Out of the Aeons

Out of the Aeons

"Out of the Aeons" is a short story by H. P. Lovecraft and Hazel Heald. It focuses around a Boston museum that has found an ancient mummy from a past-sunken island to be put on display.

Contents

Plot summary

The story is told from the point of view of the curator of the Cabot Museum in Boston. In 1879, a freighter captain sighted an uncharted island, presumably risen from its sunken state due to volcanic activity. From it, they recover both a strange mummy and a metal cylinder with a scroll with it. A year later, the mummy is put on display in the museum, though the island once again vanishes without a trace.

Over the years, the mummy garners a reputation as a possible link to an ancient tale from the Black Book by von Juntz of a man named T'yog, who challenged Ghatanothoa, one of the gods of Yuggoth, using the power of a magical scroll. In his sleep, however, one of the cultists stole the true magical scroll and replaced it with a fake one, and T'yog was never seen again. When the possible link to the Black Book and T'yog reaches the general public, the narrator begins to notice more and more suspicious foreigners coming to the museum.

Soon, several incidents occur when suspicious foreigners attempt to steal the mummy itself. These incidents come to a head when two men die as the mummy seemingly springs to life, opening its eyes before them and revealing the last images imprinted upon its eyes, the approaching form of Ghatanothoa. Though the curator does not know at the time what he has seen, it shakes him horribly and he orders an opening of the mummy's braincase, to dispel once and for all the notion of the Existence of the petrified high priest. As the braincase is opened, the curator and all present are shocked and horrified: The mummy's brain is still alive. With this revelation, the reader comes to understand that the mummy is actually the living-yet-petrified and still aware remains of T'yog.

Media Adaptations

Robert Bloch wrote a screen adaptation of the story for the 1971 TV series Night Gallery; however, it was unproduced. Bloch wrote the teleplay but it was never filmed; it was rewritten by Alvin T. Sapinsley, filmed, and broadcast as "Last Rites of a Dead Druid." Sapinsley's screenplay bore little or no relation to the original Lovecraft tale which Bloch had adapted.

Connections

  • The first curator of the Cabot Museum was named "Pickman", sharing a name with the titular character of Lovecraft's "Pickman's Model".

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • The Horror in the Museum and Other Revisions — Infobox Book name = The Horror in the Museum and Other Revisions title orig = translator = image caption = Dust jacket illustration by Gahan Wilson for The Horror in the Museum and Other Revisions author = H. P. Lovecraft illustrator = cover… …   Wikipedia

  • The Blessed Trinity —     The Blessed Trinity     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► The Blessed Trinity     This article is divided as follows:          I. Dogma of the Trinity;     II. Proof of the Doctrine from Scripture;     III. Proof of the Doctrine from Tradition;… …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • The Call of Cthulhu — Infobox short story | name = The Call of Cthulhu author = H. P. Lovecraft country = United States language = English genre = Horror short story published in = Weird Tales publisher = media type = Novel pub date = February, 1928: For the 2005 film …   Wikipedia

  • The Nameless City — Author H. P. Lovecraft Country United States Language English Genre(s) Horror short story …   Wikipedia

  • The Guide for the Perplexed — This article is about the 12th century book by Maimonides. For the 1977 book by E.F. Schumacher, see A Guide for the Perplexed. For the 2001 novel by Gilad Atzmon, see A Guide to the Perplexed. The title page of The Guide for the Perplexed The… …   Wikipedia

  • The Night's Dawn Trilogy — British author Peter F. Hamilton s The Night s Dawn Trilogy consists of three science fiction novels: The Reality Dysfunction (1996), The Neutronium Alchemist (1997), and The Naked God (1999). A collection of short stories, A Second Chance at… …   Wikipedia

  • The Reality Dysfunction — infobox Book | name = The Reality Dysfunction title orig = translator = author = Peter F. Hamilton cover artist = Jim Burns country = United Kingdom language = English series = The Night s Dawn Trilogy genre = Science Fiction, Novel publisher =… …   Wikipedia

  • Into the Electric Castle — Infobox Album | Name = Into The Electric Castle Type = studio Artist = Ayreon Released = August 30, 1998 Recorded = The Electric Castle Studio Genre = Progressive metal Length = 1:44:47 Label = Transmission Producer = Arjen Lucassen Reviews = *… …   Wikipedia

  • Genealogy (in the Bible) — • The word genealogy occurs only twice in the New Testament: I Tim., i, 4, and Tit., iii, 9. In these passages commentators explain the word as referring to the Gentile theogonies, or to the Essene generation of angels, or to the emanation of… …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Examples of the motif of harmful sensation in fiction — This is a chronological list of examples of the motif of harmful sensation in modern fiction. Before 1901*In Stendhal s 1817 Naples and Florence: A Journey from Milan to Reggio , the eponymous Stendhal syndrome is outlined. *Edgar Allan Poe s… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”