The Call of Cthulhu is a short story by the American writer H.P. Lovecraft. It was written in 1926 and first published in the pulp magazine "WeirdTales" in 1928. Lovecraft was a pioneer of cosmic horror, a subgenre that emphasizes the cosmic horror of the unknown (and in some cases, unknowable) more than gore or other elements of shock. In The Call of Cthulhu, Lovecraft introduces the Great Old One known as Cthulhu, an ancient and powerful cosmic entity that lies dormant beneath the sea in the sunken city of R'lyeh. The story is presented as a narrative found among the papers of the narrator's late grand-uncle. It explores themes of forbidden knowledge, ancient civilizations, and the insignificance of humanity in the face of cosmic horrors. The Call of Cthulhu is one of Lovecraft's most famous and influential works and has had a significant impact on the horror genre. The Cthulhu Mythos, a shared universe of interconnected stories and entities created by Lovecraft and later expanded upon by other writers, has become a cornerstone of horror literature and popular culture.

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