I thought about putting this in the Cthulhu Resources sticky thread but that thread doesn't seem geared towards book recommendations.
Since the book itself plays such a huge role as a magical instrument in Lovecraft's Mythos then it seems fitting to me to have some actual books on hand. In my experience books on or about Lovecraft-inspired magick tend to be more inspirational than practical. They work along the lines of evoking certain moods. It is up to you to create the practices and figure out what to do with all of it. The following is just a list of books I personally like and/or have found useful for both practice and inspiration over the years. Not all of them pertain strictly to Lovecraftian Magick but all of them will touch on things that may enhance one's experience. Feel free to add any of your own because this is by no means a definitive list.
First I should mention that the fiction of H. P. Lovecraft is the best place to start. There are too many collections you can choose from. My favorites are the Arkham House editions. I also suggest looking into Lovecraft's very extended circle of writers that have expanded the mythos in various ways. There is entirely too much to list here so I leave it up to everyone else to seek it out. A good book I recommend starting with is
Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos.
The Pseudonomicon by Phil Hine - Some of what is in this book can also be found in Hine's
Prime Chaos but
The Pseudonomicon is more fleshed out and provides a very good starting point for anyone interested in exploring the Mythos magically. Hine seems to have a knack for eloquently presenting what is necessary; just enough to tweak the imagination, allowing the reader to explore further in more personal ways.
The Infernal Texts: Nox & Liber Koth edited by Stephen Sennitt - The bulk of this book is a collection of various Left-Hand Path essays written for Sennitt's
Nox journal. The relevant part is the second half of the book titled "The Nameless Sodality" and Sennitt's own
Liber Koth. This is a good companion to Phil Hine's book above.
Starfire: A Journal of the New Aeon - This journal is the official organ of the Typhonian Order and contains a wide variety of essays most of which I would recommend. The reason being the types of practices a lot of the contributers advocate are along very similar lines as Lovecraft-style Magicks. Most of the material is certainly adaptable to such ends. Various issues may contain specifically relevant material to Mythos Magick and I will only speak on the issues I personally have and what they contain. I have received notices that there is a "Best of Starfire" book currently in the works but I'm not sure it will contain what I'm focusing on here. The issues I have are Volume I, Number 4 and Volume II, Numbers 1, 2 and 3.
Volume I, Number 4 contains an excellent piece by Stephen Dziklewicz (Sennitt) titled "Dagon Rising".
Volume II, Number 1 doesn't contain anything specific to the subject.
Volume II, Number 2 contains the motherlode out of these; Robert Taylor's "The Black Stone" touches on a Nightside Tarot which never came to fruition but is a good article by itself. "Into the Depths of Severity and All Beauty" by Nicholaj Frisvold which is an account of evocations of Lovecraftian entities, the received texts and analysis (highly recommended). "A Mantra for Evoking the Great Old Ones" by Stephen Dziklewicz parts of which can also be found in Sennitt's Infernal Texts. This is a far more superior account of Sennitt's workings.
Volume 2, Number 3 doesn't contain anything specific to the subject either but it does contain one article by Richard Gavin titled "Nightmare Sorcery". The practices that Gavin discusses in this article are almost identical to the Oneiric Sorcery I developed on my own. His focus is different but can be adapted easily. I was quite surprised when I first read it. Interestingly enough I actually developed my own methods from two articles contained in the previous two journals.
Polaria: The Gift of the White Stone by W. H. Müller - This book is discussed in
THIS THREAD.
The Starry Wisdom: A Tribute to H. P. Lovecraft and Songs of the Black Würm Gism - Hymns to H. P. Lovecraft: Starry Wisdom 2 both edited by D M Mitchell - These are both collections of fiction with a few essays thrown in. I specifically mention them because they have a lot of actual occult references throughout as some of the writers are indeed occultists. Two of my favorite pieces are in volume one; Stephen Sinnett's "Sex-Invocation of the Great Old Ones (23 Nails)" and D M Mitchell's "Ward 23". The second volume has more of a sex magick theme and branches off into more surreal territory.
Lovecraft: A Study in the Fantastic by Maurice Levy - An analysis of the themes that Lovecraft wrote about. I found it personally inspiring to the imagination. This small back cover review sums it up nicely:
"A profound study of the relationship between oneirism, fantasy and myth... Carefully disects the process of fusing dream images with traditional mythological themes and their transformation into fantastic stories." - Thekla Zachrau, Extrapolation
The Necronomicon and
The R'lyeh Text both edited by George Hay - Usually referred to as the Hay/Wilson
Necronomicon being that it was sort of an occult prank thought up by Hay and Colin Wilson and some others. The bulk of both of these books are the essays and commentaries which, if you're like me, is where you will glean the most magical insight and inspiration. They are written in a similar way as you may imagine one of Lovecraft's heros writing his account of what is unfolding. Very paranoid and yet somehow works. The grimoire sections can be very disappointing and, though I have adapted a few things from them here and there, are virtually useless.
The Typhonian Trilogies by Kenneth Grant - Nine volumes of occult madness (like it should be). Those of you who know me will know that these have been my primary source of inspiration. Not specifically about Lovecraft but Grant weaves a grand occult theory that involves the currents that Lovecraft was tuned into. In my opinion Grant may have been the first to understand how Lovecraft's fiction really relates to occultism. You won't find pointless theories and speculations of real Necronomicon manuscripts and Lovecraft having met Crowley in these works but you will find the workable idea that the Necronomicon represents a form of Gnosis gained from tapping a certain current.
The Necronomicon,
The Gates of the Necronomicon and
Dead Names: The Dark History of the Necronomicon all by Simon - Now I have never really been a fan of the Simon
Necronomicon but I have re-examined it more recently in light of reading the latter two books there and I must say that I have gained a new respect for it but maybe not in the way that others do. It's kind of hard to explain my position but something began to ring "true" to me about it. I tried explaining a while back in
THIS THREAD in case anyone is interested. Since this book is discussed quite a bit elsewhere I won't bother saying anything more about it other than that but I do think it's definitely worth mentioning here.
There are a lot of other sources I have drawn from over the years as well but most only contain vague references that I follow or just some ideas that I have adapted to the Lovecraftian Mythos in some way. For me personally, the Lovecraftian Mythos intertwines with my other magical endeavors to such an extent that I rarely actually discuss it as Lovecraftian Magick but it's always there lurking.;)