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The Color Out of Space
A horrific tale written from the perspective of an unnamed surveyor from Boston. In order to prepare for the construction of a new reservoir in Massachusetts, he surveys a rural area that is to be flooded near the town of Arkham. He comes across a mysterious, abandoned farmstead, which is completely devoid of all life. At the center of the farmstead is an old well. The site fills him with an unnatural sense of dread, and he hurries past it....
74 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1927
About the author
H.P. Lovecraft
4,439 books17.8k 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.
— 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.
— Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 876 reviews
February 17, 2019
In some ways, if you think about it, The Colour Out of Space could be H.P. Lovecraft’s scariest story.
And that is saying a lot.
Published in 1927, this was almost certainly an influence for Stephen King in his story “The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verill” which gave rise to King’s memorial dramatic performance and his unforgettable line of “meteor s***” from the 1982 film Creepshow.
Lovecraft describes, in his unmentionable, oldest and strongest, ancient and mysterious, eldritch style of writing how a strange and unworldly meteor crashes into a New England farm and then literally all hell breaks loose.
In classic Lovecraft fashion, he gives the reader a hint of the unknown and lets our fear go on from there.
And that is saying a lot.
Published in 1927, this was almost certainly an influence for Stephen King in his story “The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verill” which gave rise to King’s memorial dramatic performance and his unforgettable line of “meteor s***” from the 1982 film Creepshow.
Lovecraft describes, in his unmentionable, oldest and strongest, ancient and mysterious, eldritch style of writing how a strange and unworldly meteor crashes into a New England farm and then literally all hell breaks loose.
In classic Lovecraft fashion, he gives the reader a hint of the unknown and lets our fear go on from there.
June 14, 2021
The Colour Out of Space (Amazing Stories, 1927) is probably Lovecraft’s most striking and famous tale. He wrote it at the height of his career, in between The Case of Charles Dexter Ward and The Dunwich Horror. As so often with HPL’s stories, this one takes place around Arkham, an imaginary town in Massachusetts, and involves scientists from Miskatonic University, fictional as well. The whole thing is a nightmarish invention about some strange alien meteorite fallen from the sky that poisons the well water near a farm and dramatically disrupts the peaceful lives of a few locals.
Still, one of Lovecraft’s trademarks (borrowed from Mary Shelley, Edgar Poe, Henry James and others) is to ground his insane stories in material assumptions and provide as many concrete details and particulars as possible — in this case, in the form of a month-by-month chronicle —, to convey a sense of reality and authenticity. Deeper still, Lovecraft shapes the structure of his plot like a Russian doll, instilling a feeling of step-by-step descent into a realm of intensifying horror. This arrangement reflects the story itself, in which the falling star gradually poisons the soil, then the plants, then the animals, then the people, and finally leads on to a blasphemous outlook on a fiendish cosmos.
Using the substance of colour itself as the cause and manifestation of a disturbing reality is perhaps the most original feature of this tale. Not least because it suggests that aliens are entirely beyond the realm of describability — the idea of an abomination beyond words comes back repeatedly throughout this story, which, incidentally, relies almost exclusively on descriptions. Lovecraft got the concept of landscape contamination from some cases of paint poisoning in his time. Nowadays, radioactive waste is identically invisible and deadly, and a Chernobyl-type disaster is far more threatening than the remote possibility of a hostile alien invasion.
The influence of this story on Arkady Strugatsky’s Roadside Picnic or Jeff VanderMeer’s Annihilation is unmistakable. I have heard about a film adaptation of HPL’s story, starring Nicolas Cage; maybe I’ll give it a chance whenever I have leisure.
Still, one of Lovecraft’s trademarks (borrowed from Mary Shelley, Edgar Poe, Henry James and others) is to ground his insane stories in material assumptions and provide as many concrete details and particulars as possible — in this case, in the form of a month-by-month chronicle —, to convey a sense of reality and authenticity. Deeper still, Lovecraft shapes the structure of his plot like a Russian doll, instilling a feeling of step-by-step descent into a realm of intensifying horror. This arrangement reflects the story itself, in which the falling star gradually poisons the soil, then the plants, then the animals, then the people, and finally leads on to a blasphemous outlook on a fiendish cosmos.
Using the substance of colour itself as the cause and manifestation of a disturbing reality is perhaps the most original feature of this tale. Not least because it suggests that aliens are entirely beyond the realm of describability — the idea of an abomination beyond words comes back repeatedly throughout this story, which, incidentally, relies almost exclusively on descriptions. Lovecraft got the concept of landscape contamination from some cases of paint poisoning in his time. Nowadays, radioactive waste is identically invisible and deadly, and a Chernobyl-type disaster is far more threatening than the remote possibility of a hostile alien invasion.
The influence of this story on Arkady Strugatsky’s Roadside Picnic or Jeff VanderMeer’s Annihilation is unmistakable. I have heard about a film adaptation of HPL’s story, starring Nicolas Cage; maybe I’ll give it a chance whenever I have leisure.
November 1, 2021
¡Ufff, tremendo! ¡Esta vez, sí he sentido miedo!
En El color que cayó del cielo, H.P. Lovecraft nos presenta un relato buenísimo, cargado de horror, ciencia ficción y una atmósfera siniestra en todo el sentido de la palabra. Dicen que los relatos antiguos —y yo también lo pienso— no suelen generar miedo a las personas que vivimos en esta época porque pasan los años, cambia nuestra cultura, nuestros pensamientos, y de la misma forma también cambian nuestros temores y miedos más profundos; no obstante, en este relato no aplica esa condición, ya que realmente sí se siente el miedo en las palabras de Lovecraft. Quizás la combinación de ciencia ficción y horror es la que permite que esto suceda. Lovecraft usa la hipotética caída de un meteorito a la Tierra como centro de su historia, y un evento así, naturalmente siempre será objeto de especulaciones, debido a la ignorancia que tenemos con respecto a lo que verdaderamente se encuentra en el espacio exterior. Por tanto, pienso que esta historia no tiene fecha de vencimiento. De la misma forma en que este cuento generó miedo a muchas personas en el siglo XX, asimismo puede causarnos miedo a nosotros, a los del siglo XXII, a los del siglo XXX, etc., siempre y cuando hayan incógnitas relacionadas al espacio exterior: Es decir, por mucho tiempo, ¿verdad?
Otra razón importante para que este cuento cause miedo al lector es por su inicio. En la parte inicial Lovecraft usa descripciones muy bien detalladas que permiten que como lectores nos adentremos en su mundo, imaginando el movimiento y sonido de los árboles, el silencio de la noche, el cambio de colores, etc. Si logramos imaginar un escenario con aquellas descripciones, sentiremos que nunca nos gustaría estar en un lugar así. Hace pocos días finalicé de leer una colección de cuentos de Edgar Allan Poe, que se destaca justamente por la misma característica de describir escenarios, y por ello puedo decir con seguridad que es notable la fuerte influencia de Lovecraft hacia las características narrativas del autor estadounidense. Su prosa ha sido muy buena, la estructura de su cuento muy bien planeada, y el ritmo de la lectura fue ligero del inicio hasta el final.
En verdad me ha gustado mucho. De hecho, tengo que confesar que efectivamente sentí miedo porque me sumergí mucho en la historia. Quizás leyéndola a la luz del día no produzca esa sensación, pero la noche es diferente porque es misteriosa, silenciosa y mágica. Yo, he leído este cuento a la una de la mañana, en una habitación oscura, en silencio, y en un segundo piso. Les dejo a su imaginación, la cobardía que sentí, cuando comprendí que tenía que orinar y necesitaba ir al baño que queda en el primer piso.
Leer esta historia ha sido como un creepypasta sin fecha de vencimiento, que me dejó claro la hora a la que debo leer a Lovecraft en el futuro. Relato muy recomendado.
En El color que cayó del cielo, H.P. Lovecraft nos presenta un relato buenísimo, cargado de horror, ciencia ficción y una atmósfera siniestra en todo el sentido de la palabra. Dicen que los relatos antiguos —y yo también lo pienso— no suelen generar miedo a las personas que vivimos en esta época porque pasan los años, cambia nuestra cultura, nuestros pensamientos, y de la misma forma también cambian nuestros temores y miedos más profundos; no obstante, en este relato no aplica esa condición, ya que realmente sí se siente el miedo en las palabras de Lovecraft. Quizás la combinación de ciencia ficción y horror es la que permite que esto suceda. Lovecraft usa la hipotética caída de un meteorito a la Tierra como centro de su historia, y un evento así, naturalmente siempre será objeto de especulaciones, debido a la ignorancia que tenemos con respecto a lo que verdaderamente se encuentra en el espacio exterior. Por tanto, pienso que esta historia no tiene fecha de vencimiento. De la misma forma en que este cuento generó miedo a muchas personas en el siglo XX, asimismo puede causarnos miedo a nosotros, a los del siglo XXII, a los del siglo XXX, etc., siempre y cuando hayan incógnitas relacionadas al espacio exterior: Es decir, por mucho tiempo, ¿verdad?
Otra razón importante para que este cuento cause miedo al lector es por su inicio. En la parte inicial Lovecraft usa descripciones muy bien detalladas que permiten que como lectores nos adentremos en su mundo, imaginando el movimiento y sonido de los árboles, el silencio de la noche, el cambio de colores, etc. Si logramos imaginar un escenario con aquellas descripciones, sentiremos que nunca nos gustaría estar en un lugar así. Hace pocos días finalicé de leer una colección de cuentos de Edgar Allan Poe, que se destaca justamente por la misma característica de describir escenarios, y por ello puedo decir con seguridad que es notable la fuerte influencia de Lovecraft hacia las características narrativas del autor estadounidense. Su prosa ha sido muy buena, la estructura de su cuento muy bien planeada, y el ritmo de la lectura fue ligero del inicio hasta el final.
En verdad me ha gustado mucho. De hecho, tengo que confesar que efectivamente sentí miedo porque me sumergí mucho en la historia. Quizás leyéndola a la luz del día no produzca esa sensación, pero la noche es diferente porque es misteriosa, silenciosa y mágica. Yo, he leído este cuento a la una de la mañana, en una habitación oscura, en silencio, y en un segundo piso. Les dejo a su imaginación, la cobardía que sentí, cuando comprendí que tenía que orinar y necesitaba ir al baño que queda en el primer piso.
Leer esta historia ha sido como un creepypasta sin fecha de vencimiento, que me dejó claro la hora a la que debo leer a Lovecraft en el futuro. Relato muy recomendado.
September 15, 2019
West of Arkham the hills rise wild, and there are valleys with deep woods that no axe has ever cut.Thus, with the finest opening sentence in the Lovecraft canon, the “The Color Out of Space” begins.
This story, the last Lovecraft wrote during the remarkable ten-month spurt of creativity that spanned the years 1926 and ‘27, is a culmination of sorts. During this period, H.P. had refined the art of horrific description, dispensing with the unnecessary adjectives and overwrought prose which often detracts from the power of his effects. Now, in “The Color Out of Space,” he set out to induce terror almost entirely by description alone. No forbidden books, no repulsive idols, no sinister dark men with deevolutionary faces; no, this time he would terrify through something simple and pervasive, through the use of color alone.
Lovecraft who wanted to write an outer space story but was determined to avoid the “bug-eyed monster” cliché. who wished to create an extraterrestrial invader who was essentially, utterly alien, had lately been reading about the scientific detection of colors outside the spectrum which can be viewed by the human eye. Yes, color, if it were uncanny, could surely terrify.
The story itself is simple: one night, a meteor lands on Nahum Gardner’s farm, and things begin to change. The farm does not, at first, look all that different. But the colors of the crops, the vegetation, the trees . . . well, they’re just not right.
There is not much explicit horror here (although a horrific fate is implied for Nahum’s wife Nabby), but the accumulation of suggestion and oblique narrative make “The Color of Space” one of the most unsettling of all Lovecraft works.
The effect of the descriptive details is subtle and cumulative, but I would like to include one small passage as an example. In the summer, the fruit harvest on Nahum's farm is unsually bountiful, but the individual fruits are monstrous and inedible. Then, when winter comes, the neighbors begin to realize there is something wrong with the animals that inhabit the property too:
In February the McGregor boys from Meadow Hill were out shooting woodchucks, and not far from the Gardner place bagged a very peculiar specimen. The proportions of its body seemed slightly altered in a queer way impossible to describe, while its face had taken on an expression which no one ever saw in a woodchuck before. The boys were genuinely frightened, and threw the thing away at once, so that only their grotesque tales of it ever reached the people of the countryside. But the shying of the horses near Nahum’s house had now become an acknowledged thing, and all the basis for a cycle of whispered legend was fast taking form.Oh, I almost forgot! The Good News: “The Colour out of Space” was published in Hugo Gernsbach’s legendary science fiction magazine Amazing Stories. (September 1927). The Bad News: Gernsback paid 1/5th of a cent per word. Lovecraft earned $25 (approximately $350 in today's money) for the story, and never submitted anything to Amazing again.
November 19, 2018
A tale that only H.P. Lovecraft could tell!
CHROMATIC HORROR
One of the most popular tales by H.P. Lovecraft out of his famous The Call of Cthulhu.
An investigator is researching about an incident in Arkham, Mass., named “The Blasted Heath” but...
...that none in the town is willing to talk about in specifics,...
...until he is able to make contact with a farmer living way out of the town, along with his family.
The investigator is told about the fall of a meteorite several years ago...
...who produces COLORS so unlike anything ever seen in the spectrum by humans,...
...and that still is causing terrible efects on the crops,...
...the cattle...
...and even...
...the family.
CHROMATIC HORROR
One of the most popular tales by H.P. Lovecraft out of his famous The Call of Cthulhu.
An investigator is researching about an incident in Arkham, Mass., named “The Blasted Heath” but...
...that none in the town is willing to talk about in specifics,...
...until he is able to make contact with a farmer living way out of the town, along with his family.
The investigator is told about the fall of a meteorite several years ago...
...who produces COLORS so unlike anything ever seen in the spectrum by humans,...
...and that still is causing terrible efects on the crops,...
...the cattle...
...and even...
...the family.
April 3, 2020
دو ستاره دادم ولی ۱/۵ ستاره بخاطر احترام به ژانر وحشت امتیاز واقعیشه:/
چیه این آخه؟ یعنی ناموسا با این بچه بازیا میترسن یه عده؟
بعد چرا این قدر صفت برای هر چیزی؟ انقدر صفت پشت هم ردیف کرده اصلا به خواننده اجازه نمیده چیزی رو خودش حس کنه. جانور وحشی هولناک کریه شیطانی با چشمانی از حدقه بیرون زده ...
اون وقت چیزی رو که باید توصیف کنه در نهایتِ تنبلی ذهن، بهش عنوان " غیر قابل توصیف" میده که پروندهشو ببنده. چه مسخره!
نمیدونم الان دقیقا احساسم به لاوکرفت چیه، ولی فعلا برای شروع این سه داستان کوتاه انقدر بد بودن که عی بابا...
چیه این آخه؟ یعنی ناموسا با این بچه بازیا میترسن یه عده؟
بعد چرا این قدر صفت برای هر چیزی؟ انقدر صفت پشت هم ردیف کرده اصلا به خواننده اجازه نمیده چیزی رو خودش حس کنه. جانور وحشی هولناک کریه شیطانی با چشمانی از حدقه بیرون زده ...
اون وقت چیزی رو که باید توصیف کنه در نهایتِ تنبلی ذهن، بهش عنوان " غیر قابل توصیف" میده که پروندهشو ببنده. چه مسخره!
نمیدونم الان دقیقا احساسم به لاوکرفت چیه، ولی فعلا برای شروع این سه داستان کوتاه انقدر بد بودن که عی بابا...
May 21, 2019
This is more visceral horror than I'm used to from Lovecraft.
Yes, the monstrosity is somewhat ineffable, but its effects are not -- victims suffer in body and mind, changing and watching themselves and their loved ones change, helpless to stop the decay of body and brain. Even the natural world, the farm and animals that the family labored so hard to cultivate are completely poisoned and destroyed, through no fault of their own. It's just chance. Something strange falls from the sky, and by the time you realized you should have abandoned your home and fled while you still had your lives it is too late, the contamination is inside you, changing you, rotting you, even your brain so so can't make yourself go. Disturbing and sad.
Yes, the monstrosity is somewhat ineffable, but its effects are not -- victims suffer in body and mind, changing and watching themselves and their loved ones change, helpless to stop the decay of body and brain. Even the natural world, the farm and animals that the family labored so hard to cultivate are completely poisoned and destroyed, through no fault of their own. It's just chance. Something strange falls from the sky, and by the time you realized you should have abandoned your home and fled while you still had your lives it is too late, the contamination is inside you, changing you, rotting you, even your brain so so can't make yourself go. Disturbing and sad.
November 11, 2020
This is my 2nd short story I've read by H. P. Lovecraft. Many of the authors I respect like Stephen King and Neil Gaiman, etc, cite this author as an influence. It must have been so difficult for him back then. He was writing stories no one had told before, creating a new genre basically and he sold this story to a magazine for $25.00. That is a tough life making a living that way.
The story was written in 1927 and I hear that this was H.P.'s favorite story he wrote. His language was of the day and much more purple prose than today. The language is a bit archaic and for some modern readers this can be a turn off. I don't mind it. My head gets in the rhythm of the pieces and it flows.
Lovecraft creates such a mood of dread in about 30 some pages. It's amazing. He didn't publish novels, so the guy could create a very creepy world in a short story.
The evil is the most interesting thing I have read. We are used to things from space being horrible monsters, but this was more like some sort of awful colored gas of some kind, a mist. I mean, I've never really seen that so much. Usually mist is hiding the thing. After reading this story, I can see some of the influence it had on King and where King took it and made it his own.
This is about a rural farm community that is there for a meteorite hitting someones farm and it affects that farmer and the community in terrifying ways. This is psychological devastating. It's like a horrible retold version of Job without the bet between God and Satan.
If you are looking for creepy and don't mind older type language then this is a story for you.
The story was written in 1927 and I hear that this was H.P.'s favorite story he wrote. His language was of the day and much more purple prose than today. The language is a bit archaic and for some modern readers this can be a turn off. I don't mind it. My head gets in the rhythm of the pieces and it flows.
Lovecraft creates such a mood of dread in about 30 some pages. It's amazing. He didn't publish novels, so the guy could create a very creepy world in a short story.
The evil is the most interesting thing I have read. We are used to things from space being horrible monsters, but this was more like some sort of awful colored gas of some kind, a mist. I mean, I've never really seen that so much. Usually mist is hiding the thing. After reading this story, I can see some of the influence it had on King and where King took it and made it his own.
This is about a rural farm community that is there for a meteorite hitting someones farm and it affects that farmer and the community in terrifying ways. This is psychological devastating. It's like a horrible retold version of Job without the bet between God and Satan.
If you are looking for creepy and don't mind older type language then this is a story for you.
July 18, 2019
The Colour Out of Space, H.P. (Howard Phillips) Lovecraft
The Colour Out of Space is a science fiction/horror short story by American author H. P. Lovecraft, written in March 1927. In the tale, an unnamed narrator pieces together the story of an area known by the locals as the "blasted heath" in the wild hills west of the fictional town of Arkham, Massachusetts. The narrator discovers that many years ago a meteorite crashed there, poisoning every living being nearby; vegetation grows large but foul tasting, animals are driven mad and deformed into grotesque shapes, and the people go insane or die one by one.
عنوانها: رنگی از دنیای ناشناخته؛ رنگی از فضا؛ نویسنده: هوارد فیلیپس لاوکرافت؛ تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز هجدهم ماه جولای سال 2015 میلادی
عنوان: رنگی از دنیای ناشناخته؛ نویسنده: هوارد فیلیپس لاوکرافت؛ مترجم: مرضیه خسروی؛ تهران، روزگار نو، 1393، در 128 ص، فروست: داستانهای مدرن کلاسیک؛ شابک: 9786006867175؛ موضوع: داستانهای مدرن کلاسیک از نویسندگان امریکایی - سده 20 م
عنوان: رنگی از فضا؛ نویسنده: هوارد فیلیپس لاوکرافت؛ مترجم: محمد قصاع؛ تهران، قدیانی، 1394؛ در 112 ص؛ شابک: 9786002517296؛
لاوکرافت پرچمدار سبک وحشت در سده ی بیستم میلادی بودند. ایشان شخصیتهای بسیاری از: «شیاطین»، «هیولاها» آفریده اند. در میان این داستانها، سه داستان حاضر از زمره ی دلهره آورترین داستانهای ایشان هستند. «رنگی از دنیای ناشناخته: شهاب سنگی که بر زمین اصابت میکند»، «بیگانه: ساکن بیچاره قلعه ای کهن»؛ و «سگ تازی: دردسرهای یک قبر دزد»؛ ا. شربیانی
The Colour Out of Space is a science fiction/horror short story by American author H. P. Lovecraft, written in March 1927. In the tale, an unnamed narrator pieces together the story of an area known by the locals as the "blasted heath" in the wild hills west of the fictional town of Arkham, Massachusetts. The narrator discovers that many years ago a meteorite crashed there, poisoning every living being nearby; vegetation grows large but foul tasting, animals are driven mad and deformed into grotesque shapes, and the people go insane or die one by one.
عنوانها: رنگی از دنیای ناشناخته؛ رنگی از فضا؛ نویسنده: هوارد فیلیپس لاوکرافت؛ تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز هجدهم ماه جولای سال 2015 میلادی
عنوان: رنگی از دنیای ناشناخته؛ نویسنده: هوارد فیلیپس لاوکرافت؛ مترجم: مرضیه خسروی؛ تهران، روزگار نو، 1393، در 128 ص، فروست: داستانهای مدرن کلاسیک؛ شابک: 9786006867175؛ موضوع: داستانهای مدرن کلاسیک از نویسندگان امریکایی - سده 20 م
عنوان: رنگی از فضا؛ نویسنده: هوارد فیلیپس لاوکرافت؛ مترجم: محمد قصاع؛ تهران، قدیانی، 1394؛ در 112 ص؛ شابک: 9786002517296؛
لاوکرافت پرچمدار سبک وحشت در سده ی بیستم میلادی بودند. ایشان شخصیتهای بسیاری از: «شیاطین»، «هیولاها» آفریده اند. در میان این داستانها، سه داستان حاضر از زمره ی دلهره آورترین داستانهای ایشان هستند. «رنگی از دنیای ناشناخته: شهاب سنگی که بر زمین اصابت میکند»، «بیگانه: ساکن بیچاره قلعه ای کهن»؛ و «سگ تازی: دردسرهای یک قبر دزد»؛ ا. شربیانی
July 31, 2023
Relato fantásticamente ambientado, que nos cuenta que algo caído del cielo, un meteorito, trajo algo que modifico la vida en una granja, tanto de la flora como de la fauna como de los habitantes de la granja. Con su magistral prosa Lovecraft nos va contando los hechos allá acaecidos.
Valoración: 7.5/10
Valoración: 7.5/10
July 9, 2019
Ammi Pierce tells the extremely haunting story of the aftermath when a meteorite hit the ground in his neighbourhood. The area is known as 'blasted heath' since. On the character of the farmer Nahum Gardner you can see the terrible impact of the meteorite. Strangeness comes and the family undergoes subtle changes as the surrounding. At first everything seems to be in bloom but then all colours fade to grey, madness befell the members of the family and some eldritch force sucks the life out of the now accursed place. Decay stands at the end. The well seems to be its centre... To me, this is one of the best stories Lovecraft ever wrote. It is so damn eerie and will really scare you. Absolute must read for every fan of Lovecraft or everyone who wants to become a fan of his. Classic creeper!
October 17, 2018
"El color que cayó del cielo"... ¡qué nombre zarpado para un cuento! y qué aterrador...
November 20, 2021
Lovecraft es un genio y esta historia es una maravilla.
Después de una pequeña decepción literaria esta lectura me ha sentado requetebién.
Después de una pequeña decepción literaria esta lectura me ha sentado requetebién.
May 18, 2014
It’s been a while since I read any Lovecraft so I’d forgotten just how… crap he is!
Lovecraft’s problem is his poor writing ability. He can come up with some great stories and ideas, he clearly had a ton of nightmarishly unique imagery, but he really struggles to convey them to the reader.
Like The Colour Out of Space, which tells of a meteorite hitting a farm and the mysterious colourfully glowing rock slowly poisoning the farmer and his family. It’s a great setup but Lovecraft ineptly tries to make the cause of the illnesses a mystery when you know it’s the alien meteorite. Things start falling apart and continue in that vein for the rest of the story with little variation. There’s no suspense but he drags out the story to a unnecessary length anyway and it’s beyond tedious to read.
The Outsider takes a similar approach where a monster rises up from his dungeon castle to visit the outside world and is surprised to see he looks different to the humans who run from him screaming. That scene when he looks in the mirror at the end and realises he’s a monster is the “twist ending” even though the reader’s figured it out long beforehand.
The Hound is a dull story of a demon dog’s revenge on a pair of grave-robbers who stole a magical amulet. A great idea but so poorly handled that it fails to live up to it’s potential.
Lovecraft’s style is to write lavish monologues rather than a narrative so it feels like you’re reading a sequence of descriptions of elaborate and complex images rather than an actual story with a plot, characters, etc. And if you write horror, it’s best to try and have some immediacy with the threat - having characters meet another character who relates a story from 50 years ago, and whose “terrors” were also static and distant, completely nullifies any scares.
And while he doesn’t describe the monsters, leaving that up to the reader, which can be effective if written with skill, it’s not really potent in the way he uses it here. Simply writing “oh the horror was unimaginable!” isn’t scary, it’s stupid.
At least Lovecraft knew his weaknesses and stayed away from writing dialogue for the most part - which doesn’t make it easier to read - but he does attempt dialogue in The Colour Out of Space and it’s laughable. It’s a page-length monologue where a character stutters out a few words followed by ellipses, over and over again: “the terror… it’s so terrible… durnit, the terror… unimaginable!!...” etc. - nobody talks like this!!
(Horror trivia: in On Writing, Stephen King says his inspiration for The Tommyknockers was The Colour Out of Space. Also in On Writing, I think the dialogue he uses to illustrate how not to write speech was taken from this story too.)
Lovecraft’s stories may be horribly written and be a chore to read but he is remembered for a reason as his stories contain some great imagery and he did influence a number of succeeding great horror writers. If you want a taste of what Lovecraft’s like to see if you’ll like or dislike his work, this three story collection provides a good idea of what to expect from him.
Lovecraft’s problem is his poor writing ability. He can come up with some great stories and ideas, he clearly had a ton of nightmarishly unique imagery, but he really struggles to convey them to the reader.
Like The Colour Out of Space, which tells of a meteorite hitting a farm and the mysterious colourfully glowing rock slowly poisoning the farmer and his family. It’s a great setup but Lovecraft ineptly tries to make the cause of the illnesses a mystery when you know it’s the alien meteorite. Things start falling apart and continue in that vein for the rest of the story with little variation. There’s no suspense but he drags out the story to a unnecessary length anyway and it’s beyond tedious to read.
The Outsider takes a similar approach where a monster rises up from his dungeon castle to visit the outside world and is surprised to see he looks different to the humans who run from him screaming. That scene when he looks in the mirror at the end and realises he’s a monster is the “twist ending” even though the reader’s figured it out long beforehand.
The Hound is a dull story of a demon dog’s revenge on a pair of grave-robbers who stole a magical amulet. A great idea but so poorly handled that it fails to live up to it’s potential.
Lovecraft’s style is to write lavish monologues rather than a narrative so it feels like you’re reading a sequence of descriptions of elaborate and complex images rather than an actual story with a plot, characters, etc. And if you write horror, it’s best to try and have some immediacy with the threat - having characters meet another character who relates a story from 50 years ago, and whose “terrors” were also static and distant, completely nullifies any scares.
And while he doesn’t describe the monsters, leaving that up to the reader, which can be effective if written with skill, it’s not really potent in the way he uses it here. Simply writing “oh the horror was unimaginable!” isn’t scary, it’s stupid.
At least Lovecraft knew his weaknesses and stayed away from writing dialogue for the most part - which doesn’t make it easier to read - but he does attempt dialogue in The Colour Out of Space and it’s laughable. It’s a page-length monologue where a character stutters out a few words followed by ellipses, over and over again: “the terror… it’s so terrible… durnit, the terror… unimaginable!!...” etc. - nobody talks like this!!
(Horror trivia: in On Writing, Stephen King says his inspiration for The Tommyknockers was The Colour Out of Space. Also in On Writing, I think the dialogue he uses to illustrate how not to write speech was taken from this story too.)
Lovecraft’s stories may be horribly written and be a chore to read but he is remembered for a reason as his stories contain some great imagery and he did influence a number of succeeding great horror writers. If you want a taste of what Lovecraft’s like to see if you’ll like or dislike his work, this three story collection provides a good idea of what to expect from him.
December 10, 2021
A strange meteor. Colors beyond human experience and description. Trees that scratch at the sky. But then poison and death and fear.
I haven't read a lot of Lovecraft, but this one has been my favorite so far. This one seem a lot less obtuse in its language to me. Candidly, this was the only one so far where I didn't struggle to understand it (or even fail to understand it).
I haven't read a lot of Lovecraft, but this one has been my favorite so far. This one seem a lot less obtuse in its language to me. Candidly, this was the only one so far where I didn't struggle to understand it (or even fail to understand it).
February 21, 2021
A delightful short story which takes a scientific subject which was, at the time, fairly new and poorly understood - particularly by Lovecraft, who had an extremely poor grasp on science and mathematics - and uses that idea of that which is poorly understood to twist into a fear of the unknown.
Lovecraft tells us here the tale of a family whose farm is struck by a meteorite, which behaves very strangely and soon begins to cause havoc and mayhem all around as the colours from outer space infect the farm.
While the horror takes what it wants and moves on eventually, a staple of Lovecraftian existential horror, we are left with a final hint that all is not as it seems, and that perhaps this was only the beginning...
The creepy happenings and constant, thick, choking layers of slime and ooze with which Lovecraft paints a picture of horror return and I think I have subconsciously stopped drinking as much water whilst reading this book.
Another beloved icon of the genre from a master of horror.
Lovecraft tells us here the tale of a family whose farm is struck by a meteorite, which behaves very strangely and soon begins to cause havoc and mayhem all around as the colours from outer space infect the farm.
While the horror takes what it wants and moves on eventually, a staple of Lovecraftian existential horror, we are left with a final hint that all is not as it seems, and that perhaps this was only the beginning...
The creepy happenings and constant, thick, choking layers of slime and ooze with which Lovecraft paints a picture of horror return and I think I have subconsciously stopped drinking as much water whilst reading this book.
Another beloved icon of the genre from a master of horror.
October 16, 2021
"Reinaban la maleza y las zarzas, y algo salvaje y furtivo susurraba en el subsuelo. Sobre todas las cosas pesaba una rara agitación y opresión, un toque de lo irreal y lo grotesco, como si fallara algún elemento vital de la perspectiva o del claroscuro."
Escogí este relato como "Mi lectura de Halloween". Quería algo corto porque tengo algunas lecturas pendientes que deseo terminar rápido.
La sinopsis es simple. Un hombre visita una ciudad llamada Arkham donde se planea hacer una represa. Allí, se entera por medio de un habitante del pueblo de la historia de "Los días extraños" en donde se nos cuenta los acontecimientos que sufrieron un hombre llamado Nahum y su familia.
Debo destacar la ambientación. Lovecraft crea una atmosfera que te hace imaginar completamente el lugar sin llegar a extenderse innecesariamente, y trasmite una sensación de desagrado por el lugar.
Otro aspecto positivo es que le da tiempo a la historia para desarrollarse, y creo que a pesar de su corta duración, no me quedé con la sensación de que faltó algo por contar, todo fue en justa medida.
Sin mucho más que agregar, no está de más decir que recomiendo bastante este relato. Muy ligero y con una buena dosis de terror, que me dejó con pocas ganas de ver de cerca meteorito.
Escogí este relato como "Mi lectura de Halloween". Quería algo corto porque tengo algunas lecturas pendientes que deseo terminar rápido.
La sinopsis es simple. Un hombre visita una ciudad llamada Arkham donde se planea hacer una represa. Allí, se entera por medio de un habitante del pueblo de la historia de "Los días extraños" en donde se nos cuenta los acontecimientos que sufrieron un hombre llamado Nahum y su familia.
Debo destacar la ambientación. Lovecraft crea una atmosfera que te hace imaginar completamente el lugar sin llegar a extenderse innecesariamente, y trasmite una sensación de desagrado por el lugar.
Otro aspecto positivo es que le da tiempo a la historia para desarrollarse, y creo que a pesar de su corta duración, no me quedé con la sensación de que faltó algo por contar, todo fue en justa medida.
Sin mucho más que agregar, no está de más decir que recomiendo bastante este relato. Muy ligero y con una buena dosis de terror, que me dejó con pocas ganas de ver de cerca meteorito.
February 18, 2021
3.5 stars
Great concept, poor execution. I can bet The Tommyknockers will be way better than this.
Great concept, poor execution. I can bet The Tommyknockers will be way better than this.
October 31, 2022
We're back at Arkham. No wonder the name was used in the DC comics, not a day goes by that nothing awful happens in this town! *lol*
This time, we're following a land surveyor into the hills and woods around Arkhman though. Supposedly, different groups of immigrants have tried settling there but something creeps them out until they all leave. Ammi Pierce is the only one who still remains, and even Ammi only dares live at the outskirts, close to the new road in and out of Arkham.
The surveyor was told the place was evil but didn't think the land itself was meant so he went into the heath anyway. He immediately noticed the strange way the plants and trees grow in the glens leading up to it as well as the absence of noise from animals ... and he still continued, the idiot. *lol* He continues until he is in the heath proper where nothing grows. It looks as if a fire had raged there - though we all know that fires can be cleansing and new plant life will regrow, this is not the case here.
Once he makes it back to Arkham, he asks around and, through Ammi, is told what happened (which wasn't long ago either) - leading him to immediately return to Boston never to come back.
Cue ominous music!
I shall not tell you anything about what Ammi told the surveyor, but I can tell you that it was pretty darn great. Well, not for the people who were involved, obviously, but for the reader who got sucked into quite a psychedelic trip. Muhahahahahahaha.
Not too long ago, I've see the movie adaptation with Nick Cage (don't judge) and while it wasn't rocking my world, it was really rather good and creepy.
If you were wondering: the story is even more so! The writing sent shivers down my spines and made me glad it was still light outside when I read it. *lol*
You can read the story for free here: https://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/...
This time, we're following a land surveyor into the hills and woods around Arkhman though. Supposedly, different groups of immigrants have tried settling there but something creeps them out until they all leave. Ammi Pierce is the only one who still remains, and even Ammi only dares live at the outskirts, close to the new road in and out of Arkham.
The surveyor was told the place was evil but didn't think the land itself was meant so he went into the heath anyway. He immediately noticed the strange way the plants and trees grow in the glens leading up to it as well as the absence of noise from animals ... and he still continued, the idiot. *lol* He continues until he is in the heath proper where nothing grows. It looks as if a fire had raged there - though we all know that fires can be cleansing and new plant life will regrow, this is not the case here.
Once he makes it back to Arkham, he asks around and, through Ammi, is told what happened (which wasn't long ago either) - leading him to immediately return to Boston never to come back.
Cue ominous music!
I shall not tell you anything about what Ammi told the surveyor, but I can tell you that it was pretty darn great. Well, not for the people who were involved, obviously, but for the reader who got sucked into quite a psychedelic trip. Muhahahahahahaha.
Not too long ago, I've see the movie adaptation with Nick Cage (don't judge) and while it wasn't rocking my world, it was really rather good and creepy.
If you were wondering: the story is even more so! The writing sent shivers down my spines and made me glad it was still light outside when I read it. *lol*
You can read the story for free here: https://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/...
September 9, 2017
It was not a matter of old legendry at all, but something within the lifetime of those who spoke. It had happened in the ’eighties, and a family had disappeared or was killed. Speakers would not be exact; and because they all told me to pay no attention to old Ammi Pierce’s crazy tales, I sought him out the next morning, having heard that he lived alone in the ancient tottering cottage where the trees first begin to get very thick.
To me this reads entirely as camp, and it's camp I love. (I have no doubt whatsoever that Lovecraft was deadly serious about it, though. I was going to plaster photo realistic rainbow fields and forests all over this review, but I will tip my hat to Lovecraft and refrain. The story is sufficiently horrifying in spite of its rainbows of disgusting vegetation.) There's even an almost killer bunny. That said, Lovecraft's writing is awful and he's back to using characters as props to observe the horror as it unfolds rather than allowing them to do anything actual people would do when faced with a threat of this nature. (And the Darwin Award on this entry goes to the entire municipality of Arkham, or at least whoever is in charge of their water and sanitation departments.) By rights this should be two stars, but it made me laugh. Take your three stars and go, Lovecraft.
To me this reads entirely as camp, and it's camp I love. (I have no doubt whatsoever that Lovecraft was deadly serious about it, though. I was going to plaster photo realistic rainbow fields and forests all over this review, but I will tip my hat to Lovecraft and refrain. The story is sufficiently horrifying in spite of its rainbows of disgusting vegetation.) There's even an almost killer bunny. That said, Lovecraft's writing is awful and he's back to using characters as props to observe the horror as it unfolds rather than allowing them to do anything actual people would do when faced with a threat of this nature. (And the Darwin Award on this entry goes to the entire municipality of Arkham, or at least whoever is in charge of their water and sanitation departments.) By rights this should be two stars, but it made me laugh. Take your three stars and go, Lovecraft.
June 19, 2021
Long time horror reader, first time Lovecraft reader. Crazy, right? So what did I think?
I think this was a damn good short story, super bleak and shamelessly sinister. This strange tale centers around a meteorite with peculiar characteristics falling to Earth, crash-landing on a farmer’s property. At first, he is thrilled about it, as the event turns him into a local celebrity for awhile. Ah, but then it all goes south, as we discover that this object from outer space is capable of much more harm than good.
Short story shorter, I was riveted the entire way through. This was nearly a perfect short story, but for one thing: the extreme lack of dialogue (which I hear is a Lovecraft signature). I’m huge on character, and it boils down to this: it’s hard for me to fully feel invested if I don’t fully know and understand the characters, and I can’t fully know and understand the characters without dialogue. As a result, I docked the story a star. Still, this is a very interesting tale that is well worth the time of any horror fan.
4/5 evil meteorites.
I think this was a damn good short story, super bleak and shamelessly sinister. This strange tale centers around a meteorite with peculiar characteristics falling to Earth, crash-landing on a farmer’s property. At first, he is thrilled about it, as the event turns him into a local celebrity for awhile. Ah, but then it all goes south, as we discover that this object from outer space is capable of much more harm than good.
Short story shorter, I was riveted the entire way through. This was nearly a perfect short story, but for one thing: the extreme lack of dialogue (which I hear is a Lovecraft signature). I’m huge on character, and it boils down to this: it’s hard for me to fully feel invested if I don’t fully know and understand the characters, and I can’t fully know and understand the characters without dialogue. As a result, I docked the story a star. Still, this is a very interesting tale that is well worth the time of any horror fan.
4/5 evil meteorites.
June 24, 2021
Este cuento tiene la longitud necesaria para mantenerte intrigado, y llenarte de preguntas cuyas respuestas se quedarán en el espacio...
August 1, 2021
Wow - this is the most I have enjoyed Lovecraft. I make the leap from understanding the huge fan following but not feeling a part of it, to finding he does have certain stories that leave me as breathless and blown away as the fanatics. This trio of tales hit my bullseye. This time, I got the heebie-jeebies, I felt truly nervous, I loved ‘cosmic Horror’ about as much as I’m ever going to love this sub-genre. I’ve had the Cthulhu mythos trotted out to me like another Big Mac & fries so many times, by its originator and those who have written the homages and extensions, and not felt much - just felt that this early ‘Horror franchise’ was striking a chord in furiously admiring legions…but not me.
‘The Colour Out of Space’, ‘The Whisperer in Darkness’, ‘The Shadow Out of Time’ - for me, this is likely as good as it gets, the rapport between me and this author, as set up by the tales - tales that pitch the same catchwords at me until they bore me: ‘Cthulhu’, ‘Arkham’, ‘Miskatonic’, ‘Necronomicon’, and of course ‘the mad Arab what’s his name’, plus lots of Old Ones monickers ending in ‘oth’. Suggoth? Yug-oth? My reaction to these three stories is all the more unexpected, given that my Lovecraft thoughts have not, for years, ranged farther than ‘I don’t mind most of this stuff, but if the franchise menu doesn’t excite me by this time - or, really, frighten me - I don’t think it’s ever going to’.
But, I found the Lovecraft stories I love.
‘The Colour Out of Space’, ‘The Whisperer in Darkness’, ‘The Shadow Out of Time’ - for me, this is likely as good as it gets, the rapport between me and this author, as set up by the tales - tales that pitch the same catchwords at me until they bore me: ‘Cthulhu’, ‘Arkham’, ‘Miskatonic’, ‘Necronomicon’, and of course ‘the mad Arab what’s his name’, plus lots of Old Ones monickers ending in ‘oth’. Suggoth? Yug-oth? My reaction to these three stories is all the more unexpected, given that my Lovecraft thoughts have not, for years, ranged farther than ‘I don’t mind most of this stuff, but if the franchise menu doesn’t excite me by this time - or, really, frighten me - I don’t think it’s ever going to’.
But, I found the Lovecraft stories I love.
November 3, 2018
Bereits mehrfach habe ich versucht mich mit den Geschichten von Lovecraft anzufreunden, aber jedes Mal wurden meine Erwartungen milde gesagt enttäuscht. The Colour Out of Space ist da leider keine Ausnahme.
October 12, 2017
Lectura del mes del #Clubdelectura.uy.
"This was no breath from the skies whose motions and dimensions our astronomers measure or deem too vast to measure. It was just a colour out of space, a frigthful 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."
"This was no breath from the skies whose motions and dimensions our astronomers measure or deem too vast to measure. It was just a colour out of space, a frigthful 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."
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December 9, 2017
A longer short story from Lovecraft this time and quite possibly the best I've read (actually it is the best I've read, but I've only read two others). A meteor crashes down to earth on some farmstead and thus proceeds to infect all around it with its out-of-this-world eerie qualities.
It becomes apparent that, much like Shelley and her Frankenstein's creation, we don't get told everything. Things happen, but no details come forth. It is implied strongly, with language and rhetoric I've not come across before, but it isn't obvious what is happening all of the time.
This was written at a time when science wasn't quite there for the fiction. This is early sci-fi dressed up as gothic horror. The mix of attempted sci-fi and eldritch horror is a good combination that Alien vs. Predator could never capture. It's quite something and it's very intriguing. Mr. Lovecraft has me hooked.
It becomes apparent that, much like Shelley and her Frankenstein's creation, we don't get told everything. Things happen, but no details come forth. It is implied strongly, with language and rhetoric I've not come across before, but it isn't obvious what is happening all of the time.
This was written at a time when science wasn't quite there for the fiction. This is early sci-fi dressed up as gothic horror. The mix of attempted sci-fi and eldritch horror is a good combination that Alien vs. Predator could never capture. It's quite something and it's very intriguing. Mr. Lovecraft has me hooked.
May 24, 2021
The Colour Out of Space, H.P.Lovecraft, Poor old, Nahum, father and family man his family, his animals his grown produce, are slowly being eaten away by something unnatural, actually an enigmatic poisonous metorite crashed into his farm. Scientists studying the rock couldn't make heads or tails of it, though colours beyond imagination they did find. Fiendishly atmospheric New England tale that sounds misty and foggy, grey and boring, Lovecraft style is so nightmarish, random, cryptic in manner with some interesting play on words, "with darkness and interstellar space, leaves you trembling" so great delving into the language of a different time, Lovecraft struggled in a pitiless world for a meagre living. Against his own demons of mental illness, which makes his prolific works more the remarkable. what 2 of his disciples said of Lovecraft, Stephen King, "opened the way for me" Neil Gaiman "Fear of the Unknown. I teach using some of Lovecraft's works and I do not shy away from the racism, etc, etc" anyway colour illness is that a thing? colour blidness, maybe skin colour thats off track, argh, doesnt really matter.
November 14, 2020
This one is about a man trying to find out how a piece of land came to be known as “The Blasted Heath” after a meteorite crashed to the ground was found to contain strange properties and a colour that has never been seen before.
Scientists try figuring out what’s going on, but it snowballs as it dawns on everyone that they have no idea what they’re dealing with and the fear of the unknown sets in.
Lovecraft doesn't give any details of what was contained in the meteor that caused all of this damage and that's why I've always loved his work because he leaves a lot to your imagination - he just plants the seeds.
"Meteor shit!" ☄
Scientists try figuring out what’s going on, but it snowballs as it dawns on everyone that they have no idea what they’re dealing with and the fear of the unknown sets in.
Lovecraft doesn't give any details of what was contained in the meteor that caused all of this damage and that's why I've always loved his work because he leaves a lot to your imagination - he just plants the seeds.
"Meteor shit!" ☄
September 28, 2023
Como fan declarada de Lovecraft, este relato me ha encantado, es uno de los mejores relatos que he leido de este autor hasta ahora, y me encantan sus relatos de terror cósmico, era un verdadero maestro en ese tema.
October 13, 2023
Debo reconocer que tenía miedo de leer a H.P Lovecraft y lo fui dilatando por mucho tiempo. Los motivos, tenían relación con que sus relatos fueron escritos hace mas de un siglo, por lo que no creía que aún estuvieran vigentes y que pudieran tener impacto sobre mi, pero no podía estar equivocada, este relato me sorprendido mucho, en algunos momento incluso me llegó a generar angustia y miedo, por otro lado la forma de narrar es tan ágil, fan directa, que la lectura se hace muy llevadera.
Ahora entiendo porque tanta gente ama a este señor 👑 y lo consideran un genio del terror.. considero que tiene el título muy bien merecido.
Ahora entiendo porque tanta gente ama a este señor 👑 y lo consideran un genio del terror.. considero que tiene el título muy bien merecido.
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