the 1920s he became a regular contributor to oc-
cult fiction magazines such as Weird Talesand an
occasional contributor to science fiction titles as
well, although his science fiction stories almost al-
ways felt out of place there. “The Call of Cthulhu”
(1928) established most of the major components
of the Cthulhu Mythos, which he went on to elabo-
rate with additional tales until the end of his life.
Lovecraft’s first significant short fiction was
“The Tomb” (1921). His horror stories were often
conventional, but much of his best work, particu-
larly in the early part of his career, such as “COOL
AIR” (1926) and “The Rats in the Walls” (1924),
was not a part of the mythos. That loose sequence
began to expand in earnest in the latter 1920s,
with the novella The Case of Charles Dexter Ward
(1927) and memorable shorter pieces including
“THE DUNWICH HORROR” (1930), “THE SHADOW
OVER INNSMOUTH” (1931), “The Thing on the
Doorstep” (1933), and “THE HAUNTER OF THE
DARK” (1935). Lovecraft’s protagonists were often
doomed almost from the outset, but it was the
journey and not the destination that held the at-
tention of his readers, and his ability to evoke
slightly twisted versions of familiar New England
settings was highly effective. Many of the buildings
and institutions mentioned in the stories have an
almost exact counterpart in the real world.
In the last few years of his life, Lovecraft’s sto-
ries began to edge toward science fiction again,
and the short novels At the Mountains of Madness
(1931) and The Shadow out of Time(1936) clearly
show that he was no longer as interested in overt
horror. The former describes the discovery of an
ancient abandoned city in Antarctica, and the lat-
ter concerns a man whose mind is swapped with
that of an inhuman creature from prehistory. He
also wrote a small number of fantasies, of which
the most famous are The Dream-Quest of Unknown
Kadath (1943), a journey through a dreamland,
and “The Strange High House in the Mist” (1931).
Lovecraft actively encouraged other writers,
even to the point of rewriting their manuscripts for
them. Following his death August Derleth com-
pleted a number of his fragments and wrote addi-
tional stories, although Lovecraft’s more avid fans
were often unhappy with these efforts to reorganize
the mythos into a more consistent form. Derleth
founded Arkham House, originally for the purpose
of publishing Lovecraft’s fiction in hardcover, al-
though it has remained a successful imprint spe-
cializing in science fiction and horror ever since.
Lovecraft is often criticized for his archaic prose,
his early racial prejudice, and his snobbishness, but
whatever his faults, the originality and appeal of
his stories is undeniable.
His short fiction has been collected in a bewil-
dering number of combinations under many titles.
Recent selections that provide a representative
sampling include The Road to Madness(1996), The
Loved Dead(1997), The Call of Cthulhu and Other
Weird Stories(1999), and The Thing on the Doorstep
and Other Weird Stories(2001). The early collec-
tions from Arkham House have become valuable
collectors’ items. Numerous films and television
episodes have been made from Lovecraft’s fiction,
usually unhappily, including The Dunwich Horror
(1970), The Re-Animator(1985), “The Colour out
of Space” as The Haunted Palace(1963), The Case
of Charles Dexter Wardas The Resurrected(1989),
and Dagon(2001).“Lukundoo”Edward Lucas White(1907)
Until comparatively recently most horror fiction
shocked by suggestion rather than revulsion. If a
body was eviscerated or mutilated, it usually
happened off stage, and readers rarely received a
detailed description of the monstrous figures re-
sponsible. One of the exceptions was this very
unnerving story by Edward Lucas White, whose
handful of other weird stories are now largely
forgotten.
The story takes place in Africa as a small ex-
pedition of scientists searching for pygmies en-
counters a man wandering the jungle in a state of
considerable distress. His name is Etcham, and he
tells them that he works for another explorer
named Stone who is famous for having exposed
the trickery of several local witch doctors. They
had penetrated deep into the jungle when Stone
became afflicted with unusual growths like boils or
carbuncles all over his body, a malady that contin-
ued even after he used a razor to cut them off.
Stone has, in fact, become so seriously ill that he
may be hallucinating, for he speaks to himself in222 “Lukundoo”