Hehe, inspired by ___ assumption sometimes goes too far.
You know as a writer he must have read a lot of things, and ideas always have their similarities if you think too much.
Lavos seems quite a bit different in nature than the Lovecraft's Elder Gods... where Lavos directly impacted human evolution, the Elder Gods more or less distance themselves from human-kind and only interact with them if contacted in some way
In At the Mountains of Madness, the creatures on the earth were said to be actually created by "The Old Ones", before Cthulhu arrived earth.
It was under the sea, at first for food and later for other purposes, that
they first created earth life - using available substances according to
long-known methods. The more elaborate experiments came after the
annihilation of various cosmic enemies. They had done the same thing on
other planets, having manufactured not only necessary foods, but certain
multicellular protoplasmic masses capable of molding their tissues into
all sorts of temporary organs under hypnotic influence and thereby forming
ideal slaves to perform the heavy work of the community. These viscous
masses were without doubt what Abdul Alhazred whispered about as the
"Shoggoths" in his frightful Necronomicon, though even that mad Arab had
not hinted that any existed on earth except in the dreams of those who had
chewed a certain alkaloidal herb. When the star-headed Old Ones on this
planet had synthesized their simple food forms and bred a good supply of
Shoggoths, they allowed other cell groups to develop into other forms of
animal and vegetable life for sundry purposes, extirpating any whose
presence became troublesome.
BTW, I guess Ed were referring to
The Call of Cthulhu (also many other works which I'm less familiar with), about the dream world.
"Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn."
"In his house at R'lyeh dead Cthulhu waits dreaming."
That is not dead which can eternal lie,
And with strange aeons even death may die.
...............................................................the nightmare corpse-city
of R'lyeh, that was built in measureless aeons behind history by the vast,
loathsome shapes that seeped down from the dark stars. There lay great
Cthulhu and his hordes, hidden in green slimy vaults and sending out at
last, after cycles incalculable, the thoughts that spread fear to the
dreams of the sensitive and called imperiously to the faithfull to come on
a pilgrimage of liberation and restoration.
