Cthulhu Obtains Ballot Status?

Not really. As you can see above though, some enterprising Lovecraftian in Russia took the liberty of adding Cthulhu to the ballot in their recent Presidential election. Evidently, a move that's the Russian equivalent of the write-in votes American and other Western voters are familiar with. This image comes from a great entry on English-Russia, a daily blog highlighting interesting cultural and historical ephemera in the former Soviet Union. H.P. Lovecraft's translated stories--and for many English literate Russians, the unadulterated originals--have an underground cult following in Russia. "Beyond Sleep" is just one website tending the black torch of Lovecraftiana in the largest nation on earth. Browsers may have difficulty viewing the Cyrillic letters in the Russian version, but pictures of some very handsome translated Lovecraft collections are available here.


Cthulhu's votes shouldn't be very surprising, given the insidious current of the weird already embedded in Russian culture and politics. Amidst the political cults of the Russian Federation is an organized Cthulhu cult. Icon-like propaganda posters of Cthulhu appear in this bold rally, complete with a large banner quoting Lovecraft's immortal words from "The Call of Cthulhu:" "In his house at R'lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits dreaming." Though the Cthulhuvian features are obviously Photoshopped, it's safe to say if public demonstrations of a Cthulhu cult ever occur, bet on it happening in Russia!

-Grim Blogger