The Dreamlands is a fictional location in the Dream Cycle of H. P. Lovecraft. The Dream Cycle is one of the three major categories of the fictional works of H Howard Phillips Lovecraft ( August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American author of horror, fantasy It is also the setting for a number of pastiches written by other authors. The word pastiche describes a literary or other artistic Genre.

The Dreamlands is a vast, alternate dimension that can be entered through dreams, similar to astral projection or lucid dreaming. In mathematics the dimension of a Space is roughly defined as the minimum number of Coordinates needed to specify every point within it Dreams are the images sounds thoughts and feelings experienced while Sleeping, particularly strongly associated with Rapid eye movement sleep. Astral projection (or astral travel) is an esoteric interpretation of a type of Out-of-body experience that assumes the existence of an " Astral Experienced dreamers are among the most powerful inhabitants of the Dreamlands and may become its permanent residents after their physical deaths.

Contents 1 The setting 1.1 Cosmology 1.2 Geography 1.2.1 Kadath 1.3 Inhabitants 1.3.1 Great Ones 1.3.1.1 Table of Great Ones 1.3.1.1.1 Overview 1.3.1.1.2 Table 1.3.2 Creatures 1.3.2.1 Dhole 1.3.2.2 Blood sucker 1.3.2.3 Cats 1.3.2.4 Dog Mountains 1.3.2.5 The Folk of Leng 1.3.2.6 Ghasts 1.3.2.7 Ghouls 1.3.2.8 Gugs 1.3.2.9 Humans 1.3.2.10 Moonbeasts 1.3.2.11 Nightgaunts 1.3.2.12 Shantak-bird 1.3.2.13 Submarine Lurkers 1.3.2.14 Undersea Beings 1.3.2.15 Voonith 1.3.2.16 Zoog 1.3.2.17 Other 2 Stories and references 2.1 In Lovecraft 2.2 Other references 3 See also

The setting

Cosmology

To reach the Dreamlands, a sleeper must find an unusual stairway in a conventional dream and walk down the Seventy Steps of Light Slumber to face the judgment of powerful gatekeepers named Nasht and Kaman-Tha. If judged worthy (that is, able to survive the dangers of the Dreamlands), the dreamer is allowed to descend the Seven Hundred Steps of Deeper Slumber and emerges in the Enchanted Wood. When entering the Dreamlands this way, the person leaves his or her physical body safely in the waking world. If the dreamer is killed during his or her travels, the person's corporeal body will suffer only a shock. Sometimes, however, this can be fatal — dream death of this kind makes return to the Dreamlands impossible. Waking up causes a person's dream self to disappear; thus the individual may have difficulty recalling anything learned or experienced while asleep (similar to conventional dreaming). A dreamer who dies in the real world while his dream self is still alive may have the option of retiring to the Dreamlands for the remainder of his dream self's "life. "

The Dreamlands can be entered in other ways, including physically. This usually requires passing through very dangerous areas of both the waking world and the Dreamlands. Consequently, real death becomes a risk. However, the visitor does receive the prolonged lifespan of a native of the Dreamlands, so the traveller's time there is no longer limited to the duration of a night's sleep on earth.

Though the term Dreamlands typically refers to the dimension accessible by human dreamers, other inhabited planets may have their own dreamlands. Reaching these other realms from the terrestrial Dreamlands is possible but difficult.

Time flows at a different rate in the Dreamlands — each hour on earth represents a week or more there. Consequently, a traveller can spend months in the Dreamlands during a single night's sleep on earth. Fortunately for dreamers, inhabitants of the Dreamlands are either long-lived or immortal, provided they avoid injury or disease.

Despite its accelerated time, the Dreamlands rarely experiences change. Its geography, politics, and population remain fairly static. Dreamers, however, can exert great change over the topography, such as by creating entire cities with accompanying populations.

The Dreamlands has its own pantheon known as the Great Ones or the gods of Earth, which resemble gods of Greek or Roman mythology in that ordinary humans can wound, deceive, and seduce them. A pantheon (from Greek Πάνθειον - pantheion, literally "a temple of all gods " neut They are evidently presided over by some aspect of Nyarlathotep, the avatar of the Other Gods. Nyarlathotep (the Crawling Chaos) is a Fictional character in the Cthulhu Mythos. The term Outer God is used to describe a number of Deities in the Cthulhu Mythos of H Otherwise, the rest of the deities of the mythos, who figure prominently in Lovecraft's other writings (such as the Great Old Ones and the Outer Gods), have little interest in or influence over the Dreamlands. A Great Old One is a type of fictional being in the Cthulhu Mythos based in the stories of H

Geography

The Dreamlands is divided into four continental regions, each named for its cardinal direction.

• The West is the most well-known region of the Dreamlands and is probably the most inhabited as well. It is where dreamers emerge from the Steps of Deeper Slumber. The port of Dylath-Leen, the largest city of the Dreamlands, lies on its coast. Dylath-Leen is a Fictional city in H P Lovecraft 's Dream Cycle and appears in The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath ( 1926 The town of Ulthar, where no man may kill a cat, is also located here. Ulthar is both a Fictional town and a fictional deity The town of Ulthar is part of H Other important cities are Hlanith (a coastal jungle city) and Ilarnek (a desert trade capital). The land of Mnar and the ruins of Sarnath are found at the southern border. " The Doom that Came to Sarnath " ( 1920) is an early Short story by H The Enchanted Wood of the zoogs is also found here. The Enchanted Wood is a fictional place in H P Lovecraft 's Dream Cycle and is located in the Dreamlands. It joins the South.

• The South is the southern coastal region of the continent shared by the West along with the islands of the Southern Sea, including the isle of Oriab, the largest. Oriab (or Isle of Oriab) is a fictional location in H P Lovecraft 's Dreamlands. The South's land-locked regions and its coastal areas are known as the Fantastic Realms, because they contain nightmarish and sometimes incomprehensible zones. Otherwise, the islands of the Southern Sea are fairly normal.

• The East is a continent that is largely uninhabited, except for Ooth-Nargai. The city of Celephaïs is the capital of Ooth-Nargai and was created from whole cloth by its monarch King Kuranes, the greatest of all recorded dreamers. "Celephaïs" is a Fantasy story by American Horror fiction writer H Kuranes (also King Kuranes) is a Fictional character in H P Lovecraft 's Dream Cycle. Beyond Ooth-Nargai are The Forbidden Lands, dangerous realms into which travel is interdicted.

• The North is a cold, mountainous continent notorious for its Plateau of Leng, a violent region shared by man-eating spiders and satyr-like beings known as the "Men of Leng". Leng (or Plateau of Leng) is a fictional cold arid Plateau in the Cthulhu Mythos, whose location seems to vary entirely from story to story In Greek mythology, satyrs (Σάτυροι Satyroi) are a troop of male companions of Pan and Dionysus – " Satyresses quot The Men of Leng are a Fictional race in the writings of H P Lovecraft. The North also has a number of friendlier places, such as the city of Inganok, famous for its onyx quarries. Onyx is a Cryptocrystalline form of Quartz. The colors of its bands range from white to almost every color (save some shades such as purple or blue The deepest reaches of the North are said to hold Unknown Kadath, the home of the Great Ones.

In addition to these regions, the Dreamlands has a few other locales that defy conventional description.

• The Underworld is a subterranean region that runs beneath the whole of the Dreamlands. The underworld is a fictional location in the Dream Cycle of H Its principle inhabitants are ghouls, who can physically enter the waking world through crypts. A ghoul is a Monster from ancient Arabian folklore that dwells in burial grounds and other uninhabited places The Underworld is also home to the gugs, monstrous giants banished from the surface for untold blasphemies. The underworld is a fictional location in the Dream Cycle of H The Underworld's deepest realm is the Vale of Pnath, a dangerous lightless chasm inhabited by enormous unseen beasts called bholes. The underworld is a fictional location in the Dream Cycle of H Dholes, also called bholes, are creatures described in the Cthulhu Mythos of H Bholes are likely the ancestors of the Dholes of Yaddith. The following fictional celestial bodies figure prominently in the Cthulhu Mythos stories of H

• The Moon has a parallel in the Dreamlands and is inhabited by the dreaded moon-beasts, amorphous frog-like creatures allied with Nyarlathotep. A moon-beast is a fictional creature in H P Lovecraft 's Dream Cycle. Interestingly, it is possible for a ship to sail off the edge of the Dreamlands and travel through space to the moon.

Kadath

Kadath---or Unknown Kadath or Kadath in the Cold Waste---is the dwelling place of the Great Ones. It is a gigantic castle found atop an immense cosmic mountain in the Cold Waste.

Kadath is mentioned in other stories by Lovecraft, including "The Dunwich Horror" (1929) — appearing in a quote from the Necronomicon — and "The Other Gods" (1921). " The Dunwich Horror" is a Short story by H P Lovecraft. The year 1929 in literature involved some significant events and new books The Necronomicon is a Fictional book appearing in the stories by horror novelist H The year 1921 in literature involved some significant events and new books In the latter story, Kadath is cited as the place where the gods dwell, but it is inaccessible to mortals because the gods do not want to be bothered.

Inhabitants

Great Ones

The Great Ones are the "weak gods of earth" that reign in the Dreamlands. They are protected by Nyarlathotep. Nyarlathotep (the Crawling Chaos) is a Fictional character in the Cthulhu Mythos.

Table of Great Ones

Overview

This table is organized as follows:

• Name. This is the commonly accepted name of the Great One.
• Description. This entry gives a brief description.
• References. This field lists the stories or other sources in which the Great One makes a significant appearance or otherwise receives important mention. A simple two-letter code is used (the key to the codes is found here). The following Cthulhu Mythos reference codes and bibliography is for use with the tables included in the articles Elements of the Cthulhu Mythos, Cthulhu Mythos arcane literature If a code appears in bold, this means that the reference introduces the Great One.

Table

Great Ones

Name	Description	References
Hagarg Ryonis, The Lier-in-Wait	Usually appears as a huge, reptilian monster. The following Cthulhu Mythos reference codes and bibliography is for use with the tables included in the articles Elements of the Cthulhu Mythos, Cthulhu Mythos arcane literature	DL, WH
Karakal	An elf-like humanoid.	DL, WH
Lobon	Appears as ivy-crowned youth bearing a spear.	DC, DL, WH
Nath-Horthath	Chief god of Celephaïs. " The Doom that Came to Sarnath " ( 1920) is an early Short story by H	CE, DL, DQ, KA
Oukranos	River god	DQ
Tamash	Appears as a short, silver-skinned, ebon-haired, and bearded man. "Celephaïs" is a Fantasy story by American Horror fiction writer H The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath is a Novella by H P Lovecraft. The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath is a Novella by H P Lovecraft.	DC, DL, MG, WH
Zo-Kalar	God of birth and death. " The Doom that Came to Sarnath " ( 1920) is an early Short story by H	DC, WH

Creatures

Dhole

A slimy carrion eater which lives in the vale of Pnoth. " The Doom that Came to Sarnath " ( 1920) is an early Short story by H Although unseen in the darkness, they are known to be slippery and of great length. They are capable of climbing, but typically wriggle and burrow. (D-QoUK).

Blood sucker

Little-known web-footed creature which sucks blood, likes shiny things, and lives in ruins near Baharna on the Isle of Oriab. (D-QoUK).

Cats

In the novella The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath (D-QoUK) by H. P. Lovecraft, cats are intelligent and organized in a paramilitary tribal system. A novella is a written, Fictional Prose Narrative longer than a Novelette but shorter than a Novel. The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath is a Novella by H P Lovecraft. Howard Phillips Lovecraft ( August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American author of horror, fantasy They communicate in a complex language that can be understood and spoken by dreamers.

Dog Mountains

Enormous two-headed creatures, thousands of feet tall, which guard the Cold Waste. They look like hyenas when squatting, but have swollen bodies and are capable of walking upright in an anthropoid manner. (D-QoUK).

The Folk of Leng

Almost-human creatures, originally inhabitants of the plateau of Leng and builders of the primordial city of Sarkomand. They are furry humanoids with wide mouths, horned heads, dwarfish tails, and cloven-hoofed feet. Allies and slaves of the moonbeasts. (D-QoUK).

Ghasts

Carnivorous creatures similar to kangaroos but a little larger than a pony. They live in the vaults of Zin, which adjoins the graveyard of the Gugs. Ghasts have yellowish-red eyes and a scabrous face that "is so curiously human despite the absence of a nose, a forehead, and other important particulars. " (D-QoUK). They have hard pointed hooves and communicate in coughing gutturals. Ghasts die in the light but can endure the twilight of the abyss. They have a sharp sense of smell.
First mentioned and described by Lovecraft in The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath. The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath is a Novella by H P Lovecraft.

Ghouls

Subterrene inhabitants of the waking world, ghouls travel into the dreamlands through underground graveyard tunnels. They have a somewhat human physiognomy but with rubbery skin, canine faces, and slumping forms. They may become greenish when elderly. They have a simple language of meeping and glibbering. It is noted in the "Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath" that a human spending time with these creatures may in fact become one of them. (D-QoUK).

Gugs

Twenty feet in height, Gugs are black-furred monsters whose yellow-fanged mouth runs from the top to the bottom of the head and opens vertically. Their paws are two feet and a half across and are equipped with formidable talons. Their eyes are pink and jut two inches from each side, shaded by bony protuberances overgrown with coarse hairs. Formerly inhabitants of the Enchanted Wood, they were cursed to live in an underground city-kingdom of cyclopean round towers. Mortal dreamers were their former food, but their diet is now restricted to ghasts. Gugs are voiceless and talk by means of facial expression. (D-QoUK).

Humans

As described in D-QoUK the human inhabitants of dreamland are mortal although long-lived (the patriarch Atal "was fully three centuries old. ") People are preindustrial and occupations described include farmers, grocers, butchers, merchants, sailors, quarrymen, and priests. (D-QoUK). In Brian Lumley's novel Hero of Dreams it is implied that human inhabitants of Dreamland are dreamers. Brian Lumley (born 2 December 1937) is an English Horror fiction writer A novel (from Italian novella, Spanish novela, French nouvelle for "new" "news" or "short story

Moonbeasts

Amorphous creatures, approximately 8 feet in height, eyeless, slippery in texture, and greyish-white in colour. They can expand and contract at will but have a principal shape that is toadlike with a vibrating mass of short pink tentacles at the end of a blunt snout. (D-QoUK).

Nightgaunts

Man-sized flying creatures. They are thin, horned, and have barbed tails and membranous wings. They also have black prehensile paws. They are faceless and silent, but communicate ably with ghouls through mime and sign language. They are tasked with carrying invaders of the inner earth down to the vale of Pnath. They are subjects of the subterrene god Nodens (D-QoUK).

Shantak-bird

A large, horse-headed, scaly flying creature that lives in the nether pits below the North of Dreamland. They communicate by tittering. They are subjects of the divine messenger Nyarlathotep (D-QoUK).

Submarine Lurkers

Carnivorous sea creatures found around the jagged rock island near Sarkomand. (D-QoUK).

Undersea Beings

Unknown beings living in the ancient sunken city between Dylath-Leen and Zar, they practice human sacrifice. (D-QoUK).

Voonith

An amphibious monster that lives in hidden pools on the Isle of Oriab. They howl at night. (D-QoUK).

Zoog

Small, brown, elfin creatures that live in the Enchanted Wood. Zoogs keep secrets well and have knowledge of many obscure and forgotten things. They sup on fungi but have a taste for human flesh; few who enter their forest ever leave. In their visits to earth, they have spawned many sub-races of creatures that vaguely resemble them but usually have much more benevolent habits.

In The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, the Zoogs planned to go to war with the cats of Ulthar in revenge for the killing of one of their own. Randolph Carter overheard them plotting a surprise attack. He was able to foil their plans by notifying the cat tribe, who then descended en masse upon the enchanted woods where the Zoogs live. The cats met no resistance, having surprised them totally. There was then a truce established: the Zoogs would produce for the cats annual quantities of Quail and other prey and a number of Zoogs of noble descent were taken as hostages. The Zoogs were informed that any attempt at retribution would have dire consequences.

Other

Other creatures that appear in The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath include lumbering buopoths, carnivorous fish, fishing birds, zebras, yaks, elephants, porpoises, and dolphins

Stories and references

In Lovecraft

The following stories either take place in or make reference to Dreamlands locations.

• "Polaris" (1918)
• "Beyond the Wall of Sleep" (1919)
• "The Doom That Came to Sarnath" (1919)
• "The White Ship" (1919)
• "The Cats of Ulthar" (1920)
• "Celephaïs" (1920)
• "The Quest of Iranon" (1921)
• "The Other Gods" (1921)
• "Hypnos" (1922)
• The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath (1926)
• "The Silver Key" (1926)
• "The Strange High House in the Mist" (1926)
• "At the Mountains of Madness" (reference only) (1931)
• "Through the Gates of the Silver Key" (with E. " Polaris " is a Short story by H P Lovecraft, written in 1918 and first published in the December 1920 issue of the amateur journal the Year 1918 ( MCMXVIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common " Beyond the Wall of Sleep " is a short story by American writer H Year 1919 ( MCMXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common " The Doom that Came to Sarnath " ( 1920) is an early Short story by H " The Cats of Ulthar " is a Short story by H P Lovecraft, written June 15, 1920, and first published in the November 1920 issue Year 1920 ( MCMXX) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display 1920 of the Gregorian calendar "Celephaïs" is a Fantasy story by American Horror fiction writer H " The Quest of Iranon " is a Short story by H P Lovecraft. Year 1921 ( MCMXXI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1921 calendar of the Gregorian calendar "The Other Gods" is a short story written by American horror writer H Year 1921 ( MCMXXI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1921 calendar of the Gregorian calendar "Hypnos" is a short story by American Horror fiction writer H Year 1922 ( MCMXXII) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath is a Novella by H P Lovecraft. Year 1926 ( MCMXXVI) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. "The Silver Key" is a short story written by H P Lovecraft in 1926 considered part of his Dreamlands series "The Strange High House in the Mist" is a short story by H At the Mountains of Madness is a Novella by horror writer H P "Through the Gates of the Silver Key" is a short story co-written by H Hoffmann Price) (1932)

Other references

• Harms, Daniel (1998). Year 1932 ( MCMXXXII) was a Leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. "Dreamlands", The Encyclopedia Cthulhiana, 2nd ed. , Oakland, CA: Chaosium, 89–91. ISBN 1-56882-119-0.  

• In the Disney Jetix American animated television series, Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go! second season episode In The Grip of Evil, the Monkey Team was pulled into a similar version of H. P. Lovecraft's Dreamlands (except that it was sustained by their memories of past events) by their archnemesis, The Skeleton King. Jetix is a Children's television programming brand owned by The Walt Disney Company. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the An animated cartoon is a short hand-drawn (or made with computers to look similar to something hand-drawn Film for the cinema, Television or computer Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go! (commonly known by its initialism SRMTHG) is an American / Japanese Animated television series Howard Phillips Lovecraft ( August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American author of horror, fantasy The following is a list of character in the American animated series Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go! (or SRMTHFG! Aided by their mysterious guide, The Alchemist (a being who can fuse the elements of Science and Magic together. Science (from the Latin scientia, meaning " Knowledge " or "knowing" is the effort to discover, and increase human understanding Magic in Fiction is the endowing of Fictional characters or objects with magical powers. ) They fend off Skeleton King's attacks, as they traveled down to the Underworld and found a door. Which opened, discovered a laboratory in which The Alchemist in fact created The Monkey Team to protect the universe from a great evil, himself which as he transformed into The Skeleton King. After a fearsome battle in which The Skeleton King has The Hyperforce in his cluches, Antauri figured out that since they open the door, they were free to leave The Dreamlands and woke up to escape Skeleton King's trap.

• A guide to Kadath appears in the library of the Dreaming in The Sandman: Brief Lives. The Dreaming is a Fictional place, the domain of Dream of the Endless in Neil Gaiman 's The Sandman Comic book Brief Lives (1994 is the seventh collection of issues in the DC Comics series The Sandman.

• In Move Under Ground, Jack Kerouac is attacked by a shoggoth in the Dreamlands, but is saved by the advice of bodhisattva Kilaya. Move Under Ground is a Horror novel by Nick Mamatas which combines the Beat style of Jack Kerouac with the Cosmic horror Jack Kerouac ( March 12 1922 &ndash October 21 1969) was an American Novelist, Writer, Poet, and A shoggoth (or shaggoth is a fictional monster in the Cthulhu Mythos. In the Buddhist context a bodhisattva (बोधिसत्त्व bodhisattva;; Vietnamese Bồ Tát; बोधिसत्त bodhisatta The Phurba ( Tib, pronunciation between 'pur-ba' & 'fur-pu' alt

• For further information of the Dreamlands, seek the out of print book H. P. Lovecraft's Dreamlands, an expansion for the roleplaying game Call of Cthulhu published by Chaosium.

See also

• Dream Cycle

The Dream Cycle is one of the three major categories of the fictional works of H

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