# cthulhu **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 16, 2003, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cthulhu/169027 "2003-04-16T05:27:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![captainQwark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e68b1a/32.png) [@captainQwark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/captainQwark)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cthulhu/169027/1 "2003-04-16T05:27:24Z")
I may be mistaken, but I think I heard something about those who believe that Cthulhu and the elder gods actually exist is this true? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cthulhu/169027/2 "2003-04-16T16:55:30Z")
You can find hundreds of links if you search on Cthulhu religion, but they all seem to be humorous. Like [Cthulhu For President: The Dawning of a New Era](http://www.cthulhu.org/). (Why vote for a lesser evil?) There is also Campus Crusade for Chtulhu and a million verses for Michael Rubin’s Chtulhu version of “old Time Religion”. Could some nutcases out there be taking it seriously? Always a possibility, but that would only spoil the joke. ---
**Author:** ![DreadCthulhu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DreadCthulhu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DreadCthulhu)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cthulhu/169027/3 "2003-04-16T18:32:28Z")
Of course I exist, otherwise I wouldn’t be talking to you, puny human. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cthulhu/169027/4 "2003-04-16T18:33:37Z")
Probably. There are people that think the Necronomicon you can buy in Waldenbooks is real. ---
**Author:** ![Daikona](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8baadc/32.png) [@Daikona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daikona)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cthulhu/169027/5 "2003-04-17T02:49:08Z")
It scares me, but yeah, there are people who take it seriously. I’ve stumbled onto some web pages, they’re… interesting. They seem split into two groups. Those who don’t grasp that Lovecraft was fiction, and those who insist that even if it was, he hadto have gotten the idea from _somewhere_, winkwink nudgenudge. I keep wanting to leave little slips of paper with nothing but “Hastur” on them in those copies of the Necronomicon. Either someone who knows it’s fake will get it and be amused, or someone who takes it seriously will be nervous. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cthulhu/169027/6 "2003-04-17T02:53:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DreadCthulhu \* > \*\*Of course I exist, otherwise I wouldn’t be talking to you, puny human. \*\* I could be insane and you could be in my imagination. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cthulhu/169027/7 "2003-04-17T03:03:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Daikona \* > **They seem split into two groups. Those who don’t grasp that Lovecraft was fiction, and those who insist that even if it was, he hadto have gotten the idea from _somewhere_, winkwink nudgenudge.** This last one amuses me somewhat. As I understand it, Lovecraft was a touch on the squeemish side. If he ever had any dealings with any of the cults/beings/books he wrote about, he’d have ended up an even bigger gibbering heap than most of his protagonists. ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cthulhu/169027/8 "2003-04-17T03:30:58Z")
I heard all the unspeakable slimy monstrosities represented vaginas. Interesting interpretation. I find it fun to worship Cthulhu, but I know he’s a fictional character. I’m an atheist, but I still feel the need to pray every now and then, so sometimes I’ll say something like ‘Oh great Cthulhu, please make that policeman pass me, grant me this and I will sacrifice to you 100 virgins when you make me Emperor of the World.’ For something like making a light change or traffic clear up, it might be less virgins. Started out as a joke, now it’s more of a conditioned response because, hey, sometimes Cthulhu grants my wishes. 8^) I hate to admit that I have not kept track of how many virgins I have promised Cthulhu, but I figure if I am Emperor of the World I can sacrifice 10,000 or so and that should cover it, as I don’t make that promise very often. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cthulhu/169027/9 "2003-04-17T05:18:37Z")
Cthulhu exists, and he’s [ready for summer!](http://www.entertainmentearth.com/prodinfo.asp?number=TYVHP010&variation=&lg=1) ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cthulhu/169027/10 "2003-04-17T07:34:34Z")
Too good, Max, though you’re goind to die in a horrible way for posting that. I don’t think he’d be amused. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cthulhu/169027/11 "2003-04-17T07:36:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by js\_africanus \* > \*\*I could be insane and you could be in my imagination. \*\* No, you saw him in all his tentacley, winged glory and this drove you insane. Soon you’ll feel compelled to write a story about it using the world “eldritch” a lot. ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cthulhu/169027/12 "2003-04-17T21:16:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by GMRyujin \* > \*\*No, you saw him in all his tentacley, winged glory and this drove you insane. Soon you’ll feel compelled to write a story about it using the world “eldritch” a lot. \*\* Funny you should mention that. Normally I’m not given to such delusions, and I’m sure what I have to relate will sound ridiculous to – that a man of such education should fall prey to mysticism and phanstasy. Yet just today, while driving through an eldritch forest… Uh-oh! AARRGG! It’s happening to me!!! ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cthulhu/169027/13 "2003-04-17T22:15:29Z")
Hijack alert! I just have to ask, but why is Cthulhu always singled out to identify the Old Ones of Lovecraft’s stories? Everything from the title of this thread to my age-old copy of the AD&D ‘Dieties & Demi-Gods’ always singles out Cthulhu. (The Dieties & Demi-God chapter on them refers to “the Cthulhu mythos” rather than Lovecraft mythos, which might be more appropriate. Why not call them the Dunwich Horrors, or the Azazothians, or N’yarlathotopians, or the Innsmouth Shadows? It’s nothing against the great tentacled one per say, but ‘he’ only appeared in one story IIRC, and don’t remember Lovecraft ever identifying ‘him’ as being in any leadership role. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cthulhu/169027/14 "2003-04-17T23:00:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Art Vandelay, Architect \* > \*\*I just have to ask, but why is Cthulhu always singled out to identify the Old Ones of Lovecraft’s stories? \*\* Cthulhu is referenced in Lovecraft stories “In the Mountains of Madness”, “The Call of Cthulhu”, “The Dunwich Horror”, “The Shadow over Innismouth”, and “The Whisperer in Darkness”, and in the Lovecraft collaborations “The Eclectic Executioner”, “The Horror in the Museum”, “Medusa’s Coil”, “The Mound”, and “Through the Gates of the Silver Key”. So, maybe the reason the character is so usually singled out of Lovecraft’s creations is because he referenced it so much. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cthulhu/169027/15 "2003-04-17T23:06:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Art Vandelay, Architect \* > \*\*I just have to ask, but why is Cthulhu always singled out to identify the Old Ones of Lovecraft’s stories? \*\* Cthulhu is referenced in Lovecraft stories “In the Mountains of Madness”, “The Call of Cthulhu”, “The Dunwich Horror”, “The Shadow over Innismouth”, and “The Whisperer in Darkness”, and in the Lovecraft collaborations “The Eclectic Executioner”, “The Horror in the Museum”, “Medusa’s Coil”, “The Mound”, and “Through the Gates of the Silver Key”. So, maybe the reason the character is so usually singled out of Lovecraft’s creations is because he referenced it so much. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cthulhu/169027/16 "2003-04-18T00:01:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by js\_africanus \* > \*\*Funny you should mention that. Normally I’m not given to such delusions, and I’m sure what I have to relate will sound ridiculous to – that a man of such education should fall prey to mysticism and phanstasy. Yet just today, while driving through an eldritch forest… Uh-oh! AARRGG! It’s happening to me!!! \*\* _adds pages upon pages on just how horrible and scary this thing is and man, you won’t believe it, but it is both horrible AND scary…_ ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cthulhu/169027/17 "2003-04-18T00:14:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by GMRyujin \* > \*\*_adds pages upon pages on just how horrible and scary this thing is and man, you won’t believe it, but it is both horrible AND scary…_ \*\* Pages and pages, mind you, that never specifically say what makes it so horrible and indescribable. Because, you know, it’s also indescribable. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cthulhu/169027/18 "2003-04-18T01:04:59Z")
> [@](#): > > Why not call them the Dunwich Horrors, or the Azazothians, or N’yarlathotopians, or the Innsmouth Shadows? It’s nothing against the great tentacled one per say, but ‘he’ only appeared in one story IIRC, and don’t remember Lovecraft ever identifying ‘him’ as being in any leadership role. The “Innsmouth Shadows” are the high school team. ---
**Author:** ![Semp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Semp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Semp)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cthulhu/169027/19 "2003-04-18T01:23:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Miller \* > \*\*Pages and pages, mind you, that never specifically say what makes it so horrible and indescribable. Because, you know, it’s also indescribable. \*\* We should be thankful, though, that he was describing these things in a more articulate time than today. I mean, he could go on for pages and pages (sounding good and interesting all the way) without really saying anything other than giving the impression of something big & nasty without giving its vital stats. If that were tried today, with the vernacular of the day we’d get “It was like, y’know, um… Man… Y’know, big and stuff and… man, like, y’know? I mean, like, whoa! Really, really… umy’knowlike…really… slime, man! And stuff. Y’know? Tentacles, man! Tentacles! Whoa, man. _Whoa!_ I mean, really! It was totally harsh, dude! And eldritch! Did I forget to say eldritch? It was, like, totally eldritch, dude! _Damn!_” ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cthulhu/169027/20 "2003-04-18T02:14:31Z")
But it really was totally eldritch! And Cyclopean! And the charnel stench - let’s not forget about that.! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cthulhu/169027.md?page=2)