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To: alt.horror.cthulhu
From: drusmith@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Dru A Smith)
Subject: FAQ, Part 3: General (v. 6/9/94)
Date: 8 Jun 1994 22:18:15 GMT

      The alt.horror.cthulhu Frequently Asked Questions List (general)
      ----------------------------------------------------------------
      Version:  06/09/94
      Organizer: Dru Smith (drusmith@MAGNUS.ACS.OHIO-STATE.EDU)

--->  Q. What is this newsgroup about?

      A. The group is specifically about the creatures, people, places
         and legends of the Cthulhu Mythos (or Cthulhu Cycle) as reported
         in the fiction of Howard Phillips Lovecraft and numerous other
         authors. More generally, the newsgroup also covers other aspects
         of H. P. Lovecraft's life and work, works by other authors of
         related style and content, and Mythos-related organizations and
         products (real or fictional) such as Miskatonic University, music,
         games, tee shirts, posters, and which cities have the best
         sanitariums.


--->  Q. How is that name pronounced?

      A. According to H. P. Lovecraft: "The actual sound - as nearly as
         human organs could imitate it or human letters record it - may be
         taken as something like Khlul'-hloo, with the first syllable pronounced
         gutturally and very thickly." Also "The best approximation one can
         make is to grunt, bark, or cough the imperfectly formed syllables
         Cluh-Luh with the tip of the tongue firmly affixed to the roof of
         the mouth. That is, if one is a human being. Directions for other
         entities are naturally different." An adequate and common substitute
         for persons lacking facial tentacles is "Kuh-thoo-loo".


--->  Q. What's a Cthulhu?

      A. The best answer to this question is found in Lovecraft's tale
         "The Call of Cthulhu". Cthulhu is a monstrous entity who lies "dead
         but dreaming" in the city of R'lyeh, a place of non-Euclidean madness
         presently (and mercifully) sunken below the depths of the Pacific
         Ocean. Cthulhu appears in various monstrous and demonic forms in
         early myths of the human race. Racial memory preserves Him as
         humanity's most basic nightmare. Cthulhu is the high priest of the
         Great Old Ones, unnatural alien beings who ruled the Earth before
         humanity formed, worshipped as gods by some misguided people. It
         is said that They will return, causing worldwide insanity and
         mindless violence before finally displacing humanity forever.


--->  Q. What does Cthulhu (as an acronym) stand for?

      A. Nothing that is known.  Cthulhu is the English spelling of the
         sounds which represent the name of a Great Old One.


--->  Q. Where can I find Cthulhu Mythos fiction and articles?

      A. The definitive versions of H. P. Lovecraft's stories, along with
         Mythos fiction by other authors, are available in hardback from:
                Arkham House Publishers, Inc.
                PO box 546
                Sauk City, WI 53583 USA

         Paperback anthologies from other publishers can be found in many
         bookstores.

         Other small but important publishers of Lovecraftiana are:
         a)     Necronomicon Press
                101 Lockwood Street
                West Warwick, RI 02893 USA

         b)     Pagan Publishing
                1910 N. 49th Street
                Seattle, WA 98103 USA
                (206) 632-3471
                e-mail: paganpub@aol.com

         c)     Fedogan & Bremer
                700 Washington Avenue, S.E.
                Suite 50
                Minneapolis, MN 55414

         d)     Borgo Press
                POBox 2845
                San Bernardino, CA 92406-2845


         For Mac users, the "Nightwatch" hyperzine can be found at
         mac.archive.umich.edu in the mac/hypercard/fun directory.

         There is also a periodical called "Lovecraft
         Studies" (available from Necronomicon Press).

         The "Call of Cthulhu" role-playing game, supplements, and merchandise
         (Miskatonic University mugs, Tee-shirts and diplomas) are published
         by:
                Chaosium Inc.
                950-A 56th Street
                Oakland, CA 94608-3129 USA
                phone: 1 (800) 213-1493.
                e-mail:  chaosium@netcom.com

         CoC players may also be interested in the "Chaosium Digest", an email
         newsletter concerning Chaosium's games in general; contact Shannon
         Appel (Internet: appel@erzo.berkeley.edu).

         Additional info for the Call of Cthulhu role-playing game is
         provided by Pagan Publishing, as well as various other companies.
         (See the Games section of this FAQ for details)


         Also, currently underway is the Lovecraft Transcription Project.
         It is an effort to get all of Lovecraft's writings down in
         electronic form.  Currently being done by David Schultz and
         S.T. Joshi.  This is for the purpose of both scholarship as
         well as publication.  If you are interested in this (especially
         if you're volunteering to help), e-mail David at:
                      dschultz@SOLARIA.MIL.WI.US

         Also, a very interesting book which might be of some help:
         "A Catalog of Lovecraftiana: The Grill/Binkin Collection", cataloged
         and annotated by Mark Owings and Irving Binkin.  It catalogs the
         collection of Philip Jack Grill, "acknowledged champion HPL collector
         of all time.".  It is 71 pp, and contains 668 items, ranging from
         the books HPL wrote (and edited and revised and so on) all the way
         to photographs and letters written to and by HPL.  It lists the
         publications where many of HPL's stories originally appeared (the
         pulps).  More interestingly, it lists "Anthologies, Novels, and
         Author Collections with HPL material" as well as "Books about
         Lovecraft"... One humorous entry in the book is
         cataloged as "Photo:  HPL, looking fat and Hitlerian"




--->  Q. Where does August Derleth stand in all this?

      A. August Derleth was one of H. P. Lovecraft's friends and fans. He was
         directly responsible for preventing Lovecraft's works from falling
         into oblivion, and co-founded Arkham House for that purpose; for
         this we owe him a zillion kudos. He wrote many tales within the
         Cthulhu Mythos; some of these are based on outlines or fragments by
         Lovecraft, such as "The Lurker at the Threshold".

         The controversy over Derleth is that in his tales he adds a number of
         concepts to the Cthulhu Mythos which appear to be at odds with
         Lovecraft's conception. He introduced the Elder Gods, ultra-powerful
         beings who had imprisoned the Great Old Ones and who protect the human
         race from their machinations. He also turned the Great Old Ones into
         elemental beings, contrary to Lovecraft's concept of them as unnatural
         alien invaders, and raising awkward questions such as "If Cthulhu is a
         water elemental, why is he imprisoned by the sea?" Whereas Lovecraft
         depicted the Mythos creatures as horrible, alien, and incomprehensible,
         Derleth sometimes made them understandable and almost likeable -
         contrast Lovecraft's "The Shadow over Innsmouth" with Derleth's
         "The Seal of R'lyeh".

         Although Derleth's ideas are anathema to many Lovecraft purists, his
         contribution to and influence over the development of the Cthulhu
         Mythos has been immense and ongoing.



--->   Q. What towns did Lovecraft base his locations on?

       A. Four major towns and suggested real-life equivalents are:
          Arkham:         Salem (with a pinch of Providence, RI)
          Kingsport:      Marblehead
          Dunwich:        Wilbraham/Springfield/Monson/Hampden
          Innsmouth:      Gloucester or Newburyport

          It is probably wrong to take these equivalents too literally, since
          Lovecraft was never averse to using real-life locations in his tales
          (e.g. "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" is set mainly in Providence,
          RI), and would have had good reason for making his fictional towns
          significantly different from real locations.

          A 2nd opinion:
          On the other hand, I always thought that Dunwich was based
          on Plasitow, Mass/NH, a few miles North of where Dunwich was supposed
          to be located.  I visited there once or twice, and it looked pretty
          inbred to me.

          A 3rd opinion:
          Well, i always thought it was based on dunstable, mass.  dunstable
          is in north-central massachusetts (actually a little east of
          central), is at least 50 years older than all the towns around it
          (dunstable founded in ~1650, most of the others around it ~1700),
          and there are lots of atmospheric areas in the town--old houses
          in various states of disrepair, huge gnarly (dude!) trees overhanging
          the roads, hilly old graveyards, swamps, that kind of stuff.
          finally, there's the name:  DUNstable <--> DUNwich?


--->   Q. Where is the Plateau of Leng?

       A. There are three suggested locations. The first, described
          extensively in Lovecraft's "The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath",
          is in the far north of the Dreamlands and inhabited by unpleasant,
          cloven-hooved, horned men, and by an ancient monastery which contains
          "the high priest not to be described, which wears a yellow silken
          mask over its face" (Celephais, HPL). The second, described in
          Lovecraft's "At the Mountains of Madness", is in Antarctica near the
          South Geomagnetic Pole, once inhabited by the Elder Things but now
          reserved for giant penguins and the occasional shoggoth. The third
          location, referred to in Lovecraft's "The Hound" and seemingly the
          most popular location with other authors, is in the Himalayas and
          inhabited by a cult of cannibals. The three locations could be
          related through some quirk of space-time.

          According to Tierney's "House of the Toad", the Plateau may be
          found in China's Xinjain (I think that's right) Province.  This
          is notable, because in Discovery magazine a month or two ago,
          there was an article about some Caucasian mummies bearing items
          like those found in the Ukraine found here.  I seem to recall the
          Necronomicon saying something like "Leng is connected with many
          different times and places" (that quote's Lin Carter's invention,
          and I don't have it right here).  Interesting stuff, though.



--->   Q. Where is Irem?

       A. Lovecraft mentions an "Irem, City of Pillars" in some stories.
          This probably has a Koranic source, as suggested by the following
          magazine item about an archeological discovery:

          "The Koran describes how the earth swallowed up a sumptuous
          but decadent `city of towers' called Iram....diggers can
          already see that the city center collapsed--as told in the
          Koran--because it was built over a limestone cavern used to
          store water."  Identified with Ubar, frankincense-trading
          city in the Arabian Nights.  (Jeanne Gordon & Fiona Gleizes,
          "The `Atlantis of the Sands'," Newsweek, 119:7, Feb. 17,
          1992, p. 38.)
                                                        --Donald Davis

          Here's some information I remember from the last time I looked up
          Iram.  There were once two brothers, Shaddid and Shaddad, who ruled
          a city somewhere in Arabia.  Shaddid died, and Shaddad became
          arrogant and cruel.  He decided that he would build a garden on
          Earth imitating the celestial paradise.  When the garden was
          completed, Shaddad and all his retainers rode out in a procession
          to visit it.  Before they could reach it, however, a great
          "noise from heaven" destroyed all of them, and the location of
          Iram has never been discovered.
          I wasn't familiar with that Arabian Nights reference; I'll have to
          look that up.
                     - Daniel Harms




--->   Q. What various manifestation has Nyarlathotep taken?

       A. An exhaustive list in the making, here is the foundation:

AHTU (worshiped in 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.  He is called by using a golden bracelet usually separated innto
two parts, to prevent Ahtu from being summoned by accident.  ("Than Curse
the Darkness," Drake; "Dead of Night," Herber (C).)

THE BEAST (Egypt)  This form manifests itself only at one particular place
in Egypt.  It was the focus of  a revolutionary cult in the Fourteenth
Dynesty.  (Fungi from Yuggoth, Herber (C).)

THE BLACK DEMON (Nowhere?)  This is a black-furred, snouted monster which
is destroyed by light.  The being may be controlled by a summoner using
certain talismans, though the user runs the risk of being attacked herself.
("One in Darkness," Isinwyll and Lyons (C).)

BLACK PHARAOH, (Egypt)  A hairless man with dead black skin and hooves for
feet.  He is connected with the witch-cults of Western Europe.  ("The
Dreams in the Witch-House," Lovecraft.)

BLACK WIND (Africa?)  At times, Nyarlathotep takes the form of the Black
Wind, a great storm that can destroy crops, forest, and houses for miles
around when he manifests.  ("Kenya," DiTillio and Willis (C).)

BLOATED WOMAN (China)  In this form, N. appears as a huge, obese woman
with five mouths and many tentacles.  It carries the mystical Black Fan,
with which it hides its unseemly builk from humans until it has ensnared
them.  ("Shanghai," DiTillio and Willis (C).)

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 is worshiped today by a group known as the Knights of the
Silver Twilight.  ("The Ten Commandments of Cthulhu Hunting," Monroe and
Petersen (C). )

DARK DEMON  A form of Nyarlathotep that occasionally manifests itself through
a contactee.  It appears much as the Black Demon, but is larger and more
cunning.  It sometimes calls to those steeped in studies of black magic,
promising them glory if they will allow him to enter their bodies.  Of
course, no reward comes to those possessed by this form of Nyarlathotep.
("The Dark Demon," Bloch.)

EFFIGY OF HATE (Africa)  The Mighty Messenger was worshiped by one African
tribe, to which he manifested himself through their war totems.  This
form is known to have some control over time.  ("Regiment of Dread," Gillan.
(C).)

THE FACELESS GOD (Egypt)  In the elder days of the Egyptian civilization,
Nyarlathotep was worshiped in the form of a winged sphinx with a featureless
head which bore the triple crown of a god.  The Faceless God was known to
manifest itself through its idols.  This cult was later suppressed by the
other priesthoods, becoming nearly forgotten in the millennia following
its dissolution.  ("The Faceless God," Bloch.)

THE FLOATING HORROR (Haiti) This form of N. must manifest itself through
the body of a specially prepared host.  It appears as a red veined
jellyfish-like floating organism of a bluish color.  This avatar is connected
with certain fringe voodoo cults.  ("The Star-Pools,"  Attansio.)

HAUNTER OF THE DARK.  See Lovecraft's story of the same name.

SHUGORON (Malaysia)  A black humanoid figure represented as playing a sort
of horn.  This being is revered by the Tcho-tcho people of Malaysia.
("Black Man with a Horn," Klein; Escape from Innsmouth, Ross (C).)

SKINLESS ONE (Mesoamerica)  In the guise of a flayed, skinless corpse,
Nyarlathotep was worshiped among the Aztecs, to whom he was known as
Xipe Totec.  (?)

SMALL CRAWLER (India)  A dwarfed human figure, with four arms and three
tentacles for legs.  Little else is known of him, except that he is mentioned
in the Cthaat Aquadingen.  ("Kenya," DiTillio and Willis (C).)

TALL, SWARTHY EGYPTIAN MYSTIC (USA) Spreads madness and chaos. (Nyarlathotep,
Lovecraft)

THING IN THE YELLOW MASK (Dreamlands)  An entity draped in yellow silk,
its only known manifestation occurred within the abandoned city of 'Ygiroth
on Mount Lerion.  (Possible link to the King in Yellow?)  ("In 'Ygiroth,"
DeBill.)

WAILING WRITHER, a column of whirling black tentacles and screaming mouths,
it is alluded to in some Hindu tales.  (Escape from Innsmouth, Ross (C).)





--->   Q. Where was H. P. Lovecraft buried?

       A. Swan Point Cemetary, Providence, R.I., close to the road that
          runs along the back.  In the "Lovecraft" plot.  Look for the
          quote "I am Providence" on the stone.



--->   Q. Where does HPL or the Mythos (in general) pop up in miscellaneous
          stories, movies, tv, magazines, etc?

       A. There are a few cases that fit into no particular category.
          I've listed them below:

          1) "Eaters of the Dead", by Michael Crichton, refers to the
             Necronomicon in the bibliography.  This is a good example
             of an idea that Lovecraft was fond of -- intermix real world
             people/places/things with imaginary ones.

          2) "Dark Doorway of the Beast", by Gareth Hewitson-May
             (1992, 250p, New World Publ, Harworth, Doncaster, S. Yorks,
             DN11 8EW)
             There was a GREAT picture of Cthulhu in a review of this book.
             "... the book ranges widely though mythology, tantra, sigils,
             and the occultism of Aleister Crowley."

          3) "H.P. Lovecraft in Full Color" comic series.   At least
             3 issues were made (#3 was 'The Tomb').  Produced by Adventure
             Comics.

          4) "Strange" magazine, issue #11. It's a big Lovecraft issue
             and has a great article in it about his "irrational
             rationalism" and his neo-Zen approach.  Check it out and
             spew, if you will, about it all.

          5) "Heavy Metal" (the movie) - The monster's name was 'uhluhtc'
             (Cthulhu spelled backwards)

          6) "The Real Ghostbusters" COMIC BOOK - (From NOW comics, issue
             #7) :
             - A dumb issue, but dealt with Deep Ones who were kidnapping
               people and feeding them to "The Deepest One" (Dagon????)
             - The tunnel of love in the amusement park was called "The
               tunnel of Lovecraft"

          7) "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" (Book, by Mirage, issue???)
             - Title: "Men of Shadows"
             - Story centers around a cult of Deep Ones who are trying
               to summon and Old One.  Also mentions the "Whateleys".

          8) Some obscure horror author by the name of Stephen King (I
             think that's right) made a few references to the Cthulhu
             mythos in some stories:
             - "Jerusalem's Lot" (in Night Shift) has De Vermis Mysteriis
             - "I Know What You Need" (in Night Shift) has the Necronomicon
             - "Gramma" (in Skeleton Crew) has a spell using 'Hastur' in it.
             - "Needful Things" has 'Yog-Sothoth' in graffiti on a wall
             - "Crouch End" (in Needful Things) is a complete Cthulhu Mythos
               story
             - "The House on Maple Street" completely ruins the ending of
               the story "The Colour Out of Space" by having the house become
               overrun with light and then shoot into the air. [SK has said
               this was his favorite HPL story]


--->   Q. What is the history, and future of the universe, and specifically
          the planet "Earth" as described in the fiction of HPL (et al), and
          how does it intersperse with 'strange, but true' actual events?

       A. Earth's prehistory is given in considerable detail in Lovecraft's
          "At the Mountains of Madness", as well as in "The Shadow Out of
          Time"

          *** Ed. Notes ***
          - Throughout this history, the crinoid/barrel shaped creatures
            found in the Antarctic (At the Mountains of Madness, HPL) will
            be referred to as "Elder Things" rather than their other
            occasional name "Old Ones" to avoid confusion with the use
            of "Old Ones" in reference to the "Great Old Ones".
          - Much of this info was taken from Karl Kluge's timeline, but
            I believe that much of it may be considered irrelevant...
            Thus I expect much feedback on this timeline, and expect it
            to be revised and polished a few times before we see the end
            product.
          - Very few references were given for any of this information...
            I could really use some input from folks as to where this
            info comes from (I know I've read much of this history, but
            would be hard pressed to remember EXACTLY where)

18-10 bil  BC : Somewhere in this range our Universe began (Big Bang) (Real)
  4.5 bil  BC : Earth formed (real)     ^^^
    2 bil  BC : Elder Things arrive (crinoid Old Ones from AtMoM)
                (AtMoM, by HPL)
              : Possibly the Antarctic was already inhabited by 'Something
                Nasty' at the time, but the record is unclear. (No ref.)
 ???????????  : The people of K'n-yan, who reputedly brought "Tulu" who
                migrated to the surface when the land was fit to live on.
                (No Ref.)
  600 mil  BC : Flying Polyps arrive, and build basalt cities with
                windowless towers (in Australia) (No Ref)
              : Archaean slate preserves striated triangular footprints
                of Elder Things (No Ref)
  200 mil  BC : Pangea broke up (real)
 ???????????? : R'lyeh emerges(?)/is built(?)  (No Ref)
              : Spawn of Cthulhu arrive, and war with the Elder Things
                and drive them into the sea (No Ref)
  150 mil  BC : Permian age (real)
              : Marine Elder Things re-subjugate Shoggoths (No Ref)
              : Elder Things war with Great Race (No Ref)
 ???????????? : Great Race of Yith (minds only) came forward and inhabited
                the bodies of the indiginous Australian conical entities.
                (No Ref)
????????????? : Jurassic (real)
              : Mi-go arrive from Yuggoth (Pluto) and drive Elder Things
                from Northern Hemisphere (No Ref)
  100 mil  BC : Rifts seperate Africa from Europe/Valusia and Asia (No Ref)
   50 mil  BC : City founded in Mts of Madness to replace older city on site
                of first arrival, by Elder Things (No Ref)
              : Land bridge to Americas through Iceland ends, seperating
                the flora/fauna evolution of America from Europe (Real)
30-25 mil  BC : Development of CircumAntarctic current, essentially isolating
                Antarctica from the rest of the continents, and beginning the
                establishment of the Antarctic Ice Sheet (Real)
              : Pliocene map (Real)
 ???????????  : No sea cities of Elder Things north of 50deg S; no land
                cities outside of Antarctica and tip of South America (No Ref)
  3.5 mil  BC : Pliocene epoch (Real)
              : Uplift of Panama, seperating Atlantic and Pacific oceans (Real)
   50,000  BC : Civilization of great-headed brown people of South Africa
                (No Ref)
   35,000  BC : Earth's Ice sheets show a nearby star exploded (Ref: New York
                Times, Dec 14, 1991).[Abstract: Scientists say that traces of
                a rare element, beryllium-10, found deep in Antarctic and
                Greenland ice sheets indicate a nearby star blew up 35,000
                years ago, bathing the Earth in radiation that could have
                speeded evolution.  The exploding star was only 150 light-years,
                or 880 trillion miles, from Earth.]
   24,000  BC : Hair cannibal Gnophkehs overcame many-templed Olathoe and
                slay all the heros of the land of Lomar (inside 80 deg N).
                (No Ref)
              : Pnakotic Manuscripts taken to Ulthar in the Dreamlands (No Ref)
              : Hyperborean copy of PM preserved by same cult which wrote the
                Book of Eibon (No Ref)
2697-2597  BC : Reign of Yellow Emperor -- "In those days the world of mirrors
                and the world of men were not, as they are now, cut off from
                each other.  They were, besides, quite different; neither
                beings nor colors nor shapes were the same.  Both kingdoms,
                the spectacular and the human, lived in harmony; you could
                come and go through mirrors.  One night the mirror people
                invaded the Earth.  Their power was great, but at the end of
                a bloody warfare the magic arts of the Yellow Emperor prevailed.
                He repulsed the invaders, imprisoned them in their mirrors, and
                forced on them the task of repeating, as though in a kind of
                dream, all the actions of men." (Ref:  Borges, "Book of
                Imaginary Being")
                  -- The theory that this is a reference to the imprisoning
                     of the Great Old Ones has been forwarded.  Opinions
                     would be most welcome
     1515  BC : Victory of Zeus over the Titans (Ref: Graves??).
                From Plutarch's "On The Apparant Face In The Moon's Orb",
                xxvi :  "...But when the star of Kronos...comes into the sign
                of the Bull every 30 years, they having got ready beforehand
                all the things required...they send out people appointed by
                lot in the same number of ships, furnished with provisions and
                stores necessary for persons intending to cross so vast a sea
                by dint of rowing, as well as to live a long time in a foreign
                land....Those who escape from the sea, first of all, touch at
                the foremost islands, which are inhabited by Greeks also, and
                see the sun setting for less than one hour for 30 days in a
                succession....For wonderful are both the island and the mildness
                of the climate; whilst the deity himself has been an obstacle
                to some when contemplating departure....For Kronos himself
                is imprisoned in a vast cavern, sleeping upon a rock overlaid
                with gold; for his sleep has been contrived by Zeus for his
                chaining...." (Kronos = Cthulhu? imprisoned sleeping in a cave)

     1472  BC : Tuatha de Danaan arrive in British Isles. Later defeat Irish
                Firbolgs at Battle of Moytura (Graves) [link to _Danuna_ people
                in Kartepe bilingual, _Dananian_ tribe listed as a "people of
                the sea" defeated by Ramses III?]

     1268  BC : Milesians defeat Tuatha at Battle of Tailtenn

  c. 1200  BC : Zabulon writes his grimoire. "Beginning in the XIIth century,
                medieval writers transformed Augustus' court poet, the mild
                and harmless Publius Vergilius Maro, into a mighty magician who
                built Naples on a foundation of eggs, owned a prophetic brazen
                head, built a whirling castle, and kept an army of robots to
                trounce his foes....Virgil's book had belonged to the magician
                Zabulon, who, of Jewish-heathen descent, had practiced his art
                around 1200 BC. He died on the Magnetic Isle, in a sea
                surrounded by gryphons, sirens, and crocodiles, having left
                orders for the book to be buried under a stone at his feet.
                Shipwrecked on the Magnetic Isle, Virgil discovered a demon
                imprisoned in a glass by the seal of Solomon. Virgil released
                the devil in return for the latter's promise to lead him to the
                book. The demon taught Virgil to read the Chaldean characters
                in which the book was written. Then Virgil, mistrusting his
                tutor, tricked the devil into reentering the phial and
                stoppered him up again. A sorcerous pupil of Virgil was
                'Melino' who is simply the Arthurian Merlin as adapted by
                Aliprandi, the historian of Mantua, about AD 1414. Once, in
                Naples, Virgil sent Melino to Rome to fetch his book. Melino
                disobediently opened the book, whereupon a cloud
   of devils assailed him. He got rid of them by commanding them to build a
   road from Rome to Naples....A plausible suggestion by Prof. E. K. Chambers
   is that Merlin was an eponym of Carmarthan....At last, Geoffrey of Monmouth
   or one of his sources assumed that this name meant 'Myrddin's Town' and
   invented a Myrrdin or Merlin to play the role of this supposed local hero."
   [12/72 _Sci Fi & Fantasy_, "Books that Never Were" by L. Sprague de Camp]

356 BCE: Birth of Alexander the Great. 331 BCE defeats Darius at Gaugamela;
   May 330 burns Persepolis; 327 marries Roxanna, invades Punjab; Autumn, 324
   Hephaestion dies at Ecbatana; June 323 Alexander dies. [332 BCE Alexander
   founded Alexandria: From Appendix III of Minoo Southgate's translation of
   the ISKANDARANAMAH: "In his account of the building of Alexandria (I:410-
   21), al-Mas`udi records an episode reminiscent of Alexander's submarine
   adventures in the diving bell found in Talmudic literature. According to
   al-Mas`udi, when Alexandria was under construction, strange creatures came
   from the sea and caused much damage. Alexander and two men descended into
   the sea inside a chest. Through the windows of the chest, they saw the
   animals who had interfered with the building of the city and the two men
   drew their picture. Alexander ordered craftsmen to build images of those
   animals from the pictures and placed the images on the shore. When the
   animals came from the water and saw those images, they went back to sea,
   never to return." -- conflict with Deep Ones?]

3rd cent. BCE: Kleitarchos (quoted 9/1/87 NYT): "Out of reverence for Kronos,
   the Phoenicians, and especially the Carthagians, whenever they seek some
   great favor, vow one of their children, burning it as a sacrifice to the
   deity, if they are especially eager to gain success. There stands in their
   midst a bronze statue of Kronos, its hands extended over a bronze brazier,
   the flames of which engulf the child." (Yep, Kronos sounds pretty Cthulhu-
   like)

264 - 241 BCE: First Punic War. Shortly after, "the river that runs through
   the country of Picenum was seen flowing with blood; there was a report that
   three moons had been seen at Ariminum" [Plutarch's "Life of Marcellus"]

Oct 15, 70 BCE: Birth of Publius Vergilius Maro (Virgil) mear Mantua. Died
   Sept. 20, 19 BCE. Found book of Zabulon on the Magnetic Isle (see 1200 BCE)

30 BCE: Ubar/Irem "a many-columned city...whose like has never been built in
   the whole land" [Koran] vanishes in sandstorm. [1984 Challenger mission
   spots buried roadway stretching for 60 miles in desert north of Oman's
   Dhofar province] [Mankato Free Press, 7/16/1990] [Hitti, HIST.ARABS: "A
   recently discovered Nabataean site, 'RM, 25 miles east of al-Aqabah, is
   Kornaic Iram (sur. 89:6)"][2/5/92 NYT "Archeologists and explorers in Oman
   have uncovered the ruins of eight towers and adjoining walls and deposits
   of pottery dating to Roman times and as far back as 2,000 BC. The explorers
   are virtually sure it is UBAR, the fabled entrepot of the rich frankincense
   trade thousands of years ago."]

3rd - 4th cent. CE: Lead Greek love spell: "Now now quickly quickly. I am
   Barbadonaiai Barbadonai who conceals the stars, who preserves the heavens,
   who establishes the cosmos in truth. Iattheoun, iatreoun, salbiouth aoth
   aoth sabathiouth iat'therath Adonaiai isar suria bibibe bibiouth nattho
   Sabaoth aianapha amourachthe satama Zeus atheresphilauo."

642 CE: Record of Sibyl of Erythraea destoryed in burning of Library of
   Alexandria -- foretold that city of Rome would finally be destroyed by
   Perytons. [Erythraean Sea == Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean]

700: Wurzburg Codex gives fragmentary history of Tuatha

c. 730: _Al Azif_ written at Damascus by Abdul Alhazred, who claimed to have
   visited Irem and an even older city; worshipped Yog-Sothoth and Cthulhu.

738: Alhazred dies or disappears under terrible circumstances. Said by Ebn
   Khiallikan to have been seized in broad daylight and devoured by an
   invisible monster before a horrified crowd.

950: _Al Azif_ translated into Greek as _Necronomicon_ by Theodorus Philetas

1050: Greek text of _Necronomicon_ burnt by Michael, Patriarch of
   Constantinople (Arabic text lost at this point)

1228: Olaus translates _Necronomicon_ into Latin.

1232: Pope Gregory IX places _Necronomicon_ on _Index Expurgatorius_

15th century: Black letter edition of Latin _Necronomicon_ printed in Germany.
   Copy rumored to exist in the British Museum.

1500 - 1550: Greek text of _Necronomicon_ printed in Italy. Last known copy
   vanished in burning of a certain Salem man's library in 1692. Copy kept
   by Pickman family of Salem? If so, vanished with R. U. Pickman in 1926.

16th cent. CE: rabbi from Fez (Jacob Ben Chaim?) quotes now lost work of Greek
   scholiast on Perytons "The Perytons had their original dwelling in Atlantis
   and are half bird, half deer....Its strangest trait is that when the sun
   strikes it, instead of casting a shadow of its own body, it casts the shadow
   of a man....and those who crossed the sea with Scipio to conquer Carthage
   came close to failure, for during the passage a formation of Perytons
   swooped down on the ships, killing and mangling many....Although our weapons
   have no effect against it, the animal -- if such it be -- can kill no more
   than a single man....in Ravenna, where they were last seen, telling of their
   plumage which they described as light blue in color, which greatly surprised
   me for all that is known of their dark green feathers." [Borges, _Book of
   Imaginary Being_; rabbi's book lost in bombing of Dresden at Univ. library;
   the Perytons sounds like servitors of the Great Old Ones to me.]

c. 1630: M. O'Cleary writes _Book of Invasions_, which gives history of Tuatha

17th cent: Spanish printing (in Latin?) of _Necronomicon_ (copies at Biblio-
   theque National in Paris, Widener Library at Harvard, Miskatonic U. library
   at Arkham, library of Buenos Aires).

1839: _Unaussprechlichen Kulten_ published in Dusseldorf. Written by Fvindvuf
   Von Junzt (1795-1840) [read _Necronomicon_ in Greek translation]. Von
   Junzt dies six months after returning from trip to Mongolia while working
   on second book. Less than a dozen copies exist of this edition. ["Von
   Junzt relates many stories of the survivals of cults worshipping pre-human
   entities or prehistoric gods, such as Ghatanothoa, Bran, and others. The
   principle obscurity of the book is in Von Junzt's use of the term 'keys' --
   phrase used many times by him, in various relations, such as descriptions of
   the infamous Black Stone in Hungary and the legendary Temple of the Toad in
   Honduras."]

1845: Bridewell, London publisher, does a pirated translation of _Unauss.
   Kulten_. "...full of grotesque woodcuts, and riddled with misspellings,
   faulty translations, and the usual errors of a cheap and unscholarly
   printing...."

1859: Bulwer-Lytton's "The Haunted and the Haunter": "Let me describe what I
   mean from an experiment which Paracelsus describes as not difficult, and
   which the author of the _Curiousities of Literature_ cites as credible :- a
   flower perishes; you burn it. Whatever were the elements of that flower
   while it lived are gone, dispersed, you know not whither...But you can, by
   chemistry, out of the burnt dust of that flower, raise a speculum of the
   flower, just as it seemed in life. It may be the same with a man."

1865: E. A. Hitchcock, _Remarks on Alchemy_ "...the now unattainable secrets
   of the Aklo tablets."

June 1882: meteorite lands west of Arkham "The Colour Out of Space"

1888: Publication of _The Secret Doctrine_ by Blavatsky

1888: Stanislas de Guaita founds Ordre Kabbalistique de la Rose-Croix. Hermetic
      Order of the Golden Dawn founded in England, with eleven degrees, from
      neophyte to ipsissimus. Its imperator is McGregor Mathers, whose sister
      marries Bergson.

1889: Mathers uses 7 codices from Br Mus (1 16th cent Latin, 1 Italian,
   5 French) to publish _Clavicle of Solomon_. Expurgated, but restored Hebrew
   in diagrams.

1890: Joseph Peladan, called Josephin, leaves Guaita and founds the Rose-Croix
      Catholique du Temple et du Graal, proclaiming himself Sar Merodak.
      Conflict between Rosicrusians of Guaita's order and those of Peladan's is
      called the War of the Two Roses.

1891: Papus publishes his _Traite methodique de science occulte_.

1892: Body exhumed, heart burned in Exeter, RI (mentioned "The Shunned House")

11 Aug 1892: Dracula attacks Lucy at Whitby (full Moon)

1898: Aleister Crowley initiated into Golden Dawn. Later founds Order of
      Thelema.

Feb 22, 1901: Climax of "Beyond the Wall of Sleep"

Nov 1, 1907: raid near New Orleans captures Cthulhu cultists

1907: Jorg Linz founds Order of New Templars

1907: From the Golden Dawn is born the Stella Matutina, which Yeats joins.

1908 - 1913: Wingate Peaslee's amnesia

1909: Golden Goblin Press, New York. Expurgated edition of _Unauss. Kulten_
   (fully one quarter of work cut), handsomely bound, illustrated by Diego
   Vasquez. Approx. 30 known to still exist.

1909: In the United States, H. Spencer Lewis "reawakens" the Anticus Mysticus
      Ordo Rosae Crucis and in 1916, in a hotel, successfully transforms a
      piece of zinc into gold. Max Heindel founds the Rosicrucian Fellowship.
      At uncertain dates follow Lectorium Rosicrucianum, Freres Aines de la
      Rose-Croix, Fraternitas Hermetica, Templum Rosae-Crucis.

Jan 1910: Houdini is "Imprisioned With the Pharaohs"

1912: Annie Besant, disciple of Madame Blavatsky, founds, in London, Order of
      the Temple of the Rose-Cross

May 1912: List founds Germanen Orden. Thule Society is Munich lodge of G. O.

Aug 3, 1913: Box delivered to A. Jermyn

1914: _Emden_ sinks ship whose survivor encounters Dagon? [Refs from the Times:
                 OCTOBER-DECEMBER, 1914
   Supply ships captured by *Yarmouth*, Oct 16, 8e;
   Officers of captured British vessels: reports to owners, 17, 5e; 4
   British ships and dredger sunk; *Exford* captured, 22, 6e;
   *Emden*'s list of captures, 22, 6e;
   *Emden* sinks *Kanasata Maru*, 29, 7c;
   Number of vessels sunk by the *Emden* 30, 7c,
   *Emden* sinks Russian cruiser *Zhemchug* and French destroyer at Penang
   (reported to have rigged dummy funnel and hoisted Japanese flag), 31, 8d
      (and l.e.);
   Iron crosses conferred on *Emden* crew, 6, 6d;
   Emperor William's message to burgomaster of *Emden*, 11, 6c;
   *Emden* sunk at Cocos Island by *Sydney*, 11, 9f; 12, 8d (e.e.);
   *Emden*'s history of exploits, 11, 9f;
   Table of vessels captured and sunk by *Emden*: estimated value, 11, 10a;
   Capt. von Muller's report, 28, 7b;
   [Ed. note: The above reference sounds *very* interesting.]
   *Emden* officer's letter quoted, Dec. 15, 6c;
   *Emden* landing party landed at Rangoon, 21, 6d]

Aug 20, 1917: "The Temple" 20 N, 35 W

1918: Thule Society is born in Germany.

Aug 17, 1918: 30 members initiated into revived Thule Soc. in Munich;
    Sebottendorff lectures on divining rods (_pendeln_)

Aug 25, 1919: exploration of the Shunned House

1919: List (b. 1848) dies in Berlin. Linz replaces him -- Theo-zoology.

Aug 1921: Reporter encounters "The Lurking Fear"

Jan 1922: "The Attic Window" published in _Whispers_ (see "The Unnameable")

July 16, 1923: Delapore moves into Exham Priory

1923: HPL writes "The Festival" ("...they included old Morryster's wild
   _Marvells of Science_, the terrible _Saducismus Triumphatus_ of Joseph
   Glanvil, published in 1681, the shocking _Daemonolatreia_ of Remigius,
   printed in 1595 at Lyons, and worst of all, the unmentionable _Necronomicon_
   of the mad Arab Abdul Alhazred, in Olaus Wormius' forbidden Latin
   translation..." ["The Nameless City" written 1921; "The Hound" 1922]

July, 1924: "New and revised" edition of Yeat's Essays. ["Magic" in IDEAS OF
   GOOD AND EVIL: "I sat with my acquaintance in the middle of the room, and
   the evoker of spirits on the dais, and his wife between us and him. He held
   a wooden mace in his hand, and turning to a tablet of many-coloured squares,
   with a number on each of the squares, that stood near him on a chair, he
   repeated a form of words." "I find another record, though made some time
   after the event, of having imagined over the head of a person, who was a
   little of a seer, a combined symbol of elemental air and elemental water.
   This person, who did not know what symbol I was using, saw a pigeon flying
   with a lobster in his bill....In those days I used symbols made with some
   ingenuity instead of merely imagining them. I used to give them to the
   person I was experimenting with, and tell him to hold them to his forehead
   without looking at them; and sometimes I made a mistake. I learned from
   these mistakes that if I did not myself imagine the symbol, in which case he
   would have a mixed vision, it was the symbol I gave by mistake that produced
   the vision." HPL was fond of Yeats -- influenced by Yeats' account of his
   Golden Dawn activities?]

Mar 23 to Apr 2, 1925: R'lyeh emerges from ocean

Oct 9, 1925: Letter 197, vol 2, HPL to CAS: "I bedeck my tale [Horror at Red
   Hook] with incantations copied from the 'Magic' article in the 9th edition
   of the _Britannica_, but I'd like to draw on less obvious sources if I knew
   of the right reservoirs to tap." Recommends _Witchcraft in Western Europe_
   to CAS.

1926: R. U. Pickman disappears.

Good Friday, 1927: Chas. Dexter Ward revives Joseph Curwen

July 6, 1927: "The Shadow Over Innsmouth"

Feb 1928: Raid on Innsmouth

Aug 1928: The Dunwich Horror

Oct 7, 1928: Randolph Carter goes through the Gate of the Silver Key
   [Aug 30, 1932 letter "Dear Abdul...And for each plane of cutting, we get a
   different 3 dimensional solid. Thus from an original, unchangeable 4th
   dimensional SOMETHING, we get a (sic) infinity of seemingly different 3
   dimensional forms; as by varying the angle at which a plane cuts a cone...
   All of which is the thesis accounting for Carter's scrambled affairs."]

Jan 22, 1931: Plane spots the Mountains of Madness 76 deg 15' S, 113 deg 10' E

March 1931: Gale wrecks roof of the Witch House

Late 1933: Rudolf von Sebottendorf publishes _Before Hitler_, dedicated to
   the seven members of Thule killed by Reds in Munich  Apr. 30, 1919

March 1, 1934: Bavarian police ban _Before Hitler_, inform publisher

June 3, 1935: First blocks found by Peaslee's Australian expedition

Night July 17-18, 1935: Peaslee explores ruins

1953: "_Sir!_ magazine publishes an article by Arthur Scott implying a real
   copy [of the _Necronomicon_] exists bound in human flesh."




--->   Q. What is the historical veracity of the various beings/tomes/
          places/people which HPL(et al) supposedly 'invented'?

       A.  1) Nodens:

            During the Roman occupancy of Britain, he was a god of fishermen
            (on the River Severn - Ramsey Campbell territory) and healing,
            and closely associated with dogs. No resemblance to HPL's
            version. The remains of a temple can be found near Lydney,
            Gloucestershire, UK, along with a small museum full of relics
            from the site, plus various papers including one by J. R. R.
            Tolkien on the derivation of the name "Nodens" from its Celtic
            predecessors.


--->   Q. Does anyone actually take HPL/Mythos fiction as fact?

       A. This is a loaded question.  To answer it, I will assume that
          HPL (et al) created the core of the Mythos, as well as numerous
          tomes, but mixed in a generous helping of real-life people/places/
          things.  As an example, "The Golden Bough" is a real book (in fact
          I own a copy of this, IMHO, boring text), but "Necronomicon" is not.
          So, though HPL (et al) used "The Golden Bough" in their stories,
          this answer has nothing to do with whether or not anyone believes
          that the book exists.  It *DOES* deal with those who believe that
          things like "Necronomicon" exist, (as well as any ficticious
          race/place/tome, etc).

          To move on to the answer:  Yes.  Some folks take this fiction as
          'fact'.  Here are the examples we have thus far:

          1)  The Church of Satan
            - Although they don't proclaim to believe in "The Old Ones"
              (per se), they do believe in the symbology of "Cthulhu" as
              something worth basing two of their rituals upon.  Said
              rituals are found in "The Satanic Rituals", by Anton
              Szandor Lavey (Avon Books).

          2)  Necronomicon FAQ by Colin Low
            - This FAQ is found at ftp.lysator.liu.se
            - Directory is /pub/magick/Necronomicon
            - Although I'd call if fiction, the existance of this data
              in a Usenet FAQ points to someone believing that it is
              true.  I feel that this 'FAQ' is done in the spirit
              of Lovecraft's "History of the Necronomicon", but with much
              greater detail.  It's at least worth a read-through for
              it's application to the game Call of Cthulhu (see games.faq)

          3)  "The Oldest History of the World" by Benny Evangelist (1936)
            - "The author of this book was found decapitated in his Detroit
              home on July 3, 1929, near the murdered remains of his family.
              Investigation revealed that Benny was the leader of a secretive
              cult, and had left behind a manuscript which he claimed to
              have been divinely inspired.  The first part of this manuscript
              was later published.  Yes, it sounds like your standard Mythos
              story, but this one really happened.

              "Anyway, the book above actually has little to do with the
              Mythos.  I am noting it because at three points in the text,
              a book of black magic which is titled "Necromicon" or
              "Necronemicon" turns up.  I haven't read it, so I can't say
              whether it's any good.  I got that last bit of information from
              Colin Wilson's novel _The Philosopher's Stone_.  Since Wilson
              claims not to make anything up, and since _History_ wasn't his
              invention, I don't think it would hurt to tell you about this
              one, too." - Randall Flagg

          4)  "Secrets of Atlantis" by Gabriel Guenon (1941)
            - "Secrets was written shortly before its author's death.
              According to Wilson, it attempts to prove that Lovecraft was
              writing about things which really existed.  Unfortunately, a
              brief check down at the ol' library has turned up the following
              information:
                a)  It's not in print.
                b)  It's not available through inter-library loan.
                c)  The British Museum Library doesn't have it.
             My guess is that it was published in a limited edition in
             England, and never reached our shores.  Or maybe all copies
             were destroyed by an evil cult.  Take your choice." - Randall Flagg

          5)  "The Satanic Lays" by ????????
            - Contain 2 ceremonies to raise the Great Old Ones
            - The German ritual on electricity seems to allude to
              HPL's quotes about the Old Ones, as well as to the
              Hounds of Tindalos.

          6)  Kenneth Grant:
         6a) "Aleister Crowley and the Hidden God" by Kenneth Grant
            - Nothing further
         6b) "Man, Myth and Magic" by ?
            - Kenneth Grant's 2 page article in the appendices
            - "Grant believes that HPL was in touch with Cthulhu & Co.,
              who prompted him to write his stories.  He then cites other
              cross-cultural influences which seem to point toward this
              conclusion.  Unfortunately, the man's an awful Lovecraftian
              scholar, and his stuff's filled with mistakes" - Daniel Harms

          7)  The Esoteric Order of Dagon:
The following is the last public announcement I am aware of by the Esoteric
Order of Dagon. It is posted with the permission of Ms. Crummett.
STATEMENT OF THE YADDITH LODGE
The Yaddith Lodge is at this time the only  genuine and active Lodge of
the Esoteric Order of Dagon (E.'.O.'.D.'.) and is entrusted to protect

the reputation and integrity of the EOD during its present Period of Silence.
The only members of the Yaddith Lodgeare the three former Directors of the
EOD.
Any person not a member of the Yaddith Lodge claiming to be a member, to
represent a Lodge, or to be the Director of the EOD is either self-deluded
or consciously misleading and manipulating the uninformed.
When the Period of Silence has ended the Yaddith Lodge will appoint a new
 Director and this person will then be authorized to open other authentic
Lodges and confirm membership in the EOD.
Issued by the Yaddith Lodge, Vernal Equinox, 1993 e.v.
(Signed) Steven Greenwood, Nina Crummett, Peter Smith

The Esoteric Order of Dagon is therefore inactive at this time.
I must stress that this organization is not to be confused with the
amateur press association of the same name.

          8) Miskatonick Society:
There is another group called the Miskatonick (sic) Society which has some
overlap with the above group but is not a "magick" group. They publish a
journal called 'The Silver Key' which is free to members. There are no dues
or fees to belong to the Miskatonick Society but membership is by invitation
only and limited. There is a branch in England as well as the U.S. The U.S.
address is: The Miskatonick Society, P.O. Box 5301 Eugene, Oregon 97405.
I am not a member of this group but know many of the american members. They
do not engage in graverobbing or acts of violence and only want to correspond
with sane, rational, literate scholars of Lovecraftian/fringe subjects.
These include Lovecraft, Machen, Kenneth Grant's books and theories, UFO
cults and cranks, especially in relationship to Lovecraftian themes, the
Jungian transpersonal forces of the unconscious as the "Great Old Ones', etc.
Writers and artists interested in joining should enquire and perhaps in-
clude an example of their work (with SASE if they want it returned.)









Path: portal!portal.com!sdd.hp.com!math.ohio-state.edu!magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu!drusmith
From: drusmith@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Dru A Smith)
Newsgroups: alt.horror.cthulhu
Subject: FAQ, Part 4: Movies (v. 6/9/94)
Date: 8 Jun 1994 22:18:54 GMT
Organization: The Ohio State University
Lines: 439
Message-ID: <2t5g4e$sc0@charm.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu>
NNTP-Posting-Host: beauty.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu

      The alt.horror.cthulhu Frequently Asked Questions List (movies)
      ----------------------------------------------------------------
      Version:  06/09/94
      Organizer: Dru Smith (drusmith@MAGNUS.ACS.OHIO-STATE.EDU)

--->  Q. What Mythos movies have been made?

      A. The following list shows you movies that fall under any of
         the following categories:
         1) Screenplay based upon an existing HPL(or HPL-related) story
         2) Original Screenplay, using the names/places/tomes/monsters
            found in HPL (et al) fiction.
         3) Original Screenplay, making vague references to HPL (et al)
            or their mythos-related fiction.

         The following are *NOT* included (because their inclusion can
         be both questionable, and the list could grow out of proportion):
         1) Movies with a "Lovecraftian" tone, but which make no actual
            mention of HPL (et al) nor his fiction/mythos.

         This list is chronological.

    Year Movie                               Based Upon*

    1963 The Haunted Palace                  The Case of Charles Dexter Ward
    1965 Die, Monster, Die                   The Colour Out of Space
x   1965 Monster of Terror                   The Colour Out of Space
    1966 The Shuttered Room                  ????????????????????????
    1970 The Curse of the Crimson Altar      Dreams in the Witch House
x   1970 The Crimson Cult                    Dreams in the Witch House
    1970 The Dunwich Horror                  The Dunwich Horror
    1985 Re-Animator                         Herbert West: Re-Animator
    1986 From Beyond                         From Beyond
    1987 The Curse                           The Colour Out of Space
x   1987 The Farm                            The Colour Out of Space
    1987 Evil Dead 2:Dead By Dawn            
    1989 Bride of Re-Animator                
    1991 Cast a Deadly Spell                 
    199? Cthulhu Mansion                     
    1988 The Unnamable                       The Unnamable
    1993 The Unnamable 2: The Statement...   The Statement of Randolph Carter
    199? The Curse 2                         
    199? The Curse 3                         
    199? Army of Darkness                    
    1993 The Resurrected (1991??)            The Case of Charles Dexter Ward
    1994 H.P. Lovecraft's: The Necronomicon  Cool Air, The Rats in the Walls,
                                             The Whisperer in Darkness

* => N.B. means "Not Based" upon an existing HPL(or HPL-related) story
x => These movies are identical to others in the list, but are released
     under different titles for various reasons.

    There are quite possibly a few items missing from this list.
    The original FAQ has the following, but I can find NO information
    about them:
        Call of Cthulhu (b&w)
        The Shuttered Room (based on one of Derleth's stories)

     In addition, there are rumors about "Shadow over Innsmouth" and
     "Mountains of Madness", but they are only rumors.  Definitive info
     would be appreciated.



Notes:

    The Haunted Palace (1963)
    Producer: James H. Nicholson & Samuel Z. Arkoff
    Director: Roger Corman
    Company : American-International?
    Stars   : Vincent Price, Debra Paget, Lon Chaney Jr, Frank Maxwell,
              Leo Gordon
    - Quite possibly the first HPL movie made.  Anyone know of an earlier one?
    - Originally realeased as "Edger Allen Poe's Haunted Palace"
    - "I've seen it. It's one of a number of movies Corman and Price made in
      the 60s, most of them based on Edgar Allen Poe stories; this one, though,
      kept nothing from Poe's poem of the same title (although some lines
      from the poem are quoted), and was based on Lovecraft's _The Case of
      Charles Dexter Ward_ instead. Actually, "based on" is too strong a term;
      it's recognisably inspired by TCoCDW, but there isn't much similarity
      in plot (less than there is between, say, Lovecraft's "Herbert West,
      Re-Animator" and that movie). However, given that it's "inspired by"
      rather than "based on", it's a pretty good movie on its own merits --
      most of the Corman/Price/Poe series were good, and this is one of the
      better ones." - Ross Smith
    - "Synopsis:  Price plays the dual roles of Charles Dexter Ward and
      Joseph Curwen.  In an 18th Century prologue, Curwen and his
      assistant(Lon Chaney Jr.) are attacked by angry villagers who are
      tired of having their women abducted and bred with the Great Old Ones.
      The sorcerer is burned at the stake, although not before uttering the
      standard curse, which dooms the future generations of Arkham.  When
      Ward and his wife(Debra Paget) come to Arkham 200 years later, Ward is
      promptly enslaved by his ancestor's pernicious spirit, and before you
      can say "Yog-Sothoth" he is quoting from the Necronomicon, opening
      foul pits, and just behaving abominably in general.  Though hardly
      faithful to its true source.  Haunted Palace does incorporate many
      Lovecraftian elements." - Rory Millard

    Die, Monster, Die (1965)
    Producer:
    Director: Daniel Haller
    Company : American-International
    Stars   : Boris Karloff, Nick Adams, Freda Jackson, Suzan Farmer,
              Terence de Marney, Patrick Magee
    - "..brought to screen for the first time the work of H.P. Lovecraft..."
    - The above quote from 'The Ghouls' (see lower in the FAQ)... obviously
      wrong, as "The Haunted Palace", above, is first.
    - "Synopsis:  The film was based on one of Lovecraft's favorites, "The
      Colour Out of Space."  Unfortunately HPL's carefully constructed tale
      concerning the loss of humanity, family decay, and other-worldly
      colors was mostly discarded by rookie director Daniel Haller. In the
      rewritten plot, Adams rescues his girlfriend from the sinister Karloff
      and the elder statesman'sprone wife, who are succumbing to madness
      induced by an unearthed meteorite kept in their greenhouse, where the
      space stone compels outrageous plant growth.  The film degenerates
      into a monster-on-the-loose fiasco, when Karloff rages out of control
      after receiving an overdose of radiation." - Rory Millard

    Monster of Terror (1965)
    Producer:
    Director: Daniel Haller
    Company : American-International (with Hammer Films, U.K.)
    Stars   : Boris Karloff, Nick Adams, Freda Jackson, Suzan Farmer,
              Terence de Marney, Patrick Magee
    - This is the U.K. version of "Die, Monster, Die" (see above)
    - No further info available, as nobody has admitted to seeing it.

    The Shuttered Room (1966)
    Producer:
    Director:
    Company :
    Stars   : Carol Lynley, Gig Young
    - Based on a work by August Derleth, with mixings of "The Dunwich Horror"
    - Some suspense

    The Curse of the Crimson Altar (1970)
    Producer:
    Director:
    Company: Tigon Films (UK)
    Stars: Boris Karloff(his last film),Barbara Steele,Christopher Lee,
           Michael Gough
    - "Ostensibly it was based on Dreams of the Witch House, but Tigon
      Films of England made the HPL elements almost unrecognizable.
      Karloff plays an occult expert called in to investigate strange
      goings-on at an English countryside mansion.  It's just not very
      good." - Rory Millard
    - Also titled "The Crimson Cult" -- can anyone verify that these two
      are the same movie with 2 different titles?

    The Crimson Cult (1970)
    Producer:
    Director:
    Company: Tigon Films (UK)
    Stars: Mark Eden, Barbara Steele
    - Different title, but this is "The Curse of the Crimson Altar"
    - Can anyone verify that these 2 movies are the same?

    The Dunwich Horror (1970)
    Producer: James H. Nicholson & Samuel Z. Arkoff
    Director: Daniel Haller
    Company : American International
    Stars   : Sandra Dee, Dean Stockwell, Ed Begley, Lloyd Bochner,
              Sam Jaffe, Joanne Moore Jordan
    - A poor adaptation of the original story.  Although some of the
      elements of the movie (mood, music) are highly Lovecraftian,
      the plot is slow and plodding.  One viewing is usually enough;
      the second time around this becomes a real snoozer.


    Re-Animator (1985)
    Producer: Brian Yuzna
    Director: Stuart Gordon
    Company : Re-animator Productions / Empire Pictures
    Stars   : Jeffrey Combs, Bruce Abbott, Barbara Crampton, David Gale,
              Robert Sampson, Gerry Block
    - There seems to be some controversy about whether or not this story
      bears much resemblance to the original.  Apparantly, some parts
      do, while others have been made for the screen version only.
    - There exists 2 video versions of this film.  One has been cut
      significantly to remove the gore/sex scenes.  The other is intact.
    - Whether or not you agree with the screenplay's closeness to the
      original story, there is little doubt that the gruesome end of
      Herbert West and the head of Dr. Hill both should prevent them from
      appearing in a sequel, which (unfortunately) they do.
    - Note that the music that opens the film is identical to that which
      opens Hitchcock's 'Psycho'.


    From Beyond (1986)
    Producer: Brian Yuzna
    Director: Stuart Gordon
    Company : Taryn Productions / Empire Pictures
    Stars   : Jeffrey Combs, Barbara Crampton, Ken Foree, Ted Sorel,
              Carolyn Purdy-Gordon (I wonder who she's married to???)
    - This screenplay, while fairly Lovecraftian in it's tone, bears
      only mediocre resemblance to the original story (of about 8 pages).
      Again, controversy rages over whether this film is "good",
      "Lovecraftian", etc....


    The Curse (1987)
    Producer: Ovidio G. Assonitis
    Director: David Keith
    Company : Trans World Entertainment
    Stars   : Wil Wheaton, Claude Akins, Malcolm Danare, Cooper Huckabee,
              John Schneider, Amy Wheaton
    - Well, I had been watching ST:TNG when I first saw this, so hated
      seeing that little 'Crusher' kid in the movie, but after watching
      it again, I really did like it.  Few folks hate this one, though
      it has been referred to as "a chore to sit through"
    - Also released under the name "The Farm"

    The Farm (1987)
    Producer: Ovidio G. Assonitis
    Director: David Keith
    Company : Trans World Entertainment
    Stars   : Wil Wheaton, Claude Akins, Malcolm Danare, Cooper Huckabee,
              John Schneider, Amy Wheaton
    - A different title, but this is "The Curse"

    Evil Dead 2:Dead By Dawn (1987)
    Producer:
    Director: Sam Raimi
    Company : Rosebud Releasing Corp.
    Stars   : Bruce Campbell, Sarah Berry, Dan Hicks, Cassie Wesley,
              Rick Francis

    - Controversy surrounds this movie (as well as it's predecessor
      Evil Dead, and it's sequel Army of Darkness) as to whether or not
      it 'belongs' on this list.
    - On one hand i've had people say "take them off the list" without
      any consideration
    - Others say "Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness have the Necronomicon
      as SUCH a CENTRAL role in them, that they definitely belong in this
      list.
    - For now, they stay.  Their future status remains in question.


    Bride of Re-Animator (1989)
    Producer: Brian Yuzna
    Director: Brian Yuzna
    Company : Re-Animator II Productions, Inc.
    Stars   : Jeffrey Combs, Bruce Abbott, Claude Earl Jones,
              Fabiana Udenio, David Gale, Kathleen Kinmount, Mel Stewart
    - Billed as "H.P. Lovecraft's Bride of Re-Animator" even though no
      such story exists.  (Later in credits they say "based upon the
      story Herbert West: Re-Animator" , which rectifies the error)
    - This film (once again) falls under the controversy which seems to
      surround HPL films.  Some say "great" some say "awful".  Basically,
      this flick seems to re-introduce some of the good elements of the
      original, but is really cheesy in a LOT of places.  I'd
      recommend this only to die-hard Re-Animator fans.


    Cast A Deadly Spell (1991)
    Producer: Gale Anne Hurd
    Director: Martin Campbell
    Company : HBO
    Stars   : Fred Ward, David Warner, Julianne Moore, Clancy Brown,
              Alexandra Powers, Charles Hallahan
    - This is (unanimously, so far) one of the best HPL films ever made,
      and it isn't even based upon an original story of the Mythos!
    - The opening header sets the mood:  "Los Angeles, 1948... everybody
      used magic".  The flick surrounds a detective names H. Phillip Lovecraft,
      who is caught up in an investigation concerning magic, the old ones,
      etc....  Basically, the guest monster at the end of the flick makes
      it all come together nicely!


    Cthulhu Mansion (199?)
    Producer: Jose G. Maesso & J.P. Simon
    Director: J.P. Simon
    Company : Filmagic / Golden Pictures
    Stars   : Frank Finlay, Marcia Layton, Brad Fisher, Melanie Shatner,
              Paul Birchard, Kaethe Cherney, Luis Fernando Alves,
              Frank Brana, Emil Linder
    - Although the opening credits say "inspired by the work of HP Lovecraft",
      this film is a cheap rip off of the big guy's name in the title.
      Essentially this film has NO connection to the Mythos at all.  The
      only mention is a book titled "Cthulhu", but that is more of a
      demonic text than an obscure mythos tome.
    - For those die-hard occultists out there, you'll hate the confusing
      symbols of Black and White magic (a goat head superimposed over
      an up-pointing pentagram??? with an inverted burning cross over that??)


    The Unnamable (1988)
    Producer:
    Director: Jean-Paul Ouelette
    Company :
    Stars   : Mark Kinsey Stephenson
    - Really no info on this movie, except that (yes, once again) nobody
      can agree as to it's sticking to the original story, and as to
      whether or not it is "good" or "Lovecraftian"
    - "The first movie opens well, expanding the premise of the short
      piece into a toungue in cheek look at modern student life in
      Arkham.  Alas, it quickly degenerates into a "hack\slash\naked
      bimbo" flick.  The ending almost redeems the premise.  In essence,
      the ancient wizard who shut up his mutant offspring (the unnamable
      of the title) cast a spell to keep it in that's wearing off.  But
      Randolph Carter can save the day. Silly movie, on the whole."
      - Christopher Wade Skinner
    - "Synopsis:  This is one of the weaker HPL adaptions. The director
      allows Carter to speak
      in "Lovecraftese"- certainly not an accurate barameter of modern
      parlance.  Thus, the Carter character puts the film at odds with most
      viewers inside of five minutes.  Lovecrafts's original story,
      basically a discource on literary definitions is ignored in favor of
      the standard haunted house spook show, laced with periodic gobs of
      gore and with a monster that is most definately identifiable.  To be
      fair, the creature is quite well done, but it's a far cry from
      Lovecraft's  gelatinous being that was "everywhere at
      once."" - Rory Millard

    The Unnamable 2: The Statement of Randolph Carter (1993)
    Producer:
    Director:
    Company :
    Stars   : Mark Kinsey Stephenson, David Warner, John Rys-Davies
    - Info on this film is even more elusive than it's predecessor.
    - Rated higher than the first movie by everyone who sent in a
      review of this film.  One reviewer even went so far as to call
      it the *BEST* HPL/Mythos movie made yet.
    - "This is a little better than the first one.  Taking the second half of
      it's title from another minor Lovecraft story, PartII brings back the
      creature from the first film, along with Carter (Stephenson again).
      The cast also includes a slumming David Warner (who receives top
      billing for a single scene) and John Rys-Davies as Carter's companion
      Dr. Warren, who uses the spell from the Necronomicon to untangle the
      beast from it's human host" - Rory Millard

    The Curse 2 (199?)
    Producer:
    Director:
    Company :
    Stars   :
    - Included only because it is a sequel to The Curse.
    - No further info available, as nobody has admitted to seeing it.


    The Curse 3 (199?)
    Producer:
    Director:
    Company :
    Stars   :
    - Included only because it is a sequel to The Curse 2.
    - No further info available, as nobody has admitted to seeing it.


    Army of Darkness (199?)
    Producer:
    Director:
    Company :
    Stars   :
    - See comments for Evil Dead 2


    The Resurected (1991? 1993? )
    Producer:
    Director: Dan O'Bannon
    Company :
    Stars   : Chris Sarandon, John Terry, Wilfred Brimley???
    - This made-for-tv film has had above average ratings (as to it being
      both "good" and "Lovecraftian" as well as sticking to the original
      story line.  No further info is currently available.
    - Sarandon plays Ward/Curwin
    - It's been updated to 1990s Massachucetts, and is not bad at all.
    - Cheesy special effects, but good atmosphere is still maintained.
    - "Synopsis:  Although their version is far more true to Lovecraft than
      the Haunted Palace, the film seems to bear out Brian Yuzna's
      contention that "very true adaptions can miss the whole damn point."
      The film suffers from a total lack of atmosphere due to indifferent
      location shooting.  The real problem is the plot itself.  Despite being
      relatively faithful to the events of the novella, the film is utterly
      banal when stripped of the cosmic menace underlying Lovecraft's tale.
      Without the Cthulhu Mythos we are left with a simple bogey story about
      a private eye chasing after a necromancer." - Rory Millard
      


    H.P. Lovecraft's Necronomicon (1994)
    Producer: Samuel Hadida and Brian Yuzna
    Director:
    Company : August Entertainment
    Stars   : David Warner, Richard Lynch, Bruce Payne, Belinda Bauer,
              Maria Ford, Don Calfa, Signy Colemen and Jeffrey Combs as HPL
    - No domestic date for release has been set.
      both "good" and "Lovecraftian" as well as sticking to the original
    - The names of the stories, within the movie are: The Drowned, The
      Cold, and Whispers.
    - "Synopsis:  Apparently there are three shorts one each from Japan(Sho
      Kaneko),France(Christophe Gans) and Yuzna's from the USA. They are
      reportedly taken from Lovecraft's "Cool Air" "Rats in the Walls" and
      "The Whisperer in Darkness" " - Rory Millard


--->  Q.  What books/magazines have detailed descriptions of HPL (et al)
          movies (besides the short 1-2 paragraphs in general video/movie
          anthologies)?

      A.  Books:

          1) "The Ghouls" by  Peter Haining.  Stein and Day, New York, 1971.
          This is a great collection of 18 of the best horror movies from
          1896 to 1970.  The HPL entry is for Monster of Terror/Die, Monster,
          Die.  That entry is 27 pages long, but is just a re-print of
          the story "The Colour Out of Space".  Still, the 1st page gives
          lots of details about the movie itself.
            I'd recommend this book to hardcore horror movie buffs just
          because of it's information about old, old films.

          2) "Horror" by Leonard Wolf.
          Bills itself as "A Conoisseur's Guide to Literature and Film"
          in the genre of horror.  Includes reviews of some HPL films and
          stories.

          Magazines:

          1) Scarlet Street (Winter 1994)
             Contains one article concerning the HPL/Mythos movies

          2) Imagi-Movies (Spring 1994 , H.R. Geiger on cover).
             Three articles about HPL's work, and it's transference to
             the big screen:

             p. 8-11 - Filming "Necronomicon" by Dennis Fischer and
                       Steve Biodrowski
                     - "A trilogy of terror, inspired by H.P. Lovecraft's
                       Cthulhu Mythos"
             p.26-29 - Jeffrey Combs Re-Animator, by Bruse Hallenbeck
                     - "The actor who brought Herbert West to life describes
                       being a modern horror star"
             p.50-53 - Cthul-who? by Randy Palmer
                     - "A look at how Hollywood's treatment of Lovecraft
                       fails to reveal a mythos to the madness"
             This magazine may be ordered from them by calling
             1 800 798-6515.  Ask for Vol1, Number 3 of Imagi-Movies.

Path: portal!portal.com!sdd.hp.com!spool.mu.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!math.ohio-state.edu!magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu!drusmith
From: drusmith@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Dru A Smith)
Newsgroups: alt.horror.cthulhu
Subject: FAQ, Part 7: Internet (v. 6/9/94)
Date: 8 Jun 1994 22:20:47 GMT
Organization: The Ohio State University
Lines: 112
Message-ID: <2t5g7v$sc5@charm.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu>
NNTP-Posting-Host: beauty.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu

      The alt.horror.cthulhu Frequently Asked Questions List (internet)
      -----------------------------------------------------------------
      Version:  06/09/94
      Organizer: Dru Smith (drusmith@MAGNUS.ACS.OHIO-STATE.EDU)

--->  Q.  What internet Usenet groups might be of interest to HPL fans?

      A.  alt.horror.cthulhu
          alt.necromicon  [sic]
          alt.horror.shub-internet
          alt.fan.shub-internet
          alt.magick
          alt.satanism
          alt.evil
          alt.gothic
          alt.vampyres
          alt.horror
          alt.pulp
          rec.arts.sf-lovers
          rec.arts.books
          rec.arts.comics
          rec.games.frp.misc
          rec.games.frp.archives
          alt.sex.cthulhu



--->  Q.  What HPL info/stuff is available via internet (i.e. ftp, etc)?

      A.  List follows:

          1)  The H.P. Lovecraft Image Gallery
              - Located on the World Wide Web
              - The URL is:
                http://daneel.acns.nwu.edu:8082/lovecraft/lovecraft.html
              - Maintained by Jack Graham
              - I haven't been on this yet, so no info is available.

           2) Chaosium Digest
              - Weekly digest about the Call of Cthulhu game
              - e-mail to subscribe:  appel@erzo.berkeley.edu
              - Maintained by Shannon Appel

           3) Call of Cthulhu at Berkeley
              - Anonymous ftp site for supplements to the Call of Cthulhu game
              - address:  soda.berkeley.edu (128.32.149.19)
              - directories:  /pub/chaosium/cthulhu
                              /pub/chaosium/paganpub
              - Maintained by Shannon Appel
              - Availablity includes:  Back issues of The Unspeakable Oath,
                Catalogs, etc.
           3a)  Back issues of The Unspeakable Oath are available to those
                who don't have FTP access by doing the following:
                   Send mail to:
                       almanac@erzo.berkeley.edu
                   The body of the message (not the subject)
                   must contain the command:
                      send paganpub tuo1

           4) Necronomicon 'history' at LIU in Sweden
              - Anonymous ftp site for a Necronomicon 'historical' FAQ
              - address:  ftp.lysator.liu.se (130.236.254.153)
              - directory: /pub/magick/Necronomicon
              - The FAQ in this directory is for those who take the existance
                of the "Necronomicon" a little too seriously.

           5) Cthulhu Gif at Wuarchive
              - address: wuarchive.wustl.edu (128.252.135.4)
              - directory: /multimedia/images/gif/c
                  OR (still! in question):
                           /graphics/gif/c
              - Same graphic as is found at ftp.rfhsm.ac.uk

           6) Nightwatch hyperzine (for Mac Users)
              - address:  mac.archive.umich.edu
              - directory:  mac/hypercard/fun

           7) Original GIF of Cthulhu, by Joe Bay
              - in the alt.binaries.pictures.misc group

           8) Cthulhu GIF at ftp.rfhsm.ac.uk
              - address: ftp.rfhsm.ac.uk
              - directory: /pub/rpg/cthulhu/gifs
              - Cthulhu.gif is same as found at Wuarchive





--->  Q.  Are any Call of Cthulhu games available via the internet (PBEM,
          MOO, MUSH, etc)?

      A.  First, there is always the possibility of someone runing an
          informal Play-By-E-Mail (PBEM) game.  These come and go, and
          will not be listed here.

          MOO:

          1) There is a Call of Cthulhu MOO running on the LambdaMOO 1.7.1
          server and db.  The game is set in 1926-27 in 'Lovecraft
          Country'.

          MUSH:
          1) address: ganymede.ics.uci.edu 1927
             details, e-mail to: devin@BEAMLAB.PS.UCI.EDU

          MUD:

          1) CthulhuMUD, zen.btc.uwe.ac.uk (164.11.2.18)
          2) Cthulhu_Mud, leaoibm2.epfl.ch (128.178.152.15)

EOF