by Carolina Uribe

Created on: April 23, 2008

A little background

It was thanks to Lovecraft's tale "The Hound" published in 1924, that the book of "Necronomicon" became known to the general public. In a compilation of its stories, later known as the "Myths of Cthulhu", Lovercraft states that the original title of the book was Al-Azif, an Arabic term used to designate nocturnal noise made by the insects which was believed to be the whispering of demons. It was written by Abdul Al Hazred, a mad poet who wasnt very devoted to Muslim religion: he adored entities called Yog-Sothoth and Cthulhu. He escaped prosecution from Saana to Yemen during the period of the Omeyan caliphs, around the 700 b. c.; he later visited the ruins of Babylon and Memphis and spent ten years in solitude in the desert of South Arabia, the Roba el-Khaliyeh, or vital space of the ancient Muslims (Dharna, or Scarlet Desert of the modern Muslims). Those who have said to have penetrated the realm of the desert say they have seen the strangest and horrific things. The latest years of Al Hazreds life were spent in Damascus, where he wrote the Necronomicon. About his death or "vanishing" his former biographer from XII century, Ibn-Khallikan, tells that an invisible monster assassinated and the devoured him in the middle of the day, in view of a large numbers of spectators. Apparently, during Al Hazreds period of madness he saw the famous city of Ilrem (the Pillars City) were he saw the oldest race of humans. The Necronomicon, claimed Lovercraft, has passed through different translations, and he attributes the latest version to a Spanish translation from the XVII century, and an English version of the celebrated philosopher and magician Dr. John Dee (1527-1608).

Lovecraft wasnt a remarkable man. He didn't spend a night outside his aunt's house until the age of thirty. He married soon thereafter, but the marriage didn't last very long and a few years later, he was to go back to the same house where he has spent all his life. His prose is childish, overloaded with adjectives and lacking every element to be considered good or even publishable. However, Lovecraft has become worldwide famous, especially among those who study Occultism due to some rare coincidences. First, although he claimed the Necronomicon and the character Al Hazred were only part of his imagination it was soon found that they had indeed existed. And second, his father was a freemason believed to belong to the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts. This Lodge was an offshoot of the Grand

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