Dearest friends. I apologize in advance if the tag is mislabelled, if this post isn’t done correctly, or any other error.
For the past few years I have felt an INTENSE calling to The King in Yellow, whom I believe to be Hastur. Despite reading quite a few works on the Lovecraftian current, he is most commonly either not present or simply a footnote, mentioned once and never again. So I come to ask you if there are tomes focused on Hastur centrally, or if there’s anything close enough. Thank you.
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Personally I would just call on him I can’t think of any book like in a ritual book way, but I just evoke him and go from there a simple method is just pray to the entity that you wish to work with speck from your heart and evoke them
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The King in Yellow was written by Robert W. Chambers in 1895, years before Lovecraft ever wrote a single word and was, in fact, H.P’s inspiration for the Necronomicon (The King in Yellow is a collection of connected stories revolving around a play that drives those who read it mad so you can see the obvious parallels).
Hastur originated in a story in Ambrose Bierce’s Haita the Shepherd, where he was referred to as the god of shepherds. The name was then taken by Chambers and used for a character in The King in Yellow and then, as already mentioned, Lovecraft took inspiration from Chambers’ book and the name found its way into the Mythos. He is only mentioned in two Lovecraft stories, however, mostly as a benevolent foe of the Old Ones so that is likely why there is no real information on him. He was never described or used in any major way.
Other authors such as August Derleth turned Hastur into a Great Old One and he figured more prominently in his stories so maybe try reading some of those. Hastur makes an appearance in Derleth’s short story, “The Gable Window,” for example.
Hastur also features in some of the novels of English author Brian Lumley.
As far as occult tomes go, I don’t think there are any about Hastur. He’s not mentioned in either S. Ben Qayin’s Black Book of Azathoth or in Donald Tyson’s Necronomicon series.
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I assume you have the book by Robert Chambers? I just got it but didn’t read it yet 
There’s no grimoires I’m aware on as he’s not a “demon” from a traditional grimoiric current, anything you find will be modern - BUT then again if you are calling Hastur using this egregore as a sort of mark, then you’re free to use .
Technically I agree with DarkestKnight that he is not “Lovecraftian” as the main work is not by Lovecraft - he was invented by Chambers and Lovecraft made a mention of him. Gothic horror, yes.
There’s some great expositions about the character on youtube.
Like all fictional characters this is an egregore, which gives you a bit of leeway in inventing how he is - he’s created by humans and belongs to humans, how you work with him will have an effect on him, more strongly than with sovereign entities. But there’s a huge fanbase of fan-authored stories as well that feed into this, and it’s a gothic-horror fanbase, and humans are great at making up really awful scenarios (think Grimdark) so, yeah, be careful what you wish for, you don’t know what they have contributed into the shared astral where this entity lives.
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Thank you all dearly for the replies.
I’ll admit a personal fault of mine is being rather unimaginative in occult business, so this might prove a little challenge. But I will try, thank you.
Yes, I am aware of his literary origins. I’d say he still qualifies for Lovecraftian current, or atleast adjacent. It’s also much more convenient to put him in the box of Lovecraftian Current than the whole wide demonic collective. Thank you for the pointers however.
Yup, I’ve read the book. Maybe a bit too much. Thank you for the advice and pointers, I’ll be careful.
The character of Hastur evolved from his origins as a shepherd god, to an undefined supernatural being, to a Great Old One and it was August Dereth that was primarily responsible for him becoming part of the Cthulhu Mythos. Derleth was responsible for establishing quite a bit of the Mythos lore and was actually the one to coin that term, so yes, Hastur is included in the Lovecraftian current, though he’s not a major player and is more of a second stringer.
You can actually find a sigil for Hastur (misspelled as Haster) in the 1586 Necronomicon. It’s free on the interwebs so just Google for it.
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I purchased a booklet from Finbarr , The Guardian Angels Of The Ancients - The Primeval Lords. The Old Ones are introduced as the oldest religion on the planet, predating Christianity. By that standard, Hastur has been around a lot longer than Bierce, Chambers, Derlith, and Lovecraft combined. Yes there is a basic ritual for Hastur. He is the one to call on for protection against enemies.
As your probably aware the Finbarr owner died, but you can possibly get it from Daemonic Dreams (Etsy). last I heard, once their stock of Finbarr is gone it will most likely go out of print. If that sounds interesting ,you should probably buy it right away as you may not have another chance.
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There is also a book “The Hermeticism of Hastur” (Amazon). I have not personally read it , so you’ll have to use your own judgement. It looks to me a more philosophical work than a magick grimoire
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