![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cobaltnineNecronomicon - Parody and Prop.
The Necronomicon is a perfect example of how a few details can lead to an extremely useful plot device. The few details are that we know who wrote it and when (A. Alhazred, 8th c CE), and some history of the physical book. It is precisely because so few of the details are described that later authors, as well as contemporary ones, could ascribe almost anything to the text. It does have the potential to act as a deus ex machina by containing anything that would be useful to the plot, and its lack of specificity, as well as its suggestive and pronouncable name, compared to other fictional tomes his writing circle created, has arguably led to its becoming anemic. Everyone seems to be able to get their hands on a translation, both in stories, and, thanks to various occult publishers, in real life. The horror and Otherness is diminished by access.
The Necronomicon is a perfect example of how a few details can lead to an extremely useful plot device. The few details are that we know who wrote it and when (A. Alhazred, 8th c CE), and some history of the physical book. It is precisely because so few of the details are described that later authors, as well as contemporary ones, could ascribe almost anything to the text. It does have the potential to act as a deus ex machina by containing anything that would be useful to the plot, and its lack of specificity, as well as its suggestive and pronouncable name, compared to other fictional tomes his writing circle created, has arguably led to its becoming anemic. Everyone seems to be able to get their hands on a translation, both in stories, and, thanks to various occult publishers, in real life. The horror and Otherness is diminished by access.
