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Is The Necronomicon Real?

3/25/2014

1 Comment

 
The Necronomicon is a fictional textbook of magic that appeared in the stories of Howard Phillips Lovecraft and his followers. The ancient book was first mentioned in Lovecraft’s 1924 short story “The Hound,” written in 1922.  In H. P. Lovecraft’s fictional world it was penned by the “Mad Arab” Abdul Alhazred.  Amongst a collection of alchemic spells, the Necronomicon also contained an account of the Old Ones, their history, and the means for summoning them forth.

Authors such as August Derleth and Clark Ashton Smith also cited the Necronomicon in their works and Lovecraft approved, believing such allusions created a background of realism to his mythology.  Today there are many readers who believe it to be a real volume of magic, with booksellers and librarians receiving many requests for it.   Pranksters have listed it in rare book catalogs and, at one time, a student secretly placed a counterfeit card for it into Yale University’s Library card catalog.

Even though some real-life publishers have printed several books titled, “Necronomicon,” the work is fiction.  Albeit there are those that still believe in its existence.  In my novel  "The CRY of CTHULHU" (initially published under the title “The Alchemist’s Notebook”) the ancient tome plays an important role.  Alhazred’s textbook passes down through many hands, in my story, along with Doctor Dee’s English version of the work until they come into the possession of my main protagonist wherein the translation and comparison of the two volumes reveal a dark secret.

Because of my many references to the old book in my novel I have become paranoid.  Not that I dread that some tentacled thing might reach out from the eldritch pages to choke the life out of me, rather, I fear someone will knock on my door at 2 o’clock in the morning asking to borrow my copy of the Necronomicon.  May the Old Ones protect me!

Byron Craft
1 Comment
Alan Bard Newcomer
3/30/2014 07:04:18 am

my copy says to tell your copy it is a cheap and inferior imitation that should be wrapped in tinfoil to protect it from the Elders....

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    Byron Craft

       When my avocation became my vocation I was set free.  

       Writing, at first, was a hobby that I loved dearly.  It turned into a serious endeavor several years ago when I started writing screenplays.  Unfortunately selling one out of every ten was not very lucrative.  Success comes in many forms and my poor returns from screenplays matured my writing style, ultimately affording me the ability to author hundreds of magazine articles that generated a decent paycheck.  

       Fast forward to today and my initial release of my novel “The Alchemist’s Notebook,” has been re-titled and published as "The CRY of CTHULHU."

       It is a whirlwind story in the style of H. P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos that takes the reader from Vietnam to Innsmouth then Arkham and eventually to Europe wherein chaos and screaming terror awaits all living creatures on our planet.  

       I pledge to keep the reader on pins and needles hoping that sanity and normalcy will return.

    “The CRY of CTHULHU” and all future novels, along with my blogs, will deal exclusively with that genre.


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