NECRONOMICON

from Fancyclopedia 2

Abdul Alhazred's handy guide to demonology, in the Lovecraft mythos. All fulla dread secrets and tales of the Elder Gods, not to mention darker Hints about the Universe. Rare as it is, many a pallid, sensitive young intellectual has come to a messy end by study of its direly blasphemous pronouncements. (Many collectors have gone digging around in libraries for it, but actually the nearest thing to such a volume is the grimoire, several of which were written by medievals. The index-cards you'll find in the files of the Library at Yale University ["In rare book collection... bound in leather believed human"] turned out to be a hoax.) Only a meagre portion of the text has wide circulation; bibliophile Coswal, cautioning against fakes, explains that the only genuine Necronomicon quotes are those forged by HP Lovecraft. All other forgeries are imitations.

Necronomicon apparently was used as a name for the league organization sponsored by Weird Tales, from which the Washington Outsiders descended.