Necronomicon Press is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 small press

Small press

Small press is a term often used to describe publishers with annual sales below a certain level. Commonly, in the United States, this is set at $50 million, after returns and discounts...

 publishing house specialising in fiction

Fiction

Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...

, poetry

Poetry

Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...

 and literary criticism

Literary criticism

Literary criticism is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often informed by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of its methods and goals...

 relating to the horror

Horror fiction

Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...

 and fantasy genres. It is run by Marc A. Michaud.

Necronomicon Press was founded in 1976, originally as an outlet for the works of H. P. Lovecraft

H. P. Lovecraft

Howard Phillips Lovecraft --often credited as H.P. Lovecraft — was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction....

, after whose fictitious grimoire

Grimoire

A grimoire is a textbook of magic. Such books typically include instructions on how to create magical objects like talismans and amulets, how to perform magical spells, charms and divination and also how to summon or invoke supernatural entities such as angels, spirits, and demons...

, the Necronomicon

Necronomicon

The Necronomicon is a fictional grimoire appearing in the stories by horror writer H. P. Lovecraft and his followers. It was first mentioned in Lovecraft's 1924 short story "The Hound", written in 1922, though its purported author, the "Mad Arab" Abdul Alhazred, had been quoted a year earlier in...

, the firm is named. However, its repertoire has expanded to include authors such as Robert E. Howard

Robert E. Howard

Robert Ervin Howard was an American author who wrote pulp fiction in a diverse range of genres. Best known for his character Conan the Barbarian, he is regarded as the father of the sword and sorcery subgenre....

, Clark Ashton Smith

Clark Ashton Smith

Clark Ashton Smith was a self-educated American poet, sculptor, painter and author of fantasy, horror and science fiction short stories. He achieved early local recognition, largely through the enthusiasm of George Sterling, for traditional verse in the vein of Swinburne...

, Ramsey Campbell

Ramsey Campbell

John Ramsey Campbell is an English horror fiction author.Since he first came to prominence in the mid-1960s, critics have cited Campbell as one of the leading writers in his field: T. E. D. Klein has written that "Campbell reigns supreme in the field today", while S. T...

, Hugh B. Cave

Hugh B. Cave

Hugh Barnett Cave was a prolific writer of pulp fiction who also excelled in other genres.-Life:Born in Chester, England, Hugh B. Cave moved during his childhood with his family to Boston, Massachusetts, following the outbreak of World War I...

, Joyce Carol Oates

Joyce Carol Oates

Joyce Carol Oates is an American author. Oates published her first book in 1963 and has since published over fifty novels, as well as many volumes of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction...

, Brian Lumley

Brian Lumley

Brian Lumley is an English horror fiction writer.Born in County Durham, he joined the British Army's Royal Military Police and wrote stories in his spare time before retiring with the rank of Warrant Officer Class 1 in 1980 and becoming a professional writer.He added to H. P...

 and Brian Stableford

Brian Stableford

Brian Michael Stableford is a British science fiction writer who has published more than 70 novels. His earlier books were published as by Brian M. Stableford, but more recent ones have dropped the middle initial and appeared under the name Brian Stableford...

.

Necronomicon Press has published critical works by such pioneering Lovecraft scholars as Dirk W. Mosig

Dirk W. Mosig

Yōzan Dirk W. Mosig is a psychologist, historian, literary critic and ordained Zen monk noted for his critical work on H. P. Lovecraft. He was born in Germany and lived for several years in Argentina before emigrating to the United States. He received his Ph.D at the University of Florida in...

, Stefan Dziemianowicz, Kenneth W. Faig and S. T. Joshi

S. T. Joshi

Sunand Tryambak Joshi — known as S. T. Joshi — is an award-winning Indian American literary critic, novelist, and a leading figure in the study of Howard Phillips Lovecraft and other authors of weird and fantastic fiction...

, including Joshi's biography

Biography

A biography is a detailed description or account of someone's life. More than a list of basic facts , biography also portrays the subject's experience of those events...

, H. P. Lovecraft: A Life

H. P. Lovecraft: A Life

H. P. Lovecraft: A Life is a biography of H. P. Lovecraft by S. T. Joshi, first published by Necronomicon Press in 1996. The original one-volume edition was reissued in 2004, with a new afterword by Joshi....

(1996). The firm published critical journals such as Lovecraft Studies (now superseded by Lovecraft Annual published by Hippocampus Press

Hippocampus Press

Hippocampus Press is an American publisher of fantasy, horror and science fiction, and specializes in reprints or first editions of work by authors such as H. P. Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith. One of its major projects is the 5-volume set of Lovecraft's Collected Essays...

) and Studies in Weird Fiction, both edited by Joshi; Crypt of Cthulhu

Crypt of Cthulhu

Crypt of Cthulhu was a fanzine devoted to the writings of H. P. Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos. It was published as part of the Esoteric Order of Dagon mailing lists for a short time, and was formally established in 1981 by Robert M...

, edited by Robert M. Price

Robert M. Price

Robert McNair Price is an American theologian and writer. He teaches philosophy and religion at the Johnnie Colemon Theological Seminary, is professor of biblical criticism at the Center for Inquiry Institute, and the author of a number of books on theology and the historicity of Jesus, including...

; and has also published critical studies of Campbell (The Count of Thirty, edited by Joshi) and Fritz Leiber

Fritz Leiber

Fritz Reuter Leiber, Jr. was an American writer of fantasy, horror and science fiction. He was also a poet, actor in theatre and films, playwright, expert chess player and a champion fencer. Possibly his greatest chess accomplishment was winning clear first in the 1958 Santa Monica Open.. With...

 (Witches of the Mind, written by Bruce Byfield

Bruce Byfield

Bruce Byfield is a journalist who specializes in writing about free and open source software. He has been a contributing editor at , and his articles have appeared on the Datamation, LWN, Linux Developer Network, and LinuxPlanet sites...

).

Necronomicon Press was awarded the World Fantasy Award

World Fantasy Award

The World Fantasy Awards are annual, international awards given to authors and artists who have demonstrated outstanding achievement in the field of fantasy...

 in 1994 and 1996 for its contributions to small-press publishing, and the British Fantasy Award

British Fantasy Award

The British Fantasy Awards are administered annually by the British Fantasy Society and were first awarded in 1971. The membership of the BFS vote to determine recommendations, short-lists and winners of the awards...

in 1995 for its publication Necrofile: The Review of Horror Fiction.

The press has gone through a period of publishing inactivity since Michaud's wife Susan died in August 2006, however it has recently reactivated its website and is selling in-print books and journals.