![]() ![]() ![]() Lovecraft recognized that what he called ‘mouldy hidden manuscripts’ played a central role in the gothic horror and romance written before him, and sought to include such references in his own weird tales for their ‘air of evil verisimilitude.’ (Just using the world ‘verisimilitude’ feels delightfully macabre and Victorian.) Why didn’t he simply reference known works then? As one who handles rare books each day, I can attest there are plenty of moldy oldies he might have pulled from, but I find his reason fascinating in a letter to jazz producer Willis Conover, HPL wrote, “As for seriously-written books on dark, occult, and supernatural themes-in all truth they don’t amount to much. Of Lovecraft’s contributions to our culture, it may be argued his most enduring is the Necronomicon.ĭespite what you’ve heard from a friend of a friend who dabbles in dark magic, the Necronomicon was a fabrication of H. ![]()
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