{The Necronomicon is a freaking myth. No such book ever existed in real life. None of the books using that title now can be dated from before Lovecraft mentioned the title and "the Mad Arab" in his fiction, and he stated in in his personal letters that he made it up. } Actually, Lovecraft made up the ORIGINAL title (and contents) of the infamous Necronomicon - Al Azif. Necronomicon is, I think, the Greek phrase for "Book of the Dead" (Literally, I think it's "The book of the names of the dead," but I could be mistaken) - many ancient religions have "Books of the Dead," the most famous being the Egyptian and Tibetan ones. (And the Evil Dead movies made this funnier by having the "Necronomicon Ex Mortis" - with "Ex Mortis" being Latin for "From Death" or "Of the Dead"). Personally, I prefer Terry Pratchett's "Necrotelecomnicon" (Phonebook of the Dead)...