Bibliographic Menace in Lovecraft’s “The Festival” : Terror by Quotation and Refusal
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2026 |
| Type | Peer-reviewed scientific article |
| Magazine / Source | OSTRAVA JOURNAL OF ENGLISH PHILOLOGY |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| web | Article |
| Doi | https://doi.org/10.15452/OJoEP.2026.18.0012 |
| Keywords | bibliographic menace; ethics of citation; “The Festival”; H. P. Lovecraft; “Necronomicon”; pseudobiblia; weird fiction |
| Description | H. P. Lovecraft’s tale “The Festival” (1925) makes the “Necronomicon” frightening by scarcity: a supervised consultation of the grimoire at Miskatonic University and the translation of a single paragraph relocate horror from “contents” to citation and refusal. “Bibliographic menace” names the dread produced when an archive proves real and institutionally guarded, yet remains larger than any extract the narrative permits. Close reading traces the tale’s archaic cadence and pseudo-scholarly framing; brief comparison with other “Necronomicon” tales clarifies its distinctive economy and later adaptability across media. |
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