Fire Vampire
This is a compendium of the lesser known Great Old Ones of the Cthulhu Mythos of H. P. Lovecraft. __NOTOC__ Overview In Joseph S. Pulver's novel ''Nightmare's Disciple'' several new Great Old Ones and Elder Gods are named. The novel mentions ''D'numl'' Cthulhu's female cousin, ''T'ith'' and ''Xu'bea, The Teeth of the Dark Plains of Mwaalba''. ''Miivls'' and ''Vn'Vulot'', are said to have fought each other in southern Gondwanaland during the Cretaceous period, whereas ''Rynvyk'', regarded as one of the mates of Cthulhu's sister ''Kassogtha'', likely matches with Cthulhu itself or a similar entity. Kassogtha would have sired Rynvyk three sons (one named ''Ult'') and Rynvyk himself currently rests in a crimson pool in the ''Hall of Tyryar'' (likely another name or dimension of R'lyeh), whose portal is located somewhere in Norway. A Aphoom-Zhah Aphoom-Zhah (the ''Cold Flame'') debuted in Lin Carter's short story "The Acolyte of the Flame" (1985)—although the being was first me ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Great Old One
American author H. P. Lovecraft (1890–1937) created a number of fictional deities throughout the course of his literary career. These entities are usually depicted as immensely powerful and utterly indifferent to humans who can barely begin to comprehend them, though some entities are worshipped by humans. These deities include the "Great Old Ones" and extraterrestrials, such as the "Elder Things", with sporadic references to other miscellaneous deities (e.g. Nodens). The "Elder Gods" are a later creation of other prolific writers who expanded on Lovecraft's concepts, such as August Derleth, who was credited with formalizing the Cthulhu Mythos. Most of these deities were Lovecraft's original creations, but he also adapted words or concepts from earlier writers such as Ambrose Bierce, and later writers in turn used Lovecraft's concepts and expanded his fictional universe. Great Old Ones An ongoing theme in Lovecraft's work is the complete irrelevance of humanity in the face of t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Shub-Niggurath
Shub-Niggurath is a fictional deity created by writer H. P. Lovecraft. She is often associated with the phrase "The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young". The only other name by which Lovecraft referred to her was "Lord of the Wood" in his story ''The Whisperer in Darkness''. Shub-Niggurath is first mentioned in Lovecraft's revision story "The Last Test" (1928); she is not described by Lovecraft, but is frequently mentioned or called upon in incantations. Most of her development as a literary figure was carried out by other Mythos authors, including August Derleth, Robert Bloch, and Ramsey Campbell. Lovecraft explicitly defined Shub-Niggurath as a mother goddess in ''The Mound'', where he calls her "Shub-Niggurath, the All-Mother".H. P. Lovecraft writing as Zealia Bishop, "The Mound", ''The Horror in the Museum'', pp. 144–145. He describes her as a kind of Astarte in the same story. In ''Out of the Aeons'', she is one of the deities siding with humanity against "host ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Snakes
Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more joints than their lizard ancestors, enabling them to swallow prey much larger than their heads (cranial kinesis). To accommodate their narrow bodies, snakes' paired organs (such as kidneys) appear one in front of the other instead of side by side, and most have only one functional lung. Some species retain a pelvic girdle with a pair of vestigial claws on either side of the cloaca. Lizards have evolved elongate bodies without limbs or with greatly reduced limbs about twenty-five times independently via convergent evolution, leading to many lineages of legless lizards. These resemble snakes, but several common groups of legless lizards have eyelids and external ears, which snakes lack, although this rule is not universal (see Amphisbaenia, D ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Elephant
Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae and the order Proboscidea. The order was formerly much more diverse during the Pleistocene, but most species became extinct during the Late Pleistocene epoch. Distinctive features of elephants include a long proboscis called a trunk, tusks, large ear flaps, pillar-like legs, and tough but sensitive skin. The trunk is used for breathing, bringing food and water to the mouth, and grasping objects. Tusks, which are derived from the incisor teeth, serve both as weapons and as tools for moving objects and digging. The large ear flaps assist in maintaining a constant body temperature as well as in communication. African elephants have larger ears and concave backs, whereas Asian elephants have smaller ears, and convex or level backs. Elephants ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Crab
Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" (abdomen) ( el, βραχύς , translit=brachys = short, / = tail), usually hidden entirely under the thorax. They live in all the world's oceans, in freshwater, and on land, are generally covered with a thick exoskeleton, and have a single pair of pincers. They first appeared during the Jurassic Period. Description Crabs are generally covered with a thick exoskeleton, composed primarily of highly mineralized chitin, and armed with a pair of chelae (claws). Crabs vary in size from the pea crab, a few millimeters wide, to the Japanese spider crab, with a leg span up to . Several other groups of crustaceans with similar appearances – such as king crabs and porcelain crabs – are not true crabs, but have evolved features similar to true crabs through a process known as carcinisation. Environment Crabs are found in all of the world's oceans, as well as in fresh w ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Toad
Toad is a common name for certain frogs, especially of the family Bufonidae, that are characterized by dry, leathery skin, short legs, and large bumps covering the parotoid glands. A distinction between frogs and toads is not made in scientific taxonomy, but is common in popular culture (folk taxonomy), in which toads are associated with drier, rougher skin and more terrestrial habitats. List of toad families In scientific taxonomy, toads include the true toads (Bufonidae) and various other terrestrial or warty-skinned frogs. Non-bufonid "toads" can be found in the families: * Bombinatoridae ( fire-bellied toads and jungle toads) * Calyptocephalellidae (helmeted water toad and false toads) * Discoglossidae ( midwife toads) * Myobatrachidae (Australian toadlets) * Pelobatidae (European spadefoot toad) * Rhinophrynidae ( burrowing toads) * Scaphiopodidae (American spadefoot toads) * Microhylidae ( narrowmouth toads) Biology Usually the largest of the bumps on the skin ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Byatis
"The Shambler from the Stars" is a horror short story by American writer Robert Bloch, first published in the September 1935 issue of'' Weird Tales''. It was later included as part of his first published book, ''The Opener of the Way'' (1945), and his 1994 collection '' The Early Fears''. A Cthulhu Mythos tale, it introduced the forbidden tome ''De Vermis Mysteriis'' (Mysteries of the Worm). Later on in 1935, Lovecraft wrote the short story "The Haunter of the Dark" as a sequel and dedicated it to Bloch. Eventually, in 1950, Bloch wrote his own sequel " The Shadow from the Steeple". Plot summary The story focuses on a nameless narrator who, in addition to being a college student, hopes to make a living as a pulp writer of weird fiction. His earliest efforts at the craft are woefully inadequate and rejected by magazine editors. As a result, he begins to yearn after the forbidden knowledge known only to those who are true practitioners of the occult, and begins sending letters ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Shoggoth
A shoggoth (occasionally shaggoth) is a fictional monster in the Cthulhu Mythos. The beings were mentioned in passing in H. P. Lovecraft's sonnet cycle ''Fungi from Yuggoth'' (1929–30) and later described in detail in his novella ''At the Mountains of Madness'' (1931). Description The definitive descriptions of shoggoths come from the above-quoted story. In it, Lovecraft describes them as massive amoeba-like creatures made out of iridescent black slime, with multiple eyes "floating" on the surface. They are "protoplasmic", lacking any default body shape and instead being able to form limbs and organs at will. A typical shoggoth measures 15 feet across when a sphere, though the story mentions the existence of others of much greater size. Being amorphous, shoggoths can take on any shape needed, making them very versatile within aquatic environments. Cthulhu Mythos media most commonly portray shoggoths as intelligent to some degree, but deal with problems using only their great ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Encyclopedia Cthulhiana
''Encyclopedia Cthulhiana'' is a reference guide to the invented places, beings, and concepts from the Cthulhu Mythos developed by H. P. Lovecraft and others. It was published by Chaosium in 1994. Description ''Encyclopedia Cthulhiana'' is a 400-page book by Daniel Harms that contains an alphabetized listing of entities, cults and lore from H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos that were published during the twentieth century. Sources include works by Ramsey Campbell, Robert Bloch, and Stephen King, as well as scenarios from the ''Call of Cthulhu'' game. There are also suggestions about how this information could be included in a ''Call of Cthulhu'' adventure or campaign. An expanded 423-page second edition was published in 1998. Reception In '' Dragon'' magazine #218 (June 1995), Rick Swan stated that this book possessed "a diligence on the part of the researchers that borders on the superhuman". Awards ''Encyclopedia Cthulhiana'' won a Special Achievement Award at the 1995 Or ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Brian Lumley
Brian Lumley (born 2 December 1937) is an English author of horror fiction. He came to prominence in the 1970s writing in the Cthulhu Mythos created by American writer H. P. Lovecraft but featuring the new character Titus Crow, and went on to greater fame in the 1980s with the best-selling ''Necroscope'' series, initially centered on character Harry Keogh, who can communicate with the spirits of the dead. Biography Born in County Durham, he joined the British Army's Royal Military Police and wrote stories in his spare time before retiring with the rank of Warrant Officer Class 1 in 1980 and becoming a professional writer. In the 1970s he added to H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos cycle of stories, including several tales and a novel featuring the character Titus Crow. Several of his early books were published by Arkham House. Other stories pastiched Lovecraft's Dream Cycle but featured Lumley's original characters David Hero and Eldin the Wanderer. Lumley once explained the di ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Lizard
Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia although some lizards are more closely related to these two excluded groups than they are to other lizards. Lizards range in size from chameleons and geckos a few centimeters long to the 3-meter-long Komodo dragon. Most lizards are quadrupedal, running with a strong side-to-side motion. Some lineages (known as "legless lizards"), have secondarily lost their legs, and have long snake-like bodies. Some such as the forest-dwelling ''Draco'' lizards are able to glide. They are often territorial, the males fighting off other males and signalling, often with bright colours, to attract mates and to intimidate rivals. Lizards are mainly carnivorous, often being sit-and-wait predators; many smaller species eat insects, while the Komodo eats mammals a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |