In the summer of 1926 a frail man of middle age wrote a horror
story for a pulp magazine, and the literary world has never been
the same sense. The story was "The Call of Cthulhu" and the writer
was Howard Phillips Lovecraft. The literary world was changed by
the technique used in which a common background appeared in
stories whose sense of horror came from the acknowledgement of
humanity’s insignificance within a universe that we may not ever be
able to fully understand. One of the literary props used was the
in-story reference of a book of evil knowledge known as the
Necronomicon. The impact of this literary technique has been so
profound that it is the basis of most modern horror stories, and
not a few misconceptions that have crept into the Real World .

Now, when writing stories that are fictional, one of the tricks to
keep the reader interested is to create a suspension of disbelief .
That suspension of disbelief keeps the reader from putting the
story down and doing something else for entertainment. If the
reader is unconvinced of the reality created within the story, then
its lost as an entertainment. The action of the story just cannot
be believed then and the reader goes to do something else .

The common background of what became known as the Cthulhu Mythos is
one of the best examples of a fictional setting creating a
suspension of disbelief in the readers. It has been so effective
that some unforeseen consequences have taken place. Some people
think that it is real .

The Necronomican, one of the most famous of literary props, is
believed to be real by some. A supposed book of evil knowledge
written by a mad Arab named Abdul Al-Hazrad and bound in human skin
is being talked about as if it existed in reality and not as some
elegantly crafted literature from the mind of a pulp horror writer
from Providence , Rhode Island .

Over the past week, I have watched a handful of idiots try to
convince others that it is real – partially for their own desire
for attention, but mostly because they lack a skill that should
have been taught in school. Critical thinking .

This is where the "Call of Cthulhu" comes, as a collect call in
this 21st Century. Of course, we are the ones having to pay for it .

Critical thinking is the method using exact and careful evaluation
and judgement, and not a little bit of skepticism when facing the
fantastic. When a literary prop from eighty years ago can be seen
as real by today’s unwashed masses indicates that critical thinking
has become a lost art. Just a touch of skepticism and a little bit
of research would have shown the actual history of the Necronomicon
as a part of a horror story, and not a real book of occult
knowledge. Something to be appreciated as a piece of excellent
horror writing and not feared as a method of conjuring demons and
raising the dead in a sorry attempt to gain attention .

I now wonder if in today’s world, the lack of critical thinking
will cause people to believe everything that they see or hear ,
blindly accept lies and half-truths, and to transform themselves
into thoughtless sheep waiting to be slaughtered by the first
snake-oil salesman who comes along. Have we sunk that low ?

Hear that? Its the phone ringing with another collect "Call of
Cthulhu". Who’s going to pay for the foolishness this time ?