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Sunday, August 12, 2018

Lovecraft: The Thing on the Doorstep

by H. P. Lovecraft
 



 
 
 
“He did not speak until we were on a dark stretch of road, and when he did his voice seemed utterly unfamiliar. It was deeper, firmer, and more decisive than I had ever known it to be; while its accent and pronunciation were altogether changed—though vaguely, remotely, and rather disturbingly recalling something I could not quite place. There was, I thought, a trace of very profound and very genuine irony in the timbre—not the flashy, meaninglessly jaunty pseudo-irony of the callow “sophisticate”, which Derby had habitually affected, but something grim, basic, pervasive, and potentially evil. I marvelled at the self-possession so soon following the spell of panic-struck muttering.”
Originally published in Weird Tales in January of 1937. Many people are critical of this story- probably for the same reasons they are down on The Dreams in the Witch House. Despite being undeniably a part of the Cthulhu Mythos, it A) doesn’t add to them, it simply plays of older elements; and B) is a return to heavy supernatural elements- rather than science fiction ones. While both of these are true, it is not a terrible story, just a not a groundbreaking one.
Done almost similar to Herbert West: Reanimator - only with on a psychic level, we see a man with tastes for the occult who marries a woman from Innsmouth (and we all remember the bizarre interbreeding with the Deep Ones from The Shadow Over Innsmouth) with strange features- similar to those of the Deep Ones. The man then begins acting strangely, discussing an evil effect his wife his having over him and eventually begins to change and develop strange mannerisms. Eventually culminating in the titular Thing on the Doorstep- which is a very nice twist, if you read the story.
As I said before there are many standards of the Cthulhu Mythos in this story: Miskatonic University, Arkham, Innsmouth, Kingsport, The Necronomicon, Azathoth, Shub-Niggurath, Shoggoths, and so on. But the story does not add to them in any manner. Even the mind transference part was done before (and better) in The Shadow Out of Time. It is a fun read, just don’t expect one of Lovecraft’s greatest creations.
Listed below are a film adaptation of the story and the audiobook by Horror Babble. Enjoy and Caveat Emptor!

   Film Adaptation

Audiobook

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