Ok, I admit it. Everytime I hear somebody pushing anything with "Necronomicon" in the title I take a look expecting disappointment. Of course, its a lot like an auto accident, everybody slows down to take a look at the horror and drives away wishing they hadn't. So, when Cthulu Cycle by Chaosium got around to a volume devoted to the most famous book in the mythos I was immediately concerned; the last thing I wanted was to read a series of stories with a "guess what I found in my dead uncle's attic" theme.

Well, they didn't do that. In fact, they did a great job. This classy little book is a great thing for all fans of the Mythos universe and a great resource for Call of Cthulu GMs.

The first half of the book are short stories that range from fair to pretty good. But, it's the second half of the book that is the truly fun part. A number of "pseudo-scholarly" essays are presented that range from a biography of Abdul Alhazred to HPL's personal history of the Necronomicon. The reason that I call these articles "pseudo" is because the authors actually try to present the material as if the blasphemous book actually existed. It's a clever touch and it works. For GMs the possibilities are endless as they can actually give their players parts of the "Sussex Manuscript" or the "Dee Translation of the Necronomicon." For people who believe in grassy knoll theories and the authenticity of the events portrayed in the X-Files, this will provide lots of proof that HPL was actually refering to an existing text.

Chaosium Fiction has had good luck in producing quality fiction for the popular Mythos universe. This gem is one of their strongest efforts yet.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)