H.P. Lovecraft's Creepiest short story...

The Picture in the House...

Hi all, sorry I’ve been so quiet. I’ve been busily making final adjustments to my book The Living Light: From Gods to Ashes, before it starts audiobook production.

But… in my spare time, I’ve been working through my next reader’s goal: the complete works of H.P. Lovecraft.

I discovered this eerie gem the other day… I had actually read it before a while back, but after rereading it, I had to share it—because it is so damn creepy and so damn good.

Take, for instance, this small section:

Scene: A wandering stranger comes across an old country house in rural USA. Inside, he finds a strange book detailing images of a head-hunter butcher shop, with human meat all carved up and hung everywhere. The creepy thing is, the book naturally falls open to this particular page, indicating frequent use. A large, old, bespectacled bushman creaks his way down from the second floor and catches the wanderer perusing the book. Seeing his favored page, he begins to express his unhealthy interest in the scene depicted…

“As I says, ’tis queer haow picters sets ye thinkin’. D’ye know, young Sir, I’m right sot on this un here. Arter I got the book off Eb I uster look at it a lot, especial when I’d heerd Passon Clark rant o’ Sundays in his big wig. Onct I tried suthin’ funny—here, young Sir, don’t git skeert—all I done was ter look at the picter afore I kilt the sheep for market—killin’ sheep was kinder more fun arter lookin’ at it—” The tone of the old man now sank very low, sometimes becoming so faint that his words were hardly audible. I listened to the rain, and to the rattling of the bleared, small-paned windows, and marked a rumbling of approaching thunder quite unusual for the season. Once a terrific flash and peal shook the frail house to its foundations, but the whisperer seemed not to notice it."

Here is the link to the full short story if your interested in reading it!

https://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/fiction/ph.aspx

Alternatively, if you don’t want to commit to a subscription, you can also support me by purchasing a copy of my grim fantasy short story, available in paperback and eBook format on Amazon.

Link to purchase: Amazon.

It’s an affordable buy and a bite-sized read. If you enjoy it, please leave a review!