Miskatonic University: A Chronicle of Arcane Academia

Miskatonic University, nestled in the fictional town of Arkham, Massachusetts, is more than just a setting in H.P. Lovecraft's stories; it's an embodiment of human curiosity clashing with the edges of sanity. This article delves into the history of this fictional institution, from its literary origins to its enduring presence in popular culture.

The Genesis of Miskatonic: Lovecraft's Vision

Miskatonic University first appeared in H. P. Lovecraft's 1922 story "Herbert West-Reanimator" and was subsequently mentioned in numerous Cthulhu Mythos stories by Lovecraft and other writers. Lovecraft concocted the word Miskatonic as a mixture of root words from the Algonquian languages, the source of many place-names throughout New England. The university is named after the fictional Miskatonic River that flows through Arkham.

According to Lovecraft, Miskatonic sits near the bank of the Miskatonic River that runs through Arkham. The name itself carries a deeper resonance. The word "Chthonic" relates to Greek deities of the earth or underworld, deities with cults and sacrifices buried or burned in a pit. "Chthonic" also describes the buried, hidden desires of the psyche, mysteries that are buried or suppressed. This connection subtly hints at the hidden, often disturbing, knowledge pursued within the university's walls.

Lovecraft shared his ideas and wanted other writers to write more about the subject for free. In essence, it was the first experiment at re-tweeting or social networking through the use of re-using a concept and spreading it.

Arkham: The University's Home

Arkham is a fictional city situated in Massachusetts, United States. An integral part of the Lovecraft Country setting created by H. P. The precise location of Arkham is unspecified, although it may be surmised from Lovecraft's stories to be some distance to the north of Boston, probably in Essex County, Massachusetts. Will Murray places Arkham in central Massachusetts and suggests it is based on the village of Oakham. August Derleth describes Arkham as "Lovecraft's own well-known, widely used place-name for legend-haunted Salem, Massachusetts". Lovecraft himself, in a letter to F. Lee Baldwin dated April 29, 1934, wrote that "[my] mental picture of Arkham is of a town something like Salem in atmosphere [and] style of houses, but more hilly [and] with a college (which Salem [lacks]) …

Other notable institutions in Arkham are the Arkham Historical Society and the Arkham Sanitarium. Arkham's main newspaper is the Arkham Advertiser, which has a circulation that reaches as far as Dunwich.

A Prestigious Institution

"The Dunwich Horror" implies that Miskatonic University is an elite university on par with Harvard, and that Harvard and Miskatonic are the two most popular schools for the Massachusetts "Old Gentry". It is modeled on the northeastern Ivy League universities of Lovecraft's day, perhaps Brown University in his hometown Providence, which Lovecraft himself wished to attend. Miskatonic's student body is implied to be all-male like northeastern universities of Lovecraft's time.

Miskatonic University is not just one of the most prestigious universities in the country. It is not just a place of culture and research. It is a community of people cultivating true knowledge.

The Allure of the Orne Library

The university library is famous for its collection of occult books, including one of the handful of genuine copies of the Necronomicon. Other tomes include Unaussprechlichen Kulten and the fragmentary Book of Eibon.

The Orne Library at Miskatonic University is famous for its collection of Cthulhu Mythos arcane literature and occult books. The library holds one of the very few genuine copies of the Necronomicon.

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Notable Figures

Notable faculty members mentioned in Lovecraft's stories included doctors Henry Armitage and Francis Morgan in The Dunwich Horror, and Professor William Dyer in At the Mountains of Madness. "The Whisperer in Darkness" (1930); Albert N. Walter Gilman attends classes at the university.

Professors Lake (Biology) and Atwood (Physics) discover the not-quite-fossils of Elder beings in "At The Mountains of Madness." Their untimely demise, and the research they left behind, is then investigated by the Pabodie expedition, including Frank Pabodie, and, the only "survivors" of the tale, Dyer and Danforth, all from Miskatonic University.

A Detailed History: Fan Interpretations and Expansions

According to Lovecraft and the growing number of authors that add to the Lovecraft Mythos, Miskatonic has an extensive history going back to early New England. Miskatonic University was the third college in New England and the seventh in America - and the only one that welcomed students of all religious persuasions. Over the years the University grew steadily, adding graduate courses in the 1880s, a women’s college in 1889 (renamed Pembroke College in 1928), a graduate school in 1927, and a medical education program in 1973 (now the Miskatonic Medical School). The men’s and women’s undergraduate colleges merged in 1971. While facilities and programs expanded, Miskatonic chose to keep its enrollment relatively small, with an undergraduate student-faculty ratio of about 10 to 1. Miskatonic’s unique curriculum, designed and implemented in 1969, provides students the opportunity to become architects of their educational experience. Undergraduates must pass 30 courses, demonstrate competency in writing, and complete the requirements for a concentration, or major, in order to receive a bachelor’s degree from Miskatonic. Some 1,800 courses support more than 100 concentrations, many of them interdisciplinary, and a wide variety of independent studies. The degree programs for undergraduates are bachelor of arts (A.B.), bachelor of science (Sc.B.), and the combined bachelor of arts and bachelor of science (A.B./Sc.B.).

One history holds that this school began as the Salem Academy in 1690, which moved to Arkham in 1776 and renamed itself as the Miskatonic Liberal Seminary. Another states that “the College of the Miskatonick Vallye”, or Arkham College, was founded in 1690 and reinvigorated in 1765 with a bequest from Jeremiah Orne, one of Arkham’s foremost merchants. At first, classes were held in only one building, but Miskatonic College grew so quickly that soon after the Revolutionary War, the people of Arkham gave their former town common to the school in recognition of its achievements.

By 1855 the college needed to expand again, despite having purchased many of Common’s Brownstones and surrounding buildings. Under then President Hoyt and with his vision and fund-raising acumen the college went through a radical transformation. 1859, the Philosophy & Mathematics (And later, Law) Building. 1861, The Languages, Literature & Arts Building (Robert Carter Memorial Hall). That same year also saw the establishment of the Miskatonic Teaching Hospital (St. Mary’s) and the new School of Medicine (Arkham Medical College), as well as the absorption of local rival, the Elder Faith Seminary (Formally Arkham Enduring Faith Seminary). Combined with its own Unitarian True Faith seminary (Established 1833, in the former Marsh Seminary), it led to the creation of a new School of Theology (Ephraim Waite Seminary). 1863, a new dormitory to replace the aging Phillips Hall.

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Following Hoyt’s Presidency, the University continued to grow. 1866, the campus was beautified and the Memorial Clock Tower built. 1875, at the behest of donor Dorthy Upman, the school became opened it’s doors to women. Following the damage caused by the flood of 1888, and the appointment of President Hasley Maddox in 1891, the school began its transition into the modern era as it rebuilt. Maddox moved the president’s house on campus and began a direct campaign for modernization. The consolidated the various science departments from math and medicine to form the new College of the Sciences (Crawford Tillinghast School of Science & Technology), and in 1899, moved it into the completely rebuilt Philosophy, Mathematics & Law Building (Science Hall) , now a complex of lecture halls and laboratories. The School of Philosophy was moved into the The Languages, Literature & Arts Building, while the Law School was moved across campus to the newly refurbished Eli Hall. In 1902, Maddox also authorized the restoration of the Exhibit Museum, before he was lost to the typhoid outbreak of 1905. Dr. Maddox’s successor, Peter Addelson led the rebuilding and continued expansion. A new Medical School building was constructed next to the hospital. Derby Hall was refurbished into Faculty and Graduate Dorms, and administration moved to the new Hoyt Administration Building, completed in 1912. Following the stable tenure of Addelson, the appointment of President Harvey Wainscott saw another push into radical modernization. He constructed a new liberal arts building, (Johnathan Edwards Hall) and converted the LL&A building in more dormitory space. As he also gain political power in Arkham he announced the annual Miss Katonic pageant upping the traditional Arkham May Queen Selection.

Originally chartered in 1690 as “the College of the Miskatonick Vallye upon the petition of the townes and parishes of Arkham, Innsmouth, Kingsport, & Newe Salem”, It was established in the township of Arkham, Massachusetts, coming to be known first as Arkham College, led by Reverned Ward Phillips as its first President. Despite a generous grant from Arkham College Alumni, Elder Marsh of Innsmouth, for the construction of a new seminary school building, the college fell on hard times and was feared to be shuttered. It would be saved by an posthumous endowment from Arkham Resident, Jeremiah Orne, and was reborn as a rationalist institution. Under President Pickering it absorbed it’s spiritual sister school, Salem Academy, shortly after, though further expansion would not take place until after the Revolutionary war.

Over the years, Miskatonic University gained a great deal of prestige, and was often considered to be one of the Ivy League schools.

Right up until the ‘accident’, Miskatonic remained at the fore in scholarship and research. Its expeditions into the far parts of the world, such as the Pabodie expediton of 1931 and the later Austalian excavations of 1935, though not entirely successful, had earned the university acclaim from the scientific community. If not for the disaster at the Nathaniel Derby Pickman Nuclear Laboratory, Miskatonic would likely have continued to be a star of academia even to this day.

Now in the 30th century, the land surrounding the once famed university has recovered from its deadly radioactivity. A descendant of the last chief librarian has put forth the credits to reestablish the school as center of research in jump point physics, astrobiology, xeno-archeology, and the planetary sciences. This Dr. Our goal is to make Miskatonic University a gathering of inquisitive and inventive minds from across the United Earth Empire. The faculty administration is to be carried out by fellows of Engineering, the Physical Sciences, and other academic specialties. All who pursue science or engineering are welcome, whether holding a degree or not. Page Under Construction.

Miskatonic in Popular Culture

Miskatonic University's influence extends beyond the pages of Lovecraft's stories. It has become a recurring element in various media:

Film: Suitable Flesh, a 2023 film starring Heather Graham, directed by Joe Lynch, and based on the H.P. Lovecraft story The Thing on the Doorstep, takes place in Arkham. To represent Miskatonic University in their 2009 film The Whisperer in Darkness, the H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society chose Mount Holyoke College.
Games: Arkham Horror is a cooperative adventure board-game based on H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. Miskatonic University - Shadows Over the Campus is a high-budget live-action role-playing game inspired by the cycle of the Cthulhu Mythos.
Literature: Arkham is mentioned in two novels by Charles Stross.

Miskatonic University: A LARP Experience

Miskatonic University - Shadows Over the Campus is a unique larp that takes place in one of the most majestic and fascinating castles in Europe.

You will play as professors and students of Miskatonic University engaged in a quest on which the fate of many will depend. Scholars trying to see an ancient truth beyond the veil, where reason must surrender and make way for the unknown and our deepest fears. A fully immersive experience where every character can make a difference. For those who want to dream really big.

The setting of the game is inspired by H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Cycle novels and the universe he created. Characters will not face the discrimination issues typical for academia in the 1920s: there might be a female headmaster and LGBT+ or BIPOC professors.

“Madness”, will not be a stereotypical and simplified portrayal of existing mental disorders, but strictly linked with the abysmal contact with ineffable horrors.

It’s 1924. These are the years of spiritualism, of great archaeological discoveries, of prohibition. The horror of the First World War is still in the eyes and on the flesh of many. In the underground archives of the Miskatonic University a mysterious sarcophagus was found, the existence of which no one remembered. The ancient artifact is sealed. Miskatonic University summons the best students and professors on campus to witness the opening and study its contents. Thus begins a journey that will take these brave scholars where they never imagined.

During the event, all anti-COVID rules will be respected by strictly following the safety measures in force at the time.

The larp focuses on university campus life during an exceptional event: the opening of the sarcophagus found in the university’s basement. Classes, workshops, lectures, sports, cultural clubs, and more make up the day at Miskatonic University. Friendships destined to last a lifetime, bitter rivalries, loves, and unnameable discoveries await you within the walls of the legendary campus.

Miskatonic University Online

Miskatonic-university.org first came online in 1998 and has been around over 20 years.

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