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object:1f.lovecraft - H.P. Lovecrafts
author class:H P Lovecraft
subject class:Fiction
genre class:Horror
class:chapter

“The Thing in the Moonlight”
“The Thing in the Moonlight” is based on a letter that Lovecraft wrote
to Donald Wandrei on 24 November 1927. The story surrounding
Lovecraft’s description of his dream was written by J. Chapman Miske
and published in the January 1941 issue of Bizarre.
Letter to Donald Wandrei
“The Thing in the Moonlight”
My dreams occasionally approach’d the phantastical in character, tho’
falling somewhat short of coherence. One scene is especially stamp’d
upon my recollection—that of a dank, fœtid, reed-choak’d marsh under a
grey autumn sky, with a rugged cliff of lichen-crusted stone rising to
the north. Impell’d by some obscure quest, I ascended a rift or cleft
in this beetling precipice, noting as I did so the black mouths of many
fearsome burrows extending from both walls into the depths of the stony
plateau.
Morgan is not a literary man; in fact he cannot speak English with any
degree of coherency. That is what makes me wonder about the words he
wrote, though others have laughed.
He was alone the evening it happened. Suddenly an unconquerable urge to
write came over him, and taking pen in hand he wrote the following:
My name is Howard Phillips. I live at 66 College Street, in Providence,
Rhode Island. On November 24, 1927—for I know not even what the year
may be now—, I fell asleep and dreamed, since when I have been unable
to awaken.
My dream began in a dank, reed-choked marsh that lay under a gray
autumn sky, with a rugged cliff of lichen-crusted stone rising to the
north. Impelled by some obscure quest, I ascended a rift or cleft in
this beetling precipice, noting as I did so the black mouths of many
fearsome burrows extending from both walls into the depths of the stony
plateau.
At several points the passage was roof’d over by the choaking of the
upper parts of the narrow fissure; these places being exceedingly dark,
& forbidding the perception of such burrows as may have existed there.
In one such dark space I felt conscious of a singular accession of
fright, as if some subtile & bodiless emanation from the abyss were
ingulphing my spirit; but the blackness was too great for me to
perceive the source of my alarm.
At several points the passage was roofed over by the choking of the
upper parts of the narrow fissure; these places being exceeding dark,
and forbidding the perception of such burrows as may have existed
there. In one such dark space I felt conscious of a singular accession
of fright, as if some subtle and bodiless emanation from the abyss were
engulfing my spirit; but the blackness was too great for me to perceive
the source of my alarm.
At length I emerg’d upon a table-land of moss-grown rock & scanty soil,
lit up by a faint moonlight which had replac’d the expiring orb of day.
Casting my eyes about, I beheld no living object; but was sensible of a
very peculiar stirring far below me, amongst the whispering rushes of
the pestilential swamp I had lately quitted.
At length I emerged upon a tableland of moss-grown rock and scanty
soil, lit by a faint moonlight which had replaced the expiring orb of
day. Casting my eyes about, I beheld no living object; but was sensible
of a very peculiar stirring far below me, amongst the whispering rushes
of the pestilential swamp I had lately quitted.
After walking for some distance, I encounter’d the rusty tracks of a
street-railway, & the worm-eaten poles which still held the limp &
sagging trolley wire. Following this line, I soon came upon a yellow,
vestibuled car numbered 1852—of a plain, double-trucked type common
from 1900 to 1910. It was untenanted, but evidently ready to start; the
trolley being on the wire & the air-brake pump now and then throbbing
beneath the floor. I boarded it & looked vainly about for the light
switch—noting as I did so the absence of controller handle which
implied the brief absence of the motorman. Then I sat down in one of
the cross seats toward the middle, awaiting the arrival of the crew &
the starting of the vehicle. Presently I heard a swishing in the sparce
grass toward the left, & saw the dark forms of two men looming up in
the moonlight. They had the regulation caps of a railway company, & I
could not doubt but that they were the conductor & motorman. Then one
of them sniffed with singular sharpness, & raised his face to howl to
the moon. The other dropped on all fours to run toward the car.
After walking for some distance, I encountered the rusty tracks of a
street railway, and the worm-eaten poles which still held the limp and
sagging trolley wire. Following this line, I soon came upon a yellow,
vestibuled car numbered 1852—of a plain, double-trucked type common
from 1900 to 1910. It was untenanted, but evidently ready to start; the
trolley being on the wire and the air-brake now and then throbbing
beneath the floor. I boarded it and looked vainly about for the light
switch—noting as I did so the absence of the controller handle, which
thus implied the brief absence of the motorman. Then I sat down in one
of the cross seats of the vehicle. Presently I heard a swishing in the
sparse grass toward the left, and saw the dark forms of two men looming
up in the moonlight. They had the regulation caps of a railway company,
and I could not doubt but that they were conductor and motorman. Then
one of them sniffed with singular sharpness, and raised his face to
howl to the moon. The other dropped on all fours to run toward the car.
I leaped up at once & raced madly out of that car & away across endless
leagues of plateau till exhaustion waked me—doing this not because the
conductor had dropped on all fours, but because the face of the
motorman was a mere white cone tapering to one blood-red
tentacle. . . .
I leaped up at once and raced madly out of that car and across endless
leagues of plateau till exhaustion forced me to stop—doing this not
because the conductor had dropped on all fours, but because the face of
the motorman was a mere white cone tapering to one
blood-red-tentacle. . . .
I was aware that I only dreamed, but the very awareness was not
pleasant.
Since that fearful night, I have prayed only for awakening—it has not
come!
Instead I have found myself an inhabitant of this terrible dream-world!
That first night gave way to dawn, and I wandered aimlessly over the
lonely swamp-lands. When night came, I still wandered, hoping for
awakening. But suddenly I parted the weeds and saw before me the
ancient railway car—and to one side a cone-faced thing lifted its head
and in the streaming moonlight howled strangely!
It has been the same each day. Night takes me always to that place of
horror. I have tried not moving, with the coming of nightfall, but I
must walk in my slumber, for always I awaken with the thing of dread
howling before me in the pale moonlight, and I turn and flee madly.
God! when will I awaken?
That is what Morgan wrote. I would go to 66 College Street in
Providence, but I fear for what I might find there.
Return to “The Thing in the Moonlight”


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