The Mythos Exposed

Inspired by Throne of Salt's deep dives into the Cthulhu Mythos, here is my take on what investigators in a Call of Cthulhu universe might already know before discovering blasphemous secrets man was not meant to know.

The Cult of Cthulhu

Derogatory name for a school of thought emerging out of Anglo-American anthropology departments of the 1920s and 1930s positing a prehistoric myth structure underlying many existing belief systems around the world.

To list its few good points, the theory did bring fascinating linguistic and religious cognates among widespread cultures to academic attention. The efforts to find out if they were related lead to valuable fieldwork and many of the researchers of the time approached their subjects with an impressive degree of impartiality.

That being said, the school was doomed by attempting to fit these observations into a preconceived theory. The proposal that a prehistoric religion could be traced back across diverse cultures after thousands of years was considered unlikely even at the time. Adherents of the theory were derogatorily referred to as “cultists” and careers suffered. The Wikipedia article lists over a dozen academic supporters who fell prey to substance abuse, mental illness, and suicide.

Despite academic disdain, the school itself is a subject of recurring, multi-generational fascination. It is frequently used as an example of pathological science, often in the wake of other scandals like the 1960s polywater or 1989 cold-fusion experiments. Anthropologists critiquing their field can always find something in it to bolster their arguments. Racism, colonialism, and Orientalism being the root of the Cthulhu Cult are frequent topics in theses and academic discourse.

Pseudo-scientists reference the school as either as a way of giving academic veneer to thier pet theories, to cast aspersions on the scientific professions, or both depending on their needs. Ancient astronaut proponents Erich von Däniken and Giorgio A. Tsoukalos frequently cited the school's theories to support their claims leading to brief surges of interest in the 20th and 21st centuries.

The tragic end of many promising careers has also lead to a rumored curse of Cthulhu, which lends the school and it's adherents a certain dangerous and romantic reputation.

The name Cthulhu itself is a is a pseudoword with phonotactic similarities to words in diverse language families.

Howard Phillip Lovecraft

Prolific author of pulp stories. In addition to his prolix writing style, Lovecraft is remembered for his liberal incorporation of whatever inspiration happened to be at hand when writing. This included lightly rewriting other people's work, including newspaper articles, scientific papers and medical journals to pad his word count. At the insistence of his publishers, names might be changed, often by a single letter, but the inclusion of contemporary events and names does give his work a certain cinema verite quality which puts a new spin on his otherwise pedestrian tales of monsters being defeated with a solid right hook.

Innsmouth, Massachusetts

A small town located at the mouth of the Manuxet River in the northeast corner of the state. Established in 1643, it flourished briefly as a fishing and manufacturing center in the early 19th century. Surrounded by marshy environs, its isolation and changing trade routes lead to a long, slow decline. This decline was hastened by a botched Prohibition raid in 1927 and the collapse of local fisheries, leaving the current population at a mere 71 people as of the 2020 Census.

Innsmouth might be completely forgotten if it wasn't for the heavy-handed raid of the Treasury Department's newly formed Bureau of Prohibition in 1927. The raid met with stiff resistance from local bootleggers and the town erupted in riots that required additional manpower to suppress. Operations in the town continued into the spring of 1928, accompanied by mass arrests, demolition of abandoned buildings allegedly used as smuggling dens and a rising national outcry that the Coolidge administration did its best to suppress while heading into an election year. The failure of the raid is frequently cited as a reason for the 1930 transfer of the bureau to Department of Justice control.

The Innsmouth raid is sometimes used as a rallying cry for those critical of Federal law enforcement. It is often mentioned alongside other controversial actions such as the 1973 Wounded Knee Occupation, the 1992 Ruby Ridge Standoff and the 1995 Waco Siege as examples of Federal overreach and/or mismanagement.

Miskatonic University

A private liberal-arts school established in Arkham, Massachusetts in 1765. One of the so-called “Little Ivies” Miskatonic has a public reputation as a safety school for the artistic and eccentric children of New England's upper-class families. It is well endowed with a world-renowned library and anthropological collection, though it is probably better known for the embarrassing losing streaks of their athletic department. The university is co-educational with a student body of 2,121 as of 2026.

Myth-Os

A sweetened breakfast cereal made from 1968 to 1981 by the now defunct Danforth-Webster corporation. Following the success of cereal mascots like Captain Crunch in the 1960s the line was designed around the Greek hero Jason whose adventures were retold on the back of the box. Every month would feature a new story and illustrations in an effort to promote sales. A series of animated commericals were also made, all featuring Jason landing his ship, encountering a monster and then befriending it by offering a bowl of cereal before leaving for a new adventure. Later promotions included the addition of monster-themed toys included in the box.

The cereal sold reasonably well and is fondly remembered by certain members of Generation X. As the years went on the content creators quickly exhausted the various Greek myths. Other myths, including various Pacific and Native American beliefs were used for material with varying degrees of cultural sensitivity. Original creations were used as filler. There is an urban legend that the stories and art were work-for-hire produced by famous comic book and Star Trek creators including Harlan Ellison, Kilgore Trout and Jack Kirby but they were actually produced inhouse. Intact boxes are mid-tier collectibles on various auction sites.

Sales declined over time, contributing to Danforth's bankruptcyin 1981. The current rights to Myth-Os are owned by Nestle but no effort has been made to ressurect the brand.

(By the way, how can anyone say history is boring when crazy racist cults linked to cereal companies are just a fingernail's scratch under the surface? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralstonism)

Necronomicon

The Necronomicon, also known as the Book of the Dead, or Kitab al-Azif is a treatise/grimoire penned in the early 700s CE by the pseudonymous Abd-el-Hazred (anglicized as Abdul Alhazred).

The book contains many wild and lurid claims but, if taken at face value, is one of the earliest surviving records of pre-Islamic pagan traditions in the Arabian peninsula. It's academic impact was limited as few copies have survived to the present day. Most scholars consider the tome to be a polemic made to flatter the prejudices of the Umayyad caliphate which ruled Damascus at that time. 

The Necronomicon enjoyed a certain prestige due to the difficulty in obtaining a copy, but today it is considered no more reliable or of academic interest than the lurid anti-Catholic allegations found in Awful Disclosures of Maria Monk.