by Daniel Harms
[Pliny’s Natural History (II.53) actually refers to “Tuscan writings” on the nine gods responsible for lightning.]
See Summanus. (“What Dark God?”, Lumley (O).)
TUTTLE, AMOS
Occultist who lived near Arkham. A noted world traveler earlier in his life, Tuttle spent the last twenty years of his life secluded in his house, studying his priceless collection of occult manuscripts. After his death in 1936, his house was passed on to his nephew Paul. Paul vanished soon thereafter, and his books were bequeathed to the Miskatonic University library.
(“The Return of Hastur”, Derleth (O); Miskatonic University, Johnson et. al.; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)
TWIN OBSCENITIES
Title given to the Great Old Ones Zhar and Lloigor, who lie imprisoned together beneath the Plateau of Sung.
See Lloigor; Zhar. (“The Lair of the Star-Spawn”, Derleth and Schorer (O).)
T’YOG
High priest of Shub-Niggurath in the country of K’naa on Mu. He made a special scroll to protect him during his confrontation with Ghatanothoa, but Ghatanothoa’s priests substituted another scroll for his. As a result of this, T’yog earned himself an unpleasant fate.
See Ghatanothoa; Shub-Niggurath. (“Out of the Aeons”, Lovecraft and Heald (O).)
TYPER, ALONZO HASBROUCH
Occultist from Kingston, NY who vanished near the abandoned van der Heyl mansion on April 17, 1908. Typer went to private school as a youth, and was later to attend Columbia and the University of Heidelburg, where he became the pupil of the noted anthropologist Victor Gibson. He traveled in the East a great deal, making it as far as Easter Island in 1899, visiting many sites with his now-vanished friend Victor Heauton. Even his colleagues considered Typer’s research bizarre; many of his occult papers could only be privately published, and he resigned from the Society for Psychical Research in 1902. His disappearance has left authorities puzzled, though a diary found in the van der Heyl mansion in 1935 and the Reverend Edgar Dowling’s psychic research have provided wildly unlikely accounts of his life thereafter.
See the Book of Hidden Things. (“The Diary of Alonzo Typer”, Lovecraft and Lumley (O); “The Statement of One John Gibson”, Lumley; “The Strange Fate of Alonzo Typer”, Price; “The Jest of Yig”, Webb.)
U
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UBAR
See Irem.
UBB (also UB-BG’ZTH)
Being known as “The Father of Worms.” Ubb is the leader of the mysterious race known as the yugg, which number among its offspring, the Ubbya. When encountered, Ubb has resembled a huge member of that species. Ubb assisted Zanthu in the destruction of Mu. it is believed to have been the source of King Solomon’s wealth and supposed magical abilities.
Some have attributed even greater power to Ubb, stating that it is a force which encourages all living things to survive and multiply.
See yuggs; yuggya. (“Out of the Ages”, Carter (O); “The Thing in the Pit”, Carter; Other Nations, Marsh and Marsh; “A Private Inquiry into the Possible Whereabouts of Clara Boyd”, Marsh et. al.; “Soul of the Devil-Bought”, Price.)
UBBO-SATHLA
Protoplasmic, featureless being said to have spawned all earthly life (possibly including humans), and to whom all such life will return in the end. Its spawn are endlessly created and cast off about it, with Ubbo-Sathla recapturing and devouring many of them with its pseudopods.
There are a number of conflicting stories about Ubbo-Sathla’s origins. It has been said that eons ago, when our world was in an alternate universe, the Elder Gods created both Azathoth and Ubbo-Sathla to be their slaves. Ubbo-Sathla rebelled against its makers, using knowledge stolen from them to send itself and the earth into this dimension. During the battle which ensued, the Elder Gods captured Ubbo-Sathla and made it mindless (though some maintain that it was this way to begin with), as they were purported to have done with Azathoth as well. Other myths state that Ubbo-Sathla was the creation of the Elder Things, who used it initially to spawn their shoggoths.
Some hold that Ubbo-Sathla is also the parent of all of the Great Old Ones who opposed the Elder Gods, as well as the Great Ones who men worship. Considering the extraterrene origins of most of the Great Old Ones, this is probably inaccurate. Rather, it is likely that Ubbo-Sathla entered into alliance with the Great Old Ones when they came down from the stars and aided them in their designs. A few of the Great Old Ones, such as Nyogtha and Zuchequon, seem to have originated upon this planet, and these may be the spawn of Ubbo-Sathla to whom these passages refer.
Ubbo-Sathla dwells beneath the ground in grey-lit Y’qaa (or possibly Mount Voormithadreth), guarding a set of stone tablets said to bear the knowledge of the Elder Gods themselves. Many wizards have attempted to gain these tablets, but not one has ever succeeded.
It is rumored that Ubbo-Sathla and Abhoth are the same; the voormis of Hyperborea may have worshiped Ubbo-Sathla, and in their disgust the Hyperboreans who came later re-named their god “Abhoth.” Known encounters with these two gods argue otherwise, however. Others have called Ubbo-Sathla the source of all the life in the cosmos, but this blatantly contradicts much of our knowledge of this being.
See Elder Gods; Elder Key; Elder Things; Nioth-Korghai; Nyogtha; proto-shoggoths; Sothoth; Y’qaa; Zon Mezzamalech; Zuchequon. (“The Unbegotten Source”, Carter; “Zoth-Ommog”, Carter; “The Lurker at the Threshold”, Derleth and Lovecraft; “Star-Spawn of Hyperborea”, Fultz; The Burrowers Beneath, Lumley; “The Snout in the Alcove”, Myers; A Guide to the Cthulhu Cult, Pelton; “Ubbo-Sathla”, Smith (O).)
UBBOTH
Black lake beneath the surface of the moon in which Mnomquah dwells.
See Mnomquah. (Mad Moon of Dreams, Lumley.)
UBBYA
See Ubb.
ULTHAR (also ULDAR)
1) Dreamlands town near the river Skai. Ulthar is a small village of medieval cottages and cobblestoned streets. In Ulthar, the killing of a cat is strictly forbidden, due to a mysterious event that took place two hundred years ago. As a consequence, this city is a great favorite for felines. On Ulthar’s highest hill stands the Temple of the Elder Ones, where the high priest Atal lives and a substantial library of magical texts is kept. See Atal; Barzai; Fourth Book of D’harsis; Hatheg; Nir; Pnakotic Manuscripts; Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan; Skai. (“The Cats of Ulthar”, Lovecraft (O); “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft.)
2) As Uldar, Elder God mentioned in the Sussex Manuscript. Ulthar was the son of Sothoth and represented the power of the Elder Gods. The Elder Gods sent him to earth to keep track of the Great Old Ones, but he requires periodic rituals to keep up his vigilance. See N’gah-Kthun; Sothoth; Ultharathotep. (A Guide to the Cthulhu Cult, Pelton; The Sussex Manuscript, Pelton (O).)
ULTHARATHOTEP
Avatar of the Elder God Ulthar who the assembled high priests summoned once every thousand years to the city of N’gah-Kthun.
See Ulthar. (The Sussex Manuscript, Pelton (O).)
ULTRAVIOLET, THE
See Tillinghast Resonator.
‘UMR AT-TAWIL (or TAWIL AT-’UMR or properly in Arabic TAWIL AL-’UMR)
God whose Arabic name literally translates as “The Prolonged of Life.” ‘Umr at-Tawil appears as a figure draped in grey fabric, holding a sphere of iridescent metal in one hand. He might also appear as a great bipedal canine, like the Egyptian depictions of Anubis.
This being is the head of the Ancient Ones, as well as the guardian of the final gateway opened by the owner of the Silver Key. While most consider ‘Umr at-Tawil to be an avatar or manifestation of Yog-Sothoth, other sources refer to him as a human who passed through the Ultimate Gate, met Yog-Sothoth, and gave himself up to the god, thereupon becoming the Guardian of the Gate. The Book of Thoth states that dealing with this entity is fraught with peril, and none who he accepts ever return.
It has been suggested that ‘Umr at-Tawil is a part of a person’s mind which must be overcome or destroyed to gain true kno
wledge. Others state that the spirit respects great warriors, rewarding great slaughter and calling spirits out of Limbo to give power to those who are worthy. Whether these are true remains uncertain.
See Ancient Ones; Book of Thoth; Klarkash-Ton; Silver Key; Yog-Sothoth. (“The Book of the Gates”, Carter; Cthulhu Dark Ages, Gesbert et. al., Outside the Circles of Time, Grant; “Through the Gates of the Silver Key”, Lovecraft and Price; “The Lord of Illusion”, Price (O).)
UNAUSSPRECHLICHEN KULTEN (also the BLACK BOOK or NAMELESS CULTS)
Volume by Friedrich Wilhelm von Junzt (1795–1840), an occultist and explorer of some note. Immediately after finishing Unaussprechlichen Kulten, von Junzt left for parts unknown. After returning from a trip to Mongolia, von Junzt shut himself up in his room and spent months writing a new manuscript. Six months following his return, he was found in his locked and barred room strangled, his notes torn and scattered about him. The contents of this document remain a mystery, for after von Junzt’s friend Alexis Ladeau pieced it together and read it, he burnt the pages and cut his throat.
The Dusseldorf publisher Gottfried Mülder put out a German edition of Unaussprechlichen Kulten in 1839. Many who owned the book, however, destroyed it after they learned of its author’s fate. The book might have been forgotten if not for the Jesuit Pierre Sansrire’s French translation, presumably made in order to teach his students about the cults of the world. The book was printed in St. Malo in 1843; no copies are known to survive.
The disreputable bookseller M. A. G. Bridewall found a copy of the French translation in a London store. He considered it so scandalous that he published the first English translation of it in 1845, giving it the title Nameless Cults. This edition was riddled with mistakes and misspellings, illustrated with cheap woodcuts, and served only to further discredit the original.
Golden Goblin Press of New York took its own translation of the German book to the presses in 1909, which included color plates by Diego Velasquez. Though more accurately translated than the Bridewall edition, the translators expurgated over a quarter of the original volume, and the cost of the book was so high as to be prohibitive to the general public. An edition from the elusive Starry Wisdom Press was supposedly released in the same year, though no copies have yet been found. Though several attempts have been made by Miskatonic to publish a scholarly edition of the book, von Junzt’s heirs have refused to give permission for any new printings of the book.
Copies of Unaussprechlichen Kulten are kept at the Miskatonic University Library, the Sanbourne Institute, the library of the ruined Starry Wisdom church of Providence, and the Huntingdon Library in California.
Within his book, von Junzt discusses his findings regarding worship patterns across the world. Part of this volume deals with commonly known secret societies, such as the Thuggee and the African leopard societies. The main part of the work, which is prefaced by a lengthy essay entitled “Narrative of the Elder World”, deals with the worship of Cthulhu and his ilk, including the Tcho-tcho cults of Leng, the people of the Black Stone, the Hyborian Age, and the worldwide sects of Ghatanothoa. At certain points, von Junzt’s rational presentation of these cults breaks down into disjointed ramblings. His assertion that alicorns (unicorn horns) were real and his claim to have visited Hell are often cited as evidence of his instability. Nonetheless, much of his work is insightful and should not be dismissed.
See Bran Mak Morn; Ghatanothoa; Kn’aa; Ladeau, Alexis; Mad Berkley’s Book; Mülder, Gottfried; Papyrus of the Dark Wisdom; Temple of the Toad; von Junzt, Friedrich; Yog-Sothoth. (Real Magic, Bonewitz; “Zoth-Ommog”, Carter; “The History of Unaussprechlichen Kulten”, Harris; “The Black Stone”, Howard; “The Children of the Night”, Howard (O); “The Thing on the Roof”, Howard; “Untitled Fragment”, Howard; “The Haunter of the Dark”, Lovecraft; “Out of the Aeons”, Lovecraft and Heald; “Dope War of the Black Tong”, Price; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)
UNIVERSITY OF NYINGTOVE
College in O’Khymer, Oregon, known for its library’s large collection of occult works.
See Sorcerie de Demonologie. (“Huitloxopetl IV: Vision of Madness”, Berglund (O).)
UNNAMABLE, THE
Creature born of bestiality. After its discovery, its father was subsequently hung, but it was allowed to live. It dwelt in a colonial house near the old burying-ground in Arkham. The creature, said to have hooves and four-inch horns, seems to be dead, but is nonetheless called forth when others speak or think about it. Randolph Carter based his story “The Attic Window” (1922) on it, and may have participated in the exorcism of the spirit.
[Lovecraft based this creature on the following passage from Cotton Mather’s Magnalia Christi Americana: “At the Southward there was a Beast, which brought forth a Creature, which might pretend unto something of an Humane Shape. Now, the People minded that the Monster had a Blemish in one Eye, much like what a profligate Fellow in the Town was known to have. This Fellow was hereupon examin’d, and uppon his Examination, confess’d his infandous Bestialties; for which he was deservedly Executed.” It was Lovecraft who added the possibility that the creature was sorcerous in nature.]
(“The Unnamable”, Lovecraft (O); The Unnamable, Ouellette.)
UNSPEAKABLE PROMISE (also UNSPEAKABLE OATH)
Bargain made with Hastur by unsuspecting magicians. The magician’s side of the bargain may differ, but the end result is the same: the Old One possesses his or her body upon death, taking on a humanoid form with boneless arms. The Unspeakable Promise is also said to bind Shub-Niggurath in some manner.
(“The Return of Hastur”, Derleth (O); “The Evil Stars”, Herber; “The Lady in the Grove”, Lette.)
UNTER ZEE KULTEN
German volume dealing with aquatic horrors. Two different versions of this book’s history have appeared. The more traditional tale states that a Graf Gauberg wrote it centuries ago, and that most copies of this book were destroyed in the seventeenth century. The other states that the book’s real title was Das Geheimnis Der Unterzeerunen, which was published in Vienna in 1908. According to this source, the book was a translation of Yuggothian glyphs found at Ponape, Easter Island, and Stonehenge made by the German occultist Guido von List. The book was later made into a movie called Geheimnisse Einer Unterzeewelt (or “Unterzee Kulten”) which depicted many secret Polynesian rites and was finally banned in most countries. Which of these stories is correct, or if the two are referring to different books entirely, is uncertain.
This book tells much about the deep ones and their ways of life, including a description of a strange mollusk the deep ones use for food and construction. The Cthaat Aquadingen quotes this volume at least once.
(“The Aquarium”, Jacobi (O); “Return of the Deep Ones”, Lumley; “Fischbuchs”, Ross; “The Sound of a Door Opening”, Webb.)
UNDERCLIFFE, ERROL (c. 1937–1967?)
Brichester horror author who is thought to have been an influence on the young Ramsey Campbell. Little is known of Undercliffe, though he spent much of his life in Brichester. He vanished from his apartment in 1967 after investigating the death of Ronald Franklyn. At least one unconfirmed sighting of him has been made since then. His work has been collected in The Man who Feared to Sleep and Photographed by Lightning, and Harry Chang’s film Red Dreams is based upon his work.
(“Errol Undercliffe: A Tribute”, Campbell (O); “The Franklyn Paragraphs”, Campbell; “Behold, I Stand at the Door and Knock”, Price.)
UOHT
1) Royal contender for the throne of Yhtill in the play The King in Yellow. See King in Yellow. (“The Repairer of Reputations”, Chambers (O).)
2) In the writings of Hali, the first king of Carcosa to emblazon the Sign of Koth in yellow upon his cloak. See King in Yellow. (House of the Toad, Tierney.)
UPHAM, (PROFESSOR) HIRAM
Chair of the Miskatonic University mathematics department. His class saw several informal lectures by Walter Gilman on mathematical proofs of higher dimensions. Up
ham later joined with other Miskatonic professors in combating the Mythos.
See Emeritus Alcove. (Arkham Unveiled, Herber et. al.; “To Arkham and the Stars”, Leiber; “The Dreams in the Witch-House”, Lovecraft (O).)
UPTON, DANIEL. (c. 1884–?)
Arkham architect and friend (and murderer) of Edward Derby. Derby’s father was Bezalel Yehua ben-Daniel, but he later changed his name to Daniel Upton and moved to Arkham. (The younger Daniel Upton never learned this part of his family’s past.) Daniel Upton made friends with Derby at a relatively early age, and Upton even considered illustrating a book of Derby’s poetry at one time. After graduating from Harvard, Upton married and settled in Arkham. His son, Edward Derby Upton, was born in 1910.
Upton watched the destructive marriage of Derby and Asenath Waite with some concern, but he was unable to stop its tragic ending. Upton seemed concerned about his friend, which made his subsequent murder of Derby at Arkham Sanitarium even more baffling. Some have hinted that a macabre practical joke may have been the impetus for the crime.