Cthulhu Mythos | Lecturia

August Derleth: The House in the Valley

The House in the Valley is a story by August Derleth, published in July 1953 in the magazine Weird Tales. Told in the first person by Jefferson Bates, a painter seeking isolation to devote himself to his work, the story begins when he rents an old mansion in a remote valley in Massachusetts near the ancient fortresses of Arkham and Dunwich. The house, marked by a dark past linked to the Bishop family, soon awakens a disturbing sensation of an invisible presence in the protagonist. As he settles in, he perceives subtle hints of a mystery hidden beneath the apparent calm of the place, slowly submerging himself in an increasingly disturbing environment.

H. P. Lovecraft: The Nameless City

In “The Nameless City,” a story by H. P. Lovecraft published in 1921, the protagonist recounts his terrifying exploration of an ancient and forgotten city lost in the Arabian desert. Despite local warnings and fears about this cursed place, whose history is lost in antiquity, the man ventures into its ruins. He discovers vestiges of an unknown and deeply disturbing civilization that practiced strange rites and venerated reptilian beings there. As he explores underground temples and descending passages, he is confronted with evidence of a chilling reality that defies human comprehension.

H. P. Lovecraft: Dagon

In “Dagon,” a short story by H. P. Lovecraft published in 1919, a man recounts a traumatic experience that has brought him to the brink of madness. After escaping from a ship during the First World War, he finds himself adrift in the Pacific Ocean until a strange geological phenomenon transports him to a desolate landscape, where he discovers a monolith and witnesses the appearance of a gigantic and abominable creature. “Dagon” is an early Lovecraft story that establishes the guidelines for what will become the distinctive hallmarks of his literary universe, which led him to become a renowned master of cosmic and ancestral horror.

Clark Ashton Smith: The Return of the Sorcerer

“The Return of the Sorcerer” is a short story by Clark Ashton Smith, published in 1931, which forms part of the Cthulhu Mythos cycle. The story follows an unemployed man who accepts a job as secretary to John Carnby, a solitary scholar specializing in demonology and witchcraft. Carnby asks him to use his knowledge of Arabic to help him decipher passages from the Necronomicon, an ancient and obscure book. As he progresses with his work, the protagonist begins to suspect that his employer’s interest goes beyond pure erudition and that dark and diabolical secrets lie behind his facade.

Clark Ashton Smith: The Nameless Offspring

The Nameless Offspring is a short story by Clark Ashton Smith published in June 1932 in the magazine Strange Tales of Mystery and Terror. It tells the story of Henry Chaldane, who, during a trip through the English countryside, happens upon Tremoth Hall, an old mansion shrouded in a dark family legend. There, he meets Sir John Tremoth, a man tormented by a terrible secret related to his lineage.