Call of Cthulhu
Introduction
Below is the timeline containing the publication information of both H.P. Lovecraft’s “The Call of Cthulhu”. It contains a time line entry for each known instance of publication for every known appearance of the short story, up until 2017. There are a few instances where the information available pointed to other, unrecorded, or undated instances of publication; in such cases the entries will appear as a date range rather than a single instance of publication, and there will be a mention of these undated publications in their respective entry.
Analysis
After “The Call of Cthulhu's” initial publication in the February 1928 editions of Weird Tales, it was included in two general horror anthologies within a year. While this initial republication was followed by a short gap in its history--from 1929 to 1939--it was included in Arkham House's initial publication and their first collection of Lovecraft's work, The Outsider and Others. It would appear sporadically in horror anthologies until another gap appears from 1951 to 1958. Following this second gap, it entered into a period of republication which continues to this day. Despite these gaps, the "The Call of Cthulhu" appears to be a popular story and has been reprinted in at least 72 anthologies, with 12 of those being non-Lovecraft focused horror anthologies, indicative of its place in the wider horror literature landscape.