Robert M. Price (ed.) The Necronomicon (Chaosium)

[andydecker]

Robert M. Price (ed) - The Necronomicon (Chaosium, 1996, 334 pages)

Content:

Robert M. Price – Introduction: The Figure in the Flying Carpet
Manly Wade Wellman - The Terrible Parchment (1937)
Martin D. Brown - Dr. Xander's Cottage (1941)
Robert A. W. Lowndes, Frederik Pohl, Dirk Wylie - The Mantle of Graag
Robert A. W. Lowndes - Settler's Wall (1968)
Richard L. Tierney - The Howler in the Dark (1984)
Robert Silverberg - Demons of Cthulhu (1959)
Steffan B. Aletti - The Castle in the Window (1968)
John Brunner - Concerning the Forthcoming Inexpensive Paperback Translation of the Necronomicon of Abdul Alhazred (1992)
Fred Chappell - The Adder (1989)
L. Sprague de Camp - Preface to the Al-Azif (Essay) (1973)
Frank Belknap Long - John Dee's Necronomicon: A Fragment (1996)
Lin Carter - The Necronomicon: The Dee Translation (1989)
- Introitus
The Book of Episodes:
- The Doom of Yakthoob (1971)
- The Thing Under Memphis (1984)
- In the City of Pillars (1974)
- The Vault Beneath the Mosque (1985)
- Mnomquah (1985)
- The Madness Out of Time (1986)
- Dreams of the Black Lotus (1987)
- The Shadow from the Stars (1988)
The Book of Preparations
- Of the Powers of the Sorcerer (1990)
- Of That Which Is Needful to Sorcery (1990)
- Of the Old Ones and the Favors They Bestow (1990)
- Of the Times and Seasons to Be Observed (1990)
- Of the Powers of the Moon (1990)
- Concerning Them from Outside (1990)
- The Punishment of the Old Ones (1990)
- Of That Which Is Foretold of Their Return (1990)
- The Liers-in-Wait (1990)
The Book of Gates
- Of the Worlds Beyond This World, and the Modes of Travel (1990)
- Of Foul Necromancy (1990)
- The Peril That Lurketh Beyond Time (1990)
- Those That Aid the Unnamable Devourers (1990)
- Of Tindalos, and the Hounds Thereof (1990)
- If Thou Wouldst Raise the Dead (1990)
- To Send Back Down That Which Thou Hast Called Up (1990)
- Of the Signs of Hnaa (1990)
- Of the Dream-Gates (1990)
- Of Koth, and the Sign of Koth (1990)
- The Ritual of the Silver Key (1990)
- 'Umr At-Tawil (1990)
- Of Opening the Door to Yog-Sothoth (1990)
- The Ninth Verse that Summoneth Yog-Sothoth (1990)
- Of Them from Outside and Their Spawn (1990)
- Somewhat of the Gates That Open to Beyond (1990)
- Of Leng and the Mysteries Thereof (1990)
- Of the Coming-Hence of the Old Ones (1990)
The Book of Dismissals
- Of Calling Up That Which Thou Canst Not Put Down (1990)
- The Openers of the Way (1990)
- Of the Several Modes to Enforce the Dismissal (1990)
- Of Ib, and the Vengeance Thereof (1990)
- Of the Five-Pointed Star Carven of Grey Stone (1990)
Fred L. Pelton - The Sussex Manuscript (1989)
D. R. Smith - Why Abdul Al Hazred Went Mad (1950)
H. P. Lovecraft - History of the Necronomicon (An Outline) (1938)
David T. St. Albans - The Life of the Master (A Biography of Abdul Alhazred by His Student, El-Rashi) (1984)
David T. Pudelwitts - The Life of the Master interior artwork
Robert M. Price -A Critical Commentary on the Necronomicon (1988)

This is Book 12 of the Chaosium collections. A truly mixed bag. Some mediocre stories, some parodies and a lot of attempts to "write" a pseudo-historical Necronomicon with lots of "thou" and "thee" with footnotes, most of which is IMHO unreadable. It appears that the Lin Carter section is published for the first time.

[helrunar]

I love curling up with a cuddly old blasphemous tome as the winter nights spiral more deeply into cacodaemoniacal darkness. IA! Cthulhu fhtagn! Ngaiii!

SRS

[enoch]

Yes, "mixed bag" certainly sums it up.  It's not too bad dipping into for brief forays, but I recently tried re-reading this cover-to-cover and I had barely begun the Lin Carter stuff before I had to give it up.  I do really like the short story "Settler's Wall" though.  Not scary, just totally weird and inexplicable and incompatible with the way humans think the universe should work.  My admiration for this story has only grown over the years.