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The Color Out of Space
Set in the fictional town of Arkham, Massachusetts, an unnamed narrator investigates a local area known as the ‘blasted hearth.� After failing to extract any information from the Arkham locals, the narrator encounters an old man, Ammi Pierce, who relates the story of a farmer who once lived there. The hearth, he claims, was caused by a meteorite that fell onto the farmer’s field in 1882. The Color Out of Space is one of H.P. Lovecraft’s best-loved and most critically acclaimed stories. According to the author, it was also his personal favorite. It has been adapted twice for film; first in 1967 and later in 1987.
25 pages, ebook
Published September 3, 2013
181 people are currently reading
3,875 people want to read
About the author
H.P. Lovecraft
5,142Ìýbooks18.5kÌýfollowersHoward 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.
See also Howard Phillips Lovecraft.
�
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.
See also Howard Phillips Lovecraft.
�
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 756 reviews
October 29, 2017
Da bastante mal rollo para solo tener 30 páginas :O
January 30, 2020
Full Video Review Here:
When you are talking about one of the greatest Lovecraft stories, including his personal favorite that he ever wrote, what can one say that hasn't already been said? Even if you've never read Colour Out of Space I feel like its influence is one you've heard of by one avenue or another. Just a classic tale of how insignificant humanity is on the greater cosmos of the universe; aka The Lovecraft Special. It's a classic that's only about 30 pages long and it deserves your time.
When you are talking about one of the greatest Lovecraft stories, including his personal favorite that he ever wrote, what can one say that hasn't already been said? Even if you've never read Colour Out of Space I feel like its influence is one you've heard of by one avenue or another. Just a classic tale of how insignificant humanity is on the greater cosmos of the universe; aka The Lovecraft Special. It's a classic that's only about 30 pages long and it deserves your time.
October 11, 2021
Quite an interesting story. Listened to it on Spotify while I cleaned.
November 8, 2018
Dies war meine erste Begegnung mit H.P.L. Nach dem ganz guten Anfang störte mich, dass die Story einfach so runtererzählt wurde. Es gibt eigentlich keine Dialoge, vielmehr liest es sich wie ein Zeit-Dossier über einen mysteriösen Fall in Arkham County. Diese chronologische Aneinanderreihung wirkte fast schon etwas lieblos. Dazu dann noch dieser antiquierte Schreibstil, bei dem das Unbeschreibliche nicht in Worte gefasst wurde. Allerdings stört mich das bei recht vielen Büchern, zuletzt bei Frankenstein von M. Shelley.
Letztlich hat mich die Geschichte dann aber doch gebannt, wenn schon nicht gegruselt oder gar schockiert. Nachdem der auf das Farmgelände gestürzte Meteoroid seine Bösartigkeit an die Umwelt weitergegeben hat, sterben Pflanzen, dann Tiere und später auch die Menschen auf entsetzliche Weise. Gegen Ende entwickelte die Geschichte für mich mehr Atmosphäre. Lovecrafts Beschreibung hatte für mich etwas psychodelisches. Ich denke, dass er mit so einer Geschichte schon Neuland betreten hat. Er wollte halt versuchen, das Unbegreifbare und Unsichtbare als nebulöse Bedrohung zu schildern. Daher wählte er erst gar nicht eine Form beim Gegner, sondern lediglich eine Farbe. Das ist schon recht abgedreht. Aus heutiger Sicht sicherlich mehr zum Schmunzeln, als zum Fürchten. Aber doch auf eine Art gut, die sich nicht beschreiben lässt (um es im Stil des Autors zu sagen).
Letztlich hat mich die Geschichte dann aber doch gebannt, wenn schon nicht gegruselt oder gar schockiert. Nachdem der auf das Farmgelände gestürzte Meteoroid seine Bösartigkeit an die Umwelt weitergegeben hat, sterben Pflanzen, dann Tiere und später auch die Menschen auf entsetzliche Weise. Gegen Ende entwickelte die Geschichte für mich mehr Atmosphäre. Lovecrafts Beschreibung hatte für mich etwas psychodelisches. Ich denke, dass er mit so einer Geschichte schon Neuland betreten hat. Er wollte halt versuchen, das Unbegreifbare und Unsichtbare als nebulöse Bedrohung zu schildern. Daher wählte er erst gar nicht eine Form beim Gegner, sondern lediglich eine Farbe. Das ist schon recht abgedreht. Aus heutiger Sicht sicherlich mehr zum Schmunzeln, als zum Fürchten. Aber doch auf eine Art gut, die sich nicht beschreiben lässt (um es im Stil des Autors zu sagen).
January 27, 2019
H.P Lovecraft’s The Color Out of Space is another example of the authors flesh tingling ability at creating atmosphere and racketing up the tension until it explodes. In this story a meteorite has landed in a New England farmers field and a slow development of chaos ensures. I couldn’t help but feel that this story is important to fans of his work such as Stephen King. It felt like perhaps this story inspired several elements of It. It’s great fun and the language is a joy to be immersed in.
November 1, 2022
This might be one of my all-time favorite Lovecraftian stories. It really rolls off the page smoothly, creepily, and with such otherworldly terror.
Not only does it capture that essence of an undescribable color and how it gets into the water and -- does things -- to the plants and animals on this farm, but Lovecraft outdid himself with writing simply pleasing pages and tight prose.
That color! That undescribable color!
Not only does it capture that essence of an undescribable color and how it gets into the water and -- does things -- to the plants and animals on this farm, but Lovecraft outdid himself with writing simply pleasing pages and tight prose.
That color! That undescribable color!
April 6, 2023
Una historia que combina de manera sublime los géneros de la ciencia ficción y el terror. Un meteorito cae en la granja de una familia común y corriente, quienes a partir de entonces empiezan a experimentar sucesos extraños y cada vez más inquietantes. Lovecraft, además, consiguió superar un problema recurrente en la ciencia ficción a la hora de representar extraterrestres: el antropomorfismo, la tendencia a representarlos con forma humanoide o muy similar a los humanos. Me hubiera gustado más con un estilo de prosa un poco distinto: casi todos los relatos de Lovecraft son narraciones de hechos que ocurrieron hace mucho tiempo, sin mucho diálogo, lo que no contribuye al dinamismo de la historia. Pero más allá de eso, un excelente relato y de lo que más me ha gustado hasta ahora del autor.
September 19, 2019
Pretty impressive!
This is one of the first science fiction / horror short stories where extra-terrestrial aliens are not depicted as 'green martians'. While most writers of that time had their aliens appear humanoid in both physical appreance and motivations, Lovecraft went an entirely new way by showing 'something' from outer space that cannot be described or even perceived by human eyes and whose motivations are as unclear as its origin.
The story is the account of a scout who visits Arkham to check out the location of a possible water reservoir that will drown an entire valley soon. Inspecting the dark woods of the valley, the man notices that something is strangely wrong. Especially when he finds a spot fearfully named 'the blasted heath' by the inhabitants, he realizes that there must be a reason why the valley is devoid of any population:
A blackened spot clears the wood there, covering the ground in soot and not allowing any growth there. The center of the odd space seems to be an abandoned well near the ruins of an old farm house.
Inspired to make further inquiries, the man meets the only person who still lives on the fringe of that dreadful valley: Ammi Pierce, who some 50 years ago witnessed a story so terrible that it shakes the narrator's sanity:
Nahum Gardner and his family lived on the ranch in the valley when one day a meteorite fell from the sky. Scientists and curious onlookers alike were amazed by the stone's weird physical attributes: It was spongy and soft and seemed to display a strange color/luminosity that nobody had ever seen before. Strangely the stone shrank over a few days until it disappeared.
Over the next year, strange things happened on the farm: Cattle grew sick, plants grew strong but were inedible and finally the vegetation seemed to glow in the dark.
But even more disturbing were the changes in the Gardner family witnessed by Ammi Pierce. While Nahum seemed to haveÌýa rock solid mind, his three sons and wife's sanities were wilting away, until things went so bad that Nahum locked up his frantic wife in the attic.
The family became isolated from the social life of the town and Ammi Pierce was their only outside contact.Ìý
And the more Ammi witnessed the decline of the valley, the more he was convinced that something lived in that well near the Gardner home. Weird lights could be seen there at night and the animals behaved oddly.Ìý
When Nahum desperately told Ammi that he thought the well has swallowed one of his sons, a series of terrible events set forth that left the valley a desolate waste that is only whispered about as 'the blasted heath'.
I absolutely loved the atmosphere in that short. By the end of it, I found myself clawing at my kindle, afraid of what I might find on the next page. This is EXACLTY what I love so much about Lovecraft's writing.
The concept of a nameless evil (although, can something be considered evil if men are simply unable to understand it?) that falls from the sky and feeds on organic matter has been used countless times in books and movies, but it seems this is one of the earliest stories that used this trope. It's also amazing to see an alien entity that is so unlike anything we know that it is not even possible to describe its appearance, as its color cannot be perceived by the human eye.Ìý
And just when you thought everything is right again by the end, Lovecraft throws in that final 'oh' moment when you realize that no, the danger is still lurking underneath the surface.
Amazing.Ìý
5 stars!
This is one of the first science fiction / horror short stories where extra-terrestrial aliens are not depicted as 'green martians'. While most writers of that time had their aliens appear humanoid in both physical appreance and motivations, Lovecraft went an entirely new way by showing 'something' from outer space that cannot be described or even perceived by human eyes and whose motivations are as unclear as its origin.
The story is the account of a scout who visits Arkham to check out the location of a possible water reservoir that will drown an entire valley soon. Inspecting the dark woods of the valley, the man notices that something is strangely wrong. Especially when he finds a spot fearfully named 'the blasted heath' by the inhabitants, he realizes that there must be a reason why the valley is devoid of any population:
A blackened spot clears the wood there, covering the ground in soot and not allowing any growth there. The center of the odd space seems to be an abandoned well near the ruins of an old farm house.
Inspired to make further inquiries, the man meets the only person who still lives on the fringe of that dreadful valley: Ammi Pierce, who some 50 years ago witnessed a story so terrible that it shakes the narrator's sanity:
Nahum Gardner and his family lived on the ranch in the valley when one day a meteorite fell from the sky. Scientists and curious onlookers alike were amazed by the stone's weird physical attributes: It was spongy and soft and seemed to display a strange color/luminosity that nobody had ever seen before. Strangely the stone shrank over a few days until it disappeared.
Over the next year, strange things happened on the farm: Cattle grew sick, plants grew strong but were inedible and finally the vegetation seemed to glow in the dark.
But even more disturbing were the changes in the Gardner family witnessed by Ammi Pierce. While Nahum seemed to haveÌýa rock solid mind, his three sons and wife's sanities were wilting away, until things went so bad that Nahum locked up his frantic wife in the attic.
The family became isolated from the social life of the town and Ammi Pierce was their only outside contact.Ìý
And the more Ammi witnessed the decline of the valley, the more he was convinced that something lived in that well near the Gardner home. Weird lights could be seen there at night and the animals behaved oddly.Ìý
When Nahum desperately told Ammi that he thought the well has swallowed one of his sons, a series of terrible events set forth that left the valley a desolate waste that is only whispered about as 'the blasted heath'.
I absolutely loved the atmosphere in that short. By the end of it, I found myself clawing at my kindle, afraid of what I might find on the next page. This is EXACLTY what I love so much about Lovecraft's writing.
The concept of a nameless evil (although, can something be considered evil if men are simply unable to understand it?) that falls from the sky and feeds on organic matter has been used countless times in books and movies, but it seems this is one of the earliest stories that used this trope. It's also amazing to see an alien entity that is so unlike anything we know that it is not even possible to describe its appearance, as its color cannot be perceived by the human eye.Ìý
And just when you thought everything is right again by the end, Lovecraft throws in that final 'oh' moment when you realize that no, the danger is still lurking underneath the surface.
Amazing.Ìý
5 stars!
November 3, 2018
HOST: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen and welcome to a new episode of
What were you thinking?
Our guest tonite is the late horror writer Howard Phillips Lovecraft, better known to most of us as (lowers voice) the Necormaniac. Please welcome with a big round of applause: H� P� (shouts) Lovecraft!
(indiscernible clapping from the audience, slight coughing, an indescribable form of silence as the writer enters the stage and sits down beside the host)
HOST: Welcome Mr. Lovecraft and thanks so much for being here with us tonight. I'm lost for words how you could make it from your grave and answer some questions.
HPL: You're welcome. Thanks for having me.
HOST: Mr. Lovecraft. Let me get straight to the point. In medias res. What were you thinking when you wrote "The Colour Out of Space"? I mean, you never actually mention it. But I'm sure many readers would very much like to know. So, what is it?
HPL: What's what?
HOST: The colour out of space. Surely you must have had some idea what it looks like.
HPL (his expression changes to something that no man has ever seen before): I'm not sure what you mean?
HOST: Can you give this space colour a name, or can you describe it to us in simple terms, in your own words?
HPL: In my own words? (coughs; wispers) In my own words. (clears his throat; louder) °Â±ð±ô±ôâ€�
HOST: Yes?
HPL: If I shall give it a name, I'd say (pause) I mean (pause) It's some kind of�
HOST: Yes?
HPL: Grey.
HOST: Grey? You mean the colour of space is just grey?
HPL: Yes. Grey. –ish. But not a pure grey. More like green-grey. Bordering on brownish. Some kind of brown-grey with green. A brown-green-grey.
HOST: Brown. Green. Grey.
HPL: Yes. And it also shows a bit of bluish. But the main thing is, it's grey.
HOST: Thank you.
HPL: Brown-grey.
HOST: Many thanks, Mr. Lovecraft.
HPL: It's a little reminiscent of red, too.
HOST: I think that's enou�
HPL: A brownish red. But overall grey.
HOST: Yes. yes.
HPL: A green-bluish brown-red-grey.
HOST (raises an arm, snaps with his fingers; two orderlies enter the stage): Thank you. Thank you so much. (shouts) H.P.Lovecraft, Ladies and Gentlemen.
HPL (mumbling): � some blots of yellowish-orange � but grey � yeah, grey. but not too greyish � more like �
(the oderlies carry the writer off stage... thunderous applause... curtain)
[apologies to Loriot for ]
This work is licensed under a .
(indiscernible clapping from the audience, slight coughing, an indescribable form of silence as the writer enters the stage and sits down beside the host)
HOST: Welcome Mr. Lovecraft and thanks so much for being here with us tonight. I'm lost for words how you could make it from your grave and answer some questions.
HPL: You're welcome. Thanks for having me.
HOST: Mr. Lovecraft. Let me get straight to the point. In medias res. What were you thinking when you wrote "The Colour Out of Space"? I mean, you never actually mention it. But I'm sure many readers would very much like to know. So, what is it?
HPL: What's what?
HOST: The colour out of space. Surely you must have had some idea what it looks like.
HPL (his expression changes to something that no man has ever seen before): I'm not sure what you mean?
HOST: Can you give this space colour a name, or can you describe it to us in simple terms, in your own words?
HPL: In my own words? (coughs; wispers) In my own words. (clears his throat; louder) °Â±ð±ô±ôâ€�
HOST: Yes?
HPL: If I shall give it a name, I'd say (pause) I mean (pause) It's some kind of�
HOST: Yes?
HPL: Grey.
HOST: Grey? You mean the colour of space is just grey?
HPL: Yes. Grey. –ish. But not a pure grey. More like green-grey. Bordering on brownish. Some kind of brown-grey with green. A brown-green-grey.
HOST: Brown. Green. Grey.
HPL: Yes. And it also shows a bit of bluish. But the main thing is, it's grey.
HOST: Thank you.
HPL: Brown-grey.
HOST: Many thanks, Mr. Lovecraft.
HPL: It's a little reminiscent of red, too.
HOST: I think that's enou�
HPL: A brownish red. But overall grey.
HOST: Yes. yes.
HPL: A green-bluish brown-red-grey.
HOST (raises an arm, snaps with his fingers; two orderlies enter the stage): Thank you. Thank you so much. (shouts) H.P.Lovecraft, Ladies and Gentlemen.
HPL (mumbling): � some blots of yellowish-orange � but grey � yeah, grey. but not too greyish � more like �
(the oderlies carry the writer off stage... thunderous applause... curtain)
[apologies to Loriot for ]
This work is licensed under a .
February 28, 2023
3 🌟 para El Color que Cayó del Cielo de H.P Lovecraft.
📖 Inesperadamente, esta historia es una de las que más me gustó entre todas aquellas que leà del autor en estos últimos años. Lovecraft, en mi caso, suele parecerme denso narrativamente ya que, aunque considero que crea atmosferas y tramas muy interesantes y creativas, en sus obras sobreabundan las descripciones contextuales y los monólogos internos y/o reflexiones del narrador o personaje de turno.
â—� Sin embargo, El Color que Cayó del Cielo es una historia que apunta más a los hechos paranormales que desencadena la caÃda de una especie de meteorito en un campo de Arkham, sin desviarse excesivamente de lo que le sucede concretamente a los personajes en pos de reflexiones o descripciones pesadas que no llevan a ninguna parte o que no inciden de manera directa en los eventos principales. Por esa razón, creo que es una de las obras más fáciles de digerir del autor y que más te mantienen enganchado de principio a fin. Sin dudas, la recomiendo a aquellos que quieren arrancar a leer algo de Lovecraft.
📖 Inesperadamente, esta historia es una de las que más me gustó entre todas aquellas que leà del autor en estos últimos años. Lovecraft, en mi caso, suele parecerme denso narrativamente ya que, aunque considero que crea atmosferas y tramas muy interesantes y creativas, en sus obras sobreabundan las descripciones contextuales y los monólogos internos y/o reflexiones del narrador o personaje de turno.
â—� Sin embargo, El Color que Cayó del Cielo es una historia que apunta más a los hechos paranormales que desencadena la caÃda de una especie de meteorito en un campo de Arkham, sin desviarse excesivamente de lo que le sucede concretamente a los personajes en pos de reflexiones o descripciones pesadas que no llevan a ninguna parte o que no inciden de manera directa en los eventos principales. Por esa razón, creo que es una de las obras más fáciles de digerir del autor y que más te mantienen enganchado de principio a fin. Sin dudas, la recomiendo a aquellos que quieren arrancar a leer algo de Lovecraft.
July 26, 2021
Narrativamente es impecable, tiene una gran atmósfera, y parece ser un muy buen punto de arranque para aquellos -como yo- que leen por primera vez a Lovecraft.
November 7, 2018
Eldritchity Guaranteed!!!
When I call H.P. Lovecraft a creator of horrors, I am doing so in a slightly different way from how most horror acolytes would probably apply this term to one of the figureheads of modern horror stories.
Because I mean it like this: Lovecraft is the uncontested master of saying most things at least twice, preferably using more than one paragraph per thing, and an endless torrent of formulaic language. But hang on: When I say “torrent�, I might be exaggerating because a torrent implies movement and dynamics, whereas the average sample of Lovecraftian prose tends to impress the reader through its verbal stagnancy. Lovecraft is also unparalleled in the frequency of his use of the adjective “eldritch�, which he employs as a stand-in for any other adjective someone else might have chosen � unless he calls a thing downright “unnameable�. However, a thing being unnameable does not save it from being ominously talked about by Lovecraft for an uncountable amount of pages. What Lovecraft rarely does, however, is have his characters talk to each other in real dialogues since this would clearly throw the monologomaniac narrator off his track and imbue his stories with too much life.
You might have noted by now that I am generally highly sceptical of Lovecraft, thinking him, simply and frankly, not too gifted a writer when it comes to actually putting his ideas into a captivating narration. Nevertheless, there are some Lovecraft stories that are quite good, and unless you read more than one or two of these stories a year, you will probably be able to maintain your capacity of enjoying the author. The Colour out of Space is, to my taste, one of these stories because it is an odd mixture of horror and science fiction, confronting the reader, as well as the narrator and the man from whom he gets his information, with a novel sort of threat, namely a diffuse power from out of space that takes the form of a colour and exerts an unwholesome, paralyzing and draining influence on anything that lives in its surroundings. Although the tale is not completely free from redundancies, the rather sober style helps give it the quality of an eyewitness’s account (or that of a narrator who summarizes his interview with an eyewitness), thereby increasing it eeriness. For all that, we never know how far we can trust the narrator after all. Another thing that makes The Colour out of Space a very intriguing read is the fact that it is not concerned with a run-of-the-mill ghost or vampire � oh, how those vampires have started to suck over the past few years!!! � but that it features a more undefined, shapeless horror, something that seems to contaminate its environment with its poison. The way the gradual change of the “blasted heath� and the farmers living next to it is depicted might give rise to the conjecture that Lovecraft was writing about radioactivity, and a little research actually brings out that Lovecraft might have been influenced by the case of the so-called Radium Girls (quite a flippant sobriquet for such a serious phenomenon), i.e. factory workers who suffered from radiation poisoning after painting watch-dials with luminous paint.
All in all, The Colour out of Space is quite a good start for anyone interested in reading Lovecraft, but don’t think that all his stories are of this quality.
When I call H.P. Lovecraft a creator of horrors, I am doing so in a slightly different way from how most horror acolytes would probably apply this term to one of the figureheads of modern horror stories.
Because I mean it like this: Lovecraft is the uncontested master of saying most things at least twice, preferably using more than one paragraph per thing, and an endless torrent of formulaic language. But hang on: When I say “torrent�, I might be exaggerating because a torrent implies movement and dynamics, whereas the average sample of Lovecraftian prose tends to impress the reader through its verbal stagnancy. Lovecraft is also unparalleled in the frequency of his use of the adjective “eldritch�, which he employs as a stand-in for any other adjective someone else might have chosen � unless he calls a thing downright “unnameable�. However, a thing being unnameable does not save it from being ominously talked about by Lovecraft for an uncountable amount of pages. What Lovecraft rarely does, however, is have his characters talk to each other in real dialogues since this would clearly throw the monologomaniac narrator off his track and imbue his stories with too much life.
You might have noted by now that I am generally highly sceptical of Lovecraft, thinking him, simply and frankly, not too gifted a writer when it comes to actually putting his ideas into a captivating narration. Nevertheless, there are some Lovecraft stories that are quite good, and unless you read more than one or two of these stories a year, you will probably be able to maintain your capacity of enjoying the author. The Colour out of Space is, to my taste, one of these stories because it is an odd mixture of horror and science fiction, confronting the reader, as well as the narrator and the man from whom he gets his information, with a novel sort of threat, namely a diffuse power from out of space that takes the form of a colour and exerts an unwholesome, paralyzing and draining influence on anything that lives in its surroundings. Although the tale is not completely free from redundancies, the rather sober style helps give it the quality of an eyewitness’s account (or that of a narrator who summarizes his interview with an eyewitness), thereby increasing it eeriness. For all that, we never know how far we can trust the narrator after all. Another thing that makes The Colour out of Space a very intriguing read is the fact that it is not concerned with a run-of-the-mill ghost or vampire � oh, how those vampires have started to suck over the past few years!!! � but that it features a more undefined, shapeless horror, something that seems to contaminate its environment with its poison. The way the gradual change of the “blasted heath� and the farmers living next to it is depicted might give rise to the conjecture that Lovecraft was writing about radioactivity, and a little research actually brings out that Lovecraft might have been influenced by the case of the so-called Radium Girls (quite a flippant sobriquet for such a serious phenomenon), i.e. factory workers who suffered from radiation poisoning after painting watch-dials with luminous paint.
All in all, The Colour out of Space is quite a good start for anyone interested in reading Lovecraft, but don’t think that all his stories are of this quality.
April 5, 2018
I can see why this is Lovecraft's favorite. The way he described the decay of the land and the slow shift to madness was so well written!
April 15, 2019
Me cagué
November 3, 2018
Eine Chance wollte ich Lovecraft noch geben. Es wird die letzte gewesen sein.
Wie kann jemand, der sich über das Schreiben anderer Horror-Autoren so dermaßen herablassend geäußert hat, es wagen, selbst so schlecht zu schreiben? Ich weiß nicht, wie oft ich in dieser Geschichte, das Wort „unbeschreiblich� lesen musste, was Lovecraft nutzt, um dann wirklich nichts zu beschreiben. Die Deformationen der Pflanzen, die ungewöhnlichen Bewegungen der Tiere, der Geruch, die Art der titelgebenden Farbe � nichts füllt der Autor mit etwas mehr Informationen und Atmosphäre. Sogar der Tod einer Figur wird mit „nicht in Worte zu fassen� abgetan.
Wenn dann mal Adjektive zur Beschreibung eingesetzt werden, sind sie abgedroschen, zu dick aufgetragen.
Wie konnte es passieren, dass Lovecraft vielen als bester Horror-Autor des 20. Jahrhunderts gilt?
Wie kann jemand, der sich über das Schreiben anderer Horror-Autoren so dermaßen herablassend geäußert hat, es wagen, selbst so schlecht zu schreiben? Ich weiß nicht, wie oft ich in dieser Geschichte, das Wort „unbeschreiblich� lesen musste, was Lovecraft nutzt, um dann wirklich nichts zu beschreiben. Die Deformationen der Pflanzen, die ungewöhnlichen Bewegungen der Tiere, der Geruch, die Art der titelgebenden Farbe � nichts füllt der Autor mit etwas mehr Informationen und Atmosphäre. Sogar der Tod einer Figur wird mit „nicht in Worte zu fassen� abgetan.
Wenn dann mal Adjektive zur Beschreibung eingesetzt werden, sind sie abgedroschen, zu dick aufgetragen.
Wie konnte es passieren, dass Lovecraft vielen als bester Horror-Autor des 20. Jahrhunderts gilt?
October 6, 2021
Best read alone at night.
...and be sure to not pay any attention to the glow from the street outside or if there is perhaps a slight distaste to your water...
...and be sure to not pay any attention to the glow from the street outside or if there is perhaps a slight distaste to your water...
November 21, 2014
4.5
I loved .
A surveyor comes to the valley near Arkham to check the land for the new reservoir. People in Arkham tell him that the place is evil. At first he thinks it is just plain old superstition. Nothing grows there. After he sees it though he 'marvelled no more at the frightened whispers of Arkham people'.
And that's even before he finds someone to tell him the whole story about what happened in the past when a whole 'family had disappeared or was killed'. He is very curious to find out what the phrase 'strange days' mean. He soon realizes that the horrible thing in the old days happened in 'the lifetime of those who spoke' and after too many warnings not to listen to Ammi Pierce's crazy stories, he decides to talk to Ammi.
After he finds out what actually happened, the surveyor quits his job praying that the water would destroy anything that might be in that valley.
The first part of the story is told in the first person. Ammi's story is in the third.
I loved .
A surveyor comes to the valley near Arkham to check the land for the new reservoir. People in Arkham tell him that the place is evil. At first he thinks it is just plain old superstition. Nothing grows there. After he sees it though he 'marvelled no more at the frightened whispers of Arkham people'.
And that's even before he finds someone to tell him the whole story about what happened in the past when a whole 'family had disappeared or was killed'. He is very curious to find out what the phrase 'strange days' mean. He soon realizes that the horrible thing in the old days happened in 'the lifetime of those who spoke' and after too many warnings not to listen to Ammi Pierce's crazy stories, he decides to talk to Ammi.
After he finds out what actually happened, the surveyor quits his job praying that the water would destroy anything that might be in that valley.
The first part of the story is told in the first person. Ammi's story is in the third.
December 5, 2020
One of the most frightening of Lovecraft's works (it even gave me a nightmare the night I finished it!). Rejecting humanoid monsters, Lovecraft instead conjured up beasts beyond human comprehension. In this bit of cosmic horror, he tells the tale of the "blasted heath" - the colorless wasteland left after a visit from some incomprehensible, extraterrestrial horror.
“It was just a colour out of space—a frightful 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.�
Worth the read for fans of horror and classic literature.
“It was just a colour out of space—a frightful 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.�
Worth the read for fans of horror and classic literature.
October 20, 2020
This is a nice short story by Lovecraft which is quite horrifying as it describes a farm and family in decline.
There was a movie made of this recently starring Nic Cage (2019) which brings this story to... horrifying life. Seriously, while the horrors in the book are more hinted at, the movie brings these horrors to lurid imagery, including what happens to the mother and youngest child, and the alpacas on the farm - definite nightmare fuel if body horror makes you squirm.
Both story and movie are highly recommended.
There was a movie made of this recently starring Nic Cage (2019) which brings this story to... horrifying life. Seriously, while the horrors in the book are more hinted at, the movie brings these horrors to lurid imagery, including what happens to the mother and youngest child, and the alpacas on the farm - definite nightmare fuel if body horror makes you squirm.
Both story and movie are highly recommended.
September 20, 2021
4.5
Fua el Howard.
(No voy a borrar el comentario que hice ni bien lo terminé porque me da mucha gracia que mi °ù±ð²õ±ðñ²¹ más likeada sea por un meme, gracias por tanto)
_____________________________________________
Tengo que recordarme a mà misma de no dejar pasar tanto el tiempo entre mis lecturas y las °ù±ð²õ±ðñ²¹s, porque sinceramente no recuerdo lo mismo que cuando lo terminé de leer, asà que probablemente esta °ù±ð²õ±ðñ²¹ no va a ser lo más completo del mundo, pero se hace lo que se puede.
Como siempre, con Lovecraft tengo esa relación en la que a veces nos amamos y a veces nos odiamos. Por suerte, con este relato la reacción fue la primera y no la segunda, y eso se debe a que a diferencia de "El ceremonial" -relato que me gustó muy poquito-, acá el terror viene de lo desconocido y no de figuras alienÃgenas como tal.
El terror de El color que cayó del cielo tiene más que ver con eso que no podemos apuntar con el dedo, pero que sabemos que está ahÃ, y a mi parecer ese miedo hacia lo desconocido es muchÃsimo más efectivo que el miedo de un "hombre cocodrilo" (no lo voy a superar nunca, perdón El Ceremonial, igual te queremos).
Lovecraft siempre se supera a sà mismo en lo que respecta a la ambientación en sus historias, y acá no decepciona. La historia empieza con un narrador sin nombre que comienza a investigar una granja escondida entre el bosque ubicada en Arkham, ciudad ficticia normal en los relatos del autor. AllÃ, uno de los antiguos pobladores, Ammi Pierce comienza a relatarle los extraños sucesos que se dieron no hace mucho tiempo -como cree nuestro narrador-, sino que es una leyenda reciente, lo que suscita incluso más horror ya que no se trata de un imaginario colectivo, sino que entre quienes siguen vivos en la historia, hubo gente presente.
Todo comienza cuando una mañana, un objeto espacial cae en el patio de la granja de los Gardner. Con el paso de los dÃas, las plantas comienzan a cambiar, los animales ya no se comportan de la misma forma, y entre la familia, ni los hijos ni los adultos vuelven a ser los mismos.
Como se da a entender con el tÃtulo, Lovecraft juega mucho con la percepción de los colores, mostrándonos su clásica visión en la que la vida alienÃgena no es algo que podamos concebir en nuestras cabezas, por lo que el cerebro intenta transformar esas señales en cosas conocidas para nosotros, en este caso, los colores.
Esto me recordó mucho a relatos como El Horla de Maupassant y La cosa maldita de Bierce, donde se plantea la incapacidad del ser humano para ver en totalidad el mundo en el que vivimos y por lo tanto, lo impotente que somos frente a cosas mucho más antiguas que nosotros mismos.
Como dije al principio, no es la °ù±ð²õ±ðñ²¹ más completa que he hecho y me molesta porque realmente es un relato que me encantó, por lo que me habrÃa gustado traer algo más completo, pero puedo decir que fue una historia que me tuvo al borde constantemente, y una vez que la empezás es imposible soltarla. La narración es fluida pero siempre con la caracterÃstica usual de Lovecraft, muy descriptiva, pero en este caso es totalmente acorde y juega un papel perfecto.
Aprovecho para recomendar también , que a pesar de las crÃticas, me pareció una pelÃcula bastante fiel al contenido y que se disfruta mucho para ver después de terminar el relato.
Fua el Howard.
(No voy a borrar el comentario que hice ni bien lo terminé porque me da mucha gracia que mi °ù±ð²õ±ðñ²¹ más likeada sea por un meme, gracias por tanto)
_____________________________________________
Tengo que recordarme a mà misma de no dejar pasar tanto el tiempo entre mis lecturas y las °ù±ð²õ±ðñ²¹s, porque sinceramente no recuerdo lo mismo que cuando lo terminé de leer, asà que probablemente esta °ù±ð²õ±ðñ²¹ no va a ser lo más completo del mundo, pero se hace lo que se puede.
Como siempre, con Lovecraft tengo esa relación en la que a veces nos amamos y a veces nos odiamos. Por suerte, con este relato la reacción fue la primera y no la segunda, y eso se debe a que a diferencia de "El ceremonial" -relato que me gustó muy poquito-, acá el terror viene de lo desconocido y no de figuras alienÃgenas como tal.
El terror de El color que cayó del cielo tiene más que ver con eso que no podemos apuntar con el dedo, pero que sabemos que está ahÃ, y a mi parecer ese miedo hacia lo desconocido es muchÃsimo más efectivo que el miedo de un "hombre cocodrilo" (no lo voy a superar nunca, perdón El Ceremonial, igual te queremos).
Lovecraft siempre se supera a sà mismo en lo que respecta a la ambientación en sus historias, y acá no decepciona. La historia empieza con un narrador sin nombre que comienza a investigar una granja escondida entre el bosque ubicada en Arkham, ciudad ficticia normal en los relatos del autor. AllÃ, uno de los antiguos pobladores, Ammi Pierce comienza a relatarle los extraños sucesos que se dieron no hace mucho tiempo -como cree nuestro narrador-, sino que es una leyenda reciente, lo que suscita incluso más horror ya que no se trata de un imaginario colectivo, sino que entre quienes siguen vivos en la historia, hubo gente presente.
Todo comienza cuando una mañana, un objeto espacial cae en el patio de la granja de los Gardner. Con el paso de los dÃas, las plantas comienzan a cambiar, los animales ya no se comportan de la misma forma, y entre la familia, ni los hijos ni los adultos vuelven a ser los mismos.
Como se da a entender con el tÃtulo, Lovecraft juega mucho con la percepción de los colores, mostrándonos su clásica visión en la que la vida alienÃgena no es algo que podamos concebir en nuestras cabezas, por lo que el cerebro intenta transformar esas señales en cosas conocidas para nosotros, en este caso, los colores.
Esto me recordó mucho a relatos como El Horla de Maupassant y La cosa maldita de Bierce, donde se plantea la incapacidad del ser humano para ver en totalidad el mundo en el que vivimos y por lo tanto, lo impotente que somos frente a cosas mucho más antiguas que nosotros mismos.
Como dije al principio, no es la °ù±ð²õ±ðñ²¹ más completa que he hecho y me molesta porque realmente es un relato que me encantó, por lo que me habrÃa gustado traer algo más completo, pero puedo decir que fue una historia que me tuvo al borde constantemente, y una vez que la empezás es imposible soltarla. La narración es fluida pero siempre con la caracterÃstica usual de Lovecraft, muy descriptiva, pero en este caso es totalmente acorde y juega un papel perfecto.
Aprovecho para recomendar también , que a pesar de las crÃticas, me pareció una pelÃcula bastante fiel al contenido y que se disfruta mucho para ver después de terminar el relato.
May 30, 2020
Un relato donde el autor consigue una fusión entre misterio, ciencia ficción y terror donde los hechos son narrados de tal forma, que por un momento me pareció estar recreando un episodio de los Expedientes Secretos X.
May 23, 2020
Horror par excellence as a very special meteor hits the farm next door.
March 8, 2023
La novela con que más miedo pasé en mi vida. Era una crÃa y no habÃa nadie en casa. Mi hermano lo habÃa leÃdo y lo habÃa dejado por ahà tirado. Asà que me fui a leerlo al fondo.
Y pasé tanto miedo que no me pude mover de donde estaba sentada. Ahà petrificada sin atreverme ni a girar la cabeza.
Madre del amor hermoso, qué miedo pasé!. No volvà a estar asà de aterrorizada jamás. Hasta que empezó a llegar gente y todo se llenó de los ruidos normales, no me pude ni mover. Ahà me quedé tiesa pegada al libro.
Y pasé tanto miedo que no me pude mover de donde estaba sentada. Ahà petrificada sin atreverme ni a girar la cabeza.
Madre del amor hermoso, qué miedo pasé!. No volvà a estar asà de aterrorizada jamás. Hasta que empezó a llegar gente y todo se llenó de los ruidos normales, no me pude ni mover. Ahà me quedé tiesa pegada al libro.
November 9, 2020
Este relato fue uno de los primeros que leà de Lovecraft. Creo que es uno de los más conocidos debido a su corta extensión, a su limitada relación con los mitos (tan sólo comparte con estos los temas y la aparición de Arkham y la Universidad de Miskatonic) y recientemente a su adaptación a la gran pantalla.
La historia trata sobre un ingeniero que va a realizar un estudio del terreno sobre el que se va a construir un embalse. Al hablar con los residentes de la zona, y en concreto con el viejo Ammi Pierce, descubre la verdad que hay detrás del "Erial maldito" (como se conoce a la zona donde se construirá el embalse) donde hace décadas cayó un meteorito que trajo consigo un color que no se corresponde con el espectro visible conocido por los humanos. A lo largo del relato se nos va contando cómo, desde la caÃda del meteorito, la familia que vivÃa en lo que hoy conocemos como "Erial maldito" sufre las consecuencias del extraño fenómeno que ni los estudiosos de la Universidad de Miskatonic pueden explicar.
La idea del relato me gusta mucho y me parece muy original, pero la historia está contada de una forma que, al menos bajo mi punto de vista, no se hace amena (incluso para los estándares de Lovecraft), además de que la falta de relevancia del relato en el conjunto de mitos hace que palidezca frente a otras obras del autor. No obstante, es un buen punto de partida para comenzar a leer a Lovecraft.
La historia trata sobre un ingeniero que va a realizar un estudio del terreno sobre el que se va a construir un embalse. Al hablar con los residentes de la zona, y en concreto con el viejo Ammi Pierce, descubre la verdad que hay detrás del "Erial maldito" (como se conoce a la zona donde se construirá el embalse) donde hace décadas cayó un meteorito que trajo consigo un color que no se corresponde con el espectro visible conocido por los humanos. A lo largo del relato se nos va contando cómo, desde la caÃda del meteorito, la familia que vivÃa en lo que hoy conocemos como "Erial maldito" sufre las consecuencias del extraño fenómeno que ni los estudiosos de la Universidad de Miskatonic pueden explicar.
La idea del relato me gusta mucho y me parece muy original, pero la historia está contada de una forma que, al menos bajo mi punto de vista, no se hace amena (incluso para los estándares de Lovecraft), además de que la falta de relevancia del relato en el conjunto de mitos hace que palidezca frente a otras obras del autor. No obstante, es un buen punto de partida para comenzar a leer a Lovecraft.
February 23, 2019
Nuevamente Lovecraft nos lleva a su ciudad imaginaria favorita Arkham y nos envuelve en una tensa trama de terror con su caracterÃstica narrativa. En este relato, mezclado con la Ciencia Ficción logra que quieras salir despavorido junto a los habitantes de esta ciudad. Me declaro fan de este autor y me encantan todos sus cuentos y relatos! Seguiré por más.
May 8, 2018
Relato corto esencialÃsimo de Lovecraft. No recomendable su lectura a altas horas de la noche o en ambientes solitarios y siniestros. Lo digo por experiencia.
#AllHailLovecraft
#AllHailLovecraft
November 3, 2019
Si crees que puede haber vida en otros planetas este relato te pondrá los pelos de punta. Buena lectura para Halloween.
September 29, 2022
Un ingeniero llega a Arkham y descubre que unos de los terrenos hay cosas raras o que le da mala pinta, baja hacÃa el pueblo para tener alguna información pero nadie le dice nada, asà que decide a visitar el vecino más próximo de dicho lugar maldito, ahà encontrará al pobre viejo Ammi Pierce y que le contará el origen y lo que vivió la familia que estaba asentada en esa desgracia.
Curiosamente siempre está el personaje que nunca va hacer nada y le importa un comino todo lo que pasa, este es “Nahumâ€�, el desgraciado. Y que, efectivamente, Lovecraft con una buena maestrÃa te da un nudo en el estómago por el miedo que ejerce un relato tan corto.
Este, técnicamente, es lo primero que leo de su puño y letra —a pesar que con anterioridad solo leà dos ensayos, también, hechos por él�.
Curiosamente siempre está el personaje que nunca va hacer nada y le importa un comino todo lo que pasa, este es “Nahumâ€�, el desgraciado. Y que, efectivamente, Lovecraft con una buena maestrÃa te da un nudo en el estómago por el miedo que ejerce un relato tan corto.
Este, técnicamente, es lo primero que leo de su puño y letra —a pesar que con anterioridad solo leà dos ensayos, también, hechos por él�.
December 5, 2018
4.5 stars.
este ha sido uno de los cuentos que más me ha gustado de Lovecraft. sencillo y corto, pero con una narración envolvente que te hace imaginar toda la situación hasta el último minuto, y provocándote quizás no terror, pero que sà te dejarÃa un tanto prturbado (tal vez un poco como Ammy). de pronto encontrarte con que todas las cosas se ponen grisáceas y quebradizas, que la gente va desapareciendo o cambian por completo... me produjo un poco de miedo el imaginar cada detalle, y más porque no sabes exactamente lo que era. un cuento muy recomendable.
este ha sido uno de los cuentos que más me ha gustado de Lovecraft. sencillo y corto, pero con una narración envolvente que te hace imaginar toda la situación hasta el último minuto, y provocándote quizás no terror, pero que sà te dejarÃa un tanto prturbado (tal vez un poco como Ammy). de pronto encontrarte con que todas las cosas se ponen grisáceas y quebradizas, que la gente va desapareciendo o cambian por completo... me produjo un poco de miedo el imaginar cada detalle, y más porque no sabes exactamente lo que era. un cuento muy recomendable.
June 1, 2020
I really enjoyed it. It's far more unsettling than a story about a mystery color has any right to be. It's also better than some of Lovecraft's earlier work, and more characteristic of the style he's known for.
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