Cthulhu Mythos in popular culture

This article provides a list of cultural references to H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. For works that are stylistically influenced by Lovecraft, see Lovecraftian horror.

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Title	Notes
America: The Book	Comedian Jon Stewart jokes that saying the words "Time Warner Company" backwards would summon the Dark Lord Cthulhu.
American Gods	In Neil Gaiman's novel, the main character has a dream where he sees statues of ancient, forgotten gods. One of the statues is described as an "octopus-faced god."
And Another Thing...	In this final installment of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, Cthulhu interviews for the position of god of the planet Nano, but is turned down because he is able to be killed.
Army of Darkness vs. Re-Animator	This comic book based on Army of Darkness features Lovecraft character Herbert West as the doctor who will be looking after Ash Williams during his stay at Arkham Asylum. West is allied with the Old Ones, who appear at the novel's end, as does a Cthulhu-like creature who pretends to be human to get the Necronomicon.
Bugtown	A comic series by Matt Howarth has Cthulhu as a synthesizer player of an inter-dimensional rock band, The Bulldaggers.
A Colder War	A novella by Charles Stross mixes the Cthulhu Mythos with both hacker culture and Len Deighton-style spy fiction.
Doctor Who	Spin-off novels of the Doctor Who TV show have incorporated aspects of the Cthulhu Mythos into its fictional universe. White Darkness, by David A. McIntee, features the Necronomicon and a Cthulhu-like entity being raised in Haiti. All-Consuming Fire by Andy Lane says that this entity was Cthulhu, although McIntee has written that this was not his original intent.
Foucault's Pendulum	A member of the Tres Secret Society pronounces the following incantation: "I'a Cthulhu! I'a S'ha-t'n!".
Godzilla at Worlds End	Marc Cerasini's Godzilla novel involves a necropolis beneath a glacier in Antarctica and is heavily reflective of Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness. It briefly references Miskatonic University.
Haiyore! Nyarko-san	Japanese parody light novels with romantic comedy theme. As parody, various elements turn to comedy Anime stereotype. Important characters including Nodens, Cuko and Nyarko. The direct reference is how the mythos beings Nyarlathotep and Hastur have met Lovecraft and Derleth in the past.
I, Cthulhu	Fantasy/Horror novelist Neil Gaiman wrote a short story on his website featuring Cthulhu dictating an autobiography to a human slave.
Jerusalem's Lot	Horror novelist Stephen King references Lovecraft's The Rats in the Walls in his short story about a demon-worshiping cult in a rural town.
Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson	This anthology by George Alec Effinger features a parody of Lovecraft.
The Midnight Eye Files: The Amulet	Minions of Cthulhu attempt to bring the Great Old One back in modern day Glasgow in this book by British author William Meikle.
Necrotelicomnicon	or The Phone Book of the Dead is Terry Pratchett's parody of the Necronomicon in his Discworld series. The series also features Lovecraftian monsters known as Things from the Dungeon Dimensions, some of which have similar names to the Old Ones. The Colour of Magic, features a dark, octopus-like entity known as Bel-Shamharoth, known as the Eater of Souls (like Lovecraft's Yog-Sothoth).
Night of the Living Re-Run	This satire on Buffy the Vampire Slayer features Clark Ashton Smith's mythos-tome The Book of Eibon.
Outlanders	A series created by Mark Ellis features elements of the Cthulhu Mythos, notably Shadow Scourge and Iceblood.
The Philosopher's Stone	This Lovecraft novel by Colin Wilson describes his discovery of the origins of mankind as the creations of the sleeping but still omnipotent Old Ones.
The Pornomicon	Gay-themed erotic comic book, that author Logan calls "a personal tribute to Lovecraft."
Practical Demonkeeping	A novel by Christopher Moore which includes a bit character named Howard Phillips, who is obsessed with ancient creatures he calls the "Old Ones".
Resume With Monsters	In this satirical novel by William Browning Spencer, a temp worker gets a job at a company whose upper management interacts with Lovecraft's Elder Gods.
Return to Wonderland	In this comic series, Wonderland, Limbo, and R'lyeh are said to be the same place, "where all the madness in the world comes from," and that a sacrifice is given to a "sleeping entity" (depicted as Cthulhu) to keep "[the] madness from infecting [the] world".
Soul Eater	This manga series features the Book of Eibon as a source of mysterious magical power. Eibon himself is portrayed as not only the creator of the book but also as a deceased accomplice to Shinigami/Lord Death, a personification of death. There is also featured an as of yet enigmatic appearance of a character called "The Great Old One" trapped within the pages of the Book of Eibon.

Internet Media

Title	Notes
Penny Arcade	This webcomic featured Cthulhu working on a crossword puzzle on a park bench. Another time, Cthulhu was depicted devouring the Earth on Christmas Eve in Tycho and Gabe's book The Last Christmas (the six-part comic that shows it is called "The Christmas Special That Should Not Be").
Hello Cthulhu	This webcomic features Cthulhu, Dagon, and Lovecraft's story "The Color Out Of Space" in the Hello Kitty universe.
Stupid and Insane Defenders Against Chaos	This bills itself as a Lovecraftian Horror Comedy and frequently references and parodies the Cthulhu Mythos.
Three Panel Soul	This webcomic features Cthulhu as a recurring element, both in the comic itself and related merchandise.
Shadowgirls	This webcomic features many aspects of the Cthulhu Mythos, including Deep Ones, Mother Hyrda, Dagon, and the Old Ones.
Unspeakable Vault (of Doom)	This webcomic shows the Great Old Ones trying to live "normal lives".
Irregular Webcomic!	This webcomic features a giant Cthulhu that springs up from time to time made out of LEGO.
Tales of the Plush Cthulhu	A pictoral Cthulhu short story using plush toys. Cthulhu is also represented as plush.

Television

Title	Notes
Rod Serling's Night Gallery	Adapted "Pickman's Model" and "Cool Air" and the segment "Professor Peabody's Last Lecture" extensively references the Chtulhu mythos.
Justice League	The two-part episode called "The Terror Beyond," inserted the concept of the Great Old Ones into the series. The JLA must join forces with Doctor Fate and Solomon Grundy to defeat the leader of the Great Old Ones, an extra-dimensional being named Ichthultu.
The Real Ghostbusters	The episode "The Collect Call of Cathulhu" revolves around a cult attempting to revive Cthulhu. The episode made repeated references to various aspects of the mythos, including Lovecraft himself, the Derleth name, and the Necronomicon, which returned in the episode "Russian About." The episode stated that Lovecraft and the others based their mythos around their own "research" on the real Necronomicon. It also features the Lovecraftian story by August Derleth, "The Horror from the Depths."
Babylon 5: Thirdspace	This television movie is based on the Cthulhu mythos, although the Great Old Ones are not referred to by name.
The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy	The episode "Prank Call of Cthulhu" features Cthulhu's telephone, which Grim says it is the most dangerous phone in the universe. Cthulhu enlists Billy and Irwin into a prank calling business, turning the people of Endsville into squid-like horrors. The episode "Big Trouble for Billy" features "The Bad Book" that possesses Billy, allowing him to steal Grim's scythe and to summon Yog-Sothoth.
The Simpsons	The episode "Brawl in the Family," from season 13 includes a scene at the Republican Party headquarters in which Bob Dole reads from the Necronomicon.
Aqua Teen Hunger Force	In the episode "Gee Whiz," Frylock tries to introduce Meatwad to the Bible, but pulls out another book instead. He then says, "Wait. This is the Necronomicon."
Andromeda	A character known as Hasturi, the Mad Perseid, who is mentioned in some episodes, is a reference to both Hastur and Abdul Alhazred, the Mad Arab. There is also a spatial expanse known as "the back goat with a thousand young" - a reference to Shub-Niggurath.
Sealab 2021	In the episode "Isla de las Chupacabras", the crew takes an expedition to hunt for Chupacabras. A narration describes the Chupacabras as having been created by Cthulhu, over an image of priests who resemble Cthulhu's description.
Demonbane	The Necronomicon is depicted as a sentient being with the form of a young girl, the heroine of series is the original copy called Al Azif (derived from the Arabic name for the Necronomicon, "Kitab al-Azif"). The story takes place in Arkham City with Nyarlathotep as the major antagonist. The titular mech Demonbane is armed with a pair of handguns called "Cthugha" and "Ithaqua". Other weapons include the sword called "Shining Trapezohedron" which can cut through dimensions and seal away gods.
Masters Of Horror	The episode "H. P. Lovecraft's Dreams in the Witch-House" by Stuart Gordon based on Lovecraft's story of the same name in which a student takes a cheap room in an old house only to find many oddities including a man that prays loudly at all hours of the day. His sleep is interrupted by strange dreams of a witch and her "familiar," a rat with a man's face, and he wakes up in different places, sometimes injured.

Film

Title	Date	Writer	Notes
Cast a Deadly Spell	1991	Joseph Dougherty	A private investigator named Harry Philip Lovecraft is hired to find a stolen book called the Necronomicon.
The Evil Dead, Evil Dead II, Army of Darkness	1981, 1987, 1992	Sam Raimi	The Necronomicon is described as a text from ancient Sumeria, "bound in human flesh and inked in blood", that can resurrect demons and turn humans into monsters. Writer/director Sam Raimi was apparently unaware of the book's previous existence in the works of Lovecraft at the time of the first film, but was made aware in time for the sequels. This Necronomicon however, seems unrelated to Lovecraft's mythos, instead focusing on the "Simon" Necronomicon's Sumerian basis.
In the Mouth of Madness	1995	Michael De Luca	A movie inspired by the work of H. P. Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos.
City of the Living Dead	1980	Lucio Fulci, Dardano Sacchetti	An Italian film set in Lovecraft's fictional town of Dunwich.
The Beyond	1981	Dardano Sacchetti	A movie featuring The Book of Eibon, a piece of the Mythos invented by Clark Ashton Smith.
Alone in the Dark	2005	Elan Mastai, Michael Roesch, Peter Scheerer	Movie adaptation of the video game (see below).
Dagon	2001	Dennis Paoli	An adaptation of The Shadow Over Innsmouth set in Spain (and despite the title, not the story "Dagon").
Mortuary	2005	Jace Anderson, Adam Gierasch	The text "That is not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange æons even death may die" is found on a witch tomb; the town in the film is called Arkham.

Many other films have used Lovecraft's inventions, often greatly modified from his original versions; see Lovecraft's IMDB entry for a complete list of films crediting him.

Music

Band	Album	Song	Notes
The Acacia Strain	Continent	"Cthulhu"	Song features lyrics talking about the end of the world, impending doom and judging those who live.
Bal-Sagoth	The Chthonic Chronicles		An album about Cthulhu.
Claude Ballif		"The Music of Erich Zann"	French composer who wrote two works based on Lovecraft.
Beatallica	Sgt. Hetfield's Motorbreath Pub Band	"Ktulu (He's So Heavy)" and "The Thing That Should Not Let It Be"	Parodic mashups of Metallica's "The Call of Ktulu" with The Beatles' "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" and Metallica's "The Thing That Should Not Be" with The Beatles' "Let It Be".
The Black Dahlia Murder	Unhallowed	"Thy Horror Cosmic"	Features lyrics descriptive of the rise of Cthulhu as told by his worshipers.
The Black Dahlia Murder	Deflorate	"Throne Of Lunacy"
Black Sabbath	Black Sabbath	"Behind the Wall of Sleep"	References Lovecraft's story "Beyond the Wall of Sleep".
Blue Öyster Cult	Imaginos		A concept album based on the Cthulhu Mythos.
Dionysis Boukouvalas			Greek composer set four poems from the cycle "Fungi from Yuggoth" for voice and piano.
Canibus	For Whom the Beat Tolls	"Layered Prayers" and "Poet Laureate Infinity v003"	Mentions "king Cthulhu" and quotes "That is not dead which can eternal lie. And with strange aeons even death may die."
Catacombs	In the depth of R'lyeh		A concept album about Cthulhu's sunken home.
Celtic Frost	Morbid Tales	"Morbid Tales"	References Yog-Sothoth.
Clutch	Robot Hive/Exodus	"Circus Maximus"	References Cthulhu's offspring.
Cradle of Filth	Midian and Nymphetamine	"Cthulhu Dawn" and "Mother of Abominations"	The first song is written about the waking of Cthulhu, the second contains a spoken phraseTemplate:Specify from Lovecraft's The Shadow Over Innsmouth.
Dark Moor	Beyond the Sea	"The Silver Key"	Has references of Lovecraft's story The Silver Key.
The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets	The Shadow out of Tim	"Cthulhu Dreams," "Yog-Sothoth," and "Six-Gun Gorgon Dynamo"	Adaptations of The Shadow Out of Time.
Dayglo Abortions	Here Today, Guano Tomorrow	"The Spawn of Yog Sothoth"	Provides statistics from Dungeons & Dragons original edition of Deities & Demigods manual.
The Dead Milkmen			Vocalist Rodney Linderman adopted, for a time, the alias H.P. Hovercraft, parodying Lovecraft.
Electric Wizard		"Supercoven," "Weird Tales," and "Dunwich"	Songs reference Lovecraft's writings.
The Fall	Dragnet	"Spectre vs Rector"	References Yog-Sothoth, one of a number of HPL references by The Fall / Mark E Smith.
Fields of the Nephilim		"The Watchman" and "Last Exit for The Lost"	Songs contain the lyrics "Kthulhu Calls".
GWAR	Scumdogs of the Universe	"The Horror of Yig"	References Yig, a Great Old One.
H. P. Lovecraft	Live At the Fillmore: May 11, 1968	"At the Mountains of Madness" and "The White Ship"	Psychedelic folk band from the late 1960s that wrote many songs with Lovecraftian lyrics.
H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society	A Shoggoth on the Roof		A comedic Broadway-style musical fusing the works of Lovecraft with the music of Fiddler on the Roof
H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society	A Very Scary Solstice and An Even Scarier Solstice		"Solstice carols" written with Lovecraftian lyrics to parody Christmas carols.
Iron Maiden	Live After Death		The album artwork references Lovecraft on the gravestone with the line, "That is not dead which can eternal lie. After strange aeons even death may die."
Metallica	Ride the Lightning	"The Call of Ktulu"	An instrumental named after the story.
Metallica	Master of Puppets	"The Thing That Should Not Be"	References The Shadow Over Innsmouth in its lyrics, and contains the line "Not dead which eternal lie/stranger eons death may die."
Metallica	Death Magnetic	"All Nightmare Long"	Described by vocalist James Hetfield as being about the Hounds of Tindalos.
Mercyful Fate	Time	"The Mad Arab"	References the Necronomicon and its author Abdul Alhazred.
Mercyful Fate	Into the Unknown	"Kutulu (The Mad Arab, Pt. 2)"	Describes rise of Cthulhu and the Arab's duty to finish the Necronomicon.
Morbid Angel	Blessed Are The Sick	"The Ancient Ones"	References Lovecraftian themes, and the band's guitarist makes reference to the Cthulhu mythos with his name Trey Azagthoth.
Morbid Angel	Covenant	"Angel of Disease"	References Lovecraftian themes.
Nile	Ithyphallic	"What May Safely Be Written"	Describes Cthulhu's rise
Nile	Those Whom The Gods Detest	"4th Arra of Dagon"	A song about the Deep Ones.
Nox Arcana	Necronomicon	(all 21 songs)	This album is written entirely about the Cthulhu Mythos, and it is visually styled to look like the Necronomicon.
Rage	Trapped	"Beyond The Wall Of Sleep"	Song is based on Lovecraft's short story "Beyond the Wall of Sleep."
Rage	The Missing Link	"Lost In The Ice"	Inspired by the novella At the Mountains of Madness.
Rudimentary Peni	Cacophony		All songs relate to themes of Cthulhu mythos and Lovecraftian horror in general.
Septic Flesh	Communion	"Lovecraft's Death"	Features songs with references to Lovecraft's stories and characters.
Therion	Sirius B	"The Call of Dagon"	Although also referencing Dagon from the perspective as described in Robert K. G. Temple's The Sirius Mystery as a visitor from the Sirius system (from which the album's title is derived), the song also incorporates Cthulhu mythos in its lyrical reference to the Deep Ones with the line: "Call of Dagon! The Deep One is calling you."
Tiger Lillies with Alexander Hacke	The Mountains of Madness		LP/DVD is a musical interpretation of At the Mountains of Madness.

Games

Game Title	Notes
Alone in the Dark	Based on Lovecraftian themes, and features many Lovecraft-inspired elements, like Deep Ones, a Chthonian in the cellar, two Nightgaunts and the Necronomicon.
Arkham Horror	a board game, originally published by Chaosium, that focuses exclusively on the Mythos as "Investigators" attempt to prevent the rising of a Great Old One by sealing gates to other worlds. The license was later acquired by Fantasy Flight Games, who reworked the game and continue to publish it along with numerous expansions.
Bionicle	This Lego game franchise features a Lovecraftian being known as Tren Krom. Story writer Greg Farshtey confirmed this as a reference to the Cthulhu Mythos on the Bionicle fan site BZPower.
Call of Cthulhu Collectible Card Game	Collectible card game by Fantasy Flight Games based on the Cthulhu Mythos, primarily H. P. Lovecraft's writings and Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu.
Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth	Loosely based on The Shadow Over Innsmouth, with elements drawn from At the Mountains of Madness, The Shadow Out of Time, and various other Mythos works.
Cthulhu Nation	Web-based game based on the classic 1920s Call of Cthulhu setting, featuring a vast number of Mythos creatures and elements.
CthulhuTech	A science-fiction and horror roleplaying game created by Wildfire LLC and published by Catalyst Game Labs that combines elements of the Cthulhu Mythos with anime-style mecha, horror, magic and futuristic action. The setting is Earth in the year 2085 during a worldwide conflict known as the Aeon War. The game uses a proprietary D10 system titled "Framewerk".
Dungeons & Dragons	Early editions of the Deities & Demigods sourcebook included the Cthulhu Mythos, since it was believed to be in the public domain. However, Arkham House had already licensed the Cthulhu property to the game company Chaosium. TSR eventually removed the Cthulhu Mythos altogether. For this reason, the first and second printings of Deities & Demigods have generally been in greater demand by D&D fans and collectors.
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion	In a quest entitled "A Shadow over Hackdirt" (a play on The Shadow Over Innsmouth), the decrepit, xenophobic town of Hackdirt has a strange cult dedicated to the "Deep Ones". In the underground section of the town, there are townspeople who bear striking resemblances to Deep One hybrids (most notably the enlarged eyes).
Fallout 3	Features a location called "Dunwich Building" in which strange things occur and audio logs tell of a man going insane due to a large obelisk in the basement. In one log, he mentions the name, "Alhazred" In the Point Lookout DLC, the player is asked to retrieve a book called The Krivbeknih, based on the Necronomicon, from mutated swampfolk who perform occult rituals and worship it. It can be destroyed by taking it to the Dunwich Building obelisk.
Illuminati (game)	In the tongue-in-cheek card game of Illuminati, a group known as the "Servants of Cthulhu" is one of the various "Illuminati" that can be played.
Lost Souls	Online game with heavy Cthulhu Mythos influences, including appearances by Cthulhu, shoggothim, byakhee, Shub-Niggurath and Yog-Sothoth.
Munchkin	tabletop card game has released many themed revisions of its card set; one (Munchkin Cthulhu) is nearly entirely Cthulhu- and Lovecraftian- ("HP Munchcraft") themed.
Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened	features an investigation into a number of disappearances believed to be the work of a Cthulhu cult. Also, a statue of Cthulhu may be seen in the sequel Sherlock Holmes: Nemesis, in a corner of 221b Bakerstreet. Watson comments that "What is that statue still doing here? I asked Mrs. Hudson to remove it for us," as a low roar is heard in the background.
Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness	The game's title is a reference to the titles of Lovecraft's works, and a mysterious book called "The Necrowombicon" is mentioned several times and is eventually used by a cult of mimes to bring their dark god, the "Silent One", onto the human plane.
Pokéthulhu	A small press role playing game marrying the Cthulhu Mythos and the popular Pokémon franchise.
Prisoner of Ice	Loosely based on At the Mountains of Madness.
Quake	Dimensional Shamblers appear as enemies, the "Spawn" enemies are called "Formless Spawn of Tsathoggua" in the manual, the end boss of the first episode is named Chthon, and the final boss is named Shub-Niggurath (though actually resembling a Dark Young). Some levels have Lovecraftian names, such as the Vaults of Zin and the Ebon Fortress.
RuneScape	features a summoning monster named Karamthulhu Overlord, an overlord that is supposed to represent Cthulhu in a fishbowl. It also has a character called Ezekial Lovecraft who claims his father is Howard in reference to H.P. Lovecraft. It also features aquatic monsters called Dagannoths, which live beneath a lighthouse.
Scribblenauts	In the Nintendo DS game Scribblenauts, players can summon a variety of items, calling them by name. Among them are Cthulhu, a roaring hostile tentacled creature, a shoggoth (depicted as a hostile tentacled creature with many eyes), and the Necronomicon, which can be used to make allies out of those with evil influence.
Shadow of the Comet	Loosely based on The Shadow Over Innsmouth.
Shin Megami Tensei	Nyarlathotep is the main antagonist in Revelations: Persona and Persona 2, appearing as a destructive collective unconscious taking form as a shapeshifter deity. It opposes Philemon, Carl Jung's wise spirit guide. Other beings from the Cthulhu Mythos appear as recruitable demons.
Tibia	The Quara Constrictor and the Scout resemble Lovecraft's description of Cthulhu. "A pulpy, tentacled head surmounted a grotesque and scaly body..." The Quara Boss is named Thul, the second through fifth letters of "Cthulhu". The NPC Vladruc, when asked about the undead, uses a variant of an often-quoted phrase from the Necronomicon, "It is not dead, which can eternal lie, and in strange aeons, even death may die."

Notes

Template:H.P. Lovecraft

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