possesions - the corroded box containing hundreds of pages of

manuscript written in a large, cursive hand in the Greek tongue. It was

only one of hundreds and hundreds more they had stolem from

universities and private collections across the United States and

Canada. The two monks would eventually serve time in a federal prison

for their offense. And Simon would be left with the task of deciphering

what appeared to be an ancient book of spells dating from the ninth

century, A.D.

L.K. Barnes had been a student at the university of Colorado when he

began painting the bizarre works of aliend landscapes that have become

his hallmark to all who know him now. Years ago, he had fantasized

about finding the dread NECRONOMICON in an old used book shop, and many

of his paintings and sculptures are of themes inspired by his voracious

reading of Lovecraft's opus. Somehow, he knew the book had to exist.

Somewhere. In some form. He knew it was not a mere fantasy of

Lovecraft's - for the very concept of such a book held a power all its

own. Then one day in 1977, a friend, whom we can identify only by his

initials B.A.K. led him to the Magickal Childe Bookstore in Manhattan.

It was just the type of strange and exotic place one would almost

expect to find a NECRONOMICON stashed on a forgotten shelf. Jokingly,

he asked the proprietor, Herman Slater, if such was the case.

Certainly,' he replied, and pulled Simon's translated manuscript from

behind the counter. 'Here it is.'

The rest, as they say, is history.

Fighting against almost impossible odds, the first edition of the

NECRONOMICON was published in December, 1977. Friends and business

associates told both Simon and his new partner, L.K. Barnes, that the

project was doomed to failure. That it was too expensive. That it would

never sell. And that they would be stuck with a cursed book of evil

magick for the rest of their lives. They were proven wrong. In a year,

the first edition sold out even though it was retailing for fifty

dollars a copy. In less than a year, the equally expensive second

edition was sold out and a third edition was just printed in 1981. The

paperback rights were sold, and there has been talk of motion picture

rights for the story of the NECRONOMICON.

But the emergence of the NECRONOMICON has spawned a whole generation of

imitations since 1977. The brilliant artist and creator of the sets for

the movie Alien, H.R. Giger, has come out with his own Necronomicon; a

series of paintings based loosely on the subterranean concepts of H.P.

Lovecraft, who popularized the book in the 1920's and 1930's through

his short stories and novellas, depicting the NECRONOMICON as the most

blasphemous and sinister book of spells the world has ever known (an

attitude no doubt based on a serious misunderstanding of the book's

true origins and purpose). The British author, Colin Wilson,

collaborated in a thin volume published in 1978 containing speculation

concerning the existence of the NECRONOMICON. Stephen Skinner mentioned

it in his introduction to the Enochian Disctionary, and Francis King

has mentioned it in his introduction to the Armadel, a reprint of a

spell book of the Middle Ages.

A reviewer for Fate Magazine warned his readers against possible misuse

of the Book as it might involve serious hazards to one's health

the_necronomicon_spell_book