Out of the Aeons (Fantasy and Horror Classics): With a Dedication by George Henry Weiss

by H.P. Lovecraft

This early work by H. P. Lovecraft was originally published in 1935. Born in 1890 in Rhode Island, USA, Lovecraft began writing at a very young age, quickly developing a deep and abiding interest in science. In 1913, Lovecraft joined the UAPA (United Amateur Press Association) but it was four years later, in 1917, that he began to focus on fiction, producing such well-known early stories as 'Dagon' and 'A Reminiscence of Dr. Samuel Johnson'. However, it was during the last decade of his life that Lovecraft produced his most notable works, such as 'the Dunwich Horror' and 'The Call of Cthulhu' which subsequently earned him his place as one of the most influential horror writers of the 20th century. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900's and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Lovecraftian, Fiction, Fantasy, Classics, Cthulhu Mythos

42 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1933

About the author

Howard 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

Reviews

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read three stories now that Lovecraft wrote with Heald, and all three involved something once alive being immobile and on display. Two involve museums. Two involve petrification [this is the spelling my text uses]. Two involve ancient monsters. Two employ icky skin-related descriptors (three if you count the woman who turned into stone very slowly).
Someone had some rather specific interests.

[ᴥ Irena ᴥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

written by H. P. Lovecraft and Hazel Heald

A small Boston museum obtained a strange mummy. Until then their visitors were mostly scholars and educated people. However, the discovery of the mummy, a strange metal cylinder found with it and the place where it was found turned the spotlight (unwanted) on the museum itself.

The story reads like a diary entry or a will of the curator of the Cabot Museum in Boston. In it he leaves an explanation of what really happened in the museum following the mummy's arrival.
I won't get into the plot too much though. I'll just note a couple of interesting tidbits (not to say the rest of it wasn't interesting).

Strange people start coming to the museum to see the mummy. Even Swami Chandraputra. His mention is like a wink to readers. That and the fact that the name of the first curator was Pickman.
A large part of the story is a retelling of what the curator read about the possible origins of the mummy in the Black Book. The names the book mentions are the ones you had to encounter at least once before: Yig, Ghatanothoa, Yuggoth, Shub-Niggurath and so on.

While any reader would know what they would find when they examined the mummy, it is still creepy. The punishment for defying an old god is beyond severe.

[Lizz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t write reviews.

This one started a little slow, but man oh man, it packed a punch!

[Jazzy Lemon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another delightful romp through a museum.

[Sugarpop · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't hate it, I didn't love it. Reads like a standard Lovecraft story. Take it or leave it, I guess

[Per · Rating 3 out of 5]

https://archive.org/details/Weird_Tal...
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Out_of...

Interspersed among Cthulhu Mythos literature like the Necronomicon, Book of Eibon, Pnakotic fragments and Nameless Cults, there are two real life authors that stand out.

True to its “hustling” policy, the Boston Pillar sent a Sunday feature writer to cover the incident and pad it with an exaggerated general account of the institution itself; and this young man—Stuart Reynolds by name—hit upon the nameless mummy as a potential sensation far surpassing the recent acquisitions nominally forming his chief assignment. A smattering of theosophical lore, and a fondness for the speculations of such writers as Colonel Churchward and Lewis Spence concerning lost continents and primal forgotten civilisations, made Reynolds especially alert toward any aeonian relic like the unknown mummy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_S... -- James Lewis Thomas Chalmers Spence (25 November 1874 – 3 March 1955) was a Scottish journalist, poet, author, folklorist and occult scholar. Spence was a Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, and vice-president of the Scottish Anthropological and Folklore Society.

Some of Lewis Spence's books can be found at Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/auth...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_C... -- James Churchward (27 February 1851 – 4 January 1936) was a British occult writer, inventor, engineer, and fisherman. Churchward is most notable for proposing the existence of a lost continent, called "Mu," in the Pacific Ocean. His writings on Mu are considered to be pseudoscience.

Some of Churchward's books can be found here: https://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/es...

https://www.tor.com/2015/05/05/the-wo...

[Thor The Redbeard · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5*

[Maya Dukhey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, not a great idea to read right before bed. This was scarier than I expected!

[Ⰰⱃⰿⰰⱀⰴ Ⱆⰾⰴⰵⱃⰻⰽⱁ Ⱅⰵⱄⰾⰰ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wordsworth Editions
London 2010.
Blessings to all forms of life, from dimensions below to those from dimensions above. Greetings to the distant space lights and to street dwellers from socialist Udbaland to redpilled Brazil.
This is yet another crazy review from a fugitive in socialist Udbaland. Please donate me some money so one day one might film a movie "Escape from Udbaland" depicting how I ran from socialist- white woman only Udbaland to a free market- chocolate woman capitalist society.
Me and Branko Malić are hungry.
This novella is presented to the reader in the form of autodiegetic narration, thus meaning that the protagonist through first person narration presents us the world from the pages.
The language is tight, vivid, strong and atmospheric like something from outter space.
"After all, it was not a long thing to tell. Oozing and surging up out of that yawning trapdoor in the Cyclopean crypt I had glimpsed such an unbelievable behemothic monstrosity that I could not doubt the power of its original to kill with its mere sight. Even now I cannot begin to suggest it with any words at my command. I might call it gigantic- tentacled- proboscidian- octupus-eyed- semiamorphus-plastic- partly squamous and partly rugose- ugh! But nothing I could say could even adumbrate the loathsome, unholy, non-human, extra-galactic horror and hatefulness and unutterable evil of that forbidden spawn of black chaos and illimitable night."
The content shows a museum with an old, old mummy found in the Pacific.
Southern Pacific.
It is interesting how the Southern Pacific is a ubiquitous topos of the sci-fi genre. From "Island of Doctor Moreau" to the old school PC game https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impossi..., which is my favorite game.
Let us not forget also "The Mysterious Island", which is my favorite Verne s novel.
We can add Robinson Crusoe as an adventure novel, not a sci-fi member, but still situated in the Southern Pacific.
The real story of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexand..., the history how the Norfolk population developed https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norfolk... show that the localisation is not a mere pretension. The Southern Pacific really is a wondrous place.
Does the mummy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvxwK...?
Find out reading this novella!
¡Hasta luego weones y weonas!

[Chompa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had never read this one and found it odd that it was co-written by Hazel Heald, a writer from Somerville, Massachusetts. From what I read Lovecraft worked on five stories created by her, supposedly polishing them up.

Subject matter wise? This is amazing. A mummy found on an island that mysteriously rises in the sea only to disappear later? An odd scroll, a priesthood seeking it, strange gods?

Further this and The Call of Cthulhu apparently led to Lin Carter writing his Xothix Cycle, which is immediately on my TBR list.

Narration by Horrorbabble's Ian Gordon is again impeccable. This is in my top five of Lovecraft's stories.

[William Becker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the idea of this story but the execution was poor.

[Bernardo Arcos Álvarez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aún recuerdo la magia de leer por primera vez a Lovecraft, la duda que surgió naturalmente ¿Acaso Abdul Alhazred existió? ¿Habrá algo de verdad en los insondables abismos de tiempo y en los innombrables ritos practicados por seres anteriores al hombre? Es justo lo que provoca Out of the Aeons, el deseo de autoengañarse y dejarse llevar por la imaginación oscura de horrores cósmicos y de seres monstruos ocultos por los milenios. Lovecraft es inmortal.

[Tony Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Out of the Aeons is one of those Lovecraft stories that feels like a museum exhibit that should never have been opened. It begins mild and scholarly, almost harmless, then slowly tilts into something ancient, hungry, and colder than time. Lovecraft always enjoyed blending archaeology with cosmic dread, and this is one of the clearest examples of that approach. What starts as an academic curiosity becomes a reminder that humanity’s understanding of history is a narrow window in a vast, uncaring universe.

The story centers on a strange mummy displayed at the Cabot Museum in Boston, a figure wrapped in legend and impossible tales. The narrative unfolds through reports, testimony, and records, which gives the whole piece a documentary feel. Lovecraft enjoys this format because it lets him pretend the story is merely being revealed, not invented. As the details accumulate, the mystery around the mummy deepens, and the line between history and nightmare blurs in classic Lovecraftian fashion.

What gives the story its momentum is the slow revelation of what the preserved figure truly is. Lovecraft shows unusual restraint here. He layers the clues, lets the academic debate simmer, and allows the truth to emerge with a cold inevitability. And when it does, it strikes with that familiar Lovecraft chill the realization that some beings do not die, they simply sleep, waiting for the right disturbance to tear their way back into the present.

The prose is crisp, measured, and clinical at times, a style that works well given the museum setting. It reads like a curator’s nightmare, a catalog of facts that should never have been assembled. Lovecraft’s fascination with forbidden knowledge is all over this, and so is his conviction that the universe is older and more hostile than we can accept. The final twist lands with a clean brutality that stays with you.

It is worth noting that the story has ties to the larger lore Lovecraft liked to play with, especially the shadow of the Necronomicon, that fictional tome that keeps showing up in the background of his worlds. The book is not the focus here, but its presence is felt in the scholars and cults that circle the events, always hunting for truths no person should chase.

Out of the Aeons stands as a compact example of Lovecraft’s strengths. Controlled pacing, creeping dread, and a final revelation that feels both inevitable and worse than you expected. It is not his grandest work, but it is one of his cleaner and more focused pieces. A story about what happens when the past wakes up and notices you. A reminder that some things buried in the dark remain there for a reason.

[Oleksandr Fediienko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Маловідомий археологічний музей півстоліття тому отримав надзвичайний експонат - мумію, знайдену на острові, який ненадовго піднявся з дна океану, а потім знову пішов вниз. Разом з мумією тамкож був циліндр, а в ньому - сувій. Загадку послання і самої мумій тоді не вдалося розгадати і про них дещо забули.
Однак тепер завдяки журналістам історія знову набуває розголосу. До музею приходять численні відвідувачі, а науковці всього світу шукають відповіді на старі питання. Водночас мумією цікавляться члени різних культів, в основі яких покладена подібна історія. Начебто 175 тисяч років тому на континенті Му існував кільт жахливого бога Гатанотоа, але верховний жрець культу богині Шуб-Ніґґурат кинув виклик чудовиську, вирішивши стати першим, хто побачить його на власні очі. Більше жерця не бачили.
І от, коли про мумію починають говорити у колах містиків, багато хто вірить, що це і є той жрець, і його все ще можна оживити. Декілька спроб дістатися до нього завершуються арештами, але врешті-решт двом бідолахам вночі це вдається, а вранці музейним співробіникам доводиться стати свідками жахливого видовища.
Це оповідання - одне з тих, в якому Лавкрафту вдалося втілити свої задуми. Судячи з прийомів, які він повторював у своїх творах, у нього було певне уявлення того, якою повинна бути страшна історія, щоб у неї повірили.
По-перше, її повинен розповісти очевидець. Додаткова об'єктивність досягається за рахунок того, що куратор, з рукопису якого ми про все дізнаємося, не був усюдисущим.
По-друге, попри багато непоясненного, є багато свідчень і фактів. Дата, імена - навіть назва корабля з іменем капітана і курсом - надають рукопису автентичності.
По-третє, обов'язкові посилання на книги з езотеричним знаннями. Вигадані "Безіменні культи" фон Юнцта проливають світло на багато аспектів питання.
По-четверте, сама історія повинна відвертати увагу від неправдоподібності. Я люблю результати співпраці Лавкрафта і з іншими письменниками тому, що часто вони давали те, що не міг дати сам Лавкрафт, і його всесвіт переставав бути настільки герметичним. Історія була тут захоплива, тому і загальне враження відповідне.

[Rana Khan · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Out of the Aeons / সময়ের ওপার থেকে" গল্পটির মূল প্রতিপাদ্য বিষয় হলো অজানার প্রতি মানবজাতির আকর্ষণ এবং তার বিপদ। গল্পে একটি প্রাচীন সভ্যতার নিদর্শন এবং একটি রহস্যময় বস্তু (artifact) নিয়ে আলোচনা করা হয়েছে, যা অমরত্ব এবং অতিপ্রাকৃত শক্তির ধারণার সঙ্গে সম্পর্কিত। এই বস্তুটির সাথে জড়িত ভয়ানক শক্তি এবং ঘটনাগুলি পাঠককে অজানা জগতের বিপদ এবং শক্তির প্রতিফলন সম্পর্কে ভাবতে বাধ্য করে।

এই বইটি থেকে আমরা কিছু গুরুত্বপূর্ণ বিষয় শিখতে পারি:

1. অজানার বিপদ: মানুষ সবসময় অজানা জিনিসের প্রতি আকৃষ্ট হয়, কিন্তু সব অজানা জিনিসই জানার উপযুক্ত নয়। অনেক সময় অতিরিক্ত কৌতূহল বিপদের কারণ হতে পারে।


2. সভ্যতার সীমাবদ্ধতা: প্রাচীন এবং বিস্মৃত সভ্যতার বিষয়গুলি বর্তমান মানুষকে চ্যালেঞ্জ করে, যা বোঝায় যে মানবজাতির জ্ঞান সীমাবদ্ধ এবং পুরনো জ্ঞানের অনেক কিছুই এখনো অজানা রয়ে গেছে।


3. অমরত্বের প্রলোভন: গল্পে অমরত্বের ধারণা উল্লেখ করা হয়েছে, কিন্তু সেই অমরত্বের সঙ্গে আসে ভয়ানক দায়িত্ব ও বিপদ, যা থেকে বোঝা যায় যে চিরকাল বেঁচে থাকা সবসময় আশীর্বাদ নয়, তা অভিশাপও হতে পারে।



এই গল্পটি আমাদের শেখায় যে সব জ্ঞান বা শক্তির সন্ধান করা উচিত নয় এবং অতিপ্রাকৃত বা অজানা বিষয়ের প্রতি সীমাহীন আকর্ষণ বিপর্যয়কর হতে পারে।

[Mike MacDee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a surprisingly effective tale of the mythos revolving around a strange mummy, and equally strange scroll, and one of the most frightening creatures in all of Yog-Sothothery. HP was fond of folk tales and mythology, and it really shows here: the story of the people of Mu is fascinating and feels like something out of a textbook, and the mystery of the mummy lends itself to a lot of spooky fun. It ends up feeling like the sort of yarn you’d read in a scary story anthology, albeit with a more archaic writing style. It’s underrated and highly recommended, despite the bogusness of the Mu culture irl, and a few questionable science fact elements.

[Amy Mills · Rating 3 out of 5]

One where the journalistic style mostly works, though the sudden intrusion of "we" in the middle of a third person section threw me out of the story for a moment. When it later goes to first person, it's at a section change, so that was less jarring.

Enjoyable overall. Loads of detail on Lovecraft's version of the mysterious and horrible history of the world. The unviewable deity vaguely reminds me of Weeping Angels from Doctor Who, and I can't help but wonder if it was part of their inspiration. Their effect is a lot tamer, though.

Mysterious mummy from mystical mountain makes monstrous museum mischief.

[Diana Ruiz · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 estrellitas, actually.
No recuerdo haber entendido mucho la primera vez que lo leí, a los 12 años, no más, pero en definitiva recuerdo lo mucho que me perturbó el concepto del título, "más allá de los eones". Ahora, no tan grande pero seis años después, y ya con más callo leyendo los mitos, y ya más acostumbrada (y ya sin sorprenderme) del estilo de Lovecraft, pues qué decir, me ha gustao y no me quito la sensación de incomodidad después de leer el final que más que obvio, es inevitable en un relato de este señor.

[Aiden Blasi · Rating 4 out of 5]

More of a 3.5

It's one of those Lovecraft stories which is mostly exposition and wordlbuilding, which might not be everyone's cup of tea. Also pretty racist (lots of nefarious "swarthy" foreigners). But that kind of comes with the territory reading Howard. The ending is delightfully spooky, which is the story's saving grace for me. Definitely worth reading if you're a fan of the mythos

[Scott Whitney · Rating 4 out of 5]

A diary-style story that is read after the death of the person who wrote it. The narrator of the story takes the time to do research into whatever they have found and what they uncover in their research is enough to put the facts together and come up with scary ideas which are what makes Lovecraft's writings as deliciously disturbing as they are.

[Israeliano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally, a good "collaboration" between Lovecraft and Hazel Heald (actually, the story was ghost-written by Lovecraft for Hazel.)

The story itself reads with mounting terror, with every page bringing the reader to an ineluctable, but nonetheless terrifying, conclusion. I found the story to be a mixture between "The Mound" and "The Whisperer in Darkness", with the tale extracted from von Juntz's Black Book being the lowest point in the narration, but not in content.

Overall, a great piece which motivates me even further to read more from Clark Ashton Smith.

[Tung Lam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sau rất nhiều truyện khó đọc thì cuối cùng cũng có một truyện của Lovecraft mà mình thấy hứng thú.

Nội dung vẫn xoay quanh những nối kinh hoàng mơ hồ về thực thể thần linh viễn cổ, ghê gớm. Tuy nhiên cách tiếp cận của tác giả đã khéo léo hơn rất nhiều. Các tình tiết cũng được mô tả rõ ràng, dễ hình dung.

[FameL · Rating 3 out of 5]

The museum setting is not that interesting, but the horror is good in this one. Narration is pleasant, there is professionally built suspense with nice bits of character development. The finale deftly ends the whole morbid story.

[Tiffany Lynn Kramer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Out of the Aeons has a little bit of everything I love about Lovecraft's work. Unfortunately however it does come with some elements that I also hate. I do think in the right hands this would be a great piece to see expanded into a full length novel.

[Tem · Rating 5 out of 5]

A low 5, but a 5 nonetheless. I'd put this up there with "The Call of Cthulhu" and "Through the Gates of the Silver Key" as one of my favorite Lovecraft stories. It's short and sweet. He gets to the good stuff very quickly.

[Filbi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mediocre as a Mythos story - it feels like a rehash of "The Call of Cthulhu", with the sunken city and racist ethnic cultists - but as a horror story about a mummy much better than average. This is the first time a mummy was actually scary to me.

[Paxton Holley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very creepy, enjoyable read. Written as a letter telling events that happened in the recent past gives it a certain atmosphere of dread that really worked. It's a good story.

[Rizzie · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of those stories that just goes in one ear and out the other. I couldn't tell you what happened, but I'll give 2 stars out of respect for Lovecraft's prose.

[Βασίλης Μέγας · Rating 5 out of 5]

This tale is one of my best by his Dark Highness H.P.Lovecraft!

Btw, has anyone read von Junzt's Black Book?

[Ryan Glass · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh, spent more time reading the Wikipedia page to see what this was really about. Congrats on your thesaurus use.