Aloha,
Daniel Harms wrote:
> * One recent phenomenon has been the "mainstreaming" of such
> material. I'd point to Tyson's Necronomicon books and Tarot deck, plus
> Konstantinos' NOCTURNICON, for evidence of that tendency.
Lovecraft used the storytelling device of made-up literature in order to
lend
verisimilitude to his tales. He also made up a
university--Miskatonic--with a
world renowned collection of occult lore, librarians, quotations, and
all the
scholarly stuff that goes along with rare books.
I've never figured out exactly why, but actual versions of some of
Lovecraft's
made-up books appeared, some, apparently, in the rare book collecting
world,
others in the general market. We can get a number of rather different
versions
of *The Necronomicon,* for example.
And Lovecraft's made-up book title has become, in today's occulture and
pop culture,
a sorta term of art. It resonates with creepy horror hidden magic dangerous
entities and the like. I suppose that the term helps sell books and such.
Interestingly, the quasi-reality of Lovecraft's made-up books probably
surpasses
their literary reality, to the point that, in the eyes of some occulture
minded
delvers into hidden things, Lovecraft himself had to conceal the real
existence of
these forbidden books with literary devices.
It's an interesting sort of mind bending...style of book collecting.
Musing I Hold An Irreal Degree From Miskatonic University...
Lettered On Other Dimensional Stock Using Ink That's The Color Out Of
Space!?!
Bwah! Hah! Hah! Rose,
Pitch
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