Hastur

H. P. Lovecraft read Chambers' book in early 1927^[7] and was so enchanted by it that he added elements of it to his own creations.^[8] There are two places in Lovecraft's own writings in which Hastur is mentioned:

I found myself faced by names and terms that I had heard elsewhere in the most hideous of connections—

Yellow Sign

, L’mur-Kathulos, Bran, and the Magnum Innominandum—and was drawn back through nameless aeons and inconceivable dimensions to worlds of elder, outer entity at which the crazed author of the Necronomicon had only guessed in the vaguest way.

— H. P. Lovecraft, "The Whisperer in Darkness"

It is unclear from this quote if Lovecraft's Hastur is a person, a place, an object (such as the Yellow Sign), or a deity. This ambiguity is recurrent in Lovecraft's descriptions of mythic entities.

Later in the same story, it is described that the Mi-Go have been attacked by followers of Hastur, and Hastur is an enemy of the Outer Ones whom the Mi-Go serve:

Actually, they have never knowingly harmed men, but have often been cruelly wronged and spied upon by our species. There is a whole secret cult of evil men (a man of your mystical erudition will understand me when I link them with Hastur and the Yellow Sign) devoted to the purpose of tracking them down and injuring them on behalf of monstrous powers from other dimensions. It is against these aggressors—not against normal humanity—that the drastic precautions of the Outer Ones are directed.

— H. P. Lovecraft, "The Whisperer in Darkness"

• In "Supernatural Horror In Literature" (written 1926–27, revised 1933, published in The Recluse in 1927), when telling about "The Yellow Sign" by Chambers, H. P. Lovecraft wrote:

...after stumbling queerly upon the hellish and forbidden book of horrors the two learn, among other hideous things which no sane mortal should know, that this talisman is indeed the nameless Yellow Sign handed down from the accursed cult of Hastur—from primordial Carcosa, whereof the volume treats...

• In Chambers' "The Yellow Sign" the only mentioning of Hastur is:

"...We spoke of Hastur and of Cassilda..."

Judging from these two quotes, it is quite possible that H. P. Lovecraft not only recognized Hastur as one of the mythos gods, but even made him so recalling Chambers' book.

Derleth also developed Hastur into a

• The Feaster from Afar: A black, shriveled, flying monstrosity with tentacles tipped with razor-sharp talons that can pierce a victim's skull and siphon out the brain.[10]
• The King in Yellow

Anders Fager's "Collected Swedish Cults" features a Stockholm-based coterie known as "The Carcosa Foundation" that worships Hastur.^[11]

Hastur is amorphous, but he is said to appear as a vast, vaguely octopoid being, similar to his half-niece Cthylla.^{[citation needed]} In the mythos, Hastur is presented as having "a strange effect on artists and playwrights".^[12]

Other appearances

Hastur has appeared in other media. In the light novel and anime series

In Neil Gaiman's and Terry Pratchett's Good Omens Hastur is the name of a demon. In the TV series adaptation of Good Omens, Hastur is portrayed by Ned Dennehy.

Hastur is the name of a hunter in the video game Identity V who is also known as The Feaster and The King in Yellow.

Hastur also appears as a character in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.

Hastur is also believed to be the King in Yellow in the video game Vampire Survivors. The player also receives the Yellow Sign from them directly.

The short story "Gramma" by Stephen King features a demonic entity named Hastur, who also appeared in the 18th episode of the 1985 "Twilight Zone" adaptation and the 2014 film adaptation, Mercy.

Though not named directly, The King in Yellow is mentioned and connected to Carcosa in the first season of the HBO series True Detective.

In the Doctor Who Virgin New Adventures novel All-Consuming Fire, Hastur the Unspeakable is either one of the names/titles belonging to or the original name of the Great Old One, Fenric.

Hastur appears in the Persona games, as both an enemy and summonable ally.

Hastur is featured on the cover of The King In Yellow in

In the sixth novel in Charles Stross Laundry Files, The Annihilation Score (2017), the protagonist is Dr. Dominique "Mo" O'Brien is compelled by her violin to summon The King in Yellow, with poems referencing Hastur and Carcosa.

Hastur (stylized as Hastar) is the first and most beloved offspring of the Goddess of Prosperity, in the 2019 film Tumbbad, who robbed her of her gold and was stopped while attempting to steal her grain.

Hastur the Unspeakable, god of shepherds, appears in Jonathan Maberry's Kagen the Damned series as the god of Hakkia and his chief priest the Witch-King, Gethon Heklan, the King in Yellow. The first novel of the series was published in 2022.

Hastur appears in Cole Frederick's puppetry short film titled "The King in Yellow"^[18] released in 2023.

See also

• Cthulhu Mythos in popular culture

References