H. P. Lovecraft

The call of Cthulhu

H P Lovecraft

The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the light into the peace and safety of a new dark age. Theosophists have guessed at the awesome grandeur of the cosmic cycle wherein our world and human race form transient incidents. They have hinted at strange survivals in terms which would freeze the blood if not masked by a bland optimism. But it is not from them that there came the single glimpse of forbidden eons which chills me when I think of it and maddens me when I dream of it. That glimpse, like all dread glimpses of truth, flashed out from an accidental piecing together of separated things - in this case an old newspaper item and the notes of a dead professor. I hope that no one else will accomplish this piecing out; certainly, if I live, I shall never knowingly supply a link in so hideous a chain. I think that the professor, too, intended to keep silent regarding the part he knew, and that he would have destroyed his notes had not sudden death seized him.

Original Text

The Call of Cthulhu

Ilse

H.P. Lovecraft

"The Call of Cthulhu" by Howard Phillips H. P. Lovecraft is one of the classic horror works, so called “Lovecraft horrors”. American author of horror, fantasy, and science fiction, Lovecraft's major inspiration and invention was cosmic horror; the idea that life is incomprehensible to human minds and that the universe is fundamentally alien. Those who genuinely reason, like his protagonists, gamble with sanity. Lovecraft has developed a cult following for his Cthulhu Mythos, a series of loosely interconnected fiction featuring a pantheon of human-nullifying entities, as well as the Necronomicon, a fictional grimoire of magical rites and forbidden lore. His works were deeply pessimistic and cynical, challenging the values of the Enlightenment, Romanticism, and Christian humanism. Lovecraft's protagonists usually achieve the mirror-opposite of traditional gnosis and mysticism by momentarily glimpsing the horror of ultimate reality. Some people adore it, some people find it way too long (reading it is definitely work), but everyone agrees it’s a monumental story that ties together the universe where “The Call of Cthulhu,” The Shadow Over Innsmouth, “The Dunwich Horror,” and lots of other stories exist. A group of explorers go to Antarctica and discover evidence of a previous civilization. I don’t want to spoil the surprises, but I can at least tell you the big discovery the explorers make: There are things that even monsters fear. Famous works of the author Howard Phillips Lovecraft: At the Mountains of Madness, The Dreams in the Witch House, The Horror at Red Hook, The Shadow Out of Time, The Shadows over Innsmouth, The Alchemist, Herbert West: Reanimator, Ex Oblivione, Azathoth, The Call of Cthulhu, The Cats of Ulthar, The Outsider, The Picture in the House, The Shunned House, The Terrible Old Man, The Tomb, What the Moon Brings.

H.P. Lovecraft Collection

didn’t enlighten me as to why hp lovecraft is a beloved fixture in horror lit. maybe I just don’t get it 

Emma Shamburg

The Call of Cthulu

Unlike The Mountains of Madness, which left me quite underwhelmed, I very much enjoyed this. A very concise and impactful mythos story 

Lili

Geoffrey Froggatt

I’ve always wanted to sit down and properly read the works of H. P. Lovecraft. Regardless of his personal views, it is undeniable that Lovecraft is an infamous and influential voice in sci-fi, fantasy and horror fiction. His Cthulhu Mythos are legendary and an early example of a shared fictional universe in the horror/fantasy/science fiction genres. I’ve always admired the concepts and ideas Lovecraft presented in the Cthulhu Mythos, even though I have never read them previously. Lovecraft’s influence can still be felt in pop culture today, and I appreciate him for popularizing eldritch horror tropes and cosmic horror storytelling. Lovecraft's literary corpus is based around the idea of Cosmicism, which was simultaneously his personal philosophy and the main theme of his fiction. Cosmicism posits that humanity is an insignificant part of the cosmos, and could be swept away at any moment. He incorporated fantastic and science fiction elements into his stories, representing the perceived fragility of humanity and sanity. Throughout his adult life, Lovecraft was never able to support himself from earnings as an author and editor. He was virtually unknown during his lifetime and was almost exclusively published in pulp magazines before his death. A scholarly revival of Lovecraft's work began in the 1970s, and he is now regarded as one of the most significant 20th-century authors of supernatural horror fiction. Many direct adaptations and spiritual successors followed. Works inspired by Lovecraft, adaptations or original works, began to form the basis of the Cthulhu Mythos, which utilizes Lovecraft's characters, setting, and themes. 

The writing style of this particular story reminded me greatly of Clive Barker, who is admittedly a modern hedonistic version of H. P. Lovecraft. Lovecraft does not waste a single word, each expression, word and phrase selected to express the macabre atmosphere. The writing lends to the idea that the scope of this world goes beyond the boundaries of this short story. The most impressive part of the story is the menacing Cthulhu. Hidden away, buried, in a dark underground city deep beneath the ocean, Cthulhu is older than the sun and the stars themselves. Unlike anything that has ever walked the Earth, he is part man, part dragon, and part octopus. He is a being of unimaginable cosmic proportions beyond anything human beings could ever imagine. Beholding his true form is enough to drive the sanest of men into the deepest pits of madness and despair. Under a lesser writer, the weight of this character could collapse the story under itself and be poorly portrayed, but Lovecraft is a talented wordsmith who knew how to depict such a cosmic monstrosity properly, by not showing much of him and allowing the reader to fill in the blanks when it came to it. The protagonist feels more like a vehicle to explore and unravel the Cthulhu Mythos and less like an actual character unto himself, but the exploration of the world itself is too interesting to really complain about the lack of personal characterization. The world building itself is bigger and far beyond any one human man, after all, so it adds to the atmosphere and to the story overall. My one complaint is that this story does feel like a few shorter stories stitched together to form one singular short story, but I do recognize that this story, like Lovecraft, is a product of its time. I recommend this story to anyone looking to see where the term “Lovecraftian” originates from. A part of me recognizes that this piece is so highly praised that it would have never lived up to the expectations that have been set forth and that have come with it. This small taste of Cthulhu has left me craving more of the Cthulhu Mythos, and I will be continuing on to read the rest of Lovecraft’s works.

Jeff Brown 

I'm sorry. I understand this man is one of the superior writers of 20th Century horror. Even with it being just a few dozen pages long, I often set it down after reading one page. I didn't find it terrifying, thought-provoking, or interesting. Sorry.

Scott Wilks

Rating All 19 Lovecraft Stories Within the Necronomicon (Audible Audio Book) ~ Part 8 - The Call of Cthulhu.

Widely regarded as Lovecraft's greatest work, The Call of Cthulu is arguably the book that cemented Eldritch horror as a mainstay in the horror genre.

  The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far.
 I personally feel that I need to give this novella another read, as I felt that after mentally piecing all the scraps of evidence gathered by the protagonist, Francis Wayland Thurston, the ending left me unfulfilled and wanting more.

But, as is commonplace with Lovecraft's works, his ability to make the impossible into something palpable is incredible and makes for a captivating read.

Sabrina D. 

Short, sweet, and creepy. "What has risen may sink, and what has sunk may rise."

This was the first story of H.P. Lovecraft that I read and I really enjoyed the bizarreness of it. Despite it not really having much of an ending, the description of the Cult of Cthulhu was amazing, and the protagonist’s search to find out more really naturally written. Definitely a recommendation I would give! And for sure I will try to read Lovecraft’s other stories ^^

The call of Cthulhu

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