Strange World of H. P. Lovecraft: A Guide to the Characters and Creations of the Cthulhu Mythos

by Mark Hayes

144 pages, Hardcover

Published August 4, 2026

About the author

Librarian's Note: There are multiple authors with this name in the goodreads database. This is a "catch-all" profile.

You might be looking for:
Mark^^Hayes, speculative fiction (goodreads author)
Mark^^^Hayes, composer
Mark^^^^Hayes, Irish guy in LA (Goodreads author)

Reviews

[The Grim Reader UK]

I was lucky enough to receive a review copy of the audiobook of Mark Hayes' The Strange World of H. P. Lovecraft from Arcturus Digital Audio. Narrated by Sarah Ovens, this was a great overview of Lovecraft's life and fiction. Once I'd started, I couldn't stop listening to this and it made me want to return to Lovecraft's stories.

The first few chapters were biographical and traced Lovecraft's personal life, his depressions and financial troubles. The book addresses Lovecraft's many biases head on and goes some way to explaining what may have led to some of his abhorrent views (especially his misogyny).

The last chapters of this are more of a "who's who" of the characters, alien races, and deities from Lovecraft's fiction. The book neatly explains the idea of the Cthulhu mythos, including the collaborative processes by which it grew - and continued to grow after Lovecraft's own death. In fact, after reading this I now think of Lovecraft as the Bob Dylan of horror fiction: others have subsequently made more impact and done more interesting things with his ideas. His influence is everywhere in modern horror fiction.

I'm possibly the perfect audience for a book like this. I don't consider myself an expert on Lovecraft by any means: I've read some of his most famous stories but couldn't reel off his creations. It helps to have some familiarity with Lovecraft's fiction, because the alien-sounding names can be quite disorientating. But if you don't know your Yog-Sothoth from your shoggoths, your Deep Ones from your Elder Ones, or your Nyarlathotep from your Azothoth, this book is here to help.

I was initially concerned that this one might be too much of a dry and academic read, but this turned out to be a very accessible and entertaining guide. My only criticism is that the audiobook does occasionally repeat points it has made in previous chapters, but I'm sure this would be less obvious if I hadn't been binging it.

The other (minor) point I'd make is that the physical version of this book appears to be packed with some incredible cosmic horror art (see below), which clearly is something that you can't experience in the audiobook version. So if you can, it's worth checking those out too.

Mark Hayes has also previously written Lexicromicon: A bluffers guide to the writings of H P Lovecraft and based on the strength of The Strange World, I'll try to track that down too. His further thoughts on Lovecraft's fiction are available on his blog at https://markhayesblog.com/lovecraftian/ .

[Acantha]

This is a fascinating book that is part biograph, part index of every character, and important location in Lovecraft's work, and part exploration as to why his work has endured when so many more have been forgotten.

I listened to this on audiobook and it was a treat.

The first hour or so covered his life. I would have liked more exploration about his beliefs, and the uncomfortable squaring of a circle a fan of Cthulhu Mythos must make (death of the author in spades.) It hand waved too much away and while I know part of that was simply due to the short page count it was still frustrating. They did acknowledge it, which is more than some.

Then we dipped into each Elder God, Deep one. I loved the fictional locations, the important artefacts, things that are not always covered. It was great to explore the relationships, the possible family trees. It did get a little repetitive in these chapters, when each 'entry' had every single original short story/novella they were in listed. It also made me realise just how much these strange beings have taken on lives of their own - Hastur, the King in Yellow, only appears in one novella by Lovecraft despite now being a very popular and used figure.

The final chapter was devoted to the aftermath. Lovecraft owes his popularity and his survivability to his friends, who dedicated large chunks of their own lives to remember his, pushing his work, expanding on it, publishing it. By ensuring that the Cthulhu Mythos lived, they created a monster that is still infecting our dreams today.

Worth a listen to.

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn.

~Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in return for an honest review~

[Kim_reads]

I think that if you are new to the world of HP Lovecraft, this book is a good way of diving deeper into the authors world. It’s insightful and a good look at the life and characters of HP. We start by finding out where it all began, with the birth and life of HP and then in later chapters we discover the characters created in the fantastic world of Lovecraft mind. I listened to the audio narrated by Sarah Ovens. This narrator did a great job of bringing this book to life. I was a little dubious in the beginning that this book would be a heavily academic reference book but I was gripped. My only small gripes were the listening to a long list of tales and dates. Plus in the audio you miss the beautiful illustrations throughout the book.

Thank you to Arcturus Digital Audio for the advanced copy of this audiobook.

[Waldkauzz]

A short collection of Lovecraft's best known figures, gods and locations of the Cthulhu Mythos. Even if a bit repetitive at times, it's a comprehensive overview of the characters of interest for a reader unfamiliar or unknowledgeable about his work. 
In addition, the work includes chapters of his life and prestige after death. Even if they are on the shorter side, and I'd wished for a more detailed introduction, it paints a good picture to understand his character to understand the stories he was interested in.

A short, easy introduction and I think you cannot ask for more considering the page time. Thanks to NetGalley and Arcturus Digital Audio for an eALC for an honest review!