The Colour Out of Space and Others

by H.P. Lovecraft, August Derleth (Editor)

The Colour Out of Space/Cthulhu Mythos, 1927 novelette
The Picture in the House, 1924 story
The Call of Cthulhu/Cthulhu Mythos, 1928 novelette
Cool Air, 1928 story
The Whisperer in Darkness/Cthulhu Mythos, 1931 novelette
The Terrible Old Man, 1921 story
The Shadow Out of Time/Cthulhu Mythos, 1936 novella
The Colour Out of Space is a 1st-person narrative told from the perspective of an unnamed Boston surveyor. Preparing for the construction of a new Massachusetts reservoir, he surveys a rural area that's to be flooded near the fictional town of Arkham. He comes across a mysterious patch of land, an abandoned 5-acre farmstead devoid of life. At the centre of the farmstead is an old well. The site fills him with an unnatural sense of dread. He hurries past it. When he returns to Arkham, the surveyor asks around for information regarding the waste. He learns of an elderly hermit, Ammi Pierce, & asks him about the "blasted heath". The hermit relates a horrific tale: In the early 1880s, the farm had been productive, run by a Nahum Gardner & his family. One afternoon in 6/1882, a meteorite crashed into the farm, beside the well. It was metallic & contained a toxic substance of an indescribable color. While scientists weren't able to tell what it contained, its effects were undeniable--the Gardners were struck by insanity, illness & worse, whilst the land around them was slowly drained of life.

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Science Fiction, Short Stories, Classics, Lovecraftian, Fantasy

222 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1927

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

[Coos Burton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tres de mis relatos favoritos de H.P. Lovecraft. Amo esta serie de libros que sacó AZ porque son una forma muy amena de acercar a los adolescentes a los autores clásicos de terror, no solo con los cuentos, sino con toda la info que agregan.

[Megan M · Rating 5 out of 5]

What the actual fuck, Lovecraft. Never sleeping with the lights off again.

I'm not a huge horror buff. I scare easily and the fear stays with me for a long time. I've decided to start reading though some Lovecraft because I want to be able to say I've read Lovecraft. As I was checking out at Barnes & Noble, the cashier told me I was in for a treat. Yeah. Right.

This creepy story about a meteorite and the creature that came along with it is slowly terrifying in a Heart of Darkness way. The lack of description of the "monster" itself (or the remains of its victims) is what scared me the most, leaving my brain to imagine all sorts of twisted horrors. I definitely suggest this book to fans of horror, but also to anyone who is interested in the foundations of modern science fiction and horror.

But really, I will not sleep tonight.

[Michael Fierce · Rating 5 out of 5]

CLASSIC Lovecraft. The Colour Out of Space, The Picture in the House, The Call of Cthulhu, Cool Air, The Whisperer in Darkness, The Terrible Old Man, The Shadow Out of Time. An amazing collection I found at my local library for 10¢.

[Lou · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of many chilling stories of Lovecraft. Story of strange goings on.

"It was just a colour out of space - a frightful messenger from unformed realms of infinity beyond all Nature as we know it; from realms whose mere existence stuns the brain and numbs us with the black extra-cosmic gulfs it throws open before our frenzied eyes."

[Brece Cuca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Se me hizo algo lento para una historia tan corta. Pero el terror fue palpable.
Dicen que el mayor temor es a lo desconocido y aquí es un ejemplo claro. Solo se sabe que esa cosa, ese color cayó del cielo y se consume todo.
Y suerte que se limito a la granja esa. Imaginen que siguiera creciendo y consumiera un planeta entero.eso estaría peor pero ya con esto basta y sobra.

[Kenneth McKinley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just when I think I've found my favorite Lovecraft story, I'll read another and my new favorite is born. Ive watched the B-movie adaption from 1987's The Curse. For a small-budget film, that really wasn't too bad. The story was even better. Lovecraft's writing was so vibrant in this tale. It felt like I could picture the meteor hitting the farm, smell the drinking water it tainted, taste the rotten fruits and vegetables that it affected, see the crazy colours in the presence's aura, and feel the dread from the characters that came in contact with it. What a perfect story.

5 out of 5 stars


You can also follow my reviews at the following links:

https://kenmckinley.wordpress.com

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TWITTER - @KenMcKinley5

[Dimitris · Rating 4 out of 5]

WARNING!Do not read this book at night!I repeat do not read this book at night!May cause insomnia or terrible nightmares!

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very gripping and chilling and so descriptive. Would be interesting to see the movie adaptation that's about to come out.

[BooksTraveler · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

[Louis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love horror. I've read much horror as a kid, book after book after book of delicious scary stories. Truth is, horror for the most part isn't scary at all. In literary form that is. When it comes to horror movies, I always chicken out or look away. It's just not my thing. Too gory, too explicit, too... obvious. Plus, adaptations are nearly always pretty meagre compared to their originals. But I'm not here to talk about movies vs books, the classic argument. I'm here to talk about my obsession with Lovecraft.

For a while now, I've been pondering on the question how Lovecraft's stories manage to penetrate so deeply into the mind. Today the thought struck me: the power of suggestion. So obvious! Stephen King one of my favorite horror authors, knows how to use the power of suggestion. However, he owes a lot of it to Lovecraft (one of his inspirations), who is the old master in the art.

The colour out of space is no different in this respect. It starts much in the same fashion as some of his other tales I've read (at the mountains of madness) in that some bizarre event takes place, bad omens come forth, but the temptation of scoring the ultimate discovery trumps the mind's cautiousness. What follows, however, is so bizarre, so uncanny, so otherworldly, that somehow it races past the point of 'that's just ridiculous' to the point of 'but what if...'. That suspension of disbelief so typical of Lovecraft managed to pull me in seamlessly. I literally could not stop reading, despite my other urgent tasks, and that hasn't happened in... well, probably in years. I see symbolism everywhere: the grey vs the colour (the way Lovecraft describes it reminds me of overly saturated colours, the kind of which you see at fairs or during carnavals, those that seem to attack you from afar, the ugly-as-sin tones that catch your eye and you want to turn away but reluctantly aren't able too), death vs life (correspondingly with the above)... ok well maybe it's not so much the symbolism as it is the utterly derangedness of vision as described here... Maybe it's the bouts of insanity, maybe it's the obscure elements that aren't explained and prickle the mind even afterwards (the well Lovecraft, what about the well??!!), in any case, Lovecraft has made a deep impression with this story that is not wont to leave me anytime soon. I don't know if I ought to be resentful or thankful for this feat since I am definitely not easily scared by horror stories. I guess I'll know when the blanket of night covers me and I can find out whether the trees do or do not start moving...

[Sigourney Penna · Rating 5 out of 5]

The cover art is reason enough to love this book!

Lovecraft never wrote much more than shorts, of course, and all of us who make a living in the genre owe something to his great brief mind. Fortunately, this was the first book of Lovecraft's that I ever read and I was thoroughly introduced to the man's mind from the varied and astounding tales within.

Lovecraft's weakness was "character" - and these stories are no exception. The characters each have ridiculous dialogue and forced behavior. Never let this poison your view of Lovecraft's incredible imagination and meticulous gift of macabre. He was the master of the genre and in many ways still is.

I cannot recommend this particular book enough, especially if you're just getting to know Howard Phillips and his incredible worlds.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seven clustered stories including the canonical The Call of Cthulhu. The stories don't do so much for me, but the scenes - the scenes are epic. Viz:

"I shall never sleep calmly again when I think of the horrors that lurk ceaselessly behind life in time and in space, and of those unhallowed blasphemies from elder stars which dream beneath the sea, known and favored by a nightmare cult ready and eager to loose them on the world whenever another earthquake shall hear their monstrous stone city again to the sun and air." (70).

These aren't horrors you hail.

[Julie Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this for our next episode of A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast. I remember loving it as a teenager but haven't read it in so long. This does make me wonder who the first author was to write fiction about the "space seed" concept.

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed this one quite a bit! Love reading about slow descents into madness.

[achilles · Rating 5 out of 5]

i feel like i am about to throw up

[Žahra Hamzeh · Rating 2 out of 5]

به عنوان اولین داستانی که گه از لاوکرافت خوندم ناامیدم کرد.موضوع خوب بود ولی برام تازگی نداشت.و صد البته ترجمه ی بد انتشارات روزگار نو هم مزید بر این علت شد که نتونم با متن ارتباط برقرار کنم.

[Χρήστος Κασκαβέλης · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute little story. Reminded me of little house on the prairie. Eίχε κι ένα ελαφάκι στο πηγάδι. Τι διαβάζετε ρε τρελοκομεία;

[Louise Corrigan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ahead of his time as always 🦑

[Christopher Trader · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of HP's best.

[ik.ben.henri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read after viewing the movie, being disappointed by the story and needed to check the original.

This is good quality Lovecraft :)

Sadly, this kind of storytelling is being milked out currently by a lot of series, movies and comics. I prefer if they would let Lovecraft alone.

[Stefan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Веома инспиративан момак 👽🐙🚪👹

[Elvis García · Rating 5 out of 5]

La originalidad de las historias de Lovecraft siempre terminan por sorprenderme... ni hablar de sus finales

[Donald Mwale · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super Eerie. Really great fast read

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

okay now this is interesting… it reminds me of the annihilation movie in the best way. i love how the horror is created from quite little, makes it more scary as your brain can fill in the blanks. the monster is so abstract, the same as in the call of cthulhu, which i enjoy a lot.

[Sotofunkdamental · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Un meteorito atraviesa millones de kilómetros e impacta en las colinas de Arkham. Al romperse, una tonalidad supranatural, nunca vista, emerge e infecta las napas de un pozo de agua. Con el paso del tiempo, el color pasa a los árboles, a los animales y a los seres humanos, a quienes trastorna y enloquece. La amenaza cobra un carácter impenetrable y escapar se vuelve imposible". Un buen relato de Lovecraft, sin duda.

[Maxime Selleslagh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Om het in de woorden van T.S. Eliot te zeggen "I will show you fear in a handful of dust".

[MIke Coldewey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite Lovecraft stories. Two quotes, the first near the beginning: "... nothing could bribe me to drink the new city water of Arkham", then echoed near the end: "... I hope the water will always be very deep - but even so, I shall never drink it" resonate. I found myself thinking of this story when the Japanese Fukushima disaster occurred; I'm sure that Lovecraft didn't have anything specifically radiation-related in mind when he wrote this, yet the idea of the radiation leaking out into the entire ocean made me think of those lines.
Lovecraft seems to have exercised restraint in this short tale of a mysterious ... thing? ... meteorite? ... invader? ... nobody really knew what ended up in the Nahum's family well, but it was certainly "not from round these parts". What follows is a tale of slow infection or pollution of their land and surroundings, but it's subtly told and, really, almost nothing dramatic happens. This isn't a "monster jumps out of the wardrobe suddenly" story; it relates nothing more than one season of how the farm and the family that owned it were caused to decay and die as a result of what fell in the well. But the way it's told: "[the animal's] face had taken on an expression which no one ever saw in a woodchuck before. " and "[cabbages] plants of that kind ought never to sprout in a healthy world. The bad fruit of the fall before was freely mentioned..." describes not just a decay but the effect of something that alters life horribly before killing it.
My favorite Lovecraft stories are, like this one, the ones that don't belong in the "Cthulhu mythos": The Thing on the Doorstep, The Music of Erich Zann, The Rats in the Walls (though that last is a little mannered for my taste- his love of Poe was showing through). What makes them work for me - past the arcane vocabulary ("Eldritch?"), and past the occasional punch-line ending ("the three-lobed burning eye!!!", "... identified the skull as Aseneth's") - are the things he doesn't beat into the ground - and in this one it's the idea of the whole reservoir being affected and maybe infected by the remnants of the thing in the well. And he does that by making the story almost a three-times removed story; first the author, then Ammi's experience, then Ammi's telling of the story. It's nicely done, and unusually deft for Lovecraft.

I read Stephen King's Tommyknockers when it first came out and right away I though that he was ripping off this story - King later said that it was the inspiration for his book. (I always thought that King never gave Lovecraft enough credit for his inspirations but this was pretty obvious). But this story is, I think, Lovecraft at his best and, to me, more haunting than anything else he wrote.

[Gabriela Broilo Bortoluzzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Os acontecimentos se passam numa pequena cidade, Arkham. Tudo começa quando um meteorito cai na fazenda de Nahum, trazendo consequências inimagináveis para aqueles moradores. Lovecraf disse certa vez que "a emoção mais antiga e mais forte do homem é o medo, e o medo mais antigo e mais forte é o do desconhecido". Sem dúvida essas palavras se tornam realidade nos seus contos. Esse em especial, é extraordinário! Nos deixa apreensivos do início ao fim e causa um certo desconforto, diante daquilo que nos é exposto, em suas palavras tão bem selecionadas e em suas descrições tão precisas.

Será possível alguém demonstrar com precisão através de um filme os acontecimentos descritos nos contos de Lovecraft? Não é a toa que ele tenha um gênero próprio e seja referência para muitos autores de terror.

Imagino que seja melhor deixar a imaginação do leitor criar o visual dessas histórias contadas por Lovecraft. Pois a realidade é que, sim, o medo do desconhecido é mais antigo e mais forte que quaisquer outros medos. Neste conto o autor não descreve uma criatura conhecida por nós, seres humanos, como um vampiro, lobisomem ou mesmo um serial killer. É algo praticamente inimaginável, fora do comum, sem precedentes. E por ser assim, desconhecido, desperta tanto medo!

Por um lado talvez seja bom mesmo não existirem filmes sobre as criaturas de Lovecraft, especialmente as desse conto. Mas será que esse é um nome apropriado? Criatura? Não sei, pois é impossível descrever com palavras o causador de medo nas pessoas daquela localidade (e no leitor). Impossível tentar explicar a alguém o fenômeno da charneca crestada. Apenas Lovecraft tem essa capacidade que, por sinal, é incrível.

Leitura recomendada para os amantes do gênero!

[Emanuela · Rating 5 out of 5]

…non ho capito da cosa possa essere stato ispirato Algernon Blackwood, se non dalla situazione di buio e voci basse.
Però non c’è niente da fare, per me Lovecraft è il maestro del terrore per me, l’unico che riesca davvero a spaventarmi, nonostante le immagini dipinte nelle sue storie facciano venire i brividi più per i misteri insondabili, sconosciuti, per i terrori senza nome descritti, che per scene raccapriccianti vere e proprie, e nonostante si tratti quasi sempre di tematiche con elementi fantascientifici, legati a creature provenienti da altri mondi.
Certo, a un certo punto avrei voluto picchiare il protagonista perché non intuisce come il cambiamento improvviso delle comunicazioni dal suo interlocutore significhi qualcos’altro, cosa che probabilmente tutti noi avremmo immediatamente intuito, e perchè decide di andarsi a impelagare in una situazione davvero pericolosa, da cui sembra alquanto improbabile riuscire ad uscire come invece poi succede.
Però nei fatti questi particolari non implicano una resa peggiore della storia che invece resta perfetta e terrificante al punto da rivedere negli incubi la “riduzione” descritta nel racconto, dato che ho sempre avuto una certa sensibilità ai temi che abbiano a che fare con organi vari.

[Erik Graff · Rating 5 out of 5]

When still in junior high, I was reading in the living room one night while babysitting my five-year-old brother. As usual, the parents were later than expected. I was pretty much past the stage of immediately assuming they had perished in a flaming automobile wreck, but, still, it being late, I stayed downstairs on the couch, resolved to wait for them.

This collection wasn't the first thing I'd read that night--or at least "The Colour Out of Space" wasn't. Maybe I'd started with the shorter stories, saving this for last. In any case, I'd been reading for a while when I got into Lovecraft's novella.

After just a few of his precious, overwritten paragraphs I had turned on another light, then, as the tale went into a description of the spreading blight from the impact point of the meteorite, another and another until all the living room lights were at full luminosity. "Wow," I thought delightedly, "this is actually creepy!"

It is.