Written in 1928, H.P. Lovecraft’s Call of Cthulhu defined the ancient gods as dark creatures who came from the stars and ruled the world before mankind. When these ancient ones awaken, humanity is plagued by a nightmare of terrors etched upon an epic backdrop. The author’s concept deeply redefined the horror story with this thrilling, dense mystery that spawned a virtual genre.

The artist Gary Gianni and designer Marcelo Anciano both felt that Lovecraft’s short story presented an opportunity to visually expand the Cthulhu mythos and push the boundaries of illustrated books. Intense and packed with ambiguous literary descriptions, the tale enabled them to explore graphic storytelling and illustrate the text in a unique way. It was a personal project for Gianni, who drew upon not only his experience from illustrating numerous books but also his decades of work in comic books.

This book is a fusion of the graphic novel, the illustrated book and cinematic design. Over a hundred drawings enhance and bring to life the work of two visionaries—Lovecraft and Gianni—in an extraordinary feat of storytelling and art.

H.P. Lovecraft’s original text has been revised in this book to exclude racial terms.