NECRONOMICON
The Necronomicon is a fictional grimoire (textbook of magic) appearing in the stories by horror writer H. P. Lovecraft and his followers. It was first mentioned in Lovecraft’s 1924 short story “The Hound”, written in 1922; though its purported author, the “Mad Arab” Abdul Alhazred, had been quoted a year earlier in Lovecraft’s “The Nameless City”. Among other things, the work contains an account of the Old Ones, their history, and the means for summoning them. Capitalizing on the notoriety of the fictional volume, real-life publishers have printed many books entitled Necronomicon since Lovecraft’s death. (More from Wikipedia)
The name of a 2011 album by the Dead Milkmen, The King in Yellow is taken from one of my favorite collections of stories, by Robert W. Chambers. Besides being the title of the collection, The King in Yellow is also said to be a hauntingly beautiful play that is referenced in several stories in the book. The play has the ability to drive its readers insane, particularly those who peruse Act 2; with only a handful of quotations and limited details on the story line, the play stays in the background but gives the stories a truly sinister air. The King in Yellow (the imaginary play that is) is an analogue of the forbidden book that was invented by H. P. Lovecraft called the Necronomicon, and Lovecraft handled it in much the same way in his stories.
(July 2012)
