But what I really wanted to feature in this entry is the "Apprentice Recommendation" from my sister, Devon, for Necronomicon, a collection of short stories by HP Lovecraft. For the actual display, there will only be room for a few sentences on the rec card, but she really got carried away and it was too good not to feature somewhere. So here it is, the uncensored, uncut version of Devon's recommendation for Necronomicon.
This dread book first came into my possession as I traversed through a bazaar in Istanbul. Having long held a fascination with ancient and mysterious tomes, the bookseller’s humble tent called me to it. As I perused the selections, I couldn’t help but notice the merchant looked shifty, in the most literal sense of the word- he fiddled with his hands, rocked back and forth on his heels, his eyes continually flickering to a locked wooden box on the edge of the table. My curiosity whetted, I approached him and asked what it was. He responded, shakily saying it was free and then tore off through the bazaar, tripping over carts and chickens as he did. I shrugged off the incident, certain some sort of mania had overtaken him.
The locksmith I found in the city even seemed to be reluctant to open the box. He claimed he was getting “bad vibes” from whatever was housed in the box. As soon as it clicked open, he took my money and retreated to the back of his store. The book I found was the Commemorative Edition of the Necronomicon- the Best Weird Tales of H.P. Lovecraft. The air immediately grew chill and I forced the book into my satchel, venturing back out into the darkness.
I ignored the book and the chill in the air everywhere I brought it and the ominous howlings that occurred whenever I looked at it, until I was on the airplane flying back to the United States. I paged through the book, often stopping to admire the many and varied illustrations. It engulfed me. On that trip back, I read many dark and disturbing tales, including but not limited to “The Call of Cthulhu”, “Shadow over Innsmouth”, “Herbert West- Reanimator”, “At the Mountains of Madness”, “The Thing on the Doorstep”, “The Hound”, and “The Outsider”. While these were gripping and horrifying tales, I was occasionally distracted by the chanting in Latin from somewhere on my airplane.
I returned to my hometown of Arkham, happy to be done with the long journey home. However, I couldn’t help but notice a lurking fear hanging around me and following me wherever I went. The night, I was haunted by horrific nightmares. Tentacled gods and reanimated horrors chased me in my mind. I awoke, screaming in terror, to find myself back in my bedroom. Despite being back in my familiar surroundings, my mind still felt trapped in the nightmare. A harsh wind blew my window open, the curtains now reaching out and fluttering like Cthulhu’s tentacles searching for me. My cats fled from the foot of my bed and out the door. The book- the dreadful and unspeakably horrible book- sat on my bedside table, illuminated by the bright moon shining in. Even my pentagram area rug glowed in the darkness. I continued to be haunted by these visions for weeks and months, until I became gaunt and pale from lack of sleep and worry. Vestiges of my dreams began appearing in my waking hours, draining my will to live.
Naturally, that is why I give my highest recommendation to The Necronomicon by HP Lovecraft. Without a doubt, your nights following your purchase of this book will be filled with the horror you have been searching for all your life!
