This is basically a prop; an artifact; a joke. It is a few pages of faux introduction by L. Sprague De Camp (science-fiction writer, biographer of Lovecraft, and jokester). This is interesting and informational enough. Then it is 197 pages of fake, repetitive text in a Syriac-like text (a made-up script De Camp calls Duriac). Buyers should do their research and realize that this is a well-constructed joke, all perpetrated so that De Camp could get the Necronomicon listed in the Library of Congress card catalog. It is what it is. It is for the Lovecraft bibliophile, or a gamer. Don't expect it to be readable grimoire like Simon's Necronomicon, or an informative book like Hay's Necronomicon. ( )

Not so much a book as a prank by author L. Sprague De Camp, perpertrated so that the Necronomicon would appear in the Catalog of the Library of Congress. Not sure if it was ever intended for a wide release.

A few pages of back story and then the rest is just pages and pages of faux-Arabic gibberish repeated over and over. An interesting piece of Lovecraftiana, nothing more. ( )

what a con i fell for!! i had this a recommendation from Amazon, so i ordered it [oddly through Waldenbooks, since i have a friend who works there and is in constant fear of her store closing for lack of sales]. i thought it would be a trite little mock up of the Necronomicom with some observations/essays from fans.

it's a mock up all right! 100+ pages of the same Arabic script repeated. there are maybe 4 distinct unique pages of the body that are repeated in the same cycle, beginning with a preface in English. i saw the copyright from the publisher as 1973, so they have been at this for a bit!

the one "entertaining" feature of the book is that it is printed 'back to front' similar to a manga comic, but certainly the way Arabic texts are written - as Arabic and Hebrew are written right to left, back to front. so an A+ for packaging i suppose! ( )