The Unexpected Mythos

I dearly love stumbling across unusual objects that lend themselves to a Mythos interpretation. Case in point, this candlestick sent in by an anonymous reader:



At first glance it's just a tribal-style candle holder, the kind of thing you'd pick up on a trip to Africa or find on the shelves of Pier One. To anyone not familiar with the Mythos it's a perfectly mundane, if slightly unusual item. But look closer and you'll see the lobed head, clawed arms, and multiple limbs of Lovecraft's Mi-Go.

African tchotchke, or a Mi-Go summoning fetish? The fact that it could be either, depending on how you look at it, just adds to the charm. One of Lovecraft's best narrative devices was placing items with a darker meaning in plain sight, like the unusual gold jewelry of Innsmouth. To the average person they were just odd looking bracelets, but those familiar with the legends of the Deep Ones saw something far more sinister. Imitating that ambiguous approach can turn a simple found item into a truly memorable prop.