The Uncharted Isle

by Clark Ashton Smith

first published in Weird Tales, November, 1930

After becoming the only survivor of catastrophe at sea, Irwin maroons at an island with unrecognisable flora. But the plants are soon the least distressing thing he finds.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Pulp, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Weird Fiction

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1930

About the author

Clark Ashton Smith was a poet, sculptor, painter and author of fantasy, horror and science fiction short stories. It is for these stories, and his literary friendship with H. P. Lovecraft from 1922 until Lovecraft's death in 1937, that he is mainly remembered today. With Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard, also a friend and correspondent, Smith remains one of the most famous contributors to the pulp magazine Weird Tales.

His writings are posted at his official website.

Reviews

[Lynsey Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would be interested to see if any HPL fan could tell the difference between this story and one of his, as the tone, language and setting are both so similar.

Not the scariest of cosmic horror stories as in theres no monsters or anything trying to kill our hero, he’s just trapped on a island outside of space and time. I suppose that is enough to scare most people but he seems to be getting on ok.

Would have liked a bit more from this one as it was just an exercise in oddness and I wanted a bit more meat on the bones so to speak. However we had a bit of child sacrifice so it aint all bad.

[Marc D. ✨ · Rating 1 out of 5]

1/5 estrella.

La verdad, muy, muy, muy aburrido. Sentí que no pasaba nada.

[Netanella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Free online: https://www.libraryofshortstories.com...

Dude could have at least tried to keep the ape-monster from eating the sacrificial kid before he ran away.

[Per · Rating 3 out of 5]

https://archive.org/details/Weird_Tal...
http://www.eldritchdark.com/writings/...

[Lina ☆ Sonderhof · Rating 4 out of 5]

It narrates one through a series of events just out of reach of our human understanding, merely hinting at the endless otherworldly possibilities of this isle and its precise location in time and space. Just like the protagonist, we’re just a spectator in something that our limited ape descendant brain can’t compute. What i found most intriguing was how this other people was not able to perceive our protagonist - as though existing in a different frame of reference, limited to higher dimensions and merely passively passing through ours.

[Welther · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just a tad boring... the protagonist comes, sees and flee in fright. So simple and hackneyed by this point. H.P. Lovecraft loved it though, and probably why we see so many of his stories following a similar structure.

[Lexell Cassini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sería de 5 estrellas si no hubiera caído en el recurso "no recuerdo lo que pasó en tal lapso de tiempo".
JUM.
Yo sé que quieren que el lector se imagine cosas, pero prefiero que escriban lo que pasó.

[Nick LeBlanc · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars rounded down.

Extremely Lovecraftian plotting, but rather than cosmic horror we are met with a shipwrecked exoticism. I hate the "I could not remember" stuff that these guys did all the time, but the setting and descriptions were vivid and fun to kick around in for a while.

[Giallo Julian · Rating 3 out of 5]

You could probably put a resort on the island & get a good business going.

[Mike Hill · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lackluster, but of historical value.

[Jake Longstaff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lost before lost

[Tony Ciak · Rating 5 out of 5]

great weird story by a master.

[Kirsten · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly don’t quite get what happened. Sure 👍