During our research for the Necronomicon Files, John and I came across a number of writers who commented on the Necronomicon. Most of them, sad to say, have been ill-informed and inaccurate. After the book's deadline, I ran across a copy of William and Sharon Schnoebelen's Lucifer Dethroned, from the infamous Chick Publications, in which the couple discusses their involvement in the occult and subsequent conversion to Christianity. While John and I do not agree with their positions on non-mainstream religions (or their assertions of a vast Satanic conspiracy), I can see that they have genuine knowledge of such traditions as Wicca, Satanism, ceremonial magic, and others. I chose to write about their work for a number of reasons:

• We didn't cover Lucifer Dethroned in the Files;
• They cover the Necronomicon in some detail;
• Unlike many authors, these two seem to have some knowledge on the same topics we do; and
• Their work illustrates the difficulties in getting good information on the subject from any source.

Let's begin with their treatment of Lovecraft in Lucifer Dethroned.

Howard Phillips Lovecraft is well-known among horror and fantasy novel fans. He lived about a half-century ago and wrote books which were disturbing and decades ahead of their time. Stories such as The Dunwich Horror, The Dweller on the Threshold, and The Color out of Space were horror blended with science fiction in ways that were oddly discrete and Victorian, and yet quite scary. (pp. 206-7)

This paragraph contains several slight inaccuracies. Lovecraft never wrote books; instead, he published his stories in the pulp magazines of the day. Save for one worked a fan published (The Shadow over Innsmouth), Lovecraft never saw his stories collected in book form. Out of the stories described, only "The Colour out of Space" could be called a blend of horror and science fiction. The glaring error here is "The Dweller on the Threshold". The story's real title is "The Lurker at the Threshold", and most scholars consider it a story by August Derleth with only a few paragraphs of Lovecraft's work.

Nit-picking? Perhaps. But let's continue.

What is not as well known about Lovecraft is that through his grandfather he had access to very rare occult books and secrets. Lovecraft's grandfather was into Egyptian Freemasonry. Thus, a great deal of what Lovecraft wrote, as fiction, is based upon actual occult practice... (p. 207)

I nearly fell out of my chair when I read this. Those of you who've read the George Hay Necronomicon should be familiar with this story - it's the same one Colin Wilson uses to explain why Lovecraft knew about the "real" Necronomicon. Of course, Wilson has since repudiated this story, but it is taken as literal fact here.

Lovecraft may have experimented with these forms of Transyuggothian magick and terrified himself. It is well-known that he lived an extremely fearful life as a virtual recluse. He never married, and was afraid to go near the sea, or underground... (p. 207)

The inaccuracies here are legion. Lovecraft never experimented with magic, even going so far as to begin a collaborative work against superstition with his friend C. M. Eddy and the magician Harry Houdini. While Lovecraft's marriage to Sonia Greene was unsuccessful, it was nonetheless a legal one. While Lovecraft's works do describe the sea and underground as horrific places, Lovecraft seems to have had no particular fear of them, as his trips to Charleston, Florida, and the Endless Caverns of Virginia testify. Lovecraft studies were not as advanced in 1993 as they are now, but even then the standard work on Lovecraft's Life, de Camp's Lovecraft: A Biography, contradicted all of these points.

Let's continue with the book's take on the Necronomicon.

Through my connections in the Brotherhood, I had acquired considerable parts of The Necronomicon, a fountain-head of most of Transyuggothian magick and spirituality. Contrary to popular belief, it is not a fictitious book, but a genuine magick grimoire (workbook) of the darkest sort. The name can be translated "The Book of the Tones of the Dead" or "The Book of the Laws of the Dead". (p. 212)

As John and I show in the Files, the Necronomicon is the creation of H. P. Lovecraft, who inspired a number of hoax books based on his work. As for his translation, I've never seen the "tones" one before, and "names" is considered flawed by S. T. Joshi, among others.

Like the Setian currents of Aleister Crowley and his religion of Thelema, The Necronomicon blazes forth out of ancient, Arab paganism. Supposedly it was originally written around the time of Mohammed in Arabic by Abdul Al-Hazred and called Al Azif... (p. 212)

Occultist Aleister Crowley was interested in Egyptian religion, but his god of choice seems to have been Horus, the hawk-headed warrior who opposed Set. As John will show in the Files, neither Crowley nor any of the published Necronomicons have much to do with Middle Eastern paganism, even though they both used some of its elements. I should note that "Abdul Alhazred" was a play-name of Lovecraft's when he was young.

There is a book called The Necronomicon currently in print, but it only contains the more innocent parts of the full grimoire. Nevertheless, it is incredibly sinister. I had one of a limited edition of the smaller book, run in only 666 copies (naturally) and dedicated thus: "Ad maioram Crowley gloriam" - a spoof on the Jesuit motto. It means "To Crowley be the glory." It is, nevertheless, but a pallid reflection of the incredible evil of the actual volume.

Of course, the Schnoebelens give us no hint of where the "actual", "full" Necronomicon might be found. I cannot be sure of the dedication in the original, but the paperback on my shelf reads "Ad Meiorum Cthulhi Gloriam" - "To the greater glory of Cthulhu."

Lucifer Dethroned goes on to describe the disastrous fates of a cat and a young girl who were unfortunate enough to be present when the proud owners of new Necronomicons brought their purchases home. We encourage you to read Lucifer Dethroned and decide on their validity for yourself, but we try to hold our noses when we read the passages in question.

2002 © Daniel Harms. All rights reserved. The works of William and Sharon Schnoebelen are quoted here for purposes of commentary, and no challenge to their rights is intended.

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