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В стенах Эрикса
В поисках энергетического кристалла на венерианском плато Эрикс землянин попадает в невидимый лабиринт. Как найти путь обратно, если стен и коридоров не видно? Стоит ли продолжать добывать кристаллы на Венере, или оставить ей то, что ей принадлежит?
51 pages, ebook
First published October 1, 1939
7 people are currently reading
234 people want to read
About the author
H.P. Lovecraft
4,542 books19.2k 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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Displaying 1 - 30 of 69 reviews
December 19, 2021
There's many layers of irony in this story, some only emerging in retrospect.
We all know of Lovecraft's unfortunately prejudiced worldview - even for a man of his time - but did you know that he got a lot better in his final years? He'd begun to feel shame about some of his previous opinions, and might well have grown up all the more had he had more time. But he died before he could complete this journey... and almost everybody ended up latching on what he said and thought earlier on, forgetting or ignoring later developments.
Parallels! Most likely just me reading too much into it and grasping at straws, but still!
It's a good story, anyway. Unusual for Lovecraft, what with the science fiction with almost no cosmic horrors in it, just loneliness and claustrophobia and a fair share of mutual xenophobia. Quite short, a good read for everyone.
We all know of Lovecraft's unfortunately prejudiced worldview - even for a man of his time - but did you know that he got a lot better in his final years? He'd begun to feel shame about some of his previous opinions, and might well have grown up all the more had he had more time. But he died before he could complete this journey... and almost everybody ended up latching on what he said and thought earlier on, forgetting or ignoring later developments.
Parallels! Most likely just me reading too much into it and grasping at straws, but still!
It's a good story, anyway. Unusual for Lovecraft, what with the science fiction with almost no cosmic horrors in it, just loneliness and claustrophobia and a fair share of mutual xenophobia. Quite short, a good read for everyone.
June 23, 2016
3.5
There is a corpse near him which he uses as a visual landmark to try to find out the way out of this labyrinth with invisible walls.
Some might argue that what the humans on Venus decided to do afterwards is a bit harsh. Some, not all.
In the Walls of Eryx is mostly told by a narrator whose name we find out only later in the story. It takes place on Venus, in a strange building and he is after some kind of valuable crystal. Right from the beginning we see something is seriously wrong with the place the protagonist is.
There is a corpse near him which he uses as a visual landmark to try to find out the way out of this labyrinth with invisible walls.
In time you really get to feel the claustrophobia and desperation slowly creeping in. Occasional bursts of hope only make the situation worse. His oxygen, food and water supply begin to run out too and, to make everything worse, groups of lizard-men come out of the woods. He soon realizes that the labyrinth was built by these creatures 'whose craft and mentality' humans underestimated.
Some might argue that what the humans on Venus decided to do afterwards is a bit harsh. Some, not all.
April 9, 2021
"Let us leave to Venus that which belongs only to Venus."
A chilling sci-fi tale, which despite some suspense and foreboding lands quite far afield from Lovecraft's usual fare. In fact, had I not known Lovecraft wrote it, I almost certainly couldn't have guessed. The theme really boils down to a biting critique of humanity's hubris and destructive instincts in the face of the alien or unknown, a theme that would become popular in the sci-fi of decades to come.
A chilling sci-fi tale, which despite some suspense and foreboding lands quite far afield from Lovecraft's usual fare. In fact, had I not known Lovecraft wrote it, I almost certainly couldn't have guessed. The theme really boils down to a biting critique of humanity's hubris and destructive instincts in the face of the alien or unknown, a theme that would become popular in the sci-fi of decades to come.
December 13, 2019
In the Walls of Eryx
The Earthlings have come to Venus and have built a colony which they have called Terra nova. On Venus there is life, a diverse fauna and flora, and an intelligent race of reptilian beings whose culture is not yet highly developed, although in some aspects such as architecture it seems much more advanced.
The main interest of men in Venus is a crystal that serves as a source of energy and is exclusive to Venus, a single crystal has energy to power a city, but the settlers are having trouble starting a massive mining because these crystals are sacred for the Venusians.
The protagonist advises bringing a detachment of soldiers and annihilating the entire native species to exploit the glass mines, something unfortunately too close to reality, it is just what some imperialist powers have done throughout history with the Petroleum countries or the so-called "rare earths" and "blood minerals."
I would have liked this story more without the epilogue, without the epilogue I would have even claimed the figure of Lovecraft that as everyone knows sympathizes with the Nazi ideology and the supremacy of the Aryan race. In the penultimate part of the story the character reflects on the scale Cosmic, no race is superior to another, when faced with death it changes its xenophobic posture and manifests an anti-colonialist stance, but in the end this is ruled out as a delirium and plans for a total invasion and a Venusian Holocaust begin.
The Earthlings have come to Venus and have built a colony which they have called Terra nova. On Venus there is life, a diverse fauna and flora, and an intelligent race of reptilian beings whose culture is not yet highly developed, although in some aspects such as architecture it seems much more advanced.
The main interest of men in Venus is a crystal that serves as a source of energy and is exclusive to Venus, a single crystal has energy to power a city, but the settlers are having trouble starting a massive mining because these crystals are sacred for the Venusians.
The protagonist advises bringing a detachment of soldiers and annihilating the entire native species to exploit the glass mines, something unfortunately too close to reality, it is just what some imperialist powers have done throughout history with the Petroleum countries or the so-called "rare earths" and "blood minerals."
I would have liked this story more without the epilogue, without the epilogue I would have even claimed the figure of Lovecraft that as everyone knows sympathizes with the Nazi ideology and the supremacy of the Aryan race. In the penultimate part of the story the character reflects on the scale Cosmic, no race is superior to another, when faced with death it changes its xenophobic posture and manifests an anti-colonialist stance, but in the end this is ruled out as a delirium and plans for a total invasion and a Venusian Holocaust begin.
November 28, 2024
Самая весёлая часть в конце, когда члены экспедиции признают предостережения Кентона предсмертным бредом и делают всё ровно наоборот.
May 16, 2023
"In the Walls of Eryx" is an interesting and unique Lovecraft story. As near as I can tell, this is a classic sci-fi story by Kenneth Sterling that Lovecraft re-wrote. If definitely plays like an episode of "The Twilight Zone."
Premise: Earth has set up an outpost on Venus to mine valuable crystals. The native alien population doesn't like that humans take the crystals, as they worship them as something holy. Kenton Stanfield gets greedy and goes out looking for more crystals on his own only to become trapped in a maze with invisible walls that may or may not be moving. Lovecraft does a good job of showing Stanfield go from calm and professional to panicked to defeated over the course of time.
Thematically, this was also a departure for Lovecraft. He made the humans the bad guy here and was sympathetic to the alien "others." Usually, it's the other way around. It is such a pity Lovecraft died so young because this was one of the last things he wrote and I wonder if he was beginning to overcome his horrible racism.
Premise: Earth has set up an outpost on Venus to mine valuable crystals. The native alien population doesn't like that humans take the crystals, as they worship them as something holy. Kenton Stanfield gets greedy and goes out looking for more crystals on his own only to become trapped in a maze with invisible walls that may or may not be moving. Lovecraft does a good job of showing Stanfield go from calm and professional to panicked to defeated over the course of time.
Thematically, this was also a departure for Lovecraft. He made the humans the bad guy here and was sympathetic to the alien "others." Usually, it's the other way around. It is such a pity Lovecraft died so young because this was one of the last things he wrote and I wonder if he was beginning to overcome his horrible racism.
July 19, 2025
considering the context in which this story was written and the time of its creation, i cant really hate on it the way i wanted to.
Started out great but the ending was so dumb and the message and social commentary was not subtle in the slightest, really you want to write a story like this that says something about human morality and political views but instead of showing this naturally and in the background of your tale you just have a character rage baiting in your face in the end like „guys do you get it, i am a bad person“. I get what he was going for like the slow build up of the main characters realization in contrast to the unreflected army man in the end but its so in your face i dont like that
Started out great but the ending was so dumb and the message and social commentary was not subtle in the slightest, really you want to write a story like this that says something about human morality and political views but instead of showing this naturally and in the background of your tale you just have a character rage baiting in your face in the end like „guys do you get it, i am a bad person“. I get what he was going for like the slow build up of the main characters realization in contrast to the unreflected army man in the end but its so in your face i dont like that
Read
January 26, 2022I didn't expect this to be Sci-Fi, but I liked the atmosphere created for Venus
February 12, 2021
Můj neoblíbenější žánr. Za ten svůj život jsem viděla, hrála i četla obrovské množství hororů a málo který mě už dokáže nějak překvapit. Ale H.P. Lovecraft? To je pro mě zaručená husí kůže. Fantastický:)
August 3, 2019
I've reading all of Lovecraft stories and this one stood up as one of the best ones. The setting is imaginative and the ending feels more focused on how garbage humanity is.
December 16, 2024
This is Lovecraft's only true sci-fi story, devoid of his signature cosmic horrors. It remains an obscure entry in his bibliography, largely because it is often excluded from complete collections. The idea for this story came from his pen pal, Kenneth Sterling, though the prose unmistakably bears Lovecraft's touch.
The story is set on Venus, written during a time when scientists believed Venus had a similar environment to Earth and might support life—Earth's so-called "twin." Of course, we now know Venus to be the deadlist planet in the solar system. Atmospheric pressure 90 times greater than Earth’s, average temperatures soaring to 465°C, and rain composed of sulfuric acid. No fault lies with Lovecraft for choosing Venus as the setting for his tale—it was a choice that made sense for its time.
The following phrase stands out to me: "Let us leave to Venus that which belongs only to Venus."
This was a forward-thinking concept for its time—a cautionary message that humanity should respect the sovereignty of other worlds, particularly those that harbor or might one day harbor intelligent life unique to them. It warns against expansion to such worlds without considering their inherent rights. Later works of science fiction echoed this theme. For example, Arthur C. Clarke's "2010: Odyssey Two" features a similar sentiment: “All these worlds are yours, except Europa. Attempt no landing there. Use them together. Use them in peace.”
While this story is not essential reading, those who appreciate Lovecraft’s work or early sci-fi stories influenced by the perspectives of their time will find much to enjoy here. If you are looking for another short story about humanity’s hubris—though in a far more relatable and grounded setting—I recommend Jack London’s "To Build a Fire". The parallels are striking and thought-provoking.
The story is set on Venus, written during a time when scientists believed Venus had a similar environment to Earth and might support life—Earth's so-called "twin." Of course, we now know Venus to be the deadlist planet in the solar system. Atmospheric pressure 90 times greater than Earth’s, average temperatures soaring to 465°C, and rain composed of sulfuric acid. No fault lies with Lovecraft for choosing Venus as the setting for his tale—it was a choice that made sense for its time.
The following phrase stands out to me: "Let us leave to Venus that which belongs only to Venus."
This was a forward-thinking concept for its time—a cautionary message that humanity should respect the sovereignty of other worlds, particularly those that harbor or might one day harbor intelligent life unique to them. It warns against expansion to such worlds without considering their inherent rights. Later works of science fiction echoed this theme. For example, Arthur C. Clarke's "2010: Odyssey Two" features a similar sentiment: “All these worlds are yours, except Europa. Attempt no landing there. Use them together. Use them in peace.”
While this story is not essential reading, those who appreciate Lovecraft’s work or early sci-fi stories influenced by the perspectives of their time will find much to enjoy here. If you are looking for another short story about humanity’s hubris—though in a far more relatable and grounded setting—I recommend Jack London’s "To Build a Fire". The parallels are striking and thought-provoking.
September 5, 2025
First time I'm reading Lovecraft, and without realising I chose a short story. I love the writing style, the amount of detail in the story (just enough), and the ending of this short story as well. I do have to admit that there were quite some creatures named that I am not familiar with, perhaps they were explained in other works from Lovecraft but in this story, they were only named. It did not bother me much, though, it was easy enough to read around the unknown creatures as they only played a small role.
I'm excited to read more from Lovecraft after this one!
I'm excited to read more from Lovecraft after this one!
January 17, 2022
4.25 Stars
rounded down to 4 Stars.
February 25, 2025
You can literally feel trapped just like the main character.
July 16, 2015
Тут наглые спойлеры.
Внезапно планетарная фантастика от Говарда Филлипсовича, причем узнаваем он только в угнетении головушки идеей «боже-я-отсюда-никогда-не-выберусь» и в сопутствующем переходе мыслей от панических к спокойным и местами бредовым, т.е. частичной деградации под влиянием внешних условий. Нехватка воды и кислорода, нервное истощение, блуждание часами вдоль невидимых стен и проникающая безысходность. Пожалуй, самое по-человечески доступное и близкое, что я читала у ГФЛ. Особенно удивило пожелание мира во всем мире на пороге смерти – столь жалкая попытка замолить грешки. Никакой явной мистики в виде сеттинга (вместо кладбищ и страшных домов – Венера с тривиальными опасностями в виде венерианцев), никаких загадочных явлений (только вполне себе материальный, пускай и невидимый лабиринт), и никаких откровений во снах. И ведь получилось так же захватывающе, даже без выскакивающих из табакерки чертиков.
Лабиринт как идея, конечно, рулит. Он остается неразгадываемым и непредсказуемым. В лабиринте можно спрятать чудищ или превратить коридоры в бесконечные восьмерки, а то и вовсе свести с ума, разместив саму концепцию в чертогах разума. Но дядя Говард говорит: иногда лабиринт – это просто лабиринт, а люди жадные да глупые – так им и надо.
annikeh.net
Внезапно планетарная фантастика от Говарда Филлипсовича, причем узнаваем он только в угнетении головушки идеей «боже-я-отсюда-никогда-не-выберусь» и в сопутствующем переходе мыслей от панических к спокойным и местами бредовым, т.е. частичной деградации под влиянием внешних условий. Нехватка воды и кислорода, нервное истощение, блуждание часами вдоль невидимых стен и проникающая безысходность. Пожалуй, самое по-человечески доступное и близкое, что я читала у ГФЛ. Особенно удивило пожелание мира во всем мире на пороге смерти – столь жалкая попытка замолить грешки. Никакой явной мистики в виде сеттинга (вместо кладбищ и страшных домов – Венера с тривиальными опасностями в виде венерианцев), никаких загадочных явлений (только вполне себе материальный, пускай и невидимый лабиринт), и никаких откровений во снах. И ведь получилось так же захватывающе, даже без выскакивающих из табакерки чертиков.
Лабиринт как идея, конечно, рулит. Он остается неразгадываемым и непредсказуемым. В лабиринте можно спрятать чудищ или превратить коридоры в бесконечные восьмерки, а то и вовсе свести с ума, разместив саму концепцию в чертогах разума. Но дядя Говард говорит: иногда лабиринт – это просто лабиринт, а люди жадные да глупые – так им и надо.
annikeh.net
January 18, 2019
Enjoyable comeuppance tale (up to the very end, anyway), where the arrogant human is caught in a sophisticated trap devised by the "primitive" natives. Of course, if the fellow had carried, say, rope with him, or had ever heard of the right-hand-rule for getting out of mazes, the trap would not have worked so well. I was disappointed that it was really just a physical maze, and not something that changed in response to the crystal (making it so the opening closed for anyone holding a crystal would have been brilliant). Ah, well. Still worth reading.
May 17, 2017
Sometimes, I feel like books and stories written in Lovecraft's time take some time to get into, but they are usually worth it. I enjoyed the imagination of this story, although the beginning-middle and middle dragged a bit. But it's a nice creepy tale and I'm glad I took the time to read it.
May 30, 2022
Lovecraft #103 of 104: In the Walls of Eryx (with Kenneth Sterling)
“Staring back at these grotesque and unexpected intruders, and wondering uneasily why they did not attack me at once, I lost for the time being the will power and nervous energy to continue my search for a way out. Instead I leaned limply against the invisible wall of the passage where I stood, letting my wonder merge gradually into a chain of the wildest speculations.”
[Eryx Walls by Pablo P. Quadros]
In the Walls of Eryx is the most straight-forwardly science-fiction story that Lovecraft ever worked on, at least in the pulpy style of the 1930s. The action entirely takes place on Venus and our narrator carries a “flame pistol” to fight off the native population. It’s worth reading for fans of early sci-fi and people interested in Lovecraft.
[In the walls of Eryx by Bruno Senigalha]
Eryx is arguably the 103rd oldest extant story by American weird fiction author Howard Philips Lovecraft (1890-1937) and the only one that he collaborated on with Kenneth J. Sterling (1920-1995). I have been reading all of HPL’s fictional works in chronological order this year to see his development as a writer. Eryx comes after Lovecraft’s last original story The Haunter of the Dark and before the last story that the old gent ever worked on, The Night Ocean (revised for R.H. Barlow). According to Joshi & Schultz (2001), the young Sterling was a big fan of weird fiction and, after moving to Providence, Rhode Island, boldly went to Lovecraft’s home in March 1935 to introduce himself. Sterling was only 14 at the time and HPL was 45. The two formed a friendship, or at least a mentor/mentee relationship. In January of 1936, Sterling sent Lovecraft a draft of Eryx that was around 6,000-8,000 words. The older man proceeded to rewrite the story, increasing its length to 12,000 words. While most of the resulting provide probably belongs to HPL, he appears to have “tried to preserve as much of Sterling’s own prose, and certainly his ideas, as possible” (p. 126).
I like Eryx. The Venus setting is absurd given what we know about that particular planet, but in the mid-1930s, mankind really did not have much knowledge on the subject with “some astronomers believing it to be steamy and swampy” (p. 126) on the surface as Sterling and HPL depict here. The prose is very strong, with Lovecraft really at the top of his game at this point in his life. The invisible maze, an idea that Sterling was responsible for, is an interesting concept and the narrator’s struggles inside of it are effectively suspenseful. I also like the apparent parallels to European colonization. The human protagonist Kenton J. Stanfield is arrogant and clearly has bigotted views of the “man lizards'' that are the only sentient life forms of the planet that he is plundering. As the narrative progresses, he develops a respect for the natives. “In the scale of cosmic entity who can say which species stands higher, or more nearly approaches a space-wide organic norm—theirs or mine?” I would like to think that this reflects a softening of HPL’s own racist views as he reached the end of his life. Admittedly, Eryx has some flaws common to its brand of pulp sci-fi. The alien life-forms are a little silly and, as Chris Lackey (2012) of the H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast points out in one episode, the invisible walls don’t entirely make sense.
[In the Walls of Eryx (2017) Nathan E Lilly]
Lovecraft and Sterling continued to correspond until the older writer’s death from cancer in March 1937. Sterling continued to show great promise for the rest of his life, entering Harvard University in the fall of 1936 when he was only 16. He published his first scientific paper as an undergraduate at only age 19 and went on to become an important research scientist and medical doctor. He wrote a short memoir about his friendship with Lovecraft called “Lovecraft and Science” and in 1975 wrote a longer memoir titled “Caverns Measureless to Man.” According to Joshi & Schultz (2001), he urged that Lovecraft be “remembered as a scholar and a thinker as well as an author” (p. 252).
Title: In the Walls of Eryx
Author: H.P. Lovecraft & Kenneth J. Sterling
Dates: January 1926 (written), October 1939 (first published)
Genre: Fiction - Novelette*, science fiction, horror
Word count: 12,000 words
Date(s) read: 5/25/22-5/26/22
Reading journal entry #166 in 2022
Sources:
Link to the story: https://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/...
First publication citation: Weird Tales vol. 34, no. 4 (October 1939): 50–68.
Emrys, R., & Pillsworth, A.M. (2015, October 13). Successful Pulp Heroes Need to be More Genre Savvy: “In the Walls of Eryx”. TOR.COM https://www.tor.com/2015/10/13/lovecr...
Fifer, C., & Lackey, C. (2012, June 7). Episode 114 - In the Walls of Eryx. The H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast [audio blog]. Retrieved from
https://www.hppodcraft.com/list/2012/...
Joshi, S. T., & Schultz, D. E. (2001). An H.P. Lovecraft Encyclopedia. Greenwood Press.
Sterling, Kenneth, "In the Walls of Eryx" Howard P. Lovecraft collection. Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library. https://repository.library.brown.edu/...
Links to the images:
Eryx Walls by Pablo P. Quadros https://www.artstation.com/artwork/yk...
In the walls of Eryx by Bruno Senigalha: https://www.deviantart.com/brunosenig...
In the Walls of Eryx (2017) Nathan E Lilly: https://fineartamerica.com/featured/i...
https://repository.library.brown.edu/...
Written on May 30, 2022
“Staring back at these grotesque and unexpected intruders, and wondering uneasily why they did not attack me at once, I lost for the time being the will power and nervous energy to continue my search for a way out. Instead I leaned limply against the invisible wall of the passage where I stood, letting my wonder merge gradually into a chain of the wildest speculations.”
[Eryx Walls by Pablo P. Quadros]
In the Walls of Eryx is the most straight-forwardly science-fiction story that Lovecraft ever worked on, at least in the pulpy style of the 1930s. The action entirely takes place on Venus and our narrator carries a “flame pistol” to fight off the native population. It’s worth reading for fans of early sci-fi and people interested in Lovecraft.
[In the walls of Eryx by Bruno Senigalha]
Eryx is arguably the 103rd oldest extant story by American weird fiction author Howard Philips Lovecraft (1890-1937) and the only one that he collaborated on with Kenneth J. Sterling (1920-1995). I have been reading all of HPL’s fictional works in chronological order this year to see his development as a writer. Eryx comes after Lovecraft’s last original story The Haunter of the Dark and before the last story that the old gent ever worked on, The Night Ocean (revised for R.H. Barlow). According to Joshi & Schultz (2001), the young Sterling was a big fan of weird fiction and, after moving to Providence, Rhode Island, boldly went to Lovecraft’s home in March 1935 to introduce himself. Sterling was only 14 at the time and HPL was 45. The two formed a friendship, or at least a mentor/mentee relationship. In January of 1936, Sterling sent Lovecraft a draft of Eryx that was around 6,000-8,000 words. The older man proceeded to rewrite the story, increasing its length to 12,000 words. While most of the resulting provide probably belongs to HPL, he appears to have “tried to preserve as much of Sterling’s own prose, and certainly his ideas, as possible” (p. 126).
I like Eryx. The Venus setting is absurd given what we know about that particular planet, but in the mid-1930s, mankind really did not have much knowledge on the subject with “some astronomers believing it to be steamy and swampy” (p. 126) on the surface as Sterling and HPL depict here. The prose is very strong, with Lovecraft really at the top of his game at this point in his life. The invisible maze, an idea that Sterling was responsible for, is an interesting concept and the narrator’s struggles inside of it are effectively suspenseful. I also like the apparent parallels to European colonization. The human protagonist Kenton J. Stanfield is arrogant and clearly has bigotted views of the “man lizards'' that are the only sentient life forms of the planet that he is plundering. As the narrative progresses, he develops a respect for the natives. “In the scale of cosmic entity who can say which species stands higher, or more nearly approaches a space-wide organic norm—theirs or mine?” I would like to think that this reflects a softening of HPL’s own racist views as he reached the end of his life. Admittedly, Eryx has some flaws common to its brand of pulp sci-fi. The alien life-forms are a little silly and, as Chris Lackey (2012) of the H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast points out in one episode, the invisible walls don’t entirely make sense.
[In the Walls of Eryx (2017) Nathan E Lilly]
Lovecraft and Sterling continued to correspond until the older writer’s death from cancer in March 1937. Sterling continued to show great promise for the rest of his life, entering Harvard University in the fall of 1936 when he was only 16. He published his first scientific paper as an undergraduate at only age 19 and went on to become an important research scientist and medical doctor. He wrote a short memoir about his friendship with Lovecraft called “Lovecraft and Science” and in 1975 wrote a longer memoir titled “Caverns Measureless to Man.” According to Joshi & Schultz (2001), he urged that Lovecraft be “remembered as a scholar and a thinker as well as an author” (p. 252).
”Carbon copy with manuscript corrections. Story written in collaboration with Kenneth Sterling in January 1936. This typescript was probably prepared by Sterling. There is a manuscript note on the cover sheet (in Sterling's hand): "First carbon copy - Blue Book / Argosy. Original typed copy - Astounding / Wonder. Second carbon copy - Weird / Amazing." First published in Weird Tales, 34, No. 4 (Oct 1939).”]
Title: In the Walls of Eryx
Author: H.P. Lovecraft & Kenneth J. Sterling
Dates: January 1926 (written), October 1939 (first published)
Genre: Fiction - Novelette*, science fiction, horror
Word count: 12,000 words
Date(s) read: 5/25/22-5/26/22
Reading journal entry #166 in 2022
Sources:
Link to the story: https://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/...
First publication citation: Weird Tales vol. 34, no. 4 (October 1939): 50–68.
Emrys, R., & Pillsworth, A.M. (2015, October 13). Successful Pulp Heroes Need to be More Genre Savvy: “In the Walls of Eryx”. TOR.COM https://www.tor.com/2015/10/13/lovecr...
Fifer, C., & Lackey, C. (2012, June 7). Episode 114 - In the Walls of Eryx. The H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast [audio blog]. Retrieved from
https://www.hppodcraft.com/list/2012/...
Joshi, S. T., & Schultz, D. E. (2001). An H.P. Lovecraft Encyclopedia. Greenwood Press.
Sterling, Kenneth, "In the Walls of Eryx" Howard P. Lovecraft collection. Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library. https://repository.library.brown.edu/...
Links to the images:
Eryx Walls by Pablo P. Quadros https://www.artstation.com/artwork/yk...
In the walls of Eryx by Bruno Senigalha: https://www.deviantart.com/brunosenig...
In the Walls of Eryx (2017) Nathan E Lilly: https://fineartamerica.com/featured/i...
https://repository.library.brown.edu/...
*The difference between a short story, novelette, novella, and a novel: https://owlcation.com/humanities/Diff...
Vignette, prose poem, flash fiction: 53 - 1,000 words
Short Stories: 1,000 - 7,500
Novelettes: 7,500 - 17,000
Novellas: 17,000 - 40,000
Novels: 40,000 + words
Written on May 30, 2022
November 15, 2023
Lovecraft on Venus
12 November 2023
I never realised that Lovecraft did science-fiction, but then again as a friend of mine once said – horror is just urban-fantasy. Mind you, there are an awful lot of science-fiction stories/movies that border on horror (and Event Horizon is one that comes to mind, as does Aliens). So, I guess it isn’t all that surprising to find Lovecraft reaching into that realm as well. Mind you, it isn’t as if he is exploring new territory – or is he since most of the Sci-fi that was being written around that time was purely speculative.
So, it is about this guy on Venus (and Venus is a jungle world that is inhabited by lizard people – that seems to be a popular concept at the time – namely speculating that our neighbours were habitable) who is off exploring by himself. I suspect that that is the key point here – by himself – because the problem is that if you like to get into trouble then you are really going to be in trouble.
Anyway, he stumbles upon an invisible maze. Invisible because he can’t see the walls. Also, he sees a corpse in the maze and manages to get there and upon the corpse is a crystal sphere. Anyway, instead of going back to base he decides to explore the maze, and inevitably becomes trapped. Well, that turns out to be the problem – he gets trapped. In fact, the suggestion at the end is that one of the major reasons that he was trapped was because he panicked and ended up making stupid mistakes.
The story is written from his point of view, but we later discover that it has been attached to an official report. Interestingly, this is one of those stories where while the antagonist dies, it seems that humanity manages to overcome the danger. Well, we aren’t quite sure, especially since while there is a suggestion that the natives may have built the maze, it might not necessarily be the case.
Another interesting thing, other than the idea that is proposed that natives aren’t quite human, and are also considered savage and uncivilised (which should come as much of a surprise to people familiar with Lovecraft) is that there is also the idea that life on Venus is not easy. They need spacesuits and oxygen. However, I suspect that at the time of writing nobody actually realised that the atmosphere was acidic and there was no way that anybody could actually survive.
Still, despite that, it was quite interesting to see Lovecraft's journey into the world of sci-fi.
12 November 2023
I never realised that Lovecraft did science-fiction, but then again as a friend of mine once said – horror is just urban-fantasy. Mind you, there are an awful lot of science-fiction stories/movies that border on horror (and Event Horizon is one that comes to mind, as does Aliens). So, I guess it isn’t all that surprising to find Lovecraft reaching into that realm as well. Mind you, it isn’t as if he is exploring new territory – or is he since most of the Sci-fi that was being written around that time was purely speculative.
So, it is about this guy on Venus (and Venus is a jungle world that is inhabited by lizard people – that seems to be a popular concept at the time – namely speculating that our neighbours were habitable) who is off exploring by himself. I suspect that that is the key point here – by himself – because the problem is that if you like to get into trouble then you are really going to be in trouble.
Anyway, he stumbles upon an invisible maze. Invisible because he can’t see the walls. Also, he sees a corpse in the maze and manages to get there and upon the corpse is a crystal sphere. Anyway, instead of going back to base he decides to explore the maze, and inevitably becomes trapped. Well, that turns out to be the problem – he gets trapped. In fact, the suggestion at the end is that one of the major reasons that he was trapped was because he panicked and ended up making stupid mistakes.
The story is written from his point of view, but we later discover that it has been attached to an official report. Interestingly, this is one of those stories where while the antagonist dies, it seems that humanity manages to overcome the danger. Well, we aren’t quite sure, especially since while there is a suggestion that the natives may have built the maze, it might not necessarily be the case.
Another interesting thing, other than the idea that is proposed that natives aren’t quite human, and are also considered savage and uncivilised (which should come as much of a surprise to people familiar with Lovecraft) is that there is also the idea that life on Venus is not easy. They need spacesuits and oxygen. However, I suspect that at the time of writing nobody actually realised that the atmosphere was acidic and there was no way that anybody could actually survive.
Still, despite that, it was quite interesting to see Lovecraft's journey into the world of sci-fi.
June 8, 2019
Кентон Стенфілд прилітає на Венеру, де люди шукають особливі кристали, які дають надзвичайну кількість енергії. Цим же кристалам поклоняються єдині більш-менш розвинені істоти планети, які нагадують плазунів. Інколи вони нападають на людей, але зазвичай з ними легко впоратися.
Стенфілд прямує в одиночну експедицію на нагір'я, де радар показав наявність кристала. Прибувши на місце, він бачить труп іншого шукача, який знайшов цей кристал, хоче його взяти, але якась невидима перешкода заважає йому. Схоже, якась прозора споруда оточує труп і кристал. Стенфілду вдається знайти у неї вхід, він забирає собі кристал, але вирішує дослідити це чудернацьке місце.
Я вже не раз писав, що Лавкрафт під кінець життя перетворювався на наукового фантаста, і це лише чергове підтвердження. Ми вже звили читати у нього про те, що зарозуміле людство сприймає себе володарями всесвіту, але варто якомусь богу чхнути, як всі попадають на коліну. Тут замість богів - недорозвинені венеріанці. За рівнем технологічного розвитку вони безперечно поступаються землянам, але чи варто їх недооцінювати? Це їхня планета і господарі тут вони.
Стенфілд прямує в одиночну експедицію на нагір'я, де радар показав наявність кристала. Прибувши на місце, він бачить труп іншого шукача, який знайшов цей кристал, хоче його взяти, але якась невидима перешкода заважає йому. Схоже, якась прозора споруда оточує труп і кристал. Стенфілду вдається знайти у неї вхід, він забирає собі кристал, але вирішує дослідити це чудернацьке місце.
Я вже не раз писав, що Лавкрафт під кінець життя перетворювався на наукового фантаста, і це лише чергове підтвердження. Ми вже звили читати у нього про те, що зарозуміле людство сприймає себе володарями всесвіту, але варто якомусь богу чхнути, як всі попадають на коліну. Тут замість богів - недорозвинені венеріанці. За рівнем технологічного розвитку вони безперечно поступаються землянам, але чи варто їх недооцінювати? Це їхня планета і господарі тут вони.
December 13, 2019
Los Terrícolas han llegado a Venus y han construido una colonia a la que han llamado Terra nova. En Venus hay vida,una fauna y flora diversa,y una raza inteligente de seres reptilianos cuya cultura a aún no esta muy desarrollada,aunque en algunos aspecto como la arquitectura parece mucho mas avanzada.
El principal interés de los hombres en Venus es un cristal que sirve como fuente de energía y es exclusivo de Venus,un solo cristal tiene energía para alimentar una ciudad,pero los colonos están teniendo problemas para iniciar una explotación minera masiva porqué estos cristales son sagrados para los Venusianos.
Él protagonista aconseja traer un destacamento de soldados y aniquilar a toda la especie nativa para poder explotar las minas de cristal,algo lamentablemente demasiado cerca de la realidad, es justo lo que ha hecho E.E U.U (y otras potencias imperialistas a lo largo de la Historia) con los países Petroleros o las llamadas "tierras raras" y "minerales de sangre".
Este relato me hubiera gustado mas sin el epílogo,sin el epílogo incluso hubiera reivindicado la figura de Lovecraft que como todos saben simpatizo con la ideología nazi y la supremacía de la raza aría.En la penúltima parte del relato el personaje reflexiona sí en la escala cósmica ninguna raza es superior a otra,al enfrentarse con la muerte cambia su postura xenófobas y manifiesta una postura anticolonialista ,pero al final esto es descartado como un delirio y se comienzan planes para una invasión total y un Holocausto venusiano.
El principal interés de los hombres en Venus es un cristal que sirve como fuente de energía y es exclusivo de Venus,un solo cristal tiene energía para alimentar una ciudad,pero los colonos están teniendo problemas para iniciar una explotación minera masiva porqué estos cristales son sagrados para los Venusianos.
Él protagonista aconseja traer un destacamento de soldados y aniquilar a toda la especie nativa para poder explotar las minas de cristal,algo lamentablemente demasiado cerca de la realidad, es justo lo que ha hecho E.E U.U (y otras potencias imperialistas a lo largo de la Historia) con los países Petroleros o las llamadas "tierras raras" y "minerales de sangre".
Este relato me hubiera gustado mas sin el epílogo,sin el epílogo incluso hubiera reivindicado la figura de Lovecraft que como todos saben simpatizo con la ideología nazi y la supremacía de la raza aría.En la penúltima parte del relato el personaje reflexiona sí en la escala cósmica ninguna raza es superior a otra,al enfrentarse con la muerte cambia su postura xenófobas y manifiesta una postura anticolonialista ,pero al final esto es descartado como un delirio y se comienzan planes para una invasión total y un Holocausto venusiano.
December 15, 2019
Wordsworth Editions
London 2010.
Did not enjoy this story as it is usual when I get lost in Lovecraft s pages. This time it was not so much because there are no naked women but because I do not like science fiction of which a typical example is this story.
The layout is an autodiegetic/first person narrator with a heterodiegetic narrator at the end who finds the autodiegetic narrator s writings at the end.
The language is not so much atmospheric, this story was published in 1936., it reminds a lot of Clark Ashton Smith s stories because it is situated on Venus. Those two were pals so they influenced each other a lot.
It is interesting that aboriginal dwellers of Venus are lizardlike intelligent creatures; does a former football player from the Ilse of Wright pop up in mind?
Me and my pal, Elon Musk, are going next year to Venus, if you want to join us you need to pay 10 000 turkish liras on my account.
¡Hasta luego!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7XEf...
London 2010.
Did not enjoy this story as it is usual when I get lost in Lovecraft s pages. This time it was not so much because there are no naked women but because I do not like science fiction of which a typical example is this story.
The layout is an autodiegetic/first person narrator with a heterodiegetic narrator at the end who finds the autodiegetic narrator s writings at the end.
The language is not so much atmospheric, this story was published in 1936., it reminds a lot of Clark Ashton Smith s stories because it is situated on Venus. Those two were pals so they influenced each other a lot.
It is interesting that aboriginal dwellers of Venus are lizardlike intelligent creatures; does a former football player from the Ilse of Wright pop up in mind?
Me and my pal, Elon Musk, are going next year to Venus, if you want to join us you need to pay 10 000 turkish liras on my account.
¡Hasta luego!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7XEf...
July 4, 2024
This was a unique little (well, not SO little) story from Lovecraft- or rather, Lovecraft and Kenneth Sterling, co-author. I was not surprised to discover that this was one of Lovecraft s famous collaborations, being that it was so completely DIFFERENT from his usual stuff. Gone was good old massachusetts and the usual bookish antiquarian-protagonist who wishes the world was like it used to be in the good old days, replaced instead by... ...Venus, and a crystal-hunting spaceman? How entirely unexpected!
On the whole i liked this. I find that Lovecraft s collaborations are usually quite fun- He lending his vocabulary expertise and refinement of ideas, and his writing partners giving his stories a few different set ups than "bookworm of ailing health in MA discovers something spoopy", along with a touch of humanity that HPL was often want to leave out of his work.
On the whole i liked this. I find that Lovecraft s collaborations are usually quite fun- He lending his vocabulary expertise and refinement of ideas, and his writing partners giving his stories a few different set ups than "bookworm of ailing health in MA discovers something spoopy", along with a touch of humanity that HPL was often want to leave out of his work.
February 21, 2020
This was actually a pretty good straight up science fiction prior to any sort of space exploration. I was really interested to see how authors thought of space exploration at the time and that is more of the attraction of reading this short story in the 21 century. The story itself is also pretty intense, with humans dealing with unthinkable technology from another world (example is the invisible labyrinth the lead character faces in this story). I liked the description of his struggle and despair and the alien planet was also fun.
Look forward to read more from Lovecraft.
Look forward to read more from Lovecraft.
September 18, 2019
Último tomo de esta colección de colaboraciones. Incluye tres cuentos.
La exhumación, relato compartido con Duane W. Rimel, es bastante lovecraftniano. Interesante.
El diario de Alonzo Typer, de autoría compartida con William Lumley, un texto que podría incluirse dentro de los mitos de Cthulhu.
En los muros de Eryx, colaboración con Kenneth Sterling, un relato espacial, sin dudas atípico en la literatura de Lovecraft.
La exhumación, relato compartido con Duane W. Rimel, es bastante lovecraftniano. Interesante.
El diario de Alonzo Typer, de autoría compartida con William Lumley, un texto que podría incluirse dentro de los mitos de Cthulhu.
En los muros de Eryx, colaboración con Kenneth Sterling, un relato espacial, sin dudas atípico en la literatura de Lovecraft.
November 13, 2019
This story lacks a lot of the "cosmic horror" Lovecraft is famous for, instead focusing on more conventional science fiction. I was really expecting the crystal to be controlling the force fields, showing that no matter what the protagonist did he couldn't outsmart the "primitive" aliens and cold only escape by abandoning his prize and admitting defeat. The ending ultimately makes him appear just as daft, but it's not quite as clever and ironic as I expect from this kind of story.
March 15, 2021
Докато наблюдавах отдалеч това сияние, си дадох сметка, че изпитвам съжаление към примитивните човекогущери, които сляпо обежествяваха кристалите,без ни най-малко да подозират за колосалната енергия, стаена в тях.И ние хората сляпо гоним парите,издигайки ги на пиадестал. Гоним ги в същите прозрачни лабиринти, блъскайки се от една стена в друга, докато не умрем или загубим разсъдъка си!
September 30, 2024
Los tres relatos que cierran la serie de colaboraciones entre Howard Lovecraft y diversos autores tienen principalmente un afán completista. Inclinados al cuento de miedo gótico ("La Exhumación"), el horror cósmico ("El Diario de Alonzo Typer") y la ciencia ficción ("En los Muros de Eryx"), su lectura no ofrece gran conexión con el trabajo del escritor de Providence, dudándose en algún caso de su implicancia en la escritura. Un volumen anecdótico.
December 31, 2025
3.5 out of 5.
Lovecrafts horizons broadened as he aged. His characters often left the earth but this is the first time they did so via space ship. Despite the author, its a conventional science fiction story perhaps somewhat ahead of its time as most conventional science fiction stories were written in the 50s and not the 30s. Its good not great and it would have made for a high average Trek episode should those lanes have crossed.
Lovecrafts horizons broadened as he aged. His characters often left the earth but this is the first time they did so via space ship. Despite the author, its a conventional science fiction story perhaps somewhat ahead of its time as most conventional science fiction stories were written in the 50s and not the 30s. Its good not great and it would have made for a high average Trek episode should those lanes have crossed.
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