Book cover for The Necronomicon Files: The Truth Behind The Legend by Daniel Harms and John Wisdom Gonce

The Necronomicon Files

The Truth Behind The Legend

2003 Released
616 Pages
11-12 Hours
★ 4.03 88 ratings
Audiobook Unavailable
Hardback Unavailable
Weiser BooksISBN 9781633410084

Occult scholars explore how H. P. Lovecraft's fictional book of magic became a cultural phenomenon and real-life legend in this revised and expanded volume. What if a book existed that revealed the answers to all of life's mysteries? For those who believe in it, The Necronomicon is exactly that—an eighth-century occult text of immense power. In. fact, The Necronomicon is a creation of science fiction writer H. P. Lovecraft, who referred to the work in a number of stories and gave weight to its legend by inventing its own elaborate history. In The Necronomicon Files two occult authorities explore all aspects of The Necronomicon, from its first appearance in Lovecraft's fiction to its ongoing pervasive appearance in cult and occult circles. The authors show how Lovecraft's literary circle added to the book's legend by referring to it in their own writing. As people became convinced of the book's existence, references to it in literature and film continue to grow. This revised and expanded edition also examines the lengths people have undergone to find the Necronomicon, and the cottage industry that has arisen in response to the continuing demand for a book that does not exist. The Necronomicon Files illuminates the transformations of a modern myth, exposing a literary hoax while celebrating the romance of Necronomicon lore.

Daniel Harms

Daniel Harms is a librarian and writer living in central New York. His major area of research is magic from antiquity to the present, especially necromancy and fairy magic. He has been published in Fortean Times, the Journal for the Academic Study for Magic, and the Enquiring Eye, as well as chapters for Palgrave Macmillan and Penn State Press books. Harms is also the author of two books on horror fiction and folklore.

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