Pyramid Review
The Encyclopedia Cthulhiana: A Guide to Lovecraftian Horror, Expanded and Revised Second Edition (for Call of Cthulhu)
Published by Chaosium
Written by Daniel Harms
428-page black and white paperback; $17.95
As any fan of H.P. Lovecraft's fiction (or that of his literary heirs) knows, the so-called "Cthulhu Mythos" is a sprawling collection of loosely connected tales and references. With the proliferation of such stories, keeping track of who's who and what's what in the Mythos can be a rather cumbersome task. Enter The Encyclopedia Cthuliana, a concise yet methodical summary of the creatures, things, places, and personalities found the stories of Lovecraft and his followers.
The encyclopedia begins, as any collection of Mythos material should, with a brief history of Lovecraft's creations and of the work of those who came after him. Exactly what material should be included in the Cthulhu Mythos (a term coined, as the book explains, by Lovecraft's disciple August Derleth) is a matter of great debate. Should the creatures imagined by other authors but that Lovecraft never mentioned, such as Derleth's Elder Gods, be included? What about subjects of stories which are clearly Lovecraftian in style but contain none of Lovecraft's own creations, such as Donald Wandrei's The Web Of Easter Island? Mr. Harms address these concerns by stating:
"For the purposes of this book, I defined 'Cthulhu Mythos' as a collection fictional monsters, books, places, people, and other elements . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: March 12, 2004
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