Yes, Virginia, even death may die.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

"DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old.
Some of my little friends say there is no Cthulhu.
Papa says, 'If you see it in THE NECRONOMICON it's so.'
Please tell me the truth; is there a Cthulhu?"

- VIRGINIA O'HANLON.
115 WEST ARKHAM STREET."

VIRGINIA, your little mortal friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little euclidean minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Cthulhu. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion are irrelevant, and you know that they insignificant and give to your life no meaning in this infinite, cold universe. AI! how wholesome would be the world if there were no Cthulhu. It would be as wholesome as if there were no GUGS. There would be no Unausprechlichen Kulten then, no De Vermiis Mysterious, no Pnakotic Manuscripts to darken our libraries. The eternal darkness with which horrors from beyond space and time fill the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Cthulhu! You might as well not believe in shoggoths! You might get your papa to hire negroes and mongrels and degenerate persons to watch in all the dark corners of the world when the stars are right to catch Cthulhu, but even if they did not see Cthulhu rising from Atlantean depths, what would that prove? Nobody sees Cthulhu, but that is no sign that there is no Cthulhu. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see Fungi from Yuggoth flying through the sky? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the horrors there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You may open the locked hatch in the depths of the Enchanted Wood and see what makes the noise below, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only ignorance can push aside that eldritch truth that we are insignificant comparied to the horrors from beyond the stars. Is it all real? Ai! VIRGINIA, Ai!

No Cthulhu! Elders Gods! That which is not dead can eternal lie. And with strange aeons even death may die. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, the stars shall be right again!

[SidneyCarton]

1. You know, the more I hear of the Cthulhu Mythos...

The more I realize I need to read me some Lovecraft.

Any titles in particular that you can recommend Mr. Dark Editor?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

2. Soitenly.

Lovecraft wrote mostly short stories, a handful near novel length.

There were two major "cycles."

The Cthulhu cycle- the most popular. Horror. Old gods from beyond space stuff.

And the Dream cycle. Pretty much pure fantasy and prose. I actually prefer it.

A few good short stories that don't fit neatly into either category would include:

"The Picture in the House."

"The Strange High House in the Mist."

"The Case of Charles Dexter Ward"

and

"The Outsider."

The stories from the Cthulhu cycle can be read in any order.

"The Whisperers in the Darkness" (my favorite, very scary)

"At the Mountains of Madness"

"The Shadow over Innsmouth"

"The Dunwich Horror"

"The Colour Out of Space"

"The Call of Cthulhu" is the most popular, but I never cared for it.

The Dream cycle is much harder to get into. It's best to read it in sequence, and culminate with Lovecraft's masterpiece "Dreamquest of Unknown Kadath."

You can find all in an appriopriate order with the volume:

"Dreams of Terror and Death: The Dream Cycle of H.P. Lovecraft" from Ballantine/Del Rey

[SidneyCarton]

3. Thanks.

And may the blessings of the deep ones be upon you.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

4. The Deep Ones appear in "Shadows over Innsmouth."

Very, very creepy. And it's inspired many other writers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadows_Over_Innsmouth

Lovecraft himself was inspired by a guy named William Hope Hodgson. A late 19th century merchant sailor turned author. Wrote lots of stories about sea monsters and ghost pirates and horrors from the sargassum.

He's worth checking out too.

[Orsino]

5. The other reply is directing you to read *all* of Lovecraft...

...which is not a bad idea. However, you might want to start specifically with "The Call of Cthulhu," which lays out a lot of the Mythos and will help you get the joke in the OP's subject line. "At the Mountains of Madness" is a longer tale, and clearly makes the case for Lovecraft as a sci-fi author. I think it's one of the very few scariest things I've read...and it's cool enough that Guillermo del Toro optioned it.

[Withywindle]

6. Kick!

He's the reason for the season.

[cemaphonic]

7. What,? Is it already time to post this again?

http://www.geocities.com/tribhis/cthulhutract.html