86
The most incredible book of all time (media.piefed.social)
submitted 2 weeks ago by to c/vintageads@sh.itjust.works
19 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

The long lost sorcerer's handbook, compiled in 800 A.D. by the "Mad Arab" Abdul Alhazzred lives on in the mythos of H.P. Lovecraft...

More fun ads like this here: https://archive.org/details/ads_20230409/page/n47/mode/2up

Ad for a mail order copy of the Necronomicon book, the most incredible book of all time

all 19 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] 14 points 2 weeks ago (1 child)

If it 'ain't bound in human fleah, it 'ain't the real thing

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • hideshow 1 child comment
    •
    • [–] 13 points 2 weeks ago

    KLAATU... VERATA... N--... necktie...

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
    •
    [–] 12 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

    For those interested, this is the so-called Simon Necronomicon. It’s a peculiar thing and not the real one, if there ever was. Still mighty fun.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •
    • [–] 6 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

    $50 in the 90s for a book...these guys knew their objective for sure.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
    •
    [–] 3 points 2 weeks ago (5 children)

    I have a necronomicon :) My friend got it for me as a housewarming gift many many years ago.

    Mine is a lot thicker than that one, though? I’d love to see one of these in person to compare them.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • hideshow 5 child comments
    •
  • [–] 5 points 2 weeks ago (4 children)

    Multiple people wrote a "necronomicon" the most famous one(Which might be this one, it looks similar), is Simon's Necronomicon. It got the most traction as a tool for chaos magic despite being panned(like every other necronomicon) as being a fraud.

    So you might have a different necronomicon from a different author.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
    •
  • [–] 5 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

    despite being panned(like every other necronomicon) as being a fraud

    is there any indication that it was ever a real book, even apocryphally? I thought it was wholly invented by Lovecraft, did he get it from somewhere else? and if not, what does it mean to be a "fraud" of an entirely fictional book?

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
    •
  • [–] 2 points 1 week ago

    I thought it was wholly invented by Lovecraft

    Yeah I think that's right. Here's a wikipedia entry. Lovecraft invented it and developed a fictional history for it, but he never wrote it as a book. It was a fictional book that made appearances in the mythos of his actual books.

    I've read a bunch of Lovecraft, and enjoyed most of it. IMO he was shit at character development, but fantastic at creating a mythos and foreboding atmosphere of evil lurking just under the surface.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 1 point 1 week ago

    Yeah fraud is the wrong word for this as there is no original book. At least Simon's was written by a guy who did practice ritual magic and was somewhat recognized in the NY occult scene. I don't know about the others so they may be more obvious cash grabs.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
    • [–] 3 points 2 weeks ago

    Might not be the real thing, but it does come with an orb to ponder.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
    •
    [–] 3 points 2 weeks ago

    I can't imagine the utter disappointment of the undoubtedly many customers receiving their order an unpacking it: the real Necronomicon was supposed to be bound in human skin while this one is in mere leather (real or faux?) ;)

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
    •
    [–] 2 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

    There's some good stories in this collection... I might have to give it a go again

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •
    • [–] 1 point 2 weeks ago

    Looks really cool!

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
    •