin who had been committed to an asylum both vanished, and it is believed that agents from Innsmouth spirited him away.

[Lovecraft never mentions the name “Olmstead” in his story, but it does turn up in his notes. Derleth used the name “Williamson” for this character, but “Williamson” was the maiden name of HPL’s character’s mother. The only time the name has appeared in fiction, to my knowledge, is in the Sargent story.]

See Allen, Zadok. (Delta Green, Detwiller, Glancy, and Tynes; “Discarded Draught: The Shadow over Innsmouth”, Lovecraft (O); “Live Bait”, Sargent.)

ON THE SENDING OUT OF THE SOUL

Pamphlet which appeared in Salem in 1783 and which circulates secretly through the occult community. The author’s name was never discovered, but this document was involved in a series of murders immediately after its publication. It is now so rare that very few booksellers will acknowledge that it exists at all.

On the Sending Out of the Soul is only eight pages long. The first seven contain only vague mystical language, but the eighth contains a formula for astral travel. One who uses this spell will be successful, but will also contact Hydra at the same time.

(“Hydra”, Kuttner (O).)

OORN

Great Old One who dwells in the ruins of Sarkomand. It is said to be the mate of the moon-god Mnomquah, who will come to earth to join Oorn when it breaks free of its lunar prison.

See Mnomquah; Sarkomand. (Mad Moon of Dreams, Lumley (O).)

OOTH-NARGAI

Valley in the Dreamlands in which King Kuranes constructed the timeless city of Celephaïs.

See Aran; Celephaïs; Serranian. (“Celephaïs”, Lovecraft (O).)

ORDER OF THE SWORD OF SAINT JEROME (also BROTHERS OF SAINT JEROME?)

Organized created by the Catholic Church to battle supernatural threats, including the Cthulhu Mythos.

Pope Clement V founded the Order in 1303, at the request of the French king who required help in revealing the corruption of the Knights Templar. It might be that this was the consolidation of a previously-existing organization of the same name, but the records are not clear on this topic. The order received its name because of its chief asset: a collection of books left to the Vatican Library by Saint Jerome, a fourth-century scholar and Biblical commentator. The Order was successful in discrediting the Templars, obtaining a number of the knights’ books for their library. After the Order’s head, Renaldo Sinibaldo, went insane and was executed in 1315, the group restricted access to these books save in extreme cases.

The Order had a few other modest successes, including the capture and execution of Ludwig Prinn, and many of their number joined the Inquisition without that body’s knowledge of their other affiliation. The Order was disbanded at the orders of Pope Leo XIII, but it works on in secret from a monastery in the Alps, with other regional headquarters in cities such as Arkham. Its members are recruited from within the Church, often becoming wandering priests, dedicated to fighting Darkness wherever it may be found.

(“The Truth Shall Set You Free”, Ballon; Keeper’s Compendium, Herber (O); “The Enchanting of Lila Woods”, Lustig; Nightmare’s Disciple, Pulver.)

ORIAB

Large isle in the Dreamlands’ Southern Sea. Its landmarks include the city of Baharna, Mount Ngranek, and the Lake of Yath, on the far side of which sits the city of Queen Tyrrhia.

See Baharna; Ngranek; Southern Sea; vooniths. (“The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft (O); “A-Mazed in Oriab”, Lumley.)

ORIGINAL NOTES ON THE NECRONOMICON

The first printing of Joachim Feery’s Notes on the Necronomicon, which appeared in 1901. It contains much material expurgated from the later version, and is considered by a few to be more complete than the Al Azif itself because of this.

See Feery, Joachim; Notes on the Necronomicon. (Keeper’s Compendium, Herber; “Name and Number”, Lumley (O); “Soul of the Devil-Bought”, Price; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

ORNE, JEDEDIAH

See Orne, Simon.

ORNE, SIMON

Scientist and reputed wizard of Salem, Massachusetts. At least one person at the witch-trials testified that she had seen Orne at a Sabbat, but he seems to have escaped punishment nonetheless. He was a chemist and scientist of some note, conducting extensive correspondence with his fellow researchers Joseph Curwen and Edward Hutchinson. He earned himself a permanent place in history by giving the first lecture at Salem Academy, the school that later became Miskatonic University. Orne continued to live in Salem until 1720, when his ageless appearance began to excite comment. In that year, he donated his books to Miskatonic University Library and sailed for Europe.

Thirty years later, Simon’s son Jedediah returned to Salem with documents that allowed him to take possession of his father’s estate. Jedediah, who looked exactly like his father, vanished in 1771 during an action coordinated by some of the colony’s most prominent men. Some say that Jedediah was actually Simon, and many are also convinced that he lived on in Altstadt, Prague under the name Josef Nadek for some time. If so, he might have been slain with the destruction of his house in 1928.

[According to Stanley, Simon left America in 1700, but I have chosen to use Lovecraft’s chronology here.]

See Curwen, Joseph; Hutchinson, Edward. (“The Case of Charles Dexter Ward”, Lovecraft (O); Miskatonic University Graduate Kit, Petersen et. al.; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

OSSADAGOWAH (also ZVILPOGGUA)

Being conceived in the mating of Tsathoggua and Shathak on the world of Yaksh. Ossadagowah appears as a great toad-like creature with bat-wings, webbed feet, and tentacles in place of a face, or a misty shape with a tentacled face. He dwells on the world of Yrautrom (or Abbith) near Algol, and can only come to earth if thirteen wizards summon it when Algol is in the sky.

He was worshiped in Hyperborea, and a complex spell involving powdered opals and hippogriff’s tears was occasionally cast to bring him to earth. The Native American tribes of Massachusetts once knew how to call down Ossadagowah, but most of these did not use this knowledge, considering it an evil act. When called, Ossadogowah cannot be banished and must leave of its own volition. Creatures called “Eye Killers” attend him.

See Misquamacus; Sfatlicllp; Shathak; Tsathoggua. (“The Feaster from the Stars”, Carter; “Strange Manuscript found in the Vermont Woods”, Carter; “The Lurker at the Threshold”, Derleth and Lovecraft (O); The Return of the Manitou, Masterton.)

OTHER GODS

Group of beings that protect the lesser gods of Earth in the Dreamlands. Their only known member is Nyarlathotep. They may be identical to the Outer Gods, or they may include other entities unknown to us.

See Azathoth; Gloon; gods of Earth; gugs; Kadath; Nyarlathotep; Outer Gods; seed of Azathoth. (“The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft; “The Other Gods”, Lovecraft (O).)

OTHUUM

Mythos “demon” which appears as a black monster with two pairs of legs and a fat face with one eye. He often paralyzes his victims and can only be destroyed by fire.

Othuum’s true nature is uncertain. In some references, he seems to be one of the servants of Great Cthulhu, and dwells beneath the waves striving for his master’s return. In others, Othuum is the “Great Master of Those-Who-Wait-Without”, and has been influencing sensitive individuals for millennia so that he might be freed from an alternate dimension. He is served by beings called the “Grinners at the Gate”.

See Othuum Omnicia. (“Rising with Surtsey”, Lumley (O); “Othuum”, Lumley et. al.)

OTHUUM OMNICIA

Book in Latin which details the proper worship of the being Othuum, and provides a powerful exorcism. The locations of only two copies are known: one located in the British Museum and is the other kept in a private collection somewhere in Hungary.

See Othuum. (“The Second Wish”, Lumley; “Othuum”, Lumley et. al. (O).)

OTHUYEG

Great Old One known as the “Doom-Walker”. It resembles an eye surrounded by innumerable tentacles, a form which bears much resemblance to Cyäegha and which may suggest a link between the two. Othuyeg and his spawn, which were created in their parent’s image, dwell beneath the ground within the fabled Seven Cities of Gold in the fabled land of Cakatomia, awaiting the time when they may issue forth to reconquer the surface world.

The Black Book of the Skull and the Necronomicon mention Othuyeg, but no other references in Mythos books have been found. Othuyeg desires to open a gate so Zathog and the Zarrians may invade this planet, but how the Great Old One hopes to achieve this is unknown.

See Zarr; Zathog. (“Demon in the Flesh”, Burnham (O); “The Seven Cities of Gold”, Burnham; “Solar Pons and the Cthulhu Mythos” DeBill and Berglund.)

OUKRAMO

See Oukranos.

OUKRANOS (also OUKRAMO)

Dreamlands river that bypasses the Enchanted Wood and runs past Kiran and Thran into the Cerenerian Sea. The lands by the river are garden-like, and a stealthy traveler may see the shy buopoths who live nearby.

See Hlanith; Ilek-Vad; Kiran; Kled; Thran. (“The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft; “The Silver Key”, Lovecraft (O).)

OUTER GODS (possibly OTHER GODS)

Group of beings who are differentiated from the Great Old Ones. Usually the Outer Gods are thought of as personifications of cosmic forces, while the Great Old Ones are immensely powerful, yet limited, alien beings.

Not all scholars recognize this distinction, and it is not always clear where an entity should be placed. Some entities who are generally categorized with the Outer Gods are Azathoth, Yog-Sothoth, Shub-Niggurath, and Nyarlathotep. Others who may be included in their number are Tulzscha, Daoloth, and Abhoth.

It is unknown whether there is any connection between the Great Old Ones and the Outer Gods. There are close links between Shub-Niggurath and Hastur (an Outer God and a Great Old One, respectively), and Nyarlathotep has acted in the interests of the Great Old Ones at least twice. It was once proposed that the Great Old Ones were larval Outer Gods, but few hold this view.

[Though some authors have made a distinction between these beings and the Great Old Ones, the term “Outer Gods” has only recently appeared outside of the Call of Cthulhu game.]

See Azathoth; Book of Azathoth; Ghroth; Great Old Ones; Iä; Leng; Nyarlathotep; Other Gods; Shub-Niggurath. (Call of Cthulhu Rulebook, Petersen and Willis (O); S. Petersen’s Field Guide to Creatures of the Dreamlands, Petersen et. al.)

OUTER ONES

See mi-go.

P

PABODIE EXPEDITION

Scientific journey to Antarctica financed by Miskatonic University and headed by Professor William Dyer of the Department of Geology. The primary purpose of this expedition was to collect fossils from Antarctic rock. To this end, Professor Frank Pabodie of the Department of Engineering invented a drill capable of boring deep underground to extract specimens.

After a period of largely unremarkable drilling, a biology professor named Lake set off on a side expedition to a site northwest of the main camp. There he hoped to find an explanation for certain strange impressions that the previous drilling had uncovered. According to reports made to the outside world, the expedition exceeded the team’s expectations; they discovered a range of mountains taller than the Himalayas, as well as the fossilized remains of creatures which seemed to be part animal and part plant.

At this point, reports to the outside world ceased. Apparently, an epidemic of madness overtook the scientists camped near the mountains, and all of them save one were killed by one another. Following this tragedy, the rest of the expedition’s members gathered what little data they had already discovered and returned to Miskatonic. Many were later diagnosed with dementia Antarctica and were confined to institutions for a brief while.

Shortly after his return, Professor Dyer published his account of the “true” occurrences of the Pabodie expedition with hopes of discouraging further scientific visits to Antarctica. The scientific community held this manuscript in low esteem, and its impact on Antarctic exploration has been minimal.

See Danforth; Dyer, William; Elder Things; Leng; Miskatonic University; Starkweather-Moore Expedition. (Alone Against the Dark, Costello; “At the Mountains of Madness”, Lovecraft (O).)

PALLID MASK (also known as the PHANTOM OF TRUTH)

Entity connected with the King in Yellow. In the play of the same name, the Pallid Mask acts as Hastur’s messenger to the city of Yhtill. The Pallid Mask comes to cities filled with decadence and depression to decide whether they should be incorporated into Carcosa. Other references cite the Pallid Mask as the semblance the King in Yellow puts on when dealing with mortals.

See Carcosa; King in Yellow; Yhtill. (“The Yellow Sign”, Chambers (O); Delta Green: Countdown, Detwiller et. al.; “Tatterdemalion”, Love, Ross, and Watts.)

PAPYRUS OF THE DARK WISDOM

The third section of the Book of Eibon. In this portion of his magnum opus, the Hyperborean wizard gives the history of the many different alien beings that came to earth before the coming of humanity. Von Junzt later paraphrased this material in his Unaussprechlichen Kulten.

See Book of Eibon; Unaussprechlichen Kulten; Von Junzt, Friedrich. (“Something in the Moonlight”, Carter (O); “Papyrus of the Dark Wisdom”, Carter and Smith.)

PARANORMAL INTELLIGENCE SECTION FOR COUNTER-INTELLIGENCE, ESPIONAGE, AND SABOTAGE

See PISCES.

PARCHMENTS OF PNOM

Volume written by Pnom, Hyperborea’s leading genealogist and seer, in his homeland’s “Elder Script”. Pnom of Mnardis was a great archivist and magician, and Eibon credits him with saving the town of Urcheeth from an invisible monster. One section of Eibon’s Book suggests that his mentor Zylac left the only known copy of Pnom’s work in the astral realm’s City Misery Ruined.

The Parchments give the lineage of Tsathoggua, instructions for making a triple circle of protection, and many exorcisms, both minor and powerful, intended especially for use against the spirits of the cold north. Some parts of it hint that humanity’s origin was more unpleasant than we would like to think. It also states that invisible creatures cast a shadow by the light of the moon.

See Nug and Yeb; Tsathoggua; Zylac. (“Dreams of the Black Lotus”, Carter; “The Madness out of Time”, Carter; The Life of Eibon according to Cyron of Varaad, Carter; “The Demon of the Ring”, Cornford; “The Face from Below”, Cornford; “The Ritual of the Outer Void”, Pulver; “The Coming of the White Worm”, Smith (O); “The Family Tree of the Gods”, Smith.)

PARG, FOREST OF

Forest of the Dreamlands. The people here are known for their ivory carvings, though more often the people themselves are captured and sold to the merchants on the black galleys at Dylath-Leen. Parg is the home of the monstrous fireworms and many other magical, dangerous creatures.

(“The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft (O); S. Petersen’s Field Guide to Creatures of the Dreamlands, Petersen et. al.)

PARTRIDGEVILLE

Town in the Hudson River Valley, near Brewster, and the site of numerous paranormal happenings. Despite its locale, Patridgeville appears much as a small New England town, with its Congregational church and village green. In this century, the Patridgeville Chemical Laboratories have become the town’s major industry.

Patridgeville was the home of Halpin Chalmers (and was the site of his 1928 murder) and Fred Carstairs. Some claim that a horror from outer space was nearly destroyed in a fire in nearby Mulligan Wood.

[Despite the other states in which authors have placed Patridgeville, Long’s description makes it clear that it is in New York state.]

See Morton, James. (“The Wild Hunt”, Ballon; “The Hounds of Tindalos”, Long; “The Space-Eaters”, Long (O).)

PEASLEE, NATHANIEL WINGATE (1871–1940?)

One-time professor of political economics, and later psychology, at Miskatonic University. Peaslee was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts and became a professor of political economics at Miskatonic in 1895. He married Alice Keezar in the following year, and they had three children.

In 1908, Professor Peaslee underwent a mysterious seizure followed by a bout of amnesia and a severe change in personality. For the next five years, the professor embarked upon a study of history, anthropology, and mythology, undertaking voyages to all parts of the world to consult esoteric information in an apparent attempt to regain his memory. During this period, his wife divorced him, and all of his children, save for his son Wingate, refused to have anything to do with him. Many psychologists studied him, but confessed that his condition baffled them. This state of affairs concluded in 1913, when Peaslee inexplicably returned to health. At this time Wingate was returned to his custody.

Peaslee seemed completely normal at first, though he found he had an inexplicable knowledge of both Aklo and Classical Greek. Soon after his return, however, he was plagued by nightmares of alien creatures and tremendous stone cities. These visions forced him to abandon the professorship that the University had returned to him, and he spent the next few years attempting to discover the roots of his affliction. While searching through many other cases like his own, Peaslee found many striking parallels between his own condition and those of others in the past. These findings were published in several academic journals, and in 1922, the University awarded him a professorship in Miskatonic’s psychology department in recognition of his achievements.

Along with his son Wingate, and Professors Dyer, Freeborn, and Tyler, Nathaniel Peaslee traveled to Australia in 1935 to aid in excavations of a supposed ruined city in the desert. A month and a half later, he left the diggings, following an attempt to cease excavations in a certain area.

See Emeritus Alcove; Peaslee, Wingate; Wilmarth, Albert. (Delta Green: Denied to the Enemy, Detwiller; “The Shadow Out of Time”, Lovecraft (O); The Burrowers Beneath, Lumley; S. Petersen’s Field Guide to Cthulhu Monsters, Petersen; “Pnomus”, Winninger.)

PEASLEE, WINGATE (1900–1980)

Son of Nathaniel Peaslee and psychology professor at Miskatonic University.

Wingate was only eight when his father underwent his mysterious change in personality. Though the rest of his family was repulsed by the change, the young boy remained faithful to his father, and was returned to the elder Peaslee’s custody when his father’s condition reversed itself. His father’s affliction encouraged Wingate to study psychology, and after he had completed his graduate work, the young man gained a professorship at Miskatonic University.

Wingate accompanied his father upon the Australian expedition of 1935. Despite his father’s request, he and his colleagues continued their excavations of a seemingly prehuman city. Fortunately, nothing went amiss, and the team returned to Miskatonic unscathed by the horrors Nathaniel vowed he had seen. Following the expedition, Wingate had his conclusions about his matter published as The Shadow Out of Time by Golden Goblin Press of Philadelphia in 1936.

Peaslee served in the Army during World War II. In 1943, he is believed to have made another trip back to Australia to visit the ruins of the city. What Peaslee found there remains classified to this day.

Following a celebrated post-war career as an instructor at Miskatonic, Peaslee took up the post of director of Miskatonic’s Wilmarth Foundation, a group dedicated to fighting the forces of the Mythos. Although he and his men had great success initially, in the end Peaslee died while engaged in a bombing operation in the waters off Innsmouth, Massachusetts.

See de Marigny, Henry; Emeritus Alcove; Peaslee, Nathaniel; Wilmarth Foundation. (Delta Green: Denied to the Enemy, Detwiller; “The Shadow Out of Time”, Lovecraft (O); The Burrowers Beneath, Lumley; The Transition of Titus Crow, Lumley.)

PENTACLE OF PLANES

Artifact or diagram said to be useful in protection from summoned beings, especially Daoloth. It consists of many black plastic pieces which, when placed together, keep anyone inside the pentagram from harm. It is possible for the person to voluntarily let part or all of a summoned being inside.

See Daoloth; Saaamaaa Ritual. (“Render of the Veils”, Campbell (O).)

THE PEOPLE OF THE MONOLITH

Volume of poetry by Justin Geoffrey, a noted Baudelairean poet and correspondent of Edward Derby. Its title poem may be connected to the author’s descent into insanity after a trip to a location in Hungary known as Xuthltan in 1921 or 1922 (sources vary). When Geoffrey appeared in New York years later, he bore with him a manuscript that was to become The People of the Monolith. Geoffrey’s book was only published due to the generous support given by his friend John Tyler, who met the young man in New York. (Some have even gone so far as to attribute the book to Tyler, but few accept this theory.)

Erebus Press of Monmouth, Illinois, published the volume in 1926, shortly before the author’s mental decline. Other sources have it that the book was published in New York in 1923; this could be misinformation or possibly an earlier printing made during Geoffrey’s “disappearance”. The book’s only brush with substantial fame came when noted director Corman Abbè adapted The People of the Monolith’s poetry to film in 1982. The film was never released to the public after the New York theater in which the premiere was held collapsed.

At least one copy of The People of the Monolith was bound in the skin of a monstrous creature of the inner earth, but the bindings of most of the other copies are more conventional. The poems are arranged in chronological order, save for the last, “Rending the Veil”, which seems to have been included as an afterthought. The known poems from this collection include “People of the Monolith”, “Out of the Old Land”, “Dark Desires”, “Star Beast”, “Strutter in Darkness”, and “The Mirror of Nitocris”.

See Black Stone; Geoffrey, Justin. (Masks of Nyarlathotep, DiTillio and Willis; “The People of the Monolith”, Harris; Keeper’s Compendium, Herber; “The Black Stone”, Howard (O); “The Thing on the Roof”, Howard; “The Thing on the Doorstep”, Lovecraft; “The Mirror of Nitocris,” Lumley; “Dark Shapes Rising”, Shoffner.)

PHANTOM OF TRUTH

See Pallid Mask.

PHAROL

Dangerous and powerful god worshiped on Mars who appears as a black, fanged being with one eye and tentacles in place of arms. Eibon sometimes summoned this being to answer questions about occult lore.

(“Shaggai”, Carter; “Hydra”, Kuttner; “Shambleau,” Moore (O); “The Summoning of Pharol”, Tierney.)

PHAROS OF LENG (also BLACK TOWER OF LENG)

Building in the heart of the Plateau of Leng which is near (and may be identical with) the fabled black monastery of that region. The Pharos often emits a bluish light that can be seen for miles. The Great Old One Nyogtha has appeared beneath it at times. The Necronomicon states that the Pharos of Leng will give the signal for the Great Old Ones to re-emerge, but this will only happen after the earth is cleared off.

(“The Salem Horror”, Kuttner; “The Elder Pharos”, Lovecraft (O); “To Clear the Earth”, Murray.)

PHELAN, ANDREW (c. 1910–1938?)

One-time secretary of Professor Laban Shrewsbury. Born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, Phelan’s abilities led him both to study philology at Harvard and to learn boxing and jujitsu. These qualifications impressed Shrewsbury enough that the older man took him on as his secretary. Following the disappearance of Shrewsbury, Phelan returned to his native Boston, from which he vanished shortly thereafter.

See Keane, Abel. (“The House on Curwen Street”, Derleth (O).)

PHILETAS, THEODORUS (also PHILETOS)

Scholar of Constantinople who translated the Kitab al-Azif from Arabic into Greek in the year 950, bestowing upon it the title “Necronomicon.” Shortly after he recanted, his family died in a plague and he lost both property and good name. He is also believed to have made an attempt to reconstruct the Book of Eibon and render it in medieval Greek at some point before 960. It has been suggested that Philetas might be a corruption of the Greek “Philetos”, or “heretic”.

See Al Azif; Alhazred, Abdul; Book of Eibon; Necronomicon (appendices). (“History of the Necronomicon”, Lovecraft (O); Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley; Necronomicon, Tyson.)

PHILLIPS, WARD

1) First president of what was to become Miskatonic University. Phillips was well respected, having come from a line that modern genealogists record back to 1670, if not earlier. Phillips was also one of the three teachers at the institution, and in 1693 donated the nucleus of what was to become the University Library. He proved to be an instrumental figure in the Arkham witch-trials, both in prosecuting the alleged witches and suspending the proceedings when the injustice of the trial became evident. (“The Winfield Heritance”, Carter (O); Miskatonic University, Johnson et. al.; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

2) Great-grandson of the first Phillips and author of Thaumaturgical Prodigies in the New-English Canaan. Phillips was also the pastor of the Second Church (later First Baptist Church) of Arkham and became the librarian of Miskatonic University in 1805. He is better known, however, for his feud with Alijah Billington, which took quite a toll on him and might have led to his death soon after. See Billington, Alijah; Hoadley, Abijah; Phillips, Winfield; Thaumaturgical Prodigies in the New-English Canaan. (“The Lurker at the Threshold”, Derleth and Lovecraft (O); Arkham Unveiled, Herber et. al.; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

3) Elderly author of Providence, Rhode Island. Phillips was a writer of tales for the pulps and friend of Randolph Carter, and he was a party in the dispute over Carter’s will. He eventually vanished, though no serious investigation of his disappearance was made. Some dreamers say he lives on in Ennon, the Dreamlands’ land of poets.

[“Ward Phillips” was actually a fictionalized version of Lovecraft himself.]

See Lamp of Alhazred. (“The Return of the White Ship”, Breach; “The Lamp of Alhazred”, Derleth and Lovecraft; “Through the Gates of the Silver Key”, Lovecraft and Price (O).)

PHILLIPS, WINFIELD (1907–1937)

Descendant of the Reverend Ward Phillips and personal secretary to Dr. Seneca Lapham. Phillips attended Miskatonic University, earning a degree in American literature and specializing in the works of the Decadents. He assisted Lapham in the scandalous case of Ambrose Dewart. He then left Lapham’s services in 1936 to live on the estate of his late uncle, Hiram Stokeley, where he died a year later.

(“Zoth-Ommog”, Carter; “The Winfield Heritance”, Carter; “The Lurker at the Threshold”, Derleth and Lovecraft (O); “The Soul of the Devil-Bought”, Price.)

PH’NGLUI MGLW’NAFH CTHULHU R’LYEH WGAH’NAGL FHTAGN

Rough phonetic rendering of a R’lyehian phrase often spoken in the rites of Cthulhu. It may be translated as, “In his house at R’lyeh dead Cthulhu waits dreaming.”

See Glass from Leng; Seal of R’lyeh. (“The Call of Cthulhu”, Lovecraft (O).)

PICKMAN, RICHARD UPTON (1884–1926?)

Salem painter of remarkable skill who is especially remembered for his works depicting strange bestial monsters in graveyards and cellars.

Pickman was a naturally gifted artist, and his study at Minneiska University in Wisconsin, a center for decadent artists, only enhanced his own morbid instincts further. Pickman’s ghastly realism set him apart from many of his fellow decadents. Although the public received his works coolly, certain collectors prized them highly. Pickman spent much of his life in poverty, occasionally giving lessons to aspiring painters to supplement his income. He is said to have kept a hidden studio in Boston’s North End, though no trace of it has been found. For a brief time he attempted to create more mainstream works to gain the backing of the Boston Art Club. He eventually was forced to leave under pressure from most of the Club’s members.

In the year 1926, Pickman disappeared from his home in Boston, along with most of his unsold works. Some assert that he committed suicide, but others believe that he dwells somewhere in the Dreamlands. From what we know of that magical land, both of these theories may be true. A few artists imitated Pickman’s work for a few years thereafter, but on the whole Pickman represents merely a footnote in the history of American painting. The art community quickly forgot him, and many of his works are kept in private collections or have simply vanished.

See Necronomicon (appendices). (“Huitloxopetl IX: Pickman’s God”, Ambuehl; Strange Eons, Bloch; “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft; “Pickman’s Model”, Lovecraft (O); “Principles and Parameters”, Patterson; “The Minneiska Incident”, Rahman and Rahman; “Pickman’s Model”, Sapinsley; “Unfinished Business”, Shiflet.)

PISCES (Paranormal Intelligence Section for Counter-intelligence, Espionage, and Sabotage)

UK government organization founded on June 26, 1940, placing Great Britain’s occult intelligence expertise under a single group reporting directly to the prime minister. They proved invaluable during the war, fighting the Karotechia and pursuing an informal relationship with Delta Green that was soon disrupted after an Australian operation in 1943.

PISCES has survived into the present day with its mission intact, though it has privatized some portions of its operations and limited itself to domestic operations.

See Ahu-Y’hloa. (Delta Green: Denied to the Enemy, Detwiller; Delta Green: Countdown, Detwiller et. al. (O).)

PLATEAU OF LENG

See Leng.

PLATEAU OF SUNG

See Sung, Plateau of.

PLATEAU OF TSANG

See Tsang, Plateau of.

PLUTONIAN DRUG

See Liao.

PNAKOTIC

Language mentioned in passing in an obscure reference. It may be this tongue in which the first parts of the Pnakotic Manuscripts are written, and thus might be Yithian in origin. Linguists have divided Pnakotic into at least two sub-varieties, Pnakotic A and Pnakotic B.

See Pnakotic Manuscripts; Yellow Codex. (Dagon, Chappell (O); “Call for Papers!!”, Wessel.)

THE PNAKOTIC MANUSCRIPTS (also the PNAKOTIC FRAGMENTS)

Book of uncertain age and origin. It has been said that the Great Race of Yith wrote the first five chapters and preserved them at their City of the Archives known as Pnakotus, from which the book derived its name. Others have given the Elder Things the credit, due to the similarities between the Manuscripts and the Eltdown Shards. What is certain is that the people of Lomar preserved this knowledge and passed it on to Hyperborea. There it was rewritten in the tongue of that land, and a secretive cult preserved it until historical times.

As time went on, different scribes added on to the Manuscripts; two definite additions, one from the Voormis and another from a Zobnarian scribe, have been identified. The first portions of the manuscript are written with a curious sort of cuneiform and dot-group glyphs, which bear resemblance to many patterns carved in stone that have been found throughout the world. (They are especially similar to the fifty-foot symbol found at the peak of Mount Hatheg-Kla after Barzai’s disappearance.) Some linguists say that humans are completely unable to decipher these versions, but a number of individuals claim to have read or translated the book.

The Manuscripts originally appeared in scroll form. All editions of this version are said to be lost, though one may still exist in the Temple of the Elder Ones in Ulthar and some parchment fragments at Miskatonic University may also come from this source. Greek and English translations (the former is known as the Pnakotica) were made in later times. Although it is rumored that an anonymous translator published an English edition in the late 15th century, others hold that this document has only been circulated in the original manuscript form. One source has it that the copy in Ulthar is the last in existence, but other copies have been found at Miskatonic University, the University of Tokyo, and the Providence Church of Starry Wisdom, and the New York Public Library. An expurgated photostat is held at the British Museum. A few commentaries, including The Pnakotic Manuscripts: A New Revised Study (1922), Werner’s A Study of Pnakotic Writings (1938) and Schwarzwalder’s Analysis of the Manuscript of the Pnakotoi (1895), are available to scholars.

This volume contains information about the Great Race of Yith, the nature of Chaugnar Faugn and Yibb-Tstll, the journey of Sansu to the top of Mount Hatheg-Kla, the fall of Zobna, the battles of the people of Lomar against the Voormis, the knowledge of the ghouls, rituals of Rhan-Tegoth’s worship, and the location of Xiurhn. A map within provides the locations of Leng, Yian-Ho, and other mythical places, though much research must be done to establish how it corresponds to modern landmarks.

It is said that the Pnakotic Manuscripts have some sort of Guardian, and those who would read this work must pay the Guardian’s price. This Guardian may be entirely fanciful or merely symbolic, but the reader should beware.

See Barzai; Celaeno Fragments; G’harne Fragments; Hatheg-Kla; Kish; Lomar; Pnakotic Pentagon; Pnakotus; Sansu; shan; Zanthu Tablets. (“The Acolyte of the Flame”, Carter; “Zoth-Ommog”, Carter; “Perilous Legacy”, DeBill; “Pursuit to Kadath”, Gallagher; Keeper’s Compendium, Herber; “Ulthar and Beyond”, Herber; “At the Mountains of Madness”, Lovecraft; “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft; “The Other Gods”, Lovecraft; “Polaris”, Lovecraft (O); Selected Letters V, Lovecraft; “The Haunter of the Dark”, Lovecraft; “The Shadow out of Time”, Lovecraft; “The Horror in the Museum”, Lovecraft and Heald; “The Diary of Alonzo Typer”, Lovecraft and Lumley; The Burrowers Beneath, Lumley; “The Asylum”, McCall; “Xiurhn”, Myers; “Principles and Parameters”, Patterson; “The Shunpike”, Price; “The Warder of Knowledge”, Searight; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley; The Keep, F. Paul Wilson.)

PNAKOTIC PENTAGON

Warding sigil said by Ludvig Prinn to be efficacious against intrusions by beings from outside during the use of Liao. In addition, the people of Hyperborea used the Pentagon to seal the tombs of wizards and prevent them from coming forth again. Drawn reversed, it allows the Great Old Ones to take hold on our world once more, albeit in minor ways.

The source of this sign may in fact be the Pnakotic Manuscripts. Seals like this might have been used in the city of Pnakotus to protect against the incursions of the flying polyps.

(Delta Green: Denied to the Enemy, Detwiller; “The Stairs in the Crypt”, Carter and Smith; “The Invaders”, Kuttner (O); “Oh, Baleful Theophany”, Pugmire.)

PNAKOTUS

City built by the Great Race millions of years ago in the Australian desert. Its name, bestowed by later races, roughly translates as “City of the Archives.” According to von Junzt, this city lent its name to the Pnakotic Manuscripts, which the Yithians brought to this city. The city existed up until World War II, at which time it may have been destroyed.

See Pnakotic Manuscripts, Pnakotic Pentagram. (“Zoth-Ommog”, Carter (O); Delta Green: Denied to the Enemy, Detwiller.)

PNATH, VALE OF (also PNOTH)

Valley located in the Dreamlands’ underworld. The Vale is filled with the gnawed bones tossed into this great crevasse by the ghouls who feast on a nearby plateau. Gigantic worm-like creatures known only as bholes (or dholes), that no one has ever seen, as well as other less pleasant beings, inhabit the Vale. Nightgaunts delight in leaving hapless travelers in this place. Unless the ghouls deign to help them, the bholes will sense the person’s movement and come to the surface to engulf them.

See bholes; Book of Eibon; ghouls; Nath; nightgaunts; shoggoths. (“The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft; “To a Dreamer”, Lovecraft (O); “The Summons of Nuguth-Yug”, Myers and Laidlaw.)

PNOM, PARCHMENTS OF

See Parchments of Pnom.

PNOTH

See Pnath, Vale of.

POLAR STAR. (also ORACLE OF AMMON and EYE OF ZEUS)

Diamond that supposedly has powers over the dead. Legend connects with Alexander the Great, who thought of himself as a god after touching it. The gem later passed into the Punjab area of India, where it changed hands many times. The gem passed into the hands of a Dutch captain whose ship was lost at sea. In 1904, it reappeared, and the American millionaire Albert Cosgrave bought it. The gem vanished when the airship on which it was being transported went down over the Atlantic in 1929.

(“The Wild Hunt”, Ballon, “De Schip Zonder Schaduw”, Wimble (O).)

POLYNESIAN MYTHOLOGY, WITH A NOTE ON THE CTHULHU LEGEND-CYCLE

Book by Harold Hadley Copeland published in 1906 by Miskatonic University Press. Most of the subject matter is conventional, but Copeland includes an appendix describing legends of the Deep Ones and their worship of Cthulhu. (Contrary to what some have said, this was not Copeland’s first book.)

(“Out of the Ages”, Carter (O); “Fischbuchs”, Ross; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.

POLYPOUS RACE

See flying polyps.

PONAPE FIGURINE

Nineteen-inch jade figurine representing the god Zoth-Ommog. Although the use of jade suggested a Chinese origin, its style was completely alien to that culture. A diver found this statuette in the waters off Ponape in 1909 and it later came into the possession of the archaeologist Harold Hadley Copeland. It was passed on to the Sanbourne Institute after his death. The press was quick to blame the bouts of insanity among its caretakers upon a “curse”. The statuette vanished following a break-in at the Institute in 1929 and has not been seen since. Those seeking further information on the figurine’s religious significance should consult Copeland’s The Ponape Figurine (1910).

See Hodgkins, Arthur. (“Out of the Ages”, Carter (O); Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

THE PONAPE SCRIPTURE

Manuscript researched or discovered by Captain Abner Ezekiel Hoag in the Caroline Islands circa 1734. During his travels, Hoag discovered a book written on parchment made from palm leaves and bound in the wood of a long-extinct cycad. According to legend, the high priest of Ghatanothoa, Imash-Mo, and his successors wrote this book in the hieratic Naacal tongue. Not knowing the language himself, Hoag received help from his servant Yogash in translating the volume’s contents. (Some have stated that Hoag wrote the book himself based on his conversations with natives of Ponape, but the existence of the original argues otherwise.) When he attempted to have the volume published, he met with condemnation from the religious leaders of the time, who were especially concerned with the references to Dagon found in the Scripture.

The book did not see print until after Hoag’s death, but by that time had been surreptitiously circulated in occult circles for quite some time. Hoag’s granddaughter Beverly Hoag Adams published the Ponape Scripture in an abridged and error-ridden edition. The original can still be found at the Kester Library in Salem. Harold Hadley Copeland was probably the most knowledgeable scholar on the Ponape Scripture; his book The Prehistoric Pacific in Light of the ‘Ponape Scripture’ (1911) cites it in some detail, and Miskatonic University Press published his annotated translation of the Scripture in 1907.

The Scripture seems to have been written by a Cthulhu cultist seeking to convert the natives of the region to his service. It tells of the lost continent of Mu and the mighty wizard-priest Zanthu. The Ponape Scripture is known to have influenced the practices of the Esoteric Order of Dagon.

See Copeland, Harold Hadley; Idh-yaa; Naacal; Zanthu. (“The Dweller in the Tomb”, Carter; “The Fishers from Outside”, Carter; “Introduction” to Dreams from R’lyeh, Carter; “Out of the Ages”, Carter (O); Keeper’s Compendium, Herber; Miskatonic University Graduate Kit, Petersen et. al.; Kingsport, Ross; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

POSEIDONIS

Last isle of Atlantis to sink beneath the ocean, and the home of such mighty wizards as Malygris. Its high temple is supposedly seen by lost ships sailing in the Atlantic.

[To the best of my knowledge, this name originally appeared in the works of Madame Blavatsky, founder of the Theosophical Movement. According to her, the isle sank around twelve thousand years ago. Poseidonios, a Stoic philosopher who suggested that Plato’s Atlantis might not be a myth, may have been the inspiration for this name.]

See Atlantis, Rituals of Yhe. (“The Strange High House in the Mist”, Lovecraft (O); “The Death of Malygris”, Smith (O).)

POTT, JOHANNES HENRICUS

Author of an untitled Latin manuscript which the publishers in the German city of Jena rejected. Scholars who have read his book speculate that he might have read The Revelations of Glaaki and the Book of Iod. Handwritten copies of his book have circulated secretly among certain cults. Ultimate Press at one time considered publishing this volume, but whether they actually followed through is unknown.

This book is said to contain some sort of “immortality” formula (which may not be complete enough to be performed with the information in the book alone) and a powerful exorcism, as well as the rather curious notion that deformed entities reside in all darkened places.

[Johannes Heinrichus Pott was a real-life professor of law at the University of Jena. His Specimen Juridicum de Nefando Lamiarum cum Diabolo Coitu, a book dealing with demonic births and pacts with the devil, was published in that city by Oerlinghaus in 1689. I have not been able to find rumors of any other manuscript he wrote.]

(“The Star-Seed”, Ambuehl; “Cold Print”, Campbell; “The Mine of Yuggoth” (O), Campbell; “A Word from the Author”, Campbell.)

POWDER OF IBN-GHAZI

Magical dust that allows the user to see the invisible for the space of ten heartbeats.

(“The Dunwich Horror”, Lovecraft (O).)

PRAESIDIA FINIUM

See Frontier Garrison.

PREHISTORIC PACIFIC IN LIGHT OF THE “PONAPE SCRIPTURE”, THE

Book by Harold Hadley Copeland published in 1911 by Harold Hadley Copeland, based on his readings of the Ponape Scripture at the Kester Library in Salem and his archival delvings at Harvard and Miskatonic. Though Copeland was able to draw a number of parallels between the Scripture and the mythology and archaeology of the Pacific isles, this book destroyed Copeland’s reputation among scholars.

The book discusses the links between archaeological sites and the infamous lost continent of Mu. It also discusses the cults of Cthulhu and the deep ones that may be found today in the region.

(“The Dweller in the Tomb”, Carter (O); “The Fishers from Outside”, Carter; “Zoth-Ommog”, Carter; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

PREHISTORY IN THE PACIFIC: A PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION

Harold Hadley Copeland’s first book, published in 1902. Refraining from the speculating that characterized his later works, it remains a classic in its field. It contains little of interest to the Mythos scholar.

(“The Dweller in the Tomb”, Carter (O); “Out of the Ages”, Carter.)

PRINN, ABIGAIL (?–December 14, 1690)

Reputed witch from Salem and descendant of Ludwig Prinn. Abbie Prinn often boasted of her service as high priest to a strange god, a statement that led to her mysterious death just before the witch-trials began. Prinn is believed to have cursed Salem before she died; perhaps to avert her anger, the colonists buried her with a stake through her chest.

(“The Salem Horror”, Kuttner (O); “Wilbur Whateley Waiting”, Price.)

PRINN, LUDWIG (also LUDVIG) (?–1542)

Sorcerer whose most famous work is the book De Vermis Mysteriis.

Prinn is said to have been the child of Flemish trading delegates visiting Constantinople. He later declared that he had lived for centuries and was the sole survivor of the Ninth Crusade; though it is true that there is an entry for a Ludwig Prinn among the records of that Crusade, this claim is probably unfounded. Even if his tales of his past exploits were untrue, Prinn did make many trips throughout the world of his time. He spent much time as a captive of Syrian warlocks in the Jebel Ansariye, learning from their dealings with the djinn. He also made trips to Alexandria, spoke with the priests of the Black Pharaoh Nephren-Ka, and dwelt for a time in the ruins of the city Chorazin on the Sea of Galilee.

At the end of his career, Prinn returned to his homeland of the Flemish countryside, taking up residence first in Bruges, next in Ghent, and finally in a pre-Roman tomb in a forest near Brussels. In the nearby towns, many said that the eccentric hermit had dealings with invisible familiars. In 1540, the Inquisition imprisoned Prinn on charges of sorcery; whether this was due to the rumors or to his sympathy with Islam is debatable.

While imprisoned, Prinn wrote the book De Vermis Mysteriis. Somehow, in the dead of night, he managed to smuggle the volume past his guards to be published. Shortly thereafter, he was executed. Legend has it that he escaped, with his last reputed location being New York City.

See Byatis; Chorazin; De Vermis Mysteriis; Deep Ones; Irem; Jerusalem’s Lot; Liao; Necrolatry; Nyarlathotep; Order of the Sword of Saint Jerome; Pnakotic Pentagon; Prinn, Abigail; Saracenic Rituals; Shub-Niggurath. (“Darkness, My Name Is”, Bertin; “The Shambler from the Stars”, Bloch (O); Keeper’s Compendium, Herber; “Lord of the Worms”, Lumley; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley; “The Heart of the Matter”, Webb.)

PRODIGIES IN THE NEW ENGLAND CANAAN

See Thaumaturgical Prodigies in the New-English Canaan.

PROTO-SHOGGOTHS

Material the Elder Things derived from Ubbo-Sathla to form their shoggoth servitors. Some of this material has survived to the present day, where it is used in scientific experiments of the mi-go and humans alike. Proto-shoggoth matter melds easily with other living matter, often enhancing its capabilities and making it hardier and more difficult to destroy.

(“At the Mountains of Madness”, Lovecraft (O); “The Asylum”, McCall; “Convergence”, Tynes.)

PTETHOLITES

Prehuman tribe that worshiped the Great Old Ones, especially Ithaqua, and who often called down demons upon their enemies. The legends of Hyperborea state that the Ptetholites sent their summonings against Edril Ghambiz of Esipish. Unfortunately, Edril sent the magic of the tribesmen back upon its callers, possibly causing the unknown doom that overtook these people in the end. The only records left behind by the Ptetholites were the Broken Columns of Geph, as well as the Sixth Sathlatta, which they invented.

See The Black; Broken Columns of Geph; Sixth Sathlatta. (“The Caller of the Black”, Lumley (O); “The Horror at Oakdeene”, Lumley; Spawn of the Winds, Lumley.)

PTH’THYA-L’YI

Female deep one and daughter of Mother Hydra who is almost three hundred thousand years old. For the last eighty thousand years, she has lived in the city of Y’ha-nthlei. She has mated with Father Dagon, a union which many believe will result in the birth of a new species of Cthulhu’s minions.

(“Casket of the Sea Queen”, Landwehr; “The Shadow over Innsmouth”, Lovecraft (O).)

Q

QUACHIL UTTAUS (also the TREADER OF THE DUST)

Great Old One (?) who usually appears as a shriveled human mummy, four feet tall, with stiff and immovable limbs. The Treader has some control over time, and its appearance is signaled by local temporal anomalies: everything within a limited area ages at an accelerated rate. After many “years” have passed within this space, Quachil Uttaus arrives, riding down from the sky on a beam of grey light. Any person it touches will turn into dust instantaneously. Sometimes Quachil Uttaus alights upon the person’s remains, leaving two tiny footprints in the dust. It is from this habit that Quachil Uttaus derives his title.

Quachil Uttaus is mentioned in no book save the Testament of Carnamagos, which is the only source of his summoning formula. This volume also contains a method by which a sorcerer may make a pact with the Treader by saying the words “Exklopios Quachil Uttaus.” Quachil will arrive and then twist the caster’s spine in exchange for making him or her immortal. If the Forbidden Words are said again near a bargainer, Quachil Uttaus will come and destroy his one-time servant.

A being very similar in appearance and nature to Quachil Uttaus was worshiped in Egypt under the title Ka-Reth, the Keeper of the Dust.

See Testament of Carnamagos. (“The Keeper of the Dust”, Brennan; “The Condemned”, Herber; “The Treader of the Dust”, Smith (O).)

QUAMIS

See Misquamacus.

QUEEN IN RED

Book by Martin Davies, a man who died in 1870. The work deals with a woman wearing red who has appeared many times in history and art, sowing destruction in her wake wherever she appears.

See Nyarlathotep (Queen in Red). (“Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence”, Pearlman (O); “The Queen in Red”, Ross.)

QUUMYAGGA

Sire of the shantaks, and the greatest of Groth-Golka’s servitors. At one time, this creature dwelt beneath Mount Voormithadreth. It may be Quumyagga who dwells within the innermost dome of the great palace of Inquanok and troubles the dreams of those who gaze too long upon that edifice.

See Groth-Golka; shantaks. (“The Fishers from Outside”, Carter; “Zoth-Ommog”, Carter (O); “The Descent into the Abyss”, Carter and Smith.)

QUY

Lost continent that once existed in the South Atlantic, but now lies between the dimensions.

Quy was one of the two primal continents, along with R’lyeh, and was the home of the Great Old One Quyagen. The first species to dwell on Quy were the Y’nathogguans, which later human invaders drove away. These newcomers established the empire of Quy and the institutionalized worship of Quyagen. Until the cataclysm that destroyed Atlantis and Lemuria, Quy remained a weak power, lacking in technology and harried by Lemurian pirates.

The rise of the Hyborian Age saw the Empire of Quy gain power, conquering the continent of Cakatomia (modern North America) and made raids into Hyboria. Conan, King of Aquilonia, destroyed their armies when they attempted to take over the eastern continent, sending the Empire into a decline from which it never recovered.

Quy vanished when the curse of a mad prophet sent it into an alternate dimension. The prophecy states that only when the Old Ones return will Quy and its inhabitants return to our world.

(“The Thing in the Library”, Berglund and Burnham; “The Worm”, Burnham (O); “The Seven Cities of Gold”, Burnham.)

Q’YTH-AZ

Great Old One who takes the form of a colossal amalgamation of crystals. Q’yth-az dwells on the world of Mthura and can only travel from its home under very specific circumstances.

Q’yth-az has been known to broadcast its telepathic messages to those who are in close contact with crystals. If the person contacted agrees to aid the Great Old One, Q’yth-az may manifest itself on this world when Mthura may be seen in the sky. When it arrives, the crystalline entity grows and attempts to transform everything around it into mineral matter. If Mthura is hidden by clouds or travels below the horizon, however, Q’yth-az must return to its home world.

See Mthura. (“An Early Frost”, Aniolowski (O).)

R

RAM WITH A THOUSAND EWES

Being invoked in certain of Shub-Niggurath’s rituals. Most likely, it is merely Shub-Niggurath’s male incarnation.

See Shub-Niggurath. (The Transition of Titus Crow, Lumley; “The Holiness of Azedarac”, Smith (O).)

RASUL AL-AKBARIN, KITAB

Book written by Ibn el-Badawi around the year 900 which deals with the Great Old Ones. All that is known of it is that an English translation of the original has been made, and that it discusses the being Huitloxopetl.

(“Huitloxopetl IV: Vision of Madness”, Berglund (O); “Wings in the Night”, Berglund; Keeper’s Compendium, Herber.)

RAT-THINGS

Tiny beings that resemble rats with prehensile paws and human faces. Some are created through interbreeding between rats and a curious species of faeries visible only in alcohol, while others are created through magic cast on human corpses. Many witches use them as familiars, Brown Jenkin being the most famous example.

(“The Yorkshire Horror”, Barton; “The Little People”, Herber; “The Dreams in the Witch-House”, Lovecraft (O).)

REFLECTIONS

Book written by Ibn Schacabao and referred to in the Necronomicon. The only surviving copy is held at the British Museum.

This book includes the famous line, “Happy is the town where no wizard hath lain, and happy is the town at night whose wizards are all ashes.” The rest of our information about the Reflections is fragmentary, but it also contains a description of the beings of the Gulf of S’glhuo. This may also be the volume by Schacabao mentioned in the correspondence of Joseph Curwen that described the face of Yog-Sothoth.

[Lovecraft mentioned this book but never named it. Lumley provided the title.]

See Ibn Schacabao. (“The Plain of Sound”, Campbell; “The Case of Charles Dexter Ward”, Lovecraft; “The Festival”, Lovecraft (O); The Burrowers Beneath, Lumley.)

REMNANTS OF LOST EMPIRES

Volume written by Otto Dostmann and published in Berlin by Der Drachenhaus Press in 1809. Much of this book deals with the Greco-Roman ruins in Asia Minor, as well as the ancient stone structures of Asia and the islands of the Pacific. Dostmann also includes material on the Black Stone (which he states Attila’s troops erected to commemorate a victory over the Goths), the Fishers from Outside, the Muvian god Yamath, Ithaqua and Aphoom-Zhah, and a table of Aklo characters.

(“Wrath of the Wind-Walker”, Ambuehl and Price; “Dead of Night”, Carter; “The Fishers from Outside”, Carter; “The Black Stone”, Howard (O); “Dope War of the Black Tong”, Price.)

REVELATIONS OF GLAAKI

Set of books detailing the practices of the cult of Glaaki. These eleven volumes were originally handwritten by various worshipers of that deity who dwelt in England’s Severn River Valley near Brichester. An escaped member of the cult secretly leaked the manuscript to Supremus Press, which printed the Revelations in 1865. This worshiper who transcribed the books chose to leave out some portions, and the Revelations were released in a nine-volume set. Members of Glaaki’s cult bought up the edition, so very few non-initiates were able to obtain copies.

In the 1920s, a Brichester bookseller discovered a twelfth volume of the Revelations. All copies of this book are believed to be destroyed – a fortunate occurrence, because this is the only volume which mentions the abhorrent deity Y’golonac. Some say that a later edition put out by Ultimate Press contained fifteen or more volumes.

Copies of the Revelations are relatively rare. The handwritten original may still be kept at the former base of the English Glaaki cult, but all of this organization’s members vanished in the 1860s. Brichester University held a mostly complete nine-volume edition from the estate of Professor Arnold Hird for a time, but the volumes later disappeared or were burned. Rumor has placed a copy of the twelfth volume at the New York Public Library.

Though each volume of the Revelations may cover several different items, each has a main topic:

Volume 1: Glaaki

Volume 2: His undead servants

Volume 3: Byatis

Volume 4: Eihort

Volume 5: Ghroth

Volume 6; Shub-Niggurath

Volume 7: The shan

Volume 8: The creatures from Xiclotl

Volume 9: Daoloth

Volume 10: M’nagalah

Volume 11: Crystallizers of Dreams

Volume 12: Y’golonac

The books also mention Hydra and the inhabitants of S’glhuo. The topics and handwriting vary widely, as different writers replaced those who had kept the records before them.

See Brichester; Crystallizer of Dreams; Daoloth; Glaaki; Mercy Hill; M’nagalah; Pott, Johannes; Saaamaaa Ritual; Tond; Vulthoom; Y’golonac. (“Cold Print”, Campbell; The Darkest Part of the Woods, Campbell; “The Inhabitant of the Lake”, Campbell (O); “The Plain of Sound”, Campbell; Keeper’s Companion, Herber et. al.; “Two Minutes on High”, Nagel; Miskatonic University Graduate Kit, Petersen et. al.; “Behold, I Stand at the Door and Knock”, Price.)

REVELATIONS OF HALI

Book by the famous prophet translated by the medium E. S. Bayrolles. Golden Goblin Press of New York published the Revelations in 1913. The hymns in the book are the supposed work of a being from Carcosa named Hoseib Alar Robardin. A copy is kept at Miskatonic University.

[Bayrolles originally appeared in Bierce’s “An Inhabitant of Carcosa.”]

(Miskatonic University, Johnson et. al.; “Typo”, Winkle (O).)

RHAN-TEGOTH

Great Old One who came to earth from Yuggoth three millions years ago, taking up residence in the Arctic. The sacrifices its primitive followers made maintained the Old One’s strength and vigor. Later on, the people of the region forgot Rhan-Tegoth, and their former “god” lapsed into hibernation.

During the early 20th century, the curator of a London waxworks museum launched an expedition up the Noatak River from Fort Morton to the great ruined city where Rhan-Tegoth once lived. Finding the dormant god on a tremendous ivory throne, he took it back with him to London. This explorer disappeared shortly thereafter, and the “statue” was sold to the Royal Ontario Museum. The people at the museum first believed to be an Aleut carving, but after an ambitious Ph.D. candidate asserted it was a fake, the god was put into storage. It has since vanished.

According to some, this Great Old One may be awakened by the following chant:

Wza-y’ei! Wza-y’ei!

Y’kaa haa bho-ii,

Rhan-Tegoth — Cthulhu fhtagn —

Rhan-Tegoth,

Rhan-Tegoth,

Rhan-Tegoth!

The mythical beast Gnoph-Keh is sometimes said to be an avatar of Rhan-Tegoth. No evidence has been found to verify this, and it is more likely that the Gnoph-Keh are a species of Arctic monster. Also, the Gnoph-Keh were active when Rhan-Tegoth still sat dreaming on his throne.

Some say that if Rhan-Tegoth can be destroyed the Old Ones can never return to life. The destruction of a being such as Rhan-Tegoth, however, is likely beyond the abilities of humanity.

See Aphoom Zhah; Gnoph-Keh; Pnakotic Manuscripts; Voormish Tablets; Yuggoth. (“Where a God Shall Tread”, Aniolowski; “H. P. Lovecraft: The Gods”, Carter; “The Lurker at the Threshold”, Derleth and Lovecraft; “The Horror in the Museum”, Lovecraft and Heald (O).)

RHYDAGAND OF THE BRUSH

Painter mentioned in the Book of Eibon. Rhydagand could paint a picture and then travel to the place depicted in his sleep. Unfortunately, his last painting included a ghoul that was pleasantly surprised when he arrived.

(“The Offspring of the Tomb”, Cornford; “Pickman’s Student”, Herber (O).)

RICE, (PROFESSOR) WARREN

Professor of Classical Languages at Miskatonic University who accompanied Armitage and Morgan in their assault against the Dunwich Horror. During World War II, he was recruited into the OSS.

See Armitage, Henry; Dunwich; Morgan, Francis. (Arkham Unveiled, Herber et. al.; “The Dunwich Horror”, Lovecraft (O); “Stacked Actors”, Worthy.)

RICK’S LAKE

Body of water in north central Wisconsin. Many strange tales of disappearances and lake monsters have been associated with it. Some say that the legendary “Wood of N’gai” lies nearby.

(“The Dweller in Darkness”, Derleth (O).)

RING OF EIBON

Artifact owned by the mighty Hyperborean wizard Eibon. Eibon found the ring in the temple of a forgotten god, and bested the demon that dwelt within in a battle of wits. The Ring became the possession of the le Chaudronnier family of Averoigne in medieval times, but its current owner is unknown. The ring was forged of a reddish gold, and set with a large purple stone. When held over burning amber, a demon from within the gem would come forth to answer whatever questions its summoner might have. The ring was destroyed to rid the Abbey of Perigon from a horror brought by a comet.

(“The Demon of the Ring”, Cornford; “The Beast of Averoigne”, Smith (O).)

RING OF THOTH-AMMON

See Serpent Ring of Set.

RITUALS OF YHE (also YHE RITUALS)

Book by Niggoum-Zhog, a pre-human prophet. A copy of the Rituals is first mentioned as being part of Eibon’s library. The cult of Ythogtha preserved these writings, which they passed down from each high priest to his successor. Ythogtha’s last high priest, Zanthu, was said to have destroyed them as Mu sank beneath the waves.

Many centuries later in Poseidonis, scribes found a copy of the Yhe Rituals in the library of Malygris following that powerful wizard’s death. Yakthoob, the sorcerer to whom Alhazred was apprenticed in his youth, also owned a copy. Another turned up in an Egyptian tomb in 1903.

The book includes thirty-one secret rituals used in the worship of Ythogtha. The thirty-first, “The Key That Openeth The Door To Yhe”, will summon forth Ythogtha if performed, and Niggoum-Zhog warns that this should only be used if a worshiper is in direst peril.

See Yhe. (“The Thing in the Pit”, Carter (O).)

RLIM SHAIKORTH

Creature mentioned in the Book of Eibon. Rlim Shaikorth is said to have appeared as an immense white worm. At one end, it had a wide mouth and two empty eye-sockets from which blood constantly dripped. Rlim Shaikorth was practically omniscient and mighty in the ways of magic.

Rlim Shaikorth came to Earth from beyond the solar system when Hyperborea was still a mighty world power. In its ice-citadel of Yikilth, the White Worm traveled south from the Pole, blasting all of the lands it sailed past with a great cold that killed all that it touched instantly. Only a few survivors, the Ylidheem, remained; these were great wizards whom Rlim Shaikorth had transformed so that they might live comfortably in the cold to worship it. According to Eibon, the cold from Yikilth destroyed many of Hyperborea’s finest cities, and the end of the world seemed certain. One day, though, the unnatural cold ended as Yikilth melted away. What happened to Rlim Shaikorth still remains a mystery, though Eibon’s book provides one possible answer.

Rlim Shaikorth may seem to be independent, but in fact it serves the fire-being Aphoom Zhah, who dwells in the ice-mountain of Yarak at the northern pole.

See Aphoom Zhah; Book of Eibon; Ylidheem. (“Zoth-Ommog”, Carter; “The Light from the Pole”, Carter and Smith; Selected Letters IV, Lovecraft; “The Coming of the White Worm”, Smith (O).)

R’LYEH (also ARLYEH or URILIA (?))

Sunken city located near 47° 9’ S, 126° 43’ W in the southern Pacific (though others place it near Ponape, or even off the coast of Massachusetts).  Cthulhu and his minions built R’lyeh millions of years before the earliest recorded human history, sallying forth from the city to battle the Elder Things and other alien entities. Then a catastrophe occurred. It could be a particular astronomical configuration, a great cosmic war with the Elder Gods occurred, a secret weapon of the Elder Things, or the creation of the moon. Whatever the reason, R’lyeh sank beneath the waves of the Pacific Ocean, becoming the tomb of Great Cthulhu.

Though R’lyeh has sunk deep beneath the Pacific Ocean, there have been times when the city (or at least its highest mountain) breaches the surface of the sea, only to sink down again after a short period of time. At these times, the dreams of Cthulhu have been telepathically broadcast, leading to outbreaks of religious fervor, insanity, and natural disturbances around the world. The interested reader should read the works of Professor George Gammell Angell of Brown University, as well as the Johansen Narrative, for more information on these events.

From the descriptions of the corpse-city of R’lyeh which have come down to us, we learn that its buildings are made of colossal green stones which fit together in a non-Euclidean manner. In a mausoleum at the peak of the tallest mountain, Great Cthulhu sleeps, an Elder Sign holding him within his tomb. Only the ignorant or foolhardy would open the door of this tomb; in all of history, this has only occurred a few times, and the results were disastrous.

See Black Gods of R’lyeh; Cthulhu; Great Old Ones; Johansen Narrative; Masters of the Silver Twilight; Mu; Ph’nglui mglw’nafh; Quy; R’lyeh Text; Seal of R’lyeh; star-spawn of Cthulhu; Yhe; Ythogtha; Zoth-Ommog. (“The Black Island”, Derleth; “The Seal of R’lyeh”, Derleth; “The Lurker at the Threshold”, Derleth and Lovecraft; “An Item of Mutual Interest”, Glancy; “The Call of Cthulhu”, Lovecraft (O); “The House of Cthulhu”, Lumley.)

R’LYEH DISK

Circular artifact made of solid gold and decorated with small gems and runes. The information given on the Disk will allow the Cthulhu cult to raise R’lyeh above the waves before the appointed time, and that organization searches the world for it. The Disk was last seen in Scotland, where a Roman centurion cut it into three pieces and hid them where the Old Ones’ minions could not find them.

(“The Coven at Cannich”, Clegg (O); Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying Game, Cook and Tynes.)

R’LYEH TEXT (also URILIA TEXT?)

Book originally transcribed on great tablets by the spawn of Cthulhu. These “Black Tablets of R’lyeh” still existed in Hyperborean times, but today the oldest copies are those preserved in scroll form somewhere in the depths of China. These copies, which are at least fifteen thousand years old but probably more ancient, contain characters that look Chinese, but are actually of no human tongue. More recent copies in Chinese have also been found and smuggled out of the country.

The information on the texts may have traveled through Babylon and Persia to the west, as a Latin translation that appeared circa 200 BC seems to have been taken from such sources. An incomplete undated translation in Greek is also known via one copy. A German translation entitled Liyuhh, which was made from both the Chinese and Latin sources, was privately published in the eighteenth century. Lord Rochester’s English translation of the Latin book was never published, but nonetheless has been copied many times and was used by Shrewsbury and Copeland in their own work. Someone named Phillips has written a Study of the R’lyeh Text kept at Miskatonic University.

This slim book reportedly deals with the proper worship of Cthulhu and his kindred, and many of the Cthulhu cults believe it to be their holiest text. It also contains a spell called the “Breath of Dagon”, which allows a person to breathe underwater.

[Two of the recent paperback Necronomicons have included the R’lyeh Text as part of the Necronomicon, though the fiction is clear that it is a separate book.]

See Investigation into the Myth-Patterns; Liyuhh; R’lyeh; R’lyeh Text Commentary; R’lyehian; Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan. (“The Shadow of the Sleeping God”, Ambuehl; “Darkness, My Name Is”, Bertin; “The Return of Hastur”, Derleth (O); “Der Blutsauger von Schwarzbrunn”, Franck; “Black Devil Mountain”, Hargrave; “The Spawn of the Y’lagh”, Larson; Necronomicon, Levenda; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

R’LYEH TEXT COMMENTARY

Book in classical Chinese which explains several of the passages within the R’lyeh Text. Along with these, this volume contains a sketchy map of R’lyeh.

See R’lyeh Text. (Masks of Nyarlathotep, DiTillio and Willis (O).)

R’LYEHIAN

Language used by Cthulhu and his spawn. Written, it consists of horizontal bars from which individual letters hang down. This may be the language in which the oldest surviving copies of the R’lyeh Text are written. Churchward performed some preliminary work on this language.

See Book of Dagon. (“The Fishers from Outside”, Carter; “Through the Gates of the Silver Key”, Lovecraft and Price (O); R’lyehian as a Toy Language, Marsh; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

RUE D’AUSEIL (“Street of the Threshold”)

Street in Paris on which Erich Zann once lived. Its location is unknown, and it cannot be found on any maps. Near a foul-smelling river, it rises steeply up sets of stairs between ancient buildings, until it arrives at a high wall covered in ivy.

(“The Music of Erich Zann”, Lovecraft (O).)

S

SAAAMAAA RITUAL

Incantation used by the “Ab-Human priests” in their worship. It is a last resort for protection from outside forces that not even the Elder Sign can stop. There are eight signs used with the ritual, each of which may be used as part of a protective barrier.

The last line of the Saaamaaa Ritual is said to provide absolute protection, though no human knows it and this assertion cannot be tested. Whether this is true or not, the second line of the Saaamaaa Ritual is mentioned in the Revelations of Glaaki as an ideal way to create the Pentacle of Planes, which guards against the uncontrolled manifestation of Daoloth during the summoning of that Outer God.

See Daoloth. (“The Stone on the Island”, Campbell; “The Gateway of the Monster”, Hodgson (O); “The House in the Laurels”, Hodgson; “The Whistling Room”, Hodgson; “The Gates of Delirium”, Sumpter.)

SADOGUI

See Tsathoggua.

SADOQUA

See Tsathoggua.

SADOWSKY, (DOKTOR) PHILEUS P.

Professor of Arabic Literature and Philo-pseudology at the University of Sofia in Bulgaria. In 1979 Sadowsky’s contribution to Mythos scholarship began when he glimpsed a page from the Al Azif in a shop in Egypt. Undeterred by his loss of the parchment, Sadowsky continued his studies using the only complete copy of Al Azif in Europe. Both he and the manuscript were destroyed in a house fire in 1980.

See Necronomicon (appendices). (“Notes on a Fragment of the Necronomicon”, Hamblin (O); “Further Notes on the Necronomicon”, Hamblin.)

SANBOURNE INSTITUTE OF PACIFIC ANTIQUITIES

Anthropological society based in Santiago, California which studies the cultures of the Pacific. It was named for Carlton Sanbourne II, a man whose father had made a fortune in the tuna-packing industry. Upon his death, Carlton left all of his money, his house and grounds, and a great number of Polynesian artifacts which formed the Institute’s core collection. His son Philip was the founder of the Institute itself.

Despite the amount of scholarly research credited to its staff, the public remembers the Sanbourne Institute for the circumstances surrounding the donation of the Copeland Bequest, which may have been responsible for the death of Copeland himself and the madness of two of its caretakers. In 1931 (or 1933) the Institute closed and the Copeland Bequest was sent to Miskatonic University for safekeeping. Since then, however, the Institute has returned and re-opened its museum and projects.

See Blaine, Henry; Copeland, Harold; Hodgkins, Arthur; Ponape Figurine; Unaussprechlichen Kulten; Zanthu Tablets. (“The Dweller in the Tomb”, Carter (O); “Out of the Ages”, Carter; “Zoth-Ommog”, Carter; A Resection of Time, Johnson.)

SAND-DWELLERS

Creatures that resemble emaciated, grit-encrusted humans with koala-like heads. Sand-dwellers come from another dimension, first appearing in North America. They dwell in the American Southwest, especially beneath Arizona’s Superstitition Mountains, Egypt, and in other desert areas elsewhere in the world.

The sand-dwellers live in bands governed by the strongest individual underneath a shaman. They are usually nocturnal, remaining in their caverns until they leave to hunt at nightfall to seek food. One group of sand dwellers has limited telepathic abilities that they use to transform bats into their spies, contact susceptible humans, and control mysterious weapons that create ball lightning. These abilities have not been manifest in many encounters with them, so it is unknown how widespread they might be among the species as a whole.

The sand-dwellers might serve creatures that thrive deeper within their grottoes and ultimately Cthulhu. They might also serve in the cults of Yig and Nyarlathotep. A few have been known to affiliate with secretive cults in their regions.

(The Cairo Guidebook, Anderson; Aniolowski, Malleus Monstruorum; “The Gable Window”, Derleth and Lovecraft (O); The Sand Dwellers, Niswander.)

SANSU

Inhabitant of the Dreamlands. Sansu was a great tyrant known as the Godstalker, whose legion of soldiers once even laid siege to Thalarion. Sansu was one of only three people in history to scale Mount Hatheg-Kla, though he found nothing at the top. In the end, the things he saw on a journey to K’n-yan drove him insane.

See Hatheg-Kla; Pnakotic Manuscripts. (“Thalarion: City of a Thousand Wonders”, Bock; “K’n-yan”, DeBill; “The Other Gods”, Lovecraft (O).)

SAPIENTIA MAGORUM (“Wisdom of the Magi”)

Volume written in Greek and Latin by the great Persian fire-mage Ostanes. Even in Roman times, the volume was quite rare; aside from at least one copy held at Ephesus, editions could also be found in Italy and Samaria, though these were almost impossible to locate or to consult.

Within this volume, Ostanes recorded the rituals necessary to raise Kaiwan (Hastur) and Shupnikkurat (Shub-Niggurath), an incantation to free a soul the latter goddess has taken, a formula to propitiate Fortuna (the Roman god of luck), a possible immortality spell, and the true reason that Herostratos burned down the temple of Artemis at Ephesus. Ostanes may have had access to the Book of Eibon, so it is possible that the contents of those two books may overlap at times.

(The Gardens of Lucullus, Rahman and Tierney; “The Seed of the Star-God”, Tierney; “The Soul of Kephri”, Tierney; “The Sword of Spartacus”, Tierney (O); “The Throne of Achamoth”, Tierney and Price.)

SARACENIC RITUALS

Famous chapter of Ludwig Prinn’s De Vermis Mysteriis. It contains the secrets learned by the author during his captivity under the wizards of Syria – or so Prinn asserted. Not only is this chapter contained in De Vermis Mysteriis, but it has also appeared separately. A German translation has been spoken of, and a “Clergyman X” published a translation of this chapter during the nineteenth century. This holy man, however, omitted several passages from his version out of pious horror. A copy of this pamphlet is kept at the British Museum Library.

This chapter deals with the efreets and djinni of the Arabian deserts, as well as with the pharaoh Nephren-Ka, the priesthoods of the Egyptian gods Sebek and Bast, and the worm-wizards of many-columned Irem.

See De Vermis Mysteriis. (“The Brood of Bubastis”, Bloch; “Fane of the Black Pharaoh”, Bloch; “Hell on Earth”, Bloch; “The Secret of Sebek”, Bloch; “The Shambler from the Stars”, Bloch (O); “Lord of the Worms”, Lumley.)

SARKOMAND

Dreamlands city in a valley below Leng, lying between the basalt cliffs of the plateau and the sea. The men from Leng used Sarkomand as their capital until they met the moon-beasts a million years before humanity appeared. The moon-beasts still use Sarkomand as a place for docking and unloading captives.

Sarkomand was a mighty city in its time, with many avenues with columns and gardens. Roads from the six gates guarded by sphinx statues ran into a plaza where two winged lions made of diorite still guard an entrance to the Great Abyss. Nearby lay the low circular temple of the Great Old One Oorn, who dwells beneath the city.

See Gnorri; Great Abyss; Leng; Mnomquah; Oorn; Tcho-tchos. (“The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft (O); Mad Moon of Dreams, Lumley.)

SARNATH

City built near a great lake in the land of Mnar by a group of nomads. Sarnath lay quite near to another city, Ib, in which a species of amphibian creatures dwelt. The people of Sarnath hated the creatures who dwelt in Ib; the warriors of Sarnath killed all of its inhabitants, bearing back to Sarnath the statue of Bokrug which the people of Ib worshiped.

After this victory, Sarnath conquered many of the nearby nations and became rich and powerful. A thousand years later, however, a great calamity befell, and the city of Sarnath disappeared in one night.

According to one variant, the Great Old Ones were actually the builders of Sarnath. The priests of Sumer traveled in time back to this city through their ziggurats, and bore the Old Ones’ worship back with them. Most consider Sarnath to have been a human city, however.

[A ruined city named Sarnath does exist in India; Lovecraft never mentions it, so he seems not to have been aware of the coincidence.]

See Bokrug; Book of Eibon; Ib; Ilarnek; Ilarnek Papyri; Kadatheron; Kish; Kish, Sign of; Lobon; Mnar; Shub-Niggurath; Tamash; Thuum’ha; Zo-Kalar. (“The Doom that Came to Sarnath”, Lovecraft (O); Prey, Masterton.)

SARNATH-SIGIL

See Elder Sign.

SATAMPRA ZEIROS

Thief of Uzuldaroum in Hyperborea who is best known for the loss of his right hand in the temple of Tsathoggua in the lost city of Commoriom. He nonetheless continued his chosen career, making off with the thirty-nine girdles of the virgins of Leniqua. He participated in another heist at that god’s behest which inadvertently led to the death of its high priest before settling down in his old age with his wealth.

(“The Shadow of the Sleeping God”, Ambuehl; “The Tale of Satampra Zeiros”, Smith (O); “The Theft of the Thirty-Nine Girdles”, Smith.)

SATHLATTAE

Set of magical formulae, at least one of which may be found in the Cthaat Aquadingen. Some are summonings, while others are protective spells, and many of them must be performed at midnight. We have more complete data on three of them:

The Third Sathlatta, which provides protection from Bugg-Shash the Devourer, though such protection only lasts until death

The Sixth Sathlatta (which see)

The Ninth Sathlatta, which served as a potent protection from baneful magics in Theem’hdra.

See Codex Dagonensis; Codex Maleficium, Codex Spitalski; Sixth Sathlattae. (“Billy’s Oak”, Lumley (O); “Cryptically Yours”, Lumley; “The Kiss of Bugg-Shash”, Lumley.)

SCARLET CIRCLES

Ritual (?) possessed by the “satyrs” who serve Shub-Niggurath. It provides rapid travel between distant places, and may even breach the dimensional barrier so that the hounds of Tindalos may enter our dimension. The blood of one of Shub-Niggurath’s transformed worshipers is needed to complete the rite.

(“The Book of the Gates”, Carter; “The Hounds of Tindalos”, Long (O); Cthulhu Live: Lost Souls, Salmon et. al.)

SCHRACH, GERHARD

Viennese interpreter of dreams who did much of his work in the 1930s. Titus Crow considered Schrach’s work to be on a par with that of Freud and Jung.

(The Burrowers Beneath, Lumley; Clock of Dreams, Lumley; Hero of Dreams, Lumley; “The Man in the Dream”, Lumley (O).)

SCIMITAR OF BARZAI

See Barzai.

SCROLL OF THOTH-AMMON

See Book of Thoth.

SEAL OF R’LYEH

Insignia bearing a picture of Cthulhu standing over the city of R’lyeh and encircled by the motto, “Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn.”

See R’lyeh. (“The Seal of R’lyeh”, Derleth (O).)

THE SECRET MYSTERIES OF ASIA, WITH A COMMENTARY ON THE “GHORL NIGRAL”

Volume by Gottfried Mülder, an associate of von Junzt, who accompanied the eccentric scholar on many of his journeys. During a trip to a Chinese monastery in 1818–9, von Junzt consulted a copy of the Ghorl Nigral. He later spoke much of that volume’s contents to Mülder.

In the years following von Junzt’s death, Mülder began to realize how crucial the revelations given to him had been. Making use of self-hypnosis, he reconstructed many of the hints von Junzt had given and incorporated them into his Secret Mysteries of Asia. Following the book’s Leipzig printing in 1847, most copies were seized and destroyed by the government.

The locations and contents of this volume are not common knowledge, though one is probably held at Miskatonic University Library.

See Ghorl Nigral; Mülder, Gottfried; Von Junzt, Friedrich. (“Zoth-Ommog”, Carter; Lovecraft at Last, Conover and Lovecraft (O); “The History of Von Unaussprechlichen Kulten”, Harris.)

THE SECRET WATCHER

Book by Halpin Chalmers, a noted occultist and one-time Curator of Archaeology at the Manhattan Museum of Fine Arts, who was found murdered in his apartment following a bout of insanity. This volume, published by London’s Charnel House Publishers, deals with the author’s psychic experiments in the area of “transcendental time travel”. Chalmers anticipated the work of Huxley and Leary through his use of psychotropic substances to access what he claimed were other realities.

See Chalmers, Halpin. (“The Wild Hunt”, Ballon; “The Winfield Heritance”, Carter; “The Horror from the Hills”, Long; “The Hounds of Tindalos”, Long (O).)

SEED OF AZATHOTH

Greenish, glowing material, the source of which is the spawn of Azathoth that the Outer God occasionally throws off while dancing at his court. It is also possible for a spawn of Azathoth to carry some of this material with them as they travel into the universe. Often a seed will become part of a comet, being indistinguishable from a normal body of this type.

When one of these seeds lands on a planet, it burrows into the ground until it reaches the planet’s core. There it hatches and forms another of Azathoth’s spawn, cracking the planet open as it escapes. A seed landing upon the world of Thyoph destroyed that world, creating our asteroid’s belt. Another Seed may have caused the Tunguska explosion, but if this is true, its effects were halted before much damage was done. Physical proximity to such a fragment is quite dangerous, and results in a slow disintegration of any organic tissue that its rays strike.

The Seed is believed to have beneficial effects as well. It is said to have a catabolic effect on certain servitors of the Other Gods. The fungi from Yuggoth and insects from Shaggai often make tools out of this material.

See Azathoth; Thyoph. (“Pickman’s Student”, Herber (O); Spawn of Azathoth, Herber; “In the Vaults Beneath”, Lumley.)

SENTINEL HILL

Prominence near Dunwich, Massachusetts. Its summit is capped with a large stone resembling a table or altar. Archaeologists have debated the origin of this feature, as well as the ancestry of the bones found buried nearby. The Whateley family once held rites on Sentinel Hill on Walpurgis and Halloween. It was also the site where the Dunwich Horror came to a close.

Another hill of the same name, with a circle of monoliths at the top, lies just outside Brichester.

(“The Recurring Doom”, Joshi; “The Dunwich Horror”, Lovecraft (O).)

SELECTIONS DE LIVRE D’IVON

Gaspard du Nord’s French commentary on the Latin Book of Eibon (though some suggest it is an eighteenth-century hoax). It contains several protective charms to keep the user safe from the forces of evil, especially Nyarlathotep.

See Book of Eibon. (The Fate, Detwiller with Ivey; Masks of Nyarlathotep, DiTillio and Willis (O).)

SEMPRONIUS BLAESUS, TITUS

Quaestor of the Roman Empire at the time of Sulla.

SERANNIAN

City in the clouds that lies off the coast of Ooth-Nargai. It is not difficult to reach, as ships may fly off the ocean and into the clouds from the ocean surrounding it. King Kuranes of Celephaïs lives there for half the year.

See Cerenerian Sea; Kuranes. (“Celephaïs”, Lovecraft (O); “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft.)

SERPENT PEOPLE

Species of bipedal reptiles that appeared during the Permian period. Some say they came from Venus, but most hold that they evolved naturally upon earth. With their great magic (and the aid of the fabled Cobra Crown), the serpent people conquered the empire of Valusia, an area which today forms part of both Europe and Africa. During this time, the serpent people reared great stone cities containing both laboratories and temples to Yig, Byatis, Han, Shub-Niggurath, and Tsathoggua. When the Triassic Age came, new conditions caused the race to go into decline for eons until they resurged during the Pleistocene Era.

The coming of humanity proved to be the downfall of the serpent people’s dominion over the world. Although some of the serpent people provided humanity with helpful knowledge, the new race later swept aside the old cities of the reptiles in order to build their towns and fortresses. To escape this destruction, some of the reptiles crept into hidden burrows in the hills of Wales, or to the caverns of Yoth. Others put themselves into deep hibernation, while some used their magical abilities to disguise themselves and concealed themselves among the invaders. Apart from one abortive attempt to recapture the throne of Valusia, the serpents were never a serious threat to humanity thereafter.

Today, the serpent people are small in numbers, and must do even more to keep their identities hidden. Despite this, many of this species are convinced that another resurgence of their race is imminent. For the most part, the serpent people are so few and individualistic that any concerted efforts seem unlikely. Their dislike of direct confrontation and mastery of both scientific and magical techniques (as well as their advanced knowledge of poison manufacture) makes them formidable foes nonetheless.

See Aklo; Book of Skelos; Brothers of the Yellow Sign; Byatis; Cobra Crown; Gnoph-keh; Han; Lemuria; Mu; Nameless City; Shining Trapezohedron; Sss’haa; Tsathoggua; Valusia; Voormis; Worms of the Earth; Zylac. (“Where a God Shall Tread”, Aniolowski; “Zoth-Ommog”, Carter; Conan the Buccaneer, Carter and de Camp; Outer Gateways, Grant; “The Shadow Kingdom”, Howard (O); The Illuminatus! Trilogy, Shea and Wilson; “The Seven Geases”, Smith; “The Starshine”, Szymanski; “The Dragons of Mons Fractus”, Tierney.)

SERPENT RING OF SET (also RING OF THOTH-AMMON)

Artifact that was the creation of a prehuman species (most likely the serpent people). The ring was a copper-colored piece of jewelry forged in the shape of a serpent wrapped in a circle three times, its tail caught in its mouth.

The Stygian wizard Thoth-Amon found the ring in a forgotten tomb, possibly from the time of Acheron, and used it to fuel his rise to the high priesthood of Set. After his death, the priests of Egypt hid the ring beneath one of their altars. It remained there for thousands of years, until a Roman nobleman stole it and it made its way to Emperor Tiberius just before his death. The ring was handed down among various cults of sorcerers until present times, when it appeared in the effects of the occultist and dilettante Gustaf Vrolok after a trip to Hungary. Its present whereabouts are unknown.

A powerful enough sorcerer could use the ring to summon up demons to attack his enemies, or even cause them to possess a person’s body for a short time. The ring, however, came with a powerful curse that was especially dangerous to those of royal lines and those too weak to control its power.

(Conan: Book of Thoth, Busiek and Wein; “The Haunter of the Ring”, Howard; “The Phoenix on the Sword”, Howard (O); “The Ring of Set”, Tierney; “The Worm of Urakhu”, Tierney.)

SERVITOR OF THE OUTER GODS

Creature resembling a toad or lizard with a number of tentacles carrying a flute. The Servitors provide the music at the court of Azathoth, but may come to earth if a special flute is blown on Walpurgis, Midsummer’s Eve, or Halloween. A servitor’s music has the power to summon other beings of the Mythos, making them even more dangerous.

(“The Festival”, Lovecraft (O); Call of Cthulhu Rulebook, Petersen and Willis.)

SESQUA VALLEY

Location somewhere in the state of Washington. The Valley’s major landmark is the white, twin-peaked Mount Selta, which is rumored to be the home of all manner of curious beings, to the northeast of the Valley.

The Native Americans warned the first settlers to avoid this area, but subsequent centuries saw the valley populated. Many of these newcomers were former inhabitants of Dunwich who moved west after the horrific events of 1928. Despite this, all Sesquans feel a deep sense of connection to the land about them. It is common for the Valley’s young people to venture out into the world, only to return to their homes when they grow older.

The town is a haven for artists, many of whom leave curious sculptures across the countryside before they vanish or meet darker fates. A tower of stone in the valley holds the books and manuscripts collected from their libraries where others might consult them.

Most outsiders do not stop in the Sesqua Valley, as the Valley appears on no maps and seems to make itself inconspicuous to unwanted visitors.

Many strange events and disappearances happen in the Valley, presaged by howling on the mountains or the arrival of thick fog.

See Black Stone. (“Apotheosis”, Pugmire; “Never Steal from a Whateley”, Pugmire (O); “A Piece of Stone”, Pugmire; “Some Darker Star”, Pugmire; “The Totem Pole”, Pugmire; “Your Metamorphic Moan”, Pugmire; “The Tree-House”, Pugmire and Price.)

SET (also SETH or SUTEKH)

God which sometimes appears as a huge black serpent with yellow eyes. He has been described as the ruler of the sunken cities and the spaces between the stars.

Set is believed to have dwelt in the Stygian Caverns, through which flowed the river Styx (later known as the Nile). His worship was first recorded in Acheron, an empire of the early Hyborian Age that included the area around the Styx. When Lemurian refugees from the east conquered this area and established Stygia, they continued Set’s worship. Soon the cult of Set controlled all of Stygia, with many secret outposts in other lands. Their battles against the cult of Mitra (a solar deity) and Conan the Cimmerian kept them from attaining world domination, but the cult of Set was nonetheless a force to be reckoned with during that time.

After the Hyborian Age, the Egyptians took up the worship of Set. One cult dedicated to him, the Brethren of Set, taught that Set was the son of the first pharaoh, and that he had killed his father and drunk his blood, thereby becoming an immortal blood-drinker. Set was especially popular with the Hyksos, who conquered Lower Egypt around 1674 B. C. The Hyksos identified him with their own most powerful god, and worshiped him as Ha-Set-Ur, the god of shepherds. The Egyptians eventually saw him as a demonic force and forbade his worship. It is unknown whether Set’s worship has continued anywhere on this world, though there is a temple dedicated to him in Ulthar and rumors of a “Majestic Order of the Great Dark One” have emerged from Egypt.

Giant snakes kept in Set’s temples, vampires, and other beings that would destroy the sanity of any who looked upon them served the god. The highest level of his priesthood was the Black Ring, a group of sorcerers who could kill a person by burning their flesh with their hands, leaving a black handprint on their corpse. Set’s cult especially favors red-haired people, seeing this color as a sign of the god’s favor. They also prized an artifact called the Black Mirror of Nekhen, and believed that anyone who performed the proper rituals before it would call Set into the world again. Hopefully this information will allow future researchers to identify any possible survivals of this ancient faith.

[Set was originally a god of Upper Egypt who was depicted as having the head of an unknown beast which has been identified as a donkey, an okapi, or a jackal, but resembles none of these. He was considered to be the god of the night sky, storms, warriors, and confusion. According to legend, Set was the son of the sky goddess Nut and the earth god Geb. Every night when the sun passed through the underworld, Set would help fight the snake Apep or Apophis so that it would not eat the sun. Later, Set became known as the god who killed his brother Osiris and fought numerous battles with Osiris’ son Horus.

[After the fall of the New Kingdom, Set was symbolically linked with both the invading outsiders and Apep, and becoming more of a serpentine demon. When the Greeks learned of him, they linked him with Typhon, a monster which threatened the gods’ rule. Set’s worship has seen a slight resurgence in modern times, through such groups as Michael Aquino’s Temple of Set.

[In different Mythos works, Set has been linked with Yig, Nyarlathotep, and Hastur. Those who would use Set in their tales and scenarios may want to consider which of these, if any, lies behind the mask of Set.]

See Nyarlathotep; Nyarlathotep (Set); Serpent Ring of Set; Stygia; Thoth-Amon; World of the Seven Suns. (The Cairo Guidebook, Anderson; “The Sundial of Amen-Tet”, Aniolowski; “The Black Mirror” (alternate), Glasby; “The Hour of the Dragon”, Howard; “The Scarlet Citadel”, Howard; Ghor Kin-Slayer, Howard et. al.; “The Ring of Set”, Tierney; “The Worm of Urakhu”, Tierney; “The Adventure of the Laughing Moonbeast”, Vaughan.)

SEVEN CRYPTICAL BOOKS OF HSAN (also SEVEN CRYPTICAL BOOKS OF EARTH)

Set of scrolls of possible Chinese origin. According to some scholars, Hsan the Greater wrote them in the second century. Others, however, maintain that they originally came from Leng and date back to the time of China’s mythical Yellow Emperor, being translated into Chinese from a forgotten tongue. It may be that these are the same as the legendary “Seven Books of Tan” said to date back to 4000 B.C. and which contain many puzzles for those keen of mind. When Ch’in Shih Huang Ti, China’s first emperor, commanded the Burning of the Books in 213 B.C., most of the Chinese copies were destroyed, and subsequent Chinese authors were forced to compile a corrupted version based on what fragments they could find and their own memories. Four later dynasties also banned Hsan’s books, making them even rarer.

The books were smuggled out of China and translated numerous times. The first to appear was probably the English of 1729, though this one is so poor that most scholars consider it hardly worth mentioning. In 1940 Boston’s Silver Key Press published a better English translation made by the occultist Etienne-Laurent de Marigny. Lama Dordji Ram, possibly with the assistance of the renowned explorer Alexandra David-Neel, made a French translation which appeared in Marseilles in 1943.

Copies of the Books in various languages may be found at the Temple of the Elder Ones in Ulthar, Miskatonic University, the Library of the State University at St. Petersburg, the Bibliotheque de l’Arsenal, the Library of Congress (a complete copy, though closely guarded) and in the hands of private collectors in Scotland and France. Although the library of the Dalai Lama holds the Books, the large number of copies in Tibet is almost impossible to find, as the Tibetan monks hid most of their copies from the invading Chinese armies.

The Seven Cryptical Books range widely in topics, including the proper treatment of a dead wizard’s body, the forms of Nyarlathotep, the Dreamlands, and a history of the plateau of Leng. The books also include quotations from the R’lyeh Text and spells which bear resemblance to those in the Dhol Chants. The most important ceremonies in the Books are the “Seven Cryptical Spells of Hsan”, though the significance of these is unknown. The second book, sometimes called the “The Sign of Signs”, is said to bestow limited power over life and death, and the fourth gives the spells for the summoning and dismissing of demons. The few complete editions of the fifth book contain the formula for creating the Eye of Light and Darkness. One of the books, which is referred to as “lost” (despite the fact that the de Marigny translation claims to hold all seven volumes), contains information on how wisdom may be obtained from the dead. Some even say that a code hidden within the books gives the time when the Old Ones shall return.

See Barzai; Eye of Light and Darkness; Lin Tang-Yu; Marigny, Etienne-Laurent de; Zin, Vaults of. (“Eyes of a Stranger”, Aniolowski; “Zoth-Ommog”, Carter; Delta Green, Detwiller, Glancy, and Tynes; Masks of Nyarlathotep, DiTillio and Willis; “Headsman”, Fantina; “Books of the Cthulhu Mythos”, Herber and Ross; “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft; “The Other Gods”, Lovecraft (O); “A Private Inquiry into the Possible Whereabouts of Clara Boyd”, Marsh et. al.; “The Return of Zhosph”, Myers; “The Summons of Nuguth-Yug”, Myers and Laidlaw; Miskatonic University Graduate Kit, Petersen et. al.; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley; “Those Who Wait”, Wade; “Typo”, Winkle.)

SEVEN HUNDRED STEPS OF DEEPER SLUMBER

Stairs that lead down from the Cavern of Flame and end at the Gate of Deeper Slumber in the Dreamlands’ Enchanted Wood. Some have suggested that these, as well as the Seventy Steps of Light Slumber, are only symbolic, and that only initiates know their true meaning.

See Dreamlands; Seventy Steps of Light Slumber. (“The Book of Preparations”, Carter; “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft (O).)

SEVEN LOST SIGNS OF TERROR

Symbols said to compel obedience from all beings in our universe or elsewhere.  

(“The Offering”, Carter; “The Diary of Alonzo Typer”, Lovecraft and Lumley (O).)

SEVENTY STEPS OF LIGHT SLUMBER

Stairs that appear in dreams and, if descended, lead the dreamer to the Cavern of Flame where Nasht and Kaman-Tha reside. It has been suggested that one may walk down these steps and then enter the Dreamlands, bypassing the Seven Hundred Steps of Deeper Slumber entirely. This method does not allow the dreamer much control of their wanderings, but many consider it to be safer.

See Dreamlands; Seven Hundred Steps of Deeper Slumber. (“The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft (O); Hero of Dreams, Lumley.)

SEVERNFORD

Town northwest of Brichester, on the banks of the Severn River. Like many towns in the region, Severnford is past its prime, with many of its buildings standing empty and dilapidated. Near this town is the ruined castle in which the wizard Sir Gilbert Morley resided, and an isle in the river nearby was the site of witches’ sabbats in the seventeenth century.

See Camside. (“The Faces at Pine Dunes”, Campbell; “The Plain of Sound”, Campbell; “The Room in the Castle” (O), Campbell; “The Stone on the Island”, Campbell.)

SFATLICLLP

Shapeless offspring of Ossadogwah who is said to have mated with the Voormis. She is said to have dwelled in the Eiglophian Mountains in Hyperborea, where she nurtured the Voormis.

(“Voormi Hymn of Deliverance”, Schwader; “The Family Tree of the Gods”, Smith (O).)

S’GLHUO, GULF OF

Alternate dimension mentioned in the Necronomicon. In this place, sounds created in our dimension form the matter, and matter as we know it manifests itself as an odor. The blue-skinned people of this region can only be harmed by certain sounds made in our own dimension, and are quite anxious to establish telepathic contact with our own reality. Their motives are unknown, so any dealing with them should beware.

See Alala; Mao; Reflections; Revelations of Glaaki. (“The Plain of Sound”, Campbell (O).)

SHAGGAI (also CHAG-HAI?)

World of two emerald suns from which the shan, or insects from Shaggai, first came. Some say that it is the same as Planet X or Pluto’s moon Charon, but it seems more likely that it irregularly orbits a binary star system in the Andromeda galaxy.

A rocky inhospitable world with little light, life sensitive to radiation eventually evolved on Shaggai, covering the world with black seas of protoplasm and tremendous jungles filled with carnivorous molds. Large green pyramids attest to the presence of a spacefaring race that worshiped Azathoth before the rise of a native species, the shan or insects from Shaggai. The shan reared huge cities of globular dwellings and conical or pyramidal temples to Azathoth. From their home world, the insects colonized many of the nearby planets, but the majority of the shan remained on Shaggai up until its destruction.

A strange celestial object (perhaps Ghroth the Harbinger) destroyed this world more than eight hundred years ago. The insects discovered a glowing red body in their sky, moving slowly nearer. Three days later, the object reached Shaggai and annihilated that world in a holocaust of light and flame. Only the shan who were in the teleporting temples of Azathoth or on the otherworldly colonies escaped the ruin of their home planet.

See Book of Eibon; Glaaki; Massa di Requiem per Shuggay; shan; Xiclotl. (“The Insects from Shaggai”, Campbell; “Shaggai”, Carter; Delta Green: Countdown, Detwiller et. al.; “The Haunter of the Dark”, Lovecraft (O); “The Throne of Achamoth”, Tierney and Price; “Planetfall on Yuggoth”, Wade.)

SHAGGOTHS

See shoggoths.

SHAMBALLAH (or SHAMBHALA)

City built fifty million years ago by Lemurians in the Great Eastern Desert (probably meaning the Gobi). It still remains there, protected behind a screen of psychic power. The wizard-priest Zanthu of Mu fled to the lands near this city when his home continent sank beneath the waves, and a copy of the Book of Dzyan may be found in the archives here.

[Buddhist thought places Shamballah in many different places. Some hold that when the entire world is engulfed in warfare, humanity’s savior shall come forth from Shamballah. Lovecraft’s usage derived from Theosophical literature.]

(“The Thing in the Pit”, Carter; Selected Letters IV, Lovecraft (O); “The Diary of Alonzo Typer”, Lovecraft and Lumley; “The Return of the Lloigor”, Wilson.)

SHAN (also INSECTS FROM SHAGGAI)

Species of insects about the size of a bird. They differ from earthly insects in that they have ten legs, a set of feelers below their three mouths, and tentacles sprouting from their legs. The shan are entirely photosynthetic, deriving their nourishment from their sun’s rays, and possess the ability to physically enter and inhabit organic matter.

The shan originally came from the world of Shaggai, where they evolved the ability to imbibe electromagnetic radiation and thereby exploit their inhospitable environment through an unusual life cycle. Hermaphroditic, shan would mate to fertilize an egg sac. Once hatched, the larvae devoured both the parent and the other larvae, with the survivors dwelling in the oceans until they developed the ability to nourish themselves directly from radiation. Having reached adulthood, a shan could anticipate several centuries of life.

Possessing three brains and the ability to make tools, the shan rapidly acquired civilization. They lived in grey, globular buildings and worshiped Azathoth in conical metal temples. They conquered the surrounding worlds, with any prisoners taken being used either as slaves or for the insects’ entertainment. The shan were also known as mighty wizards, who were mentioned in the ancient writings only with the greatest abhorrence. It is said that one of the greatest secrets of the Pnakotic Manuscript dealt with something these insects summoned and were forced to imprison within their world.

When Shaggai was destroyed, the shan were not all killed. They had already colonized several nearby worlds, and the temples of Azathoth were able to teleport away from Shaggai. In this way, many insects escaped destruction.

The shan have spent many years in exile. The activities of only one group are known, but if this hive’s journeys are any indication, the insects have travelled extensively through space. The group previously mentioned travelled between many worlds, hopping from Shaggai to Xiclotl, then to Thuggon, next to L’ghyx, and finally to Earth. (It is rumored that some had come earlier and been responsible for the building of the pyramids of Egypt before leaving again.) On their final stop, in the woods near the Severn River Valley in 1643, the shan became trapped, as the atmosphere contains an element preventing their temples from teleporting.

It was then that these earth-bound shan became involved with humanity. They found it possible to physically merge with the brains of humans, thereby infiltrating a group of fugitive Protestants hiding from the authorities. By doing so, they built up a cult dedicated to Azathoth, using their mind control to induce feelings of elation upon their hosts, as well as producing visions which revealed the history and discoveries of the insects to the worshipers. The famous witch-hunter Matthew Hopkins destroyed this cult, and now the shan have no known agents on Earth. Their encounter with the writer Ronald Shea in 1964 revealed to them that humanity was close to space flight, so their interest in our species might be rekindled.

Even before they left Shaggai, the shan were extremely decadent. Their primary form of entertainment is the torture of their many slave races, making use of curious devices powered by psychic waves.

See Azathoth; Colour out of Space; L’gy’hx; Revelations of Glaaki; seed of Azathoth; Shaggai; Thuggon; Xada-Hgla; Xiclotl. (“The Insects from Shaggai”, Campbell (O); Delta Green: Countdown, Detwiller et. al.; “The Queen”, Sammarco.)

SHANTAKS

Creatures of the Dreamlands that resemble tremendous scaled birds with the heads of horses. Shantaks live in the mountains near to the Plateau of Leng, and have been known to aid the people of that place at times. Some say that these creatures also dwell on other planets in our own dimension, constructing the huge stone towers found in Zimbabwe.

The shantaks serve Nyarlathotep, Groth-Golka, or the Wendigo. They may act as mounts, though the monster might ignore its rider’s commands and attempt to bear its rider to Azathoth’s court.  They are known to fear nightgaunts, a fact that those wishing to avoid them should consider.

See Fishers from Outside; Gol-goroth; Quumyagga. (“The Fishers from Outside”, Carter; “The Seal of R’lyeh”, Derleth; “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft (O).)

SHARNOTH

World beyond the universe that holds the court of Nyarlathotep. Those seeking it in the sky should look in the middle of five stars in the constellation Gemini. A formula from Tartary that involves inscribing five concentric flaming circles about the wizard will allow the user to travel here. Although all things may there be learned, the cost is great.

(“Darkest Calling”, Conyers; “The Black Tome of Alsophocus”, Lovecraft and Warnes (O).)

SHATHAK (also CHUSAX and ZISHAIK)

Wife of the Great Old One Tsathoggua and mother of Ossadogwah. Her origins are unknown.

See Tsathoggua. (“The Parchments of Pnom”, Smith (O).)

SHINING TRAPEZOHEDRON (also CRYSTAL OF CHAOS)

Artifact used in the worship of the Haunter of the Dark avatar of Nyarlathotep.

The Shining Trapezohedron antedates most earthly life. A species of crustaceans that predated the mi-go created the artifact and brought it to earth. After a great war, the Elder Things destroyed its original owners and placed the Trapezohedron in a box of their own design, using its power to destroy the shoggoths during the rebellion. The serpent people brought it to Valusia, where they learned the secrets of illusion from it before one of that race bore it away to Lemuria to escape the constant infighting over the object. After some time on Lemuria, it came back to Atlantis in the keeping of King Kull, who used its power for his own ends but later cast it into the ocean. A Minoan fisherman found the artifact in his nets and sold it to the pharaoh Nephren-Ka, who kept it in the labyrinths of Kish, where Nitocris later found and used it.

The Trapezohedron remained at Kish until 1844, when Professor Enoch Bowen’s archaeological dig unearthed it. The professor bore it back to his home in Providence, Rhode Island, where it became the sacred object of the Starry Wisdom cult. Following the cult’s dissolution in 1877, the Trapezohedron remained in the deserted Starry Wisdom church until 1935, when events connected with its disturbance prompted a local doctor to bear the artifact away and cast it into Narragansett Bay. It is believed that someday the Trapezohedron will be brought out of the waters and form the focus for a new Starry Wisdom cult.

The Trapezohedron may be used in many ways. It serves as a window in which one may gaze on all time and space. If someone gazes at the Trapezohedron for any length of time and then plunges the item into darkness, Nyarlathotep’s Haunter of the Dark aspect will manifest itself nearby. It maintains a link with the gazer, seeking to possess his or her body and thereby remain in our world. The Trapezohedron’s last power is to accelerate any bodily metamorphosis, such as Deep One transformation which may be taking place in its viewer.

Some have connected the Shining Trapezohedron with the magical stone known to alchemists as “Azoth”, Doctor John Dee’s shewstone through which he communicated with the angels, and the curious angles found in many haunted houses and temples.

See Bowen, Enoch; Black Tome of Alsophocus; Dexter, Ambrose; Hounds of Tindalos; Kish; Nephren-Ka; Necronomicon (appendices); Nitocris; Nyarlathotep (Haunter of the Dark); Starry Wisdom; Yuggoth. (“Coming of Age”, Ballon; Strange Eons, Bloch; The Satanic Rituals, LaVey; “The Haunter of the Dark”, Lovecraft (O); “The Mirror of Nitocris”, Lumley; Other Nations, Marsh and Marsh; “The Prying Investigations of Edwin M. Lillibridge”, Price.)

SHINY, ALBERT

Most famous of the shoggoth lords. The lords are the next stage in shoggoth evolution – smaller, more intelligent creatures able to maintain their shapes and masquerade as humans. As a research scientist and doctor, Shiny works toward the return of the Old Ones.

(“Where a God Shall Tread”, Aniolowski, Isinwyll, and Hike (O); Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying Game, Cook and Tynes.)

SHOGGOTHS (also SHAGGOTHS)

Entities created by the Elder Things as a servitor race billions of years ago. These beings were enormous black masses covered with whatever sensory organs and appendages their masters required. Shoggoths did not age and had astounding regenerative capabilities only slowed by extreme cold. These creatures were immensely strong and easily taught through hypnosis, building the great underwater stone cities of the Elder Things.

After millions of years serving the Elder Things, the shoggoths had become more intelligent and contemptuous of their taskmasters. This discontent turned into rebellion in the Permian period 150 million years ago. Though the shoggoths were initially successful, the Elder Things suppressed the rebellion, re-trained the shoggoths, and continued to use them with more caution. During the insurrection, the shoggoth proved themselves able to survive out of water, but the Elder Things discouraged such adaptation. When the Elder Things departed the cold Antarctic for their last underwater city, it is believed they took their shoggoths with them.

There have been some reports of shoggoth sightings in other places than in their normal Antarctic habitat (such as the Vale of Pnath), but thankfully these have been very rare. It is rumored that the deep ones make use of shoggoths in their schemes, and others of their kind protect the tomb of Cthulhu. Some cults, at least in the past, kept shoggoths in great underground pits and used them for initiations and disposing of enemies.

Variant forms of shoggoths have sometimes been reported. Some of these have been more fixed in a particular shape, though their voracity and hardiness remain the same. After the decline of the Elder Ones, the mi-go in the Himalayas once bred a strain of shoggoths combined with their own genetic material. These ghols, as they were called, proved just as intractable as their ancestors, and the mi-go were forced to confine them in secret caverns.

A breed known as the shoggoth lords has also come into prominence lately. Smaller and more intelligent than their fellows, they have enough control over their protoplasmic forms to imitate humans, and some have already infiltrated our cultures. Reports suggest that these are even more adept at changing shape than the larger ones, with at least one occasion of a lord forming wings. Another strain, once subjected to a rite requiring a pint of blood taken from a person every month for a year, can precisely imitate the donor.

Kenneth Grant has linked the shoggoths with the Hebrew term, “beth shaggathai”, or house of fornication. This, along with Alhazred’s denial that shoggoths existed on earth save in drug-induced hallucinations, should impress upon the reader the foulness of these monsters.

See Cult of the Skull; Elder Things; Ghooric Zone; Ibn-Ghazi; proto-shoggoths; Shining Trapezohedron; Shiny, Albert; Ubbo-Sathla; yuggs. (“A Case of Royal Blood”, Altman; “Weapon Grade”, Conyers; “Perilous Legacy”, DeBill; Nightside of Eden, Grant; “At the Mountains of Madness”, Lovecraft (O); “The Shadow Over Innsmouth”, Lovecraft; “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.)

SHONHI (also STRONTI)

Transgalactic world that the people of Yaddith visited often.

[Uncorrected texts of Lovecraft’s stories (and Carter’s fiction) render this name as “Stronti”, but re-examination of the manuscript has confirmed the spelling “Shonhi.”]

(“The Gathering-Place”, Carter; “Through the Gates of the Silver Key”, Lovecraft and Price (O).)

SHREWSBURY, LABAN (1864–1938?)

Miskatonic University professor of philosophy and anthropologist. Shrewsbury was born in Wisconsin, but spent much of his life in Arkham, where he occasionally taught at Miskatonic University. Professor Shrewsbury made himself a controversial figure with the publication of his first book, An Investigation into the Myth-Patterns of Latter-Day Primitives with Especial Reference to the R’lyeh Text. In 1915, shortly after the release of his book, Shrewsbury disappeared while walking upon a country lane near his hometown. He was given up for dead, and his collected notes on the latter nineteenth century were printed under the title Cthulhu among the Victorians.

Twenty years after he had vanished, the professor reappeared, giving no account as to where he had been. Having taken up residence once again in Arkham, he began work on his next book, Cthulhu in the Necronomicon. Sadly, the professor never completed this volume. A mysterious fire gutted Shrewsbury’s house in 1938; the professor was presumed dead in the blaze. It is believed that he worked with the OSS during the Second World War but vanished mysteriously once again. A person of the same name, however, was teaching at Miskatonic University as late as 1987.

The first section of Shrewsbury’s Cthulhu in the Necronomicon was published posthumously, and the Celaeno Fragments, a manuscript he transcribed, remains in the vaults of Miskatonic University.

See Boyd, Claiborne; Celaeno; Celaeno Fragments; Cthulhu among the Victorians; Cthulhu in the Necronomicon; elemental theory; An Investigation into the Myth-Patterns…; Nameless City; Necronomicon (appendices); Phelan, Andrew; R’lyeh Text. (Cthulhu by Gaslight, Barton; “The House on Curwen Street”, Derleth (O); Keeper’s Compendium, Herber; Other Nations, Marsh and Marsh; “Stacked Actors”, Worthy.)

SHUB-NIGGURATH (also THE BLACK GOAT OF THE WOODS WITH A THOUSAND YOUNG or SHUPNIKKURAT or possibly ISHNIGARRAB)

Outer God of fertility. In the few times it has been summoned, Shub-Niggurath appeared as a great noxious cloud from which hoofed feet and tendrils constantly protruded and were re-absorbed. In the city of Harag-Kolath, it might appear as a dark bulk with myriad eyes. Shub-Niggurath has also assumed the shape of a cloaked figure whose face was hidden, but this was only an isolated instance.

The residence of Shub-Niggurath remains a mystery. One location that has been hypothesized is the planet Yaddith, beneath the surface of which it resides with her dhole servitors. Others insist that the Black Goat of the Woods came to earth, building the city Harag-Kolath in a cavern beneath southern Arabia where it awaits the coming of its mate Hastur. (One source maintains that it lives beneath Mount Voormithadreth, but the description of it provided is much closer to that of Abhoth.) It is also possible that Shub-Niggurath remains at the court of Azathoth or even in another dimension entirely. Nonetheless, it may be called in any woodland with a properly consecrated altar during a new moon, especially on May-Eve.

Shub-Niggurath is usually referred to as female, but has also been known by the title “Ram with a Thousand Ewes.” One reference in the Cthaat Aquadingen says that the Outer God is both male and female. It is likely that Shub-Niggurath signifies the cosmic principle of fertility and childbearing, and attaching sex to any of the Outer Gods is problematic at best.

Shub-Niggurath’s cults may be the most widespread of any Mythos entity. It is known to have been worshiped by the Tcho-tchos, Hyperboreans, Muvians, Greeks, Cretans, Egyptians, Druids, and the people of Sarnath, as well as by the fungi from Yuggoth, the dholes, and the Nug-Soth of Yaddith. Sicily was a stronghold of Shub-Niggurath’s cult during the ninth century, and the secret rites performed to it in its guise of Artemis of Ephesus are matters of legend. Others worshiped it in the guise of the Norse Heid and the Greek Hecate, and it may also have been propitiated in the guise of the Great Earth Mother around the world. For those who serve it, Shub-Niggurath bestows bountiful harvests and many children to its worshipers in exchange for blood sacrifices. Some authors’ references to Shub-Niggurath (including Ludwig Prinn) assert that there is some similarity between her bodily structure and our own, but the significance of this is uncertain.

References to Hastur the Unspeakable indicate that Shub-Niggurath has mated or will mate with this Great Old One, producing the creatures known as the Thousand Young. From this union, or possibly another with Yog-Sothoth, it has spawned the little-known entities Nug and Yeb. Yig has also been referred to as her “brother and mate”.

The milk of Shub-Niggurath, a substance with astounding mutagenic properties, has sometimes been found in the possession of cultists.

See Brothers of the Yellow Sign; Cult of the Skull; Cultes des Goules; dark young of Shub-Niggurath; elemental theory; Ghatanothoa; Goatswood; gof’nn hupadgh Shub-Niggurath; Harag-Kolath; Hastur; hounds of Tindalos; K’n-yan; mi-go; moon-lens; Nug and Yeb; Outer Gods; Ram with a Thousand Ewes; Revelations of Glaaki; Sapientia Magorum; Scarlet Circles; serpent people; Sign of the Dark Mother; Tcho-tchos; Thousand Young; T’yog; Unspeakable Promise; Yaddith; Yog-Sothoth. (“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; “Further Notes on the Necronomicon”, Hamblin; Necronomicon: The Book of Dead Names, Hay ed.; “The Whisperer in Darkness”, Lovecraft; “The Last Test”, Lovecraft and de Castro (O); “Out of the Aeons”, Lovecraft and Heald; The Transition of Titus Crow, Lumley; “Scales of Justice”, Mackey; Call of Cthulhu Rulebook, 5th ed., 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 with Kuntz.)

SHUDDE-M’ELL (also SHUDDAM-EL)

Great Old One and leader of the cthonians. Shudde-M’ell appears as a huge cthonian and spends most of its time under the ground. At one time, a large number of Elder Signs imprisoned Shudde-M’ell beneath G’harne, but natural disasters and human theft of the warding-stones eventually freed him. The Great Old One still returns to the ruined city once every twenty-three years, to meet with its children.

In Hyborian times, the priests of Stygia revered Shudde-M’ell under the name Shuddam-El. It is believed that his worship later traveled to Egypt, where it inspired the myths of the serpent Apophis. His worship by the builders of the prehistoric megaliths of England and some particularly decadent shamans of America’s Pacific Coast has been well documented. Today only the Jidhauas of Mongolia and possibly some African tribes near the site of G’harne revere Shudde-M’ell.

See Cthonians; Elder Sign; G’harne; Haddath; Irem. (Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying Game, Cook and Tynes; The Burrowers Beneath, Lumley; “Cement Surroundings”, Lumley (O); The Transition of Titus Crow, Lumley; “The Worm of Urakhu”, Tierney.)

SHUGORON

See Nyarlathotep (Shugoron).

SHUNNED HOUSE

House on Benefit Street in Providence known for its poor reputation. Constructed by Captain William Harris in 1763, the house might have been built over the remains of a graveyard not removed when the local government straightened the street. It soon became a place known for disease, death, and insanity, and the family moved out around 1782. Later generations rented out the place, but it was still known for the ill health of its inhabitants. After a series of deaths in 1861, the house was abandoned.

In 1919, prominent local historian Elihu Whipple perished in an exploration of the house. This event was followed by a day when yellow gas filled the sky above College Hill. Shortly thereafter, the house was opened to tenants once again. It is unknown if these previous events were related.

In more recent years, the Shunned House has been renovated and painted a bright yellow color. It has become the meeting place of a nest of ghouls, as well as a dwelling for vampires and other curious creatures.

[The house described in Lovecraft’s story stands at 135 Benefit Street in Providence, Rhode Island.]

(Low Red Moon, Kiernan; “The Shunned House”, Lovecraft (O).)

SIGN OF EIBON

See Eibon, Sign of.

SIGN OF KISH

See Kish, Sign of.

SIGN OF KOTH

See Koth, Sign of.

SIGN OF THE DARK MOTHER

Icon sacred to Shub-Niggurath that bears some resemblance to a three-headed goat. This may imply some linkage between the Black Goat of the Woods and the Greek deities Hecate and Demeter, both of whom were represented as three-headed fertility figures.

See Shub-Niggurath. (“Dawn Biozyme”, Hike and Isinwyll.)

SIGSAND MANUSCRIPT

Book written by a 14th century (or possibly 17th century) clergyman. It deals at length with different sorts of phantoms and monsters, their manner of attack, and the possible defenses against them. A copy is held at the Bodleian Library, and another was once in the possession of British ghosthunter Thomas Carnacki.

(Ramsey Campbell’s Goatswood, Aniolowski and Sumpter; “The Gateway of the Monster”, Hodgson (O), “The Hog”, Hodgson, “Forgotten Futures IV: The Carnacki Cylinders”, Rowland.)

SILBERHUTTE, HANK

Texan telepath recruited by the Wilmarth Foundation in 1966. The Foundation valued Silberhutte for his ability to detect the mental patterns of alien creatures, a talent that the Foundation used often as part of their battle against the Cthulhu Mythos. When it came to telepathic links with humans, Silberhutte’s powers failed him; the only exception was Juanita Alvarez, a native of Monterrey, with whom Silberhutte could initiate contact at will.

After the disappearance of his cousin, a government surveyor, in Canada some years before, Silberhutte became obsessed with collecting the native legends about Ithaqua, the Wendigo. Due to his erudition in this field, the Texan was made the head of the Wilmarth Foundation’s efforts to track down this creature of the frozen north. It was during this endeavor that Silberhutte and the crew of his plane vanished on January 22, 1969. He maintained some sporadic telepathic contact through Ms. Alvarez in which he stated that he now lived in a place called “Borea”. This link cut off after a while, and the true fate of Silberhutte remains a mystery.

(Burrowers Beneath, Lumley (O); In the Moons of Borea, Lumley; Spawn of the Winds, Lumley.)

SILVER KEY

Key of tarnished silver five inches long, carved with indecipherable hieroglyphics. The Silver Key was forged in the land of Hyperborea many years ago. Legend links it to the lost city of Irem, but it is first recorded as being in the possession of a “Keeper of the Key” who dwelt in the Hashishim fortress of Alamut. The Crusader Geoffrey Carter killed his guards and stole away with it, passing it down through his family line. How much the family may have known about the Key is uncertain, but the reputed wizard Edmund Carter of Salem, Massachusetts used it to great effect. The Carter family passed down the key until the mystic Randolph Carter rediscovered it; he is believed to have taken it with him when he disappeared in 1928.

When certain words are spoken as the key is held up to the setting sun and rotated nine times, this device can physically transfer its user to any time desired. If the bearer is worthy, it may also be used to unlock the Ultimate Gate which ‘Umr at-Tawil guards. Through the use of an enchantment also created in Hyperborea, the powers of the key can be greatly increased.

See Irem; ‘Umr at-Tawil. (“The Silver Key”, Lovecraft (O); “Through the Gates of the Silver Key”, Lovecraft and Price; “The Lord of Illusion”, Price.)

SILVER TWILIGHT

See Masters of the Silver Twilight.

SIMON OF GITTA (c. 10–?)

Samarian wizard and warrior who lived at the time of Christ. A tax collector slew Simon’s parents, and Simon killed him in turn. His Roman captors were so impressed with his fighting skills that they sent him to the gladiatorial arena at Fidenae. After the destruction of that place in a great cataclysm, Simon escaped to Rome itself, but was forced to flee once again. He is known to have spent time studying magic in Persepolis and Alexandria, and rumor has it that he even had a hand in the deaths of the emperors Tiberius and Caligula. Though he claimed that his abilities in magic were only sleight-of-hand, his reputation within the Empire was great, and he came to serve Emperor Claudius.

[Simon of Gitta is based upon a real-life individual named Simon Magus, whose Gnostic sect competed with the early Christians.]

(“The Dragons of Mons Fractus”, Tierney; “The Fire of Mazda”, Tierney; “The Pillars of Melkarth”, Tierney; “The Ring of Set”, Tierney (O); “The Scroll of Thoth”, Tierney; “The Soul of Kephri”, Tierney; “The Sword of Spartacus”, Tierney.)

SINCAUL, CYPRIAN

San Francisco sculptor whose talented yet decadent work is well-known among fans of the weird. Though his early work was mediocre, Sincaul blossomed into an artist whose work became infamous for its hideousness. It is rumored that Sincaul destroyed a sculpture that was to have been his masterpiece after the mental breakdown of one of his models.

(“Out of the Ages”, Carter; “The Hunters from Beyond”, Smith (O).)

SIXTH SATHLATTA

Formula found in the Cthaat Aquadingen, which reads as follows:

Ghe’phnglui, mglw’ngh ghee‑yh, Yibb‑Tstll,

Fhtagn mglw y’tlette ngh’wgah, Yibb‑Tstll,

Ghe’phnglui mglw‑ngh ahkobhg’shg, Yibb‑Tstll;

THABAITE! — YIBB‑TSTLL, YIBB‑TSTLL, YIBB‑TSTLL!

The Ptetholites were the creators of the Sixth Sathlatta, and it may be used in many ways. If inscribed upon a wafer of flour in its original Ptetholite characters and used in conjunction with the Hoy-Dhin formula from the Necronomicon, it may be used to call the Black upon one’s enemies. Saying it once before sleep will allow the chanter to contact Yibb-Tstll in dreams. If thirteen say the formula on any “First Day” of a calendar year, Yibb-Tstll himself will be summoned. However, if at least seven of the callers are not “adepts”, and unless they erect the Naach-Tith Barrier for protection, Yibb-Tstll may effect his horrible “reversals” upon them.

See The Black; Cthaat Aquadingen; Ptetholites; Sathlattae; Yibb-Tstll. (“The Black Recalled”, Lumley; “The Horror at Oakdeene”, Lumley (O).)

SIXTYSTONE

See Ixaxar.

SKAI

River of the Dreamlands. The river Skai springs from the slopes of Mount Lerion, passes by the towns of Hatheg, Nir, and Ulthar, and empties into the Southern Sea.

See Atal; Hatheg; Lerion; Nir; Ulthar. (“The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft (O).)

SKINLESS ONE

See Nyarlathotep (Skinless One).

SMALL CRAWLER

See Nyarlathotep (Small Crawler).

SMITH, JAPHET

Reputed agent of the Cthulhu cult who was assigned to find Claiborne Boyd. Though some say he died in Peru a short time thereafter, he has been sighted since then.

(“The Gorge beyond Salanpunco”, Derleth (O); Other Nations, Marsh and Marsh.)

SMITH, MORGAN

Expert on black magic and author of Sign of the Skull, considered a landmark in the field. Smith was the son of a wizard who promised him as a body to Nyarlathotep, and he has been attempting to avert that fate for three hundred years using a ring bearing the god’s seal. Smith spends a considerable amount of time in Arkham, but travels a great deal.

See Witch-house. (“The Dark Stairway”, Berglund and Weinberg; “Sword of Seven Suns”, Berglund; “The Flying Horned One”, Weinberg (O); “Meet Morgan Smith”, Weinberg.)

S’NGAC

Being of violet gas that dwells somewhere near Deneb, or perhaps beyond the edge of the universe where there are no objects with form. S’ngac knows many of the universe’s secrets, and warned Kuranes away from Nyarlathotep and the home of his “cousin” Azathoth. He may also transport a person with him through the universe, though it is unwise to travel all the way to Azathoth’s court with him. S’ngac might have come to earth on an asteroid that landed near Arkham in 1927, but if this is true, he returned to the stars soon afterward. The gaseous entity fears the Elder Gods for some unspecified reason.

(“The Color from Beyond”, Cabos; “Celephaïs”, Lovecraft (O); “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft.)

SNIRETH-KO

Dreamer who at one time prepared the incense and wine for the temples of Ulthar. He lost his faith and made a bargain with a creature called the “Keeper of Dreams”. He is believed to have traveled far, even to the moon’s dark side, but in the end a strange doom overtook him.

(“The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft (O); “Passing of a Dreamer”, Myers.)

SONA-NYL

The “Land of Fancy” located in the Dreamlands near the Basalt Pillars of the West. It is said that dreams are made here and sent on to receptive minds.

See Southern Sea. (“The White Ship”, Lovecraft (O); The Clock of Dreams, Lumley.)

SONG OF YSTE

Mythos tome of great antiquity. A family of magicians named Dirka, whose ancestry has been supposedly traced back to the earliest humans, passed down The Song of Yste to modern times. These Dirkas are said to have translated this volume into the three languages of the dawn of humanity, then into Greek, Latin, Arabic, and Elizabethan (or Middle?) English.

Among other things, The Song of Yste discusses the mysterious entities known as the adumbrali.

See adumbrali. (“The Abyss”, Lowndes (O).)

SORCERIE DE DEMONOLOGIE

Book by the Comte Jean-Louis de Hammais. The original was written in Middle French, but the first printing in 1872, which featured many disturbing woodcuts, was an Old French translation. Ezekiah Mortison translated the book into English during the 1890s, though his belief that it was a fictional work interfered somewhat with the rendering. A better English translation was made by Pierre de Hammais, a professor of linguistics at the University of Nyingtove and the Comte’s son, and published by the university press. Despite its recent date of publication, the book is quite rare, though Miskatonic University and Nyingtove own copies.

Among the topics of this book are Nyarlathotep, Yomagn’tho, the dreams of Cthulhu, and a crystal that allows a person to view different times.

(“The Crystal”, Berglund; “Dream-Sendings”, Berglund; “The Feaster from the Stars”, Berglund; “Huitloxopetl IV: Vision of Madness”, Berglund (O); “Wings in the Night”, Berglund; “The Thing in the Library”, Berglund and Burnham; “The Dark Stairway”, Berglund and Weinberg; A Guide to the Cthulhu Cult, Pelton.)

SOTHOTH

Outer God subservient to Azathoth. According to the Sussex Manuscript, this being created the Great Old Ones, including Ulthar, and they acknowledged it as their master.

In Baron Frederic’s manuscript, Sothoth is said to have created Yog-Sothoth, so the two are not one and the same. Elsewhere it is stated that Sothoth, along with Ubbo-Sathla and Abhoth, created our solar system, and possibly the universe, though many consider this to be apocryphal.

See Ulthar. (A Guide to the Cthulhu Cult, Pelton; The Sussex Manuscript, Pelton (O).)

SOUL CHANT OF SEBEK

Ritual used in Egypt to ward off the attacks of hostile crocodiles. Modern occultists sometimes use it as an aid for concentration during their rites.

(“The Suicide in the Study”, Bloch (O); “The Curse of the Crocodile”, Tierney.)

SOUL OF CHAOS

First of four novels published at the expense of Edgar Henquist Gordon.

(“The Dark Demon”, Bloch (O); “The Winfield Heritance”, Carter.)

SOUTHERN SEA

Dreamlands ocean that borders on Dylath-Leen and Sona-Nyl. The sea contains a mysterious sunken city and the isle of Oriab. The Granite Pillars of the South mark the edge of this ocean to the south.

See Baharna; Dylath-Leen Oriab; Skai. (“The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft (O); The Complete Dreamlands, Williams and Petersen.)

SPACE-MEAD

Golden liquid used by those who travel between the stars. The mead insulates the drinker from the detrimental effects of space travel, leaving them in a dream-like state for the entire journey. It remains up to the person who drinks the mead to provide a means of interstellar transportation; byakhee are a particularly favored method. If not used for this purpose, the mead often provides the drinker with visions of events happening far away which have an impact on them.

According to some, those who drink space-mead do not actually leave this world. Rather, their physical bodies are left in some place on this planet, while their astral selves make the journey to the stars. This makes these expeditions no less dangerous, however.

See byakhee. (“The House on Curwen Street” (O), Derleth; “The Keeper of the Key”, Derleth.)

SPECTRAL HUNTER

Magical creature created through a sorcerous rite. A magician transforms a willing victim into a human-shaped monster with shark-like teeth, a thin, rubbery body, and pincers for hands. The spell also binds the hunter’s soul to a particular item. Once created, the hunter can never travel more than a mile from that focus. The Hotethk tribe of California once knew this spell, but that group is now extinct.

(“Devil’s Canyon”, Carnahan (O); Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying Game, Cook and Tynes.)

SPELLMAN, MARTIN. (c. 1912–?)

Would-be writer who became a nurse at Oakdeene Sanitarium in 1935. The events of the night of January 1, 1936 drove him insane, causing him to be incarcerated in the same institution. In 1974, an overdose of medication left him with brain damage, and later a sniper killed him as he exercised in the sanitarium’s yard. Spellman’s notes on the Cthaat Aquadingen are now on file at Miskatonic University.

See Oakdeene Sanitarium. (“Not to Force the Rhymes”, Adams; “The Horror at Oakdeene”, Lumley (O); Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

SPHERES OF NATH

Device of the Elder Things mentioned in the notes of Professor Gordon Walmsley. According to this noted cryptographer, the Elder Things, knowing that their days of empire would soon come to an end, installed one of these devices in each of their cities and outposts. When turned on, the device would destroy all traces of that particular location, including any artifacts borne away by outsiders, and transport the entire complex to a site beneath the ocean. The Nazis are rumored to have found such a device during their Antarctic expeditions, but it is believed to have been destroyed with their base.

Whether there is any connection between this device and the land of Nath is unknown.

See Elder Things; Nath. (“An Item of Mutual Interest”, Glancy; “In the Vaults Beneath”, Lumley (O).)

SSATHAAT SCRIPTURES

Contains rites to Yig. (“The Snakefarm,” Ambuehl; Mackey, “Caller from Oklahoma”, Worlds of H. P. Lovecraft.)

SSS’HAA (also SSSAAA)

Leader of the Valusian serpent people and high priest of Yig. He led the faithful of Yig from their former home in Yoth to the caverns beneath Mount Voormithadreth.

(Thongor and the Wizard of Lemuria, Carter (O); “The Vengeance of Yig”, Carter; “Zoth-Ommog”, Carter.)

STANFORD, CARL

One of the most important sorcerers in the Masters of the Silver Twilight. He may have gained some fame as an occultist at one point, though the details of this have been lost.

[Carl Stanford Petersen was the author of the Call of Cthulhu role-playing game.]

(“Worms”, Harrigan; “The Hermetic Order of the Silver Twilight”, Hutchinson (O).)

STANZAS OF DZYAN

See Book of Dzyan.

STAR-SPAWN OF CTHULHU (also CTHULHI)

Beings that came to earth with Cthulhu and dream with their master in the corpse-city of R’lyeh. Despite their ability to mold their form at will, they always resemble their master to some degree; indeed, they may all be descended from him.

The Cthulhu-spawn arrived on earth many eons ago, building a great city on the newly-risen continent of R’lyeh. The Elder Things of the Antarctic resisted this incursion, but the star-spawn beat them back into the ocean. Peace was finally declared, and both races settled back into their cities. In the end, however, R’lyeh sank beneath the waves, trapping Cthulhu and all of his spawn.  Presumably the Cthulhi will awaken with their master when R’lyeh rises above the ocean. A few of these beings may still be free.

See Cthulhu. (“At the Mountains of Madness”, Lovecraft (O); The Transition of Titus Crow, Lumley; Call of Cthulhu Rulebook, Petersen and Willis.)

STAR-STONES OF MNAR

Grey-green rocks from the land of Mnar with the Elder Sign carved into them. (Their power comes not so much from the Sign, however, as from the power inherent in each stone.) Holding a star-stone may protect a person from the minions of the Great Old Ones, but not the Great Old Ones themselves. The Elder Gods themselves may have created these stones, as they are often found near the tombs of some of the Great Old Ones.

Star-stones are usually where they are for a good reason, and should not be disturbed if found. Each year, dozens of paranormal investigators are injured or killed because they ignore this simple rule. Not only might the stones’ removal allow an evil force to break free, the Elder Gods have been known on occasion to punish those who move large numbers of star-stones from their proper places. Acquisition of star-stones should be left to seasoned veterans of preternatural struggle who (it is hoped) know what they are doing. Miskatonic University has been conducting experiments in mass-producing star-stones with some success.

The Sussex Manuscript maintains that there are three different kinds of star-stones: the regular kind, a polished oval stone useful against “kings” (lesser Great Old Ones?), and a jewel with fire in its heart which guard the tombs of the Great Old Ones themselves. No one has observed the latter two varieties, so they may not exist.

[Stones very much like these first appear in “At the Mountains of Madness”, but there they serve as decorations and currency for the Elder Things and are not associated with protection or Mnar.]

See Circles of Thaol; Elder Sign; Kish; Mnar. (The Burrowers Beneath, Lumley; “The Doom of Enos Harker”, Carter and Cornford; “The Lurker at the Threshold”, Derleth and Lovecraft; “At the Mountains of Madness”, Lovecraft (O); The Sussex Manuscript, Pelton.)

STAR VAMPIRES

Species of interstellar beings who most commonly appear when summoned. Star vampires are completely transparent, save for a brief time after they drink the blood of a victim. Then they appear as masses of sharp talons and waving suckers.

A star vampire may be summoned by reading a book with the spell (such as De Vermis Mysteriis) at night under a cloudless sky. Rumor has it that star vampires are now colonizing this planet, and are responsible for many mysterious livestock deaths.

(“The Shambler from the Stars”, Bloch (O), Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying Game, Cook and Tynes; Call of Cthulhu Rulebook, Petersen and Willis; S. Petersen’s Guide to Cthulhu Monsters, Petersen et. al.)

STARKWEATHER-MOORE EXPEDITION

Expedition to Antarctica undertaken as a follow-up to Miskatonic’s Pabodie Expedition. Professor William Dyer of Miskatonic University strongly protested against it, but his tales of a stone city built by an alien race only served to encourage these new explorers.

The Starkweather-Moore Expedition, led by adventurer James Starkweather and Professor William Moore of Miskatonic University, departed New York on September 6, 1933. Their expedition was plagued by sabotage and malfunctions, but they eventually returned to the site of the Pabodie expedition. When the team arrived, they reported that any alien ruins that might have existed had collapsed into an underground network of caverns. The expedition had to return with no evidence of prehuman intelligences.

[An earlier Call of Cthulhu supplement states that the Starkweather-Moore Expedition, led by Professor Eustace Blake, left Bremen on December 20, 1931. I have no solution to this conundrum.]

See Elder Things; Pabodie expedition. (Alone Against the Dark, Costello; Beyond the Mountains of Madness, Charles and Janyce Engan; “At the Mountains of Madness”, Lovecraft (O); “In the Vaults Beneath”, Lumley.)

STARRY WISDOM CULT

Group of devotees of Nyarlathotep who met in Providence, Rhode Island between 1844 and 1877. Professor Enoch Bowen, a well-known expert on the occult and archaeology, founded the cult after his return from an expedition in Egypt. The congregation, which met in the old Free-Will church, swelled as time went on. In 1863, the Starry Wisdom Church had over two hundred members. A branch church opened for a brief while in Townshend, Vermont, and missionary efforts to Arkham began. Even after the death of Bowen in the 1860s, the church continued under the leadership of a Dr. Raymond Flagg.

The nature of the cult’s worship was kept a secret, but several rumors began to be circulated. According to some sources, the cult owned a sacred artifact known only as the Shining Trapezohedron, which Professor Bowen had brought with him from Egypt. By gazing upon this sacred object, the members could call up a being known as the Haunter of the Dark, who shared dread secrets with the faithful. This being could only be summoned in absolute darkness; if it were exposed to light for any period of time, it would be banished. The cult’s rituals consisted of obeisances to this object, sprinkled with pseudo-Egyptian mysticism.

In 1877, the town leaders finally took action against the cult, due to evidence of its involvement in the kidnappings of several individuals. After a campaign of harassment and threats, 181 of the former cultists left the city before the end of the year. The Starry Wisdom cult had been disbanded, and its sacred books and relics remained within their crumbling old church until the town demolished the structure in the mid-1930s. It is rumored that the sect continued its meetings in Providence in secret, under the leadership of Asenath Bowen, a relative of Enoch.

Various cults giving themselves the Starry Wisdom name have come and gone over the years. One church in Yorkshire, England, which flourished between 1880 and 1890, may have been under the leadership of Raymond Flagg. Some have also linked this religion to the Celestial Providence sect in Chicago that was destroyed in the fire of 1871. One branch set up in Arkham during the Twenties, but it was disbanded in 1927 after its leader’s death. A more recent Starry Wisdom Church appeared in San Francisco, but was destroyed by arson. A Chicago area congregation known as the Church of Seven Stars is believed to have connections to the Starry Wisdom dating back over a century.

More recently, rumors have linked certain disappearances, mostly in Canada, to cells of the Starry Wisdom cult. The group is very secretive, however, so is impossible to be sure if these organizations are connected with each other through affiliation or doctrine.

[I have heard rumors of real-life contemporary “Starry Wisdom” churches in both Florida and California.]

See Akeley, Henry Wentworth; Book of Dzyan; Book of Eibon; Bowen, Enoch; Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh; Cultes des Goules; De Vermis Mysteriis; Dexter, Ambrose; Lillibridge, Edwin; Necronomicon (appendices); Nyarlathotep (Haunter of the Dark); Shining Trapezohedron; Unaussprechlichen Kulten. (“The Yorkshire Horror”, Barton; “Mysterious Dan’s Legacy”, Baugh; “The Shadow from the Steeple”, Bloch; Strange Eons, Bloch; “The Horror from the Middle Span”, Derleth and Lovecraft; “Cults Exposed!: The Starry Wisdom Church”, Harms; Keeper’s Compendium, Herber; “Strange Aeons”, Flansburg; “The Haunter of the Dark”, Lovecraft (O); “Documents in the Case of Elizabeth Akeley”, Lupoff; Balak, Rainey; “King of Chicago”, Sumpter; Sherlock Holmes in the Adventure of the Ancient Gods, Vaughan.)

STARS ARE RIGHT, THE

Time at which the Old Ones will return and the reign of humanity over Earth will end. Though cultists often believe that this time will come soon, the exact time and stellar positions that will bring this about are uncertain and possibly unknowable to humans.

See Angles of Tagh Clatur; Cthulhu; Elder Gods; Ghroth; M’nagalah; Nug and Yeb. (“The Call of Cthulhu”, Lovecraft (O).)

STILLWATER

Town in Manitoba. All of Stillwater’s inhabitants disappeared on February 25, 1930, and only one body from the town was ever found. There have been unsubstantiated rumors of cult activity among the town’s former inhabitants.

(“The Thing that Walked on the Wind”, Derleth (O).)

STREGOICAVAR (also CREGOIVACAR?)

Village located in Hungary, west of the city of Budapest. Stregiocavar may be translated as “Witch-town” due to a cult whose members once lived on the site when the town was still known as Xuthltan. Although Muslim forces slew its members in 1526, the town’s name has remained as a reminder of its past. Stregoicavar’s most famous landmark is the Black Stone, a monument where the disbanded cult worshiped hundreds of years ago. Its most famous visitor was Justin Geoffrey.

See Black Stone. (“The Gorge beyond Salanpunco”, Derleth; “The Black Stone”, Howard (O).)

STRONTI

See Shonhi.

A STUDY OF THE BOOK OF DZYAN

Book published around 1930 by Joachim Feery that deals with Madame Blavatsky’s famous text. His use of Deeley’s “translation” makes his conclusions even more dubious than usual.

See Book of Dzyan; Feery, Joachim. (The Fate, Detwiller with Ivey; Keeper’s Compendium, Herber (O).)

STYGIA

Land of the Hyborian Age in the area of present-day Egypt and Libya. The founders of Stygia were refugees from the destruction of Lemuria who came to this land and destroyed a pre-human civilization (of which nothing is known) that thrived there. The Stygians took their own customs, along with some aspects of the former inhabitants’ culture and religion, and created a new country.

During the life of the adventurer Conan, Stygia was one of the world’s most powerful countries, though its influence was already waning. Its capital was the inland city of Luxur, but outsiders were more familiar with the port of Khemi, on the banks of the river Styx, which is known today as the Nile. The people worshiped such beings as Nyarlat (Nyarlathotep), Shuddam-El (Shudde-M’ell), Gol-Goroth, and Azathoth, though they reserved their highest respect for the god Set and his priests.

Near the end of the Hyborian Age, the Vanir from the north conquered Stygia, setting themselves up as rulers and mingling their lines with those of the previous inhabitants. These people gave rise to those of Egypt, though some state that the Hyksos were closer in blood and tradition.

See Acheron; black lotus; Cthugha; Gol-Goroth; Nyarlathotep; Serpent Ring of Set; Set; Shudde-M’ell; Thoth-Amon. (“Black Colossus”, Howard (O); “The Hyborian Age”, Howard; “Black Eons”, Howard and Price; “The Worm of Urakhu”, Tierney; “The Throne of Achamoth”, Tierney and Price.)

SUMMANUS

Great Old One that manifests itself as a mouthless man with pale tentacles beneath his garb.

The cult of Summanus was most popular in Roman times; he was the lord of the night sky and thieves. Hardly any details of the god’s rites were revealed to outsiders, but the learned men of the time believed Summanus to be the lord of Hell. Summanus may still be worshiped today, but if this is true, his cult is even more secretive than before.

The proper ceremonies used in the propitiation of Summanus are found in the Tuscan Rituals.

[Summanus was the Roman deity of the night sky and the lightning that appeared at night. Jupiter, the Roman sky-god better known to students of myth, controlled only the daytime sky, and Summanus was considered to be equal or even superior in rank to him. Summanus had a temple in Rome near the Circus Maximus where sacrifices were made to him on June 20, his feast day. Lumley’s depiction of him as an underworld god is not without precedent, though most scholars reject this interpretation.]

See Tuscan Rituals. (“The Fairground Horror”, Lumley; “What Dark God?”, Lumley (O).)

SUNG, PLATEAU OF

Land in Burma often considered an extension of Leng. Within Sung lies the city of Alaozar, beneath which Lloigor and Zhar are imprisoned.

See Alaozar; black lotus; E-poh; Lloigor; Tcho-Tchos; Twin Obscenities; Zhar. (“The Lair of the Star-Spawn”, Derleth and Schorer (O).)

SURTHAGGITH VTHAEGGAISH EAERTH

See Black Book of the Skull.

SUSSEX FRAGMENTS

Tablets found in northern Europe and England that date to the Pleistocene era. They bear a striking resemblance in content to the G’harne Fragments. Most of them are kept at the Wharby Museum in Yorkshire.

[Derleth probably meant to write “Sussex Manuscript”, but changed it to “Fragments” (perhaps thinking of the Pnakotic Manuscript/fragments). Stanley might not have been aware of this when she described the Fragments’ history.]

See Book of Dzyan; G’harne Fragments. (“The Seal of R’lyeh”, Derleth (O); Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

SUSSEX MANUSCRIPT.

See Cultus Maleficarum; Necronomicon (appendices).

SWAMI CHANDRAPUTRA

See Chandraputra, Swami.

T

TABLETS OF NHING

Set of inscriptions kept on the planet Yaddith. It is unknown just what is contained within them, for no human has seen a copy.

See Yaddith. (“Through the Gates of the Silver Key”, Lovecraft and Price (O).)

TAMASH

Great One once revered in Sarnath and Hyperborea. He appears as a small man with silver skin and black hair and beard. He is the patron of wizards, and often casts bizarre illusions. Tamash is dedicated to alleviating pain, and enjoys unbelievable tales, especially those that are true. Tamash is often attended by six daemons.

(“Wizards of Hyperborea”, Fultz and Burns; “The Doom that Came to Sarnath”, Lovecraft (O); “The Maker of Gods”, Myers; H. P. Lovecraft’s Dreamlands, Petersen et. al.)

TANARIAN HILLS

Purple rises of the Dreamlands that hold many gateways to the waking world and other realms of dream. Beyond these hills lie the valley of Ooth-Nargai and the city of Celephaïs.

See Celephaïs. (“Celephaïs”, Lovecraft (O); “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft.)

TARRA KHASH

Warrior of Theem’hdra. Tarra Khash was born among the steppes of Hrossa, but was cast out from his people due to a tribal feud and forced to wander the world. Through his adventures with the lamia Orbiquita and the wizard Black Yoppaloth of Yhemnis, he became the Primal Land’s most famous hero.

See Theem’hdra. (“Kiss of the Lamia”, Lumley; Sorcery in Shad, Lumley; “Told in the Desert”, Lumley; “Treasure of the Scarlet Scorpion”, Lumley (O).)

TAWIL AT-’UMR

See ‘Umr at-Tawil.

TCHO-TCHO LAMA OF LENG

See High Priest Not to be Described.

TCHO-TCHOS

Group of people encountered in such far-flung places as the Andaman Islands, Malaysia, and Tibet. They are usually thought of as dwelling near the Plateau of Leng in central Asia, though others have suggested that the center of their influence is the Plateau of Sung in Burma.

At the beginning of time, the Tcho-Tcho’s god Chaugnar Faugn created a race of dwarfs known as the Miri Nigri from the flesh of prehistoric reptiles. The mating of the Miri with Chaugnar’s human worshipers gave rise to the Tcho-Tchos. This strange race of dwarves then migrated to the east from their former home in the Pyrenees, carrying Chaugnar to his new dwelling place. By the second century, they had become the Tochoans, a people living in what is today Afghanistan and the surrounding regions. An alternate history tells of how the Tcho-Tchos came to this world out of the Great Abyss to the Dreamlands city of Sarkomand, and then to the Plateau of Sung. According to this legend, the Tcho-tchos may have been servants of the Elder Gods sent to guard Zhar and Lloigor who degenerated with the passage of time and the influence of the black lotus. It is uncertain whether these stories are compatible.

At any rate, even orthodox anthropologists suggest that the Tcho-Tchos are genetically disparate enough from most humans that they may have diverged from our genetic line as long ago as Homo erectus. Some even say that the Tcho-Tcho are so genetically diverse that they require special rituals in order to mate, though little evidence of this exists.

Though the Tcho-Tchos were once widespread throughout eastern Asia, more recently they have dwindled to only a few isolated groups, most prominently in Malaysia and Cambodia. All nearby tribes despise their Tcho-Tcho neighbors. Most anthropologists believed until recently that the Japanese had exterminated all of them in 1932, as Edward Roberts stated in his Tcho-Tcho: Fact or Fiction? Tcho-Tcho tribes lived in Indochina and were armed by the CIA during the Vietnam War, but in 1970–71 the U. S. secretly bombed every known or suspected Tcho-Tcho village in the area. A few years ago, however, certain congressmen passed measures allowing the immigration of forty thousand Tcho-Tchos to the United States. These immigrants seem determined to keep their native traditions alive in this new land, creating criminal triads and holding their ceremonies in secret.

Besides Chaugnar, Tcho-Tchos also worship Zhar, Lloigor, Shub-Niggurath, Hastur, and Atlach‑Nacha. They also engage in cannibalism, as well as other unpleasant rites that allow their agricultural methods to yield abundant crops.

See Alaozar; black lotus; Chaugnar Faugn; E-poh; Leng; Miri Nigri; Nyarlathotep (Shugoran); Shub-Niggurath; Tsang; Unaussprechlichen Kulten. (Malleus Monstrorum, Aniolowski; “The Curse of Chaugnar Faugn”, Barton; “Behind the Mask”, Carter; “The Strange Doom of Enos Harker”, Carter; “The Doom of Enos Harker”, Carter and Cornford; “Goat-Mother”, Comtois; “Made of Meat”, Conyers; Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying Game, Cook and Tynes; “Lair of the Star-Spawn”, Derleth and Schorer (O); Delta Green, Detwiller, Glancy, and Tynes; Delta Green: Countdown, Detwiller et. al.; “The Curse of the Toad”, Hall and Dale; “The Andaman Islands”, Herber; “Dawn Biozyme”, Isinwyll with Hike; “Black Man With a Horn”, Klein.)

TCH’TKA

See Gray Weavers.

TEH ATHT OF KLUHN

Second-greatest wizard of the primal land of Theem’hdra, said to have been descended from the mighty Mylakhrion. The manuscript entitled Legends of the Olden Runes, discovered in a curious golden box after the creation of Surtsey, is attributed to him.

See Broken Columns of Geph; Exior K’mool; Legends of the Olden Runes; Theem’hdra. (Elysia, Lumley; “Introduction” to The House of Cthulhu and Other Tales of the Primal Land, Lumley (O); “Mylakhrion the Immortal”, Lumley.)

TEKELI-LI

Word that is often spoken by the shoggoths, though on occasion such beings as Hastur have voiced it as well. It is mentioned in Arthur Gordon Pym’s bottled manuscript as a word spoken by the people of an uncharted Antarctic isle and a cry of the huge white birds that inhabit the pole.

[In Poe’s story, the word “Tekeli-li” was a cry the natives of the Antarctic gave when anything white was seen. It may have been taken from the title of a play called “Tekeli” in which Poe’s mother acted. What this has to do with shoggoths is uncertain.]

(“The Return of Hastur”, Derleth; “At the Mountains of Madness”, Lovecraft; “The Narrative of A. Gordon Pym of Nantucket”, Poe (O).)

TEMPHILL

Town in the Cotswolds, east of Brichester. The town’s original name was “Temple Hill”, due to the rites conducted on a hill near the town’s center in ancient times.

The founders of Temphill were a group of ex-Templars who, after King Edward II dissolved their order in 1307, travelled to this area, bearing documents that their Order had discovered in Palestine. Although these former knights attempted to assimilate themselves into the local religious community, they were not entirely successful. Accusations of heresy and witch-burning were commonplace for hundreds of years thereafter.

In the early 19th century, a necromantic cult existed among the people of Temphill. According to legend, the worshipers convened in huge caverns beneath the graveyard on the hill, where they disinterred and reanimated the dead for the purpose of mating with them and having children with supernatural powers. The cult collapsed after a while, but it is still rumored that most of Temphill’s population still visits the church on the hill on Halloween and Christmas Eve.

See Goatswood. (“The Church in High Street” (O), Campbell; “The Horror from the Bridge”, Campbell; “The Curate of Temphill”, Cannon and Price.)

TEMPLE OF THE TOAD

Fane located somewhere in the jungles of Honduras. A Native American civilization that had decayed centuries before the Spaniards arrived built the Temple as the focus of a gate to Tsathoggua’s dimension. Within the Temple’s crumbled columns rests a throne, upon which sits the mummified remains of the temple’s former high priest. A necklace bearing a gem carved into the shape of his god still encircles the mummy’s neck. According to von Junzt’s Unaussprechlichen Kulten, this gem is the key to the temple’s treasure.

Only three explorers have ever visited the Temple of the Toad: Juan Gonzales, a Spanish explorer who visited the temple in 1793; Friedrich von Junzt, author of Unaussprechlichen Kulten; and Tussmann, an archaeologist of some note. Tussmann brought something back with him from his trip to the temple, but he died shortly thereafter, and no trace of any such items was found. A secretive cult now protects the Temple from outsiders – including the faithful of Tsathoggua.

(“The Thing on the Roof”, Howard (O); Cthulhu Live: Lost Souls, Salmon et. al.)

TERRIBLE OLD MAN

Individual, known to a few as Captain Richard Holt, who lived on Water Street in Kingsport.

Holt’s family had lived in Kingsport for generations. In his youth, he traveled to the Far East, where he had learned much of the mystical traditions of that region, and to Hungary, where he visited the Black Stone. The locals whispered about the curious carvings in his yard and the bottles with lead pendulums inside with which he held conversations at night. He paid for his purchases at the local shops with gold and silver coins, yet he had no trouble with thieves after one attempted break-in. Few visit him in his house, as he dislikes visitors.

By modern times, Holt has vanished. His house remains intact, and many still fear the statuettes that remain on his lawn.

(“The Strange High House in the Mist”, Lovecraft; “The Terrible Old Man”, Lovecraft (O); “The Fungal Stain”, Pugmire; “A Phantom of Beguilement”, Pugmire; Kingsport, Ross et. al.)

THE TESTAMENT OF CARNAMAGOS

Book by a Cimmerian oracle named Carnamagos, said to have bartered away his soul for knowledge. (Others attribute it to the Hyperboreans, claiming that the first copy was in the Tsath-yo language). The first recorded copy was discovered in a Graeco-Bactrian tomb in the year 935, along with a copy of the Book of Eibon. A monk translated the book into Greek and penned two copies in the blood of a half-demon monstrosity. The fate of the original is unknown, and the Inquisition is thought to have destroyed one of the two copies during the thirteen century.

A person who owns the Testament should beware the curious temporal effects that accompany its reading. As a person reads the book, they and their surroundings age at a highly accelerated rate. Although this is not necessarily fatal, it can be dangerous and very unpleasant. In addition, those who have desired death should also avoid reading the invocation of Quachil Uttaus, for this being sometimes comes unbidden to such people.

The Testament contains many records of events in both the past and future. It deals in some detail with Quachil Uttaus, gives information about the evil star Yamil Zacra, and contains an incantation to disintegrate a dead body. One section purports to describe Alexander the Great’s solution to the Gordian knot, but this might be a later addition to the text.

See Quachil Uttaus. (History and Chronology of the Book of Eibon, Carter; “The Condemned”, Herber; “The Gordian Knot”, Price; “The Mythos Collector”, Sammons; “The Infernal Star” (fragment), Smith; “The Treader of the Dust”, Smith; “Xeethra”, Smith (O).)

THALARION

City with high grey walls, enormous spires, and a carved stone gate called Akariel. Thalarion is the City of a Thousand Wonders, but all who dwell inside are either madmen or demons. The city’s founder was a King Thal, whose armies were unstoppable due to the magic he found at Thalarion’s site, but who came to a grisly end nonetheless. The eidolon Lathi, who some describe as a woman with the lower body of a termite and others as being even more horrible, rules the city. The bones of those who have gazed upon Lathi lie unburied on the streets of Thalarion. Nonetheless, seekers after the truth often camp outside its walls, hoping for a glimpse of its beauty.

See Great Trees, Sansu. (“Thalarion: City of a Thousand Wonders”, Bock; “The White Ship”, Lovecraft (O); Hero of Dreams, Lumley.)

THALE

1) Character in the play The King in Yellow; 2) According to Hali, the second king to blazon the Yellow Sign upon his cloak.

See King in Yellow. (“The Repairer of Reputations”, Chambers (O); “Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?”, Ross; House of the Toad, Tierney.)

THASAIDON (possibly also TISAIDA and THAZAIDON)

God who represents the principle of evil. He was worshiped in Mu, though his worship will reach its height in Zothique. Taking the form of a mace-wielding warrior in full armor, he attempts to seduce mortals to his cause. The power and prestige of his victims does not matter to Thasaidon, but all of them will regret their decision in the end.

An incantation called the “Skull of Thasaidon” causes all that view a spectral demonic visage to stare uncontrollably at it.

Thasaidon might be another form of Nyarlathotep; though no explicit link exists, their portfolios and modus operandi seem similar.

(“Star-Spawn of Hyperborea”, Fultz; “The Dark Eidolon”, Smith; “The Infernal Star”, Smith; “The Tomb-Spawn”, Smith (O); “Xeethra”, Smith.)

THAT IS NOT DEAD WHICH CAN ETERNAL LIE, AND WITH STRANGE AEONS EVEN DEATH MAY DIE

Couplet that appears in the Necronomicon of Abdul Alhazred, but that some scholars attribute to Klarkash-Ton. Many take it to refer to the Nameless City, but others have suggested a double meaning with reference to the Great Old Ones.

See Alhazred, Abdul; Great Old Ones; Necronomicon (appendix). (“The Call of Cthulhu”, Lovecraft; “The Nameless City”, Lovecraft (O); “The Sussex Manuscript”, Pelton.)

THAT WHICH RELENTLESSLY WAITS OUTSIDE

See Yomagn’tho.

THAUMATURGICAL PRODIGIES IN THE NEW-ENGLISH CANAAN (also PRODIGIES IN THE NEW ENGLAND CANAAN or THAUMATURGICAL PRODIGIES IN THE NEW ENGLAND CANAAN)

Book by Reverend Ward Phillips of the Second Church in Arkham, Massachusetts. Two editions were published: the first in 1794, and a second expurgated publication in Boston in 1801.

Several years after the second edition was printed, Reverend Phillips became involved in a dispute with Alijah Billington, who lived just outside Arkham. This feud seemed to center upon accusations made in Prodigies against Alijah’s ancestor Richard Billington. Shortly thereafter the Reverend tried to buy up all the copies of his book and burn them.

This book deals with the strange happenings and supposed wizards of New England, but with especial focus upon the Arkham and Salem areas. One chapter deals with the myths of the Abenaki Native Americans. What separates this from other works such as Cotton Mather’s Wonders of the Invisible World is that Phillips’ tales have an air of authenticity the other volumes lack.

[Lovecraft was actually the creator of Thaumaturgical Prodigies, though it never showed up in his work. Derleth found his notes and used them, changing the date of publication from 1697 to 1801. As far as I can tell, the substitution of “New England” for “New-English” comes from Sandy Petersen.]

See Billington, Alijah; Phillips, Ward. (“The Winfield Heritance”, Carter; “The Lurker at the Threshold”, Derleth and Lovecraft (O); “Das entsetzlich einsam gelegene Haus im Wald”, Heller; Keeper’s Compendium, Herber; “The Auction”, McCall; Call of Cthulhu Rulebook, 5th ed., Petersen and Willis.)

THEEM’HDRA

Continent that existed before the age of dinosaurs. In its time, it was home to many powerful wizards, including Mylakhrion, Exior K’mool, and Teh Atht. Tarra Khash was one of its most famous heroes.

See Broken Columns of Geph; Exior K’mool; Gleeth; Khrissa; Legends of the Olden Runes; Mnomquah; Mylakhrion; Sathlattae; Tarra Khash; Teh Atht; Yibb-Tstll. (“The House of Cthulhu”, Lumley (O); “Name and Number”, Lumley.)

THEMYSTOS’ ISLAND

Island in the Miskatonic River in Arkham, closest to the Garrison Street Bridge. It is deserted, featuring only tall grass and rows of monoliths of unknown origin. The place has a dark reputation, often being associated with legends of Keziah Mason and tales of a stone altar where the devil held his sabbats. In more recent times, it has seen the activities of various cults. Its name is known only to a few, who claim Themystos is a worm-like being seen on the island on occasion.

(“The Colour out of Space”, Lovecraft (O); “The Dreams in the Witch-House”, Lovecraft; Other Nations, Marsh and Marsh.)

THERON MARKS SOCIETY

Society founded in Arkham by a mysterious man named Theron Marks in 1920. The Society was a part-time group dedicated to destroying evidence of the Mythos. Despite its high rate of mortality and insanity, the Society survived well into the 1930s.

(“Theron Marks Manual”, Stalin (O).)

THING IN THE YELLOW MASK

See Nyarlathotep (Thing in the Yellow Mask).

THING THAT SHOULD NOT BE

See Nyogtha.

THOG AND THOK

Twin moons of the planet Yuggoth. Thog has been described as a dark world, but Thok’s appearance is unknown.

[In his poetry, Lovecraft used Thok as a variant spelling of Throk. Lupoff took the word and used it in his own fiction as a moon of Yuggoth.]

See Ghooric Zone. (“The Color from Beyond”, Cabos; “The Pigeon-Flyers”, Lovecraft (O — Thog); “To a Dreamer”, Lovecraft (O — Thok); “Discovery of the Ghooric Zone”, Lupoff.)

THOK, PEAKS OF (also THROK)

Mountains in the underworld of Earth’s Dreamlands. These mountains are made of granite and are completely devoid of life. Few dreamers who see them return to tell the tale.

[Though Throk is more commonly used, “Thok” is the name given in Lovecraft’s poetry and the corrected versions of his stories.]

See Thog and Thok. (“The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft; “To a Dreamer”, Lovecraft (O).)

THOTH, BOOK OF

See Book of Thoth.

THOTH-AMON (also THOTH-AMMON)

Stygian high priest of Set and sorcerer of great power who was feared throughout the Hyborian lands during Conan’s time.

Thoth began his career as a street thief in the capital of Stygia. Slaying his friend Amon who had been granted a post at the temple of the god Ibis, Thoth quickly worked his way up through the ranks, slaughtering both priests and nobles until he could bring the country to the worship of Set. King Ctesiphon gave him great honor and elevated him to the highest post in the land. Though not fully accepted by his peers, Thoth-Amon nonetheless managed to hold on to power ruthlessly through his magic and his mastery of the Serpent-Ring of Set.

Only a few tales of Thoth-Amon have come down to us. It is rumored that at one point in his career Thoth-Amon lost the Ring of Set and became the slave of a northern outlaw. At another time, he came close to ruling the kingdom of Zingara, but Conan himself stopped him. For all of his power and reputation, nothing else is known of his feats, or even of his death.

In modern times, scholars remember Thoth-Amon as the reputed author of the Book (or Scrolls) of Thoth and the Scrolls of Set.

See Book of Thoth; Cobra Crown; Serpent Ring of Set. (“The Snakefarm”, Ambuehl; Conan: Book of Thoth, Busiek and Wein; Conan the Buccaneer, Carter and de Camp; “The Hour of the Dragon”, Howard; “The Phoenix on the Sword”, Howard (O); “The Ring of Set”, Tierney.)

THOUSAND YOUNG

Offspring of Shub-Niggurath. Some consider these to be the same as the dark young, though other encounters describe everything from small goat-like familiars to ebon giants.

(“Tommy’s Goat”, Cartwright; “The Epiphany of Dissolution”, Davey; “The Whisperer in Darkness”, Lovecraft (O); Call of Cthulhu, Petersen and Willis.)

THRAN

City of the Dreamlands on the Oukranos river. It is known best for its golden spires, alabaster walls, and marble wharves. To enter, a dreamer must tell the red-robed guard at the gate three dreams beyond belief.

See Oukranos. (“The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft; “The Silver Key”, Lovecraft (O).)

THROK, PEAKS OF

See Peaks of Thok.

THUGGON

Seemingly uninhabited world where the insects from Shaggai dwelt for a short time. Their slaves steadily disappeared, however, and when they searched for them, the shan found a black tower within a marsh, with the mutilated bodies of their servants nearby. The shan did not remain on Thuggon long thereafter.

See shan. (“The Insects from Shaggai”, Campbell (O).)

THUUM’HA (or THUNN-HA)

Amphibian creatures that came from outer space to build the cities of Ib and Lh-Yib. They were mostly human in shape, but had flabby lips, bulging eyes, and a slimy hide, and they could not speak. These qualities did not endear them to the men of Sarnath, who finally destroyed them. Some Thuum’ha may still survive in Ib’s sister city Lh-Yib.

[Lovecraft first described these beings, and Lumley created the term for them.]

See Bokrug; Ib; Lh-yib; Mnomquah. (“Something in the Moonlight”, Carter; “The Doom that Came to Sarnath”, Lovecraft (O); Beneath the Moors, Lumley.)

THURSTON, FRANCIS WAYLAND

Boston anthropologist and grandnephew of George Angell. Thurston followed up on Angell’s work on the Cthulhu cult in hopes of enhancing his professional reputation. He died soon afterward near the docks of Providence, though some maintain that he will live until the return of the Old Ones.

See Angell, George; Johansen Narrative. (Keeper’s Compendium, Herber; “The Blasphemous Enlightenment of Prof. Francis Wayland Thurston of Boston, Providence, and the Human Race”, Ligotti; “The Call of Cthulhu”, Lovecraft (O).)

THYOPH

Planet that, according to the G’harne Fragments, a “Nuclear Chaos” (most likely a seed of Azathoth) broke apart to create the asteroid belt.

(Spawn of Azathoth, Herber; “In the Vaults Beneath”, Lumley (O).)

TIANIA

Woman born of a Muvian scientist and a woman of Thenopia who bore the blood of the Elder Gods. Her parents came to Elysia when Mu was destroyed, and left Tiania there under the care of Kthanid. She later married Titus Crow when he arrived in Elysia.

(The Transition of Titus Crow, Lumley (O).)

TIKKOUN ELIXIR

Another name for holy water. This substance is said to be proof against the Great Old One Nyogtha. It provides limited protection from the cthonians and possibly other earth elementals.

[“Tikkun” is actually a word in Jewish mysticism that refers to magical processes designed to restore the shattered and imperfect Creation to its proper form. It is likely that Kuttner found it spelled as “Tikkoun” in Blavatsky’s Secret Doctrine.]

See Cthonians; Nyogtha. (“The Salem Horror”, Kuttner (O); The Burrowers Beneath, Lumley.)

TILLINGHAST RESONATOR (also THE ULTRAVIOLET)

Invention of Crawford Tillinghast, a scientist from Providence, Rhode Island. According to Tillinghast, the Resonator activated vestigial sense organs in the human mind, opening them to visions of higher dimensions and their inhabitants. In 1920, Tillinghast invited his friend Franklin Rathke to a demonstration of the Resonator in his house on Benevolent Street. When completed, Tillinghast was dead of apoplexy, and a bullet from Rathke’s gun brought the experiment to a halt. The police questioned Rathke but released him when no link between him and Tillinghast’s death could be found.

Rathke took up Tillinghast’s experiments, sometimes advertising in order to obtain backing for his venture. This was unsuccessful, and Rathke vanished in 1943 from his Boston apartment. The U. S. Navy had picked up on his technology, and attempted to use it to make a ship, the USS Eldridge, invisible. The test was only performed once, due to the odd and terrifying results of this experiment. Rumor has it that the Nazis attempted to use similar technology, but were unable to control it. In more recent years, miniaturized versions of the Tillinghast resonator, designed to show an individual beings from other realms, might have been perfected for certain government agencies.

(“Night and Water”, Detwiller; Project Rainbow, Detwiller; “From Beyond”, Lovecraft (O); “The Jennifer Morgue”, Stross.)

TIME-CLOCK

Alien artifact resembling an ornately carved, coffin-shaped grandfather clock with four hands which move around its dial in seemingly random patterns. The clock operated without any outside power source whatsoever. Only rumors relate what those who opened the clock found within. It is believed that this is merely one device out of many, but this is the only one of its kind encountered on Earth.

The Yogi Hiamaldi supposedly brought back the time-clock (as it was later called) from the alien city of Yian-Ho. He presented the clock as a gift to Etienne-Laurent de Marigny, the famous French mystic, who kept the object at his New Orleans retreat. It was here that the clock played an important role in the disappearance of Swami Chandraputra, an elderly Indian who had come to provide evidence that Randolph Carter survived. After de Marigny’s death, a wealthy Frenchman purchased the clock and vanished soon thereafter. Titus Crow later bought it at an English antique auction. The clock remained in Crow’s possession for years, until it vanished along with him and his friend Henri-Laurent de Marigny during a freak windstorm in 1969.

According to notes discovered in Crow’s demolished manor, the clock operated as a gateway and a vehicle to other places, times, and dimensions. The user would open the clock, step inside, and immediately be able to utilize the device’s powers of transportation. The clock was supposedly a tool of the Elder Gods, however, and the time-clock’s powers could be dangerous if misused.

(“Through the Gates of the Silver Key”, Lovecraft and Price (O); The Burrowers Beneath, Lumley; The Clock of Dreams, Lumley; “De Marigny’s Clock”, Lumley; The Transition of Titus Crow, Lumley.)

TINDALOS

World which may exist on earth far in the past, on a faraway world near a black hole, or even floating throughout time, contemporaneous with all space yet unable to intrude upon it. Its towers shaped like corkscrews are the homes of the hounds of Tindalos. It is whispered that an awful deed done here aeons ago caused the hounds to be created.

[In Melanesia, the word “tindalo” refers to a spirit of the dead who possesses magical power. What this has to do with the hounds is unknown, and it could be a simple coincidence.]

See hounds of Tindalos. (“The Book of the Gates”, Carter; “The Hounds of Tindalos”, Long (O); “The Statement of One John Gibson”, Lumley; The Transition of Titus Crow, Lumley; “The Sound of a Door Opening”, Webb.)

TIND’LOSI HOUNDS

See hounds of Tindalos.

TOK’L

Metal used on Tond and Yuggoth as part of a process that bestows immortality. Every thirty-five years, the creature’s brain must be transferred from one body to another. During this process, the brain must be kept in a container made of tok’l-metal during the transition between bodies. It has been suggested that the metal may also be used for other ritual purposes. The nearest source of this mineral is the planet Yuggoth.

See Ghooric Zone; Yuggoth. (“The Mine on Yuggoth”, Campbell (O); “The Return”, Smith.)

TOMB-HERD

Beings mentioned in the Necronomicon that feed upon the occupants of tombs. They come from another dimension, possessing the bodies of other creatures to enter our own space-time continuum and feast upon the dead.

The tomb-herd has the limited ability to warp space; for example, a chosen victim might be unable to escape from an area where the tomb-herd waits, as every road circles back on itself and returns to the dwellings of the herd. Outside assistance may be of some help in eluding the tomb-herd, but they often catch their victims in the end despite all precautions.

The tomb-herd may be allied to the Great Old One Glaaki, and they are said to serve Yog-Sothoth. Some cults focussing around the tomb-herd exist; the worshipers allow the herd to possess them, in return for certain benefits.

These beings are probably not connected with ghouls, who are not allied with Yog-Sothoth, and who have material bodies in this dimension.

(“The Church in High Street”, Campbell; “The Inhabitant of the Lake”, Campbell; “Through the Gates of the Silver Key”, Lovecraft and Price (O).)

TOND

Planet which some say circles our sun, but which, according to most authorities, revolves the dark star Baalbo and the green star Yifne. Tond is mentioned in works such as the Necronomicon and the Revelations of Glaaki. On this planet live the yarkdao, who have built curious cities of black stone and bluish metal. One of these cities is Derd, beneath which lies an avatar of Azathoth.

It has been said that Glaaki spent some time upon this world on his way to Earth. The only way a human can behold Tond is through the use of the Crystallizer of Dreams.

[Ramsey Campbell’s Far Away and Never includes more tales set on Tond, though that world seems quite different than the one described in his Mythos tales.]

See Crystallizer of Dreams; Daoloth; Glaaki; tok’l. (“The Inhabitant of the Lake”, Campbell (O); “A Madness from the Vaults”, Campbell; “Papyrus of the Dark Wisdom”, Carter.)

TOWER OF KOTH

See Koth, Tower of.

TREADER OF THE DUST

See Quachil Uttaus.

TREGARDIS CRYSTAL

See Eye of Ubbo-Sathla.

TRONE TABLES

Set of highly abstruse mathematical equations connected with the Great White Space. They are presented in some sources as a book unto themselves, and in others as a section of The Ethics of Ygor.

(The Great White Space, Copper (O); “The Dreaming City”, Johnson.)

TRUE MAGIK (or TRUE MAGICK)

Book written by a sorcerer named Theophilus Wenn (most likely a pseudonym). The book is often dated to the 17th century, though research indicates that it might have turned up at the University of Salamanca in medieval times. One copy, published in 1872 by Oakley Press, may be found at the Miskatonic University Library, and other manuscript copies have also been circulated.

In addition to the usual references to demons, vampires, and the like, the book also contains seven incantations of great power. Three of these are for the creation of various protective charms, and another three may be used against the wizard’s enemies. The seventh, which summons a hideous demon, is especially perilous, as it requires a blood sacrifice made at an altar to the Great Old Ones in exchange for great wealth. Wenn’s curious distinctions between black, white, and grey magic will also be of interest to students of the occult.

[This book is not to be confused with Amber K’s paperback manual of the same name.]

(“The Seventh Incantation”, Brennan (O); Devil’s Children, Conyers, Godley, and Witteveen; Miskatonic University Graduate Kit, Petersen et. al.)

TRU’NEMBRA

Outer God also known as the Angel of Music, manifesting itself as an unearthly melody. Tru’nembra only comes to Earth when a master musician has somehow come to the god’s attention. The musician hears music that no one else may perceive, and these melodies become more captivating. Eventually, Tru’nembra manifests to bear the musician back to Azathoth’s court, to play there for all eternity. This might have been the fate that befell Erich Zann.

See Zann, Erich. (Ye Booke of Monstres, Aniolowski (O).)

TSAN-CHAN

Oriental empire that will come into being three thousand years in the future. It may be that by this time the return of the Great Old Ones will have occurred, and that non-human masters will rule this empire.

See Yiang-Li. (“Beyond the Wall of Sleep” (O), Lovecraft; “The Shadow Out of Time”, Lovecraft.)

TSANG, PLATEAU OF

Region in Asia inhabited by the Tcho-Tcho people. Some maintain that this place is identical to the Plateau of Leng; perhaps Tsang is a point where Leng intersects our own dimension. In a cavern on Tsang rests Chaugnar Faugn, the Tcho-tcho’s god. Here he waits for the time when he shall journey west and devour the world.

The mountains beyond Tsang, according to Harold Hadley Copeland, were at one time the home of a group of refugees who fled the destruction of Mu. The great wizard Zanthu led the survivors, who later buried him in an ancient graveyard somewhere in this region.

[Tsang, or Hou-tsang, is a province in the south of Tibet. Its major city is Shigatse or Xigaze. Whether Long knew this or not is unknown.]

See Chaugnar Faugn; Copeland, Harold; Miri Nigri; Tcho-tchos; Zanthu Tablets. (“The Curse of Chaugnar Faugn”, Barton; “The Dweller in the Tomb”, Carter; “The Horror from the Hills”, Long (O).)

TSATH

Capital city of the subterranean land of K’n-yan. The people of this land named their capital in honor of the Great Old One Tsathoggua before they banned his worship.

See K’n-yan; Tsathoggua. (“The Mound”, Lovecraft and Bishop.)

TSATH-YO (possibly also ELDER SCRIPT)

Primal language used in the land of Hyperborea millions of years ago.

See Book of Dzyan; Testament of Carnamagos. (“Through the Gates of the Silver Key”, Lovecraft and Price.)

TSATHOGGUA (also SADOGUI, SAINT TOAD, or ZHOTHAQQUAH)

Great Old One whose amorphous body usually takes the form of a furry toad-like being with sleepy eyes and a toothy grin, or a combination of bat and sloth. The genealogist Pnom maintains that Tsathoggua, the offspring of Ghisguth and Zstylzhemghi, came with them and its grandfather Cxaxukluth from a distant galaxy to Yuggoth when it was still an infant. Secreting itself in deep caves on Yuggoth to hide from its grandsire, Tsathoggua later made its way to Saturn. According to other myths, the inhabitants of a dark planet at the edge of our system brought Tsathoggua to Earth from Saturn.

Some insist that the toad-god remained in an alien species’ ruined city of Yuth in the stone desert of K’li-Phon-N’yah after his arrival on Earth. Nonetheless, most authorities agree that after its arrival it left Yuth to take up residence in the black caverns of N’Kai. It lived beneath Mount Voormithadreth for a brief while, retreating to its former home when his worship declined and the ice whelmed Hyperborea. A few heretics insist that it lies in a cavern beneath Averoigne, but they are probably incorrect. At some point Tsathoggua mated with Shathak, who begat Ossadagowah, and a serpent person with which it sired Kzadool-Ra, whom it destroyed later in a fit of jealousy.

The serpent-men of the “red-litten cavern of Yoth” were the first to worship Tsathoggua. From Yoth its worship spread to K’n-Yan, and thence to the arctic land of Lomar and the outer world. First the Voormis and later the human invaders of Hyperborea revered the toad-god. The Atlantean high priest Klarkash-ton revived its cult, and the dark Averones who fled Atlantis for Averoigne took its worship with them. The Druids of Averoigne revered the god’s utterances, voiced through a slowly devolving oracle. A French cult of Tsathoggua was powerful into medieval times and still survives today. The Narragansett and Wampanoags of Massachusetts worshiped it at one time, but they later gave up this adoration. The people of Zothique will know him as Zathogwa the Outcast, but his cult will be outlawed in those distant times.

Tsathoggua’s cult may survive in underground sanctuaries in major cities, gaining power from orgies and sacrifices. Some say that Tsathoggua gains sustenance from human war and instability. Others claim that the god has had such little worship that most of his physical substance has dispersed. Those who attend his rites may degenerate, gaining animalistic characteristics due to their proximity.

The beasts of the wood held a special reverence for Tsathoggua, and cats were known to guard its shrines in Averoigne. In addition, it is served by formless black entities called his spawn, though the exact degree of relationship between the two is unknown, and the reanimated dead. Only one of Tsathoggua’s ritual chants is known:

N’ggah-kthn-y’hhu! Cthua t’lh gup r’lhob-g’th’gg lgh thok!

G’llh-ya, Tsathoggua! Y’kn’nh, Tsathoggua!

It hath come!

Homage, Lord Tsathoggua, Father of Night!

Glory, Elder One, First-Born of Outer Entity!

Hail, Thou Who wast Ancient beyond Memory

Ere the Stars Spawned Great Cthulhu!

Power, Hoary Crawler in Mu’s fungoid places!

Iä! Iä! G’noth-ykagga-ha!

Iä, Iä, Tsathoggua!

Tsathoggua’s high rites are performed on May-Eve and Halloween. Lesser festivals are held on the nights of the new moon between midnight and 3 a.m.

Rumor has it that Tsathoggua has been cast out from his brethren among the Great Old Ones for a truly terrible and revolting act. One authority maintains that he is identical with Chaugnar Faugn, though this is unlikely.

[As Robert M. Price observes, Lovecraft and Smith’s versions of Tsathoggua are quite different in their appearances, histories, and relations to Cthulhu.]

See Atlach-Nacha; Book of Eibon; Book of K’yog; Chaugnar Faugn; Codex Dagonensis; Commoriom; Crom-Ya; Cthaat Aquadingen; Cxaxukluth; Cykranosh; du Nord, Gaspard; Eibon; elemental theory; Eye of Tsathoggua; Eye of Ubbo-Sathla; Fishers from Outside; formless spawn; Ghisguth; Great Old Ones; Hyperborea; Hziulquoigmnzhah; K’n-yan; Kythamil; N’kai; Nug and Yeb; Nyogtha; Ossadogwah; Parchments of Pnom; Satampra Zeiros; serpent-people; Shathak; Temple of the Toad; Voola ritual; Voormis; Voormithadreth; Yhoundeh; Yoth; Yuggoth; Zoth; Zstylzhemghi. (“The Terror of Toad Lake”, Ambuehl; “Death is an Elephant”, Bloch; “Tsathoggua”, Fantina; “The Old One”, Glasby; “The Oracle of Sàdoqua”, Hilger; Selected Letters III, Lovecraft; Selected Letters IV, Lovecraft; “The Mound”, Lovecraft and Bishop; “The Round Tower”, Price; “Oh, Baleful Theophany”, Pugmire; Cthulhu Live: Lost Souls, Salmon et. al.; The Illuminatus! Trilogy, Shea and Wilson; The Black Book of Clark Ashton Smith, Smith; “The Door to Saturn”, Smith; “The Family Tree of the Gods”, Smith; “The Seven Geases”, Smith; “The Tale of Satampra Zeiros”, Smith (O); Necronomicon, Tyson; “The Resurrection of Kzadool-Ra”, Vester.)

TSATHOGGUANS

Beings that infest the minds of every person and keep them from fulfilling their whole potential. Although the name suggests the Mythos, they are totally unconnected with Tsathoggua or any other Great Old One.

(The Mind Parasites, Wilson (O).)

T’SMAN MANUSCRIPT

Work of at least six volumes, each apparently written by a different author to detail the history of the Old Ones. Nothing is known of most of the authors. The writer of the fourth book was Ythth Ghuggl’ingh, a priest of Nyarlathotep, to whom an old man had passed on the duty of writing a volume. Ythth in turn chose a Scandinavian named Valdur to compose the fifth, providing him with much of the material. Nyarlathotep was enraged when he found out how much this particular volume had revealed, imprisoning Ythth and killing Valdur, but he was unable to find the fifth volume.

An edition of this work was issued by Robert Edwards. This might be identical with one in an unknown language with an Elder Sign on the cover.

(“The Curse of the Toad”, Hall and Dale; “The Gunfight against Nyarlathotep”, Larson; “The Spawn of the Y’lagh”, Larson (O).)

TULZSCHA

Being who appears to be a pillar of green flame and serves as one of the dancers at Azathoth’s court. It is worshiped in the West Indies, France, Italy, and possibly the Middle East. A cult based in Kingsport, Massachusetts disbanded approximately two hundred and fifty years ago.

Rites of Tulzscha are always performed at solstices, equinoxes, or other astronomically significant times. It is said that the most faithful of Tulzscha’s worshipers survive death in a fashion, dwelling forever in their rotting corpses.

[This creature is first described in Lovecraft, who does not call it a god and hints that deeper mysteries await the members of the Kingsport cult.]

See Outer Gods. (“The Festival”, Lovecraft (O); “The Kingsport Cult”, Ross.)

THE TUNNELER BELOW

Book of poems by Georg Reuter Fischer, a young man from Vulture’s Roost, California. Hollywood’s Ptolemy Press published the book in 1936. Much as other writers, Fischer received the inspiration for this volume of poems from his dreams. In addition, he acknowledged the influence of Derby’s Azathoth and Other Horrors upon his work. Unfortunately, a year after the book’s publication, Fischer perished in an earthquake which destroyed his home.

Both UCLA and Miskatonic University own copies of this book. The poems in the Tunneler Below include such works as “The Green Deeps” and “Sea Tombs”. These two works contain references to “Cutlu”, “Rulay”, and “Nath”, though the author does not explain what these terms mean.

See Azathoth and Other Horrors. (“The Terror from the Depths”, Leiber (O).)

TUSCAN RITUALS

Volume that, according to the Roman historian Pliny, contains information on the rites of Summanus. This book probably came from the Tuscany province of Italy. A copy may be consulted at the British Museum.

[Pliny’s Natural History (II.53) actually refers to “Tuscan writings” on the nine gods responsible for lightning.]

See Summanus. (“What Dark God?”, Lumley (O).)

TUTTLE, AMOS

Occultist who lived near Arkham. A noted world traveler earlier in his life, Tuttle spent the last twenty years of his life secluded in his house, studying his priceless collection of occult manuscripts. After his death in 1936, his house was passed on to his nephew Paul. Paul vanished soon thereafter, and his books were bequeathed to the Miskatonic University library.

(“The Return of Hastur”, Derleth (O); Miskatonic University, Johnson et. al.; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

TWIN OBSCENITIES

Title given to the Great Old Ones Zhar and Lloigor, who lie imprisoned together beneath the Plateau of Sung.

See Lloigor; Zhar. (“The Lair of the Star-Spawn”, Derleth and Schorer (O).)

T’YOG

High priest of Shub-Niggurath in the country of K’naa on Mu. He made a special scroll to protect him during his confrontation with Ghatanothoa, but Ghatanothoa’s priests substituted another scroll for his. As a result of this, T’yog earned himself an unpleasant fate.

See Ghatanothoa; Shub-Niggurath. (“Out of the Aeons”, Lovecraft and Heald (O).)

TYPER, ALONZO HASBROUCH

Occultist from Kingston, NY who vanished near the abandoned van der Heyl mansion on April 17, 1908. Typer went to private school as a youth, and was later to attend Columbia and the University of Heidelburg, where he became the pupil of the noted anthropologist Victor Gibson. He traveled in the East a great deal, making it as far as Easter Island in 1899, visiting many sites with his now-vanished friend Victor Heauton. Even his colleagues considered Typer’s research bizarre; many of his occult papers could only be privately published, and he resigned from the Society for Psychical Research in 1902. His disappearance has left authorities puzzled, though a diary found in the van der Heyl mansion in 1935 and the Reverend Edgar Dowling’s psychic research have provided wildly unlikely accounts of his life thereafter.

See the Book of Hidden Things. (“The Diary of Alonzo Typer”, Lovecraft and Lumley (O); “The Statement of One John Gibson”, Lumley; “The Strange Fate of Alonzo Typer”, Price; “The Jest of Yig”, Webb.)

U

UBAR

See Irem.

UBB (also UB-BG’ZTH)

Being known as “The Father of Worms.” Ubb is the leader of the mysterious race known as the yugg, which number among its offspring, the Ubbya. When encountered, Ubb has resembled a huge member of that species. Ubb assisted Zanthu in the destruction of Mu. it is believed to have been the source of King Solomon’s wealth and supposed magical abilities.

Some have attributed even greater power to Ubb, stating that it is a force which encourages all living things to survive and multiply.

See yuggs; yuggya. (“Out of the Ages”, Carter (O); “The Thing in the Pit”, Carter; Other Nations, Marsh and Marsh; “A Private Inquiry into the Possible Whereabouts of Clara Boyd”, Marsh et. al.; “Soul of the Devil-Bought”, Price.)

UBBO-SATHLA

Protoplasmic, featureless being said to have spawned all earthly life (possibly including humans), and to whom all such life will return in the end. Its spawn are endlessly created and cast off about it, with Ubbo-Sathla recapturing and devouring many of them with its pseudopods.

There are a number of conflicting stories about Ubbo-Sathla’s origins. It has been said that eons ago, when our world was in an alternate universe, the Elder Gods created both Azathoth and Ubbo-Sathla to be their slaves. Ubbo-Sathla rebelled against its makers, using knowledge stolen from them to send itself and the earth into this dimension. During the battle which ensued, the Elder Gods captured Ubbo-Sathla and made it mindless (though some maintain that it was this way to begin with), as they were purported to have done with Azathoth as well. Other myths state that Ubbo-Sathla was the creation of the Elder Things, who used it initially to spawn their shoggoths.

Some hold that Ubbo-Sathla is also the parent of all of the Great Old Ones who opposed the Elder Gods, as well as the Great Ones who men worship. Considering the extraterrene origins of most of the Great Old Ones, this is probably inaccurate. Rather, it is likely that Ubbo-Sathla entered into alliance with the Great Old Ones when they came down from the stars and aided them in their designs. A few of the Great Old Ones, such as Nyogtha and Zuchequon, seem to have originated upon this planet, and these may be the spawn of Ubbo-Sathla to whom these passages refer.

Ubbo-Sathla dwells beneath the ground in grey-lit Y’qaa (or possibly Mount Voormithadreth), guarding a set of stone tablets said to bear the knowledge of the Elder Gods themselves. Many wizards have attempted to gain these tablets, but not one has ever succeeded.

It is rumored that Ubbo-Sathla and Abhoth are the same; the voormis of Hyperborea may have worshiped Ubbo-Sathla, and in their disgust the Hyperboreans who came later re-named their god “Abhoth.” Known encounters with these two gods argue otherwise, however. Others have called Ubbo-Sathla the source of all the life in the cosmos, but this blatantly contradicts much of our knowledge of this being.

See Elder Gods; Elder Key; Elder Things; Nioth-Korghai; Nyogtha; proto-shoggoths; Sothoth; Y’qaa; Zon Mezzamalech; Zuchequon. (“The Unbegotten Source”, Carter; “Zoth-Ommog”, Carter; “The Lurker at the Threshold”, Derleth and Lovecraft; “Star-Spawn of Hyperborea”, Fultz; The Burrowers Beneath, Lumley; “The Snout in the Alcove”, Myers; A Guide to the Cthulhu Cult, Pelton; “Ubbo-Sathla”, Smith (O).)

UBBOTH

Black lake beneath the surface of the moon in which Mnomquah dwells.

See Mnomquah. (Mad Moon of Dreams, Lumley.)

UBBYA

See Ubb.

ULTHAR (also ULDAR)

1) Dreamlands town near the river Skai. Ulthar is a small village of medieval cottages and cobblestoned streets. In Ulthar, the killing of a cat is strictly forbidden, due to a mysterious event that took place two hundred years ago. As a consequence, this city is a great favorite for felines. On Ulthar’s highest hill stands the Temple of the Elder Ones, where the high priest Atal lives and a substantial library of magical texts is kept. See Atal; Barzai; Fourth Book of D’harsis; Hatheg; Nir; Pnakotic Manuscripts; Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan; Skai. (“The Cats of Ulthar”, Lovecraft (O); “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft.)

2) As Uldar, Elder God mentioned in the Sussex Manuscript. Ulthar was the son of Sothoth and represented the power of the Elder Gods. The Elder Gods sent him to earth to keep track of the Great Old Ones, but he requires periodic rituals to keep up his vigilance. See N’gah-Kthun; Sothoth; Ultharathotep. (A Guide to the Cthulhu Cult, Pelton; The Sussex Manuscript, Pelton (O).)

ULTHARATHOTEP

Avatar of the Elder God Ulthar who the assembled high priests summoned once every thousand years to the city of N’gah-Kthun.

See Ulthar. (The Sussex Manuscript, Pelton (O).)

ULTRAVIOLET, THE

See Tillinghast Resonator.

‘UMR AT-TAWIL (or TAWIL AT-’UMR or properly in Arabic TAWIL AL-’UMR)

God whose Arabic name literally translates as “The Prolonged of Life.” ‘Umr at-Tawil appears as a figure draped in grey fabric, holding a sphere of iridescent metal in one hand. He might also appear as a great bipedal canine, like the Egyptian depictions of Anubis.

This being is the head of the Ancient Ones, as well as the guardian of the final gateway opened by the owner of the Silver Key. While most consider ‘Umr at-Tawil to be an avatar or manifestation of Yog-Sothoth, other sources refer to him as a human who passed through the Ultimate Gate, met Yog-Sothoth, and gave himself up to the god, thereupon becoming the Guardian of the Gate. The Book of Thoth states that dealing with this entity is fraught with peril, and none who he accepts ever return.

It has been suggested that ‘Umr at-Tawil is a part of a person’s mind which must be overcome or destroyed to gain true knowledge. Others state that the spirit respects great warriors, rewarding great slaughter and calling spirits out of Limbo to give power to those who are worthy. Whether these are true remains uncertain.

See Ancient Ones; Book of Thoth; Klarkash-Ton; Silver Key; Yog-Sothoth. (“The Book of the Gates”, Carter; Cthulhu Dark Ages, Gesbert et. al., Outside the Circles of Time, Grant; “Through the Gates of the Silver Key”, Lovecraft and Price; “The Lord of Illusion”, Price (O).)

UNAUSSPRECHLICHEN KULTEN (also the BLACK BOOK or NAMELESS CULTS)

Volume by Friedrich Wilhelm von Junzt (1795–1840), an occultist and explorer of some note. Immediately after finishing Unaussprechlichen Kulten, von Junzt left for parts unknown. After returning from a trip to Mongolia, von Junzt shut himself up in his room and spent months writing a new manuscript. Six months following his return, he was found in his locked and barred room strangled, his notes torn and scattered about him. The contents of this document remain a mystery, for after von Junzt’s friend Alexis Ladeau pieced it together and read it, he burnt the pages and cut his throat.

The Dusseldorf publisher Gottfried Mülder put out a German edition of Unaussprechlichen Kulten in 1839. Many who owned the book, however, destroyed it after they learned of its author’s fate. The book might have been forgotten if not for the Jesuit Pierre Sansrire’s French translation, presumably made in order to teach his students about the cults of the world. The book was printed in St. Malo in 1843; no copies are known to survive.

The disreputable bookseller M. A. G. Bridewall found a copy of the French translation in a London store. He considered it so scandalous that he published the first English translation of it in 1845, giving it the title Nameless Cults. This edition was riddled with mistakes and misspellings, illustrated with cheap woodcuts, and served only to further discredit the original.

Golden Goblin Press of New York took its own translation of the German book to the presses in 1909, which included color plates by Diego Velasquez. Though more accurately translated than the Bridewall edition, the translators expurgated over a quarter of the original volume, and the cost of the book was so high as to be prohibitive to the general public. An edition from the elusive Starry Wisdom Press was supposedly released in the same year, though no copies have yet been found. Though several attempts have been made by Miskatonic to publish a scholarly edition of the book, von Junzt’s heirs have refused to give permission for any new printings of the book.

Copies of Unaussprechlichen Kulten are kept at the Miskatonic University Library, the Sanbourne Institute, the library of the ruined Starry Wisdom church of Providence, and the Huntingdon Library in California.

Within his book, von Junzt discusses his findings regarding worship patterns across the world. Part of this volume deals with commonly known secret societies, such as the Thuggee and the African leopard societies. The main part of the work, which is prefaced by a lengthy essay entitled “Narrative of the Elder World”, deals with the worship of Cthulhu and his ilk, including the Tcho-tcho cults of Leng, the people of the Black Stone, the Hyborian Age, and the worldwide sects of Ghatanothoa. At certain points, von Junzt’s rational presentation of these cults breaks down into disjointed ramblings. His assertion that alicorns (unicorn horns) were real and his claim to have visited Hell are often cited as evidence of his instability. Nonetheless, much of his work is insightful and should not be dismissed.

See Bran Mak Morn; Ghatanothoa; Kn’aa; Ladeau, Alexis; Mad Berkley’s Book; Mülder, Gottfried; Papyrus of the Dark Wisdom; Temple of the Toad; von Junzt, Friedrich; Yog-Sothoth. (Real Magic, Bonewitz; “Zoth-Ommog”, Carter; “The History of Unaussprechlichen Kulten”, Harris; “The Black Stone”, Howard; “The Children of the Night”, Howard (O); “The Thing on the Roof”, Howard; “Untitled Fragment”, Howard; “The Haunter of the Dark”, Lovecraft; “Out of the Aeons”, Lovecraft and Heald; “Dope War of the Black Tong”, Price; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

UNIVERSITY OF NYINGTOVE

College in O’Khymer, Oregon, known for its library’s large collection of occult works.

See Sorcerie de Demonologie. (“Huitloxopetl IV: Vision of Madness”, Berglund (O).)

UNNAMABLE, THE

Creature born of bestiality. After its discovery, its father was subsequently hung, but it was allowed to live. It dwelt in a colonial house near the old burying-ground in Arkham. The creature, said to have hooves and four-inch horns, seems to be dead, but is nonetheless called forth when others speak or think about it. Randolph Carter based his story “The Attic Window” (1922) on it, and may have participated in the exorcism of the spirit.

[Lovecraft based this creature on the following passage from Cotton Mather’s Magnalia Christi Americana: “At the Southward there was a Beast, which brought forth a Creature, which might pretend unto something of an Humane Shape. Now, the People minded that the Monster had a Blemish in one Eye, much like what a profligate Fellow in the Town was known to have. This Fellow was hereupon examin’d, and uppon his Examination, confess’d his infandous Bestialties; for which he was deservedly Executed.” It was Lovecraft who added the possibility that the creature was sorcerous in nature.]

(“The Unnamable”, Lovecraft (O); The Unnamable, Ouellette.)

UNSPEAKABLE PROMISE (also UNSPEAKABLE OATH)

Bargain made with Hastur by unsuspecting magicians. The magician’s side of the bargain may differ, but the end result is the same: the Old One possesses his or her body upon death, taking on a humanoid form with boneless arms. The Unspeakable Promise is also said to bind Shub-Niggurath in some manner.

(“The Return of Hastur”, Derleth (O); “The Evil Stars”, Herber; “The Lady in the Grove”, Lette.)

UNTER ZEE KULTEN

German volume dealing with aquatic horrors. Two different versions of this book’s history have appeared. The more traditional tale states that a Graf Gauberg wrote it centuries ago, and that most copies of this book were destroyed in the seventeenth century. The other states that the book’s real title was Das Geheimnis Der Unterzeerunen, which was published in Vienna in 1908. According to this source, the book was a translation of Yuggothian glyphs found at Ponape, Easter Island, and Stonehenge made by the German occultist Guido von List. The book was later made into a movie called Geheimnisse Einer Unterzeewelt (or “Unterzee Kulten”) which depicted many secret Polynesian rites and was finally banned in most countries. Which of these stories is correct, or if the two are referring to different books entirely, is uncertain.

This book tells much about the deep ones and their ways of life, including a description of a strange mollusk the deep ones use for food and construction. The Cthaat Aquadingen quotes this volume at least once.

(“The Aquarium”, Jacobi (O); “Return of the Deep Ones”, Lumley; “Fischbuchs”, Ross; “The Sound of a Door Opening”, Webb.)

UNDERCLIFFE, ERROL (c. 1937–1967?)

Brichester horror author who is thought to have been an influence on the young Ramsey Campbell. Little is known of Undercliffe, though he spent much of his life in Brichester. He vanished from his apartment in 1967 after investigating the death of Ronald Franklyn. At least one unconfirmed sighting of him has been made since then. His work has been collected in The Man who Feared to Sleep and Photographed by Lightning, and Harry Chang’s film Red Dreams is based upon his work.

(“Errol Undercliffe: A Tribute”, Campbell (O); “The Franklyn Paragraphs”, Campbell; “Behold, I Stand at the Door and Knock”, Price.)

UOHT

1) Royal contender for the throne of Yhtill in the play The King in Yellow. See King in Yellow. (“The Repairer of Reputations”, Chambers (O).)

2) In the writings of Hali, the first king of Carcosa to emblazon the Sign of Koth in yellow upon his cloak. See King in Yellow. (House of the Toad, Tierney.)

UPHAM, (PROFESSOR) HIRAM

Chair of the Miskatonic University mathematics department. His class saw several informal lectures by Walter Gilman on mathematical proofs of higher dimensions. Upham later joined with other Miskatonic professors in combating the Mythos.

See Emeritus Alcove. (Arkham Unveiled, Herber et. al.; “To Arkham and the Stars”, Leiber; “The Dreams in the Witch-House”, Lovecraft (O).)

UPTON, DANIEL. (c. 1884–?)

Arkham architect and friend (and murderer) of Edward Derby. Derby’s father was Bezalel Yehua ben-Daniel, but he later changed his name to Daniel Upton and moved to Arkham. (The younger Daniel Upton never learned this part of his family’s past.) Daniel Upton made friends with Derby at a relatively early age, and Upton even considered illustrating a book of Derby’s poetry at one time. After graduating from Harvard, Upton married and settled in Arkham. His son, Edward Derby Upton, was born in 1910.

Upton watched the destructive marriage of Derby and Asenath Waite with some concern, but he was unable to stop its tragic ending. Upton seemed concerned about his friend, which made his subsequent murder of Derby at Arkham Sanitarium even more baffling. Some have hinted that a macabre practical joke may have been the impetus for the crime.

Upton was committed, but contradictory accounts of what happened later have emerged. Some say that influential friends at Miskatonic were able to free him, while others hold that he remained confined for the rest of his life.

See Derby, Edward; Waite, Asenath. (“The Revenge of Azathoth”, Cannon; “To Arkham and the Stars”, Leiber; “The Statement of Richard Daniel Upton”, Jantsang, Gerber, and Ley; “The Thing on the Doorstep”, Lovecraft (O).)

URALTE SCHRECKEN (roughly Ancient Fears)

Monograph written by Graf von Könnenberg in the nineteenth century, and published in 1823. An English translation by “Crowley” appeared in London in 1854, as did another in 1903. In his book, von Könnenberg asserted that he had traced the myth-patterns of all cultures back to their origins as projections of something he called Mlandoth. Who, what, or where Mlandoth is, von Könnenberg did not explain; this likely explains the book’s cool reception among the public and reputable scholars alike.

Aside from Mlandoth, this volume also mentions such entities as Ngyr-Khorath (who he warns strongly against), ‘Ymnar, and Yidhra.

See Chthonic Revelations; ‘Ymnar. (“The Barrett Horror”, DeBill; “The Bookseller’s Second Wife”, DeBill; “Ngyr-Khorath”, DeBill (O); “Where Yidhra Walks”, DeBill.)

URILIA TEXT

See R’lyeh Text.

UZULDAROUM

Capital city of Hyperborea. When the people of the former capital city of Commoriom fled their homes due to the prophecy of the White Sybil of Polarion or other less pleasant causes, they established Uzuldaroum a day’s journey from the deserted metropolis.

See Commoriom, Hyperborea; Satampra Zeiros. (“The Tale of Satampra Zeiros”, Smith (O); “The Testament of Athammaus”, Smith.)

V

VACH‑VIRAJ INCANTATION

Chant used to ward off the Great Old One Nyogtha, and which is efficacious to a lesser degree against Cyäegha and the cthonians. This is one version of the Vach-Viraj chant, supposedly written in the Senzar tongue:

Ya na kadishtu nilgh’ri stell-bsna Nyogtha;

K’yarnak phlegethor l’ebumna syha’h n’ghft.

Ya hai kadishtu ep r’luh-eeh Nyogtha eeh,

S’uhn-ngh athg li’hee orr’e syha’h.

It is believed that the Vach-Viraj, when spoken in reverse, may release the same earth elementals it will normally disperse. It has been suggested that “Vach-Viraj” is another title for Azathoth; what significance this might have is unknown.

[Blavatsky suggests that Vach-Viraj symbolizes the union of the male and the female principles, though she does not speak of an incantation in which they are used.]

See Circles of Thaol; cthonians; Necronomicon (appendices); Nyogtha. (“Darkness, My Name Is”, Bertin; “The Book of Dismissals”, Carter; “The Strange Doom of Enos Harker”, Carter and Price; “The Salem Horror”, Kuttner (O); The Burrowers Beneath, Lumley.)

VALE OF BERKELEY

Volume by Lord Arthur B. Wilshire on the folklore of this area of the Severn River Valley, published in 1928. Supposedly two editions of this work were issued. The most unusual tales included are of the Berkeley Toad, a dungeon-dwelling creature that ate corpses, and the Berkeley Witch. The other stories are conventional tales of ghostly clergymen and women.

(Ramsey Campbell’s Goatswood, Aniolowski and Sumpter; “The Room in the Castle,” Campbell (O), “Unseen”, Love.)

VALE OF PNATH

See Pnath, Vale of.

VALUSIA

Ancient land of the serpent people. It consisted of modern southern Europe, the Mediterranean, and northern Africa. Humans conquered Valusia, driving the serpent people away, and one hundred thousand years ago, Valusia was the most powerful of the Seven Empires. The most famous king of Valusia was Kull the Atlantean.

See Brothers of the Yellow Sign; Kull; serpent people. (“Exile of Atlantis”, Howard; “The Shadow Kingdom”, Howard (O).)

VATICAN CODEX

Mayan document found several years ago in the Vatican Library. It is on a piece of bark paper eight inches wide and seven feet long, painted with various colors. This is the only known copy of this work, one of the few Mayan books to have survived the ecclesiastical zeal of the Spanish priests. Why the religious authorities considered this book to spare from destruction and send back to Rome is unknown.

In most respects, this document parallels the Mayan creation myths as detailed in the Popol Vuh. At one point, however, the story varies from the more common version. A being known as both Ghatanothoa and Yig comes down to Earth from the star Arcturus. Seeing the goddess of the dawn bathing, he attempts to force himself upon her, but she escapes. Yig’s semen falls into the sea, eventually giving rise to the various animals that populate the earth. The Ancient Ones (as the benevolent gods are called in this document) attack Yig and imprison him within the ground. Having done so, they take some of his seed and use it to create humanity. Then a Golden Age begins, ending when Yig calls down disaster upon humanity.

(The Philosopher’s Stone, Wilson (O).)

VAULTS OF ZIN

See Zin, Vaults of.

VHOORL

Planet located within the twenty-third nebula, wherever that might be. It was Kathulhn, a student of mathematics on Vhoorl, who first broke through the barriers between this dimension and the others where the Great Old Ones once lived. The lords of Yaddith are also known to have visited this world.

Some have connected the “Kathulhn” who once dwelt on Vhoorl with the Great Old One Cthulhu. If this linkage is valid, Vhoorl may be Cthulhu’s birthplace that Henry Akeley hinted of in his discourse with Albert Wilmarth.

See Cthulhu. (“The Guardian of the Book”, Hasse (O); “The Whisperer in Darkness”, Lovecraft.)

VIRKLYU

The City of Flame of the Arkandian people, located in the Kalnor Plain in prehistoric times. Within a great dome in the city lived the Fire Women, the priestesses of the Great Old Ones who were led by Ilyth’la.

(A Guide to the Cthulhu Cult, Pelton; The Sussex Manuscript, Pelton (O).)

VISIONS FROM YADDITH

Volume of poetry by Ariel Prescott (most likely a pseudonym), who was confined to, and later died in, Oakdeene Sanitarium. Charnel House Publishers of London published the volume in a limited edition in 1927, and it became fashionable for a brief while among the occult elements of Cambridge University’s student body. Ariel Prescott’s family, however, managed to purchase and destroy almost all copies of the book.

The poems of this book, which were inspired by the author’s nightly visions, tell the story of the last days of Yaddith, its inhabitant’s attempts to save their dying world, and their final flight throughout the cosmos.

(“Dreams in the House of Weir”, Carter (O); Visions from Yaddith, Carter.)

VISIONS OF KHROYD’HON

Chapbook by the poet William Davis Manly. It contains poems using the mysteries of the Sesqua Valley as subject matter; Khroyd’hon was the poet’s own name for Mount Selta. Only distributed on a limited basis, the work is quite rare now. A very limited edition with Manly’s own illustrations is also rumored to exist.

[An actual book called Visions of Khroyd’hon was published under Pugmire’s editorship.]

(“A Piece of Stone”, Pugmire; “The Strange Dark Folk”, Pugmire; “The Thing in the Glen”, Pugmire (O); “The Totem Pole”, Pugmire.)

VON DENEN VERDAMMTEN, ODER EINE VERHANDLUNG ÜBER DIE UNHEIMLICHEN KULTEN DER ALTEN (“Of the Damned, or a Trial of the Unholy Cults of Antiquity”)

Volume written by Kazaj Heinz Vogel, a German who immigrated to America over two centuries ago. He returned to his native Germany and completed his untitled book. After its publication, the authorities seized the volumes and destroyed all but two copies. Vogel himself vanished shortly thereafter. The two remaining copies of this volume remained in the restricted collections of German libraries.

In 1907, a young woman named Edith Brendall gained access to one of the volumes. Using her photographic memory, she memorized the entire book and later rewrote it, added notes gathered from her own research, and entitled it Von denen Vertdammten. Ms. Brendall then had the book published at her own expense. As soon as the publishers released the book, most of the copies were bought hastily or stolen by persons unknown. Ms. Brendall believed someone was following her, and moved from city to city attempting to elude her pursuers. She disappeared from Bonn on March 27, 1910, and her body was discovered the Rhine on April 4 of the same year.

This book is purported to deal mainly with the cults that Vogel witnessed in the United States, though most of the material seen so far deals with European sites. The book holds information on the worship of an organization known as the Waiting Dark, including an impressive genealogy of its members. It also discusses the cults of Innsmouth, Salem, and Dunwich (though the latter refers to the English town of the same name).

(“Darkness, My Name Is”, Bertin (O); “Dunwich Dreams, Dunwich Screams”, Bertin; “Sufficient unto the Day”, Ingham.)

VON JUNZT, FRIEDRICH WILHEIM (1795–1840)

Noted explorer and author of Unaussprechlichen Kulten. Friedrich was born in Cologne in 1795 to Ava and Heinrich von Junzt, a family rich in the coal industry. (Solar Pons’ claim that von Junzt was a baron remains unsubstantiated.) The birth of his brother Augustus in 1804 led to his mother’s death. This led Friedrich’s father to seek out spiritualists in a quest that was to affect von Junzt for the rest of his life. Despite his young age, he was also inducted into a Miltenberg fraternal order, inspiring a love of secret societies and their lore that would last throughout his life.

Von Junzt entered the University of Berlin in 1814, meeting his friend Gottfried Mülder the following year. The two of them spent some time after their graduation travelling through Asia, after which von Junzt returned to Germany and completed his doctoral thesis, “The Origin and Influence of Semantic Magical Texts.” He taught at the University of Wurttemberg for four years, after which he travelled through Europe, the Americas, and Africa, investigating and joining as many secret societies as he could discover. At one point, his wanderings took him to Paris, where he would meet Alexis Ladeau, with whom he travelled for a short time. During this time he published two short monographs, Les Vampires (1827) and Les Lupines (an 1828 treatise on werewolves), but in 1835 he returned to his family’s estate and began work on his magnum opus, Unaussprechlichen Kulten (or Nameless Cults) which was published in Dusseldorf in 1839.

After the completion of his manuscript, von Junzt set out for parts unknown. Years later, upon his return from an expedition to Mongolia, von Junzt secluded himself in a locked and barred room in Dusseldorf, writing a manuscript whose exact nature remains a mystery. A few months later, he was killed in his lodgings with the marks of talons on his throat and the chamber’s locks still intact. Alexis Ladeau, a Frenchman who had been von Junzt’s best friend in life, took the mutilated pages of the manuscript and put them together. Having read them, he then burnt the manuscript and cut his own throat with a razor. Following these events, frantic owners burned many copies of the Black Book.

Von Junzt’s research was exhaustive and comprehensive. He is known to have infiltrated many different religious sects and secretive cults in order to write about their practices. Von Junzt was able to access many secret collections of books, and was one of the few who had seen the unexpurgated Book of Iod, the Ghorl Nigral kept at Yian-Ho, and the Necronomicon’s Greek translation. (Rumor has it that the German scholar made a German translation of the latter entitled Das Verichteraraberbuch, published posthumously in 1848.) Though his stories seem unbelievable to many, subsequent scholars in the field of medieval metaphysics have been able to substantiate many of his findings.

Since his time, von Junzt has attracted considerable controversy. Many call him a pioneer in the fields of anthropology and religion, while others point out his rambling style of writing and outrageous claims as evidence of mental instability. The debate over von Junzt’s writings is one is likely to continue far into the future. To add fuel to the fire, some even insist that von Junzt survived his supposed death and still walks the earth via sorcery.

[It was Lovecraft who provided Howard with von Junzt’s first and middle names. Occasionally, Von Junzt’s first name is given as “Fvindvuf,” the result of Lin Carter’s inability to read Lovecraft’s handwriting in one of his letters.]

See Abbith; Black Stone; Black Sutra, Bran Mak Morn; Ghatanothoa; Ghorl Nigral; Kn’aa; Ladeau, Alexis; Mülder, Gottfried; Necronomicon (appendices); Pnakotus; Secret Mysteries of Asia; Temple of the Toad; Unaussprechlichen Kulten; Yian-Ho; Yog-Sothoth. (“Dead of Night”, Carter; “Zoth-Ommog”, Carter; “Solar Pons and the Cthulhu Mythos”, DeBill and Berglund; “The History of Von Unaussprechlichen Kulten”, Harris; “Timeline of Von Unaussprechlichen Kulten”, Harris; “The ‘True’ History of Friedrich Wilheim von Junzt”, Hillebrand, Harms, and Harris; “The Black Stone”, Howard; “The Children of the Night”, Howard (O); “The Thing on the Roof”, Howard; Schrodinger’s Cat Trilogy, R. Wilson.)

VOOLA RITUAL

Incantation that calls up beings of the earth, especially a creature living beneath a rock somewhere within the Severn River Valley. Several people must perform the ritual if it is to be effective, however. This ritual may also be used to call up Tsathoggua, but does not provide the means to put him back down without making a sacrifice.

(“The Mine on Yuggoth”, Campbell; “The Thing under Memphis”, Carter; “The White People”, Machen (O).)

VOONITHS

Amphibious creatures that dwell in the swamps of Oriab in the Dreamlands. Vooniths are creatures with salamander-like heads, poisonous skin, and long tails. Those on Oriab can often be heard howling at night. They are a risk to travelers, but those who pass close enough to Mount Ngranek are safe from them.

(“The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft (O); H. P. Lovecraft’s Dreamlands, Petersen et. al.; S. Petersen’s Field Guide to Creatures of the Dreamlands, Petersen et. al..

VOOR

Kingdom beyond the edge of the world where, according to the Green Book, water leaves with the sun and the light can be extinguished. This was probably the “Desolation of Voor”, a site on the isle of Ultima Thule near Hyperborea. The people of this land once built huge domes and cemeteries, but then vanished, and later civilizations shunned their ruins. Their magic was preserved, however, and such spells as the “Voorish sign” originated here.

See Deep Dendo; Green Book; Voorish Sign. (“The Offering”, Carter; “The Secret in the Parchment”, Carter; “The White People”, Machen (O).)

VOORISH SIGN

Hand pass or glyph that might aid in making the invisible visible. It might also make certain spells more efficacious or create a passageway to other worlds.

See Voor. (“The Dunwich Horror”, Lovecraft (O); “The Adventure of the Voorish Sign”, Lupoff; Call of Cthulhu, Petersen and Willis.)

VOORMIS

Sub-human entities that lived in the land of Hyperborea (present-day Greenland) before the arrival of humans. All voormis traced their ancestry back to Voorm, the Thing Without a Face, a being allegedly the product of the mating of the minor deity Shathak with Tsathoggua. According to other sources, the Valusian serpent people bred the Voormis during the Pleistocene as a race of slaves. With the decline of their masters, the Voormis broke free of their enslavement and went to live on the continent of Hyperborea. There, they beat back the horrible Gnophkehs into the polar wasteland and laid the groundwork for a new civilization.

The worship of Tsathoggua, the founder of their race, was especially important to the Voormis, many of whom dwelt underground so as to be closer to their lord. At one point in their history, however, the Voormis became involved in a rebellion in which the worshipers of the new god Ithaqua struck out against the followers of Tsathoggua. In the end, Ithaqua’s followers were soundly beaten and exiled from the lands of the more orthodox Voormis.

Between this great civil war and the coming cold, the Voormis’ civilization had been exhausted by the time the first humans arrived in Hyperborea. At first, the Voormis aided these newcomers in finding food and shelter, instructing them in the scientific and magical arts. As the number of humans increased, the Voormis slowly dwindled, until the few remaining left their cities to hide in the mountains, with their largest colony at Mount Voormithadreth. The humans quickly forgot about their one-time benefactors and proclaimed themselves lords of Hyperborea, often hunting the Voormis for sport.

Many years later, when the cold came once again to Hyperborea, the Voormis, who had sunk to almost bestial levels, made raids on human villages for food. The Hyperboreans retaliated, crushing most of the remaining Voormis and staging periodic hunting expeditions to exterminate the rest. Little has been heard of this once-great race following the fall of Hyperborea, but it is rumored that the mysterious ape-men, such as the yeti and Bigfoot, sighted in various parts of the world are the last surviving Voormis.

See Aphoom Zhah; Gnoph-keh; Hyperborea; Knygathin Zhaum, Pnakotic Manuscripts; Sfatlicllp; Tsathoggua; Ubbo-Sathla; Voormithadreth. (“The Acolyte of the Flame”, Carter; “The Scroll of Morloc”, Carter and Smith; “The Trail of Tsathogghua (sic)”, Herber; “The Seven Geases”, Smith; “The Testament of Athammaus”, Smith (O).)

VOORMISH TABLETS

Tablets written by the Voormis during their heyday. Their lore is considered to be powerful, and both Eibon and Haon-Dor consulted them during their researches. The tablets mention Aphoom Zhah, the Fishers from Outside, and how the Voormi wizard Hurun succumbed to the Curse of Rhan-Tegoth, but most of their contents are unknown.

(“The Shadow of the Sleeping God”, Ambuehl; “The Acolyte of the Flame”, Carter (O); The Life of Eibon according to Cyron of Varaad, Carter; “The Descent into the Abyss”, Carter and Smith.)

VOORMITHADRETH, MOUNT

Highest peak of the Eiglophian Mountains of Hyperborea. This mountain was volcanic in origin (though the wizard Eibon insisted it was artificial) and named for the Voormis who inhabited the tunnels which honeycombed it. The braver of the Hyperborean nobility hunted these creatures on the mountain’s slopes.

The toad-god Tsathoggua lurked in deep caverns beneath this peak, and because of this the Hyperborean cultists of Tsathoggua turned toward Mount Voormithadreth during their worship of the Great Old One. There were darker rumors that even more hideous beings dwelt under Voormithadreth.

See Abhoth; Atlach-Nacha; Eibon; Haon-Dor; Shub-Niggurath; Sss’haa, Tsathoggua; voormis. (“Shaggai”, Carter; “The Seven Geases”, Smith (O).)

VORVADOSS

Entity known as the Flaming One, the Troubler of the Sands, or the Lord of the Universal Spaces.  Vorvadoss appears as a cloaked and hooded figured surrounded by green flames, and has a face veiled in silver mist and black eyes with tiny flames dancing inside. Vorvadoss sometimes referred to as Vorvadoss of the Gray Gulf of Yarnak (or Bel Yarnak), where law decreed that only the Sindara of Bel Yarnak might worship him. The people of Mu revered Vorvadoss at the peak of the mountain Nergu-K’nyan, and many considered him to be the mightiest of earth’s gods.

The Book of Iod mentions that Vorvadoss is neither a Great Old One nor Elder God, leaving his position to be decided on a case-by-case basis. In one invocation of Vorvadoss, the being seemed to be beneficent toward humanity, though in such matters, it is difficult to be certain.

See Book of Iod. (“The Star-Seed”, Ambuehl; “Wizards of Hyperborea”, Fultz and Burns; “The Eater of Souls”, Kuttner (O); “The Invaders”, Kuttner.)

VULTHOOM

Being said to be one of Yog-Sothoth’s sons. Vulthoom resembles a many-rooted plant with a gigantic trunk and a huge blossom at the top holding the semblance of a tiny fairy-like creature. Vulthoom dwells in the cavern of Ravormos on Mars.

Millions of years ago, Vulthoom fled to Mars in its ether-ship from a conflict with more powerful entities. Upon its arrival on the red planet, it subjugated the natives of that world using its vast knowledge of science and technology.  After a while, Vulthoom tired of its worshipers, and retired beneath the ground into the caverns of Ravornos. Over several centuries, the people forgot the true nature of the extraterrestrial visitor, eventually believing that Vulthoom was the devil and his home in Ravornos was actually the underworld. Soon, the majority of the Aihai people had dismissed Vulthoom as a legend.

A cult dedicated to Vulthoom managed to survive among the lower classes. According to this group, Vulthoom still lives; though the creature is not immortal, its lifespan is immeasurable. The monster dwells within the caverns of Ravornos, where it undergoes a cycle of a thousand years of activity, followed by a thousand years of rest. Vulthoom may bless those who are especially faithful with the same longevity, falling asleep when Vulthoom does so and awakening at the same time as their master. When awake, these servants plot to expand the worship of their master across Mars and to other worlds.

According to the Revelations of Glaaki, Vulthoom only a child of the race upon which the legends of vampires are based.

See Yog-Sothoth. (“The Inhabitant of the Lake”, Campbell; “Zoth-Ommog”, Carter; “Vulthoom”, Smith (O).)

VYONES

See Averoigne.

W

WAILING WRITHER

See Nyarlathotep (Wailing Writher).

WAITE, ASENATH (1905–1932)

Daughter of Ephraim Waite and an unknown mother. Asenath Waite grew up in the Innsmouth home of her father. Following his madness and death, she became a ward of the principal of Kingsport’s Hall School and later attended Miskatonic University.

It was at Miskatonic that Asenath met Edward Derby, poet and author of Azathoth and Other Horrors. The two became attracted to one another and married shortly thereafter. During their marriage, Asenath became Derby’s tutor in the magical arts. Although on the surface their union was happy, those close to Derby noticed a shocking change in his personality during this period.

Around three years after the marriage, Asenath disappeared; Derby insisted that his wife had gone on an extended vacation, and no one thought anything amiss. Later, after her husband had been confined to an asylum, her body turned up just outside the house of Daniel Upton, Derby’s close friend, presumably having been left there by persons unknown.

See Cult of the Skull; Derby, Edward Pickman; Upton, Daniel; Waite, Ephraim. (“The Thing on the Doorstep”, Lovecraft (O).)

WAITE, EPHRAIM

Resident of Innsmouth, Massachusetts, who many considered to be a wizard of some power. Waite is an old Innsmouth name, but according to rumor, Ephraim Waite was originally Khemosh Ephraim ben-Daniel of New York, a young man interested in diabolism, who changed his name and moved to Innsmouth. Ephraim supposedly could control the weather and perform other mystical feats, and he often traveled to Miskatonic University to consult that institution’s occult holdings. He was known for solving many minor crimes among the locals and participated in rites of the Cult of the Skull.

In his later years, Waite took a wife whose face no one ever saw and who disappeared shortly after she bore his daughter Asenath. When his daughter was in her early teens, Ephraim lost his mind, and Asenath confined him in the attic of their Innsmouth residence. Ephraim died not long following his imprisonment. Some suspected poison, but most of Innsmouth’s residents had no misgivings about Asenath, and no one ever charged her with his death.

See Derby, Edward; Waite, Asenath. (“The Thing on the Doorstep”, Lovecraft (O).)

WALL OF NAACH-TITH

See Barrier of Naach-Tith.

WALMSLEY, GORDON (OF GOOLE)

One-time Professor-Curator of the Wharby Museum in Yorkshire, and author of the landmark work Notes on Deciphering Codes, Cryptograms, and Ancient Inscriptions. His aid in deciphering such inscriptions as the Phitmar Stone and the Geph Columns Characters proved invaluable. This famous expert on cryptography was murdered in his rooms near the museum, a crime that remains unsolved. Walmsley is best remembered for his work at translating the G’harne Fragments, an effort which was at first considered ludicrous but which has aided later scholars immeasurably.

See Book of Dzyan; Brick Cylinders of Kadatheron; Broken Columns of Geph; Geph Transcriptions; G’harne Fragments; Spheres of Nath. (“The Fairground Horror”, Lumley; “In the Vaults Beneath”, Lumley; “Rising with Surtsey”, Lumley; “The Sister City”, Lumley (O); The Transition of Titus Crow, Lumley.)

WALTERS, HARVEY

Reporter for Enigma magazine during the 1920s. Walters obtained a master’s in journalism from Miskatonic University, after which he moved to New York City. Walters was involved in the investigation of the mysteries of Castle Kriegs and possessed a gem that summoned a Hound of Tindalos when examined.

(“Juggernaut”, Henderson; Call of Cthulhu Rulebook, Petersen and Willis (O).)

WAMPS

Creatures living in the graveyards and necropoli of the Dreamlands’ surface world. A wamp has an egg-shaped body and nine pale legs that appear to be splashed with scarlet. A wamp’s head features two large ears, a short wrinkled snout, and blank spaces where eyes should be.

Wamps spontaneously generate from the same rotting corpses on which they feed. Their practices are hideous in the extreme, so much so that ghouls do not feed from the graveyards of the upper Dreamlands, for fear of encountering these monstrosities.

[The Call of Cthulhu game wedded Smith’s creation with the wamps mentioned, but never seen, in Lovecraft’s “Dream-Quest”.]

(“The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft; H. P. Lovecraft’s Dreamlands, Petersen et. al., S. Petersen’s Field Guide to Creatures of the Dreamlands, Petersen et. al., “The Abominations of Yondo”, Smith (O).)

WARD, CHARLES DEXTER (1902–1928?)

Young antiquarian of Providence, Rhode Island. Ward received his high school education from the Moses Brown School, but was at the same time a self-trained historian of prodigious ability who spent most of his time researching his ancestor Joseph Curwen. To further his ends, he skipped college, instead spending a great amount of time traveling among the libraries of Europe. After his return to the United States, Ward became more and more eccentric, eventually being committed in early 1928. On April 13 of that year, Ward vanished from his room at the institution and was never heard from again.

(“The Case of Charles Dexter Ward”, Lovecraft (O).)

WARDER OF KNOWLEDGE

Being mentioned on the nineteenth Eltdown Shard. The translation is somewhat garbled at this point, but seems to contain a ritual for summoning this entity. It seems that the proper procedure for returning the Warder to its home spheres is missing from the Shards, so caution is advised.

See Eltdown Shards. (“The Warder of Knowledge”, Searight (O).)

WARREN, HARLEY

South Carolina occultist and friend of Randolph Carter. He first came to distinction in the years 1916–18, when he was a member of a Boston society dedicated to the investigation of psychic matters. Following the first World War, Warren took up occult studies of a more personal nature, accompanied by the Boston mystic Randolph Carter. In December of 1919, Warren vanished while on an expedition in the Big Cypress Swamp of Florida. The police held Carter, who had accompanied him at the time, but they allowed him to go free when no definite evidence linking him to Warren’s disappearance could be found.

See Carter, Randolph; Hiamaldi. (“The Statement of Randolph Carter”, Lovecraft (O); “Through the Gates of the Silver Key”, Lovecraft and Price; The Transition of Titus Crow, Lumley.)

WATCHERS ON THE OTHER SIDE

First novel by Nayland Colum. Colum’s book met with some success in the popular market during the Forties, and the author was writing a sequel when he vanished.

What exactly this novel contained is unknown, but Colum may have had some sort of link through his dreams to the Great Old Ones, adding unusual concepts to his work.

(“The Keeper of the Key”, Derleth (O).)

WE PASS FROM VIEW

Volume published by True Light Press in 1964. Its author and publisher, Roland Franklyn, was the leader of a small cult based in Brichester, England. Rumor has it that most copies of the book disappeared from Franklyn’s house before they could be distributed. In the years following the author’s death in 1967, many of the remaining copies have also gone missing.

In his book, Franklyn set forth the dogma of his sect. One of his strange doctrines was that a reincarnated soul could exist in more than one body at a time. To get in touch with these other incarnations, the author instructs the initiate to use hallucinogenic drugs and chants to such beings as Daoloth and Eihort. Furthermore, for the soul to be reincarnated after death, a person’s body must be cremated, lest the burrowers of the graveyards drag the corpse below to the feast of Eihort.

See Brichester; Eihort; Franklyn, Roland. (“The Franklyn Paragraphs”, Campbell (O).)

WEBB, WILLIAM CHANNING

Professor of Anthropology at Princeton who contributed to the study of the Cthulhu cult.

Webb made a tour of Greenland in search of runic inscriptions in 1860. There he found a cult dedicated to a squid-god to which they chanted and made human sacrifices. In 1908, when Legrasse visited the American Archaeological Society meetings in Saint Louis, Webb was able to confirm the similarity between the cults Legrasse investigated in New Orleans and those he observed in Greenland.

Webb later joined Legrasse on his later delvings into the Cthulhu cult, and he met his end while accompanying his friend to Nepal in 1925.

(“Nothing To Fear but Dust”, Henderson; “Patiently Waiting”, Henderson; “The Call of Cthulhu”, Lovecraft (O).)

WENDIGO

1) Title of the Great Old One Ithaqua. In one reference, the Wendigo is referred to as Ithaqua’s cousin. (“The Windigo”, Blackwood (O); “The Thing that Walked on the Wind”, Derleth; “The Seal of R’lyeh”, Derleth.)

2) Hypothetical species of which Ithaqua is a member. It is believed that by mating with humans, a wendigo can beget others of its own kind. Two wendigos were once sighted together, but the creatures engaged in a tremendous battle that ended only when one of the combatants perished. The existence of other such beings may explain the reference in which the Wendigo who controls the shantaks is called the “cousin” of Ithaqua. See Ithaqua. (“Born of the Winds”, Lumley (O); S. Petersen’s Field Guide to Cthulhu Monsters, Petersen et. al.)

3) Transformed servitor race created by Ithaqua out of those he captures. These appear much like Ithaqua himself, but are of lesser size and power. (“The Windigo”, Blackwood (O); Alone against the Wendigo, Rahman.)

[The Wendigo comes from the tales of the Cree and Ojibwa of the Great Lakes region, who call the spirit the witiko or windigo. These monsters are human-like spirits who are taller than the mightiest trees and live at the North Pole, coming south to catch and devour humans. According to legend, when two Wendigos meet, they join in a titanic battle that ends in the destruction of one or both of the monsters. The myths also say that the windigo sometimes touches the mind of a human. Such people usually become obsessed with cannibalism, becoming so dangerous to their family and neighbors that they are often slain by their tribe. There has been considerable debate as to whether “windigo psychosis” ever existed, as no European has witnessed a case demonstrating these symptoms.

When Derleth felt that the Mythos needed Great Old Ones of all four elements, he included the Wendigo Ithaqua as one of them. Since then, it has been popular to circumscribe Ithaqua’s range to the far north – though the mythical windigo’s range was further to the south.]

WENDY-SMITH, SIR AMERY (?–1937)

Archaeologist who was well known in his field as the author of On Ancient Civilizations and the inventor of the Wendy-Smith test for the dating of artifacts. His title is a matter of some controversy; some say he was knighted in 1901, while others hold that he was actually a baronet. Wendy-Smith’s earlier accomplishments, however, have been greatly overshadowed by his eccentric behavior later in life.

Near the end of his career, Wendy-Smith worked to translate the G’harne Fragments, a set of writings taken from the jungles of Africa by the explorer Windrop. His research in this direction culminated with a journey to the lost city of G’harne, during which the other members of the expedition were killed in an earthquake and only Wendy-Smith escaped to civilization. It is believed that this tragedy affected Sir Amery’s mind, this condition forcing him to retire after his return. Wendy-Smith died in 1933 when his cottage on the Yorkshire moors collapsed. His nephew, Paul, wrote an account of the scientist’s last days that was discovered after his own house in Marske, Yorkshire was destroyed.

See G’harne; G’harne Fragments. (Keeper’s Compendium, Herber; Beneath the Moors, Lumley; The Burrowers Beneath, Lumley; “Cement Surroundings”, Lumley (O); “In the Vaults Beneath, Lumley.)

WEST, HERBERT (c. 1880–1921)

Brilliant doctor and humanitarian. West attended Miskatonic University Medical School and rendered Arkham great service during the typhoid epidemic of 1905. West went on to establish a clinic for the poor factory-workers of Bolton, Massachusetts, and even volunteered for medical service with the Canadians in World War I. His disappearance from his home in Boston is still unsolved.

Rumors of Doctor West’s experiments with the revivification of the dead have been matters of popular rumor, but the author wishes to assure his readers that these are only scurrilous efforts to impeach a dead man’s character.

See Meadow Hill. (“Herbert West – Reanimator”, Lovecraft (O).)

WHATELEY, LAVINIA (c. 1878–1926)

Albino daughter of Wizard Whateley, and mother of Wilbur. Lavinia gave birth to Wilbur in 1913, but began to grow apart from her son after Wizard Whateley’s death in 1924. On Halloween Night, 1926, Lavinia vanished, perhaps killed by her own son.

See Whateley, Wilbur. (“The Dunwich Horror”, Lovecraft (O).)

WHATELEY, (WIZARD) ELEZER or NOAH (also OLD WHATELEY) (?–August 1, 1924)

Dunwich resident, reputed wizard, and father of Lavinia Whateley. The townsfolk lynched his father, Oliver Whateley, because he was suspected of witchcraft. Old Whateley’s own neighbors regarded him with fear and loathing, especially after one incident that occurred in one of the hilltop stone circles near Dunwich. Whateley was married at one time, and his wife gave birth to Lavinia around 1878. His wife’s violent death (circa 1890) does not seem to have been investigated to any extent. Whateley passed away in 1924 from natural causes.

See Kamog; Whateley, Lavinia; Whateley, Wilbur. (Return to Dunwich, Herber; “The Dunwich Horror”, Lovecraft (O); “Wilbur Whateley Waiting”, Price; “The Black Brat of Dunwich”, Sargent.)

WHATELEY, OLD

See Noah Whateley.

WHATELEY, WILBUR. (February 2, 1913 – August 3, 1928)

Child of Lavinia Whateley and an unknown father. Whateley grew up quickly, being able to speak when eleven months old and having almost reached eight feet in height at the time of his death. He was known to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather Wizard Whateley in holding rites on top of the hills near Dunwich.

Despite his poor reputation among the townsfolk of his native town, Whateley gained some recognition as a scholar of the black arts and corresponded with many knowledgeable individuals, including Doctor Armitage of Miskatonic University. Whateley never fulfilled his potential, dying in a failed attempt to steal Miskatonic’s copy of the Necronomicon. His body vanished under shocking circumstances. His reputation remains strong in the Dunwich area, and rumors as to his “twin brother” still abound.

See Armitage, Henry; Bugg-Shoggog; Whateley, Lavinia; Whateley, Wizard. (“The Dunwich Horror”, Lovecraft (O).)

WHATELEY, WIZARD

See Whateley, Noah.

WHITE ACOLYTE

Mythical figure given great importance in the worship of Chaugnar Faugn, based on the prophecies of Mu Sang. It is said that a white man from the West will come to take Chaugnar Faugn away with him to his own land and nurse the god until it becomes so powerful that it no longer needs him. At this time, Chaugnar will devour the entire universe, and everything will come to an end. Some say that the legend of the White Acolyte was planted by another god who intends to lure others to Chaugnar to free himself.

See Chaugnar Faugn. (“The Horror from the Hills”, Long (O); Tatters of the King, Wiseman.)

WILMARTH, ALBERT N

Noted folklorist and assistant professor of English at Miskatonic University. Wilmarth became involved in the debate over the inhuman bodies seen after the Vermont floods of 1927. Wilmarth strongly asserted that the creatures sighted in the waters did not exist. After a spirited defense of his viewpoints, however, he inexplicably dropped out of the debate. Later, he visited a correspondent in Vermont, but upon arriving found his friend to be missing. The subsequent investigation turned up little evidence, and Wilmarth returned to Arkham baffled.

Following these events, Wilmarth confided in his colleagues Henry Armitage and Nathaniel Peaslee about his discoveries. These men began a campaign to discover the sources behind the legends that were the groundwork of their own experiences. Wilmarth made many long trips in order to visit sites and talk to his network of informants.

In the end, this proved to be his undoing. Overwrought by his experiences and horrified by the results of a trip to visit the West Coast poet Georg Fischer, Wilmarth became ill in 1937 and died shortly thereafter (though according to others he survived well into the sixties). His folklore collection is kept at the Miskatonic University Library.

See Akeley, Henry Wentworth; Emeritus Alcove; Vhoorl; Wilmarth Foundation. (“The Terror from the Depths”, Leiber; “To Arkham and the Stars”, Leiber; “The Whisperer in Darkness”, Lovecraft (O); The Burrowers Beneath, Lumley; “The Atrocity Archives”, Stross.)

WILMARTH FOUNDATION

Organization based at Miskatonic University devoted to continuing the pioneering work of Albert Wilmarth. The founders established this organization just before Wilmarth’s death, and although its basic premises were thought absurd by many, the organization grew by leaps and bounds, gaining much support from highly placed individuals in various governments and corporations. Since then, the Wilmarth Foundation has mounted expeditions to many countries, including England, France, and Turkey, in search of their foes. Despite a major setback in 1980, when a storm and flood destroyed Miskatonic University, the institute has continued in its work, with a high degree of success.

The Wilmarth Foundation’s operations are usually organized in much the same way. First, telepaths capable of detecting Mythos entities are sent on a surveying mission to pinpoint the locations of any targets. Next, Foundation members bearing Elder Sign pendants arrive in the area, and use their influence on local authorities to keep their actions secret from the public. Finally, the threat is dealt with using the creature’s natural weakness, or barring knowledge of that, through the use of a carefully chosen amount of explosives. It is using this basic plan that the Wilmarth Foundation dealt with the American and British cthonian threat during the 1970s.

The Wilmarth Foundation is governed by a board of directors made up of senior professors at Miskatonic, headed by a president. During the 1970s, Wingate Peaslee held this post, but following his death in the events after the bombing of Devil’s Reef in 1980, Arthur Meyer took over. It has since transferred to Martin Wendy-Smith.

See Crow, Titus; G’harne Fragments; Marigny, Henri-Laurent de; Peaslee, Wingate; Silberhutte. (The Burrowers Beneath, Lumley (O); The Transition of Titus Crow, Lumley; The Sand Dwellers, Niswander.)

WIND-WALKER

See Ithaqua.

WINGED ONES

Entities that, according to some ancient traditions, came from the stars to earth to instruct humanity in the Elder Lore. These creatures might have been the mi-go, but the Elder Things and the Fishers from Outside are also possible candidates.

(“Through the Gates of the Silver Key”, Lovecraft and Price (O).)

WITCH-HOUSE

House in Arkham at 197 E. Pickman Street which was the home of Keziah Mason. It gained some attention from antiquarians due to the curious angles of the walls in one of its rooms. After two centuries, it became a boarding house, but was forced to close due to the attacks of vicious rodents. In March 1931, a gale severely damaged the house. When it was demolished that December, the workmen found some shocking items which were later donated to Miskatonic University. The occultist Morgan Smith later bought the site and erected a house on it, hoping to exploit the place’s psychic energies.

See Brown Jenkin; Ellery; Gilman, Walter. (“The Dark Stairway”, Berglund and Weinberg; Arkham Unveiled, Herber et. al.; “The Dreams in the Witch-House”, Lovecraft (O).)

WOOD OF N’GAI

See N’gai, Wood of.

WONDROUS INTELLIGENCES

See Woodville, James.

WOODVILLE, JAMES

English merchant who lived in Suffolk during the time of Cromwell. After a curious bout of amnesia, Woodville wrote a book called Wondrous Intelligences, which discussed his unusual sex life and the Great Race of Yith.

(“City beneath the Sands”, DiTillio and Willis; “The Shadow out of Time”, Lovecraft (O); “The Adventure of Exham Priory”, MacIntyre.)

WORDS OF FEAR

Incantation that is said to be “unutterable,” and therefore useless.

(“The Offering”, Carter; “The Diary of Alonzo Typer”, Lovecraft and Lumley (O).)

WORLD OF SEVEN SUNS

Planet often thought to be near Fomalhaut, though this author speculates that it might refer to the Big Dipper due to its associations with Tezcatlipoca, Set, and Zeus Lycaeus. According to one visitor to this world, the species that once lived there created seven artificial suns to replace a natural sun which had burned out.

This star is believed to be a dwelling of Nyarlathotep, but others hold he lives on Sharnoth beyond the edge of the universe.

(“Sword of the Seven Suns”, Berglund; “The Color from Beyond”, Cabos; “The Whisperer in Darkness”, Lovecraft (O).)

WORM THAT WALKS

1) Summoned creature that resembles a rotting corpse with huge claws. The Worm is sent to pursue a specific victim, with whom it must form a psychic link before it can attack. While it does so, it can appear as another person for short periods of time. (“The Worm that Walks”, Petersen (O).)

2) Wizards who have such force of will that they are able to rebuild their bodies out of crawling beings, especially worms, after their deaths. These are some of the most feared priests of the Old Ones. (Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying Game, Cook and Tynes.)

WORMIUS, OLAUS

Monk who translated the Necronomicon from Greek into Latin in the year 1228. This Olaus Wormius, who is not to be confused with the later doctor of the same name, was born in Jutland. He later went on to perform other translations in both Latin and Greek.

[See the appendix for a more detailed discussion of Wormius.]

See Necronomicon (appendices). (The Art of Playing Mythos, Aniolowski et. al.; “Zoth-Ommog”, Carter; “History of the Necronomicon”, Lovecraft (O).)

WORMS OF THE EARTH

Creatures that share the traits of both humans and reptiles. It is likely that the Worms of the Earth were crossbreeds between normal snakes and the serpent-people of Valusia, who withdrew into Britain during their decline. The Worms were the first people of that island, but the Pictish invaders drove from their surface homes. They withdrew into their burrows and caverns, from which they emerged only under the greatest need.

Over the years, the Worms of the Earth became less and less human in form, but their magical power grew as it never had before. As memory of the battles between the Picts and their foes faded, the Worms became the bogeymen of the newcomers, who blamed them for the abduction of infants from their cradles and other nefarious deeds.

Several scholars have advanced the belief that the “Little People” of legend were actually the aboriginal inhabitants of Britain, who fled into the wilds when other groups began to colonize their former lands and who carried out acts of guerrilla warfare against their foes. Traditionally, the Little Folk were believed to possess many supernatural powers, such as curdling milk, destroying crops, and stealing away people who came too near the hills in which they lived. It would seem that the Worms are the source behind these myths, as well as the Norse tales of the dvergar. It is unknown whether any of the Worms of the Earth still survive, or whether they have become extinct in the centuries since their exodus to their burrows.

The title “Worms of the Earth” has also been given to the yuggya, but it is unlikely that any connection between these and the cave dwellers of Britain exists.

See Bran Mak Morn; serpent people. (“The Winfield Heritance”, Carter; “People of the Dark”, Howard (O); “The Worms of the Earth”, Howard; Heir to Darkness, Rahman.)

X

XADA-HGLA

Azathoth’s only known avatar. Xada-Hgla has a shell like that of a clam from which many long pseudopods protrude. Inside the shell is a hairy, green-eyed face. It was this form which Azathoth possessed before the Elder Gods took away his reason. Images of Xada-Hgla may still be found in the shan’s teleporting temples.

See Azathoth; Shan. (Ye Booke of Monstres, Aniolowski; “The Insects from Shaggai”, Campbell (O).)

XASTUR

Female being who may be an avatar of Hastur. Xastur is said to kill sleeping men, but she is also the subject of a Litany, the Eighth word of which may destroy supernatural creatures. In the teachings of Arthur Praxis’ Critical Mass Theologians, Xastur is the Collective Mind that desires to make contact with the people of Earth.

(“The Face from Below”, Cornford; Necronomicon, Levenda (O); Cthulhu Live: Lost Souls, Salmon et. al.; “The Litany of Xastur”, Sennitt.)

XICCARPH

World of three suns and four moons. Xiccarph, and five other planets of its solar system, was ruled by the wizard Maal Dweb from his palace and labyrinth at the time of Eibon, who considered the sorcerer a colleague. It may be that Maal Dweb may order the execution of all its inhabitants in the future, or that he will himself die and become the focus of a religion.

In one incantation, “Xicarph” is referred to as if it were an entity. The significance of this is unknown.

(“In the Vale of Pnath”, Carter; “The Death of Maal Dweb”, Henderson; “The Alchemist’s Notebook”, Hurd and Baetz; “The Legacy of Maal Dweb”, Shiflet; “The Maze of the Enchanter”, Smith (O).)

XICLOTL

World in the same system as Shaggai. The shan colonized this world, enslaving the large, semi-intelligent carnivorous monsters which were native to this planet. After the destruction of Shaggai, the shan came together on this world and made it their home for two hundred years. The insects finally left Xiclotl when they discovered the truths behind the Xiclotlian’s singular religious practices.

See Revelations of Glaaki; shan. (“The Insects from Shaggai”, Campbell (O).)

XIMES

See Averoigne.

XINAIAN

See K’n-yan.

XOTH (possibly ZOTH)

Green binary star from which Cthulhu came to Earth, and home of the being, Idh-yaa, upon whom Cthulhu is said to have spawned four children. This system may be found within the constellation Taurus in a cluster with the stars Abbith, Zaoth, and Ymar, but cannot be viewed with a conventional telescope.

[One scholar has suggested that “Xoth” is a variation on “Sothis”, the Egyptian name for the star Sirius, which has been linked with “fish-men” in the myths of the Dogon people of Mali. I believe that this is unlikely, as these Dogon myths were not printed in English until 1976. A more likely source is Smith’s “Zoth”.]

See Abbith; Cthulhu; Cthylla; Ghatanothoa; Idh-yaa; Ymar; Zaoth; Zoth; Zstylzhemghi. (“The Thing in the Pit”, Carter; “Zoth-Ommog”, Carter; The Transition of Titus Crow, Lumley; “The Family Tree of the Gods”, Smith (O).)

XUTHLTAN

1) Former name of the town of Stregoicavar, Hungary. Xuthltan was the home to a cult which sacrificed victims kidnapped from neighboring communities at a monument known as the Black Stone. When the Muslim army came to this region in 1526, they destroyed Xuthltan and massacred all its people. The word “Xuthltan” is not native to the region, and may be a variation on Cthulhu. See Black Stone; Geoffrey, Justin; People of the Monolith; Stegoicavar. (“The Black Stone”, Howard (O); A Guide to the Cthulhu Cult, Pelton.)

2) Magician of ancient Arabia. Xuthltan traveled to a dark cavern in a distant land, stealing a magical gem known as the Fire of Asshurbanipal from a sleeping demon. While residing in the city of Kara-Shehr, the king imprisoned and tortured him to obtain the gem. Xuthltan died, and with his last breath he brought a curse down upon the king and his people. The city of Kara-Shehr still lies beneath the desert sands, holding the Fire of Asshurbanipal. See Kara-Shehr. (“The Fire of Asshurbanipal”, Howard (O).)

Y

YAANEK (also YARAK)

Volcano said to lie at the North Pole in the midst of a firestorm. Beast-men built shrines there, but only the ruins of these remain. In this place dwells the Great Old One Aphoom Zhah.

[Poe tells of “Mount Yaanek/In the realms of the boreal pole.” Lovecraft believed that he meant Mount Erebus, toward which the boreal, or north, wind blows. It is clear that Lin Carter did not accept this conclusion.]

(“The Book of Preparations”, Carter; “The Peak”, Fantina; “At the Mountains of Madness”, Lovecraft; “Ulalume”, Poe (O).)

YAD-THADDAG

Elder God who is the equivalent to Yog-Sothoth, according to some sources.

See Elder Gods. (Elysia, Lumley (O).)

YADDITH

Planet circling five suns millions of light-years away, in the same section of the sky where Deneb can be seen from Earth. Eons in the past, the Nug-Soth, tapir-snouted beings who shared both reptilian and mammalian characteristics, inhabited this world. From what little we know of them, they were scholars ruled by the Arch-Ancient Buo. These people explored the universe, not only in their “light-wave envelopes” which could take them to twenty-eight nearby galaxies, but also through controlled dreaming and time travel.

Despite all their magical and scientific knowledge, the Nug-Soth were unable to stop the dholes (or bholes) from burrowing through Yaddith’s core. For thousands of years, the sages of Yaddith conferred with each other and plumbed the universe for any means to put an end to this menace. All their efforts were doomed to failure. Eventually, the dholes that dwelt within Yaddith overwhelmed it, and the cities of Yaddith were destroyed. Most of its inhabitants escaped the destruction of their home, but according to some, even then the dholes hunted them in their dreams.

Some say that Yaddith was once the home of Shub-Niggurath, who dwelt beneath the planet’s surface with her dhole servitors. Whether this is true or not, both the dholes and the Nug-Soth were the servitors of Shub-Niggurath, though their conflict was bitter nonetheless.

See dholes; Ghorl Nigral; Harag-Kolath; Mthura; Nug-Soth; Shub-Niggurath; Shonhi; Tablets of Nhing; Vhoorl; Visions from Yaddith; Zaoth; Zkauba. (Visions from Yaddith, Carter; “Dreams in the House of Weir”, Carter; “Zoth-Ommog”, Carter; “Through the Gates of the Silver Key”, Lovecraft and Price (O).)

YADDITH-GHO

Mountain in the kingdom of Kn’aa on Mu. Before the advent of humanity, beings from Yuggoth had built a fortress here to hold in the Great Old One Ghatanothoa. This site was of prime religious significance when humans dwelt on Mu, and remained the holiest place in that land until it sunk into the ocean. It is said that Yaddith-Gho shall rise once again when the Old Ones return.

See Ghatanothoa. (“Out of the Aeons”, Lovecraft and Heald (O).)

YAKSH

Another name for the planet Neptune. It is noted for its curious fungoid inhabitants.

See Hziulquoigmnzhah. (“The Family Tree of the Gods”, Smith (O).)

YAKTHOOB

Wizard and tutor of the young Abdul Alhazred. The tale of this man and his grisly end may be found in the Necronomicon.

See Alhazred, Abdul; Amulet of the Hound; Hadoth; Necronomicon (appendices); Rituals of Yhe. (“The Doom of Yakthoob”, Carter (O).)

YAMATH

God of fire in Lemuria, and possibly a form of the god Cthugha. This spirit later became known as Yama, a lord of the dead, in Hindu and Buddhist myths.

See Zarnak, Anton. (Thongor in the City of Magicians, Carter (O); “Admission of Weakness”, Henderson.)

YARNAK

Planet with three moons on the far side of Betelgeuse. Yarnak lies in the Grey Gulf of Yarnak, a region of space with curious properties. Its main city is Bel Yarnak. The Great Old One Mnomquah may have dwelt here at one time before being driven away.

See Bel Yarnak; Vorvadoss. (“The Descent into the Abyss”, Carter and Smith; “The Eater of Souls”, Kuttner (O).)

YCNÁGNNISSSZ

Creature from an alternate universe who came to ours through a wormhole near the star Zoth, or who may manifest as that ultraviolet body. Ycnágnnisssz spawned a number of young by itself, the most famous of which is Zstylzhemghi.

(“The Epistles of Eibon”, Price and Cornford; “Family Tree of the Gods”, Smith (O); “Ycnágnnisssz”, Tierney.)

YDMOS (also CITY OF THE SINGING FLAME)

City in an alternate dimension outside of time and space. Ydmos’ natural inhabitants were great emotionless giants, but the streets thronged with all manner of beings who had come on pilgrimages to its temple. This temple lay in the center of the city, and within its monumental walls sat a tall pulsating flame that put out a siren-like song. Many of the pilgrims would become so enchanted that they would throw themselves into the flame. Some said they would achieve a higher dimension, while others held that it brought nothing more than death. In the end, the Zarrians, or the lords of the “Outer Lands”, destroyed Ydmos after too many of their people perished in the flame.

(“The City of the Singing Flame”, Smith (O); Selected Letters III, Lovecraft; The Winds of Zarr, Tierney.)

YEB

Being given the title “Yeb of the Whispering Mists.” Sometimes Yeb is called the servitor of Abhoth or the leader of Ghatanothoa’s servants, the Dark Ones, but usually it is mentioned with its twin Nug.

See Black Litanies of Nug and Yeb; Furnace of Yeb; K’n-yan; Nug and Yeb; Shub-Niggurath. (“Behind the Mask”, Carter; “The Thing in the Pit”, Carter; “The Descent into the Abyss”, Carter and Smith; ““The Mound”, Lovecraft and Bishop (O); “Out of the Aeons”, Lovecraft and Heald.)

YEGG-HA

Minor Mythos being who took the form of a ten-foot bipedal monster with tiny wings and a featureless face. This creature entered our dimension thousands of years ago through a gateway somewhere near Hadrian’s Wall. In pre-Roman Britain, various tribes worshiped Yegg-ha. According to Lollius Urbicus’s Frontier Garrison, a company of Roman soldiers killed the being, but not until the enemy had slain over fifty of their number. The Romans, fearing that the tribesmen would discover the creature’s remains and return it to life, secretly buried its remains somewhere near Hadrian’s Wall.

It has been said that Yegg-ha is the ruler of the nightgaunts, and in return serves Nyarlathotep. Aside from the physical similarity between nightgaunts and Yegg-Ha, however, there is no evidence to support this theory.

See Frontier Garrison; nightgaunts. (“The Winfield Heritance”, Carter; “An Item of Supporting Evidence”, Lumley (O); The Transition of Titus Crow, Lumley.)

YEKUB

World located in a far-off galaxy populated by a race of centipede-like beings. These beings are ruled by Juk-Shabb, a spherical being of untold might. According to the Eltdown Shards, these beings became capable of space travel and exterminated all other intelligent lifeforms in their galaxy. Their desire for conquest was unabated, and they began to make grander plans.

The Yekubians constructed cubes of a quartz-like material which, when placed in light, had a hypnotic effect upon their viewers. They sent these cubes out from their home galaxy. When one of these items came upon a solid body’s gravitational field, it would shed its protective covering and land there. If an intelligent being found this cube, the Yekubians would exchange its mind with that of one of their explorers. While the Yekubians interrogated the alien’s mind for information about its home world, the Yekkubian explored its world, reporting back on its findings.

Usually, after this had taken place, the two minds would be returned to their proper bodies. On the other hand, if the scientists of Yekub found a planet whose inhabitants were capable of space travel, they employed the cube to capture their minds and destroy that world’s people, or sent more of their number to subjugate them entirely. If the latter occurred, the Yekubians destroyed the captive alien minds and created a rough duplicate of their former civilization upon this new planet.

In the entire history of the planet Earth, only one of these cubes has ever landed upon our world. This was during the era when the Great Race held sway over the planet. After the Yekubians took over a few Yithians, the Great Race noticed the danger and destroyed these scouts, even though this stranded their own captive minds upon Yekub. They did not want to destroy the cube, as it might prove useful later, so they kept it from all light and heat and guarded it vigilantly. During a war millions of years later, however, the artifact was lost. It is unknown whether this cube has survived to this day.

See Eltdown Shards; Juk-Shabb. (Ye Booke of Monstres, Aniolowski; “The Challenge from Beyond”, Moore et. al. (O).)

YELLOW CODEX (also XANTHIC FOLIO)

Set of Pnakotic tablets found in the ruined city of Niya in China’s Xinjiang province. The tablets tell of a treaty between the cities of Hastur and Carcosa.

Some have suggested that English copies of the Yellow Codex were circulating among literary circles even before the Tablets’ discovery. These copies might have inspired certain people to mention the King in Yellow in their work, or they might have served as background for the play’s authors.

(“The Second Movement”, Adams; “The King in Yellow”, Bastienne (O).)

YELLOW SIGN

Symbol that is a focus for the power of Hastur, the Unspeakable One. This sign is usually useless until the arrival of the King in Yellow into our world. Then this sign will warp the dreams of everyone that saw it, sending visions of the city of Carcosa on the Lake of Hali. This sign is the major symbol of the cult of Hastur.

[The most common version of the Yellow Sign, a three-armed swirl, was created by Kevin Ross, the owner of the design. Originally meant to replicate the arms of a monster, the Sign was flipped and printed upside down in the original publication.]

See Brothers of the Yellow Sign; Great Race of Yith; Hastur; Keeper of the Yellow Sign; King in Yellow; Koth, Sign of; Thale. (“The Yellow Sign”, Chambers (O); “Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?”, Ross.)

Y’GOLONAC

Great Old One who takes the form of a flabby headless human with mouths on the palms of his hands. Since Y’golonac takes possession of a human when he arrives, the exact details of the form may vary according to the person chosen.

Y’golonac spends most of his time behind a colossal wall in an undiscovered place, served by eyeless figures that crawl over his body.  He manifests himself only in order that he may choose new priests for his earthly cult. Usually, these acolytes are chosen from among those who have suppressed their unnatural desires, which Y’golonac gives them freedom to experience in return for servitude. As a result, his worshipers are particularly depraved but are few in number, preferring to indulge their perversions in solitude. The largest known cult, called the Sons of the Hands that Feed, consists of only one hundred members worldwide.

Y’golonac can only call upon or affect those who have read a page from the Revelations of Glaaki – whether a specific one from the twelfth book or any page from any volume of that work is uncertain. As such, those who Y’golonac can attack are few and far between. The god has so far shown little initiative in expanding his sphere of influence, but this may change in the future.

See Revelations of Glaaki. (“Cold Print”, Campbell (O); “Two Minutes on High”, Nagel; “Love’s Lonely Children”, Watts.)

YGOTH RECORDS

Writings of the wizard Ygoth, who lived on the continent of Mu. The only known copy, bound in tlath-wood, was preserved at the Temple of Shub-Niggurath in Aglad-Dho, and it has not been reported since then. Only one part, in which Ygoth writes of the life, sorceries, and burial of his former master Iraan, has ever been quoted.

(“The Offering”, Carter (O).)

Y’HA-NTHLEI

City of the Deep Ones located off Innsmouth, Massachusetts, near the outcropping known as Devil’s Reef. A submarine’s torpedoes damaged this city during the government raid on Innsmouth in 1928. Due to reports of continued activity both Delta Green (1953) and the Wilmarth Foundation (1974) bombed the site again, but it is possible that the deep ones have returned to rebuild one of their greatest metropolises.

See Ahu-Y’hloa; Cthylla; deep ones; Innsmouth; Pth’thya-l’yi. (Delta Green, Detwiller, Glancy, and Tynes; “The Shadow over Innsmouth”, Lovecraft (O); The Transition of Titus Crow, Lumley.)

YHE

Province of the land of Mu, now sunken beneath the Pacific Ocean. This place lies far to the south of Cthulhu’s tomb at R’lyeh, and it is mentioned in certain prayers sacred to Dagon. In addition, the mysterious being Ythogtha is imprisoned there.

See Rituals of Yhe; Ythogtha; Zanthu. (“Out of the Ages”, Carter; “Zoth-Ommog”, Carter; “The House on Curwen Street,” Derleth; “The Shadow out of Time”, Lovecraft (O).)

YHE RITUALS

See Rituals of Yhe.

YHOUNDEH

Elk-headed goddess whose worship became prevalent in the later years of the Hyperborean civilization. The priests of Yhoundeh began an inquisition that targeted many different heresies, but especially the worship of Tsathoggua. The cult began in the kingdom of Iqqua, but soon became prevalent in many of Hyperborea’s coastal towns and even dominated the rulers of that region.

This inquisition culminated with an assault upon the tower of the great sorcerer Eibon, who dealt with Tsathoggua in return for magical knowledge. During this attack, Eibon escaped, and High Priest Morghi, the head of the raiding party, disappeared soon thereafter. Due to this humiliating defeat, the worship of Tsathoggua superseded that of Yhoundeh during Hyperborea’s final years. Its worship will revive in the land of Zothique with its cult using the name Yahoonda.

Much less is known about the nature and attributes of Yhoundeh itself. It is said to be the guardian of the woodlands. Despite the antagonistic relationship of their cults, Yhoundeh and Tsathoggua are rumored to have mated.

See Cykranosh; Eibon; Hyperborea. (The Life of Eibon According to Cyron of Varaad, Carter; “The Door to Saturn”, Smith (O); “The Resurrection of Kzadool-Ra”, Vester.)

YHTILL

1) The name of the city in which the play The King in Yellow is set. Yhtill once existed on another world, until its sins became so great that it was incorporated into Carcosa.

See Aldones; Naotalba; Uoht. (“The Repairer of Reputations”, Chambers (O); Delta Green: Countdown, Detwiller et. al.; “Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?”, Ross.)

2) The word “Yhtill” means “stranger” in the language of the city of Alar. It is this word that the Pallid Mask gives as his name when he enters the city of Hastur.

See Aldones; King in Yellow; Pallid Mask. (“More Light”, Blish; “The Repairer of Reputations”, Chambers (O).)

YIAN

City located in the depths of China “across the seven oceans and the river which is longer than from the earth to the moon.” Some believe that it actually lies in the Dreamlands. In Yian, it is always summer, a thousand bridges cross its great river, and the ringing of silver bells fills the air. Only a few foreigners have ever come to this city (though some claim that outsiders invaded it once). The city serves as the headquarters of a brotherhood of Oriental sorcerers known as the Kuen-Yuin, so possibly it may be the center of the Chinese Cthulhu cult.

Yian is treated as a being in at least one spell.

See Kuen-Yuin; Yian-Ho. (“The Isle of Dark Magic”, Cave; “The Maker of Moons”, Chambers (O); The Slayer of Souls, Chambers; “The Whisperer in Darkness”, Lovecraft; Cthulhu Live: Lost Souls, Salmon et. al.)

YIAN-HO

Deserted metropolis of uncertain location. Some say it lies in upstate New York or Asia, while others have held that it is the ruined Elder Thing city in Antarctica, Yian, or the inner city at the magnetic poles. It is said to be the legacy of the Plateau of Leng, and all humans are said to hold ancestral memories of this great city.

A monster whose exact nature is unknown, and which only a mighty sorcerer who has the proper knowledge may pass, guards Yian-Ho. The Yogi Hiamaldi brought the mysterious four-handed clock which both Etienne-Laurent de Marigny and Titus Crow later owned from Yian-Ho. The explorer Friedrich von Junzt claimed to have visited Yian-Ho where he perceived the only copy of the Ghorl Nigral on earth.

See Book of Hidden Things; Bugg-Shoggog; Ghorl Nigral; Hiamaldi; Pnakotic Manuscripts; time-clock; Von Junzt, Friedrich. (“Zoth-Ommog”, Carter; Keeper’s Compendium, Herber; “The Diary of Alonzo Typer”, Lovecraft and Lumley; “Through the Gates of the Silver Key”, Lovecraft and Price (O); “The Strange Fate of Alonzo Typer”, Price; The Transition of Titus Crow, Lumley.)

YIANG-LI

Scholar of the empire of Tsan-Chan who will become known for his “overviews” of certain subjects.

(“The Terror from the Depths”, Leiber; “The Shadow out of Time”, Lovecraft (O).)

YIBB-TSTLL (also YIBB)

Alien god found in chaotic realms outside of this universe, which can be reached from behind the Palace of the Sacred Fount in the Dreamlands’ Jungle of Kled. Yibb-Tstll’s body is covered with a green cloak, beneath which may be seen many breasts upon which Yibb-Tstll’s nightgaunt servants feed.

Yibb-Tstll was the god of the Northmen of Theem’hdra, and the Priests of the Ivory Blade served it in the Dreamlands for a time. Its cult in modern times has remained relatively small, however. Those who wish to travel to Yibb-Tstll often do so through the Dreamlands, though it may also be contacted (through the dreams of those who use the Sixth Sathlatta) or summoned into this dimension (by thirteen people saying the Sixth Sathlatta three times).

This deity is omniscient, and it may be asked questions on any subject. If Yibb-Tstll is not pleased with the question, he may reach out and touch the petitioner, beginning the dreaded reversal. The change which this brings about may be physical (i.e. turning the victim apart), mental (curing an incurably insane person or vice versa), or spiritual (a change which has not yet been experienced).

Yibb-Tstll’s flaky black blood is called the Black, and wizards often summon it to attack their foes.

Yibb-Tstll is usually classified among the Great Old Ones, but other sources place him with Bugg-Shash among the “Drowners”, lesser beings who are parasites who feed on the Great Old Ones themselves.

See Barrier of Naach-Tith; the Black; Bugg-Shash; Cthaat Aquadingen; Kant, Ernst; Legends of the Olden Runes; nightgaunts; Pnakotic Manuscripts; Sixth Sathlatta. (“Ulthar and Beyond”, Herber; “The Caller of the Black”, Lumley; “Cement Surroundings”, Lumley (O); “The Horror at Oakdeene”, Lumley.)

YIDHRA

Creature that came into being at the same time as life on this planet. Yidhra was a protoplasmic entity that could take on the appearances of any organism it devoured. Thus, over billions of years, Yidhra learned to adapt to the changing world and expand its power. Without other forms of life to feed upon, Yidhra could not have survived. The lama of Prithom-Yang is said to be the only being known to have seen its true form, which drove him insane.

Today, Yidhra still exists, though it now has split itself into several different entities. At various times in history, these fragments have established religions with the purpose of adding to Yidhra’s might. These cults have sprung up in such widely separated places as Chad, Laos, Burma, Sumeria, Texas, and New Mexico. In each of these places, Yidhra has taken an attractive form in which it visits its followers. Though this form is not perfect, it is able to conceal its true nature from its congregation.

Those who serve Yidhra are guaranteed good crops, no matter what disasters may befall them, and some may even gain eternal life. On the other hand, however, just as Yidhra becomes more like its worshipers with close contact, so they become more like it. As a consequence, many of the members of her cults’ inner circles, who are able to see Yidhra in its true form, gradually develop bestial traits. Fanged vulture-like beings which serve her have also been sighted.

See Black Sutra; Chronicles of Thrang; Cthonic Revelations; Uralte Schrecken. (“Predator”, DeBill (O); “What Lurks Among the Dunes”, DeBill; “Where Yidhra Walks”, DeBill.)

YIFNE

Green sun about which the world of Tond revolves.

See Tond. (“The Inhabitant of the Lake”, Campbell (O).)

YIG

Great Old One that takes the form of a great serpent-man, or sometimes a huge oriental dragon. It is said to be the offspring of the great dragon Mappo no Ryûjin, who dwells beneath Mu. Yig came to Earth eons ago from the world Zandanua, where its brother Rokon still dwells. When Yig arrived, it was responsible for the creation of reptiles, insects, and, according to some, humanity. Yig now lives in the Pit of Ngoth in the caverns of Yoth, or possibly in the underground land of K’n-yan.

The worship of Yig is thought to have begun in K’n-yan. From there it spread throughout western North America, south into Mexico (where it possibly inspired the myths of Quetzalcoatl and Kukulcan), and to Mu and Valusia. It may also be linked with a few fringe Voudon cults. Some wizards serve Yig in exchange for material goods; it is propitiated through the sacrifice of living beings on both the full and dark of the moon. Yig’s followers are reputed to become part of its consciousness, provided they are worthy.

A few Native American tribes of the Great Plains still worship Yig today. Among one of these lives the descendants of Yig, who take on human form until adulthood, when they take on a human-reptile hybrid form. Such individuals are noted as children for their prophetic abilities, their deformities, and their bloodlust.

Unlike most of its fellow Great Old Ones, Yig is often benevolent toward humanity. In the autumn, however, it is necessary to propitiate it through drum-beating, offerings of corn, and various rituals, lest it visit its wrath upon those who harm the serpents, who are its spawn. Yig’s wrath takes the form of madness, mutated offspring, and visits by its “children”, snakes with a white crescent patch on their heads. Those who especially displease the god may themselves be transformed into snakes. Yig also sends its avatars out into the world, though these must hibernate at times.

Yig and Nyarlathotep are reputed to be rivals in the Necronomicon. He may also have ties to Nug and Yeb, which create the conditions in which he can live.

See Byatis; Han; K’n-yan; Mu; serpent-people; Set; Sss’haa; Ubbo-Sathla; Vatican Codex. (“The 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.; “The Curse of Yig”, Lovecraft and Bishop (O); “The Mound”, Lovecraft and Bishop; “Out of the Aeons”, Lovecraft and Heald; “Scales of Justice”, Mackey; “Taste of Snake’s Honey”, Matsudono; Necronomicon, Tyson; “The Jest of Yig”, Webb.)

YIKILTH

See Rlim Shaikorth.

YITH

Planet from which the Great Race came to earth. Yith was the fourth of five planets circling the star Ogntlach, which might lie on the other side of the galaxy, between galaxies, or in another galaxy (though a few scholars have placed it around our own sun beyond Pluto’s orbit). The world possesses three moons. Despite Yith’s thin atmosphere, the geothermally heated seas support a wide variety of life. Since the flight of the Great Race, the most intelligent beings on the world are a species of winged, black-snouted creatures.  It is believed that the Great Race has and will return and be driven away from Yith repeatedly over the aeons.

Dreamers who have visited Yith have seen the world’s deserted cities and learned of mighty beings imprisoned in their tombs until “Sotho”, who dwells in a great pit, can release them. Yith is also home to Drog-N’lyth, who may have incited the Great Old Ones to rebellion.

The mysterious winds of Yith are said to carry power of their own from this world to ours. Only a powerful magician can control them.*

[Lovecraft originally coined “Yith” as a title suggestion to Rimel, who had originally titled his poem cycle “Dreams of Yid.”]

See Eltdown Shards; Great Race of Yith. (“The Color from Beyond”, Cabos; “The Changeling”, DeBill; “History of the Great Race”, DeBill and Berglund; “Lord of Night”, Fantina; “The Shadow from Yith”, Gullette; “The Shadow out of Time”, Lovecraft; “The Totem Pole”, Pugmire; “Dreams of Yith”, Rimel (O).)

YITH-SHESH

Pool which lies in the Gilf Kebir Plateau in southwest Egypt. The region’s priests used it for divination long before the rise of the pharaohs. It is unknown whether it exists today.

(Khai of Ancient Khem, Lumley; “The Mirror of Nitocris”, Lumley (O).)

YITHIANS

See Great Race of Yith.

YLIDHEEM (“Cold Ones”)

Title given to those who serve Rlim Shaikorth having been protected from the intense cold that his home radiates.

See Rlim Shaikorth. (“The Fishers from Outside”, Carter (O).)

Y’M-BHI

Reanimated bodies of dead slaves that form an important part of K’n-yan’s work force.

See K’n-yan. (“The Mound”, Lovecraft and Bishop (O).)

YMAR

World of ill rumor which lies near Xoth and Abbith, and which is populated by intelligences far older and wiser than humans.

(“The Book of the Gates”, Carter; “Out of the Ages”, Carter (O); Visions from Yaddith, Carter.)

‘YMNAR

Avatar of Ngyr-Khorath, according to the book Uralte Schrecken. He was first created billions of years ago, coming into existence only when Ngyr-Khorath requires it. He is described as a shapechanger able to imitate all manner of life forms.

A mysterious race called the Rloedha worshiped ‘Ymnar before the appearance of life on Earth. Later, ‘Ymnar cloaked itself with an earthly form and was sent to our world by its master so that it might lead various species toward their ultimate destruction. It typically seduces members of the species interested in higher realities, giving them black magic and dangerous knowledge. This can be used for good purposes, but more often ends up destroying entire civilizations. Cults dedicated to ‘Ymnar are known to have existed for millennia; a group of natives in New Mexico was formed in the seventeenth century and has survived to the present day. Zombies and mandrelones, specially-bred baboon-headed hounds, are also among his servants.

‘Ymnar seems much like Nyarlathotep, but the connection is disputable.

See Uralte Schrecken. (“From the Sea”, DeBill (O); “He Who Comes at the Noontime”, DeBill; “Where Yidhra Walks”, DeBill.)

YOG-SOTHOTH (also IOG‑SOTOT)

Outer God also known by the title Lurker at the Threshold. Yog-Sothoth’s usual form is a congeries of iridescent spheres, but the Outer God can take forms of solid, liquid, or gas. One of its avatars, the Lurker at the Threshold, appears as a black amorphous horror. Another, Ramasekva, takes the form of a many-limbed human much like a Hindu deity. Those touched by Yog-Sothoth are almost always destroyed.

Yog-Sothoth is known as “the key to the gate, whereby the spheres meet”, and is said to exist everywhere in time and space. Paradoxically, the Lurker at the Threshold appears to be shut out from our own dimension, only coming to this world when summoned. It has been suggested that Yog-Sothoth has been imprisoned by the Elder Gods at a point where all space and time converge, creating such a gravitational effect that it may not leave. It may also be possible that Yog-Sothoth dwells in a parallel dimension and can either manifest itself in space or time, but not both. It could also be that the Other God is omnipresent but can fully manifest itself only with the aid of certain ceremonies. Once Yog-Sothoth has arrived, however, it may ignore any terrestrial boundaries, making it a dangerous being indeed.

The mi-go revere Yog-Sothoth as the “Beyond One”, and certain minds made of vapor know it as a mysterious sign. Various cultures on our planet, such as the Aztecs and the people of Averoigne, have worshiped him, but this devotion does not seem to have been widespread even among these. On our own world, certain sorcerers worship Yog-Sothoth in exchange for limited command of both time and space. Using these abilities, the worshiper can do anything from warping space to hold a chosen victim to stepping outside of time itself to return to Earth after hundreds or thousands of years have passed. Yog-Sothoth eventually takes all of these misguided souls to itself, a fate from which not even physical destruction can save them.

To summon Yog-Sothoth, a tall stone tower or circle of standing stones is often used. Upon speaking the words of the summoning, an intelligent being must be sacrificed to the god. The proximity of the chosen sacrifice is unimportant. The traditional time for such a summoning is on Lammas (August 1), but May Eve is another possibility, and others assert that the god may be called upon at any time. Interested summoners should also note that speaking Yog-Sothoth’s name with the correct pronunciation results in the speaker’s destruction.

Legend has it that Yog-Sothoth was the spawn of the Nameless Mist, though others maintain that the Outer God has existed forever. Yog-Sothoth seems to share the rulership of the universe with Azathoth. According to von Junzt’s Unaussprechlichen Kulten, Yog-Sothoth is the “father” of Cthulhu, Hastur, and Vulthoom. In addition, it has spawned Nug and Yeb on Shub-Niggurath.

Some say that ‘Umr at-Tawil is in actuality Yog-Sothoth disguised, and certain manifestations of UFOs have been attributed to appearances of Yog-Sothoth. Kenneth Grant has linked Yog-Sothoth to Choronzon, the guardian of the Abyss that the adept must cross to gain enlightenment.

Three interesting theories about Yog-Sothoth deserve mention here. The first is that Yog-Sothoth is diametrically opposed to Nodens, the Lord of the Great Abyss, who it shall pursue until the end of time. Another holds that Yog-Sothoth lay beneath an Elder Sign at the Black Mountain, or Mount Sinai, until freed by Moses, and that Yahweh is in fact a manifestation of the Outer God. Yet another claims that Yog-Sothoth is made up of a trinity of beings who, when summoned, will allow the god to remain in this dimension forever. Neither of these theories has gained wide acceptance, however.

See Bugg-Shash; Bugg-Shoggog; Cthulhu; dimensional shamblers; Great Old Ones; Iagsat; Klarkash-Ton; Liber Damnatus; Mülder, Gottfried; Necronomicon (appendices); Nodens; Nug and Yeb; Old Ones; Othuum; Outer Gods; Reflections; Shub-Niggurath; Sothoth; tomb-herd; ‘Umr at-Tawil; Vulthoom; Yad-Thaddag. (“Glimpses”, Attansio; “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 Case of Charles Dexter Ward”, Lovecraft (O); “The Dunwich Horror”, Lovecraft; Selected Letters IV, Lovecraft; Selected Letters V, Lovecraft; “The Electric Executioner”, Lovecraft and de Castro; “The Horror in the Museum”, Lovecraft and Heald; “Through the Gates of the Silver Key”, Lovecraft and Price; “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.)

YOMAGN’THO (or THAT WHICH RELENTLESSLY WAITS OUTSIDE or THE FEASTER FROM THE STARS)

Being which manifests itself as a circle of flame with three petal-like objects inside. Yomagn’tho dwells in a place called “Pherkard”. It may be contacted during a failed summoning of Cthugha and must be dismissed using a banishing from the Necronomicon. Even then, Yomagn’tho will extract a horrible vengeance upon the caster if it ever returns.

See Sorcerie de Demonologie. (“The Feaster from the Stars”, Berglund (O); “The Thing in the Library”, Berglund and Burnham.)

YOTH

Red-lit caverns found beneath the underground realm of K’n-Yan. In these caverns lie several deserted cities built by the serpent-people, who fled to Yoth following the destruction of Valusia. These reptilian creatures manufactured many types of beasts for their pleasure, as well as creating new bodies for themselves. The decline of the colony came when the serpent-people turned from their worship of Yig to embrace the new god Tsathoggua, images of which they had found in black N’kai. Yig brought down his curse upon them, and the few who remained loyal to the snake-god fled to the caverns beneath Mount Voormithadreth.

The people of K’n-Yan visited Yoth occasionally and learned much of their science from the serpent people’s lore. Yoth may be the home of the Great Old Ones Nyogtha and Yig, along with an offspring of Azathoth who once warred with its father.

See gyaa-yothn; N’kai; Nyogtha; Sss’haa, Tsathoggua; Zin. (“The Vengeance of Yig”, Carter; “The Descent into the Abyss”, Carter and Smith; “Red-Litten Yoth”, DeBill; “The Mound”, Lovecraft and Bishop (O).)

YOTHIC MANUSCRIPTS

Writings detailing the customs of the people of Yoth. They were found in the Vaults of Zin, beneath Yoth’s greatest city.

See Zin. (“The Mound”, Lovecraft and Bishop (O).)

Y’QAA

Grey-litten cavern in which Ubbo-Sathla dwells. This place is said to be multidimensional, and the seeker may find gates to it in many places and times.

See Ubbo-Sathla. (“Zoth-Ommog”, Carter (O).)

YR‑NHHNGR

Set of formulae that may be used both to bring beings from beyond Kadath to this dimension and to send them back, though the complete version of all of these formulae is difficult to obtain. Yr and Nhhngr may also be other dimensions that lie on the far side of Kadath in the Cold Waste.

See Kadath. (“The Thing under Memphis”, Carter; “The Lurker at the Threshold”, Derleth and Lovecraft; “The Dunwich Horror”, Lovecraft (O).)

YSTE, SONG OF

See Song of Yste.

YTHOGTHA

One of Great Cthulhu’s supposed “sons”, along with Ghatanothoa and Zoth-Ommog. Ythogtha appears as a bipedal creature with webbed hands and feet tipped with suckers and whose head is covered with tentacles radiating from a single eye. It is currently imprisoned beneath an Elder Sign within the Abyss of Yhe, located in the sunken land of Mu far to the south of R’lyeh. It is served by the yuggya.

Ythogtha’s cult was powerful in Mu for many years, gradually losing influence as Ghatanothoa’s worship gained ascendancy. The last Muvian priest of Ythogtha, Zanthu, conceived of a daring plan to raise his god up from its chasm and regain his religion’s former power. Ythogtha’s ascent, however, set a series of catastrophic events in motion that destroyed the land of Mu.

From time to time, statues of Ythogtha have come into the possession of humans. Through these idols, Ythogtha can manifest himself through the dreams of the owner. Madness is the most common result of this contact.

It is said that Ythogtha is the manifestation of a force that brings about confusion in the thought processes of those it contacts.

See Cthulhu; Ghatanothoa; Idh-yaa; Rituals of Yhe; Yhe; Yuggya; Zanthu; Zanthu Tablets. (“Out of the Ages”, Carter (O); “Perchance to Dream”, Carter; “The Thing in the Pit”, Carter; The Transition of Titus Crow, Lumley; Other Nations, Marsh and Marsh.)

YUGGOTH (also IUKKOTH)

Trans-Neptunian planet usually said to be identical with Pluto, but which is sometimes described as a huge world beyond the nine known planets which rotates perpendicular to our solar system’s orbital plane.

This world serves as a base for the mi-go. From those humans who have traveled to or viewed Yuggoth, we hear that it is a planet of cities filled with black, windowless towers beneath warm seas and great mines of tok’l and other strange minerals. Glaaki stopped for a time on this world on his way to Earth, and it is here that the mi-go constructed the Shining Trapezohedron. Yuggoth served as a home for Rhan-Tegoth before he came to earth, and Tsathoggua’s grandfather Cxaxukluth may still dwell beneath its surface. Some even claim that all of the life in this solar system originated on Yuggoth.

The mi-go were not the first creatures to live on Yuggoth. A previous species built massive bridges over the planet’s black rivers. A city of green pyramids rests on a ledge in a cleft near one of the fungi’s metropolises, and the mi-go take care to desert that particular town at certain times of the year. They also have a particular horror of the large moon that hovers overhead, prohibiting all travel to it lest the individual be destroyed. Aside from these precautions, though, the mi-go are the undisputed masters of Yuggoth.

See Book of K’yog; Cxaxukluth; Daoloth; Ghatanothoa; Ghisguth; Ghooric zone; Glaaki; Hziulquoigmnzhah; Nithon; Nyarlathotep (Haunter of the Dark); Rhan-Tegoth; Shining Trapezohedron; Thog and Thok; tok’l; Tsathoggua; Yaddith-Gho; Zaman; Zaoth; Zone of the Thirteen Faveolate Colossi. (“The Mine on Yuggoth”, Campbell; “The Haunter of the Dark”, Lovecraft; “Recognition”, Lovecraft (O); “The Whisperer in Darkness”, Lovecraft; “The Horror in the Museum”, Lovecraft and Heald; “Out of the Aeons”, Lovecraft and Heald; “The Discovery of the Ghooric Zone”, Lupoff; “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 Smith; Necronomicon, Tyson.)

YUGGOTH, FUNGI FROM

See mi-go.

YUGGS

Servitors of Ythogtha and Zoth-Ommog that resemble huge white worms. Yugg biology is simultaneously like that of annelids and mollusks. Some of their more unusual anatomic traits are the ability to intake sulfides without suffocating and the presence of iacula, small organic darts which may be fired into another creature and allow for exchange of genetic information between them. Yuggs form a single collective mind that shares information with their leader and parent Ubb. The yuggs can live in any earthly environment, though they spend most of their time burrowing beneath the crust or living in the ocean depths. A subspecies of yuggs bears wings and dwells in tunnels beneath the Pacific.

The yuggs may be working in concert with Ubb to free their imprisoned masters. They do have relations with Deep Ones at times, but these are often strained due to religious differences. Yugg interaction with humans is usually short and violent. They will sometimes work with humans nonetheless, bestowing great wealth in exchange for continued human sacrifice. A formula for summoning one of these beings may be found in the Zanthu Tablets.

Some say that the yuggs burrowed beneath Kadath and were the beings who struck fear and awe into the Elder Things, even inspiring the shoggoths to rebel.

See Ubb; Worms of the Earth; Ythogtha; yuggya; Yuggya Chants; Zoth-Ommog. (“Out of the Ages”, Carter (O); “The Winfield Heritance”, Carter; Other Nations, Marsh and Marsh.)

YUGGYA

1) Plural of “yugg”; used interchangeably with “yuggs”. (“Out of the Ages”, Carter (O).)

2) Crossbreed offspring of a yugg and a Deep One. The result of the union is a being that can pass as human but possesses great strength and resiliency. Its thought processes are alien, and it often has trouble understanding human emotions and motivations upon first contact. The yuggya are empathic, however, and can form friendships use their enemies’ fears and desires against them. They can also inject pleasure-inducing chemicals into others’ bodies and gain understanding of another species by imbibing its DNA or RNA. They are part of the yugg collective, and their weaponry is said to be considerably advanced. (Other Nations, Marsh and Marsh (O).)

YUGGYA CHANTS

Volume only known to scholars by rumor. It is said that the eccentric anthropologist Henry Hadley Copeland purchased a copy of this manuscript from a sailor in San Francisco shortly before his demise, though no such manuscript turned up in a search of his library.

See yuggs, yuggya. (“Out of the Ages”, Carter.)

Z

ZAMACONA Y NUÑEZ, PÁNFILIO DE (c. 1512 – ?)

Conquistador whose name has become connected with a curious document found in Caddo County, Oklahoma. A younger son of Pedro Guzman y Zamacona and Ynés Alvarado y Nuñez, Zamacona left his native port of Luarca for the New World at the age of twenty. He accompanied Coronado on his expedition into what was to become the western United States, but continued on his way when Coronado turned back in 1541. He then descended to the underground caverns of K’n-yan, where he spent the rest of his life and from which he was attempting to escape when killed.

See K’n-yan. (“The Mound”, Lovecraft and Bishop (O).)

ZAMAN

According to some sources, one of Yuggoth’s moons.

(“The Ancient Track”, Lovecraft (O); “Discovery of the Ghooric Zone”, Lupoff.)

ZANN, ERICH (c. 1865? – c. 1925)

Mute German violinist who ended his life in the Rue d’Auseil in Paris. He is believed to have played at the Paris Opera House, where an accident in 1897 left the young musician permanently deaf. After this he moved to Stuttgart, married, and had at least one child. Around 1924, he unaccountably left his family and returned to Paris.

In another version of his history, Zann was born in 1834, and became one of Europe’s greatest violinists. He built his Theater of the Clowns in Rome between 1859 and 1860. This was in honor of the woman he loved, and when she died at a performance, he swore off music. Moving to Paris in 1872, he became a drug addict and a curiosity of that city’s artistic scene.

In Paris, Zann joined an orchestra at a cheap theater to provide himself with income. He became known to the tenants of his apartment because of the strange unearthly violin music that he played at night. He is believed to have vanished while performing one of his “experimental pieces” in his garret apartment one night. The police were baffled by the lack of clues, and soon afterward called a halt to their search.

Zann may have been connected in some manner with Hastur or Tru’nembra. The loss of a manuscript detailing his philosophy has made this determination difficult.

See Rue d’Auseil; Tru’nembra. (“La Musique de la Nuit”, Aniolowski; “Suicide Watch”, Dembo; Miskatonic University, Johnson et. al.; “The Music of Erich Zann”, Lovecraft (O); “The Silence of Erika Zann”, Wade.)

ZANTHU

Last high priest of Ythogtha on the continent of Mu. Zanthu had wanted this post from an early age, and through his acquisition of the powerful Black Seal of Iraan, he was able to achieve his dream. He was one of the most powerful wizards of all time, and even outwitted the Great Race itself on one occasion. By the time Zanthu took up this office, the priests of Ghatanothoa had been consolidating their power for the last ten thousand years. Just after Ythogtha’s priest had accepted the priesthood, the priests of Ghatanothoa banned the worship of all gods except their own throughout the lands of Mu.

Zanthu could not accept this affront. Searching through the annals of his predecessors, he discovered a formula which would call forth Ythogtha from his home in the Abyss of Yhe. When he and the other priests of Ythogtha used this formula, however, something went wrong, and a cataclysm took place that in the end was to destroy the entire continent. Zanthu and his fellow priests escaped in their sky-chariots to the Plateau of Tsang in central Asia, where Zanthu carved the stone plaques known to modern scholars as the Zanthu Tablets. Zanthu died on the Plateau, and his followers buried him with his Tablets in a stone mausoleum.

See Copeland, Harold; Ghatanothoa; Ponape Scripture; Shamballah; Tsang; Ubb; Ythogtha; Zanthu Tablets. (“The Dweller in the Tomb”, Carter (O); “The Offering”, Carter; “The Thing in the Pit”, Carter; Other Nations, Marsh and Marsh.)

ZANTHU TABLETS

Ten (or twelve) black pieces of jade inscribed in hieratic Naacal by a high priest of Mu named Zanthu. This Zanthu, who according to some brought down the wrath of the gods upon Mu and caused its destruction, fled to the Plateau of Tsang in central Asia, where he later died.

In 1913, the controversial anthropologist Harold Hadley Copeland, following the instructions given in the Ponape Scripture, mounted an Asian expedition to discover the tomb of Zanthu and reclaim the tablets. Three months after he set out, Copeland walked into an outpost in Mongolia, raving of the things he had seen and having no idea of the other members’ fates. Following his recovery from this ordeal, Copeland worked on his translation of the tablets. He published his findings at San Francisco in 1916 in a privately-published thirty-two page pamphlet, The Zanthu Tablets: A Conjectural Translation. Both the public and the scientific community denounced this work. Two years after its publication, Copeland was committed to an asylum.

The original tablets were held at the Sanbourne Institute in California until stolen in 1933. Copies of Copeland’s pamphlet may still be found in various collections. Scholars have noted the similarities among them, the Celaeno Fragments, and the Pnakotic Manuscripts.

The Tablets contain the writings of Zanthu, including how the great wizard destroyed the continent of Mu through his summoning of Ythogtha.

See Copeland, Harold; Naacal; Yuggya. (“The Dweller in the Tomb”, Carter (O); “Out of the Ages”, Carter; “Strange Manuscript found in the Vermont Woods”, Carter; “The Thing in the Pit”, Carter; A Resection of Time, Johnson; Miskatonic University Graduate Kit, Petersen et. al.)

ZAOTH

World in the same star cluster as Abbith, Xoth, and Ymar. Like Abbith, it is inhabited by metal brains who possess a considerable archive of Yuggothian books. Some of the refugees from Yaddith fled to this world after the destruction of their own.

(“The Book of the Gates”, Carter; “Out of the Ages”, Carter (O), Visions from Yaddith, Carter.)

ZARNAK, (DOCTOR) ANTON

Mysterious occult detective who took on many cases with his faithful Rajput servant Ram Singh. Some have said Zarnak came from the mysterious Plateau of Sung. Zarnak studied at the Sorbonne and obtained a doctorate in philosophy there. At other institutions, he obtained doctorates in medicine, psychology, theology, and metaphysics, among other prestigious awards, and became fluent in eleven languages. Despite his learned background, he contented himself with practicing medicine in the Balkans. While there, a “werewolf” killed his wife and infant son. Zarnak destroyed their slayer and devoted himself to tracking down supernatural beings. Possibly this was his reason for spending decades at the monastery of A’alshirie, learning the means to fight back the forces of the Mythos.

Zarnak’s training came to the fore in 1922, when he moved into 13 China Alley, a location that teleported between New York and San Francisco, after the demise of his predecessor, Professor Guicet. Having met his servant Ram Singh, he disrupted the summoning of the god Yamath and faced a horror bought by Professor Legrasse within a single day. In later adventures, he fought off the Myrdstone Witch-Cult, the Black Pharaoh’s Mummy, weretigers, vampires, and the god K’thun.

Though scientists derided Zarnak’s papers on vampirism and lycanthropy, he was an antiquarian and collector without peer who lived in opulent quarters in cities across the world. For a while, he studied at the Sanbourne Institute, composing his classic dissertation A New Scrutiny of the Polynesian Genesis according to the Cthaat Aquadingen. After living for several years at 13 China Alley, Zarnak dropped out of sight after taking on one of the Tongs, but he returned to the fight against supernatural evil. After the death of Ram Singh, he moved to an apartment on Eight Avenue in New York City. In the end, Zarnak vanished while fighting a horrible evil with the aid of the god Yamath.

[Due to confusion in R. E. Howard’s Steven Harrison stories, the setting of Zarnak (and John Grimlan) may at times be read as New York and at others as San Francisco. This has affected the placement of both Zarnak and John Grimlan (which see).]

See Legrasse, John Raymond; Necronomicon (appendices). (“The Case of the Curiously Competent Conjurer”, Ambuehl and Bucher-Jones; Curse of the Black Pharaoh, Carter; “Dead of Night”, Carter; “Perchance to Dream”, Carter (O); “The Deep Cellars”, Comtois; “Admission of Weakness”, Henderson; “The Door”, Henderson; “To Cast Out Fear”, Henderson; “Dope War of the Black Tong”, Price; “ Soul of the Devil-Bought”, Price.)

ZARR

Alien creatures with blue skin, large eyes, slit-like mouths, and unjointed arms and legs. The Zarr subjugated much of their own galaxy of Xentilx before the Great Old One Zathog contacted them. Zathog, who had taken up residence on a planet near that galaxy’s core, asked the Zarr to aid him in freeing the other Great Old Ones in exchange for providing them with a universe to conquer. The Zarr agreed, and the grateful Zathog gave them the power to travel through space and time.

When the Zarr come to a world which they desire to conquer, they usually rain down destruction upon its civilizations using nuclear weapons and their powers of weather control. Then the Zarr take on board certain members of that planet’s civilization, so that they may use them as tools in destroying the rest of the population. Sometimes, one of these representatives has been known to halt the Zarr and keep them from destroying all of the intelligent life on the world, but even then the aliens may return at another time period to attack once again. Wherever they go, the Zarr search for the tombs of the Great Old Ones and strive to free them from their sleep.

See flying polyps, Othuyeg; Ydmos; Zathog. (“The Color from Beyond”, Cabos; “From Beyond the Stars”, Tierney (O); The Winds of Zarr, Tierney.)

ZATHOG

Great Old One who dwells on a world at the center of the galaxy of Xentilx. Upon his arrival on this planet following the war with the Elder Gods, Zathog made contact with the Zarr, a race which had ruthlessly conquered most of their home galaxy. Knowing that he had found the perfect tool for his revenge, Zathog promised the Zarr new galaxies for conquest if they would help him free his imprisoned brothers. Zathog remains on the world to which he originally came, awaiting the time when all the Great Old Ones shall be freed.

See Othuyeg; Zarr. (“The Color from Beyond”, Cabos; “From Beyond the Stars”, Tierney (O); The Winds of Zarr, Tierney.)

ZEGREMBI MANUSCRIPT (also ZEGEMBRI FRAGMENTS or ZEMBREGI MANUSCRIPT)

Book originally carved in stone and taken away to an alternate dimension before humanity’s appearance. In 1663 the wizard Nicholas Zegembri, known in occult circles as the author of the infamous book Diablerie, journeyed to this realm to seek out the book. He bore back its knowledge and transcribed the Zegembri Manuscript, making his own copy in three languages – alien hieroglyphs, a rune-like script, and Latin. Zegembri is believed to have taken the manuscript with his papers when he escaped the Great Fire of London in 1666. After this, he lived in the village of Torpoint for several years and then vanished entirely. The local clergymen burnt his library, though it is believed that a secretive cult removed the Zegembri Manuscript and are now in possession of it.

The book’s contents are mostly unknown, though it is believed to contain rites to Cthugha and possibly information on the Zegembri Seals.

(Delta Green: Countdown, Detwiller et. al.; “The Black Mirror”, Glasby (O); “The Dweller in Darkness”, Glasby; “The Kh’yrog Tablets”, Glasby.)

ZEGREMBI SEALS

Jet-black stones carved with many indecipherable characters. They are said to pre-date Sumeria, and the priest-kings of that ancient civilization may have used them to call down the “Dark Gods” to Earth. Certain European cults of old roots used them to summon abominations as well (a link between these objects and the Black Stone and Ixaxar is likely). They are quite rare, however, and few in the modern age have seen them.

See Zegembri Manuscript. (“The Haunting of Charles Quintain”, Glasby (O).)

ZEMBREGI MANUSCRIPT

See Zegembri Manuscript.

ZHAR

Great Old One who came to Earth from Arcturus.  It now lives beneath the city of Alaozar, on the Plateau of Sung in Burma (or possibly in Tibet), but may project its Tulku, or spiritual body, elsewhere when the proper rituals are performed. It is worshiped by the Tcho-Tcho, with whom it communicates telepathically. Some say it is physically connected to the being Lloigor.

See Bethmoora, black lotus; E-poh; elemental theory; Lloigor; lloigornos; Nug and Yeb; Sung; Tcho-Tchos; Twin Obscenities. (“The Sandwin Compact”, Derleth; “The Lair of the Star-Spawn”, Derleth and Schorer (O); Call of Cthulhu Rulebook, 5th ed., Petersen and Willis; “Dope War of the Black Ton”, Price.)

ZHOTHAQQUA

See Tsathoggua.

ZHOU TEXTS

Work by Fu-Shen, a wizard from Mongolia of the twelfth century BC. He is known to have traveled to Alaozar, where he learned their inmost rites. Only one copy, owned by a collector in Bangkok, is known to exist. The Texts deal with the cult of Kassogtha.

See Kassogtha. (Nightmare’s Disciple, Pulver (O).)

ZIN, VAULTS OF

Tunnel complex that lies both beneath Yoth and in the Dreamlands’ Underworld. Some claim that one known as G’Waatn created the Vaults for an unknown purpose. Within the red-lit caverns of Yoth, the Vaults may be found beneath the ruins of Yoth’s largest city. The men of K’n-yan found the Yothian manuscripts within the Vaults.

In the Dreamlands, the outer portions of the Vault seem to have been carved into the shape of some titanic building. They may be entered in the Underworld through a passage near the gugs’ city, or possibly also through a shaft in a monastery on Leng. Ghasts, a race of white skinned, partially-human monstrosities, live within these vaults, feeding upon lone gugs and each other.

Though they may serve as a connection between the lands of dream and the waking world, the Vaults of Zin are best avoided. Some say that a hideous spawn of Azathoth, which may only be called to life through a spell in the Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan, dwells somewhere in the vaults, as do many other unpleasant creatures.

See ghasts; gugs; gyaa-yothn; Yothic Manuscripts. (“Headsman”, Fantina; Spawn of Azathoth, Herber; “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft; “To a Dreamer”, Lovecraft (O); “The Mound”, Lovecraft and Bishop; “To Walk Free among the Harms of Zin”, Pulver.)

ZIULQUAZ-MANZAH

See Hziulquoigmnzhah.

ZKAUBA

Wizard of Yaddith remembered for bearing the Ghorl Nigral from the burrows of the dholes beneath his world’s surface. He aided his fellows’ attempt to find the rituals to save their world from the worm-like beings. During this effort, Zkauba disappeared on a trip to a nearby star in his light-wave envelope, leaving his Yaddithian brothers to their fate.

The Incense of Zkauba, though no connection with the wizard is known, is often burned in the rites to the Old Ones.

See Ghorl Nigral. (“Dreams in the House of Weir”, Carter; “Zoth-Ommog”, Carter; The Necronomicon, Hay, ed.; “Through the Gates of the Silver Key”, Lovecraft and Price (O).)

ZO-KALAR

Great One worshiped in Sarnath, and later throughout the Dreamlands and Hyperborea. He was thought of as the god of birth and death, and responsible for providing healthy children and peaceful deaths. A sigil called the “Rune of Zo-Kalar” was employed on the bonds of necromancers to prevent them from using their powers.

(“Star-Spawn of Hyperborea”, Fultz; “Wizards of Hyperborea”, Fultz and Burns; “The Doom that Came to Sarnath”, Lovecraft (O).)

ZOBNA

Land from which the people of Lomar fled when it became cold. The Lomarians still put great faith in the wisdom of their ancestors at the time of that land’s destruction.

See Book of Eibon; Gnophkeh; Lomar; Pnakotic Manuscripts. (“Polaris”, Lovecraft (O).)

ZON MEZZAMALECH

Wizard of Mhu Thulan mentioned in the Book of Eibon. According to Eibon, Zon Mezzamalech’s mastery of magic allowed him to rule Mhu Thulan from his tower of copper. He is reputed to have trapped the moon in an iron sphere, pushed back the ocean to reveal the treasures of the deep, and levitated mountains. In the ruins of a prehuman civilization from Polarion, he found a crystal that enabled him to see through time and space whenever he desired. He reputedly disappeared while attempting to use this crystal to gaze upon the wisdom of the Elder Gods kept by Ubbo-Sathla.

See Hyperborea; Mhu Thulan. (“The Sphinx of Abormis”, Cornford; “Ubbo-Sathla”, Smith (O).)

ZONE OF THE THIRTEEN FAVEOLATE COLOSSI

Region beyond which Yuggoth lies. Humans manifest there as purple gas, and visions of other times and places may be seen there. The Zone might contain the archetypes of which all the objects of our world are reproductions.

(“The Mine on Yuggoth”, Campbell (O); “Acute Spiritual Fear”, Price; “The Green Decay”, Price.)

ZOOGS

Rodent-like creatures native to the Dreamland’s Enchanted Wood. In appearance, a zoog resembles a cat-sized mouse with a row of tentacles between its nose and mouth.

Zoogs dwell in the Enchanted Wood, the forest in which those who enter the Dreamlands first find themselves. These woodland dwellers have a taste for flesh and attack travelers in or near the forest at night. If a dreamer avoids the wood at night and stays on the paths in the day, the zoogs should give them no trouble. For those lucky enough to learn the fluting speech of the zoogs, great opportunity for friendship with these shy creatures exists.

A council of sages rules the zoogs in the Enchanted Wood. These wise old zoogs are quite well informed, as their kind have many agents throughout the nearer realms of dream. Those who deal with the zoogs may learn much interesting information, but they should be careful afterward, since the zoogs often send their spies after their “friends” to keep track of their doings.

In the two places where the Enchanted Wood intersects with the waking world, zoogs may enter our world and have been responsible for many disappearances. Fortunately, no human knows where these two locations are.

See Dreamlands; Enchanted Wood. (“The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft (O); Hero of Dreams, Lumley; “To Sleep, Perchance to Dream”, Okamoto.)

ZOTH (possibly XOTH?)

Star from which Tsathoggua’s mother Zstylzhemghi came. It may be near a black hole which serves as a portal to other universes.

See Xoth; Ycnagnnisssz. (“The Family Tree of the Gods”, Smith; “Ycnagnnisssz”, Tierney (O).)

ZOTH-OMMOG

Great Old One with a conical body topped with a serpent-bearded lizard head and four starfish-like arms. Zoth-Ommog is the “son” of Cthulhu and is believed to sleep in the section of R’lyeh which is just off the coast of Ponape.

This Great Old One is able to call out to humans through its dreams, much like its master Cthulhu. Zoth-Ommog’s ability, however, is able to manifest itself only through its statues. When a person keeps one of these artifacts, he or she is visited in dreams with visions of the glory of Zoth-Ommog. Through these means, Zoth-Ommog is able to gain new devotees and spread his cult.

The primary center of Zoth-Ommog’s worship is Ponape, but other cults revering him may be found as far away as New Zealand and South Indochina. In his tomb, Zoth-Ommog is also served by the mysterious yuggya.

See Cthulhu; elemental theory; Gloon; Idh-yaa; Mu; Ponape Figurine; Ythogtha; Yuggya. (“Out of the Ages”, Carter (O); “Zoth-Ommog”, Carter; The Transition of Titus Crow, Lumley.)

ZOTHIQUE

The last continent upon which humans will live eons in the future. It roughly corresponds to northern Africa, the Middle East, and southern Asia. Zothique will rise when all other continents have sunk beneath the waves.

In Zothique, humans will rediscover many of the gods revered in past civilizations and worship them once more. Also, some of the world’s most powerful wizards will live during this age. The magical energies present in this entire continent as the result of experiments with time travel will cause fluxes to form in the space-time continuum, leading to the formation of interdimensional gateways in which the unwary might become caught.

At least one portal between our time and that of Zothique has been discovered, and others may exist.

See Mordiggian; Thasaidon; Tsathoggua; Yhoundeh. (“Slow Boat”, Jeffrey and Morrison; “The Black Massif”, Sargent; “The Dark Eidolon”, Smith; “The Empire of the Necromancers”, Smith (O); Letter to H. P. Lovecraft, Smith; Letter to L. Sprague de Camp, Smith.)

ZSTYLZHEMGHI

Mate of Ghisguth and mother of Tsathoggua. It was spawned by the fission of Ycnagnnisssz, a being from the dark star Zoth. It is hailed as the ruler of swarms and insectoid pests, and it may reside on Uranus.

See Ycnagnnisssz. (“Family Tree of the Gods”, Smith (O); “The Minions of Zstylzhemghi”, Tierney; “The Throne of Achamoth”, Tierney and Price.)

ZUCHEQUON (also ZULCHEQUON or ZUSHAKON)

Entity that was the child of Ubbo-Sathla and described as being the last scion of old Night. This could be one of those “black spirits of earth” referred to by Castro. Chants or certain deep-toned sounds may summon forth Zuchequon, which makes itself known through earthquakes. When it comes, Zuchequon brings darkness and cold with itself.

The people of K’n-yan and Mu worshiped Zuchequon with the ringing of bells and chanting. The West Coast Native American tribes once knew how to summon it, but such information has probably been lost. Zuchequon is served by the “Hidden Ones”, whose leader is Tsunth.

See Ubbo-Sathla. (“Dead of Night”, Carter; “The Descent into the Abyss”, Carter and Smith; “Bells of Horror”, Kuttner (O).)

ZVILPOGGUA

See Ossadogwah.

ZYLAC

The mightiest mage of Hyperborea and teacher of the young Eibon. He is renowned for his role in preserving the Parchments of Pnom and his interest in the civilization of the serpent people. The latter is believed to have led to his demise. His knowledge survives in the book The Wisdom and Sacred Magic of Zylac the Mage, and the Repelling Sign of Blessed Zylac is used to ward off Azathoth.

(“The Utmost Abomination”, Carter and Smith (O); “The Adoration of the Black Flame”, Pulver; “The Grey Rite of Azathoth”, Pulver; “The Ritual of the Outer Void”, Pulver.)

APPENDICES:

THE NECRONOMICON

Despite the research into the Cthulhu Mythos that has been done over the past five decades, this guide still, in the words of Douglas Adams, “has many omissions and contains much that is apocryphal, or at least wildly inaccurate”. This caution applies particularly to the following appendices, which are a collection of notes concerning Lovecraft’s most famous creation, the Necronomicon. The information on the next few pages is likely to leave you somewhat baffled. Don’t worry; there are many people who have studied the Necronomicon and its concepts for years and are still bewildered.

APPENDIX A: CHRONOLOGY OF THE NECRONOMICON

c. 1000 BC — Date on which the oldest copy of the Necronomicon appeared — at least according to one source. [1] (Evil Dead II, Raimi.)

c. 730 — Abdul Alhazred writes the Kitab al-Azif. (“History of the Necronomicon,” Lovecraft.)

738 — According to Ibn Khallikan, the famous Arabian biographer, Abdul Alhazred is torn apart by an invisible beast in the streets of Damascus. [2] (“History of the Necronomicon,” Lovecraft.)

760 — Shortly before this date, a translation of the Al Azif into Duriac, an obscure Middle Eastern dialect, was made. (“Preface” to Al Azif, de Camp.)

850 — Death of Alkindi, one of the Arab world’s first great philosophers. An alternate explanation of the Necronomicon’s origin states that it was a magical work entitled Book of the Essence of the Soul written by Alkindi. [3] (The Necronomicon, Hay, ed.)

950 — Theodorus Philetas, a scholar of Constantinople who had discovered the Kitab al-Azif in the Imperial Library in that city, translates it from Arabic into Greek, renaming the volume Necronomicon. Philetas later is forced to recant and publicly burn his translation on the book on the church steps. (“History of the Necronomicon,” Lovecraft; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley; Necronomicon, Tyson.)

c. 1000 — Noted scholar, philosopher and alchemist Ibn Sina (or Avicenna) translates the Greek Necronomicon back into Arabic under the title Kitab al-Majmu, augmenting it with his own mystical resources. (The Fate, Detwiller and Ivey.)

1050 — Patriarch Michael [4], having heard rumors of the experiments attempted with this book, burns 171 copies of the Necronomicon. Olaus Wormius’s introduction to the Latin edition states that all Arabic editions were destroyed at this time. (“The Keeper of the Key”, Derleth; “History of the Necronomicon,” Lovecraft; Necronomicon, Tyson.)

1099 — A copy of Al Azif (possibly the original) is found in Jerusalem. It later comes into the hands of the Comte de Champagne, who forms an order of knights called the Templars to guard it. (“Glozel est Authentique”, Rawling.)

c. 1100 — An unknown scribe makes a Bulgarian translation. (Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

13th century — The Necronomicon is translated into French during this period, and later turns up in the collections of several monasteries in southern France. (Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley; The New Adam, Weinburg.)

1228 — Olaus Wormius translates the Necronomicon into Latin, basing his work upon three copies of the Greek. [5] (“History of the Necronomicon,” Lovecraft; Necronomicon, Tyson.)

1232 — Pope Gregory IX places both the Greek and Latin editions of the Necronomicon on the Index Expurgatorius. [6] (Selected Letters II; Lovecraft.)

c. 1400 — German (?) black‑letter printing of the Latin translation of Olaus Wormius. [7] (“History of the Necronomicon,” Lovecraft.)

1472 — An Olaus Wormius translation is published in Lyons, France. [8] (The Illuminatus! Trilogy, Shea and R. Wilson.)

1487 — Olaus Wormius, a secretary in the employ of Torquemada, the church official in charge of the Spanish Inquisition, finds a manuscript version of the Necronomicon, presumably in the belongings of one of the accused. He translates and publishes it, sending a copy to Trithemius, the famous abbot and occult scholar. Horrified by Wormius’s actions, Trithemius makes the facts known to church officials, who have Wormius burned at the stake with the copies of his translation. [9] (“The Necronomicon FAQ,” Low.)

1500–1550 — See 1567.

1519 — Death of Leonardo da Vinci. Before his death, he had received a Latin copy of the book captured by Francois I when he conquered Milan in 1515. The famous artist’s library is scattered after his death, and the location of this copy is unknown. (Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

1550 — An unknown scholar makes a translation of the Necronomicon into Russian, using Cyrillic characters. (Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

1567 — Lovecraft assigns this date to the publication of the Italian edition of the Greek text. [10] (Uncollected Letters, Lovecraft.)

1576-9 — During this period Miguel Cervantes, the author of Don Quixote, is a favored slave and prisoner in Algiers. He supposedly makes a Spanish translation of the Necronomicon while in captivity, giving it the title “El Libro de los Normos de Los Perdidos.” (Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

1586 — According to one source, it is in this year that John Dee translates the Necronomicon into English [11]. Usually, Dee is considered to have come across the manuscript while at the court of Rudolf II in Prague [12]. It is said that this translation contains material from the Latin edition of Olaus Wormius, a Greek manuscript found in the possession of a Transylvanian noble [13], and Dee’s own comments on certain subjects. Dee made use of the book’s ciphers and spells to further the Crown’s espionage. This edition is later published by a French language press in an edition of 169 copies. (“The Bookseller’s Second Wife”, DeBill; Delta Green: Countdown, Detwiller; “Eyes for the Blind,” Hallett and Isinwyll; “Castle Dark,” Herber; “The Space-Eaters,” Long; “History of the Necronomicon,” Lovecraft.)

1590 — A Latin edition is printed in Cadiz. This, supposedly the first printed edition, may or may not exist. (Peace, Wolfe.)

1598 — Baron Frederick I of Sussex, England, publishes his own English translation of the Latin Necronomicon of Wormius, entitling it Cultus Maleficarum. This edition, more widely known as the Sussex Manuscript, is very confused and is not considered reliable. [14] (The Sussex Manuscript, Pelton.)

1623 — Wormius’s translation printed once again, this time in Spain. [15] (Uncollected Letters, Lovecraft.)

1632–1680 — Portions of the book circulate widely in France, and are used as ritual material for many of the black masses of the period. (Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

1641 — My Understanding of the Great Booke by Joachim Kindler published in the city of Buda. Within this volume, Kindler speaks of a volume of the Necronomicon written in Gothic, a tongue spoken by an ancient Germanic tribe. According to the author, this translation “offers proofs logickal and glorious” of the “stellar numbers, potentiated objecks, signs and passes, probatories, phylacteries, and craftsmanly artes” required for the rituals given therein — in other words, a Necronomicon with all the allegory and obscurity banished. Fortunately for the sake of humanity, Kindler might have invented this new edition, as no copy has even been found — with possibly one exception (see 1944). (“The Lurker from the Crypt,” Miller.)

1664 — The Kaballist Nathan of Gaza circulates the Sepher ha‑Sha’are ha‑Daath (“Book of the Gates of Knowledge”) among his brethren. The book is a commentary on two chapters of what Nathan calls the “Book of the Alhazred”. According to Nathan, the mystic’s greatest quest was to go down to the land of the Qlipoth, the evil shards of a former creation, in order to redeem them. Nathan of Gaza later supported the would-be Messiah Shabbetai Tzevi, and was himself discredited when his prophet converted to Islam in 1666. (“The Necronomicon Anti-FAQ”, Low)

1670 — Around this date, Johann Lindenmuth of Nuremburg translates the Necronomicon into German under the title Die Totenrufen. It is never printed, and the manuscript is later lost. (“The Long-Lost Friend”, Lobdell.)

1722 — Breakup of the infamous cult of Kingsport, Massachusetts. The Necronomicon played an important role in the rituals of this group, though whether the raiders found a copy is unknown. (“The Festival,” Lovecraft; Kingsport: City in the Mists, Ross.)

1771 — A raid is made upon a farm outside Providence, Rhode Island owned by Joseph Curwen. Curwen was a reputed sorcerer who owned a Latin copy of the Necronomicon. He is supposedly killed, but little is damaged during the raid. [16] (“The Case of Charles Dexter Ward,” Lovecraft.)

1811 — A mysterious foreigner leaves a Latin copy of the Necronomicon at the Bibliotheque Nationale. He is found the next day poisoned in his squalid apartment. (“The Necronomicon,” Herber.)

1848 — Von Junzt’s German translation of the Necronomicon, Das Verichteraraberbuch, published at Ingolstadt, Bavaria, eight years after the translator’s death. [17] (Schrodinger’s Cat Trilogy, R. Wilson.)

1895–1900 — Henry Armitage, recently appointed to the post of head librarian at Miskatonic University, purchases a copy of the Necronomicon from Providence businessman Whipple Phillips, the grandfather of H. P. Lovecraft. [18] (“The Necronomicon,” Herber.)

1901 — Publication of Joachim Feery’s Original Notes on the Necronomicon, in both complete and expurgated editions. The authenticity of this volume is highly suspect, especially since Feery claimed to have inserted his own dreams into the passages from the dreaded book. (“Aunt Hester,” Lumley; “Name and Number,” Lumley; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

1912 — Wilfred Voynich, an American bookseller, discovers an enciphered medieval manuscript in an Italian castle. Along with this document, which comes to be known as the Voynich Manuscript, Voynich finds a letter that asserts that the book is the work of the famous scientist Roger Bacon. [19] (“The Return of the Lloigor,” C. Wilson.)

1912 — American millionaire Harry Widener adds a copy of the Necronomicon to his collection shortly before his fatal trip aboard the Titanic. After his death, his books are donated to Harvard University. (“The Necronomicon,” Herber.)

1916 — Noted occultist Aleister Crowley publishes a limited edition English translation of the Necronomicon. [20] (Trail of the Loathsome Slime, Rowland.)

1921 — Professor W. Romaine Newbold declares that he has deciphered the Voynich Manuscript. In his account, Newbold claimed the document was a scientific treatise proving that Roger Bacon had developed the microscope centuries before Leeuwenhoek. Unfortunately, Newbold dies in 1926 before he can finish deciphering the manuscript. (“The Return of the Lloigor,” C. Wilson.)

1922 — H. P. Lovecraft makes the first mention of the Necronomicon in his story “The Hound.” (“The Hound,” Lovecraft.) [21]

1928 — A Greek copy is found in the library of Ivan the Terrible, and walled up beneath the Kremlin. Stalin later finds the book, and has it translated into Russian for himself. (“Secrets of the Kremlin”, Erkes.)

1929 — Benjamino Evangelista is found murdered, along with the rest of his family, in his home in Detroit. The investigation into his death finds that Evangelista was a faith healer and cult leader, and had written a divinely‑inspired book called The Oldest History of the World. This book is notable because it contains references to a volume of magic called “Necremicon,” “Necromicon,” and “Necronemicon”, which is also titled “Al Azif”. These passages were supposedly written before Lovecraft ever used the Necronomicon in his stories. [22] (The Philosopher’s Stone, C. Wilson.)

1931 — A Professor Manly, looking over Newbold’s notes on the decipherment of the Voynich Manuscript, deduces that Newbold’s supposed “cipher” is in fact the result of fading of the manuscript’s ink. Newbold’s results are discredited by the scientific community. (“The Return of the Lloigor,” C. Wilson.)

1932 — Lovecraft infiltrates an order of Ommiade monks in Boston, bearing away their copy of the Necronomicon. (Necronomicon, Yuzna.)

1938 — The house of Doctor Laban Shrewsbury of Arkham, Massachusetts, is burned to the ground shortly after he sent the first volume of his work Cthulhu in the Necronomicon to the printers. Although no trace of Shrewsbury was found in the ruins, it is believed that he perished in the fire. (“The House on Curwen Street”, Derleth.)

1939 — Cthulhu in the Necronomicon by Doctor Laban Shrewsbury published (?). (“Books of the Cthulhu Mythos,” Herber and Ross.)

1944 — In the spring of this year, Nazi occultists supposedly uncover a copy of the Gothic Necronomicon. A translation is made, but the Germans are unable to make proper use of it before the Third Reich falls. (Delta Green, Detwiller, Glancy, and Tynes.)

1946 — The New York bookseller Philip C. Duschnes advertises a Latin copy in his spring catalog. (“The Necronomicon”, Duschnes.)

1956 — Henrietta Montague completes her task of translating the British Museum’s Necronomicon into English at the request of that institution’s directors. This expurgated translation is later published in an edition intended for scholarly use only. Sadly, Montague succumbed to a wasting disease shortly after the project’s completion. (The Burrowers Beneath, Lumley; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

1965 — Miskatonic University Press issues The Annotated Necronomicon, a combined Latin/English text translated by A. Philip Highgas. (Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

1967 — Professor Lang of the University of Virginia takes up his study of the Voynich Manuscript, discovering that it is written in Greek and Latin using Arabic letters. His work, which is taken up after his disappearance in 1969 by other scholars, proves that the Voynich Manuscript is actually a commentary on certain passages of the Necronomicon written by a monk named Martin Gardener. (The Philosopher’s Stone, C. Wilson; “The Return of the Lloigor,” C. Wilson.)

1967 — The noted author L. Sprague de Camp, while sightseeing in Baghdad, purchases a manuscript in the Duriac language from a government official in the Directorate General of Antiquities. Later, he finds that looters found the document in ruins near Duria; three different Iraqi scholars had attempted to translate it, but all had vanished shortly after they had begun. [23] (“Foreword” to Al Azif, de Camp.)

1972 — In the spring of this year, two monks from an Eastern Orthodox denomination are found to have stolen valuable books from libraries and private collections across the country. One of these, a ninth-century Greek manuscript purporting to be the Necronomicon, comes into the hands of a New York priest named “Simon”, who begins its translation. (The Necronomicon Spellbook, Levenda.)

1973 — Owlswick Press of Philadelphia publishes the edition of Al Azif discovered by de Camp. A copy may be found in the Brown University library.

1977 — “Simon” publishes his own version of the Necronomicon, which soon thereafter is released as a paperback. The “translator” claimed to have derived the volume from a Greek manuscript, of which only parts were included in his book. (Necronomicon, Levenda.)

1978 — The Necronomicon: The Book of Dead Names published by Neville Spearman. According to Colin Wilson, the original manuscript existed in cipher among John Dee’s papers at the British Museum, and constitutes part of the Arabic scholar Alkindi’s Book of the Essence of the Soul. By use of computer analysis, the authors were able to decode the volume and present it to the public. [24] (The Necronomicon, Hay, ed.)

1979 — During a visit to a Cairo bookseller, Professor Phileus Sadowsky of the University of Sofia discovers a page bearing Alhazred’s famous couplet in Arabic. Unfortunately, this page disappears on its way through Customs. (“Notes on a Fragment of the Necronomicon,” Hamblin.)

1988 — Death of noted fantasy/science fiction author Lin Carter. One of his unfinished works was a partial manuscript of the Necronomicon, including a number of cautionary tales and descriptions of magical rites. [25]

1994 — A copy of the Gothic Necronomicon is discovered beneath the former KGB headquarters and is stolen by a neo-Nazi group. (Delta Green, Detwiller, Glancy and Tynes.)

NOTES ON THE CHRONOLOGY

 [1] Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness included the Necronomicon Ex Mortis, but threw out the more familiar timeline entirely. They also state that all copies of the book had vanished by 1300, a fact not borne out by the fiction.

[2] I have found no biography of Abdul Alhazred, or any of the commonly accepted variants on that name, in Ibn Khallikan’s biography. It is possible that Alhazred is still included under another name, or that later scribes expunged this particular entry from the work. Stanley suggests that he is included under the name “ar-Rahib,” but I have had no luck in finding this entry either. Alhazred’s date of death is given as 731 in Derleth’s “The Keeper of the Key.”

[3] For the more commonly accepted version of the Necronomicon’s origin, see the entry for 730. These two possibilities may be reconcilable, however, if Alkindi had access to Alhazred’s book and compiled material from it for use in his own work.

[4] This “Patriarch Michael” is probably Michael Cerularius, Patriarch of Constantinople from 1043 to 1058. Because of his actions against Rome, Patriarch Michael was largely responsible for the eventual break between the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox churches. After Michael made inflammatory remarks against the emperor in 1058, that man removed him from his post, and the former patriarch died shortly thereafter.

[5] The matter of Olaus Wormius is one of the most troubling affairs in Mythos scholarship, as the famous Danish physician of the same name lived almost four hundred years after the translation was supposedly made. Olaus Wormius the Elder, as we may call him, was born in Jutland, and went on to make many other Greek and Latin translations of ancient books. Some scholars remained unconvinced by this, however. Stanley states that this copy, titled De Nomine Necium, was actually made by students of the famous jurists in Bologna and later corrected by the 17th century Wormius. Others give its authorship an even later date. See especially the entries for 1487 and 1623.

Wormius indicates in his prefatory note to his translation that the Arabic edition of the Necronomicon no longer existed. Possibly the ecclesiastics destroyed only the copy which Wormius had seen, and the translator believed that this had been the last copy of that book in Arabic. Most of the rumors of the Arabic Necronomicon since have been unsubstantiated, however.

Stanley asserts that one version believed to have been translated in 1228, subtitled De Nomine Necorum, is probably a fake written in the nineteenth century and attributed to Wormius. No other authority has backed her opinion, however.

 (“The Keeper of the Key”, Derleth; “History of the Necronomicon,” Lovecraft; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

[6] A year before his decision to censor the Necronomicon on the Index Expurgatorius, Pope Gregory IX had instituted the papal Inquisition to combat the rise of heresy within the church. Thus, it seems certain that he would have had the Necronomicon banned.

A mistake has been made by previous scholars, however. At this time, the Index Expurgatorius did not exist, so Pope Gregory could not have placed the Necronomicon on it. Other such lists did exist at this time, and it is likely the authorities included the Necronomicon in one of these.

[7] Stanley speculates that the date of the first printing was around 1490; the Miskatonic University Library copy was printed in Wurttemberg in 1500. Other scholars have said that the German printing occurred during the first half of the fifteenth century, but few non-religious books came off the presses during that time. See entry for 1472 for an alternate explanation. (Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

[8] This may indeed be the edition commonly considered to be German, not only because both versions are said to have been printed at much the same time, but also since these two editions are considered to be muddled and confusing in comparison to the seventeenth century printing. (“Out of the Ages,” Carter.)

[9] This particular version of events is original to this source. For two different explanations, see the entries for 1228 and 1623.

[10] Lovecraft initially wrote that this edition appeared in the first half of the sixteenth century. He assigned the date 1567 to the Italian printing in a letter written in 1936. Since the letter did not appear until recently, later authors have given different dates. Herber states that this edition appeared in 1501, and was likely the work of Aldus Manutius, founder of the Aldine Press. According to Stanley, several editions were put out by printers in Mannheim, Germany, Italy, most likely in Urbino. (Keeper’s Compendium, Herber; “History of the Necronomicon,” Lovecraft; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

[11] Noted occult scholar Anton Zarnak asserted that the Necronomicon was actually the work of John Dee, who transcribed it from what he saw during his crystal-gazing sessions. When it was completed, he was shocked but feared to destroy it. Zarnak also claimed that Alhazred (or al‑Hazrat) was a devout Muslim and that his Al Azif, a collection of demonological lore, influenced Dee’s Necronomicon slightly. Most Mythos scholars do not concur with him, but it bears mention if only because of Zarnak’s reputation. (“Soul of the Devil-Bought”, Price.)

[12] There are two versions of the legend regarding Dee’s discovery of the Necronomicon in Prague. One states that Dee found a copy of Alkindi’s Book of the Essence of the Soul in the library of King Rudolph II and made a copy of it. The Liber Logaeath, a manuscript kept at the British Museum, may possibly be this copy. The other account is that Edward Kelley, Dee’s roguish companion, purchased the book from the notorious Kabbalist Jacob Eliezer. Dee presumably kept the manuscript when he and Kelley parted ways in 1589, and translated the manuscript while he was warden of Christ’s College at Manchester. [It should be noted that Dee was actually in Prague at this time.] (The Necronomicon, Hay, ed.; “The Necronomicon FAQ,” Low.)

[13] No mention is made in Dee’s diaries of a trip to present-day Romania to see the noble’s copy of the Necronomicon. He lived in a castle in southern Bohemia at the time, however; would he have had time to make an unrecorded trip to the Baron’s home? Or did the Baron come to him?

Two dates for the alleged “publication” of the Dee manuscript should be noted here, but I have little reason to consider them correct. One holds that it was published in 1585 in the Dutch town of Haarlem, while another states that it was made in Antwerp in 1571. Most scholars would agree, however, that Dee did not begin his translation until 1586, and that this manuscript was never published in any form. (The Necronomicon, Hay, ed.; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

[14] It is likely that this is not truly a translation of the Necronomicon at all. Carter and Berglund have disclosed that the Sussex Manuscript was probably written by Fred L. Pelton, a longtime Lovecraft fan. For a brief while, August Derleth considered publishing this book, and mentioned it in his short story “The Gorge above Salanpunco,” but in the end rejected it.

[15] This same date comes from the letter mentioned under “1567”. Once again, many people have made up their own dates due to the letter’s unavailability. Bloch was very close at 1622, as was Stanley at 1624. (According to her timeline, this was a publication of a translation made by the historical Olaus Wormius (see 1228).) Duschnes included the Madrid printing of 1647 in his own work. (“The Shadow from the Steeple,” Bloch; “The History of the Necronomicon,” Lovecraft.)

[16] It is likely that one of the raiders kept Curwen’s copy of the Necronomicon, or possibly that a thief bore it away from the abandoned farm. In any event, this particular copy, distinguished by its cover bearing the false title, “Qanoon-e-Islam,” disappears for almost a century.

[17] One other edition of the Necronomicon mostly in an ancient form of German has been discovered. This one, however, was handwritten, and probably is not identical with the von Junzt edition. (“The Fairground Horror,” Lumley.)

[18] The span of five years that I have used here is merely speculative. It is noteworthy that the copy owned by Phillips was that taken from Joseph Curwen’s farm after the raid of 1771. It may have been passed down in the family by one of the raiders, or other circumstances may have been at work.

As to why Armitage became so interested in obtaining a copy of the Necronomicon, some speculate that it had something to do with a mysterious meteor which had fallen in 1882 near Arkham, the nature of which had disturbed Armitage enough to prompt further research in that direction. (“The Terror from the Depths,” Leiber.)

[19] The Voynich Manuscript is in fact a real document, which is preserved at Yale University. Though Lang’s research in the field has been discredited, the work remains undeciphered.

Especially of note for those who consider the Voynich Manuscript to be a commentary of the Necronomicon is that the encoded document may at one time have been owned by John Dee, as the page numeration (added long after the manuscript was written) appears to be in his handwriting.

[20] Like John Dee, Aleister Crowley was a real person who has been inserted into the Necronomicon story after his death. Crowley (1875–1947) was an English intellectual, poet, mountain climber, and drug user who arguably has had more influence on the contemporary occult scene than any other figure. No copy of the Necronomicon is noted among lists of his published works, however.

[21] Assuming that the book is real, how did H. P. Lovecraft learn of its existence? Mythos authors have suggested a few possibilities:

1) There was actually a copy of the Necronomicon in the library of Whipple Phillips, Lovecraft’s grandfather, which was later bought by Doctor Armitage of Miskatonic University. (“The Necronomicon,” Herber.)

2) It is a little-known “fact” that Lovecraft’s father, Winfield Lovecraft, was an Egyptian Freemason. He is believed to have had copies of a few magical works, among which was a partial copy of Alkindi’s Book of the Essence of the Soul, a volume which is possibly the inspiration for the Necronomicon (see 850). Lovecraft may have discovered this manuscript after his father’s death. (The Necronomicon, Hay, ed..)

3) Lovecraft may have found the book in a public or private library, such as the Widener Library at Harvard, though no such manuscript has ever been confirmed as existing there.

4) One final speculation is that Lovecraft’s mind received telepathic transmissions from a higher plane which “encouraged” him to write about the Necronomicon. A rumor that Lovecraft found the title for his Necronomicon in a dream might be seen as supporting this. (Chua, “The Necronomicon FAQ, Version 2.0”.)

[22] An inspection of the quoted pages in Evangelista’s book has turned up no such material.

[23] Unfortunately, this manuscript is probably a fake, as its middle consists of the same eight pages copied over and over. An examination by the Metropolitan Museum’s Rheinhold Carter has revealed that it is probably a nineteenth‑century forgery. (“Foreword” to Al Azif, de Camp; The Necronomicon, Hay, ed..)

[24] Though the author/translator claims that this is the true work, the version given leaves out so many of the commonly accepted quotations that it is difficult to proclaim its veracity or fraudulence. Many of the same arguments could also be made against the Hay manuscript.

[25] Carter is believed to have copied these segments from an actual copy of the English translation in Dee’s own handwriting. He intended to complete the entire book, but a tremendous number of notes dealing with the volume’s rituals was stolen from him and he was forced to give it up. The completed portions of his rendering were reprinted after his death in the Candlemas 1990 issue of Crypt of Cthulhu. (“The Doom of Yakthoob,” Carter.)

APPENDIX B: LOCATIONS OF THE NECRONOMICON

(This is a list of places where the Necronomicon was or still may be found, or people who might have a copy. It should be noted that many of these copies vanished during World War II, and those that still own the book are quick to dismiss casual inquiries as to whether they have it.)

Algiers — During his imprisonment, Cervantes might have made a Spanish translation of the Necronomicon, presumably from a manuscript in the library of one of his captors (see 1576–9). (Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

Alhazred, Abdul — Some have said that a copy of Alhazred’s Al Azif could be found in the tomb of its author, the location of which is unknown. If this is true, Professor Laban Shrewsbury bore it away from its hiding place on his expedition to Alhazred’s resting place. (“The Keeper of the Key”, Derleth.)

Baghdad — A private collector in this city may have a copy of the Arabic version. (“The Plague Jar”, Mackey.)

Berlin — Rumors has it that a copy rests in a collapsed Nazi bunker just past the Brandenburg Gate in East Berlin. The Nazis were also said to have a copy bound in the skin of concentration camp victims. It is unknown whether these are one and the same. (“The Necronomicon FAQ,” Low; “The Existing Copies: A Bibliobiography”, Owings.)

Bibliotheque Nationale — Holds the Olaus Wormius edition of 1622. (“The Dunwich Horror,” Lovecraft.)

Brichester University — Owned a copy of the Necronomicon until the Sixties, when it was burned. (The Darkest Part of the Woods, Campbell.)

British Museum — Holds one of the few 15th century Latin printings in existence, as well as Henrietta Montague’s English scholarly translation. Access to both volumes is severely limited, however. Though some thought at one time that a copy of the Al Azif existed among the uncatalogued documents, this rumor has been proven false. (Cthulhu by Gaslight, Barton; “The Necronomicon,” Herber; “The Dunwich Horror,” Lovecraft; “History of the Necronomicon,” Lovecraft; “Billy’s Oak,” Lumley; The Burrowers Beneath, Lumley.)

Cairo — Though Saladin is known to have brought a copy of the Al Azif here, it is unknown where it might be. The Egyptian Museum here is reputed to own a copy of the Al Azif, though one source holds that it is incomplete. The Al-Azhar University is believed to have a copy, but its spokesmen have denied it. (Cairo Guidebook, Anderson; “The Lurker at the Threshold,” Derleth and Lovecraft; “Cairo,” DiTillio and Willis; “The Plague Jar”, Mackey.)

Cassionsville — Louis Gold, a bookseller in this small Midwestern town, once owned a Greek copy of the Necronomicon. As Gold was an infamous hoaxer, the authenticity of this book has been called into question. (Peace, Wolfe.)

Cluny — A collection in this French monastery held three or more copies, but all of these have been lost. (Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

Columbia University — The library at this school once held a copy, but it vanished. It is unknown if it was replaced, and if so, how reliable the new version might be. (Peace, Wolfe.)

Constantinople — Theodorus Philetas translated the Necronomicon into Greek from an Arabic manuscript at the Imperial Library here. The original volume is believed to have been destroyed. (Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

Curwen, Joseph — This reputed sorcerer vanished following in a raid on his home in 1771. He owned a copy of the Latin Necronomicon bound in a cover bearing the title Qanoon-e-Islam. If this is true, this volume passed through the hands of the Phillips family of Providence, R.I., and now rests in the vaults of Miskatonic University. (“The Case of Charles Dexter Ward,” Lovecraft.)

Damascus, Syria — One might expect that a copy of Al Azif would be found in the city where the book was completed, but it is said that Saladin bore away this copy to Cairo. (Cairo Guidebook, Anderson.)

Dee, John — This scholar and mystic is rumored to have owned a 15th century Latin printing of the Necronomicon. Those who catalogued his library after his death, however, did not find it. (“Eyes for the Blind,” Hallett and Isinwyll.)

Dexter, Ambrose — A medical doctor and noted nuclear physicist from Providence, Dexter bore away the 17th century Latin printing of the Necronomicon from the Starry Wisdom Church before the city levelled that structure. (“The Shadow from the Steeple,” Bloch; “The Haunter of the Dark,” Lovecraft.)

Dreamlands — At least one copy of the book, written in glyphs, exists in this alternate dimension. (Mythos: Dreamlands expansion, Krank and Vogt.)

Field Museum, Chicago, Illinois — A copy of unknown language and edition is preserved in the library of this institution. (“The Horror from the Depths,” Derleth and Schorer.)

Glastonbury — The existence of an Arabic manuscript at this monastery has never been confirmed. (Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

Harvard University — It has been said that Widener Library keeps a 17th century Latin edition. Some evidence, however, suggests that someone stole or destroyed this book sometime in the middle of this century. (“To Arkham and the Stars,” Leiber; “The Dunwich Horror,” Lovecraft; “History of the Necronomicon,” Lovecraft.)

Hauptman, Baron — Doctor Dee saw a copy of the Greek Necronomicon owned by this Romanian nobleman. A priest stole this book from its owner in 1627, and nothing more has been heard of it. (“Castle Dark,” Herber.)

Hindu-Kush Mountains — An Arabic copy was supposedly hidden in these peaks near Tibet. (“The Existing Copies: A Bibliobiography”, Owings)

Jerusalem — No one knows what happened to the copy of Al Azif that the Templars were supposed to have guarded. (“Glozel est Authentique”, Rawling.)

Kester Library — Holds one of the few surviving copies of the 15th century printing of Olaus Wormius. (“The Salem Horror,” Kuttner.)

Leonardo da Vinci — Leonardo received a Latin copy from Ludovico Sforza, but this vanished after his death. (Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

Louvain — The Guildhall in this Belgian town held copies in seven different languages, but these were consumed by fire when the Germans burnt this landmark in 1914. (Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

Louvre — This famous Parisian museum kept a Latin copy, but it had vanished by 1373. (Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

McCook, Nebraska — The private collector J. Pierce Whitmore who lives here may have a copy. If he is the “celebrated American millionaire” Lovecraft refers to, this is one of the 15th century German editions. (“The Necronomicon”, Duschnes; “History of the Necronomicon”, Lovecraft.)

Magyar Tudomanyos Akademia — This Hungarian collection at one time owned a copy of Alhazred’s Al Azif, but this document burned in a fire at the home of Professor Sadowsky of the University of Sofia. (“Further Notes on the Necronomicon,” Hamblin.)

Mexico — A bibliophile in this country may own an Italian copy of the book. (Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

Miskatonic University Library — The library at this institution holds the most complete 17th century Latin printing in this hemisphere, purchased from the library of Providence businessman Whipple Phillips. In 1924, Miskatonic obtained a partial English manuscript entitled Al Azif from the estate of Ambrose Dewart. In 1928, they received Wilbur Whateley’s holdings, including a fragmentary copy of Dee’s translation, but some say that the ownership of the latter is in litigation. (The Lurker at the Threshold, Derleth and Lovecraft; “The Dunwich Horror,” Lovecraft.)

Monte Cassino — The library here is believed to have held a Greek or Latin copy, but if so, it was destroyed by Allied bombing during World War II. (Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

Monterey, California — The public library here holds a Xeroxed copy of portions of the Latin translation. (“The Color from Beyond”, Cabos.

Oakland, California — A copy of Al Azif might have been held by a private collector in the early decades of this century, but if this is so, it was probably destroyed in an accidental fire. (“History of the Necronomicon,” Lovecraft; “The Return of the Sorcerer,” Smith.)

Oxford — The Bodleian Library here held Dee’s original manuscript, which was donated by Elias Ashmole. In the spring of 1934, however, persons unknown broke into the library and stole the book. (“The Necronomicon FAQ,” Low.)

Pickman family — This family of Salem, Massachusetts owned a Greek copy, which disappeared with the artist Richard Upton Pickman. Since it has been rumored that he has taken up residence in the Dreamlands, this may be a line of research for an enterprising dreamer to pursue. (“The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath,” Lovecraft; “History of the Necronomicon,” Lovecraft; “Pickman’s Model,” Lovecraft.)

Prague, Czech Republic — If John Dee did make his translation from a book he found in the library of King Rudolph II, that work may still be here. (The Necronomicon, Hay, ed.)

Salzburg, Austria — The Nazis may have buried a collection of occult works, possibly including the Necronomicon, somewhere near this town. (“The Necronomicon FAQ,” Low.)

San Marcos of Lima — A Greek translation printed in Italy is kept at this Peruvian university. (“Out of the Ages,” Carter; “The Lurker at the Threshold,” Derleth and Lovecraft.)

Shrewsbury, Laban — This investigator of the links between mythologies across the world and the Cthulhu Mythos is said to have taken an incomplete Arabic edition from the tomb of Abdul Alhazred himself sometime around 1940. It is rumored that he may be found at the Great Library of Celaeno. (“The Keeper of the Key”, Derleth.)

Starry Wisdom Church of Providence, Rhode Island — The cult held a 17th century Olaus Wormius edition here, but Doctor Ambrose Dexter removed it in 1935, at the same time he removed the Shining Trapezohedron. (“The Shadow from the Steeple,” Bloch; “The Haunter of the Dark,” Lovecraft.)

State University of Saint Petersburg — One of the few surviving copies of the Kitab al-Azif is said to be here. (Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

Szolyhaza, Hungary — A copy is held in a private collection in this small town, but the exact edition is unknown. (“The Second Wish,” Lumley.)

University of Buenos Aires — This institution holds a 17th century printing of Olaus Wormius’s translation. (“The Dunwich Horror,” Lovecraft.)

University of Sofia — This school in Bulgaria may possess a copy of Al Azif. (Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

Vatican — It is rumored that a copy of the Necronomicon rests within the Papal Archives, but details are lacking. (“The Lurker at the Threshold,” Derleth and Lovecraft.)

University of Isfahan, Iran — This institution holds a fragmentary copy of an unspecified edition (“The Key of the Poet”, Kane)

Zebulon Pharr Collection — Pharr was a famous West Coast occultist and anthropologist of the late 19th century. His library is rumored to contain a Latin copy of the Necronomicon, but even the most reputable institutions have been denied access to this collection. (“Statue of the Sorcerer,” Elliott and Edwards.)

APPENDIX C: CONTENTS OF THE NECRONOMICON

(This list does not give the contents of any of the commercially available Necronomicons; rather, it consists of items which would, according to the latest research, be in such a volume.)

The famous couplet:

That is not dead which can eternal lie,

And with strange eons even death may die.

In the original Arabic, it is translated as:

That thing is not dead which has the capacity to continue to exist eternally,

And if the abnormal (bizarre, strange) ones (things, times) come, then death may cease to be.

(“Notes on a Fragment of the Necronomicon,” Hamblin; “The Nameless City,” Lovecraft.)

A formula for calling Yog-Sothoth can be found on page 751. (“The Dunwich Horror,” Lovecraft.)

On page 224 is the Hoy-Dhin chant, which is necessary to call the Black. Unfortunately, the rest of this procedure is in the Cthaat Aquadingen. (“The Horror at Oakdeene,” Lumley.)

Page 984 has a passage in the Naacal tongue. (Selected Letters IV, Lovecraft.)

A copy of the Elder Sign. (“Castle Dark,” Herber.)

The Vach-Viraj chant, which is used against Nyogtha. (“The Salem Horror,” Kuttner.)

A formula for calling Nyogtha himself. (“The Salem Horror,” Kuttner.)

A ritual that will accelerate the change of a human into a deep one. (“The Tomb of Priscus,” Mooney.)

The story of how Kish and his followers escaped Sarnath before that city’s destruction. (“Zoth-Ommog,” Carter.)

An exorcism in which a hundred names of ghosts and demons are named. (This formula did not appear in the Wormius translation.) (“The Return of the Sorcerer,” Smith.)

A spell allowing the caster to switch minds with a victim. (“The Thing on the Doorstep,” Lovecraft.)

A way to create a gate in the place of the Sphinx beneath the pyramids of Giza, that will send a person directly to Nyarlathotep. (“Cairo,” DiTillio and Willis.)

The Voorish Sign. (“The Dunwich Horror,” Lovecraft).

The Mao rite. (“The Plain of Sound”, Campbell)

The Zoan ritual, which protects its user against Mnomquah. (“Something in the Moonlight,” Carter.)

A chart showing the positions of various celestial objects (which is partial and outdated). (“The Horror from the Bridge,” Campbell.)

A series of stories about a certain ghoul, including the Episode of the Vault under the Mosque, the climax of which has been torn out of the Harvard and Miskatonic copies. (Selected Letters III, Lovecraft.)

A line of stars, signifying something even the mad Arab was reluctant to record. (Selected Letters III, Lovecraft.)

A spell that may be used to dispel Bugg-Shash when he comes to this dimension. (“The Kiss of Bugg-Shash,” Lumley.)

Information on Yomagn’tho, That Which Relentlessly Waits Outside. (“The Feaster from the Stars”, Berglund.)

Possibly the key to telepathy. (“I Know What You Need,” King.)

See Al Azif; Alhazred, Abdul; Armitage, Henry; Azathoth; Barzai; the Black; Confessions of the Mad Monk Clithanus; Cthulhu in the Necronomicon; Cultus Maleficarum; Ibn Schacabao; Kara-Shehr; Mad Berkley’s Book; Monstres and their Kynde; Nephren-Ka; Notes on the Necronomicon; Nug-Soth; Original Notes on the Necronomicon; Othuyeg; Pharos of Leng; Philetas, Theodorus; Reflections; R’lyeh Text; Sadowsky, Phileus; S’lghuo; That is not dead...; tomb-herd; Tond; ‘Umr at-Tawil; Von Junzt, Friedrich Wilheim; Whateley, Wilbur; Wormius, Olaus; Yakthoob.

Bibliography

Unfortunately, I have neither the time nor the space to assemble a complete bibliography of all the works listed below, including publication information on their various appearances. Those seeking them should probably start with Chris Jarocha-Ernst’s A Cthulhu Mythos Bibliography & Concordance and a good Internet search engine.

Adair, Christopher Smith. “The Voice of the Animals” (2006).

Adams, Benjamin. “Not to Force the Rhymes” (1997), “The Second Movement” (1996).

Aletti, Steffan B. “The Last Work of Pietro de Apono” (1969).

Altman, Steven-Elliot. “A Case of Royal Blood” (2003).

Ambuehl, James. “Arkham Pets” (2006), “The Bane of Byagoona” (1996), “The Deep-Lord Awakens” (1998), “Huitloxopetl IX: Pickman’s God” (1997); “Reflections of Dust and Death” (1997), “Sculpture” (1984), “The Shadow of the Sleeping God” (1999), “The Snakefarm” (1998), “The Star-Seed” (1996), “The Terror of Toad Lake” (1997).

— and Simon Bucher-Jones. “The Case of the Curiously Competent Conjurer” (2002).

— and Robert M. Price. “Wrath of the Wind-Walker” (1997).

Anderson, Marion. Cairo Guidebook (1995).

— and Phil Anderson. “Rigid Air” (1992).

Aniolowski, Scott D. “An Early Frost” (1994), “Cold War” (1994), “Eyes of a Stranger” (1993), “Fade to Grey” (1991), “I Dream of Wires” (1995), Malleus Monstrorum (2007), “La Musique de la Nuit” (1996), “The Marsh Mansion” (1992), “The Sundial of Amen-Tet” (1990), Ye Booke of Monstres (1994).

— and L. N. Isinwyll and Herbert Hike. “Where a God Shall Tread” (1990).

— and Gary Sumpter. Ramsey Campbell’s Goatswood (2001).

— and Michael Szymanski. “The Temple of the Moon” (1986).

Aniolowski, Scott D. et al. The Art of Playing Mythos (1996), “Mysterious Manuscripts” (1991).

Anonymous. “Return of the Elder Gods” (1978). Article on magick.

Antunes, Sandy. Miskatonic University (1995).

Arnold, Herb. “Those Beneath the Waves” (1972).

Asamatsu Ken. “The Plague of St. James Infirmary” (2005).

Attansio, Albert A. “Glimpses” (1975), “A Priestess of Nodens” (1995), “The Star-Pools” (1980), “Time in the Hourless House” (2003).

Az0th. Letter to the author (1994).

Ballon, Bruce. “Coming of Age” (2001), “The Truth Shall Set You Free” (2001), “The Wild Hunt” (2001).

Barton, William. Cthulhu by Gaslight (1986), “The Curse of Chaugnar Faugn” (1990), “The Killer out of Space” (1986), “The Yorkshire Horrors” (1988).

Bastienne, Paul. “The King in Yellow” (1987).

Baugh, Matthew. “Mysterious Dan’s Legacy” (2006).

Behrendt, Fred. “Mansion of Madness” (1990), “Sacraments of Evil” (1993).

Berglund, E. P. “The Crystal” (1997), “A Dangerous High” (2006), “Dream-Sendings” (1995), “Feast with a Few Strangers” (1974), “The Feaster from the Stars” (1977), “Huitloxopetl IV: Vision of Madness” (1974), “Memories” (2000), “The Sand Castle” (1981), “Sword of the Seven Suns” (1978), “Wings in the Night” (1975).

— and Crispin Burnham. “The Thing in the Library” (1974).

— and Robert E. Weinberg. “The Dark Stairway” (1971).

Bertin, Eddy. “Darkness, My Name Is” (1976), “Dunwich Dreams, Dunwich Screams:” (2004).

Bierce, Ambrose. “The Death of Halpin Frayser” (1893), “Haita the Shepherd” (1893), “An Inhabitant of Carcosa” (1891), “The Man and the Snake” (1891).

Bishop, Andre. “This Fire Shall Kill” (1992).

Blackwood, Algernon. “The Windigo” (1910).

Blavatsky, Helena. The Secret Doctrine, third edition (1893), The Theosophical Glossary (1974).

Blish, James. “More Light” (1970).

Bloch, Robert. “Black Bargain” (1942), “Black Lotus” (1935), “The Brood of Bubastis” (1937), “The Dark Demon” (1936), “The Faceless God” (1936), “Fane of the Black Pharaoh” (1937), “The Grinning Ghoul” (1936), “Hell on Earth” (1942), “The Mannikin” (1936), “Notebook Found in a Deserted House” (1951), “Philtre Tip” (1961), “Power of the Druid” (1940), “The Secret of Sebek” (1937), “The Shadow from the Steeple” (1950), “The Shambler from the Stars” (1935), Strange Eons (1979), “The Suicide in the Study” (1935).

— (as Nathan Hindin). “Death is an Elephant” (1939).

Bock, Guy. “Thalarion: City of a Thousand Wonders” (1991).

Bonewitz, Isaac. Real Magic (1993).

Brasseur de Bourbourg, Abbé. Manuscrit Troano (1869–70).

Breach, Arthur W. “The Return of the White Ship” (1994).

Brennan, Josef Payne. “The Feaster from Afar” (1976), “The Keeper of the Dust” (1962), “The Seventh Incantation” (1973), “The Willow Platform” (1973).

Brownlow, Nick. “13 Places of Interest in Brichester” (2003).

Burnham, Crispin. “Demon in the Flesh” (1974), “History of the Empire of the Continent of Quy” (1976), “Huitloxopetl VI: Lieutenant August Investigates” (1975), “Invocation” (1974), “Invocation from Beyond” (1996), “The Seven Cities of Gold” (1994), “The Worm” (1974).

Burleson, Donald. “Ghost Lake” (1995).

Busiek, Kurt and Len Wein. Conan: Book of Thoth (2006).

Cabos, L. M. “The Color from Beyond” (1978), “Doctor Dexter” (1982).

Campbell, Ramsey. “Before the Storm” (1980), “The Church in High Street” (1962), “Cold Print” (1969), The Darkest Part of the Woods (2002), “Errol Undercliffe: A Tribute” (1973), “The Faces at Pine Dunes” (1980), “The Franklyn Paragraphs” (1973), “The Horror from the Bridge” (1964), “The Inhabitant of the Lake” (1964), “The Insects from Shaggai” (1964), “A Madness from the Vaults” (1972), “The Mine on Yuggoth” (1964), “The Moon-Lens” (1964), “The Other Names” (2002), “The Pattern” (1976), “The Plain of Sound” (1964), “The Render of the Veils” (1964), “The Return of the Witch” (1964), “The Room in the Castle” (1964), “The Stone on the Island” (1964), “The Tower from Yuggoth” (1986), “A Word from the Author” (1964).

Campbell, Tony. “The Orb” (2006).

Cannon, Peter. “The House of Azathoth” (1996), “It Was the Day of the Deep One” (1997), “The Letters of Halpin Chalmers” (1994), “The Madness out of Space” (1982–3), “The Revenge of Azathoth” (1994).

Carter, Lin. “The Acolyte of the Flame” (1985), “Behind the Mask” (1987), “The Black Lotus” (1965), The Black Star (1973), “The Book of Dismissals” (1990), “The Book of Preparations” (1990), “The Book of the Gates” (1990), “Carcosa Story about Hali” (1993), “The City of Pillars” (1974), Curse of the Black Pharaoh (1989), “Dead of Night” (1988), “Dreams of the Black Lotus” (1987), “The Doom of Yakthoob” (1971), “Dreams in the House of Weir” (1980), “The Dweller in the Tomb” (1971), “The Feaster from the Stars” (1984), “The Fishers from Outside” (1988), “The Gathering-Place” (1988), History and Chronology of the Book of Eibon (1984), “In the Vale of Pnath” (1975), “Introduction” to Dreams from R‘lyeh (1975), “The Last Ritual” (1964), The Life of Eibon According to Cyron of Varaad (1988), “Litany to Hastur” (1971), “The Madness out of Time” (1986), “The Million Favoured Ones” (1968), “Mnomquah” (1985), “The Offering” (1982), “Out of the Ages” (1975), “Perchance to Dream” (1988), “The Seal of Zaon Sathla” (1970), “The Secret in the Parchment” (1988), “The Shadow from the Stars” (1988), “Shaggai” (1971), “Something in the Moonlight” (1981), “The Strange Doom of Enos Harker” (1989), “Strange Manuscript found in the Vermont Woods” (1988), “The Thing in the Pit” (1980), “The Thing under Memphis” (1984), Thongor and the Wizard of Lemuria (1969), Thongor Fights the Pirates of Tarakus (1970), Thongor in the City of Magicians (1968), “Tsathoggua” (1965), “The Unbegotten Source” (1984), “The Vault beneath the Mosque” (1985), “The Vengeance of Yig” (1983), Visions from Yaddith (1988), “The Winfield Inheritance” (1981), “Zoth-Ommog” (1976).

— “H. P. Lovecraft: The Books” (1956), “H. P. Lovecraft: The Gods” (1956). Articles on the Mythos.

— and Laurence J. Cornford. “The Doom of Enos Harker” (1997).

— and August Derleth and Mark Schorer. “The Incantation of the Elder Sign” (1984).

— and Robert M. Price. “The Strange Doom of Enos Harker” (completed version) (1997).

— and Clark Ashton Smith. “The Descent into the Abyss” (1981), “The Light from the Pole” (1980), “Papyrus of the Dark Wisdom” (1988), “The Scroll of Morloc” (1975), “The Stairs in the Crypt” (1976), “The Utmost Abomination” (1973).

Cartwright, Ran. “Tommy’s Goat” (NDG).

Cave, Hugh B. “The Isle of Dark Magic” (1934).

Chambers, Robert W. “In the Court of the Dragon” (1895), “The Maker of Moons” (1895), “The Repairer of Reputations” (1895), “The Silent Land” (1896), The Slayer of Souls (1920), “The Yellow Sign” (1895).

Chappell, Fred. Dagon (1968).

Chua, Kevin Kendrick. “The Necronomicon FAQ” (NDG).

Churchward, James. The Lost Continent of Mu (1926).

Cleaver, Harry. “The Spawn” (1989).

Clegg, John Scott. “The Coven at Cannich” (1982).

Clore, Dan. “Twilight of the Elder Gods” (1997).

Cockcroft, T. G. L. “Some Observations on the Carter Glossary” (1959).

Collins, Nancy A. “The Land of the Reflected Ones” (1994).

Comtois, Pierre. “The Deep Cellars” (2002), “Goat-Mother” (2004).

Conover, Willis and H. P. Lovecraft. Lovecraft at Last (1975).

Conyers, David. “Darkest Calling” (2004), “False Containment” (2005), “Made of Meat” (2005), Secrets of Kenya (2007), “Weapon Grade” (2007).

Conyers, David and David Godley and David Witteveen. Devil’s Children (1993).

Conyers, David and John Sunseri. “The Spiraling Worm” (2007).

Cook, Monte and John Tynes. Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying Game (2002).

Copper, Basil. The Great White Space (1974).

Cornford, Laurence J. “A Brief Biography of Abdul Alhazred” (1997), “The Demon of the Ring” (2002), “The Face from Below” (2002), “The Fear of Liqoimkh” (1997/98), “The Haunting of Uthnor” (2002), “Huitloxopetl XII: Plagued by Dreams” (1997), “The Offspring of the Tomb” (2002), “The Sphinx of Abormis” (2002).

Costello, Matthew. Alone Against the Dark (1985).

Coulthart, John and H. P. Lovecraft. “The Call of Cthulhu” (1994).

Crowe, John H. III. Realm of Shadows (1997), Walker in the Wastes (1994).

Culp, Robert. The Necronomicon (1976), “The Papyrus of Nephren-Ka” (1995).

Curran, Tim. Hive (2005).

Davey, Ian. “The Epiphany of Dissolution” (1998), “Huitloxopetl XI: The Ripening of Huitloxopetl” (1997).

DeBill, Walter C. “The Barrett Horror” (2002), “The Bookseller’s Second Wife” (2003), “The Changeling” (2002), “From the Sea” (1972), “He Who Comes at the Noontime” (2002), “The Horror from Yith” (1974), “In ‘Ygiroth” (1975), “K’n-yan” (1971), “The Lure of Leng” (1973), “Ngyr-Khorath” (1973), “Perilous Legacy” (1974), “Predator” (1972), “Red-Litten Yoth” (1971), “What Lurks Among the Dunes” (1973), “Where Yidhra Walks” (1976).

— and E. P. Berglund (as Drs. Eric von Könnenberg and Pierre de Hammais). “The History of the Great Race” (1974), “Solar Pons and the Cthulhu Mythos” (1990).

De Camp, L. Sprague. “Foreword” to Al Azif (1973).

— and Lin Carter. Conan of the Isles (1968), Conan the Buccaneer (1971).

Dembo, Arinn. “Suicide Watch” (2001). “Derby, Edward Pickman.” “Azathoth” (1995).

Derleth, August. “The Adventure of the Six Silver Spiders” (1950), “Beyond the Threshold” (1941), “The Black Island” (1952), “The Dweller in Darkness” (1944), “The Gorge beyond Salanpunco” (1949), “The House on Curwen Street” (1944), “Ithaqua” (1941), “The Keeper of the Key” (1951), “The Passing of Eric Holm” (1939), “The Return of Hastur” (1939), “The Sandwin Compact” (1940), “The Seal of R’lyeh” (1957), “Something from Out There” (1951), “The Thing that Walked on the Wind” (1933), “The Watcher from the Sky” (1945).

— and H. P. Lovecraft. “The Dark Brotherhood” (1966), “The Fisherman of Falcon Point” (1959), “The Gable Window” (1957), “The Horror from the Middle Span” (1967), “The Lamp of Alhazred” (1957), “The Lurker at the Threshold” (1945), “The Shadow out of Space” (1957), “The Shuttered Room” (1959), “The Survivor” (1954).

— and Mark Schorer. “The Horror from the Depths” (1940), “Lair of the Star-Spawn” (1932), “Spawn of the Maelstrom” (1939).

Detwiller, Dennis. “Call of Duty” (1997), Delta Green: Denied to the Enemy (2004), Machinations of the Mi-Go (1998), “Night and Water” (2001), Project Rainbow (2000).

Detwiller, Dennis and Adam Scott Glancy and John Tynes. Delta Green: A Call of Cthulhu Sourcebook of Modern Horror and Conspiracy (1997).

Detwiller, Dennis and L. N. Isinwyll. “The Songs of Fantari” (1990).

Detwiller, Dennis et al. Delta Green: Countdown (1999).

Detwiller, Dennis with Shane Ivey. The Fate (1998).

DeWolfe, Michael. “Mister Corbitt” (1990).

Diaper, John et al. The Arkham Evil (1983?).

DiTillio, Larry and Lynn Willis. “City Beneath the Sands” (1987), Masks of Nyarlathotep (1984).

Donahue, Chris and Linda L. “The Star of Istanbul” (2007).

Drake, David. “Than Curse the Darkness” (1980).

Duschnes, Philip C. “The Necronomicon” (1946).

Dunsany, Edward Plunkett. “Bethmoora” (1910), “The Hashish-Man” (1910).

Dziesinski, Michael. Secrets of Japan (2005).

Elliott, Chris and Richard Edwards. “The Statue of the Sorcerer” (1986).

Engan, Charles and Janyce. Beyond the Mountains of Madness (1999).

Erkes, E. S. “Secrets of the Kremlin” (1983).

Fantina, Michael. “Headsman” (1979), “Lord of Night” (1974), “Nithon” (1974), “The Peak” (1974), “Tsathoggua” (2002).

Farmer, Philip Jose. “The Freshman” (1979).

Flansburg, Jill E. “Strange Aeons” (1996).

Franck, Stefan. “Der Blutsauger von Schwarzbrunn” (2004).

Frenschkowski, Marco. “Hali” (1996), “The Secret of Leng” (1994).

Fultz, John R. “Star-Spawn of Hyperborea” (2004).

— and Jonathan Burns. “Wizards of Hyperborea” (1994).

Gallagher, Bob et al. “Pursuit to Kadath” (1983).

Gesbert, Stephane et al. Cthulhu Dark Ages (2004).

Gillan, Geoff. “Regiment of Dread” (1991).

Gillan, Geoff et al. Horror on the Orient Express (1991).

Glancy, Adam Scott. “An Item of Mutual Interest” (1997).

Glasby, John S. “The Black Mirror” (original) (1996), “The Black Mirror” (alternate) (1967), The Dark Destroyer (2005), “The Dweller Beyond the Gate” (1990), “The Dwellers in Darkness” (1989), “The Haunting of Charles Quintain” (1967), “The Kh’yrog Tablets” (1990), “The Nameless Tower” (1994?), “The Old One” (1989), “The Ring of the Hyades” (1989).

Grant, Kenneth. Aleister Crowley and the Hidden God (1973), Cults of the Shadow (1976), Hecate’s Fountain (1992), The Magical Revival (1972), Nightside of Eden (1977), Outer Gateways (1994), Outside the Circles of Time (1980).

Gresh, Lois H. “Mandelbrot Moldrot” (1996).

Gruetzmacher, James. “Ei’lor” (1998).

Gullette, Alan D. “The Shadow from Yith” (1973).

Hall, Loay and Terry Dale. “The Curse of the Toad” (1978).

Hallett, David with L. N. Isinwyll. “Eyes for the Blind” (1991).

Hamblin, William. “The City Without a Name” (1984), “Further Notes on the Necronomicon” (1983), “Notes on a Fragment of the Necronomicon” (1983), “On the Ubiquity of Cthulhu” (1985), “Thoth’s Dagger” (1984).

Hargrave, David. “Black Devil Mountain” (1983), “Dark Carnival” (1984).

Harrigan, Pat. “Worms” (2006).

Harmon, Mark. “The Madman” (1983).

Harms, Daniel. “Cults Exposed!: The Sacred Flame of Bubastis” (2006), “Cults Exposed!: The Starry Wisdom Church” (2004), “Hands of the Living God” (1995).

Harris, Steven Marc. “The History of Nephren-Ka” (1997), “The History of Von Unaussprechlichen Kulten” (1996), “The People of the Monolith” (1996), “Titus Crow: A Sketch of His Life” (2000), “The Von Junzt Timeline” (1996).

Hasse, Henry. “The Guardian of the Book” (1937), “Horror at Vecra” (1943).

Hatherley, Steve. “The Lambton Worm” (1992).

Hay, George, ed. The Necronomicon: The Book of Dead Names (1978).

Heller, Frank. “Das entsetzlich einsam gelegene Haus im Wald” (2001).

Henderson, C. J. “Admission of Weakness” (1999), “The Death of Maal Dweb” (2005), “The Door” (2002), “False Prophets” (2000), “Free the Old Ones” (1995), “Idiot Savant” (1994), “Juggernaut” (2000), “Kolchak: The Night Stalker: The Lovecraftian Horror” (2007), “Locked Room” (2005), “Nothing To Fear but Dust” (2005), “Patiently Waiting” (1996), The Things That Are Not There (1992), “To Cast Out Fear” (1999), “What Every Coin Has” (2006), “Where Shadow Falls” (2005).

— and Gehweiler, Bruce. “Screaming in Silence” (2003).

Hensler, David. “The Higher Mythos” (1997).

Herber, Keith. “Appendix B: The Brotherhood of the Beast” (1984), “By the Bay: Part I” (1984), “Castle Dark” (1984), “The Condemned” (1990), “Dead of Night” (1990), “The Dreamer” (1984), “The Evil Stars” (1987), Fungi from Yuggoth (1984), “Halls of Celaeno” (1984), Keeper’s Compendium (1993), “The Little People” (1992), “The Necronomicon” (1992), “Pickman’s Student” (1988), Return to Dunwich (1991), “Sands of Time” (1984), Spawn of Azathoth (1986), Trail of Tsathogghua (1984), “Ulthar and Beyond” (1986).

— and Kevin Ross. “Books of the Cthulhu Mythos” (1992).

Herber, Keith et al. Arkham Unveiled (1990).

Hicks, Hadrian and Tani Jantsang. “A New Beginning” (NDG).

Hilger, Ron. “The Oracle of Sàdoqua” (1989).

Hillenbrand, Sascha, Dan Harms, and Steven Marc Harris. “The ‘True’ History of Friedrich Wilheim von Junzt” (2006).

Hjort, James W. “Andalous and the Chimera” (1980).

Hodgson, William H. “The Gateway of the Monster” (1910), “The House among the Laurels” (1910), “The Hog” (1947), “The Whistling Room” (1910).

Houarner, Gerard Daniel. “The Yellow Play” (1996).

Howard, Robert E. “Black Colossus” (1933), “The Black Stone” (1931), “By This Axe I Rule!” (1967 “The Children of the Night” (1931), “The Dark Man” (1931), “Dermod’s Bane” (1967), “Dig Me No Grave” (1937), “The Door to the Garden” (1977), “Exile of Atlantis” (1967?), “The Fire of Asshurbanipal” (1936), “The Gods of Bal-Sagoth” (1931), “The Haunter of the Ring” (1934), “The Hour of the Dragon” (1935–36), “The Hyborian Age” (1936), “Kings of the Night” (1930), “Men of the Shadows” (1969?), “People of the Dark” (1932), “The Phoenix on the Sword” (1932), “The Pool of the Black One” (1933), “Red Nails” (1936), “The Scarlet Citadel” (1933), “The Shadow Kingdom” (1929), “Skull-Face” (1929), “The Thing on the Roof” (1932), “The Tower of the Elephant” (1933), “Untitled Fragment” (1979), “Worms of the Earth” (1932).

— Letter to P. S. Miller (1936).

— and Lin Carter. “The Hand of Nergal” (1967).

— and August Derleth. “The House in the Oaks” (1971).

— and C. J. Henderson. “Dagon Manor” (1986).

— and Robert M. Price. “Black Eons” (1985).

Howard, Robert E. et al. Ghor Kin-Slayer (1997).

Hurd, David and William Baetz. “The Alchemist’s Notebook” (1979).

Hutchinson, Marc. “The Hermetic Order of the Silver Twilight” (1982).

Hynes, Justin. “The King of Shreds and Patches” (1995).

Inabinet, Sam. Chronicle of the Black Labyrinth (1996).

Ingham, Wood. “False Mythologies” (2004), “Sufficient unto the Day” (2005).

Isinwyll, L. N. with Herbert Hike. “Dawn Biozyme” (1990).

Jacobi, Carl. “The Aquarium” (original) (1992).

James, Montague Rhodes. “Count Magnus” (1904).

Jantsang, Tani. “The Colors of Cthulhu’s Minions” (NDG), Glimpses of Other Nations (NDG).

— and Jeff Gerber and Casey Ley. “The Statement of Richard Daniel Upton” (NDG).

Jeffrey, Peter and Mark Morrison. “Slow Boat” (1992).

Jens, Tina. “In Her Daughter’s Darkling Womb” (1997).

Johnson, Roger. “Aliah Warden” (1985), “The Dreaming City” (1987).

— and Robert M. Price. “In Memoriam” (2006).

Johnson, Sam. A Resection of Time (1997).

Johnson, Sam et. al. Miskatonic University (2005).

Jones, Steven Philip. “The Worlds of H. P. Lovecraft — Dagon” (1993).

Jones, William. “The Source and the End” (2004).

Joshi, S. T. “The Recurring Doom” (1980).

Kane, Edward M. “The Key of the Poet” (1997).

Keene, Brian. “The King, in: Yellow” (2004).

Kiernan, Caitlin R. Daughter of Hounds (2007), “From Cabinet 34, Drawer 6” (2005), Low Red Moon (2003).

King, Stephen. “I Know What You Need” (1976), “Jerusalem’s Lot” (1978).

Kershaw-Moore, Rik. “Stranger’s Race” (2003).

Klein, T. E. D. “Black Man with a Horn” (1984), The Ceremonies (1984).

Konaka Chiaki. “Terror Rate” (2002).

Kruger, Bob. “Identity Crisis” (1997).

Kuttner, Henry. “Bells of Horror” (1939), “The Eater of Souls” (1937), “The Hunt” (1939), “Hydra” (1939), “The Invaders” (1939), “The Jest of Droom-avista” (1937), “The Salem Horror” (1937).

Laird, Jack. “Professor Peabody’s Last Lecture” (1972).

Landwehr, Richard. “Casket of the Sea Queen” (1974).

Langford, David. “Deepnet” (1994).

Larkin, Stephen T. “The Saga of Abdul Alhazred” (2002).

Larson, Randall. “Fire” (2004), “The Gunfight against Nyarlathotep” (1979), “The Spawn of the Y’lagh” (1975).

Launius, Richard. “Season of the Witch” (1988).

— and Lynn Willis and Charlie Krank. Arkham Horror.

LaVey, Anton. The Satanic Rituals (1972).

Leiber, Fritz. “The Terror from the Depths” (1976), “To Arkham and the Stars” (1966).

Leman, Andrew and Jamie Anderson. “With Malice Aforethought” (1993).

Lette, Scott. “The Lady in the Grove” (2006).

Levenda, Peter (as “Simon”). Necronomicon (1977), Necronomicon Spellbook (1981).

Lewis, C. Raymond. “From the Journals of Alexander Hale, Ph. D.: The Tablets of Destiny” (1994).

Ligotti, Thomas. “The Blasphemous Enlightenment of Prof. Francis Wayland Thurston of Boston, Providence, and the Human Race” (1989), “The Prodigy of Dreams” (1986), “Vastarien” (1987).

Lobdell, Jared. “The Long-Lost Friend” (1999).

Long, Frank B. “The Horror from the Hills” (1931), “The Hounds of Tindalos” (1931), H. P. Lovecraft: Dreamer on the Nightside (1975), “The Space-Eaters” (1928), “When Chaugnar Wakes” (1932).

Lotstein, Michael. “The Summoning” (1997).

Louis, Mike and Simon Price. “The Vanishing Conjuror” (1986).

Love, Penelope. “Unseen” (1995).

Lovecraft, Howard P. “Alienation” (1931), “The Ancient Track” (1930), “At the Mountains of Madness” (1936), “Beyond the Wall of Sleep” (1919), “The Call of Cthulhu” (1928), “The Case of Charles Dexter Ward” (1941), “The Cats of Ulthar” (1920), “Celephaïs” (1934), “The Colour out of Space” (1927), “Dagon” (1919), “Discarded Draught: The Shadow over Innsmouth” (1944), “The Doom that Came to Sarnath” (1920), “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath” (1948), Dreams and Fancies (1962), “The Dreams in the Witch House” (1933), “The Dunwich Horror” (1929), “The Elder Pharos” (1930), “Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and his Family” (1921), “The Festival” (1925), “Herbert West — Reanimator” (1922), “The Haunter of the Dark” (1936), “History of the Necronomicon” (1936), “The Hound” (1924), “Hypnos” (1923), “The Messenger” (1938), “The Music of Erich Zann” (1922), “The Nameless City” (1921), “Nyarlathotep” (1920), “The Other Gods” (1933), “The Outpost” (1934), “Pickman’s Model” (1927), “The Pigeon-Flyers” (1930), “Polaris” (1920), “The Rats in the Walls” (1924), “Recognition” (1930), “The Shadow over Innsmouth” (1936), “The Shunned House” (1928), “The Silver Key” (1929), “The Statement of Randolph Carter” (1919), “The Shadow Out of Time” (1936), “The Star-Winds” (1930), “The Strange High House in the Mist” (1931), “The Temple” (1925), “The Terrible Old Man” (1921), “The Thing on the Doorstep” (1937), “To a Dreamer” (1921), “The Unnamable” (1925), “The Very Old Folk” (1927) “The Whisperer in Darkness” (1931), “The White Ship” (1919).

— Dreams and Fancies (1962), Letters to Henry Kuttner (1990), Selected Letters II (1968), Selected Letters III (1971), Selected Letters IV (1976), Selected Letters V (1976), Uncollected Letters (1988). Correspondence.

— and Zealia Bishop. “The Curse of Yig” (1929), “The Mound” (1940).

— and Adolphe de Castro. “The Last Test” (1928).

— and John Glasby. “The Weird Shadow over Innsmouth” (1999).

— and Sonia Greene. “The Horror at Martin’s Beach” (1923).

— and Hazel Heald. “The Horror in the Museum” (1933), “The Man of Stone” (1932), “Out of the Aeons” (1935), “Winged Death” (1933).

— and Harry Houdini. “Under the Pyramids” (1924).

— and William Lumley. “The Diary of Alonzo Typer” (1938).

— and E. Hoffman Price. “Through the Gates of the Silver Key” (1934).

— and Duane W. Rimel. “The Tree on the Hill” (1940).

Low, Colin. “The Necronomicon FAQ.” From the Internet. No date given.

Lowndes, Robert A. “The Abyss” (1992), “The Abyss” (revised edition) (1965), Annals of Arkya, (1944).

Lumley, Brian. “A-Mazed in Oriab” (1991), “Aunt Hester” (1977), Beneath the Moors (1974), “Billy’s Oak” (1970), “The Black Recalled” (1987), “Born of the Winds” (1977), The Burrowers Beneath (1974), “The Caller of the Black” (1971), “Cement Surroundings” (1969), The Clock of Dreams (1978), “Cryptically Yours” (1979), “The Cyprus Shell” (1968), “Dagon’s Bell” (1988), “De Marigny’s Clock” (1971), Deadspeak (1990), “Dylath-Leen” (1971), Elysia (1989), “The Fairground Horror” (1976), Hero of Dreams (1986), “The Horror at Oakdeene” (1977), “The House of Cthulhu” (1973), “The House of the Temple” (1981), “Iced on Aran” (1989), In the Moons of Borea (1979), “In the Vaults Beneath” (1971), “Inception” (1987), “Introduction” to The House of Cthulhu (1984), “Isles of the Suhm-Yi” (1984), “An Item of Supporting Evidence” (1970), Khai of Ancient Khem (1980), “The Kiss of Bugg-Shash” (1978), “The Kiss of the Lamia” (1985), “Lord of the Worms” (1987), Mad Moon of Dreams (1987), “The Man in the Dream” (1969), “The Mirror of Nitocris” (1971), “Mylakhrion the Immortal” (1977), “Name and Number” (1987), “The Return of the Deep Ones” (1984), “Rising with Surtsey” (1971), “The Running Man” (1987), “The Second Wish” (1980), Ship of Dreams (1986), “The Sorcerer’s Book” (1984), “The Sorcerer’s Dream” (1979), Sorcery in Shad (1991), “Spaghetti” (1985), Spawn of the Winds (1978), “The Statement of One John Gibson” (1984), “Titus Crow vs. Dracula” (mention), The Transition of Titus Crow (1975), “Told in the Desert” (1984), “Treasure of the Scarlet Scorpion” (1982), “The Viking’s Stone” (1977), “What Dark God?” (1975).

Lumley, Brian et. al. “Othuum” (1974).

Lupoff, Richard A. “The Adventure of the Voorish Sign” (2003), “The Discovery of the Ghooric Zone — March 15, 2337” (1977), “Documents in the Case of Elizabeth Akeley” (1982).

Lustig, E. A. “The Enchanting of Lila Woods” (2001).

Lyons, Doug. “The Pits of Bendal-Dolum” (1986).

— and L. N. Isinwyll. “One in Darkness” (1989).

Machen, Arthur. “The Novel of the Black Seal” (1895), “The Great God Pan” (1894), “The White People” (1904).

MacIntyre, F. Gwynplaine. “The Adventure of Exham Priory” (2003).

Mackey, Allen. “Scales of Justice” (1994), “The Plague Jar” (1994).

Manui, Barbara and Chris Adams with L. N. Isinwyll. “No Pain, No Gain” (1990).

Maroney, Tim. The Book of Dzyan (2000).

Marsh, Philip O. “Heterodox Churches in Innsmouth” (NDG), R’lyehian as a Toy Language (NDG), The Worm Shall Ye Fight! (1994).

Marsh, Philip O. et. al. “A Private Inquiry into the Possible Whereabouts of Clara Boyd” (NDG).

Marsh, Tani and Philip Marsh. Other Nations (2003).

Masterton, Graham. Prey (1992), The Return of the Manitou (1979).

Matsudono Rio. “Taste of Snake’s Honey” (2002).

McCall, Randy. “The Asylum” (1983), “The Auction” (1983).

McConnell, Paul. “Ghostnet” (1997).

McConnell, Paul and Neal Sutton. The Thing at the Threshold (1992).

McLaughlin, Robert et. al. Cthulhu Live: Shades of Gray (1999).

Medoff, Randy. “They Only Come Out at Night” (1975).

Milan, Victor. “Mr. Skin” (1994).

Miller, Kurt. “The Lurker in the Crypt” (1990).

Minnis, Mike. “A Little Color in Your Cheeks” (2005), “Small Ghost” (2006).

Moeller, Jeff. “What Goes Around, Comes Around” (1993).

Moore, C. L. “Shambleau” (1933).

Moore, C. L. et. al. “The Challenge from Beyond” (1935).

Morrison, Mark with L. N. Isinwyll. “The Hills Rise Wild” (1990).

Murray, Will. “Black Fire” (1996), “To Clear the Earth” (1994).

Myers, Gary. “The Four Sealed Jars” (1975), “The House of the Worm” (1970), “The Keeper of the Flame” (1996), “The Last Night of Earth” (1995), “The Maker of Gods” (1975), “Passing of a Dreamer” (1971), “The Return of Zhosph” (1975), “The Snout in the Alcove” (1977), “The Three Enchantments” (1975), “Xiurhn” (1975), “Yokh the Necromancer” (1971).

— and Marc Laidlaw. “The Summons of Nuguth-Yug” (1981).

Nagel, Michael. “Two Minutes on High” (1994).

Navarro, Yvonne. “Meet Me on the Other Side” (2002).

Nelson, Michael Alan. “The Fall of Cthulhu” (2007).

Niswander, Adam. The Sand Dwellers (1998).

Okamoto, Jeff. “To Sleep, Perchance to Dream” (1986).

Ouellette, Jean-Paul (director). The Unnamable (1988).

Owings, Mark. “The Existing Copies: A Bibliobiography” (1967).

Patterson, Meredith L. “Principles and Parameters” (2002).

Pearlman, Sandy. “Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence” (1976).

Pelton, Fred L. A Guide to the Cthulhu Cult (1996), “The Sussex Manuscript” (1989).

Petersen, Sandy. “Captives of Two Worlds” (1986), “The Rise of R’lyeh” (1982), “The Worm that Walks” (1982).

— and John B. Monroe. “The Ten Commandments of Cthulhu Hunting” (1990).

— and Mark Pettigrew. “The Secret of Castronegro” (1983).

— and Lynn Willis. Call of Cthulhu: Horror Roleplaying in the Worlds of H. P. Lovecraft (1992), “Entering the Dreamlands” (1986), “Miskatonic University Graduation Kit” (1987).

Petersen, Sandy et. al. H. P. Lovecraft’s Dreamlands (1986), Miskatonic University (1987), S. Petersen’s Field Guide to Creatures of the Dreamlands (1989), S. Petersen’s Field Guide to Cthulhu Monsters (1988).

Plato. Critias, Timaeus.

Pocsik, John. “Casting the Stone” (1964).

Poe, Edgar Allan. “The Narrative of A. Gordon Pym of Nantucket” (1838), “Ulalume” (1847).

Pons, Ted. “Beneath the Dunes” (1975).

Price, E. Hoffman. “The Lord of Illusion” (1982).

Price, Graeme. “The Further Files of Prof. Grant Emerson: Report on Adirondack Cadaver” (2001/2).

Price, Robert M. “Acute Spiritual Fear” (2003), “The Beard of Byatis” (1995), “Behold, I Stand at the Door and Knock” (1994), “The Burrower Beneath” (1997), “A Critical Commentary on the Necronomicon” (1996), “Beneath the Tombstone” (1984), “Dope War of the Black Tong” (1996), “Exham Priory” (1990), “The Ghoul’s Tale” (2001), “The Gordian Knot” (2004), “The Green Decay” (1997), “The Incubus of Atlantis” (2002), “Lovecraft’s ‘Artificial Mythology’” (1991), “A Mate for the Mutilator” (2004), “The Prying Investigations of Edwin M. Lillibridge” (2006), “The Round Tower” (1990), “Saucers from Yaddith” (1984), “The Shunpike” (1997), “Soul of the Devil-Bought” (1996), “The Strange Fate of Alonzo Typer” (1991), “The Transition of Abdul Alhazred” (1997), “The Transition of Zadok Allen” (NDG), “Wilbur Whateley Waiting” (1987).

— and Peter Cannon. “The Curate of Temphill” (1994).

— and Laurence J. Cornford. “The Epistles of Eibon” (2002).

Pugmire, W. H. “Apotheosis” (1997), “The Baleful God” (1996), “An Eidolon of Nothing” (2006), “The Fungal Stain” (2006), “Never Steal from a Whateley” (1976), “Oh, Baleful Theophany” (2006), “Past the Gate of Deepest Slumber” (2006), “A Phantom of Beguilement” (2006), “A Piece of Stone” (1999), “Some Darker Star” (2006), “The Strange Dark Folk” (2006), “The Thing in the Glen’ (1977), “The Totem Pole” (1999), “Your Metamorphic Moan” (2006).

— and Robert M. Price. “The Tree-House” (1996).

Pulver, Joseph S. “The Adoration of the Black Flame” (2002), “The Black Litany of Nug and Yeb” (2002), “The Exorcism of Iagsat” (2004), “The Grey Rite of Azathoth” (2002), Nightmare’s Disciple (1999), “The Ritual of the Outer Void” (2002), “To Call Forth Tsathoggua to Smith Thy Enemy” (2002), “To Walk Free among the Harms of Zin” (2002).

Rahman, Glenn. Heir of Darkness (1989).

— Alone Against the Wendigo (1985).

Rahman, Glenn and Richard Tierney. The Gardens of Lucullus (2001).

Rahman, Philip and G. Arthur Rahman. “The Minneiska Incident” (1978).

Raimi, Sam (director). Evil Dead II (1987).

Rainey, Stephen Mark. Balak (2000), “Sabbath of the Black Goat” (1994).

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