Question regarding Leland Gaunt.

[VladTepes]

Has anybody considered the possibility that Leland Guant is Nyarlathotep from the H.P. Lovecraft story? The possibility is mentioned and if you have read the original story it is strikingly similar to the story of Mr. Gaunt.

[GNTLGNT]

Not shocked by that at all given King's admiration and homages to the old Master...never thought about it-now I'll have to re-read(oh, the horror-the horror)

[krs72]

Can anyone tell me what Lovecraft book you're talking about?
I'd like to read it.

[omm poppa mow mow]

Looks to be quite a few, krs72: "The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath" (1926/27)..."The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath" (1926/27)...mentioned in "The Rats in the Walls"..."The Haunter of the Dark" (1936)....oops. Looks like one is listed twice. There also appears to be a prose poem or something by that name Nyarlathotep

[Yutolia]

I can definitely see the connections, especially with the references to Yog Sothoth in there.

[!redruM]

Thanks! I was wondering what that meant!

[sam peebles]

The wikipedia article of Needful Things says this:

An interesting subtext in the book is frequent, subtle references to H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos, which lends to the possibility that Leland Gaunt may be an Avatar of the sadistic shapeshifting deity Nyarlathotep, sometimes associated with Satan by other authors (see also Randall Flagg). "Gaunts", or "Nightgaunts" feature in Cthulhu Mythos stories, and the name Leland Gaunt references this fact.

After giving Ace some very powerful cocaine, Mr. Gaunt tells him that he obtained it from 'The Plains of Leng'. This, perhaps, gives us a clue as to Mr. Gaunt's origins.

During his trip to Boston under the behest of Mr. Gaunt, Ace Merrill reads the following graffiti: 'Yog-Sothoth Rules'. This is a reference to "The Freshman", a humorous Cthulhu mythos short story by Phillip Jose Farmer in which "Yog-Sothoth Sucks!" is found graffitied across the Miskatonic University campus.

When asked where he got the Tucker Talisman (by a Mobil Gas jockey), Ace says "The Plains of Leng. Yog-Sothoth Vintage Motors".