Editing Cthulhu Mythos (section)

{{short description|Shared fictional universe based on the work of H. P. Lovecraft}}
[[File:Cthulhu3.jpg|thumb|A sketch of [[Cthulhu]] drawn by Lovecraft, May 11, 1934]]

The '''Cthulhu Mythos''' is a [[mythopoeia]] and a [[shared fictional universe]], originating in the works of American [[Horror fiction|horror writer]] [[H. P. Lovecraft]]. The term was coined by [[August Derleth]], a contemporary correspondent and [[protégé]] of Lovecraft, to identify the settings, tropes, and lore that were employed by Lovecraft and his literary successors. The name "[[Cthulhu]]" derives from the central creature in Lovecraft's seminal short story "[[The Call of Cthulhu]]", first published in the [[pulp magazine]] ''[[Weird Tales]]'' in 1928.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lovecraft |first=H.P. |title=Tales |date=2005 |publisher=Library of America |isbn=1931082723 |edition=2nd |location=New York |oclc=56068806 |author-link=H. P. Lovecraft}}</ref>

[[Richard L. Tierney]], a writer who also wrote Mythos tales, later applied the term "Derleth Mythos" to distinguish Lovecraft's works from Derleth's later stories, which modify key tenets of the Mythos.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Price |first=Robert M. |author-link=Robert M. Price |date=November 1, 1982 |title=Cthulhu Elsewhere in Lovecraft |magazine=Crypt of Cthulhu |language=en-US |issue=9 |pages=13–15 |issn=1077-8179}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Schweitzer |first=Darrell |title=Discovering H. P. Lovecraft |date=2001 |publisher=Wildside Press |isbn=978-1587154713 |edition=revised |location=Holicong, PA |page=52 |author-link=Darrell Schweitzer}}</ref> Authors of [[Lovecraftian horror]] in particular frequently use elements of the Cthulhu Mythos.<ref name="Harms">{{Cite book |last=Harms |first=Daniel |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediacthu00dani |title=The Encyclopedia Cthulhiana |date=1998 |publisher=Chaosium, Inc. |isbn=978-1568821191 |edition=2nd |location=Oakland, CA |url-access=registration}}</ref>{{rp|viii–ix}}