‘Crypt of Cthulhu’

One of the longest-running — maybe the longest-running — fanzine focused on H.P. Lovecraft and his works is Crypt of Cthulhu.

Established in 1981, it has been edited (and often published) by Robert M. Price from the start. It’s had a checkered publication history, moving between several publishers over the years, and going on hiatus for many years as well. The latest issue is #114, available via Amazon.

The zine is a mix of fiction and non-fiction. There are serious non-fiction pieces, but also humorous articles and pieces. Over the years, a wide range of Lovecraft scholars have been featured, including Steve Behrends, Edward P. Berglund, Peter Cannon, Stefan Dziemianowicz, S.T. Joshi, Robert A.W. Lowndes, Dirk W. Mosig, Will Murray, Darrell Schweitzer, and Colin Wilson. And, of course, fiction from various authors as well.

Now the first 75 issues were published by Price’s Cryptic Publications, from 1981 to 1990. Toward the latter half of the 1980s, Cryptic was also publishing other magazines and chapbooks. Then it moved to Necronomicon Press for issues #76-101, up until 1999. At that point, due to various issues, Necronomicon shut down for a time. Thus Crypt moved to Mythos Books, who published #102 through 107 from 1999 to 2001. And then Crypt went inactive. I’m not sure why, as Mythos Books was still operating, but looks like they ceased in 2011.

More recently, Necronomicon Press came back in 2017 and with it, Crypt of Cthulhu returned with #108, and they published it through #113 in 2019. Then another hiatus until Price restarted Cryptic Publications (utilizing print-on-demand), and Crypt of Cthulhu was back with #114 (St. John’s Eve 2022 or July 2022). I’m not sure when the next issue will be out. During their heyday, they were putting out eight issues a year, though in more recent years it was usually around three. All issues have been around 5- by 8-inches in size.

So we’ll look at what is in #114. We get a collection of non-fiction pieces and various artwork. No fiction this time. And I would have liked some kind of editorial to welcome us back, lay down plans for the future, like how often, etc. (be advised that due to a typo in its listing on Amazon, your best bet is to search by “Robert M. Price”). It comes in at about 85 pages.

From Will Murray are a trio of articles. The first is about the correspondence between HPL and Clark Ashton Smith, and more specifically something CAS saw that he refers to as a “black meteor.” The second is about Murray’s “musings” on the Mythos. And the third looks at HPL as a fan and his fan correspondence.

We get a pair of interviews conducted by Darrell Schweitzer, one with Will Murray, the other with David E. Schultz. Both I found interesting.

Another article looks at where HPL picked up his ideas of Islam and the Middle East for his works. And another speculates on how HPL would have viewed UFOs.

The cartoons/drawings are all done by someone named just Juan. Some are of Lovecraftian beasties. Others are caricatures of Price. Most are in color. There is also a trivia quiz and some reviews.

I hope we’ll see another issue soon. I see that it looks like Price has restarted the old Eldritch Tales fanzine that used to be published by Necronomicon Press, this one billed as #8 (properly vol. 2 #8) in September 2022. So maybe doing that delayed the next Crypt.

For past issues, you’ll need to look around. I know I need to work on filling in my collection as well.