In one of Lovecraft’s better stories, he quotes from a (supposed) text by a german author-it’s called something like “unspeakable things” (my translation).
Like the “Necronomicon” (by “Abdul Alhazrad”), I suspect that this book is a figment of Lovecraft’s imagination.
Was there any such book?
The Unaussprechlichen Kulten was fake, but other books, like “The Witch Cult of Western (?) Europe” and “The Great God Pan”, were real.
There was a sort of game where authors contributing to the Cthulhu Mythos" each made up a title of a non-existent book. The Unauspresslichen Kulten (“Unspeakable Cults”) was Robert E. Howard’s contribution, appearing in his own stories before Lovecraft used it in his.
Actually, It was August Derleth who (mis)translated the title of Howard’s Nameless Cults into German
See Cthulhu Mythos arcane literature, a Wiki page that reveals all the history of these tomes that is fit for the feeble eyes and tender minds of the uninitiated.
Thanks…CalMeacham…you are a Lovecraft expert!
As for Derleth-I’m sure that Lovecraft would be unknown today-if not for him.
Do you know who Lovecraft left his easte to? I believe he died childless.
Do you mean his physical estate (property, money, etc.) or his literary estate? His will names his mother, who dies before him, and then two aunts, one of whom survived to inherit.
He did not name an executor for his literary estate, but his aunt knew Lovecraft wanted the job assigned to H.R. Barlow, and saw to it. The copyrights belonged to his aunt, and then to her heirs, but have now passed into the public domain.
I most emphatically am not. I just wish I was!
And if you were, you’d most emphatically wish you weren’t. Only briefly, though - stark, raving madness makes it kind of hard to maintain a train of thought.
I always thought “Die Wermis Mysteriis” sounded kinda German.
Spelled that way, it does. But it’s De Vermis Mysteriis, which sounds kinda Latin.
(See BG’s link, List of Cthulhu Mythos books - Wikipedia )
– CalMeacham, not an expert.