H.P. Lovecraft's Call of Cthulhu
“In his house at R’lyeh dead
Cthulhu waits dreaming.”
Maybe one of the most important things, which distinguish good books from the bad ones, is ambience. Ambience plays a role in attracting us to whatever we read which can hardly be overestimated. And no doubt, there were only a few authors like Howard Phillips Lovecraft, known as H. P. Lovecraft, who could have provided a reader with such immersive storylines that the reader wouldn’t be able to put the book down, which is exactly what he did. His book, Call of Cthulhu is probably the best example of this; this novel came a long way from being absolutely unknown to becoming an inspiring idol of classic horror.
In Call of Cthulhu the author intertwines several separate stories from different parts of the world to create a perception of something tremendously significant happening. In the book, numerous creative individuals from all over the world started to have vivid dreams about a creature looking like “an octopus, a dragon and a human caricature” and saying strange things, all at the same time. One of them, Henry Wilcox, a sculptor from Providence, creates a quirky sculpture which depicts the creature. When this beast gets to the protagonist, the dark veil from the chaos lying on the bottom of Atlantic Ocean starts to be uncovered.
The plot is being conveyed via the set of the notes of Francis Wayland Truston, of Boston, a person who once discovered his grandfather to be involved in studies on ancient demonic cults. The grandfather was found dead, and now there are more questions than answers. In the search of data on cults, Truston retrieved different notes concerning his grandfather’s strange friends. He retrieved information about an event from 1908, when the outbreak of violent cultist activity happened, and finally the diary of a sailor who claimed to see a monstrous creature by his own eyes.
All of the notes found by Truston have something in common; they are all connected with the demonic words “Cthulhu fhtagn”, which means full of dark promises of an end to the universe when the demon is eventually awake.
What this will lead to, and if there are any chances to a stable human mind to resist the dreadful threat coming from the stars, you have to find out for yourself by reading the book.
There are numerous reasons for any reader wanting to delve into the horror genre to start reading Lovecraft’s work; he writes content that is memorizing and addictive, but also content that can make you shiver to the bone.
After Edgar Alan Poe, Lovecraft was considered to be the second person to actually create the horror genre.
In Call of Cthulhu, his most widely known work, Lovecraft makes an attempt to appeal to the most vulnerable parts of human beings, to our fear of something hidden and sinister watching us from the dark. His approach is remarkable, and his characters are unique. So get it. Read it. Fear it.
Maybe one of the most important things, which distinguish good books from the bad ones, is ambience. Ambience plays a role in attracting us to whatever we read which can hardly be overestimated. And no doubt, there were only a few authors like Howard Phillips Lovecraft, known as H. P. Lovecraft, who could have provided a reader with such immersive storylines that the reader wouldn’t be able to put the book down, which is exactly what he did. His book, Call of Cthulhu is probably the best example of this; this novel came a long way from being absolutely unknown to becoming an inspiring idol of classic horror.
In Call of Cthulhu the author intertwines several separate stories from different parts of the world to create a perception of something tremendously significant happening. In the book, numerous creative individuals from all over the world started to have vivid dreams about a creature looking like “an octopus, a dragon and a human caricature” and saying strange things, all at the same time. One of them, Henry Wilcox, a sculptor from Providence, creates a quirky sculpture which depicts the creature. When this beast gets to the protagonist, the dark veil from the chaos lying on the bottom of Atlantic Ocean starts to be uncovered.
The plot is being conveyed via the set of the notes of Francis Wayland Truston, of Boston, a person who once discovered his grandfather to be involved in studies on ancient demonic cults. The grandfather was found dead, and now there are more questions than answers. In the search of data on cults, Truston retrieved different notes concerning his grandfather’s strange friends. He retrieved information about an event from 1908, when the outbreak of violent cultist activity happened, and finally the diary of a sailor who claimed to see a monstrous creature by his own eyes.
All of the notes found by Truston have something in common; they are all connected with the demonic words “Cthulhu fhtagn”, which means full of dark promises of an end to the universe when the demon is eventually awake.
What this will lead to, and if there are any chances to a stable human mind to resist the dreadful threat coming from the stars, you have to find out for yourself by reading the book.
There are numerous reasons for any reader wanting to delve into the horror genre to start reading Lovecraft’s work; he writes content that is memorizing and addictive, but also content that can make you shiver to the bone.
After Edgar Alan Poe, Lovecraft was considered to be the second person to actually create the horror genre.
In Call of Cthulhu, his most widely known work, Lovecraft makes an attempt to appeal to the most vulnerable parts of human beings, to our fear of something hidden and sinister watching us from the dark. His approach is remarkable, and his characters are unique. So get it. Read it. Fear it.
