Cthulhu Fhtagn! Zimmerman Edition.

Brandon Zimmerman brings us this interesting Cthulhu idol from the infamous Malcolm B. Hodge.

Hodge was a native Rhode Islander and artist who was institutionalized at the Rhode Island State Hospital (RISH) from 1932-1934 after he brutally murdered his wife and child in their sleep. At his trial Hodge blamed his family's death on "The Dreamer." Hodge's lawyers pleaded insanity and claimed he had no recollection of committing the crime. He was later transferred to Danvers State Hospital in the winter of 1934 after a series of strange events at RISH, culminating in the rather unexplainable and graphic deaths of three doctors.

Hodge received acclaim as a cultist after several of his psychotherapy sessions, conducted by famed psychiatrist Dr. Alfred Driesback, were made public. In these published transcriptions Hodge discusses and reacts to five "idols" of his own creation.

An accomplished artists and sculptor, Hodge is believed to have constructed these "idols" from found objects on the RISH campus including scraps of metal, wood, and rock, though how we was able to make them remains a mystery since he spent most of his time restrained in his cell.

While the five "idols" published in the works of Dr. Driesback received significant press in the '30s, they rather famously disappeared shortly after his death. Driesback was found murdered in his home outside of Hathorne Mass. in the summer of 1935, and apparently had the "idols" in his home at the time.

The piece has a definite Clark Ashton Smith vibe. That's high praise, since I consider him the original Lovecraftian propmaker.