Customer Reviews

The Cthulhu Mythos Encyclopedia

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First I suppose I should say what this book is not. It is not a bibliography of all the books, chapbooks, stories or web fiction that use or are about the Cthulhu mythos. With the explosion of mythos sites on the internet and the rapid pace of publication by small presses, such an endeavor would be out of date before it ever hit press. Mr. Harms cites Chris Jarocha-Ernst's A Cthulhu Mythos Bibliography and Concordance from 1999 as useful in this regard. I have used Glynn Barrass' similar chapbook from Rainfall Books as well. A continuously updated online reference would be invaluable for collectors and fans but alas there is nothing definitive. I really enjoy EP Berglund's site, The Reader's Guide to the Cthulhu Mythos (http://www.epberglund.com/RGttCM/), but it has been under construction for some time now. As far as I can tell, The Ultimate Mythos Book List (http://www.rockcrown.com/mythos/index.php) has not been updated in 2 or 3 years.

What this book does provide is a detailed description of those entities, characters, tomes, places and critters that populate the worlds of Cthulhu Mythos fiction. Mr. Harms makes no pretense about being comprehensive; monsters that may appear in only a single story will not show up here. Fortunately, Mr. Harms lists his own criteria for inclusion so there is no ambiguity: all entries from the second edition, entries from the first edition where there was a groundswell of popular demand, and things found in two different works by two different authors, or appearing in major Cthulhu Mythos novels. Thus you certainly find the Hounds of Tindalos but you won't find T'loal (not that you would want to; the novella was abysmal). There is likely quite a bit of RPG material that has been excluded as well, although I found a citation on Delta Green.

I have a copy of the limited hardcover edition, a lovely book signed by the author. Art on the slip cover was provided by Malcom McClinton, an was quite nice, with some cephalopoidal thing probing about a library. I don't think Mr. McClinton has been active on the mythos art scene very much, but I hope to see more of his paintings in the future. Page count was a generous 382; materials used in the book were of highest quality and production values are flawless. The paperback is a bargain, with the discount and free shipping offered by Amazon; I have been pleased with all of my paperbacks from Elder Signs Press.

Several features stand out. I really enjoyed Mr. Harms' detailed introduction, with his description about the creation and growth of the phenomenon that is the Cthulhu mythos. There was, I think, a very even handed description of the role and contributions of August Derleth, always a contentious subject for mythos fans. I would have liked to see more about Lin Carter, but that's just a personal bias. Perhaps the least useful (or perhaps least likely to be used) part of the introduction was the guidance offered to authors about how to employ the trappings of the Cthulhu mythos in their stories and books. Like anyone is going to allow themselves to be limited! The appendix about the Necronomicon was quite good, as was expected as this is a special area of interest to the author. I skipped around reading citations about some of my favorite beasties and people. One of my bench marks is how does an author come to grips with the Outer Gods, the Elder Gods, the Old Ones, the Great Old Ones and the Great Race, etc. No complaints here. I enjoyed the treatment of all of these topics. I also don't think Mr. Harms intends these entries to be definitive depictions, of Cthulhu for example (In the short story by Neil Gaiman, I, Cthulhu, there was a pithy description of Cthulhu's 'birth' and its reproduction, which I prefer to what is listed in The Cthulhu Mythos Encyclopedia). Instead he is offering in one place, a description of how these entities have been described, depicted or used by their creators and a large comunity of writers.

So who should be most interested in this book, other than fanatics like me? I think authors who are trying to keep all these names and places straight would find it useful. New fans to the mythos who are daunted by all the cross referencing that happens between mythos authors (and that is part of what makes mythos fiction so cool for readers) now have a scorecard to identify all the players. Role players now have a handy compendium (alas without pictures) to add depth to their campaigns. And of course collectors must have it all.

Bravo and thank you, Mr. Harms!

I have to agree with everything Mr. Carpenter wrote ahead of me. There's not much more I can add to that, honestly. It's a wonderful, straightforward reference book, and if you're a fan of the mythos, definitely pick this book up!

I'm curious how it compares to the Encyclopedia Cthulhiana, however. A year or two ago, we attempted to order it and were informed that it would never be printed again and gave up trying to purchase it. We certainly won't be dishing out the 99$ for a used paperback. We guessed that this was the answer to the discontinued book, but we aren't certain.

Having recently gotten reacquainted with the stories of H.P. Lovecraft, I found this encyclopedia to be very informative. I had read some of Lovecraft's stories back in college, but now thirty years later, I am enjoying the stories again, along with tales by other authors who want to keep the Lovecraft or Cthulhu mythology alive in their own way. This encyclopedia covers many well known topics, characters and locations within the mythology from the dangerous book known as the Necronomicon to the professors of Miskatonic University. Sometimes, I will read a Lovecraft story and then see if any of the events or characters are featured in another story (maybe by another author) by checking the Cthulhu Mythos Encyclopedia. Unfortunately, the encyclopedia does not have any pictures or artwork inside, which would be helpful, but that is my only complaint with this book. I hope that if you do pick up this book, you will find it to be as much of a fun and helpful resource to Lovecraft's world as I have. Thank you for reading.

This is a resource that I keep beside me on my writing table while working on new books of Cthulhu Mythos fiction. Not only does it answers questions concerning every aspect of the Mythos, but it can also be a source of inspiration for new Mythos fiction; for one can read over the entries and find some line of reference that is so tantalizing that it makes one ache to write a story based on that entry. One important aspect is that after each entry there is a listing of the core stories, by H. P. Lovecraft and others, in which the entry subject is featured; such as this, following the main entry on Nyarlathotep:

"See Abbith; BOOK OF AZATHOTH; BLACK RITES; Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh; Byagoona; Cthugha; Cthulhu; Dreamlands; Eibon, sign of; elemental theory; Fable of Nyarlathotep; ghouls; gods of Earth; Great Old Ones; gugs; hunting horrors; Koth; Million Favored Ones; moon-beasts; NECRONOMICON (appendices); Nephren-Ka; N'gai, Wood of; Nophru-Ka; Old Ones; Other Gods; Outer Gods; Prinn, Ludwig; Set; SEVEN CRYPTICAL BOOKS OF HSAN; shantaks; Sharnoth; Smith, Morgan; S'ngac; Stygia; World of Seven Suns; Yegg-ha; 'Ymnar. ("The Faceless God", Bloch; "The Shadow from the Steeple", Bloch; THE LURKER AT THE THRESHOLD, Derleth and Lovecraft; DELTA GREEN, Detwiller, Glancy, and Tynes (G); MASKS OF NYARLATHOTEP, DiTillo and Willis (G); THE 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.

Thus not only do the entries explain the nature of the thing, but they lead us to core Mythos tales in which the entry is fictionally evoked; and we learn of other things to which the entry is related. I've never heard of Nophru-Ka, nor Ymnar. This book is extremely thorough, and it can be enjoy'd both as a source of information and as a source of entertainment. For those of us who are professional Mythos writers, it is as essential guide. For those of us who love Lovecraft, it provides endless hours of entertainment and information. This is such an awesome time to be a Mythos writer. The Internet is changing the face of the contemporary Mythos scene. We now have ezines that specialize in presenting new Mythos fiction each month, zines like the Lovecraft eZine and the Innsmouth Free Press, and more and more books are being reprinted as Kindle. For those of you who have been tempted to try your hand at writing Lovecraftian weird fiction, this may become a Golden Age, and books such as this wonderful Cthulhu Mythos Encyclopedia add to the fun and adventure. I cannot stay away from this fabulous book, it is so informed and fascinating in its details, and it is the work of a man who is intimate with his subject. Bravo!

I recently purchased a copy and have found it to be extremely helpful in deciphering the 'mythos'. I especially enjoyed the Forward. It was a simple explanation to many of the questions which were raised in my mind. I was trying to determine how all of these 'connections' were made, when they didn't seem to connect by simply reading the works of Lovecraft.

I'd say this is a MUST HAVE reference book!

Hats off Mr. Harms.

Other reviewers have gone into more detail than i will, but I'm very happy with this book, it was much higher quality and more thorough than i expected it to be.

I picked this book up for a quick reference to use while playing Arkham Horror or Call of Cthulhu RPGs. Its perfect for just that. Its got just about anything i can imagine that i'd want to look up, and about twice that many entries that i've never even heard of (but am more than happy to browse).

While I have not read the entire encyclopedia cover to cover. It does seem to contain a very complete listing of the places, artifacts, items, characters, gods and monsters that occupy the world of H.P. Lovecraft. In addition, each entry also includes a cross reference outlining other authors works in which they appear.

Awesome source of mythical information. Many names I knew many I didn't although I haven't read front to back this is more of a resource book to me.

An admirable effort has been made here and has actually been spoiled by it's success. Harms has probably listed almost every Mythos related reference made since Lovecraft first picked up a pen. Admirable, but I think he perhaps goes to far when he includes information from "Call of Cthulhu" role playing game aids, decidedly non-canon. The bibliography is disappointing, he gives author, title and date for the novels and short stories but no publication details, that however is a minor quibble. For a man who needs to know his Sign of Kish from his Sign of Koth, this book is invaluable.

The Cthulhu Mythos Encylopedia is an update of the Encyclopedia Cthulhiana, written also by Daniel Harns
Althought it presents new verbetes and informations, it lacks the cronology of the Mythos, penned in the previous edition. It also lacks an index, given a somewath sloop appearance. But don't misunderstand: it is a complete encyclopedia, and for those who don't have the previous edition it's the best list of all cthulhian information