Cthulhu Mythos Encyclopedia

by Daniel Harms

  [As Lumley’s timeline as given in “In The Vaults Beneath” is contradictory, I have used Keith Herber’s here instead.]

  See Book of Dzyan; G’harne; Sussex Fragments; Thyoph; Walmsley, Gordon; Wendy-Smith, Amery. (Keeper’s Compendium, Herber; The Burrowers Beneath, Lumley; “Cement Surroundings”, Lumley (O); “In the Vaults Beneath”, Lumley; “Name and Number”, Lumley; The Transition of Titus Crow, Lumley; Miskatonic University Graduate Kit, Petersen et. al.; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

  GHASTS

  Humanoid creatures with hoofed feet, kangaroo-like legs, and noseless faces. Direct sunlight kills these creatures, but they can survive for many hours in illumination of lesser intensity.

  Ghasts spend most of their lives in the vaults of Zin, but have been known to issue from their homes to attack gugs or ghouls in the Underworld of the Dreamlands. If they are unable to find prey of this sort, they have no qualms about devouring each other. Despite their cannibalistic tendencies, ghasts often band together in packs for raids outside the vaults.

  See gyaa-yothn; Yoth; Zin. (“The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft (O).)

  GHATANOTHOA (also GHANTA or GTANTHA)

  Great Old One left by the fungi from Yuggoth within the mountain Yaddith-Gho in the now-sunken land of Mu. The people of Mu made many sacrifices to the god and its priests, fearing that Ghatanothoa would leave its home and seek prey among humanity if it was not placated. The sight of the Great Old One was especially feared, as it would petrify anyone who looked upon it, leaving them encased in leathery skin for eternity.

  In his Unaussprechlichen Kulten, Friedrich von Junzt tells of T’yog, the high priest of Shub-Niggurath, who opposed Ghatanothoa and its servants. T’yog created a scroll covered with magical writings that would protect the holder from the effects of seeing Ghatanothoa. Having done so, he resolved to climb the mountain to the god’s home and confront the horror. Ghatanothoa’s jealous priests opposed this. When they could not prevent T’yog from making the journey, they secretly switched his magical scroll for a worthless one. T’yog never returned from his journey to the top of Yaddith-Gho, and his fate remains a mystery.

  Due to T’yog’s failure to destroy Ghatanothoa, the cult of this Great Old One gained even greater power. Ten thousand years later after the high priest’s ascent, the high priests finally possessed enough influence to close the temples of all of Mu’s other deities. Zanthu, the newly-appointed high priest of Ythogtha, took umbrage at this decree and unwittingly brought about the continent’s destruction when he attempted to summon his own god.

  Although the land of Mu sank beneath the ocean, entrapping Ghatanothoa, many branches of its cult survived. According to von Junzt, traces of such worship have been found in Egypt, Atlantis, K’n-yan, Persia, Babylon, Africa, China, Mexico, and Peru. Most of Ghatanothoa’s present-day worship occurs near the Pacific Ocean, beneath which Ghatanothoa is imprisoned. These cults hold the god responsible for certain natural disasters, such as the offshore earthquake which took place in 1970 near Peru, and hope for a day when they will be able to free their master from his watery prison. Some have disguised their rites, in which lloigor psychically feed on their servants, under the guise of other faiths, expanding their influence further than has been suspected.

  Along with Ythogtha and Zoth-Ommog, Ghatanothoa is one of the three “sons” of Cthulhu and Idh-yaa spawned near Xoth. The astral race known as the Lloigor also serve Ghatanothoa.

  See Cthulhu; elemental theory; Idh-yaa; K’n-yan; Kn’aa; Legends of the Olden Runes; lloigor; Mu; Nath-feast; Ponape Scripture; T’yog; Unaussprechlichen Kulten; Vatican Codex; Yaddith-Gho; Yeb; Ythogtha; Zanthu. (“The Thing in the Pit”, Carter; “Out of the Aeons”, Lovecraft and Heald (O); “False Mythologies”, Ingham; The Sussex Manuscript, Pelton; House of the Toad, Tierney; “The Return of the Lloigor”, Wilson.)

  GHISGUTH (or GHIZGHUTH or GHISGHUTH)

  Child of Cxaxukluth and sire of the Great Old One Tsathoggua by his mate Zstylzhemghi. In his youth, Ghisguth raged across the galaxy, destroying planets and stars in his path. After his brother Hziulquoigmnzhah left Yuggoth due to the cannibalistic depredations of their father, Ghisguth and his family remained a while longer in deep caverns where Cxaxukluth could not reach. The mi-go may perform rites in his honor.

  See Cxaxukluth; Tsathoggua; Zstylzhemghi. (“The Family Tree of the Gods”, Smith (O); “The Appeasement of Ghizguth”, Tierney.)

  GHOORIC ZONE

  Caverns on Thog, one of the moons of Yuggoth. This was once a mine for the tok’l metal placed by the mi-go, until they found more deposits on Yuggoth and abandoned it. In the Ghooric Zone, strange lights glow, fungi bloom, and shoggoths splash beside a foul lake.

  (“The Color from Beyond”, Cabos; “Stranger’s Race”, Kershaw-Moore; “Alienation”, Lovecraft (O); “Discovery of the Ghooric Zone,” Lupoff.)

  THE GHORL NIGRAL

  Book of which only one copy (supposedly) exists on earth. Many aeons ago, the Book of Eibon says, the great wizard Zkauba discovered the Ghorl Nigral, or the Book of Night, in the dhole-burrows that had honeycombed his home world of Yaddith.

  Later, one copy of the Ghorl Nigral was brought to our world. The priests of Mu discovered it and added chapters of historical data on that sunken land. The Ghorl Nigral was later deposited at the city of Yian-Ho, where it lay forgotten for many years. Then the noted German occultist Friedrich von Junzt and his friend Gottfried Mülder journeyed to a monastery high in the mountains of China to find the book. There, in a bargain with the holy men of that place, von Junzt was allowed to gaze upon the Ghorl Nigral. The experience left a deep impression on von Junzt, and he discussed the book’s contents at length with Mülder. Mülder later used this information in his book The Secret Mysteries of Asia, with a Commentary on the “Ghorl Nigral” (1847).

  Some say that other copies of the Ghorl Nigral exist on this planet, and one has even been placed at Miskatonic University. It is possible that this is a case of mistaken identity in which The Secret Mysteries of Asia and the Ghorl Nigral itself have been confused. Access to the Miskatonic volume is very difficult due to an incident that took place in the library’s reading room some years ago, so it is unlikely that the question will be answered any time soon.

  See Secret Mysteries of Asia; von Junzt, Friedrich; Yian-Ho; Zkauba. (“The Thing in the Pit”, Carter; “Zoth-Ommog”, Carter; Lovecraft at Last, Conover and Lovecraft (O).)

  GHOULS

  Beings that live in tunnels beneath graveyards in both the waking world and the Dreamlands. Ghouls can be identified by their canine features, hoofed feet, rubbery skin, moldy odor, and disgusting habits. They usually bear their repast back to the Crag of the Ghouls in the Dreamlands, where they devour their burdens and cast the remnants into the Vale of Pnath.

  Various types of social organization exist among the ghouls. The main colony in the Underworld is fairly disorganized, though they may at times follow one of their species whom they respect. Alhazred’s account of the ghouls of the Empty Quarter, with whom he lived for several months, describes them as bands that dwell in caves near hidden oases and stalk caravans for prey. More recently, a colony beneath Providence, Rhode Island has taken to kidnapping human infants, raising them, and using them as their servants and enforcers above ground.

  Ghouls are allied with the nightgaunts, who serve them as mounts and for reconnaissance.

  Though individuals of the species may make deals with the Great Old Ones — especially Nyogtha — ghouls as a whole have not committed themselves to any spiritual practice save a vague reverence for Mordiggian. Many Russian ghouls who saw the bounty of Stalin’s purges came to revere him as the great provider. Recent years have seen the ghouls of New York split into two factions: the Traditionalists, who worship Mordiggian and believe in conventional graverobbing, and the Renegades, who may serve Nyarlathotep and are not averse to kidnapping to satisfy their cravings.

  Ghouls are not necessarily unfriendly to humans
who know them and take the time to learn their language of gibberings and meepings, or who present the sign of the ankh to them. On the other hand, they can be quite unfriendly to those who enter their delvings unbidden.

  The exact origins of the ghouls are unknown, but it has been proven that over time a human can transform into one of these creatures. Proximity of other ghouls and a radical change in diet seem to bring about this metamorphosis. (Some have speculated that this transformation is a result of a prion-based neurological disease.) At times, ghouls have stolen human infants and replaced them with young of their own kind, so that they might induct their hostages into their species.

  A few variant ghouls have been reported. Some say these creatures have a more advanced and human-like subspecies that serves as the priests of Mordiggian. Also of note are the “hu-ghouls” — offspring of humans and ghouls that never develop into one or the other — who are considered the bottom of the ghoulish hierarchy.

  [Ghuls were originally monsters of Arabian folklore that dwelt in the desert and graveyards, preying on hapless passers-by. Lovecraft encountered them through The Arabian Nights and Vathek. The ghoul’s dog-like appearance and their habit of substituting human babies as their own are probably original to Lovecraft.]

  See ghasts; Hydra; Mordiggian; Naggoob; Ngranek; nightgaunts; Nyogtha; Pnath; Rhydagand of the Brush; Shunned House; tomb-herd; wamps. (Realm of Shadows, Crowe; Delta Green, Detwiller, Glancy, and Tynes; Delta Green: Countdown, Detwiller et. al.; “Pickman’s Student”, Herber; Daughter of Hounds, Kiernan; Low Red Moon, Kiernan; “Identity Crisis”, Kruger; “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft; “Pickman’s Model”, Lovecraft (O); Alhazred, Tyson.)

  GHROTH

  Outer God known as the Harbinger. This being appears as a dark object the size of a planet with one huge red eye (which Ghroth often closes when it wants to remain inconspicuous). When the stars are right, Ghroth will travel through the universe, visiting each world where the Great Old Ones reside to awaken them. Ghroth has visited our world in the past, thereby initiating the cycles of extinction usually believed to have been caused by meteors or comets.

  See Revelations of Glaaki; Shaggai. (“The Tugging”, Campbell (O); Spawn of Azathoth, Herber.)

  GILMAN, WALTER (?–May 1, 1928)

  Student of mathematics from Haverhill, Massachusetts. Gilman attended Miskatonic University, spending the last months of his life living in Arkham’s “Witch-House”. Though he displayed brilliance in his chosen field, his professors forced him to cut back on his work due to his nervous temperament. Over the spring of his last year, Gilman became more and more nervous, experiencing strange dreams and bouts of sleepwalking culminating on May-Eve. Ironically enough, his death seems not to have been due to his nervous deterioration, but to a rodent attack.

  See Ellery, Dewart; Upham, Hiram. (“The Dreams in the Witch-House”, Lovecraft (O).)

  GLAAKEEN

  Undead servitors created by Glaaki (see).

  (“The Inhabitant of the Lake”, Campbell (O); Cthulhu Live: Lost Souls, Salmon et. al.)

  GLAAKI

  Great Old One resembling a slug with three eyes on stalks, small pyramids on its underside, and innumerable metal spikes rising from its back. Glaaki dwells in a lake near Brichester. (Recent sightings suggest that it may be manifesting itself in other bodies of water throughout the world, such as New Britain Island in New Guinea, Raquette Lake in the Adirondacks, or even in the London sewers.)

  Glaaki’s unnamed home world was a place with acid lakes and foul vapors. The Great Old One traveled on a comet between the worlds of Yuggoth, Shaggai, and Tond. Eventually, it became imprisoned behind a crystal trapdoor beneath an asteroid city. When the meteor crashed into Earth, it created the lake where Glaaki later resided. Some insist that Glaaki had come to earth before for a short time through the priests of Egypt’s use of the Reversed Angles of Tagh Clatur, as a number of hybrid mummies have been discovered with spines similar to those of Glaaki. The Great Old One’s influence on our world was negligible before the meteor’s fall.

  Glaaki’s modern worship began around 1790, when Thomas Lee led his group to the lake from nearby Goatswood. This cult built a row of houses along the shore so they could be close to their god. These people remained until the 1860s, when all of them disappeared. Some suggest that the people came to make Glaaki serve them, but were caught and enslaved to him instead. Others have lived in the area since then, but few stay long, being frightened away by Glaaki’s dream-sendings. This lake was subsequently drained after complaints about missing persons, but no trace of the city or the god himself was found.

  Glaaki commanded a cult of undead slaves, or Glaakeen, which it created by driving a spine from his back into their bodies and injecting a chemical into their bloodstream. If the spine could be severed before the fluid was injected, the victim would die but was spared from becoming Glaaki’s slave. The fluid created a network of tissue in the corpse’s body, apparently taking the place of the circulatory and pulmonary systems, which Glaaki could then manipulate so that the Glaakeen did its bidding. Although capable of independent thought and action, these creatures were forced to do Glaaki’s bidding whenever it telepathically commands them. After sixty years, a rapid rotting known as the Green Decay affected these servants whenever sunlight struck them, so most of Glaaki’s servants remained under shelter during the day.

  Glaaki used a special psychic “dream-pull” to call nearby humans to join its cult. This was usually ineffectual, as Glaaki’s power did not extend far enough to reach anyone who was more than a few miles from the lake.

  See Aklo Unveilings; Angles of Tagh Clatur; Green Decay; Revelations of Glaaki; tomb-herd; Tond; Yuggoth. (“Ghost Lake”, Burleson; “Invocation from Beyond”, Burnham; “The Inhabitant of the Lake”, Campbell (O); Delta Green, Detwiller, Glancy, and Tynes; Call of Cthulhu Rulebook, 5th ed., Petersen and Willis; “The Further Files of Prof. Grant Emerson: Report on Adirondack Cadaver”, Price; Cthulhu Live: Lost Souls, Salmon et. al.)

  GLASS FROM LENG

  Cloudy type of glass said to come from the Hyades to the Plateau of Leng. To be used, the glass must be mounted in a frame so that it appears to be a window. If the owner desires to use it, he or she should draw a pentagram in red chalk on the floor before the window, sit within the diagram, and say the words “Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn.” The glass from Leng will turn clear and show a scene with Mythos significance. The user cannot choose the location viewed. This person must be wary, since beings on the other side might see and pass through the magical gateway if they desire.

  The glass from Leng may also be crafted into the moon-lens used in Shub-Niggurath’s worship.

  See moon-lens. (“The Gable Window”, Derleth and Lovecraft (O); “Dark Harvest”, Ross.)

  GLEETH

  Moon-god and advisor to the other divinities who the people of Theem’hdra and the Dreamlands revered. He is often said to be identical to Mnomquah, but in fact Gleeth is almost entirely blind and deaf to the prayers of his worshipers, unlike the other god. As such, only the Suhm-Yi people of Theem’hdra worshiped him, and he had no formalized cult or priests elsewhere.

  See Mnomquah. (“The House of Cthulhu”, Lumley (O); “Isles of the Suhm-Yi”, Lumley; Mad Moon of Dreams, Lumley.)

  G’LL-HOO (or GELL-HO)

  Deep one city in the ocean north of Britain, close to the isle of Surtsey.

  See deep ones. (The Burrowers Beneath, Lumley; “Rising with Surtsey”, Lumley (O).)

  GLOON

  Lesser Other God appearing to be a handsome youth wearing a laurel wreath while in his temple, though his true form is that of a wattled, slug-like horror. Gloon is bound to a temple beneath the Atlantic Ocean, having been imprisoned there long before the sinking of Atlantis.

  Gloon may only interact with the outside world through the agency of small Atlantean statuettes made in his image. When someone discovers one of these statues, they have strange dr
eams of a sunken city dominated by a huge basalt temple with a glowing light inside. These dreams become more and more vivid as time progresses. The dreamer is also doused with salt water, and sometimes seaweed, while asleep. This result is insanity, as the person’s soul is taken back to the temple where Gloon may torture it until the life-force dissolves completely.

  See Atlantis. (“The Temple”, Lovecraft (O); “The City in the Sea”, Thomas and Willis.)

  GLYU-UHO (also GLYU-VHO or K’LU-VHO)

  Naacal title for the star commonly known as Betelgeuse. According to those who believe in the Elder Gods, these beneficent beings came down from Glyu-Uho to battle the Great Old Ones. The Elder Gods may dwell in an alternate dimension known as Elysia; if this is true, there may be a gateway leading to this place near Glyu-Uho.