The Necronomicon: Dirty Tricks
Though Howard Lovecraft claimed again, and again that the Necronomicon was merely a fictional invention of his own making, many persisted in the belief that it was a real volume of magickal work. Lovecraft received numerous inquiries from fans, libraries, and rare book collectors even, for the real location of the book, but he persisted in his statements that the book was fictional. Some of the most popular dirty little tricks to pull, were listing the Necronomicon as being for sale, in bookstore newsletters, and some have even inserted false information into library card catalogs.
Usually the entries, or cards inserted into these catalogs claim that the book is checked out to “A. Alhazred”, –the supposed half crazed Arabian who himself authored the book, according to Lovecraft’s History of the Necronomicon. The Widener Library at Harvard University, listed by Lovecraft as one of the locations of the Necronomicon, currently holds a catalog listing for the book that directs those seeking the book to “inquire at desk”. Perhaps this is because the library may in fact hold such a book as the Necronomicon… or it may be because it holds a more recent adaptation, or a claimed translation of the Necronomicon, and this is merely a well-advised attempt at keeping the infamous volume from being stolen by misguided thrill seekers.
Other libraries hold catalog cards for the Necronomicon as well, such as the university establishment in Tromsø, Norway which lists a translated version of the Necronomicon as being simply, “unavailable”. According to the library, it was published in 1994, and is attributed Petrus de Dacia. Another hoax printing of the Necronomicon, was in 1973, when Owlswick Press issued an edition of the volume that was supposedly written in a fiction language called “Duriac” –for all anyone knows of the text, it could be code for several ancient cake recipes. Though the book dos have some merit, with an introduction penned by L. Sprague d Camp.
Another hoax version of the Necronomicon was issued in 1978, though this volume was at least readable, and it contained an introduction by Colin Wilson, –a paranormal researcher, and writer, and was edited by George Hay. David Langford, a notable British sci-fi author, explained and described how the contents of the book was prepared using a computer analysis that somehow translated a discovered code text, by Dr. John Dee, a noted 16th century mathematician. The translated text was actually written by an occultist, Robert Turner, –and it was actually much more realistic, considering that this version was much truer to Lovecraft’s ideals and mythology.
