What do you think?
Rate this book
The Moon-Bog
The Moon-Bog is a short story by American horror fiction writer H. P. Lovecraft.
The unnamed narrator describes the final fate of his good friend, Denys Barry, an Irish-American who reclaims an ancestral estate in Kilderry, a fictional village in Ireland. Barry ignores pleas from the superstitious local peasantry not to drain the nearby bog, with unfortunate supernatural consequences.
The unnamed narrator describes the final fate of his good friend, Denys Barry, an Irish-American who reclaims an ancestral estate in Kilderry, a fictional village in Ireland. Barry ignores pleas from the superstitious local peasantry not to drain the nearby bog, with unfortunate supernatural consequences.
77 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1926
11 people are currently reading
276 people want to read
About the author
H.P. Lovecraft
6,111 books19.3k followersHoward Phillips Lovecraft, of Providence, Rhode Island, was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction.
Lovecraft's major inspiration and invention was cosmic horror: life is incomprehensible to human minds and the universe is fundamentally alien. Those who genuinely reason, like his protagonists, gamble with sanity. Lovecraft has developed a cult following for his Cthulhu Mythos, a series of loosely interconnected fictions featuring a pantheon of human-nullifying entities, as well as the Necronomicon, a fictional grimoire of magical rites and forbidden lore. His works were deeply pessimistic and cynical, challenging the values of the Enlightenment, Romanticism and Christianity. Lovecraft's protagonists usually achieve the mirror-opposite of traditional gnosis and mysticism by momentarily glimpsing the horror of ultimate reality.
Although Lovecraft's readership was limited during his life, his reputation has grown over the decades. He is now commonly regarded as one of the most influential horror writers of the 20th Century, exerting widespread and indirect influence, and frequently compared to Edgar Allan Poe.
See also Howard Phillips Lovecraft.
— Wikipedia
Lovecraft's major inspiration and invention was cosmic horror: life is incomprehensible to human minds and the universe is fundamentally alien. Those who genuinely reason, like his protagonists, gamble with sanity. Lovecraft has developed a cult following for his Cthulhu Mythos, a series of loosely interconnected fictions featuring a pantheon of human-nullifying entities, as well as the Necronomicon, a fictional grimoire of magical rites and forbidden lore. His works were deeply pessimistic and cynical, challenging the values of the Enlightenment, Romanticism and Christianity. Lovecraft's protagonists usually achieve the mirror-opposite of traditional gnosis and mysticism by momentarily glimpsing the horror of ultimate reality.
Although Lovecraft's readership was limited during his life, his reputation has grown over the decades. He is now commonly regarded as one of the most influential horror writers of the 20th Century, exerting widespread and indirect influence, and frequently compared to Edgar Allan Poe.
See also Howard Phillips Lovecraft.
— Wikipedia
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 130 reviews
February 26, 2020
H.P. wrote this hurriedly, in 1921, to read aloud at the postprandial festivities of an amateur journalists club, and--believe me when I say it--the haste shows. Since the occasion was a St. Patrick's Day Dinner, the setting of the story was Irish--a place Lovecraft had little knowledge of, and less sympathy for.
This tale about a man (Denys Barry) who purchases his family's ancestral estate and is subsequently punished by the neighboring spooks for having the temerity to drain their beloved bog is as close to a conventional ghost story as anything H.P. ever wrote, and it is not a very good ghost story either.
It is however, notable for two reasons: 1) its autobiographical inspiration (Lovecraft had a similar dream of restoring the family estate, and when he was a boy he played near something called Cat Swamp until the city filled in the area and developed it), and 2) its similarity to a superior later story, the very creepy "The Rats in the Walls" (1923).
Anyone seeking even a fragmentary allusion to Cthulhu and his cohorts is hereby urged to look elsewhere.
This tale about a man (Denys Barry) who purchases his family's ancestral estate and is subsequently punished by the neighboring spooks for having the temerity to drain their beloved bog is as close to a conventional ghost story as anything H.P. ever wrote, and it is not a very good ghost story either.
It is however, notable for two reasons: 1) its autobiographical inspiration (Lovecraft had a similar dream of restoring the family estate, and when he was a boy he played near something called Cat Swamp until the city filled in the area and developed it), and 2) its similarity to a superior later story, the very creepy "The Rats in the Walls" (1923).
Anyone seeking even a fragmentary allusion to Cthulhu and his cohorts is hereby urged to look elsewhere.
June 17, 2019
Denys Barry plans to dry the bogs surrounding his old castle in Ireland. No one of the villagers wants to help him in this attempts. Some Northern workers assist. When our first person narrator comes to the scene he is warned by the village people that bog and castle are haunted. In the night he sees the Northern workers dance to some strange music and he witnesses white shadows over the bog. What is going on here? At the end a deranged narrator is seen walking away from the location. Before he has seen some uncanny frogs. Great tale, full of sinister action and reference to classic gods. Recommended.
February 1, 2021
"Por un instante no fui capaz de determinar si me encontraba despierto o dormido; pero cuando vi sobre el suelo el helado resplandor lunar y los perfiles de una ventana gótica enrejada, decidí que debía estar despierto y en el castillo de Kilderry. Entonces escuché un reloj en algún lejano descansillo de abajo tocando las dos y supe que estaba despierto. Pero aún me llegaba el monótono toque de flauta a lo lejos; brisas extrañas, salvajes, que me sugerían alguna danza de faunos en el remoto Menalo. No me permitía dormir y me levanté impaciente."
Denys Barry, un cuidadano estadounidense de sangre Irlandesa obtiene una herencia ancestral en Irlanda. Como parte de esta herencia se encuentra un castillo, el cual linda con inmenso pantano rojizo .Cuando reclama esta herencia decide reconstruir el castillo y meter mano en el pantano .Pese a las advertencias e sus trabajadores contratados, nativos de la zona, quienes dicen que el lugar hay una antigua ciudad de piedra sumergida,que esta custodiado por espíritus guardianes y que una maldición caería con todo su peso sobre quien drague o drene la ciénaga. Por lo que estos trabajadores abandonan a su empleador.
Este tipo de obras menores de Lovecraft tienen especial encanto para mi.
Tal vez no sean las mas "míticas", pero son las que mas disfruto por estos días. Son muy solidas y concretas.
En esta oportunidad con una gran atmósfera, prosa, pasajes oníricos y desenlace.
*Esta obra fue escrita a modo de sorpresa y en un corto lapso de tiempo, para su presentación en reunión de periodistas en Boston en 1921. La fecha coincidió con el Día de San Patricio y Boston es una ciudad con una gran cantidad de Inmigrantes Irlandeses. Por estos motivos aparentemente la obra esta situada en irlanda, y toca esta ambientación y mitología cercana a los celtas, Druidas, etc.
Denys Barry, un cuidadano estadounidense de sangre Irlandesa obtiene una herencia ancestral en Irlanda. Como parte de esta herencia se encuentra un castillo, el cual linda con inmenso pantano rojizo .Cuando reclama esta herencia decide reconstruir el castillo y meter mano en el pantano .Pese a las advertencias e sus trabajadores contratados, nativos de la zona, quienes dicen que el lugar hay una antigua ciudad de piedra sumergida,que esta custodiado por espíritus guardianes y que una maldición caería con todo su peso sobre quien drague o drene la ciénaga. Por lo que estos trabajadores abandonan a su empleador.
Este tipo de obras menores de Lovecraft tienen especial encanto para mi.
Tal vez no sean las mas "míticas", pero son las que mas disfruto por estos días. Son muy solidas y concretas.
En esta oportunidad con una gran atmósfera, prosa, pasajes oníricos y desenlace.
*Esta obra fue escrita a modo de sorpresa y en un corto lapso de tiempo, para su presentación en reunión de periodistas en Boston en 1921. La fecha coincidió con el Día de San Patricio y Boston es una ciudad con una gran cantidad de Inmigrantes Irlandeses. Por estos motivos aparentemente la obra esta situada en irlanda, y toca esta ambientación y mitología cercana a los celtas, Druidas, etc.
February 11, 2016
David Vincent, Trey Azagthoth, Ronnie James Dio, Van Morrison and Christopher Lee sit in an outdoor café in Limbo having drinks and discussing H.P. Lovecraft’s 1926 short story “The Moon Bog”
Lee: The last time I was in Ireland, before I died, I made a special visit to the bog areas and was impressed by the surreal, mystical qualities the wilderness produced and am not at all surprised that Lovecraft found inspiration here.
Dio: Lovecraft knew how to draw from most any setting a sense of primal dread and pre-historic, pre knowledge unease. The backstory he suggests is as enticing as the story itself.
Vincent: Yeah, when we were writing songs for Morbid Angel, Lovecraft was a constant inspiration. Van, was this short story your inspiration for “Moondance”?
Morrison: No.
Lee: David and Trey, I enjoyed your music, except for the vocals, too much like electric German shepherds.
Azagthoth: I love your vocal work Sir Christopher, but we can’t all have an operatic baritone. Just like HP, he looked outside of his New England roots and found inspiration in the Irish bogs.
Dio: Right, what Lovecraft does in the Moon Bog is again create a sense of otherworldliness in an unexpected place. While certainly we can anticipate ghosts in and around an abandoned Irish castle, Lovecraft takes it to a whole other level.
Vincent: I especially liked the Greek ruins hidden beneath the bogs, very Lovecraft, very creepy and spooky, awesome.
Azagthoth: And let me just say - Ronnie and Sir Christopher, I am digging hanging out with some ghosts.
[they all stare at one another]
Lee – to Dio: How short are you anyway?
Lee: The last time I was in Ireland, before I died, I made a special visit to the bog areas and was impressed by the surreal, mystical qualities the wilderness produced and am not at all surprised that Lovecraft found inspiration here.
Dio: Lovecraft knew how to draw from most any setting a sense of primal dread and pre-historic, pre knowledge unease. The backstory he suggests is as enticing as the story itself.
Vincent: Yeah, when we were writing songs for Morbid Angel, Lovecraft was a constant inspiration. Van, was this short story your inspiration for “Moondance”?
Morrison: No.
Lee: David and Trey, I enjoyed your music, except for the vocals, too much like electric German shepherds.
Azagthoth: I love your vocal work Sir Christopher, but we can’t all have an operatic baritone. Just like HP, he looked outside of his New England roots and found inspiration in the Irish bogs.
Dio: Right, what Lovecraft does in the Moon Bog is again create a sense of otherworldliness in an unexpected place. While certainly we can anticipate ghosts in and around an abandoned Irish castle, Lovecraft takes it to a whole other level.
Vincent: I especially liked the Greek ruins hidden beneath the bogs, very Lovecraft, very creepy and spooky, awesome.
Azagthoth: And let me just say - Ronnie and Sir Christopher, I am digging hanging out with some ghosts.
[they all stare at one another]
Lee – to Dio: How short are you anyway?
April 14, 2015
The narrator visits his friend, Denys Barry, in Ireland. Barry has problems with the help. Locals don't want to stay and work for him because he wants to drain the bog near his ancestral castle. Of course the two friends laugh at their superstitious nonsense.
This being Lovecraft, you know this won't end quite the way Barry wishes.
source
This being Lovecraft, you know this won't end quite the way Barry wishes.
source
February 24, 2017
I felt this one could have been better given the interesting premise and setting. Felt kind of like an M.R. James story.
October 18, 2022
HPL's interpretation of the Sidhe of Ireland, defend a bog from being drained by a rich Irish/American and his northern Ireland laborers. Of course, everyone seems to have been uncannily transformed by eldritch powers of cosmic horror into fat and ugly frogs.
4 'Don't Mess with Nature,' stars
4 'Don't Mess with Nature,' stars
July 31, 2015
Great atmosphere and imagery. The story isn't all that memorable tho. Not my favorite Lovecraft.
February 4, 2017
In Soviet Russia you don't drain the bog, the bog drains you.
September 14, 2025
Swamps and bogs are one of the most boring and uninteresting elements in horror stories to me. No matter how much one tries to make it interesting, I think it's not.
If this wouldn't have been part of the H.P. Lovecraft complete works collection, I definitely would have skipped this.
If this wouldn't have been part of the H.P. Lovecraft complete works collection, I definitely would have skipped this.
January 20, 2025
"This matter of the spectral piping harassed me greatly, and I wondered if the crickets of autumn had come before their time to vex the night and haunt the visions of men."
January 5, 2019
Always listen to the myths and legends. C’mon Barry! You fucked up, man. You’re a local, you should have known better lol
September 3, 2022
Capitalism Meets Lovecraft
27 August 2022 – Liverpool
Okay, I’m not quite in Liverpool, but I was. Mind you, one annoying thing that happened was that I went into the Cavern Club only to discover that it wasn’t the ‘Cavern Club’ it was the ‘Cavern Pub’. I guess I got a bit confused because it had the same branding as the ‘Cavern Club’ in Adelaide. It turned out for the better because the ‘Cavern Club’ is actually a full on band room, which means that you have to pay to enter as opposed to simply walking downstairs into a basement and ordering a beer. Mind you, how am I to know since I’m not a Liverpudlian, and the guys outside one could have simply been lying because they wanted me to pay money to go into their club, which probably wasn’t the Cavern Club (it was). Anyway, my recommendation would be that if you don’t like the Beatles then it is probably best to avoid that part of Liverpool because they happen to be playing Beatles songs on repeat.
Anyway, onto this short story that I read this morning while on the train to Liverpool, and sitting in a couple of pubs as well. It is basically a story about how this guy from the United States returns to his ancestral home in Ireland. The reason he does so is because he learns that there is an old peat bog there, and decides that he wants to drain it and mine the peat. Lovecraft clearly states that he is one of those people whom doesn’t like to see land go to waste, so he wants to get as much money from it as possible. The problem is that none of the inhabitants particularly like the idea, to the point that they all decide to leave. So, like any good capitalist, he decides to import labour to do the job.
Mind you, it is a pretty serious thing to up and move out of your home, though having some ignorant capitalist come along to mine a haunted swamp for its peat is certainly something that will no doubt scare the bejesus out of the inhabitants. Obviously they know more about what is going on than out capitalist protagonist. Mind you, considering that this is a Lovecraft story, I’m not really all that sure if the word protagonist applies, particularly since he is about to go an do something really stupid, and that is draining a swamp that probably shouldn’t be drained.
I would suggest that this story has an environmental message, but I don’t think it is as sophisticated as that. Rather it more comes across as one of those stories that probably explores more about disturbing things that really shouldn’t be disturbed, but also ignoring the concerns of the locals. As is typical in a Lovecraft story, bad things end up happening. I guess this is one of those things, and that is that we should learn to listen. The problem is that it comes down to the question of who we should be listening to. My thoughts is that we should listen to experts, though unfortunately there are a lot of people who claim to be experts, and aren’t. In this situation, we know who the experts clearly are, but sometimes it isn’t all that the case.
Mind you, I’ve know plenty of people who speak utter rubbish during my life, and the problem is that you can’t necessarily correct them, namely because they hate being corrected. I suspect that that is what you would call a narcissist. Mind you, some of these people simply aren’t convincing, others of the are actually pretty convincing. However, in the end, it really does come down to not only considering these people’s expertises, but also doing your own fact checking.
27 August 2022 – Liverpool
Okay, I’m not quite in Liverpool, but I was. Mind you, one annoying thing that happened was that I went into the Cavern Club only to discover that it wasn’t the ‘Cavern Club’ it was the ‘Cavern Pub’. I guess I got a bit confused because it had the same branding as the ‘Cavern Club’ in Adelaide. It turned out for the better because the ‘Cavern Club’ is actually a full on band room, which means that you have to pay to enter as opposed to simply walking downstairs into a basement and ordering a beer. Mind you, how am I to know since I’m not a Liverpudlian, and the guys outside one could have simply been lying because they wanted me to pay money to go into their club, which probably wasn’t the Cavern Club (it was). Anyway, my recommendation would be that if you don’t like the Beatles then it is probably best to avoid that part of Liverpool because they happen to be playing Beatles songs on repeat.
Anyway, onto this short story that I read this morning while on the train to Liverpool, and sitting in a couple of pubs as well. It is basically a story about how this guy from the United States returns to his ancestral home in Ireland. The reason he does so is because he learns that there is an old peat bog there, and decides that he wants to drain it and mine the peat. Lovecraft clearly states that he is one of those people whom doesn’t like to see land go to waste, so he wants to get as much money from it as possible. The problem is that none of the inhabitants particularly like the idea, to the point that they all decide to leave. So, like any good capitalist, he decides to import labour to do the job.
Mind you, it is a pretty serious thing to up and move out of your home, though having some ignorant capitalist come along to mine a haunted swamp for its peat is certainly something that will no doubt scare the bejesus out of the inhabitants. Obviously they know more about what is going on than out capitalist protagonist. Mind you, considering that this is a Lovecraft story, I’m not really all that sure if the word protagonist applies, particularly since he is about to go an do something really stupid, and that is draining a swamp that probably shouldn’t be drained.
I would suggest that this story has an environmental message, but I don’t think it is as sophisticated as that. Rather it more comes across as one of those stories that probably explores more about disturbing things that really shouldn’t be disturbed, but also ignoring the concerns of the locals. As is typical in a Lovecraft story, bad things end up happening. I guess this is one of those things, and that is that we should learn to listen. The problem is that it comes down to the question of who we should be listening to. My thoughts is that we should listen to experts, though unfortunately there are a lot of people who claim to be experts, and aren’t. In this situation, we know who the experts clearly are, but sometimes it isn’t all that the case.
Mind you, I’ve know plenty of people who speak utter rubbish during my life, and the problem is that you can’t necessarily correct them, namely because they hate being corrected. I suspect that that is what you would call a narcissist. Mind you, some of these people simply aren’t convincing, others of the are actually pretty convincing. However, in the end, it really does come down to not only considering these people’s expertises, but also doing your own fact checking.
January 29, 2021
Puedo imaginar esas escenas góticas y nocturnas en el pantano irlandés...La Luna como espectador principal...¡de miedo!
March 11, 2024
Spannend, gruselig, düster
Kann ich jedem Lovecraft Fan sehr empfehlen
Kann ich jedem Lovecraft Fan sehr empfehlen
December 24, 2016
For me this one of Lovecraft's more forgettable tales. He takes the ancestral estate element of this story and uses it to much better effect in The Rats in the Walls.
August 25, 2023
Not terrible, but not as good as the creepy atmosphere was.
June 2, 2024
FULL REVIEW ON MY WEBSITE
https://thebookcornerchronicles.com/2...
The main plot of this story was pretty good but it could have been better in couple of ways and I also didn’t vibe with it. So I just couldn’t give this short story a good rating.
The writing style was pretty good, to be honest it was better than the writing style than in the previous HP Lovecraft short story we talked about which was “The Quest of Iranon”.
To me stil story felt like something written by M.R. James, which really speaks for itself.
I also need to mention that this short isn’t so memorable which to me means that if you can remember it a year after you read it, then the story wasn’t good enough.
https://thebookcornerchronicles.com/2...
The main plot of this story was pretty good but it could have been better in couple of ways and I also didn’t vibe with it. So I just couldn’t give this short story a good rating.
The writing style was pretty good, to be honest it was better than the writing style than in the previous HP Lovecraft short story we talked about which was “The Quest of Iranon”.
To me stil story felt like something written by M.R. James, which really speaks for itself.
I also need to mention that this short isn’t so memorable which to me means that if you can remember it a year after you read it, then the story wasn’t good enough.
December 1, 2020
2.5 So, when the locals think the ancient bog should not be drained, you probably shouldn't try to drain the bog. There are weird dreams, an ancient buried city, possible madness, and a curse. In other words, nothing new here. There's nothing too creepy here unless you suffer from aulophobia, a fear of flutes; or ranidaphobia, a fear of frogs. The fear of piping flutes comes up often with HPL, and has gotten really tedious for me. This setting had real potential, but it was a missed opportunity. Audible edition, narrated by Bronson Pinchot, who does a great job with a lackluster subject.
January 26, 2020
H.P. Lovecraft writes a short horror story as the account of an unnamed man who recounts the final days before his Irish-American friend's disappearance during the development of his ancestral land in Ireland. While some readers might be overwhelmed by the story's century-old language, other readers seeking a tale about the unknown mysteries of prehistory, legends, and local superstitious beliefs should be entertained.
June 8, 2025
Aquí es donde el talento de Lovecraft para las historias cortas realmente brilla. Su estilo, tan saturado de descripciones y palabras sombrías, se vuelve más digerible y efectivo cuando se condensa en una narración breve, con un clímax claro y un final rotundo.
En La Luna, Lovecraft describe cómo los muertos son consumidos por gusanos bajo la mirada indiferente de la luna, que en esta historia se convierte en una figura casi malvada: una villana silente que observa y permite el horror. La atmósfera es sombría, y la muerte es vista no como un descanso, sino como una lenta descomposición vigilada por la noche.
En La Luna, Lovecraft describe cómo los muertos son consumidos por gusanos bajo la mirada indiferente de la luna, que en esta historia se convierte en una figura casi malvada: una villana silente que observa y permite el horror. La atmósfera es sombría, y la muerte es vista no como un descanso, sino como una lenta descomposición vigilada por la noche.
May 1, 2024
WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY SWAMP
November 11, 2024
Media embole por momentos
Pero esta buena
Recomendada
7/10
Pero esta buena
Recomendada
7/10
July 9, 2025
this is not one of his stronger stories
January 4, 2026
Weird, horror, short story by a master,with Great Narration!!
June 7, 2021
Perhaps the best Lovecraft tale I’ve read - ‘The Moon-Bog’ has a bit of everything. Visceral descriptions of horror and decay. A creepy aural landscape that builds to an overwhelming cacophony at times. Terrifying creatures and spirits. And of course the sepulchral bog itself, which provides the perfect backdrop to the text. Overall, Lovecraft at his best - building unsettling tension until it explodes in a crescendo at the end of the story and leaves the reader wanting to read on!
April 9, 2021
El típico relato que me gustaría convertir en sesión de rol 👌
August 21, 2023
Snel tussendoor als pauze.
October 24, 2019
This is a nice peice of horror, though it doesn't stand up to some of the other work Lovecraft has done. It is erie and there is an excellent creepiness about the whole story. However, I think it is somewhat anticlimactic.
10/13/19
Gave this another read. And while I stand by my previous review that it doesn't quite stand up to other stories by Lovecraft, I feel that I should clarify. That statement really only applies to the horror aspect of the tale. And after rereading it, I don't know if Lovecraft was really trying to write a horrific story here, or trying his hand at a fairy tale. If perceived through this lens, its an excellent and gloomy story of the fae.
10/13/19
Gave this another read. And while I stand by my previous review that it doesn't quite stand up to other stories by Lovecraft, I feel that I should clarify. That statement really only applies to the horror aspect of the tale. And after rereading it, I don't know if Lovecraft was really trying to write a horrific story here, or trying his hand at a fairy tale. If perceived through this lens, its an excellent and gloomy story of the fae.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 130 reviews