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Exactly what is the Cthullu Mythos ?


Malik Ambar

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I mean I know what Cthullu is, but exactly what all stories, works of which writers, and which canonical creatures constitute the Mythos? And why is it named after Cthullu specifically ? I'm basically a noob to Lovecraft's works and would like to know where/ how to begin


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To my limited knowledge it IS weird and confusing and there is probably no consensus what is "canonical", especially of non-HPL-writings. The name Cthulhu was probably chosen because the eponymous story was well known, the name weird enough, but not as bad to remember, pronounce and spell as Nyarlathotep...


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Seriously, though. If anyone has any recs for modern cosmic horror novels, I would be very grateful. I've been hunting around the internet recently, trying to find something I can get my teeth into. But mostly, all I can find are short story anthologies, or stuff written before 1950. Meh. I'm not interested in Lovecraft. Tried on many occasions to get into him, but the overwrought prose and casual racism is just too much of a turn off.



Good examples of the sort of stuff I'm looking for:



That Which Should Not Be, by Brett Talley


Miskatonic University has a long-whispered reputation of being strongly connected to all things occult and supernatural. From the faculty to the students, the fascination with other-worldly legends and objects runs rampant. So, when Carter Weston’s professor Dr. Thayerson asks him to search a nearby village for a book that is believed to control the inhuman forces that rule the Earth, Incendium Maleficarum, The Inferno of the Witch, the student doesn’t hesitate to begin the quest.


Weston’s journey takes an unexpected turn, however, when he ventures into a tavern in the small town of Anchorhead. Rather than passing the evening as a solitary patron, Weston joins four men who regale him with stories of their personal experiences with forces both preternatural and damned. Two stories hit close to home as they tie the tellers directly to Weston’s current mission.


His unanticipated role as passive listener proves fortuitous, and Weston fulfills his goal. Bringing the book back to Miskatonic, though, proves to be a grave mistake. Quickly, Weston realizes he has played a role in potentially opening the gate between the netherworld and the world of Man. Reversing the course of events means forgetting all he thought he knew about Miskatonic and his professor and embracing an unknown beyond his wildest imagination.



Southern Gods, by John Hornor Jacobs


Recent World War II veteran Bull Ingram is working as muscle when a Memphis DJ hires him to find Ramblin’ John Hastur. The mysterious blues man’s dark, driving music–broadcast at ever-shifting frequencies by a phantom radio station–is said to make living men insane and dead men rise.


Disturbed and enraged by the bootleg recording the DJ plays for him, Ingram follows Hastur’s trail into the strange, uncivilized backwoods of Arkansas, where he hears rumors the musician has sold his soul to the Devil. But as Ingram closes in on Hastur and those who have crossed his path, he’ll learn there are forces much more malevolent than the Devil and reckonings more painful than Hell...


In a masterful debut of Lovecraftian horror and Southern gothic menace, John Hornor Jacobs reveals the fragility of free will, the dangerous power of sacrifice, and the insidious strength of blood.

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