The horror writer H. P. Lovecraft created a mythology that includes bizarre monsters, troubled communities, insane scholars and a library of books filled with forbidden lore. The Necronomicon, also referred to as the Book of the Dead, or under a purported original Arabic title of Kitab al-Azif, is a fictional grimoire (textbook of magic) appearing in stories by H. P. Lovecraft and his followers. The "Necronomicon" plays an important role in the Cthulhu mythos—the mythology behind much of Lovecraft's work involving extraterrestrial beings of immense power. Illustrated by D. Fisher and Olga Moss.