The Snout: amazing short story

[ScS of the Fraternity]

Hi everyone,

I just recently finished reading a fantastically creepy short story called The Snout http://www.donaldcorrell.com/road/white/lukundo.html#c4
I learned about this tale from the guys at HPPodcraft.com, the worlds foremost podcast about H.P. Lovecraft.
While it is not explicitly supernatural, it definitely has some lead-ins to the cosmic horrors beyond nature. In fact, the very last scene at the end harkens back to the terror of the Great Old Ones, their terrible elemental shapes, and the horrible things they bequeath upon mankind.

Has anyone else read it?

[High Priest Mikhal]

Hi everyone,

I just recently finished reading a fantastically creepy short story called The Snout http://www.donaldcorrell.com/road/white/lukundo.html#c4
I learned about this tale from the guys at HPPodcraft.com, the worlds foremost podcast about H.P. Lovecraft.
While it is not explicitly supernatural, it definitely has some lead-ins to the cosmic horrors beyond nature. In fact, the very last scene at the end harkens back to the terror of the Great Old Ones, their terrible elemental shapes, and the horrible things they bequeath upon mankind.

Has anyone else read it?

I'm not sure if I have, but then I haven't finished reading all the books of H. P. Lovecraft's works in my personal library. Also as a note, the idea of the Great Old Ones being tied to the elements isn't Lovecraft's idea. That was introduced by later author August Derleth and are considered non-canon by purists.

One short story I do remember is one about a mortician who forces the body of a spiteful old man into a coffin a few inches too short by cutting off his feet. When the mortician is trapped in the mausoleum after an accident, his own ankle is bitten into by the corpse of the old man when it falls out of its coffin in a stack. Nearly bitten clean off, the doctor says at the end.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

I dunno... it didn't work for me. I got bored and started skimming, and then by the time it got somewhat interesting, it was over, and I was left with a "huh?" Sorry, not for me, I guess.

[ScS of the Fraternity]

You are correct Mikhal, the old Ones are not "elemental" in the terms of the four classical elements, which is as you said a less than popular concoction of Derleth. I meant it more as a force of nature.

Also, the story does have a long build up, and a short pay off, but it does have a fairly sweet middle section:

VIEW CONTENT:

The first section of the story reveals too much of the story. The narrator's reaction to the thing in the cage, coupled with the oddly specific rantings of the drunken servants make everything far too obvious. I find that the long descriptions of the sumptuous manor actually builds a sense of corruption and profound wrongness.
The very existence of Eversleigh suggests a suspension, if not a corruption, of natural law. But the real horror of the story is all in the art works. The deranged vision of Eversleigh brings all of it to roost. If a freak like him can exist, why not also his hideous visions?

[High Priest Mikhal]

You are correct Mikhal, the old Ones are not "elemental" in the terms of the four classical elements, which is as you said a less than popular concoction of Derleth. I meant it more as a force of nature.

Ah, that makes more sense. Humans as less significant than specks of dust. I used to find that idea disturbing but now I take a cold, detached comfort in it. Is it a bad sign that I find humans, myself included, little better than germs in the greater scheme of existence?

[ScS of the Fraternity]

Hardly bad at all.
But don't discount humanity! We are critical vectors of bacteria, fungi, and even viruses. Our civilization is responsible for the spread and diversity of these most noble forms of life.
In fact, at the heart of nearly every human cell is a mitochondia bacteria which depends upon its human host to survive and spread.
So in the end, we really do matter.
Ia Cthulhu!

[High Priest Mikhal]

Hardly bad at all.
But don't discount humanity! We are critical vectors of bacteria, fungi, and even viruses. Our civilization is responsible for the spread and diversity of these most noble forms of life.
In fact, at the heart of nearly every human cell is a mitochondia bacteria which depends upon its human host to survive and spread.
So in the end, we really do matter.
Ia Cthulhu!

Phew! I was afraid all this time away from other people had me going strange(r).