Ok I give up what the hell is a cthulhu? [spelling corrected by admin out of fear] (1 Viewer)

The undersea-dwelling, octopoidal central figure of a "mythos", a whole Lovecraft-concocted mythology, and member of the "pantheon" of alien beings (The Old Ones---actually he's only a "cousin") that originates from outside of our dimension. They once ruled the Earth, but were banished (by their opponents (Nodens and company). However, they constantly threaten to break through from outside of known space---most of them dwell between the spaces---and re-establish dominion over the Earth. They usually either (a) devour people outright or (b) have "obscene relations" with them, which often results in horrific hybrid offspring. (It's horror fantasy. Go figure.)
In Lovecraftian parlance (please note the correct spelling), the name rhymes (sort of) with "toodle-loo".
The signature story you should read is, of course, "The Call of Cthulhu".

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The actual sound – as nearly as human organs could imitate it or human letters record it – may be taken as something like Khlûl’-hloo, with the first syllable pronounced gutturally and very thickly. The u is about like that in full; and the first syllable is not unlike klul in sound, since the h represents the guttural thickness. The second syllable is not very well rendered – the l sound being unrepresented. (to Duane Rimel, 23 July 1934)

However, he did write others with differing pronounciations and was heard to say "Koot-u-lew" by a friend. In any event, the name was never meant to be said by a human mouth.
As for the scary/silly question: well, no, it's not 'all your base are belong to us'. There are quite a few people who have a lot of fun with it (I guess your school didn't have a Campus Crusade for Cthulhu? What a pity.) but HP Lovecraft wrote straight horror without a drop of humor in it. The horror lies not in Cthulhu's (or Yog-Sothoth's or any of the others) appearance, but in what they represent. They represent a blind, meaningless universe in which the cares and concerns of humankind mean nothing. If Lovecraft's works don't resonate with you, that's fine. Most people don't care for his writings. But to say they are 'silly' based on just a description of one creature is missing the point completely.
Here is where one can read the story where Cthulhu makes his first appearance. The opening paragraph pretty much sums up Lovecraft's vision of horror:
"The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the light into the peace and safety of a new dark age."
I suppose you either "get it" or you don't. Frankly, I feel sorry for those who don't.

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Anyone know much information about the link to the Metallica song, Call of The Ktulu?

I don't know why they spelled it that way, but 'Cthulhu' isn't copyrighted.

It's a decent enough song, but I think Cthulhu Dawn by Cradle of Filth is quite a bit better. But for all out Lovecraft songs, you can't go wrong with Darkest of the Hillside Thickets, especially their Cthulhu Dreams.

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