The Necronomicon is the title of a work of fiction by horror author H.P. Lovecraft. A master of viral marketing back in his day, Lovecraft allowed other writers to cite Necronomicon in their work, making it appear as though it was in fact an actual grimoire written by the so-called “Mad Arab,†Abdul Alhazred. Throughout the years, many people have claimed that Necronomicon is a real grimoire, translated and published by Lovecraft, who maintained throughout his life (and in writings published after his death) that he just made the whole thing up. He even created a lengthy and complex fictional history of the book, including everyone from John Dee to various figures from the Salem witch trials. In Lovecraft’s book History of the Necronomicon, he claimed that only five copies of the original manuscript remained in existence.
Books entitled Necronomicon appear in a number of horror films, most memorably the Bruce Campbell “Evil Dead†movies. In “Army of Darkness,†Campbell’s character, Ash, travels back to medieval England to recover the Necronomicon from the Deadites.
It’s important to note that despite all of Lovecraft’s efforts to explain the fictional status of this work, there are a number of people who swear up and down that it is in fact a real grimoire, full of rituals and spells designed to call up demons and evil spirits.
