The Call of Cthulhu
H. P. Lovecraft's 1928 short story pieces together evidence of an ancient cosmic entity and is a founding text of cosmic horror.
- Author
- H. P. Lovecraft
- First published
- 1928
- Setting
- 1920s United States
- Genre
- Cosmic horror short story
- Read it if you like
- Cosmic dread told through documents rather than jump scares.
- On screen and stage
- Films, games and comics inspired by the story
Overview
The narrator inherits his great-uncle's notes about a strange cult and a bas-relief sculpture, and slowly connects reports from around the world: a police raid in Louisiana, a Norwegian sailor's account of an island that rose from the sea. The story builds through documents rather than action.
Themes
- Cosmic horror
- Fear of knowledge
- Humanity's insignificance
Background
First published in Weird Tales in February 1928, the story introduced Cthulhu and became central to what later writers called the Cthulhu Mythos. Lovecraft's work was published mostly in pulp magazines during his life.
Why it endures
Its found-documents structure and sense of vast, indifferent forces have influenced horror in fiction, games and film.
Quotes
The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents.
Note: “Call of Cthulhu” is also the name of a commercial tabletop role-playing game. pd is not affiliated with it.