Mythos in the Media: Cthulhu for….Kids?

It has been a little longer than anticipated, but we’re back with another installment of Mythos in the Media! This time we’ll be taking a look at an unusual intersection of normally unrelated items: Cthulhu and children.

The strange fiction that Lovecraft and his contemporaries were writing was definitely aimed at adults and the fragile mind of a child would snap even more quickly than normal under the weight of the truths of the universe, so how did we get here? Maybe it’s the normal human reaction to turn horrific into cute as a way to deal with the inhumanness of a thing, maybe it’s because cute things sell better, or maybe it’s because Japan gave us chibi. Then again, this could all be a secretly organized plot to make us comfortable with Cthulhu before sending us all straight to R’lyeh.

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Without further ado, lets see what we’ve found this week.

• Our first item on the list is aimed at our youngest; C is for Cthulhu and is one of two alphabet books we’ll be featuring today. Not only is it beautifully illustrated by artist Greg Murphy, but like many classic children’s books it is a “board book” which makes it very sturdy. There is also an entire package that includes a t-shirt and plushie for those who want to cuddle the cosmic terror (Cthulhu plushies could take up their own MitM post).
• Next up is our other ABC book entitled Mythos ABC – A Lovecraftian Alphabet Book. The printed book was the result of a successful IndieGoGo campaign that ended in 2015 and can still be purchased from their website. Recently, the author Mads Brynnum released the PDF for free, for those of you not interested in print material.
• Deviant artist Richard John Ivankovic is obviously a fan of Dr. Seuss, because he has been created Seuss inspired versions of H.P. Lovecraft stories for five years. The most famous of course being The Call of Cthulhu, but there are others including The Tomb and Dagon. Definitely worth checking out his work, though as of now it doesn’t seem like these books are in print.
• From the publisher that brought us Mouse Guard comes Ian Tomas and Adam Bolton’s Where’s My Shoggoth? A story about budding investigators looking for their missing Shoggoth. There is a free audio version of the book as well as free coloring pages, the book even comes with a family-style board game on the inside cover! Definitely something here for the whole family.
• Finally today comes not just a book, but an entire publisher dedicated to creating kid-friendly Cthulhian horror; Littlest Lovecraft. This company has already released three books and their fourth was recently successfully funded on Kickstarter. Their books come full color and are written in verse. Additionally their website also offers free coloring books based on Lovecraft’s stories! There plan is to offer a set of five books, and it seems like they’re well on their way to that goal.

Well, that’s it for this edition. Until next time, stay sane.