Forever Azathoth is a horror comedy novella by Peter Cannon and a sequel to H. P. Lovecraft's short story "The Thing on the Doorstep". It consists of six stories, each written one year apart, and each narrated by a different character. The first two installments were published for the first time in the Chaosium anthology The Azathoth Cycle: Tales of the Blind Idiot God, before reappearing along with the remaining four segments in Cannon's collections Forever Azathoth and Other Horrors (1999) and Forever Azathoth: Parodies and Pastiches (2011).
Stories[]
- "Azathoth in Arkham"
- "The Revenge of Azathoth"
- "The House of Azathoth"
- "Azathoth in Analysis"
- "Bride of Azathoth"
- "Son of Azathoth"
Characters[]
- Edward Derby Upton: the son of Daniel Upton, named after his father's friend, the poet Edward Pickman Derby. He first appeared in "The Thing on the Doorstep", by H. P. Lovecraft. Part one is narrated by him.
- Soames: the old British butler of the Upton family. He might be the same Soames from "Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family", but is more likely a son or relative, given that the original Soames was already described as "aged" in 1913, and Forever Azathoth sees him still active in the 1940s.
- Henry Armitage: the elderly librarian at Miskatonic University. He first appeared in "The Dunwich Horror", by H. P. Lovecraft.
- Wendy Babson: a woman from Innsmouth whose older sister Eunice worked for Derby's wife Asenath before being fired by Derby. By the end of each story, starting with part two, she has a new husband or boyfriend: Edward Upton in part two, Vartan Bagdasarian in part three, Dr. Zimmerman in part four, Jacob Lamar Derby in part five, and the (unnamed) dean of Miskatonic in part six.
- Vartan Bagdasarian: a fan of Derby's works, one of the founders of the Dead Edward Derby Society, who becomes the first editor of Azathoth House, a publishing house created specifically to publish the works of Derby. Part two is narrated by him.
- Judge Hand: originally Upton's lawyer, who later becomes a member of the board of directors at Azathoth House. Part three is narrated by him.
- Ephraim "Eph" Upton: the son of Edward Upton and Wendy Babson, named after Asenath Waite's father Ephraim Waite.
- Jacob Lamar Derby: an inventor by trade and a distant cousin of Edward Derby who inherits the Derby cabin in the woods near Chesuncook, Maine. He first appeared in "The Pit of the Shoggoths", by Stephen Mark Rainey.
- Dr. Zimmerman: psychoanalyst working at the Arkham Sanitarium. Part four is narrated by him.
- Miss Holden: retired headmistress of the Hall School at Kingsport where Asenath studied. She became Asenath's legal guardian after the death of Ephraim Waite. Part five is narrated by her.
- Fearless: a foxhound dog from the Foxfield Hunt Club.
- Vartan Bagdasarian Jr.: the son of Vartan Bagdasarian and Belinda Blake, who inherits his father's love for the works of Derby. Part six is narrated by him.
- George Holden: great-nephew of Miss Holden and a friend of Vartan Jr., who also shares his love for the works of Derby.