MALCOLM HODGE CTHULHU IDOL #2 INNSMOUTH MONSTRANCE

THE MONSTRANCE OF INNSMOUTH

One of the FIVE "lost" Cthulhu idols created by Malcolm B Hodge of Danvers State Hospital.

Hodge received acclaim as a Cthulhu cultist after several of his psychotherapy sessions, conducted by famed psychiatrist Dr. Alfred Driesback, were made public. In these published transcriptions Hodge discusses and reacts to five "idols" of his own creation.

An accomplished artists and sculptor, Hodge is believed to have constructed these "idols" while institutionalized at The Rhode Island State Hospital, though how we was able to make them remains a mystery since he spent most of his time restrained in his cell.

While the five "idols" published in the works of Dr. Driesback received significant press in the '30s, they rather famously disappeared shortly after his death. Driesback was found murdered in his home outside of Hathorne Mass. in the summer of 1935, and apparently had the "idols" in his home at the time.

Recently his descendants have recovered a box of Driesback's belongings from his days at Danvers. Along with a multitude of records, photographs, and drawings, five sculptures were discovered - this idol is one of them. This idol is listed in Driesback's correspondence as being "Idol number 2," apparently named by Hodge as "The Monstrance of Innsmouth."

Based off of original drawings and transcriptions of recorded sessions between Hodge and Driesback this idol is believed to be authentic. Scholars believe this idol to be one of the most significant of the series as it mirrors the monstrances of the Catholic faith and serves as a vessel for the "host." In this instance the "host" is in what is believed by many to be the source of Hodge's "insanity" - a piece of stolen gold from the New England town of Innsmouth.

In one of his recorded sessions Hodge mentions discovering the gold while working as a census taker as a youth. While in the town of Innsmouth he stole this particular nugget from a shrine inside a dilapidated church dedicated to a pagan god.

Lovecraft himself mentions Hodge in Shadow Over Innsmouth..."Nobody can ever keep track of these people, and state school officials and census men have a devil of a time. You can bet that prying strangers ain't welcome around Innsmouth. I've heard personally of more'n one business or government man that's disappeared there, and there's loose talk of one who went crazy and is out at Danvers now. They must have fixed
up some awful scare for that fellow."

The Monstrance of Innsmouth is approx. 9 inches tall by 6 inches wide with a removable piece of Innsmouth gold located in the center.

The other Hodge Idols can be found here:

#1 - The Shrine of Bothria ([link] )

#3 - The Crown of Worms ([link] )

#4 - The Crypt of The Abominable Ones ([link] )

#5 - The Cthulhu Reliquary ( [link] )

PRIVATE COLLECTION, USA