Cthulhu Mythos in popular culture

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The following is a list of media featuring H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos in popular culture. For works that are stylistically influenced by Lovecraft, see Lovecraftian horror.

Contents

1 Prose and poetry
1.1
2 Television
3 Movies
4 Games
5 Comics
6 Music
7 Individual gods
7.1 Abhoth
7.1.1 Other media
8 Miscellaneous
8.2 Book of Eibon
9 See also
10 External links

Prose and poetry

Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett- The Things From the Dungeon Dimensions are clear parodies of Lovecraftian monstrosities, often with names to match (Yob-Soddoth, Tshup Aklathep, Bel-Shamaroth, the Insider, etc.) In Moving Pictures, Lovecraft is quoted directly. The book of the Necrotelecomnicon (or Liber Paginarum Fulvarum) is a direct parody of the Necronomicon, and also appears in Good Omens as well as Neil Gaiman's Sandman comic serial.

Good Omens, by Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, is a novel of apocalypse that features Dagon, Ligur (probably from Lloigor), and Hastur, as well as more traditional apocalyptic spectres.

In The Witch Queen of Acheron, a Conan graphic novel, the Witch Queen and her cult attempt to summon Yog-Sothoth.

The Illuminatus! Trilogy - a number of the characters read the Necronomicon, and several of Lovecraft's creatures appear in the storyline.

A Night in the Lonesome October, by Roger Zelazny, is about a battle between those who want to open the gate to the Elder Gods and those who wish to keep it closed.

William Browning Spencer's novel Résumé With Monsters is about a man who believes the Outer God Azathoth is being summoned to earth through a bizarre cult ritual involving the mindless nature of clerical office jobs.

Bruce Sterling's short story "The Unthinkable" has references to night-gaunts, Azathoth, the Elder Gods, and a number of phrases from Lovecraft's works.

Charles Stross has written a number of works which mix the Cthulhu Mythos with both hacker culture and Len Deighton-style spy fiction. The first was the novelette A Colder War, published in Spectrum SF #3 and now available [online]. The novel The Atrocity Archive, and its follow-up novella The Concrete Jungle, take the same basic approach, though they are not set in the same universe as A Colder War.

The SubGenius mythos overlap heavily into the Cthulhu Mythos.

Several Doctor Who novels have incorporated aspects of the Cthulhu Mythos into Doctor Who's universe. White Darkness, by David A. McIntee, features the Necronomicon and a Cthulhu-like entity being raised in Haiti. All-Consuming Fire by Andy Lane (which also features Sherlock Holmes) says that this entity was Cthulhu, although McIntee has written that this was not his original intent [link]. All-Consuming Fire also includes a visit to the planet Ry'leh (cf. R'lyeh) and an alien being impersonating Azathoth, and also equates many powerful entities from the Doctor Who universe with the Great Old Ones: Fenric was Hastur, the Great Intelligence was Yog-Sothoth, the Animus was Lloigor, and the Gods of Ragnarok are also unnamed Great Old Ones. The Doctor explains that these beings were Lords of Time in the universe before this one, and thus obey physical and moral laws alien to this universe. This view is taken up in several other novels, including Millennial Rites by Craig Hinton (which identified the Nestene Consciousness as an offspring of Shub-Niggurath) and Divided Loyalties by Gary Russell. In The Taking of Planet 5 by Simon Bucher-Jones and Mark Clapham, the Doctor encounters a race of Elder Things in Earth's past, also referred to as Shoggoths. The Doctor also mentions he has met Lovecraft.

Minions of Cthulhu attempt to bring the Great Old One back in modern day Glasgow in The Midnight Eye Files: The Amulet (2005) by British author William Meikle ([link]).

The Buffy the Vampire Slayer spinoff novel, Night of the Living Re-Run, features Clark Ashton Smith' Mythos-tome The Book of Eibon.

Maureen Birnbaum at the Looming Awfulness, by George Alec Effinger, is a parody of Lovecraft.

The works of Thomas Ligotti often intersect with the Mythos, whether obliquely or subtly.

In the culminating episode of Foucault's Pendulum, by Umberto Eco, a nocturnal ceremony which takes place in Paris' Musée des Arts et Métiers, a member of the Tres secret society pronounces the following incantation: "I'a Cthulhu! I'a S'ha-t'n!" ("S'ha-t'n" is apparently an allusion to Satan[link].)

Brian Lumley added numerous Cthulhu Mythos-based short stories in collections such as Fruiting Bodies and other Fungi and the Titus Crow novels. There were also references to Lovecraft's short stories in his Necroscope series, mainly to "Dreams in the Witch House" and The Case of Charles Dexter Ward.

The name Abdul Al-Hazred comes up in John Bellairs' "The Lamp From the Warlock's Tomb," when Emerson Eells chastises his sister Myra for not thinking the lamp they are dealing with is magical. He rattles off a few magical lamps that were, including those of Aladdin and Alhazred.

Brad Strickland's juvenile mystery, "The Beast Under the Wizard's Bridge", is in many ways a reworking of Lovecraft's story "The Colour out of Space." Additionally, the deity Nyarlathotep appears in Strickland's Wrath of the Grinning Ghost.

In Christopher Moore's books, there is a recurring character named Howard Philips, who owns H.P.'s Cafe in Pine Cove, California. H.P. believes in a race of beings that came before man called the Old Ones, and believes his unusual menu will keep them away. The menu at H.P.'s includes Eggs Sothoth.

Cthulhu is heavily featured in Mick Farren's Victor Renquist novel Darklost.

The Secret Town has several Lovecraft characters, such as Cthulhu and Azatoth.

"Elemental", a short story by Geoffrey A. Landis, appeared in the December 1984 issue of Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact magazine, illustrated by Jack Gaughan. The chapter illustration includes the phrases NGAI NGAI YOG and SHUB NIGURATH.

F. Paul Wilson has made passing references to the Mythos; the most explicit of these occurs in his novel The Keep, wherein a treasure trove of books is discovered with titles directly out of the Mythos, including the Book of Eibon and a copy of al-Azif (the Arabic original of the Necronomicon).

Mark Ellis writing as James Axler has featured elements of the Cthulhu Mythos in the Outlanders novel series. Ocajink, the villain of Shadow Scourge, is believed by the protagonists to be an Old One.

The book series A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin describes a religion that worships a Cthulhu-like "Drowned God" held by the people of the Iron Islands. "That is not dead which can eternal lie." - Lovecraft Cthulhu quote. "What is dead can never die." - worship phrase for the Drowned God.

In Summoned to Tourney, a novel by Mercedes Lackey and Ellen Guon, a character refers to Shub-Niggurath.

Many of Caitlin R. Kiernan's novels and short stories have incorporated thematic elements of Lovecraft's mythos, while avoiding pastiches. In particular, her novels Threshold (2001) and Low Red Moon (2003), and her short fiction collection, To Charles Fort, With Love (2005), have been cited as exhibiting Lovecraft's influence upon her work. Kiernan has made much use of Lovecraft's "ghouls" from "Pickman's Model", and references to "Mother Hydra" and "Father Kraken" are common. In To Charles Fort, With Love, the "Dandridge House" story cycle is particularly Lovecraftian in its emphasis of cosmic horrors waiting to invade this universe.

In the book Boży Bojownicy (The God's Warriors) by Andrzej Sapkowski, there's a short scene featuring a book called Liber de Nyarlathotep which accidentally turns a homunculus into a small pope, which then says "Beati immaculati, Cthulhu fthagn!"

The Daniel Pinkwater book Alan Mendelsohn, the Boy from Mars features a book written by professors from Miskatonic University.

In his autobiography, horror writer Stephen King pays homage to Lovecraft and even quotes from several of his short stories (although he sharply criticizes Lovecraft's reclusive tendencies and writing style). King's fiction contains numerous Lovecraftian references:

The novel It mentions that in the town of Derry in 1930, there lived "that old geezer who paints those funny pictures and drinks all night at Wally's--Pickman, I think his name is."

Needful Things makes references to both Lovecraft's Plateau of Leng (as the "Plains of Leng") and Yog-Sothoth.

The plot of The Tommyknockers parallels that of the Lovecraft story "The Colour out of Space", a story King quotes in his autobiography).

A character in The Eyes of the Dragon reads from the Necronomicon.

King's Dark Tower series includes many Lovecraftian terms, such as "Old Ones."

In Thinner, there was a pub called Ligur's; when this burned down, it was replaced with a clothing shop called The King in Yellow.

"Crouch End" is a short story set entirely in the Cthulhu Mythos, with numerous references to Lovecraftian monsters.

King's short story "Jerusalem's Lot" is also set in the Cthulhu Mythos, as characters find a copy of De Vermis Mysteriis in an abandoned church. Stylistically, the story draws heavily from Lovecraft, with some specific nods to "The Rats in the Walls".

Also in King's short story "Jerusalem's Lot", the horrific worm which makes an appearance in the stories finale is referred to as the Servant of Yogsoggoth by the main character while he is possessed by an evil force.

King's recurring villain Randall Flagg has several nicknames taken from the Cthulhu Mythos.

In Kings short story "Gramma", George's aunt tells him to say "lay down and be still in the name of her father, Hastur"

Television

In the animated television series The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, Billy plays with Grim's "Bad Book, the Official Illustrated Handbook of the Underworld" (Necronomicron) and calls up the creature "Yog-Sawhaw" (Yog-Sothoth) from his pit of darkness. In another episode, Prank Call of Cthulhu, Cthulhu himself appears.

The anime/manga series Hellsing includes certain themes from the Cthulhu Mythos.

The Simpsons: At a meeting of the Springfield Republican Party, Mr. Burns announces that Bob Dole will now read from the Necronomicon. Dole proceeds to speak in a strange tongue.

Justice League ([IMDb entry]): In the two- part episode called "The Terror Beyond", the Justice League must join forces with mystical Dr. Fate and villain Solomon Grundy to defeat an extra-dimensional being called Ichthultu, which once posed as a god on Hawkgirl's home planet.

Mighty Max ([IMDb entry]): The later seasons incorporate the Cthulhu Mythos into the storyline.

The Real Ghostbusters ([IMDb entry]): In an episode called The Collect Call of Cathulhu, Egon emphasizes the danger of the situation by warning his fellow Ghostbusters that "Cthulhu makes Gozer look like Little Mary Sunshine." The episode also featured the Necronomicon, which returned in the episode Russian About.

Digimon: Dagomon, a Cthulhu-shaped creature named after Dagon, makes a shadowed appearance in the thirteenth episode of the second season. Also, in the third season, there are several Lovecraft references, such as Hypnos, Yuggoth, Shaggai, and a reference to Miskatonic University.

Garth Marenghi's Darkplace: In this comedy series about a horror writer aired in the UK on Channel 4, there are some vague references to Lovecraftian mythology, one episode being titled "The Creeping Moss From the Shores of Shuggoth".

Night Gallery: This post-Twilight Zone vehicle of Rod Serling often made use of Lovecraft's short fiction, including adaptations of Cool Air, and Pickman's Model. One episode, entitled Professor Peabody's Last Lecture, was a witty parody of the Cthulhu Mythos.

Out of Mind: The Stories of H.P. Lovecraft (1998), a Lovecraft sampler shown on Bravo! ([IMDb entry] [Available on DVD])

Rough Magik (2000), influenced by "Call of Cthulhu" and "Shadow out of Time", a kind of Delta Green crossed with "Ultraviolet" and "Millennium", Government is secretly battling the Sleeping God ([IMDb entry] [Available on DVD])

Episode #10 of the first season, "What Are Little Girls Made Of", features an ancient android built by the "Old Ones", whose tale parallels that of the Old Ones in H. P. Lovecraft's "At the Mountains of Madness". The episode is written by Robert Bloch, a friend of Lovecraft. Another Bloch episode, #7 of the second season, "Catspaw", features two characters named Korob and Sylvia who seemingly have magical powers who make repeated references to The Old Ones. When their true form is discovered, they are revealed to be tiny, tentacled creatures.

The backstory to Buffy the Vampire Slayer (and its spin-off Angel) is that before humanity, the world was ruled by the Old Ones. In the final season of Angel, the character of Fred is taken over by one named Illyria.

Futurama: The episode "A Bicyclops Built for Two" includes an alien referred to as a Yithian, a creature from Lovecraft's short story "The Shadow Out of Time".

In an episode of Quantum Leap, Sam leaps into the body of a horror writer whom Al (Dean Stockwell) quips is a "second-rate H.P. Lovecraft." Dean Stockwell played Wilbur Whateley in the 1970 movie adaptation The Dunwich Horror.

In an episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Frylock accidentally pulls out the Necronomicon when he meant to pull out the Bible.

The "H.P. Lovecraft's Dreams in the Witch-House" episode of Masters of Horror is based on the story and directed by Stuart Gordon, who also directed Re-Animator, From Beyond and Dagon.

In a segment in the Nightmares and Dreamscapes, based on works by Stephen King, miniseries, a character runs by several stores, all of them named after Lovecraft characters.

Movies

Cast a Deadly Spell ([IMDB Entry]) is set in a fictional world where magic is common and a private investigator named Harry Philip Lovecraft is hired to find a stolen book called the Necronomicon.
Cool Air (1998), adaptation by Bryan Moore starring Jack Donner ([IMDb entry] [Available on DVD])
[The Call of Cthulhu] by the [HP Lovecraft Historical Society] adapts the celebrated story as a 1920s silent film.
Cthulhu, feature film based on the short stories "Call of Cthulhu"' and "The Dunwich Horror".[link]
The Evil Dead ([IMDB Entry]) and its sequels feature the Necronomicon as a central plot device. Apparently, writer/director Sam Raimi was unaware of the book's previous existence in the works of Lovecraft at the time of the first film, but was made aware in time for the sequels.
The Fog references Arkham and other Lovecraftian towns during a radio broadcast, although at least one recent DVD release misspells their names in the subtitles.
In the Mouth of Madness ([IMDB Entry]) is a movie inspired by the work of H.P. Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos.
Die Monster Die! is a 1965 movie based on "The Colour Out of Space."
Curse of the Crimson Altar is a 1968 movie based on "The Dreams in the Witch House."
The Dunwich Horror ([IMDB Entry]) is a 1970 movie based on the H.P. Lovecraft story of the same name.
The Gates of Hell AKA City of the Living Dead ([IMDB Entry]) is an 1980 Italian film set in Lovecraft's fictional town of Dunwich, but otherwise does not resemble any of HPL's work.
The Beyond AKA Seven Doors of Death ([IMDB Entry]) is a 1981 movie featuring The Book of Eibon, a piece of the Mythos invented by Clark Ashton Smith.
Re-Animator ([IMDB Entry]) is a 1985 movie and its sequels based upon the Lovecraft serial "".
From Beyond ([IMDB Entry]) is a 1986 film from the team behind Dagon and Re-Animator based on the story of the same title.
Necronomicon ([IMDB Entry]) is a 1994 movie made up of short Lovecraft-inspired vignettes, based on Cool Air, The Whisperer in Darkness, and one original story.
The Lurking Fear ([IMDB Entry]) is a 1994 movie based on the story of the same title.
Dagon ([IMDB Entry]) is a 2001 movie based on the H.P. Lovecraft's story The Shadow over Innsmouth.
Nyarlathotep ([IMDB Entry]) is a 2001 short film based on the H.P. Lovecraft story of the same name.

"The Shuttered Room" was also filmed, but the creature in hiding is changed to a deformed insane person rather than a deep one/human hybrid.

Many other films have used Lovecraft's inventions, often greatly modified from his original versions; see [Lovecraft's IMDB entry] for a complete list of films crediting him.

Games

Alone in the Dark: action-adventure game by Infogrames.
Angband: rogue-like game, many variants of which feature various creatures from the Cthulhu Mythos as enemies.
Anchorhead: a text-based game by Michael Gentry, featuring an Innsmouth-like town dominated by a demonic cult.
Atlach=Nacha: An H-game named after Atlach-Nacha, the Spider God creature from the Cthulhu Mythos.
Blood: Another FPS containing certain humorous references to the Cthulhu Mythos.
Call of Cthulhu: A role-playing game based on the works of Lovecraft.
: An FPS/Horror game based directly within Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos.
Castlevania series: In ', a flying monster called "Ctulhu" can be found, with an appearance very similar to the Lovecraftian description. The Necronomicon can be seen in both Castlevania 64 and '.
Demonbane: A super robot adventure game in which the Cthulhu Mythos plays a fairly large role. One of the heroines is Al Azif itself (powerful magic books have souls, personalities, and human forms in the game), and many characters are either from the Cthulhu Mythos (e.g., Nightgaunt, Dagon, Henry Armitage) or magicians who call upon the power of characters from the mythos (e.g., the Black Lodge member Claudius uses the power of Hastur). Several locations are also from the mythos (e.g., Arkham, Innsmouth, Miskatonic University). The main antagonist is Nyarlathotep.
Dungeons and Dragons: The first two printings of the Deities & Demigods reference book included an entry for the Cthulhu Mythos. It was removed from the third (and all subsequent) printings to avoid infringing on the trademarks of rival game publisher Chaosium, and its Call of Cthulhu role-playing game.
: The game is heaviliy inspired by the Cthulhu Mythos, in terms of plot ("Long before humanity graced the universe, our planet belonged to another species - an ancient species bound by neither phsyics nor nature, purpose nor ethic"), atmosphere, and the use of diminishing sanity (and its effects) as an integral part of the game. In addition, the character Edward Roivas holds several pieces of Lovecraft material in his library. Another interesting piece of trivia is the fact of one of the title's supporting characters is an inspector named Legrasse, homonimous to the lead character on The Call of Cthulhu.
Final Fantasy Tactics: An item is called the N'Kai armlet.
Final Fantasy X-2: This sequel to Final Fantasy X contains several creatures that are from the Cthulhu Mythos, such as Shantaks, Gugs, and Hounds of Tindalos.
GURPS: Various books make reference to the Cthulhu Mythos, most notably GURPS Cthulhupunk, a Call of Cthulhu/cyberpunk crossover.
Illuminati: A non-collectible card game, and , a collectible adaptation, feature various references to Lovecraftian elements.
Macho Women with Guns is a comedy role-playing game that parodies many subjects, including the Cthulhu Mythos. Its list of "critters" includes Bthulhu, Isaac Azathoth, and the Puppies of Tindalos.
Marathon: A series of FPS games from Bungie. Makes numerous references, but [The Marathon Story Page] sums it all up.
Max Payne: The leader of the cult invokes the name of Cthulhu (among others) in his incantation to achieve immortality.
Myth: A series of RTS games from Bungie. The lore of Myth has many parallels to Lovecraft's. Many themes are very similar. Unorthodox spelling abounds.
Persona 2 series: A role-playing game by Atlus with a good amount of references. Hastur is the strongest Persona of the TOWER Tarot, while Nyarlathotep is the final antagonist of the game. Persona is a spin-off of the Shin Megami Tensei series, which also makes quite a few references.
Prisoner of Ice: The semi-sequel to Shadow of the Comet, this Infogrames adventure game set in the 1940s has a plot heavily influenced by At the Mountains of Madness and even features a German base bulit atop the ancient ruins that were featured in that story.
Quake: A first person shooter inspired by the Lovecraftian universe, with the Shub-Niggurath entity as its final boss.
Quest for Glory 4: The plot revolves around the Cult of the Dark One (made up of tentacled humanoids) trying to awaken their master, Avoozl (a Cthulu pastiche, in both name and appearance). There is also a tome bound in human flesh called the Necrophilicon that can be found in the basement of a monastery.
Shadow Hearts: References to the Cthulhu Mythos include the Tindalos, a magic defense spell called Elder Sign, and even, in the third game, Arkham University as a destination, where H.P. Lovecraft is a professor.
Shadow of the Comet: An adventure game from Infogrames borrows heavily from "The Shadow Over Innsmouth".
Shin Megami Tensei: The second game in this series contains Cthulhu, Nyarlathotep, and the Old Ones as demons.
Star Munchkin: One of the card games in the popular Munchkin series by Steve Jackson Games. The "Great Cthulhu" appears as one of the more powerful monster cards.
Tales of Symphonia: The Necronomicon is used by the secret boss Abyssion.
The Lurking Horror: A text adventure game from Infocom recalls "the ghastly visions of H.P. Lovecraft and Stephen King".
: On the level entitled The Lost City, towards the end, there can be found a giant statue of Cthulhu partly sunken in lava. When the statue is approached, the character Garret whispers "Creepy..."
Tribe 8: Roleplaying game. Horrors of the Z'Bri sourcebook (ISBN 1896776574) mentions Tct'lu the Ancient who is "slumbering beneath the water, [his] dreams winding into the thoughts of Skkr."
: When travelling through the sewers in Hollywood, journals are found with words and phrases clearly echoing Lovecraft's works. The dates of these journal entries are also related to the period in which Lovecraft wrote.
Wild Arms 3: There is an item called the Necronomicon which can increase magic power up to 400%. There's also an enemy called "Crawling Chaos", one of Nyarlathotep's epithets.
World of Warcraft: A quest in the game is entitled "Into the Mouth of Madness", a reference to the movie In the Mouth of Madness, which is considered a pastiche of Lovecraft's work; its title being an obvious homage to Lovecraft's "At the Mountains of Madness". In addition, there is a quest called "The Star, the Hand and the Heart", which has you fighting murlocs, a race of primitive fish-men, so that you can summon and kill the sea giant, Dagun, which they worship. There are also Old Gods referenced numerous times in World of Warcraft lore, and the dead, octopus-like remains of one can be found in Darkshore; the recently announced Old God who lives beneath the sands of Silithus is named C'thun, undoubtedly a reference to Cthulhu. Additionally, the area of Westfall contains a Sentinal Hill and in the rogue quarters of Undercity there are three trainers whose surnames are "Charles", "Dexter" and "Ward".
: Unlike its predecessor , which drew inspiration from popular UFO lore, this computer strategy game was based very heavily on the Cthulhu Mythos. The adversaries encountered during the game included Deep Ones (although they appear different from their original description) and Lobstermen (the latter being comparable to Lovecraft's Mi-go), and the ultimate objective was to prevent the "Great Dreamer" (a Cthulhu-like alien being) from waking from his slumber within the undersea city of T'leth (a probable reference to the city of R'lyeh).
: The "Enemy" many characters refer to is a creature from another dimension called "Mehrunes Dagon," the last name of which is a reference to one of the other Old Ones most notably from "Shadow Over Innsmouth." It also includes one quest entitled "Shadow over Hackdirt" which involves saving a captured argonian from being sacrificed to "The Deep Ones". The Daedric architecture could be considered similar to the architecture depicted in R'lyeh in "The Call of Cthulhu".

Comics

During the 1970s the Skywald published comics Psycho, Nightmare and Scream frequently featured stories and strips by "Archaic" Alan Hewetson that purported to document "the Cthulu Mythos".

In Batman, some of Batman's foes are sent to Arkham Asylum, a prison for the criminally insane whose name alludes to Lovecraft's town of Arkham. The three-part Elseworlds story The Doom That Came To Gotham, by Mike Mignola, features Bruce Wayne and Green Arrow battling a conpiracy to bring an ancient Lovecraftian evil to Earth in Gotham, and recasts many Batman characters and villains in terms of the mythos.

Hellboy by Mike Mignola is a demon summoned from another dimension which it is hinted (especially in the film of the comic) contains Mythos-like entities as well as more traditional demons. Abe Sapien, another character in the comic, is a "fishman" who, while clearly not a Deep One, has encountered beings like them on at least one occasion.

was a three-part comic mini-series published by Millennium Publications that followed a group of investigators, the Miskatonic Project, as they confronted the Mi-go, the Fungi from Yuggoth.

Caballistics by Gordon Rennie draws on a combination of the Cthulhu Mythos with ancient Hebrew and British mythological entities.

"The Courtyard", by Alan Moore, was a tale of Mythos horror set in the near future, and made numerous references to Lovecraft's work.

Little Cthulhu (Μικρός Κθούλου) is a humorous Greek strip comic by George Tsoukis, also known as Trashman. Little Cthulhu is an sad, unlucky, unhappy little monster-boy, with tentacles, claws and a devilish tail, who is tortured by his parents, friends, teachers and the whole of society for being different. He dies of flu in the end.

The obscure Marvel Comics character Shuma-Gorath appears to be inspired by Cyäegha. Another Marvel Comics character named Sligguth, subordinate to Shuma-Gorath, appears to be modeled on Yig. The town where the two are worshipped is Starksboro, New Hampshire, and its inhabitants share the Starksboro look, much like those of Innsmouth have the Innsmouth look. There are also many references to the Cthulhu Mythos in Marvel's Dr. Strange, with occasional appearances by the Necronomicon (usually shown on a bookshelf in the background). Uncanny X-Men #148-150 features Magneto living on what appears to be the island of R'lyeh.

2000 AD comic "Zenith (comic)", written by Grant Morrison and drawn by Steve Yeowell, features a Lovecraftian pantheon of ancient, evil god-like entities called the Lloigor (a name originally coined by August Derleth), living in a different dimension. These entities can be summoned to our universe through dark rituals to inhabit the body of a superhero, as ordinary mortals are too fragile. The storyline of the comic involves certain deviations from history as we know it, such as Adolf Hitler being a member of a Lloigor-worshipping cult, and as a result, Nazi Germany being created - along with German "übermensch" Masterman; a superhero created with genetic engineering and inhabited by a Lloigor entity. See also the 2000 AD series Finn.

In Grant Morrison's The Invisibles, a mirror-trapped Shoggoth plays an important part of the plot.

In the 25th anniversary issue of Nodwick, the main characters made a number of Lovecraftian references, including finding the Necronomicron, referencing worshipers of "K'Sulu," while standing outside of a building named "Misscatatonic University".

In Swamp Thing, Challengers of the Unknown, and The Trenchcoat Brigade, the various heroes contend against M'Nagalah, a Lovecraftian deity known as the Cancer God. M'Nagalah was also mentioned in Brian Lumley's Titus Crow novels.

In the Army of Darkness comics, Doctor Herbert West is in league with the Old Ones and attempts to return Yog-Sothoth to our world.

A comic entitled Lovecraft, based on a screenplay by Hans Rodionoff that never made it to film, features scenes from Lovecraft's childhood and youth mixed up with various elements of the Cthulhu Mythos.

Richard Corben and Donald Wandrei has made an adaptation of Lovecraft's "The Rats in the Walls".

In the Irregular Webcomic, Cthulhu is a recurring character and a nemesis to Steve, who is a parody of Steve Irwin.

Another webcomic, Legostar Galactica, featured a cameo of Cthulhu in which Cthulhu had to bring his nephew (the ship's cook) back from the dead.

[Hello Cthulhu] is a webcomic describing Cthulhu's attempt to dominate the world of Hello Kitty.

The User Friendly webcomic features Cthulhu and Hastur as recurring characters.

The webcomic Something Positive has made repeated references to Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos. In 2002, it had a plot arc in which Aubrey and Peejee filmed "My Neighbor Cthulhu", with Jason as Cthulhu.

In The Order of the Stick, one of the characters, Elan, replaces his puppet deity "Banjo the Clown" with another called [Banjulhu].

In Mac Hall, one of the characters is working on a Buddy Cthulhu sculpture [Cthulhu's first appearance], [The Sculpture] [A sketch of Buddy C.] (Cthulhu as Buddy Christ from the movie Dogma).

In a storyline of the webcomic Orneryboy, the title character takes out the Necronomicon from his desk and later uses it to cure himself back into a human from a zombie form.

In the webcomic "Penny Arcade", Cthulhu appears once on a park bench, doing a crossword and wearing a bucket hat, explaining his computer game side project. He also appears in a faux children's Christmas story called "The Last Christmas."

The webcomic Fuzzy Knights at times employs a Cthulhu plushie who speaks in an odd language.

Music

Aarni is a Finnish doom metal band. Several Aarni songs refer to the Cthulhu Mythos, including "Ubbo-Sathla", "Reaching Azathoth", "The Black Keyes (of R'lyeh)" and "Persona Mortuae Cutis".

Bal-Sagoth frequently show a Lovecraft influence in their lyrics; for example, the song "In Search of the Lost Cities of Antarctica" is based heavily upon At the Mountains of Madness, while Cthulhu actually is mentioned in the song "The Dreamer in the Catacombs of Ur".

Beatallica is a heavy metal parody band combining elements of the Beatles and Metallica. Their song "The Thing That Should Not Let It Be" combines "The Thing That Should Not Be" and "Let it Be".

Cradle of Filth is a British heavy metal band with a song called "Cthulhu Dawn". Their "greatest hits" record was entitled Lovecraft and Witch Hearts. They have employed Lovecraftian artist John Coulthart to design and illustrate their records.

The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets is a Vancouver-based band whose music draws heavily on Lovecraft's work, though with tongue planted firmly in cheek. Their name comes from the story "The Tomb". Album titles include Cthulhu Strikes Back and The Great Old Ones, and among their songs are "Shoggoths Away", "The Innsmouth Look", "Goin' Down to Dunwich", and "The Sounds of Tindalos".

Drakkar, a heavy metal band, recorded "The Walls Of Olathoë" ([q.v.]), about the city mentioned in Lovecraft's story "Polaris", for their 1998 album Quest For Glory.

Drunk Horse, a band from Oakland, California, has a song entitled "Howard Phillips" on its fourth record, In Tongues. The lyrics for the song are an abbreviated version of Lovecraft's poem "Nemesis."

H.P. Lovecraft was a 1960s psychedelic band. Several of their songs drew inspiration from Lovecraft's writings, including "The White Ship" and At the Mountains of Madness.

Insignium, a German black metal band, feature the songs "Vulva Stellaris" and "In Die Abgründe" ("Into the Abyss"), which are directly inspired by Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos, on their 2005 album In Die Abgründe.

Metallica is a heavy metal band that has recorded two songs with references to Cthulhu Mythos. The group's second album Ride the Lightning contains the closing instrumental track titled "The Call of Ktulu" and their third album Master of Puppets has the track "The Thing That Should Not Be", with lyrics referring to Lovecraft's "The Shadow over Innsmouth," "The Shadow Out of Time," and Nyarlathotep.

The Norwegian black metal band Immortal have recorded several songs in which they use the words "At the moutains of madness," in songs such as "Cold Winds of Funeral Dust" from the album Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism and "In My Kingdom Cold" from the album Sons of Northern Darkness.

The inlay booklet to A Secret Wish by eighties electropop group Propaganda quotes "the most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents" from The Call of Cthulhu.

The German power metal band Rage has several songs dealing with the Cthulhu Mythos, involving a being that hunted the creatures called "Soundchasers".

Rudimentary Peni is a punk/death rock band, often associated with Crass. Vocalist/lyricist Nick Blinko wrote a concept album, Cacophony, including "The Lovecrafts Were Quarreling", "Lovecraft Baby", "Necronomical Secular and Spiritual", and "Arkham Hearse" based on L. Sprague de Camp's biography of Lovecraft, quoting extensively from the works of Lovecraft and from writers about him.

Swollen Members, a hip-hop group, mentions both Lovecraft and the Necronomicon in their song "Battle Axe Axperiment," which can be found on their first album Balance.

Thergothon, a Finnish doom metal band, recorded a demo entitled "Fhtagn-nagh Yog-Sothoth". Their full-length "Stream from the Heavens" also contains references to Lovecraft's writings.

Therion is a symphonic metal band who have a few songs directly based on the mythos, such as "Cthulhu" on their album Beyond Sanctorum and more recently "The Call of Dagon" on the album Sirius B.

Tri-Cornered Tent Show is a music band. They classify their music as "Urban electro acoustic folk improv", inspired by the Lovecraft story "The Music of Erich Zann". Lovecraft's works feature heavily in their songs, which include "Dagon Rising", "The Plains of Leng", and "Waltz of the Shogoths". One album is titled Beneath the Mountains of Madness.

A band called Twin Obscenity is named after the Great Old One Zhar, the Twin Obscenity, who dwells in a dead city buried under the Plateau of Sung.

The H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society has produced two comedic recordings based on Lovecraft's work. [A Shoggoth on the Roof] is a full-length Broadway-style musical, fusing the works of Lovecraft with the music of Fiddler on the Roof. [A Very Scary Solstice] is an album of Christmas carols rewritten with Lovecraftian lyrics.

Electric Wizard have numerous Lovecraftiana tracks, such as "Weird Tales", "The Sun Has Turned to Black" and "Supercoven".

Terrence Chua's "Do You Hear the Pipes Cthulhu" is a parody of Abba's "Fernando".

British Black Industrial band The Axis of Perdition have large amounts of Cthulu Mythos influences in their music. The band says they are more influenced by British Mythos author Ramsey Campbell than by Lovecraft himself.

Doom band Moss' latest album, Cthonic Rites, features a rendering of Cthulhu on the cover.

John Zorn's 2006 release is titled "Electric Masada: At the Mountains of Madness".

The cover of Iron Maiden's Live After Death features a slight variation of the famous quotation from the Necronomicon: "That is not dead/which can eternal lie/yet with strange aeons/even death may die."

American death metal band Nile have recorded several tracks based on the Cthulhu Mythos. The track "Von Unassusprechlichen Kulten" on their 2005 album Annihilation of the Wicked refers to a fictional book relating to the Mythos created by Robert E. Howard. The band's 2000 album Black Seeds of Vengeance contains the track "The Nameless City of the Accursed" and the instrumental track "In Their Darkened Shrines", from the album of the same name, is also inspired by "The Nameless City". The title of their 1998 album Amongst the Catacombs of Nephren-Ka is a direct quote from the final paragraph of Lovecraft's story "The Outsider".

The American Funeral Doom band Catacombs has an album titled In the Depths of R'Lyeh, with lyrics based on the Cthulhu mythology.

Explicitly Lovecraftian (H. P. Lovecraft is, in fact, listed as a member), Pittsburgh-based band [Nyarlathotep, the Crawling Chaos] has released two EPs of music inspired by Caitlin R. Kiernan's Mythos-inspired novels Threshold and The Dry Salvages, and are preparing to re-release their first album, Iä! (originally on Optikon Rekords). Many of their individual tracks are "soundtrack" pieces to various stories by H. P. Lovecraft.

American Shock-Rock metal band GWAR's frontman Oderus Urungus makes claim of an appendage named the Cuttlefish of Cthulhu.

Blue Oyster Cult has a long-running theme, dating back to their first albums, called the Imaginos saga, which is heavily inspired by Lovecraft's work.

Individual gods

Abhoth

Abhoth is the name of a death metal band.

Other media

Yog Sothoth is referred to in an episode of The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy entitled "Big Trouble in Billy's Basement" in which Billy sneaks a peek at one of Grim's books of dark magic and ends up becoming a minion of "Yog-Sovoth". He then tries to summon "his master".

In the 2000 AD comic series Zenith, "Iok Sotot" is the name of the main Lloigor, Lovecraft-inspired extradimensional beings that are the primary antagonists.

On an episode of G4TV's X-Play (in which the Xbox game is reviewed), in a spelling bee based on themes related to H.P. Lovecraft hosted by Adam Sessler, one of the words presented was Yog-Sototh.

Though rarely encountered, in the THQ game , clicking on an Ork butcha boy squad will result in them answering "Yog-Sothoth", much like other times in which they will instead answer "Whatchu want?"

In the TCG Hecatomb, Yog-Sothoth is featured as God in the set Last Hallow's Eve and is given the title The Key to the Gate.

Miscellaneous

There is an internet newsgroup known as alt.sex.cthulhu - which was apparently started to parody spam in the alt.sex hierarchy.
There are student organizations on several US college campuses called Campus Crusade for Cthulhu, parodying the Campus Crusade for Christ and other "campus crusade" organizations. "It found me" was a popular slogan of such organizations, reversing the Campus Crusade for Christ's "I found it."
The Uncyclopedia has a parody help column called [Ask Cthulhu].

Book of Eibon

The horror film The Beyond, directed by the late Lucio Fulci, features the Book of Eibon, though the film's story is not Lovecraftian. The book's appearance is largely a tribute to Lovecraft.
A copy of the 'Book of Eibon' appears in the F. Paul Wilson novel The Keep.
The Book of Eibon is mentioned in passing in The Eisenhorn Trilogy set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. It was translated by an Inquisitor named Quixos, who himself was later deemed a heretic and traitor.
The book appears in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer novel Night of the Living Re-Run.
The book is quoted in the opening of the Hellboy motion picture.

External links

[The Ultimate Cthulhu Mythos Book List] - Listing of all mythos novels, anthologies, collections, comic books, and more.
[Lovecraftian Music] A quite complete list about music related to the mythos.
[Cthulhu License Plate] on Flickr

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