Hastur is an absolutely horrifying entity that no one would (or should) ever want to encounter. He is one of H.P. Lovecraft’s most influential creations and has an influence as powerful as Cthulu in some areas. However, he has unusual origins and several interpretations, so there’s a possibility you know him by another name.   

Origins

This look for Hastur is one of the most popular. [Photo credit: Mike Capprotti via cardgamedb.com]

‘It is kind of thee, O Hastur,’ so he prayed, ‘to give me mountains so near to my dwelling and my fold that I and my sheep can escape the angry torrents; but the rest of the world thou must thyself deliver in some way that I know not of, or I will no longer worship thee.’

And Hastur, knowing that Haita was a youth who kept his word, spared the cities and turned the waters into the sea.

Lovecraft only took the word ‘Hastur’ as inspiration, and left the rest. So, in today’s depictions, you won’t see anything like the original idea behind him. The word Hastur itself comes from the name of a city in Robert W. Chambers’ “The Yellow Sign” from the 1895 collection of short stories “The King in Yellow”. The word itself is just as vague and ambiguous in its origin as Hastur is.

How would you react if this appeared in the real world?[Photo credit: Barguest via Pinterest]

The Yellow King

The King in Yellow is a great read and can help understand the madness that contributes to Hastur. [Photo credit: Robert Chambers via Wikipedia]

The Yellow King looks like a human dressed in long yellow robes wearing a pallid mask. Many may know him instead of Hastur, whom he has been associated with since Lovecraft’s early works. Over time Hastur and the King in Yellow have been used interchangeably or as one in the same between the two entities, with several depictions of Hastur having the same yellow robes with added tentacles. 

Modern Influence

Hastur’s symbol is on the object in Hastur’s hand in this picture, which is oddly tentacle-like. [Photo credit: Tuan Publishing via pinterest]

Author August Dereleth took it a step further and gave some more context to the creature. He explained in his writing that Hastur is the child of Yog-Sothoth and is a half-brother to Cthulu. Dereleth also had a huge impact as to why he is seen as the Yellow King in literature since that’s his own depiction. He also described Hastur as a huge flying tentacle-having creature similar to Cthylla.

Dungeons and Dragons first picked up Hastur with his power so intense that even mentioning his name in-game is supposed to bring horror and chaos. Soon after Call of Cthulu, a tabletop RPG based on Lovecraft’s work, features Hastur as one of many enemies. 

No matter the representation he follows the same theme of madness and Lovecraftian horror, or at least as an enemy of some kind in some more loosely related appearances in media. Stephen King fans may know that he even had an appearance in King’s short story Gramma where a young boy is left to watch over his Grandma (or Gramma) and Hastur happens to be Gramma’s “taken father”. Hastur even has an impact overseas as Hastur makes appearances in Asia in several animes and mangas as a dark god either designed similarly to the Western depiction or in a concealed form as a human. 

Conclusion

Whether you knew him as the Yellow king or as Hastur, or maybe not at all, Hastur is a perfect part of the mythos to learn about. [Photo credit: unknown via Infinite Realm Wiki]