The Call of Cthulhu (1928)

Overview

"The Call of Cthulhu" is a short story by American writer H. P. Lovecraft in the cosmic horror genre, written in the summer of 1926 and first published in February 1928 in Weird Tales magazine. It is one of the author's most famous works, laying the foundations of the Cthulhu Mythos — a shared fictional universe later expanded by Lovecraft and his followers.

The plot revolves around the investigation of Francis Thurston, who studies a cult that worships the ancient entity Cthulhu. The story is structured in a documentary style and consists of three independent narratives that gradually reveal the existence of an incomprehensible cosmic force. The central theme is cosmic horror — the realization that humanity is powerless before the grandeur of an indifferent universe and its ancient inhabitants.

Franchise chronology

• "The Call of Cthulhu" (1928) — a short story that is part of the cycle of original works by Lovecraft that form the Cthulhu Mythos.