Title page of “The Colour Out of Space” as it appeared in Amazing Stories, September, 1927. Illustration by J. M. de Aragon.
Blurp:
Citation taken from Wikipedia
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.
Lovecraft began writing “The Colour Out of Space” immediately after finishing his previous short novel, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, and in the midst of final revision on his horror fiction essay “Supernatural Horror in Literature”. Seeking to create a truly alien life form, he drew inspiration from numerous fiction and nonfiction sources. First appearing in the September 1927 edition of Hugo Gernsback’s science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, “The Colour Out of Space” became one of Lovecraft’s most popular works, and remained his personal favorite of his short stories. It has been adapted to film several times, as Die, Monster, Die! (1965), The Curse (1987), Colour from the Dark (2008), The Colour Out of Space (Die Farbe) (2010) and Color Out of Space (2019).
Thoughts:
Just finished this short story, as I took a break from a different boring book that just can not seem to get to the point… I even found a nice audio version on youtube that I am going to link which I listened to as I was reading along on my phone. I have gone through quite a few Lovecraft stories in the past few years and I have become accustomed to the way he deliberately left things unexplained so either the reader could use their own imagination or because he was an asshole. I tend to get a bit pissed off some times when I read a story where the build up is so good and you are waiting for that climax you know is near, only to be met with words such as “it was indescribable and something of madness”, H.P, buddy it is the 21st century, kids do not have the imagination to get what you are driving at….
That being said, this kid right here does have the tendency to over imagine things and see other stuff happening in the back of his mind when reading through things. This was a great story to read as a temporary break from a book that just does not seem to have an end to it. I have told Milou I have felt like DNFing the effing thing, but I just got over the 60% mark and I seem to be a sucker for punishment some times. Colour out of Space was also recently remade into a Hollywood production staring Nicholas Cage, though I am iffy about seeing if they managed to fuck it up, but I will definitely see it as you do not see many Lovecraft movies come to light, unless I am looking in the wrong places…
I wanted to read another short story for this month as I have neglected my short story catagory for a while now and would like to get back into posting more of them more frequently. I do not know if C.O.O.S counts as a book, but I see GR has it as a stand alone novella and therefore I can give it a rating. My rating being a 3 out of 5 as I was sucked into the opening parts of this short and it kinda spun into something crossing between wanting to be intrigued but not willing to get my hopes up for it wowing me. It is a great story to read though. I love the gradual degeneration that happens and that Lovecraft had a talent for writing, the man was ahead of his time in so many ways.
If you have not read this before and consider yourself a Lovecraft fan, I recommend giving this a go. If reading Lovecraft feels like a chore, do not despair, uncle Dave has you sorted out. I must say I had to sift through quite a few read throughs to get to the one I picked, it’s just over an hour and you can rev the speed up if you want…
You are welcome.
This was one of the few Lovecraft stories I actually enjoyed. As a whole, I don’t rate the man highly as a storyteller.
Dare I ask what book it is you’re tempted to DNF🤔 is a certain Cadian one?
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Cadian honour…. fuck its boring
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I knew that would be it. It really does try to get exciting … it just … well … it falls quite short.
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60 % in and i have to read about some religious ceremony that i dont give a shit about as i know the people behind it are obviously heretics… oh man. Salty is gonna have a field day…
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I actually feel sorry for you. Way more than I do myself. As this will be your 2nd in the series. At least I only had to suffer through 1. Phew!
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Yeah, to think i actually bought the first book physical…
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I think I gave it 2 stars and I’m left feeling like I was too kind haha.
Ahh, that means you have a lovely memento on your book shelf 😉
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Oh it wil go to the donate pile pretty soon…
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Wait til the pandemic is over. You never know when you’ll need toilet paper
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🙈
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Already posted my review on netgally today gave it a two and said it was bad…
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“I have become accustomed to the way he deliberately left things unexplained so either the reader could use their own imagination or because he was an asshole.” Hardy har har!!!! I am not a Lovecraft fan. The First Mate had to describe Shoggoths to me cause they were in a short story I read (that was inspired by Lovecraft) and I no idea what they were.
x The Captain
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I still need to get to a story with a shoggoth in it, but have a vague idea.
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First time i heard about a shoggoth i thought it was a goth that went for a swim… soggy goth🙈
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A great piece of work by Lovecraft, very chilling. I’ve got a big book of Lovecraft stories and it’s definitely one of the better ones.
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i have the complete works on my phone and gradually return there from time to time. Thanks for stopping by Steve.
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Fantastic, Lovecraft on the go, what could be better? I recently read The Shadow over Innsmouth, which was pretty damn scary in parts!
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That paired with october an a rainy day outside gave me chills. The part of old zeedock was a masterpiece
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I have to say the section in the hotel at night made me sleep quite lightly for nights on end haha
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I remember my older brother and me playing that part on the PS1 Call of Cthullu the Dark decent, we were so bad at it but that imige never left me and when I read this, that was playing in my head.
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I remember the scene from the game, though it was from myself watching a friend play through it. It was terrifying stuff, and an underrated game as well!
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I enjoy Lovecraft from time to time, and this sounds like something I might may room for this month. I think I actually read it before, in Polish!
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Have a listen to the audio if you struggle with reading the english. I am a bit jealous with you understanding Polish/ being of Polish descent, there has been such an influx of great metal in the last couple of months, I am curious in learning more on the folklore over there.
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I’ve often wondered if Lovecraft was heavily into drugs. It would certainly explain a lot of his writings, both in ideas and style 😀
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I believe he was one of those special people with that special upbringing… An odd man at best, but I wouldve loved to have known the man personally. I would not let him tell stories at a camp fire though, i get chills just imagining that…
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I haven’t read a lot of Lovecraft, but this one sounds interesting! Nice review. 🙂
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Thank you! I am still a Lovcraft novice…
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“the way he deliberately left things unexplained so either the reader could use their own imagination or because he was an asshole.”
Hehe! A bit of both, I think.
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Thanks for commenting🙂
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Cool post!
P. S. Please check my blog for all details of the book club 🙂
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