The Necronomicon was originally an imaginary book.  It was created as a plot device by the writer HP Lovecraft in 1923, for a short story titled "The Hound."  Abdul Alhazred, mentioned in "The Hound" as the Necronomicon's author, was first mentioned two years earlier, in Lovecraft's "The Nameless City."   Lovecraft details the fictional history of the Necronomicon in his 1927 essay, "History of the Necronomicon."   This piece helped him, and the other writers in the rapidly evolving "Lovecraft circle," to stay consistent regarding the details of the Necronomicon.

Since that time, many published books, manuscripts, and props, all bearing the title "Necronomicon," have been created.  There are those that believe that one or more of the published hoaxes are in fact actually the work of Lovecraft's creation, Abdul Alhazred. Some controversy has developed even among those who realize that these books are modern fabrications, as there are claims that the rituals and spells described in these books produce actual results.

 Why would anyone believe that a fictional book is real?  Why does the Necronomicon have its followers and believers, while, say, Tobin's Spirit Guide from the movie Ghostbusters does not?  Part of the reason is the way Lovecraft wrote about the Necronomicon.  As Lovecraft himself put it:

"My own rule is that no weird story can truly produce terror unless it is devised with all the care & verisimilitude of an actual hoax.  The author must forget all about 'short story technique,' & build up a stark, simple account, full of homely corroborative details, just as if he were actually trying to 'put across' a deception in real life — a deception clever enough to make adults believe it."

Nor is it to be thought that the Necronomicon was the only aspect of his fiction that Lovecraft gave this sort of attention.  A glance at S. T. Joshi's The Annotated H. P. Lovecraft will reveal the tremendous attention to detail that Lovecraft incorporated into his writing.

That the Necronomicon does not exist seems well established.  Those interested in the details should read The Necronomicon Files, by Daniel Harms and John Wisdom Gonce III.  Harms is a fairly well-known Mythos scholar, and Gonce is a practicing Occultist.  Between the two of them they cover the Necronomicon legend in detail.

The staff at Mythos Tomes does not include anyone who has studied the occult, and we are not qualified to evaluate claims regarding occult traditions or occultists.  This is not the case of all of our contributing writers, as we accept article submissions from our online community.  (255 members and counting!)  Some of the articles submitted to Mythos Tomes, particularly those dealing with the Necronomicon, do contain occult speculation, and we publish these if they seem well written, well thought out, and well argued.  This has generated some controversy in the past, and we try to navigate these uncertain waters as fairly and reasonably as possible.

Thank you for taking the time to read the position of the Mythos Tomes staff.  Please do contact us if you have questions, comments, or concerns.