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Beyond the Wall of Sleep
Beyond the Wall of Sleep" is a short story by American writer H. P. Lovecraft written in 1919 and first published in the amateur publication Pine Cones in October 1919. Inspiration Lovecraft said the story was inspired by an April 27, 1919 article in the New York Tribune. Reporting on the New York state police, the article cited a family named Slater or Slahter as representative of the backwards Catskills population. The nova mentioned at the end of Lovecraft's story is a real star, known as GK Persei; the quotation is from Garrett P. Serviss' Astronomy with the Naked Eye (1908). The title of the story may have been influenced by Ambrose Bierce's "Beyond the Wall"; Lovecraft was known to be reading Bierce in 1919. Jack London's 1906 novel Before Adam, which concerns the concept of hereditary memory, contains the passage, "Nor...did any of my human kind ever break through the wall of my sleep.
17 pages, ebook
First published April 1, 1919
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About the author
H.P. Lovecraft
6,111 books19.3k followersHoward Phillips Lovecraft, of Providence, Rhode Island, was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction.
Lovecraft's major inspiration and invention was cosmic horror: life is incomprehensible to human minds and the universe is fundamentally alien. Those who genuinely reason, like his protagonists, gamble with sanity. Lovecraft has developed a cult following for his Cthulhu Mythos, a series of loosely interconnected fictions featuring a pantheon of human-nullifying entities, as well as the Necronomicon, a fictional grimoire of magical rites and forbidden lore. His works were deeply pessimistic and cynical, challenging the values of the Enlightenment, Romanticism and Christianity. Lovecraft's protagonists usually achieve the mirror-opposite of traditional gnosis and mysticism by momentarily glimpsing the horror of ultimate reality.
Although Lovecraft's readership was limited during his life, his reputation has grown over the decades. He is now commonly regarded as one of the most influential horror writers of the 20th Century, exerting widespread and indirect influence, and frequently compared to Edgar Allan Poe.
See also Howard Phillips Lovecraft.
— Wikipedia
Lovecraft's major inspiration and invention was cosmic horror: life is incomprehensible to human minds and the universe is fundamentally alien. Those who genuinely reason, like his protagonists, gamble with sanity. Lovecraft has developed a cult following for his Cthulhu Mythos, a series of loosely interconnected fictions featuring a pantheon of human-nullifying entities, as well as the Necronomicon, a fictional grimoire of magical rites and forbidden lore. His works were deeply pessimistic and cynical, challenging the values of the Enlightenment, Romanticism and Christianity. Lovecraft's protagonists usually achieve the mirror-opposite of traditional gnosis and mysticism by momentarily glimpsing the horror of ultimate reality.
Although Lovecraft's readership was limited during his life, his reputation has grown over the decades. He is now commonly regarded as one of the most influential horror writers of the 20th Century, exerting widespread and indirect influence, and frequently compared to Edgar Allan Poe.
See also Howard Phillips Lovecraft.
— Wikipedia
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October 10, 2018
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Author of the horrific, the Gothic and the fantastic, a man who lived his short life as a recluse in his hometown of Providence, Rhode Island until his premature death at age 47, Beyond the Wall of Sleep is H. P. Lovecraft’s (1890-1939) classic tale of a reality less visible than our everyday earthbound material existence.
A quote from the opening paragraph: “We may guess that in dreams life, matter, and vitality, as the earth knows such things, are not necessarily constant; and that time and space do not exist as our waking selves comprehend them. Sometimes I believe that this less material life is our truer life, and that our vain presence on the terraqueous globe is itself the secondary or merely virtual phenomenon.”
With this statement from our narrator, a young intern working at a mental hospital in the state of New York during the winter of 1900, we hear echoes of the shamanic worldview of many indigenous tribespeople and, more specifically, the dreamtime of the Australian Aborigines, that is, how the world of dreams is more enduring, more intense, more meaningful and, in terms of our vital spiritual life, more real than the ordinary world perceived by our senses.
However, this general philosophic reflection only sets the stage for the tale’s unfolding; specifically, how a 40-year old mountaineer from the rustic, wild Catskill Mountains by the name of Joe Slater is brought to the mental hospital after he brutally murdered a neighbor in a fit of insane rage.
Then, once at the hospital, Joe has his first episode of supercharged frenzy requiring four orderlies and a straitjacket. The narrator relates, “Slater raved for up to fifteen minutes, babbling in his backwoods dialect of great edifices of light, oceans of space, strange music and shadowy mountains and valleys. But most of all did he dwell upon some mysterious blazing entity that shook and laughed and mocked him.” Since Joe Slater could neither read nor write, nor was he ever acquainted with legends or fairy tales, the doctors remained baffled as to the basis or root cause of Joe’s visions, concluding the source to be nothing more definite than “abnormal dreams.”
Let’s pause here and explore an alternate explanation developed by psychiatrist Carl Jung. As a young doctor, Jung came in contact with a patient in a mental institution whose lack of education was similar to Joe Slater, a patient who suffered from paranoid-schizophrenia and reported seeing the sun’s dangling phallus whose motion caused wind to blow on earth.
As it turns out, this exact ‘phallus dangling from the sun’ imagery is part of the ancient Mithraic religion practiced by many Roman soldiers and having roots going back to very ancient Egypt. Jung concluded such a strikingly similar vision reported by his patient and incorporated into the ancient religion of Mithras arise from a common deep-seated psychic source we all share as humans, a source Jung termed the collective unconscious.
Within the collective unconscious there are certain primal images or motifs, for example, the image of the dangling phallus, and such primal images Jung termed archetypes. And each of these archetypal primal images have their shadow side, a shadow side that can be negative, destructive, and very, very threatening. Thus, employing this Jungian interpretation, the mysterious blazing entity that shook, laughed, and mocked Joe Slater, could be viewed as the shadow of a primal archetype from the collective unconscious.
Returning to the tale, the narrator goes on to relate how Joe Slater is not only a passive recipient of dream images, including the recurring image of some hideous, tormenting being, but when entering the dream world Joe becomes an active participant with an altered identity, that is, amazing as it might seem, Joe becomes himself a being of light. We read: “This thing had done Slater some hideous but unnamed wrong, which the maniac (if maniac he were) yearned to avenge. From the manner in which Slater alluded to their dealings, I judged that he and the luminous thing had met on equal terms; that in his dream existence the man was himself a luminous thing of the same race as his enemy. This impression was sustained by his frequent references to flying through space and burning all that impeded his progress.”
If this weird Lovecraft twist isn’t enough, the tale offers us much more: the narrator’s curiosity prompts him to ask himself if the light being inhabiting Joe Slater is perhaps attempting to directly communicate with him, the sensitive, perceptive, open-minded intern. Such curiosity prompts the narrator to unpack a long forgotten instrument he built back in his college days, a transmitting apparatus somewhat akin to a crude radio where he could, unbeknownst to the doctors or the authorities of his mental hospital, hook up to both Joe Slater’s head and his own head in order to possibly receive transmissions or some mysterious communications from the realm of light.
Of course, since the narrator will be conducting his experiments entirely in secret, he is very well aware he is crossing the line, that his hooking up his transmitting contraption to a mental patient’s head is highly unethical. But his curiosity is simply too strong for him to resist. One wonders if H .P. Lovecraft was making a statement about the moral and ethical integrity of people working with patients in mental hospitals, since, after all, when the author was three years old his own father entered a mental institution where he remained until his death five years later.
Anyway, the experiments are carried out. And the findings? I wouldn’t want to spoil by saying anything more specific, but I will note how the weirdness of this tale isn’t only ratcheted up one notch but, from this point forward we as readers are provided a triple dose of weirdness, that’s right, three more unexpected twists and bizarre turns in the unfolding of the tale’s mysterious and astonishing happening to keep any fan of fantastic Gothic horror in suspense right up until the last sentence.
Coda: I can personally relate to this Lovecraft tale since years ago I myself had a powerful dream were I encountered a luminous being. Fortunately, unlike Joe Slater, my luminous being was blazing with the energy of enlightenment and compassion. Thank goodness!
This tale is available on-line:
http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/t...
Author of the horrific, the Gothic and the fantastic, a man who lived his short life as a recluse in his hometown of Providence, Rhode Island until his premature death at age 47, Beyond the Wall of Sleep is H. P. Lovecraft’s (1890-1939) classic tale of a reality less visible than our everyday earthbound material existence.
A quote from the opening paragraph: “We may guess that in dreams life, matter, and vitality, as the earth knows such things, are not necessarily constant; and that time and space do not exist as our waking selves comprehend them. Sometimes I believe that this less material life is our truer life, and that our vain presence on the terraqueous globe is itself the secondary or merely virtual phenomenon.”
With this statement from our narrator, a young intern working at a mental hospital in the state of New York during the winter of 1900, we hear echoes of the shamanic worldview of many indigenous tribespeople and, more specifically, the dreamtime of the Australian Aborigines, that is, how the world of dreams is more enduring, more intense, more meaningful and, in terms of our vital spiritual life, more real than the ordinary world perceived by our senses.
However, this general philosophic reflection only sets the stage for the tale’s unfolding; specifically, how a 40-year old mountaineer from the rustic, wild Catskill Mountains by the name of Joe Slater is brought to the mental hospital after he brutally murdered a neighbor in a fit of insane rage.
Then, once at the hospital, Joe has his first episode of supercharged frenzy requiring four orderlies and a straitjacket. The narrator relates, “Slater raved for up to fifteen minutes, babbling in his backwoods dialect of great edifices of light, oceans of space, strange music and shadowy mountains and valleys. But most of all did he dwell upon some mysterious blazing entity that shook and laughed and mocked him.” Since Joe Slater could neither read nor write, nor was he ever acquainted with legends or fairy tales, the doctors remained baffled as to the basis or root cause of Joe’s visions, concluding the source to be nothing more definite than “abnormal dreams.”
Let’s pause here and explore an alternate explanation developed by psychiatrist Carl Jung. As a young doctor, Jung came in contact with a patient in a mental institution whose lack of education was similar to Joe Slater, a patient who suffered from paranoid-schizophrenia and reported seeing the sun’s dangling phallus whose motion caused wind to blow on earth.
As it turns out, this exact ‘phallus dangling from the sun’ imagery is part of the ancient Mithraic religion practiced by many Roman soldiers and having roots going back to very ancient Egypt. Jung concluded such a strikingly similar vision reported by his patient and incorporated into the ancient religion of Mithras arise from a common deep-seated psychic source we all share as humans, a source Jung termed the collective unconscious.
Within the collective unconscious there are certain primal images or motifs, for example, the image of the dangling phallus, and such primal images Jung termed archetypes. And each of these archetypal primal images have their shadow side, a shadow side that can be negative, destructive, and very, very threatening. Thus, employing this Jungian interpretation, the mysterious blazing entity that shook, laughed, and mocked Joe Slater, could be viewed as the shadow of a primal archetype from the collective unconscious.
Returning to the tale, the narrator goes on to relate how Joe Slater is not only a passive recipient of dream images, including the recurring image of some hideous, tormenting being, but when entering the dream world Joe becomes an active participant with an altered identity, that is, amazing as it might seem, Joe becomes himself a being of light. We read: “This thing had done Slater some hideous but unnamed wrong, which the maniac (if maniac he were) yearned to avenge. From the manner in which Slater alluded to their dealings, I judged that he and the luminous thing had met on equal terms; that in his dream existence the man was himself a luminous thing of the same race as his enemy. This impression was sustained by his frequent references to flying through space and burning all that impeded his progress.”
If this weird Lovecraft twist isn’t enough, the tale offers us much more: the narrator’s curiosity prompts him to ask himself if the light being inhabiting Joe Slater is perhaps attempting to directly communicate with him, the sensitive, perceptive, open-minded intern. Such curiosity prompts the narrator to unpack a long forgotten instrument he built back in his college days, a transmitting apparatus somewhat akin to a crude radio where he could, unbeknownst to the doctors or the authorities of his mental hospital, hook up to both Joe Slater’s head and his own head in order to possibly receive transmissions or some mysterious communications from the realm of light.
Of course, since the narrator will be conducting his experiments entirely in secret, he is very well aware he is crossing the line, that his hooking up his transmitting contraption to a mental patient’s head is highly unethical. But his curiosity is simply too strong for him to resist. One wonders if H .P. Lovecraft was making a statement about the moral and ethical integrity of people working with patients in mental hospitals, since, after all, when the author was three years old his own father entered a mental institution where he remained until his death five years later.
Anyway, the experiments are carried out. And the findings? I wouldn’t want to spoil by saying anything more specific, but I will note how the weirdness of this tale isn’t only ratcheted up one notch but, from this point forward we as readers are provided a triple dose of weirdness, that’s right, three more unexpected twists and bizarre turns in the unfolding of the tale’s mysterious and astonishing happening to keep any fan of fantastic Gothic horror in suspense right up until the last sentence.
Coda: I can personally relate to this Lovecraft tale since years ago I myself had a powerful dream were I encountered a luminous being. Fortunately, unlike Joe Slater, my luminous being was blazing with the energy of enlightenment and compassion. Thank goodness!
This tale is available on-line:
http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/t...
May 15, 2019
This story was written in 1919, when Lovecraft was only 29, but it is one of the most concentrated and effective tales of his early maturity. It is based on a passage from an article in The New York Tribune (“How Our State Police Have Spurred Our Way to Fame,” 4/27/19), which uses a particularly degenerate family—the Slaters or Slahters—as a typical example of the decadent dwellers of the remote regions of the Catskills.
In Lovecraft’s story, an unnamed intern in a “state psychopathic institution” describes the strange behavior and visions of one Joe Slater (or Slaader) whom he observed and with whom he conversed. It begins with this description of Slater:
...his appearance was that of the typical denizen of the Catskill Mountain region; one of those strange, repellent scions of a primitive colonial peasant stock whose isolation for nearly three centuries in the hilly fastnesses of a little-travelled countryside has caused them to sink to a kind of barbaric degeneracy, rather than advance with their more fortunately placed brethren of the thickly settled districts. Among these odd folk, who correspond exactly to the decadent element of “white trash” in the South, law and morals are non-existent; and their general mental status is probably below that of any other section of the native American people.Soon, though, our narrator, “a constant speculator concerning dream life,” begins to realize Joe’s ravings and visions are quite extraordinary:
The sum of all my investigation was, that in a kind of semi-uncorporeal dream life Slater wandered or floated through resplendent and prodigious valleys, meadows, gardens, cities, and palaces of light; in a region unbounded and unknown to man. That there he was no peasant or degenerate, but a creature of importance and vivid life; moving proudly and dominantly, and checked only by a certain deadly enemy, who seemed to be a being of visible yet ethereal structure, and who did not appear to be of human shape, since Slater never referred to it as a man, or as aught save a thing. This thing had done Slater some hideous but unnamed wrong, which the maniac (if maniac he were) yearned to avenge.. It is then that the intern, wishing to learn more than the inarticulate speech of Joe can reveal, constructs an electronic apparatus by which he can himself can see and hear Joe’s dreams. His account of what he meets in that dreamworld comprises the rest of the story.
Although I have little use for such cumbersome electronic devices—some inexplicable mental sympathy between two beings is enough explanation for me—I found the rest of the tale engrossing, and the intern’s connection both to Slater and to Slater’s dream-self (who is, in a real sense, not Slater) to be emotionally moving and disturbing at the same time.
All in all, a good tale, worth a try.
June 4, 2019
The line between reality and dreams is blurring in this great short story. Did Joe Slater, a degenerate hick, really kill a man or was he filled by another entity, something cosmic, something from beyond? In this great story Lovecraft comes up with a first person narrator who uses modern radio technology to reveal Slater's secret page by page. His superior doesn't believe him though he's fully convinced that he got a glimpse into another reality flying together with Joe Slater through a strange land. Well written, eerie, fantastic, a symphony of dream and nightmare. I can only recommend this accomplished story. Lovecraft leads you into a dreamland you'll never forget!
January 10, 2015
'How little does the earth-self know of life and its extent!'Dreams play an important role in Lovecraft's stories. This one doesn't belong to Cthulhu mythos. It is about the importance of dreaming and an opinion on what exactly the dreams mean. The narrator labels Freud's dream analysis as silly (puerile is the word used). He allows that some dreams are not that important, but there are others that have deeper meaning, the ones that show us something that most ordinary people wouldn't understand.
'We may guess that in dreams life, matter, and vitality, as the earth knows such things, are not necessarily constant; and that time and space do not exist as our waking selves comprehend them.'
Told by a narrator who works at an asylum, Beyond the Wall of Sleep tells a story of a disturbed man whose case woke up the narrator's old interest in dreams.
Joe Slater is committed to the asylum where our narrator works. He seemed to have two separate lives: the one when he is awake and the stranger one when he is dreaming. He is uneducated, dull, violent and an alcoholic. Oh, and a murderer. He gets worse as the time goes by and the narrator decides to get to the bottom of his bizarre behaviour. And he has just the right instruments to do it ('Now, in my intense desire to probe into the dream life of Joe Slater, I sought these instruments again.')
July 9, 2024
Inspired by a short story in You Like It Darker, I returned to an old companion from my youth.
It was very interesting to re-read this short story written in 1919, but yet feels very contemporary.
The eerie atmosphere combined with a hint of sci-fi still feels very modern, even more than a century later.
I see how this has inspired the short story "The Dreamers" and I would recommend to read it after the story by Stephen King.
It was very interesting to re-read this short story written in 1919, but yet feels very contemporary.
The eerie atmosphere combined with a hint of sci-fi still feels very modern, even more than a century later.
I see how this has inspired the short story "The Dreamers" and I would recommend to read it after the story by Stephen King.
April 20, 2014
I love H.P. Lovecraft but HOLY SHIT he is extremely racist.
October 9, 2015
Read Here (hattip to Glenn)
Opening: I have frequently wondered if the majority of mankind ever pause to reflect upon the occasionally titanic significance of dreams, and of the obscure world to which they belong. Whilst the greater number of our nocturnal visions are perhaps no more than faint and fantastic reflections of our waking experiences—Freud to the contrary with his puerile symbolism—there are still a certain remainder whose immundane and ethereal character permits of no ordinary interpretation, and whose vaguely exciting and disquieting effect suggests possible minute glimpses into a sphere of mental existence no less important than physical life, yet separated from that life by an all but impassable barrier.
Joe Slaader is white trash from the isolated region of the Catskills Mountains...Lovecraft's stories are seriously unsettling yet this one held a wonderment.
A month of Halloween 2015 reads:#1: 3* Nobody True by James Herbert: fraudio
#2: 4* The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard: fraudio
#3: 1* Brain Child by John Saul: fraudio
#4: 3* Domain (Rats #3) by James Herbert: fraudio
#5: 3* The Mourning Vessels by Peter Luther: paperback
#6: 2* The Doom of the Great City: ebook short-story
#7: 5* Long After Midnight by Ray Bradbury: fraudio
#8: 5* The Dead Zone by Stephen King: fraudio
#9: CR The Chalice: hardback
#11: CR Tales of Men and Ghosts: gutenberg
#12: 2* Shattered by Dean Koontz: fraudio
#13: 5* The Dunwich Horror: e-book: gutenberg
#14: CR Death At Intervals: paperback
#15: 3* Alone: gutenberg
#16: CR The Shunned House: gutenberg
#17: CR The Thing on the Doorstep: ebook
#18: 2* Shadows by Saul: fraudio
#19: CR Precious Cargo: paperback
#20: 2* The Magicians of the Golden Dawn: ebook
#21: 2* The Book of Black Magic
#22: 4* Beyond the Wall of Sleep
September 24, 2024
One of Lovecraft’s simpler tales. It’s the story of a man - native to Appalachia - who seemingly went mad and killed someone. He is acquitted by reason of insanity and sent to an asylum. The man has incredibly intense and vivid waking dreams. A young doctor there does experiments on the man, trying to link their minds, so that he too may experience these dreams. He suspects - rightly it turns out - that they may be much more than just dreams.
This is Lovecraft at his simplest and most effective. No frill, but creepy as hell. It bringing you a vastly expanded sense of the universe and an equally diminished sense of your self in it.
One thing to add about this tale is that is argues somewhat against HPL’s notorious well known racism. The dreamer in the tale is a white, poor, unlettered Appalachian. It is clear that Lovecraft has an equally disdainful view of these white folk. A fair amount of his racism may really have been an almost equally unpleasant classism or grotesque snobbery. Just a thought.
This is Lovecraft at his simplest and most effective. No frill, but creepy as hell. It bringing you a vastly expanded sense of the universe and an equally diminished sense of your self in it.
One thing to add about this tale is that is argues somewhat against HPL’s notorious well known racism. The dreamer in the tale is a white, poor, unlettered Appalachian. It is clear that Lovecraft has an equally disdainful view of these white folk. A fair amount of his racism may really have been an almost equally unpleasant classism or grotesque snobbery. Just a thought.
November 6, 2017
Stumbling my way back from my personal 40 Days & Nights, a book lover's arid reading slump, I seem to have made the unconscious decision to plunge into the vortex of sci-fi/fantasy in the form of both classic 'I've been meaning tos' & those more recently added to my ever-towering TBR. What can I say, quests & monsters from the mysterious depths seem to be the perfect cure for even the most stubborn of slumps.
That being said, I thought this was the perfect time for one of my biggest 'I've been meaning tos:' H.P. Lovecraft. Lovecraft short stories have been stacking up on my kindle since time immemorable (reading slumps make me a tad hyperbolic) & I spotted a decent collection at the library to fill in some of the gaps– fate! So I cracked open a notebook, preparing to record the random bits of genius I was sure to encounter, and set to reading.
I definitely haven't been disappointed in Lovecraft's writing up to this point. I've dipped a toe into the depths of Cthulhu with The Tomb, sworn off any future explorations of slimy isles with a preponderance of dead fish whilst reading Dagon, and enjoyably questioned in which reality I was reading Lovecraft's Polaris because, let's face it, reading is probably what consumes any sleep-worlds I might encounter just as it does this waking one. I've become fond of his prose and I can see the ripples towards current sci-fi and fantasy in each storyline.
I didn't end up falling down the Research Rabbit Hole until I read the following in Beyond the Wall of Sleep:
Now, I'm not going to plead ignorance but rather admit to it. Lovecraft has been back-burnered for me for years so I've not delved much further into Lovecraftian history and lore than being able to recognize a Cthulhu plushie if one should cross my path.
I've read my fair share of classics and am decently versed in that sinking feeling when you realize an incredibly intelligent author that has had a large influence in shaping the context & content of literature was also a raging idiot that foamed at the mouth along with the crowd when it came to certain social issues. Classism, sexism, racism, the list goes on and on and on. There's little more to do than to scratch your head in wonder unless you feel lead to seek out their resting place for a bit of a tantrum or requisition a Ouija board for the scholarly pursuit of a conversation that might explain some of their more glaring deficiencies.
For most authors I stand firmly in the middle of "they were a result of their era" & "they should have risen above their era because I respect their work & how dare they entertain the idiocies of mere mortals." Okay, possibly slightly skewed towards the latter. Still, I didn't actually know whether to take the above quote as racism from Lovecraft or part of his characterization of an unreliable narrator. Hence, the Research Rabbit Hole & subsequent sinking feeling.
As I was reading, I took the quote in stride with the rest of the narrator's remarks about Slater. His denigration of Slater seems to be part and parcel of his clinical nature. He philosophizes while being the unenlightened one; his interest is piqued by Slater because he realizes that Slater is more than what he sees him as. True, the 'more' is the culmination of the fantastical element but a reader could see this as part of the dereliction of an unreliable narrator. The character's racism being part of that which eclipses his view of the totality of Slater– his "brother of light." Of course, Lovecraft's letters and poem (poems? I'm only aware of the one & don't wish to mention the title) provide context that seemingly obliterate my initial takeaways from Beyond but I truly do wish Lovecraft's flaws had cleared from his vision so that he could have seen that sort of kinship betwixt all people.
To be honest, had Lovecraft been working on that level, Beyond would probably merit a five-star rating from me. I guess it says something of how much I've loved the handful of short stories I've read so far that I thought that, despite his era, he might have the propensity to layer this particular story in such a way. So, to that question of whether Lovecraft and his ilk retain their quality when they prove to be flawed humans...
In Julien Barnes' The Send of an Ending, there is a discussion between a teacher & his students about history, i.e. what is history. One student, the one esteemed as a genius by teachers and peers, replies, “That's one of the central problems of history, isn't it, sir? The question of subjective versus objective interpretation, the fact that we need to know the history of the historian in order to understand the version that is being put in front of us.”
While literature skews that slightly– I don't believe readers must know the history of an author to find enjoyment or understanding in a story because those shades of enjoyment and understanding vary from person to person and, as such, are supremely subjective –I think it's an apt quote in the argument of quality. I don't see my foray into Lovecraft subsiding because of his racism but it does change the tenor of his voice & what I might get from his other stories. I don't think an artist's character should be separated from his work; an artist's character gives another layer of understanding to what we're seeing & what might be learned from it. Even if that layer of understanding is the realization that talented writers are simply flawed human beings like the rest of us or that talent, even genius, though achieved in one area of a one's life doesn't remove one from striving to better ourselves & the world around us, to being challenged by one's time instead of surrendering to it.
In all fairness, my rating might well be influenced by my research but I tried to focus on rating in comparison to the other short stories read. Without that layer that I initially heard entwined throughout this character, the previous stories have been more enjoyable. I do think I'll recall this short story if I ever find myself glaring a little too harshly at any future idols, however. It's the first instance where I've had that experience of initial interpretation vs. author context and I'm not quite sure whether it was just a matter of that being where my head was at the moment or, as mentioned above, I was just enjoying the previous stories to that extent & seeing such a kinship with modern writing that Lovecraft's era & potential personality didn't factor into things immediately.
That being said, I thought this was the perfect time for one of my biggest 'I've been meaning tos:' H.P. Lovecraft. Lovecraft short stories have been stacking up on my kindle since time immemorable (reading slumps make me a tad hyperbolic) & I spotted a decent collection at the library to fill in some of the gaps– fate! So I cracked open a notebook, preparing to record the random bits of genius I was sure to encounter, and set to reading.
I definitely haven't been disappointed in Lovecraft's writing up to this point. I've dipped a toe into the depths of Cthulhu with The Tomb, sworn off any future explorations of slimy isles with a preponderance of dead fish whilst reading Dagon, and enjoyably questioned in which reality I was reading Lovecraft's Polaris because, let's face it, reading is probably what consumes any sleep-worlds I might encounter just as it does this waking one. I've become fond of his prose and I can see the ripples towards current sci-fi and fantasy in each storyline.
I didn't end up falling down the Research Rabbit Hole until I read the following in Beyond the Wall of Sleep:
Among these odd folk, who correspond exactly to the decadent element of 'white trash' in the South, law and morals are non-existent; and their general mental status is probably below that of any other section of the native American people.
Now, I'm not going to plead ignorance but rather admit to it. Lovecraft has been back-burnered for me for years so I've not delved much further into Lovecraftian history and lore than being able to recognize a Cthulhu plushie if one should cross my path.
I've read my fair share of classics and am decently versed in that sinking feeling when you realize an incredibly intelligent author that has had a large influence in shaping the context & content of literature was also a raging idiot that foamed at the mouth along with the crowd when it came to certain social issues. Classism, sexism, racism, the list goes on and on and on. There's little more to do than to scratch your head in wonder unless you feel lead to seek out their resting place for a bit of a tantrum or requisition a Ouija board for the scholarly pursuit of a conversation that might explain some of their more glaring deficiencies.
For most authors I stand firmly in the middle of "they were a result of their era" & "they should have risen above their era because I respect their work & how dare they entertain the idiocies of mere mortals." Okay, possibly slightly skewed towards the latter. Still, I didn't actually know whether to take the above quote as racism from Lovecraft or part of his characterization of an unreliable narrator. Hence, the Research Rabbit Hole & subsequent sinking feeling.
As I was reading, I took the quote in stride with the rest of the narrator's remarks about Slater. His denigration of Slater seems to be part and parcel of his clinical nature. He philosophizes while being the unenlightened one; his interest is piqued by Slater because he realizes that Slater is more than what he sees him as. True, the 'more' is the culmination of the fantastical element but a reader could see this as part of the dereliction of an unreliable narrator. The character's racism being part of that which eclipses his view of the totality of Slater– his "brother of light." Of course, Lovecraft's letters and poem (poems? I'm only aware of the one & don't wish to mention the title) provide context that seemingly obliterate my initial takeaways from Beyond but I truly do wish Lovecraft's flaws had cleared from his vision so that he could have seen that sort of kinship betwixt all people.
To be honest, had Lovecraft been working on that level, Beyond would probably merit a five-star rating from me. I guess it says something of how much I've loved the handful of short stories I've read so far that I thought that, despite his era, he might have the propensity to layer this particular story in such a way. So, to that question of whether Lovecraft and his ilk retain their quality when they prove to be flawed humans...
In Julien Barnes' The Send of an Ending, there is a discussion between a teacher & his students about history, i.e. what is history. One student, the one esteemed as a genius by teachers and peers, replies, “That's one of the central problems of history, isn't it, sir? The question of subjective versus objective interpretation, the fact that we need to know the history of the historian in order to understand the version that is being put in front of us.”
While literature skews that slightly– I don't believe readers must know the history of an author to find enjoyment or understanding in a story because those shades of enjoyment and understanding vary from person to person and, as such, are supremely subjective –I think it's an apt quote in the argument of quality. I don't see my foray into Lovecraft subsiding because of his racism but it does change the tenor of his voice & what I might get from his other stories. I don't think an artist's character should be separated from his work; an artist's character gives another layer of understanding to what we're seeing & what might be learned from it. Even if that layer of understanding is the realization that talented writers are simply flawed human beings like the rest of us or that talent, even genius, though achieved in one area of a one's life doesn't remove one from striving to better ourselves & the world around us, to being challenged by one's time instead of surrendering to it.
In all fairness, my rating might well be influenced by my research but I tried to focus on rating in comparison to the other short stories read. Without that layer that I initially heard entwined throughout this character, the previous stories have been more enjoyable. I do think I'll recall this short story if I ever find myself glaring a little too harshly at any future idols, however. It's the first instance where I've had that experience of initial interpretation vs. author context and I'm not quite sure whether it was just a matter of that being where my head was at the moment or, as mentioned above, I was just enjoying the previous stories to that extent & seeing such a kinship with modern writing that Lovecraft's era & potential personality didn't factor into things immediately.
November 4, 2025
I have copied the book blurb of this short story of H. P. Lovecraft’s:
”Beyond the Wall of Sleep" is a short story by American writer H. P. Lovecraft written in 1919 and first published in the amateur publication Pine Cones in October 1919.
Lovecraft said the story was inspired by an April 27, 1919 article in the New York Tribune. Reporting on the New York state police, the article cited a family named Slater or Slahter as representative of the backwards Catskills population. The nova mentioned at the end of Lovecraft's story is a real star, known as GK Persei; the quotation is from Garrett P. Serviss' Astronomy with the Naked Eye (1908).
The title of the story may have been influenced by Ambrose Bierce's "Beyond the Wall"; Lovecraft was known to be reading Bierce in 1919. Jack London's 1906 novel Before Adam, which concerns the concept of hereditary memory, contains the passage, "Nor...did any of my human kind ever break through the wall of my sleep.”
The narrator is an intern who is helping the doctors (alienists, as psychiatrists used to be called) at a state psychiatric institution deal with a murderer called Joe Slater. Slater attacked and murdered a man with his bare hands, and maybe teeth, after waking up (perhaps) from sleeping late in the day as was his habit after a night of heavy drinking. But the intern did not believe he was simply experiencing some sort of sleep disorder or was mentally ill. The intern believed Slater’s mind was mentally transported into a dream realm where his body was taken over by another, smarter, more worldly being. In order to experience whatever Slater was experiencing while asleep, the intern uses what he calls his cosmic dream-radio. The intern fits a transmitter to Slater’s forehead and a receiver to his own forehead. The intern was right! He also makes the interesting discovery stars are living beings.
Ok then.
The short story ‘Beyond the Wall of Sleep’ causes me to wonder if Lovecraft was oblivious of the effects of certain mushrooms and other natural hallucinatory substances on the brain when ingested. Did they have refrigeration in his day? If so, was it available to only wealthy people only or was it possible for regular people to have? In any case, I read in a biography he suffered from hypnopompic hallucinations.
From Google:
”The hallucinatory effects experienced during awakenings with paralysis are known as hypnopompic hallucinations, which are vivid, frightening, and often seem real. These hallucinations can include the perception of a dangerous presence in the room, feeling pressure on the chest, or even sensations of movement. They occur when the brain is transitioning from sleep to wakefulness and has not fully re-established muscle control.”
I have suffered this same waking paralysis! Twice! Once when I was a child, and one other time as an adult in my 40’s. I could not move my body, only my eyes, when I woke up in the middle of the night. To my terror when this happened to me as an adult, I saw a vague figure in black at the foot of my bed. As a child, when I woke up paralyzed, I felt an evil presence, and I felt what I interpreted as a hand on my chest pressing me down. I struggled against my paralysis both times it happened. Then I must have fallen asleep again both times. At any rate, when I woke up hours later feeling quite normal and unparalyzed, I was fine, but more than a little disturbed by what had happened. Did I have a nightmare? When it happened to me as an adult, I googled what had happened, and I was shocked to discover this was an observed brain hiccup which had been given a name due its commonality of occurrence and of being reported by people. I can attest to the scariness during the paralysis. I still find it extremely fascinating, and I can’t help but think of it now and then. I also think about sleepwalkers. I have heard marvelous and amazing stories about the exciting dangers sleepwalkers have discovered themselves in.
It was the paralysis that gave it away to me as some sort of incomplete transition from sleeping to waking. I have a cat now, gentler reader, and I almost always have had a cat in my life. I have seen how in deep sleep her body was inert and seemingly paralyzed, particularly while dreaming, when she was obviously performing a slight twitchy movement of running or eating but without actually getting up to run or eat. I had read people also have some sort of brain/body mechanism while dreaming to minimize the physical body from physically acting out in response to dreams. So even though I did experience fear both times, once I was fully awake after the incident I had as an adult, I suspected this was some sort of mistiming of sorts of my brain/body transition from sleeping to waking. As a child, though, I thought a ghost had roused me at first, then I wondered if my cat had jumped on me. I also woke up, just once, babbling, in my 40’s, or as most people call it, talking in my sleep. I vaguely recall talking to someone in a dream as I woke. I couldn’t stop laughing about this occurrence. It seemed very funny to me, but also, like, wow! Right? Sleep disturbances! Very likely many authors have gotten their best ideas for a story from them…
When I was in 8th grade, I had forgotten about an assignment given by my language arts teacher to write a short story. I ran to the school library, sat down at one of the tables there, and wrote down in ten minutes about a nightmare I had had just that morning before the alarm had gone off. It involved vampires and being chased and defeating them. It was sort of a comedy in my retelling. Why was I dreaming about vampires? Shut up. I got an A, right? And yes, I think Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise are gorgeous in that movie, and I love Ann Rice’s vampire series. You know which one.
The ‘scientific’ (I use the term loosely) plot of this short story is one which is constantly being rebooted today in some form. So, ‘Beyond the Wall of Sleep’ seems dull to me because of its overexposure as a plot of many movies and thriller science fiction novels. I suppose it was original when Lovecraft wrote it? Whatever. It IS a well written version as imagined by Lovecraft. Today, many science fiction movies or series STILL use the weird-wired-helmet-transferrence-of-Brains/Personality-to-another-while-tied-up-to-a-table story.
I know some readers will take issue with how Lovecraft sees what my generation called hillbillies, but us baby boomers saw these depictions of poor southerners/Catskills residents/Appalachian towns all of the time on TV and movies up through the 1970’s.
This is the pilot episode for the long-running hit TV show, The Hillbillies:
https://youtu.be/WrPwGXk69vs?si=eIfhP...
Hmmm. Many of us can’t seem to stop wondering how Lovecraft got his ideas. It appears I am in the company of many of the literary Greats!
”Beyond the Wall of Sleep" is a short story by American writer H. P. Lovecraft written in 1919 and first published in the amateur publication Pine Cones in October 1919.
Lovecraft said the story was inspired by an April 27, 1919 article in the New York Tribune. Reporting on the New York state police, the article cited a family named Slater or Slahter as representative of the backwards Catskills population. The nova mentioned at the end of Lovecraft's story is a real star, known as GK Persei; the quotation is from Garrett P. Serviss' Astronomy with the Naked Eye (1908).
The title of the story may have been influenced by Ambrose Bierce's "Beyond the Wall"; Lovecraft was known to be reading Bierce in 1919. Jack London's 1906 novel Before Adam, which concerns the concept of hereditary memory, contains the passage, "Nor...did any of my human kind ever break through the wall of my sleep.”
The narrator is an intern who is helping the doctors (alienists, as psychiatrists used to be called) at a state psychiatric institution deal with a murderer called Joe Slater. Slater attacked and murdered a man with his bare hands, and maybe teeth, after waking up (perhaps) from sleeping late in the day as was his habit after a night of heavy drinking. But the intern did not believe he was simply experiencing some sort of sleep disorder or was mentally ill. The intern believed Slater’s mind was mentally transported into a dream realm where his body was taken over by another, smarter, more worldly being. In order to experience whatever Slater was experiencing while asleep, the intern uses what he calls his cosmic dream-radio. The intern fits a transmitter to Slater’s forehead and a receiver to his own forehead. The intern was right! He also makes the interesting discovery stars are living beings.
Ok then.
The short story ‘Beyond the Wall of Sleep’ causes me to wonder if Lovecraft was oblivious of the effects of certain mushrooms and other natural hallucinatory substances on the brain when ingested. Did they have refrigeration in his day? If so, was it available to only wealthy people only or was it possible for regular people to have? In any case, I read in a biography he suffered from hypnopompic hallucinations.
From Google:
”The hallucinatory effects experienced during awakenings with paralysis are known as hypnopompic hallucinations, which are vivid, frightening, and often seem real. These hallucinations can include the perception of a dangerous presence in the room, feeling pressure on the chest, or even sensations of movement. They occur when the brain is transitioning from sleep to wakefulness and has not fully re-established muscle control.”
I have suffered this same waking paralysis! Twice! Once when I was a child, and one other time as an adult in my 40’s. I could not move my body, only my eyes, when I woke up in the middle of the night. To my terror when this happened to me as an adult, I saw a vague figure in black at the foot of my bed. As a child, when I woke up paralyzed, I felt an evil presence, and I felt what I interpreted as a hand on my chest pressing me down. I struggled against my paralysis both times it happened. Then I must have fallen asleep again both times. At any rate, when I woke up hours later feeling quite normal and unparalyzed, I was fine, but more than a little disturbed by what had happened. Did I have a nightmare? When it happened to me as an adult, I googled what had happened, and I was shocked to discover this was an observed brain hiccup which had been given a name due its commonality of occurrence and of being reported by people. I can attest to the scariness during the paralysis. I still find it extremely fascinating, and I can’t help but think of it now and then. I also think about sleepwalkers. I have heard marvelous and amazing stories about the exciting dangers sleepwalkers have discovered themselves in.
It was the paralysis that gave it away to me as some sort of incomplete transition from sleeping to waking. I have a cat now, gentler reader, and I almost always have had a cat in my life. I have seen how in deep sleep her body was inert and seemingly paralyzed, particularly while dreaming, when she was obviously performing a slight twitchy movement of running or eating but without actually getting up to run or eat. I had read people also have some sort of brain/body mechanism while dreaming to minimize the physical body from physically acting out in response to dreams. So even though I did experience fear both times, once I was fully awake after the incident I had as an adult, I suspected this was some sort of mistiming of sorts of my brain/body transition from sleeping to waking. As a child, though, I thought a ghost had roused me at first, then I wondered if my cat had jumped on me. I also woke up, just once, babbling, in my 40’s, or as most people call it, talking in my sleep. I vaguely recall talking to someone in a dream as I woke. I couldn’t stop laughing about this occurrence. It seemed very funny to me, but also, like, wow! Right? Sleep disturbances! Very likely many authors have gotten their best ideas for a story from them…
When I was in 8th grade, I had forgotten about an assignment given by my language arts teacher to write a short story. I ran to the school library, sat down at one of the tables there, and wrote down in ten minutes about a nightmare I had had just that morning before the alarm had gone off. It involved vampires and being chased and defeating them. It was sort of a comedy in my retelling. Why was I dreaming about vampires? Shut up. I got an A, right? And yes, I think Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise are gorgeous in that movie, and I love Ann Rice’s vampire series. You know which one.
The ‘scientific’ (I use the term loosely) plot of this short story is one which is constantly being rebooted today in some form. So, ‘Beyond the Wall of Sleep’ seems dull to me because of its overexposure as a plot of many movies and thriller science fiction novels. I suppose it was original when Lovecraft wrote it? Whatever. It IS a well written version as imagined by Lovecraft. Today, many science fiction movies or series STILL use the weird-wired-helmet-transferrence-of-Brains/Personality-to-another-while-tied-up-to-a-table story.
I know some readers will take issue with how Lovecraft sees what my generation called hillbillies, but us baby boomers saw these depictions of poor southerners/Catskills residents/Appalachian towns all of the time on TV and movies up through the 1970’s.
This is the pilot episode for the long-running hit TV show, The Hillbillies:
https://youtu.be/WrPwGXk69vs?si=eIfhP...
Hmmm. Many of us can’t seem to stop wondering how Lovecraft got his ideas. It appears I am in the company of many of the literary Greats!
June 5, 2019
A short but intriguing tale of a psychologist studying a hill billy who has psychotic episodes but doesn't recall them afterward.
March 17, 2020
Now this one was, admittedly, a little more up my alley.
With an air of light speculative fiction, we follow and unnamed narrator--an intern at a mental hospital--on a groping exploration of the nature of dreaming and the unconscious mind. The MC has become fixated on one particular patient named Slater--a crazed murderer, and degenerate denizen of the Catskill Mountain region. Slater experiences nightly "attacks" in which he awakens and rants about otherworldly entities and imagery. Such fantastic ravings from a dim, illiterate man pique the MC's interest.
"Whilst the greater number of our nocturnal visions are perhaps no more than faint and fantastic reflections of our waking experiences—Freud to the contrary with his puerile symbolism—there are still a certain remainder whose immundane and ethereal character permit of no ordinary interpretation, and whose vaguely exciting and disquieting effect suggests possible minute glimpses into a sphere of mental existence no less important than physical life, yet separated from that life by an all but impassable barrier."
For some indiscernible reason, the patient also seems to be dying. There is some hand-waving about a machine the narrator comes up with that allows him to telepathically communicate with Slater as he is on the brink of death, connecting him to the man's dreams.
Which reminded me of something...
But this story came first... and it takes a more straight-forward approach to explaining itself. So I'm not declaring anything derivative. Perhaps just faintly inspired.
Broad sci-fi concepts are touched on, with an air of vastness that both satisfies and leaves things wide open. This one's orbit swings closer to wonderment than most of Lovecraft's more broody, melancholic pieces. And maybe that's why I found more enjoyment in it than usual.
With an air of light speculative fiction, we follow and unnamed narrator--an intern at a mental hospital--on a groping exploration of the nature of dreaming and the unconscious mind. The MC has become fixated on one particular patient named Slater--a crazed murderer, and degenerate denizen of the Catskill Mountain region. Slater experiences nightly "attacks" in which he awakens and rants about otherworldly entities and imagery. Such fantastic ravings from a dim, illiterate man pique the MC's interest.
"Whilst the greater number of our nocturnal visions are perhaps no more than faint and fantastic reflections of our waking experiences—Freud to the contrary with his puerile symbolism—there are still a certain remainder whose immundane and ethereal character permit of no ordinary interpretation, and whose vaguely exciting and disquieting effect suggests possible minute glimpses into a sphere of mental existence no less important than physical life, yet separated from that life by an all but impassable barrier."
For some indiscernible reason, the patient also seems to be dying. There is some hand-waving about a machine the narrator comes up with that allows him to telepathically communicate with Slater as he is on the brink of death, connecting him to the man's dreams.
Which reminded me of something...
But this story came first... and it takes a more straight-forward approach to explaining itself. So I'm not declaring anything derivative. Perhaps just faintly inspired.
Broad sci-fi concepts are touched on, with an air of vastness that both satisfies and leaves things wide open. This one's orbit swings closer to wonderment than most of Lovecraft's more broody, melancholic pieces. And maybe that's why I found more enjoyment in it than usual.
December 14, 2019
"Amidst this elysian realm I dwelt not as a stranger, for each sight and sound was familiar to me; just as it had been for uncounted aeons of eternity before, and would be for like eternities to come."
This is a perfect short story, and I do not say this lightly. Lovecraft's (in)famous purple prose is at its best in 'Beyond the Wall of Sleep'. One of the reasons for this is the author's immense, cyclopean vocabulary and talent for musicality and harmony when writing prose.
The story itself is beyond eerie. What if our bodies are actually hosts to unnameable entities that we can only see in the vague images of our sleep? In 'Beyond the Wall of Sleep', a "thing" inhabits the body of a simple and rustic man, eventually driving the latter virtually insane.
Even to this day Lovecraft continues to amaze me. What an intellect!
This is a perfect short story, and I do not say this lightly. Lovecraft's (in)famous purple prose is at its best in 'Beyond the Wall of Sleep'. One of the reasons for this is the author's immense, cyclopean vocabulary and talent for musicality and harmony when writing prose.
The story itself is beyond eerie. What if our bodies are actually hosts to unnameable entities that we can only see in the vague images of our sleep? In 'Beyond the Wall of Sleep', a "thing" inhabits the body of a simple and rustic man, eventually driving the latter virtually insane.
Even to this day Lovecraft continues to amaze me. What an intellect!
August 11, 2022
The Horrors of Dreaming
6 August 2022 - Eton
Well, I’m sitting in a pub in Eton, the same Eton where the most exclusive school in England is located, drinking a traditional English ale (fortunately not all of the pubs have been taken over by those hipster IPAs, which means that the traditional English craft ales that I experienced the last time I was here still exist), though I am somewhat annoyed that half of the places don’t take cash anymore, which means I get screwed by the fees and charges paying by card (I probably should have taken a multi-currency card, but the last time I used them I still got screwed, though that was SE Asia where cash is king, and highly recommended, anyway).
So, this is one of Lovecraft’s asylum stories (a term I just came up with, namely because it takes place in an asylum, and from my experience with Lovecraft, a lot of his protagonists end up going mad). Anyway, we have this southern hick that seems to be carrying on about these beings that seem to come straight out of fairy tales. I do find it odd that they don’t seem to think that hicks have any understanding of fairy tales considering that these days many of them seem to be living in the world of fairy tales (such as a stolen election that wasn’t actually stolen). Then again, this does happen to have been written back in 1917, and I also suspect that Lovecraft is referring to ideas that only the intelligentsia are exposed to.
He seems to be exploring this idea of ‘beings of light’, something that humans happen to be, but unfortunately are trapped in a world of flesh. This sounds pretty gnostic to me, though it isn’t as if this is something that doesn’t occur in our world – Heaven’s Gate immediately comes to mind. Anyway, he is discussing this idea that when people dream they actually go into their incorporeal form and are able to interact with other incorporeal beings. Actually, it does remind me that there are a lot of theories about the nature of dreams, some of them pretty crazy actually.
The end section of the story is rather interesting, because there is also this idea about the stars in the sky representing gods and other beings. Once again, this is nothing new, but it came about when the protagonist, who happens to be unnamed, and we only know his as the Intern, used a device to enable him to communicate with this inmate telepathically. Ironically, it only worked with him, not with others.
I guess there is also an exploration of the nature of insanity. Obviously a lot of Lovecraft’s characters go insane, but that is because we as humans can’t handle the fact that there are beings out there that simply make up feel like ants. Probably the reason ants don’t go insane when they encounter a human is because ant’s aren’t sentient, but humans are, and not being exposed to other sentient beings no doubt gives us the mistaken idea that we are gods. On the other hand, this story suggests that insanity comes about other ways. The character here seems to be transitioning from being a being of flesh to being a being of spirit, and the section at the end suggests that there was more truth to that than people realised.
6 August 2022 - Eton
Well, I’m sitting in a pub in Eton, the same Eton where the most exclusive school in England is located, drinking a traditional English ale (fortunately not all of the pubs have been taken over by those hipster IPAs, which means that the traditional English craft ales that I experienced the last time I was here still exist), though I am somewhat annoyed that half of the places don’t take cash anymore, which means I get screwed by the fees and charges paying by card (I probably should have taken a multi-currency card, but the last time I used them I still got screwed, though that was SE Asia where cash is king, and highly recommended, anyway).
So, this is one of Lovecraft’s asylum stories (a term I just came up with, namely because it takes place in an asylum, and from my experience with Lovecraft, a lot of his protagonists end up going mad). Anyway, we have this southern hick that seems to be carrying on about these beings that seem to come straight out of fairy tales. I do find it odd that they don’t seem to think that hicks have any understanding of fairy tales considering that these days many of them seem to be living in the world of fairy tales (such as a stolen election that wasn’t actually stolen). Then again, this does happen to have been written back in 1917, and I also suspect that Lovecraft is referring to ideas that only the intelligentsia are exposed to.
He seems to be exploring this idea of ‘beings of light’, something that humans happen to be, but unfortunately are trapped in a world of flesh. This sounds pretty gnostic to me, though it isn’t as if this is something that doesn’t occur in our world – Heaven’s Gate immediately comes to mind. Anyway, he is discussing this idea that when people dream they actually go into their incorporeal form and are able to interact with other incorporeal beings. Actually, it does remind me that there are a lot of theories about the nature of dreams, some of them pretty crazy actually.
The end section of the story is rather interesting, because there is also this idea about the stars in the sky representing gods and other beings. Once again, this is nothing new, but it came about when the protagonist, who happens to be unnamed, and we only know his as the Intern, used a device to enable him to communicate with this inmate telepathically. Ironically, it only worked with him, not with others.
I guess there is also an exploration of the nature of insanity. Obviously a lot of Lovecraft’s characters go insane, but that is because we as humans can’t handle the fact that there are beings out there that simply make up feel like ants. Probably the reason ants don’t go insane when they encounter a human is because ant’s aren’t sentient, but humans are, and not being exposed to other sentient beings no doubt gives us the mistaken idea that we are gods. On the other hand, this story suggests that insanity comes about other ways. The character here seems to be transitioning from being a being of flesh to being a being of spirit, and the section at the end suggests that there was more truth to that than people realised.
August 25, 2017
Impressive! I've read a few Lovecraft stories. This unique story stands out to me with a positive insinuation rather than a manipulation of horror. Lovecraft explains, in fantastic terms (as an atheist), another world exists, and our souls have always been and will always be. You see the physical manifestation in the stars. An evil star oppresses life, and many war against It. When people speak and write of Lovecraftian mythos, I realize, they refer to this kind of fictional world-building, set behind stage of our world. Lovecraft could have started his own religion if he'd lived long, long ago in a country far, far away.
September 6, 2018
Великият майстор на здрачното слово Лъвкрафт, преведен от непрежалимия чародей на преводаческото изкуство Лазаровски, с корица от невероятния Петър Станимиров – не можете да си позволите да нямате това съкровище на издателство Ибис в библиотеките си, ако сте поне малко ценител на добрите и изпипани до съвършенство книги, съчетаващи текст, оформление и превод в комбинация, достойна за тихо обожание. Разказите в сборника са познати, четени преди години, разхвърляни във всякакви странни компилации, но на едно място някак добиват допълнително значение, като части от тъмен пъзел за викане на чудовища от непознати селения, които не просто се интересуват от душите ни, но и от всяко парче месо по нас, способно да бъде откъснато, смачкано, сдъвкано и изплюто в лицата ни.
За тъмнината в думите на Лъвкрафт, откриващи пътища и двери към измерения на злото и страха е много говорено, включително и от мен. Периодичната архаичност на изказа само помага за подхранване на атмосферата от ужас и безизходност, обхващаща всеки неподготвен за култа на Ктхулу и вековете скрита история, за които говори автора с онази потискаща лекота на обречената на вечност душа. Детайлността на преживяването твърде много намеква, че може би не говорим за въображение, а за видения, спомени или може би предупреждения от някое далечно бъдеще за това, което ни очаква твърде близо, твърде бързо и твърде болезнено в идещия мрак. За каквото и да говорят лъвкратианците, твърде е смущаващо, твърде обезоръжаващо откъм надежда, твърде отчайващо за една атавистично скрита в нас частица, която разпознава вярното.
Дали ще надникнем в далечното бъдеще на последния, нелепо загинал човек; или ще се върнем в доисторическото минало, за което доказателства няма, но спомените са твърде силни, а може би ще посетим онази зловеща къща с неясно минало, която умира да докаже лошата си слава по безкомпромисно ясен начин. Възможно е да се отправим на пътешествие по петите на странен ерудиран изследовател на древни текстове, сам не съвсем от човешкия вид, или ще се пробваме да сключим договор с дявола, или неговия истински образ, преминаващ границите на времето и пространството с лекотата на сутрешна разходка в парка, а котките от един далечен град ще ни научат на това-онова за божествеността си. На една да��ечна планета ще се окажем жестоко изиграни от късмета и местните наследници на древни цивилизации, а на собствената ни едва ще се измъкнем от колония на деволюирали подобия на хора от една страна и купчини безлични, но твърде материални призраци от друга. В тъмнината ще ни чакат доказателства за различните ръкави на вероятностите, по силата на които се наричаме хора, но често не бива да ровим в миналото твърде дълбоко, за да не научим истина, която ще е твърде трудна за приемане и от най-ерудирания ум. И книгите могат да дават безсмъртие, щом душата се обрече на правилното място, а цели улици добиват свои етерни отражения, ако достатъчно хора вярват в тяхната сила и власт над живота им.
И още, и още сюжети, даващи не просто материал за размисъл, а храна за кошмари, опиум за съновидения, причина за парализа на здравия разум и основание за бавно губене на вяра във всичко познато и обичано. Лъвкрафт знае какво да ви разкаже, и кога да спре, точно разбунил душите ви, тъкмо открил страховете ви, току отворил машината за ужас в изкривените ви от недоверие към реалността лица. Майсторът на здрача, когато най-тъмно е преди разсъмване, и най-опасно след залез, когато гладните се вдигат и жадните се настървяват, а плячката сме само ние, дишащите, изпълнените с кръв и божествена частица същества. Подгответе се за падането на мрака и въздигането на царството на древните, които отварят вратите и са вратите към всичко. И не забравяйте – „Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn.“ Кой знае, може и да потрябва някога, някъде, някак.
За тъмнината в думите на Лъвкрафт, откриващи пътища и двери към измерения на злото и страха е много говорено, включително и от мен. Периодичната архаичност на изказа само помага за подхранване на атмосферата от ужас и безизходност, обхващаща всеки неподготвен за култа на Ктхулу и вековете скрита история, за които говори автора с онази потискаща лекота на обречената на вечност душа. Детайлността на преживяването твърде много намеква, че може би не говорим за въображение, а за видения, спомени или може би предупреждения от някое далечно бъдеще за това, което ни очаква твърде близо, твърде бързо и твърде болезнено в идещия мрак. За каквото и да говорят лъвкратианците, твърде е смущаващо, твърде обезоръжаващо откъм надежда, твърде отчайващо за една атавистично скрита в нас частица, която разпознава вярното.
Дали ще надникнем в далечното бъдеще на последния, нелепо загинал човек; или ще се върнем в доисторическото минало, за което доказателства няма, но спомените са твърде силни, а може би ще посетим онази зловеща къща с неясно минало, която умира да докаже лошата си слава по безкомпромисно ясен начин. Възможно е да се отправим на пътешествие по петите на странен ерудиран изследовател на древни текстове, сам не съвсем от човешкия вид, или ще се пробваме да сключим договор с дявола, или неговия истински образ, преминаващ границите на времето и пространството с лекотата на сутрешна разходка в парка, а котките от един далечен град ще ни научат на това-онова за божествеността си. На една да��ечна планета ще се окажем жестоко изиграни от късмета и местните наследници на древни цивилизации, а на собствената ни едва ще се измъкнем от колония на деволюирали подобия на хора от една страна и купчини безлични, но твърде материални призраци от друга. В тъмнината ще ни чакат доказателства за различните ръкави на вероятностите, по силата на които се наричаме хора, но често не бива да ровим в миналото твърде дълбоко, за да не научим истина, която ще е твърде трудна за приемане и от най-ерудирания ум. И книгите могат да дават безсмъртие, щом душата се обрече на правилното място, а цели улици добиват свои етерни отражения, ако достатъчно хора вярват в тяхната сила и власт над живота им.
И още, и още сюжети, даващи не просто материал за размисъл, а храна за кошмари, опиум за съновидения, причина за парализа на здравия разум и основание за бавно губене на вяра във всичко познато и обичано. Лъвкрафт знае какво да ви разкаже, и кога да спре, точно разбунил душите ви, тъкмо открил страховете ви, току отворил машината за ужас в изкривените ви от недоверие към реалността лица. Майсторът на здрача, когато най-тъмно е преди разсъмване, и най-опасно след залез, когато гладните се вдигат и жадните се настървяват, а плячката сме само ние, дишащите, изпълнените с кръв и божествена частица същества. Подгответе се за падането на мрака и въздигането на царството на древните, които отварят вратите и са вратите към всичко. И не забравяйте – „Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn.“ Кой знае, може и да потрябва някога, някъде, някак.
November 28, 2023
This short story was creepy I like the set up it took me a second to get a hang of the writing style but I actually found it to be wholesome cosmic horror. The light said he was his only friend and the only one that’s ever known him. ✨
A lot of ppl said it was racist but I don’t agree, Joe slater was just dum and from the mountains like it’s not that deep.
A lot of ppl said it was racist but I don’t agree, Joe slater was just dum and from the mountains like it’s not that deep.
April 27, 2017
"Joe Slater is dead," came the soul-petrifying voice of an agency from beyond the wall of sleep.
One H.P. Lovecraft story a day. And a banana for health. And a dog walk for optimism.
I quite enjoyed "Beyond the Wall of Sleep," written in 1919 by HPL. Although it didn't quite tickle me in all the right places, probably because it's an earlier work and not really part of his Cthulhu Mythos, it still was an enjoyable read. As usual, HPL shows his complete disdain for the inbred white trash of the secluded areas of New England, in the form of the character of Joe Slater, a raving maniac and alcoholic. Joe is, however, possessed of some curious dream-sequences, wherein it is quite possible that in his dream-state he is possessed by something other from beyond the stars. After Joe is captured due to one of his manic fits and institutionalized, the narrator of our story, who works in the sanitorium, attempts a mind-meld with Joe using curious instruments of the age. It all becomes really cosmic, really quickly. The narrator, perhaps, communicates with a being from beyond, after which he suffers from the usual post-visitation breakdown. Good stuff.
Here's some more HPL good stuff:
We may guess that in dreams life, matter, and vitality, as the earth knows such things, are not necessarily constant; and that time and space do not exist as our waking selves comprehend them. Sometimes I believe that this less material life is our truer life, and that our vain presence on the terraqueous globe is itself the secondary or merely virtual phenomenon.
Sweet dreams!
One H.P. Lovecraft story a day. And a banana for health. And a dog walk for optimism.
I quite enjoyed "Beyond the Wall of Sleep," written in 1919 by HPL. Although it didn't quite tickle me in all the right places, probably because it's an earlier work and not really part of his Cthulhu Mythos, it still was an enjoyable read. As usual, HPL shows his complete disdain for the inbred white trash of the secluded areas of New England, in the form of the character of Joe Slater, a raving maniac and alcoholic. Joe is, however, possessed of some curious dream-sequences, wherein it is quite possible that in his dream-state he is possessed by something other from beyond the stars. After Joe is captured due to one of his manic fits and institutionalized, the narrator of our story, who works in the sanitorium, attempts a mind-meld with Joe using curious instruments of the age. It all becomes really cosmic, really quickly. The narrator, perhaps, communicates with a being from beyond, after which he suffers from the usual post-visitation breakdown. Good stuff.
Here's some more HPL good stuff:
We may guess that in dreams life, matter, and vitality, as the earth knows such things, are not necessarily constant; and that time and space do not exist as our waking selves comprehend them. Sometimes I believe that this less material life is our truer life, and that our vain presence on the terraqueous globe is itself the secondary or merely virtual phenomenon.
Sweet dreams!
February 17, 2021
A worker at a mental hospital develops a fascinating relationship with an uneducated inmate named Joe Slater who grew up in the Appalachian Mountains. Despite having no education, lacking the ability to read or write and not even having any knowledge of fairy tales or folk tales, he seems to be harboring an extraterrestrial intelligence with a vast understanding of time, space, history, geography and the universe that transcends human capacity in spite of his otherwise savage and simple-minded nature. The worker soon realizes that an extraterritorial being from the world of dreams took hold of the man's body in an attempt to communicate with earthly inhabitants and there is a constant mental battle between the savage minded Slater and the being with godlike knowledge. What the being tries to communicate with the hospital worker chills him to the bone and shatters all preconceived notions of existence as a whole.
Rereading this now, I've noticed a lot of parallels with the classic creepypasta called The Russian Sleep Experiment. What if every dream is a small glimpse into another world? An alternate reality? Another life that we have lived or are living simultaneously? What if dreams are a gateway into a higher plane that no one has figured out how to enter? Perhaps dreams have more importance than we tend to give them credit for, or perhaps they are nothing more than they are. The mystery is what makes it so alluring.
***
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Rereading this now, I've noticed a lot of parallels with the classic creepypasta called The Russian Sleep Experiment. What if every dream is a small glimpse into another world? An alternate reality? Another life that we have lived or are living simultaneously? What if dreams are a gateway into a higher plane that no one has figured out how to enter? Perhaps dreams have more importance than we tend to give them credit for, or perhaps they are nothing more than they are. The mystery is what makes it so alluring.
***
My Social Media
My YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPPs...
My Instagram Account: https://www.instagram.com/michael_sor...
My Wattpad Account: https://www.wattpad.com/user/Michael-...
March 28, 2012
It struck me how original this idea must have been back in 1919, an age where there was burgeoning use of electricity and mechanical devices.
It cleverly juxtaposes old ideas and this new technology, opening with a line of Shakespeare, yet ending with an idea literally from another world.
Lovecraft's novel approach and parkling writing are certainly proving captivating to this new convert to his works.
It cleverly juxtaposes old ideas and this new technology, opening with a line of Shakespeare, yet ending with an idea literally from another world.
Lovecraft's novel approach and parkling writing are certainly proving captivating to this new convert to his works.
January 30, 2019
H.P. Lovecraft is not the best writer, but his ideas and imaginings are brilliant. Especially if you consider the time in which they were written.
I loved this story. I loved the imagery and the idea that we are more than just mortal bodies of flesh and bone.
However, I must note that I greatly dislike Lovecraft's seeming obsession with "degenerate hill dwellers,"" Esquimau diabolists,"" white trash,""mongrel Louisianans," etc.
I loved this story. I loved the imagery and the idea that we are more than just mortal bodies of flesh and bone.
However, I must note that I greatly dislike Lovecraft's seeming obsession with "degenerate hill dwellers,"" Esquimau diabolists,"" white trash,""mongrel Louisianans," etc.
October 20, 2022
'Da da da ding ding ding...' goes the strumming banjo... Lovecraft obviously didn't like white-trash mountain folk a few decades before the movie 'Deliverance,' was produced. However, what happens when one of 'them,' starts seeing another world?
Did Lovecraft invent the Tinfoil Hat? I think not - especially when a new star appears in the heavens to wreck vengeance upon a dreadful opponent.
3 'New Stars Resonating with Cosmic Mindwaves.'
Did Lovecraft invent the Tinfoil Hat? I think not - especially when a new star appears in the heavens to wreck vengeance upon a dreadful opponent.
3 'New Stars Resonating with Cosmic Mindwaves.'
April 27, 2014
Great read, but now i understand why everyone says Lovecraft was racist... Wow... The story deals with what happens when we sleep, is the body nothing but a cage for a much more powerful entity? Interesting take on the subject. Probably the best of Lovecraft's work I've read until now, of course I'm only just starting.
December 17, 2017
I just love this stuff. '...the insect-philosophers that crawl proudly over the fourth moon of Jupiter.'
May 3, 2020
Written in 1919 and contains racism. Could not get into at all. Rated 1/5 (Did not finish)
October 22, 2021
Now THIS is what I'm looking for in a Lovecraft story! Creepy, spooky and awesome!!! A must read of Lovecrafts!!!
**Spoilers after this point**
It's told from the perspective of an intern working at a state psychopathic institution. One day a man who is inbred and feeble-minded is brought in for bouts of violence. After these bouts he has no idea what he's said or done. The intern notices that the things the man says while in these trances are out of his intellectual ability and imagination. The man can not read and has no way of knowing these things, so the intern comes up with an idea. At an earlier age he made some sort of radio connector things, I don't remember what they're called or how they're exactly supposed to work, but one goes on the man's head and the other on the interns. On the night it happens is the same night the man dies. Through this weird connected dream he becomes a being of intelligent light and flies through space with his light-being brother. When it ends, he comes back to his body and is looking at the body of Joe Slater and then the body with sallow skin looks at him with light in its eyes and tells him that he is his being of light brother and has been trapped in this man for 42 earth years. His 'brother' tells him that one day they will meet again. No one believes him of course, but then again, they never do.
**Spoilers after this point**
It's told from the perspective of an intern working at a state psychopathic institution. One day a man who is inbred and feeble-minded is brought in for bouts of violence. After these bouts he has no idea what he's said or done. The intern notices that the things the man says while in these trances are out of his intellectual ability and imagination. The man can not read and has no way of knowing these things, so the intern comes up with an idea. At an earlier age he made some sort of radio connector things, I don't remember what they're called or how they're exactly supposed to work, but one goes on the man's head and the other on the interns. On the night it happens is the same night the man dies. Through this weird connected dream he becomes a being of intelligent light and flies through space with his light-being brother. When it ends, he comes back to his body and is looking at the body of Joe Slater and then the body with sallow skin looks at him with light in its eyes and tells him that he is his being of light brother and has been trapped in this man for 42 earth years. His 'brother' tells him that one day they will meet again. No one believes him of course, but then again, they never do.
September 14, 2025
Was drawn in so much into this story that I grew more and more tired as the story progressed.
Liked the concept of dream narratives as I tend to write them sometimes myself too (even before knowing that H.P. Lovecraft did that too). Seeing what he thinks of dreams and their actual meaning was interesting as well.
Liked the concept of dream narratives as I tend to write them sometimes myself too (even before knowing that H.P. Lovecraft did that too). Seeing what he thinks of dreams and their actual meaning was interesting as well.
July 2, 2018
Downloading an audiobook of H.P Lovecraft's stories has been one of the best decisions of my life. And it is especially this tale that stands out from the rest, "Beyond the Wall of Sleep".
The story is too short and profound for me to give too much of it away, but it plays largely in the dreamscape of a patient in a mental asylum. Lovecraft was far ahead in his time seeing the relation between our mundane daily lives, and our unconscious dreams, saying:
"there are still a certain remainder whose immundane and ethereal character permits of no ordinary interpretation, and whose vaguely exciting and disquieting effect suggests possible minute glimpses into a sphere of mental existence no less important than physical life, yet separated from that life by an all but impassable barrier"
The story turns into a classic sci-fi horror where Lovecraft explains, in fantastic terms (as an atheist), another world exists, and our souls have always been and will always be. You see the physical manifestation in the stars. An evil star oppresses life, and many war against It. When people speak and write of Lovecraftian mythos, I realize, they refer to this kind of fictional world-building, set behind stage of our world.
The story is too short and profound for me to give too much of it away, but it plays largely in the dreamscape of a patient in a mental asylum. Lovecraft was far ahead in his time seeing the relation between our mundane daily lives, and our unconscious dreams, saying:
"there are still a certain remainder whose immundane and ethereal character permits of no ordinary interpretation, and whose vaguely exciting and disquieting effect suggests possible minute glimpses into a sphere of mental existence no less important than physical life, yet separated from that life by an all but impassable barrier"
The story turns into a classic sci-fi horror where Lovecraft explains, in fantastic terms (as an atheist), another world exists, and our souls have always been and will always be. You see the physical manifestation in the stars. An evil star oppresses life, and many war against It. When people speak and write of Lovecraftian mythos, I realize, they refer to this kind of fictional world-building, set behind stage of our world.
November 28, 2013
قرأت بترجمة عاشقه المصري الأكبر د. احمد خالد توفيق للمريب لافكرافت
H.P. Lovecraft
كاتب الرعب الأخطر في القرن العشرين بعد إدجار آلان بو قصص هذه المجموعة الفاتنة: هواء بارد - الذي لا اسم له - خلف جدار النوم - الشجرة - الصورة في المنزل ..
هنا عقل جامح بالفعل.. ومخيف
الأقوى والأطول كانت
قصة ( حالة تشارلز دكستر وارد ) ..
الرجل يحمل بين طيات أسطره كاريزما غير طبيعية، وفي هذه القصة تحديدا، يعتمد بشدة على جو الوثائق وملامسة الرعب، والملامسة أخطر وأكثر شؤما من الغوص في الرعب، تماما كالإثارة الجنسية، التي تكون في قمتها عند التخفيف من الثياب، وليس العري التام !
ومازال يرسخ لأسطورته التي تتناثر في كل قصصه، متناولا أفكاره حول كتاب (نيكرونوميكون) الخيالي، والمستنبت من بنات فكره، والذي يؤسس كما يقص علينا للنكرومانسي أو استنطاق الموتي، وهو نوع من السحر الأسود البشع..
فكرة لافكرافت عن الرعب كالتالي: أن تكتب عما هو غير حقيقي كما لو أنه حقيقي، لكن ليس بالطريقة المباشرة، بل بالحوم حول الأمر.. لا تكشف لب الفكرة وجوهر الحقيقة إلا مع آخر سطر.. عند ذروة المواجهة.. دع الترقب يسود ويكون السيد هكذا تخلق رعبا من طراز خاص..
H.P. Lovecraft
كاتب الرعب الأخطر في القرن العشرين بعد إدجار آلان بو قصص هذه المجموعة الفاتنة: هواء بارد - الذي لا اسم له - خلف جدار النوم - الشجرة - الصورة في المنزل ..
هنا عقل جامح بالفعل.. ومخيف
الأقوى والأطول كانت
قصة ( حالة تشارلز دكستر وارد ) ..
الرجل يحمل بين طيات أسطره كاريزما غير طبيعية، وفي هذه القصة تحديدا، يعتمد بشدة على جو الوثائق وملامسة الرعب، والملامسة أخطر وأكثر شؤما من الغوص في الرعب، تماما كالإثارة الجنسية، التي تكون في قمتها عند التخفيف من الثياب، وليس العري التام !
ومازال يرسخ لأسطورته التي تتناثر في كل قصصه، متناولا أفكاره حول كتاب (نيكرونوميكون) الخيالي، والمستنبت من بنات فكره، والذي يؤسس كما يقص علينا للنكرومانسي أو استنطاق الموتي، وهو نوع من السحر الأسود البشع..
فكرة لافكرافت عن الرعب كالتالي: أن تكتب عما هو غير حقيقي كما لو أنه حقيقي، لكن ليس بالطريقة المباشرة، بل بالحوم حول الأمر.. لا تكشف لب الفكرة وجوهر الحقيقة إلا مع آخر سطر.. عند ذروة المواجهة.. دع الترقب يسود ويكون السيد هكذا تخلق رعبا من طراز خاص..
April 8, 2014
I'm a big fan of Lovecraft. I give this four stars because I do think some of his other work is better, but the ideas and language were nevertheless quite fun here. I had to read it twice to really have a sense of the story, and should probably read it a few more times to really appreciate all the details.
The story is too short for me to say much without giving it away. It mostly takes place in an insane asylum, and involves a doctor and a very curious patient from a rural, uneducated community. The patient, despite his background, has absolutely fabulous dreams that are giving him worse and worse fits, and that seem impossible for someone of his upbringing. The doctor is very curious and tries to understand the patient's dreams.
I've always been a bit fascinated by dreams, and I like stories that explore the whole dream-world idea. So it's a great short read for people who enjoy that theme, but the language is quite dense, so it's not an effortless read.
The story is too short for me to say much without giving it away. It mostly takes place in an insane asylum, and involves a doctor and a very curious patient from a rural, uneducated community. The patient, despite his background, has absolutely fabulous dreams that are giving him worse and worse fits, and that seem impossible for someone of his upbringing. The doctor is very curious and tries to understand the patient's dreams.
I've always been a bit fascinated by dreams, and I like stories that explore the whole dream-world idea. So it's a great short read for people who enjoy that theme, but the language is quite dense, so it's not an effortless read.
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