'This book is not something to be hidden away on a shelf' — Mike Mason on the new Encyclopedia Cthulhiana
9th Nov 2026
Mike Mason's Foreword for the new fourth edition of Dan Harms' Encyclopedia Cthulhiana
In tabletop games of Call of Cthulhu, players take on the role of investigators of arcane lore. They haunt bookshops and libraries, searching for secrets and clues that will guide them to unforeseen and amazing discoveries. Such information can be hard to find, requiring serious amounts of time, great attention to detail, and the ability to find correlations and connections hitherto fore unknown. These in-game activities seem to mirror the work of the encyclopedist. Indeed, when considering the research and effort Mr. Harms employed in creating the Encyclopedia Cthulhiana, one could mistake him for being a real-life Call of Cthulhu investigator—albeit without the need to dodge cultist gunfire and the sanity-draining effects of close encounters with the likes of deep one, shoggoths, and ghouls!
I recall the very first edition of the Encyclopedia Cthulhiana. A small trade-press sized paperback filled with insights and lore never before gathered together. A revelation in print. As a young games designer of “Cthulhu scenarios,” this tome became my game bible as within its (soon to be) dog-eared pages were all manner of ideas I could steal for my scenarios. Back in those days, getting your hands on many of the Lovecraft Circle’s stories was near impossible. If you wanted to read those early Mythos tales by the likes of Frank Belknap Long, Donald Wandrei, and Brian Lumley, you were probably out of luck. Yet, within the pages of the Encyclopedia Cthulhiana, one could find summaries and hints regarding the plots of such stories. Not only that, but clear descriptions of Mythos tomes, monsters, and alien gods. A treasure trove of lore and ideas, ready to inspire and give depth to my own scenarios.
It would not be wrong to say that the Encyclopedia Cthulhiana in its first, second, and third editions have all found themselves close by my desk since they first appeared. These editions have always been “working books” for me, with multiple bookmarks, page-bent corners, scribbled marginalia, and so on—I can hear the intake of air from the book collectors among you.
This new edition, for the first time in hard back and color, fully revised and updated, presents not only the Cthulhu Mythos as it was, penned by HPL and his contemporaries, but also what it has become. Numerous writers, be they of fiction or game design, have since contributed greatly to this body of lore. Indeed, it’s easy to forget just how much Mythos lore I have myself contributed through numerous Call of Cthulhu supplements and scenarios, which I guess is a way of saying that, when I picked up the first edition of this encyclopedia, I would not have believed that, one day, some of my contributions would sit shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Ramsey Campbell, Clark Ashton Smith, and others I have long admired.
Lastly, as I have tried to suggest, this book is not something to be hidden away on a shelf. It should always be near to hand, ready to inform and inspire. Mark up the pages, insert your bookmarks, and please do add your own observations and notes in the margins. If you are a novice writer or game designer, I hope this new presentation of the encyclopedia provides you with that same spark of creativity as it did for me. If so, I look forward to reading or playing through your contribution to the Cthulhu Mythos in the days to come.
Till the STARS ARE RIGHT... —Mike Mason, January 2026
Art by John Sumrow