The Lovecraft Vault

HYDRA is a Cthulhu Mythos story by Henry Kuttner, first published in the April 1939 edition of Weird Tales. "A unique tale of the fourth dimension, a dangerous experiment in occultism, and the ghastly horror that reached back from that other plane of space."

THE LURKING FEAR first appeared in Home Brew, January–April 1923 (serialized in four parts). In the storm-ravaged hills of the Catskills, an investigative narrator braves the ruins of the ancient Martense mansion in search of the source of a series of grisly killings.

THROUGH THE ALIEN ANGLE is a Cthulhu Mythos story by Elwin G. Powers. Little is known about the author, nor the publication history of the story, though ISFDB suggests it was written in 1941.

THE OUTSIDER first appeared in Weird Tales in its April 1926 edition. Told in the first person, the story follows a solitary being who has lived his entire life in the shadowed depths of a forgotten castle. Yearning for light, freedom, and human contact, he finally escapes his prison, only to discover a dreadful truth waiting for him in the world above.

OUT OF THE JAR is a Cthulhu Mythos story by the American author, Charles R. Tanner. First appearing in the February 1941 edition of Stirring Science Stories, the tale was given the following synopsis: “Are you inquisitive too? Do you want to know things? Too many things?”

OUT OF THE AEONS is a classic tale of cosmic horror and forbidden knowledge from the collaborative pen of Lovecraft and Hazel Heald. The story is set in the Cabot Museum of Archaeology in Boston, where a mysterious mummy recovered from a lost Pacific island draws public fascination and fear. The ancient island—once called Yaddith-Gho—briefly rose from the ocean before sinking again, and with it ca...

THE HOUSE OF THE WORM is a Cthulhu Mythos story by the American author, Mearle Prout. It first appeared in Weird Tales Magazine in October 1933. The story tells of two men, and their struggle against an otherworldly blight that originated in a bleak forest.

THE GUARDIAN OF THE BOOK is a Cthulhu Mythos story by Henry Hasse, first published in the March 1937 edition of Weird Tales. “A strange and curious tale of cosmic horror, of the Outer Ones from beyond the galaxy, and a soul-shattering experience of stark terror.”

First published in Amazing Stories in 1927, THE COLOUR OUT OF SPACE is one of Lovecraft’s most celebrated works of cosmic horror. Set in the rural hills west of Arkham, Massachusetts, the story is told by a surveyor investigating the site of a planned reservoir. He learns of a strange and tragic event that befell a farm years earlier, after a meteorite crashed nearby.

FANE OF THE BLACK PHARAOH by Robert Bloch was first published in the December 1937 edition of Weird Tales Magazine. "Terrible was the fame of Nephren-Ka, and more terrible still was the destiny that Captain Cartaret read on the walls of the red-litten underground corridors."

SETTLER'S WALL by Robert Lowndes was first published in Startling Mystery Stories in its Fall 1968 issue. "This wall has never hurt anybody, but some folk have hurt themselves trying to pry into its secrets."

THE SEVEN GEASES is a Cthulhu Mythos short story by American author, Clark Ashton Smith. The story, which first appeared in Weird Tales in October 1934, tells of the adventures of a huntsman in the strange caverns of the Tsathoggua worshippers, the Voormis.

NOTEBOOK FOUND IN A DESERTED HOUSE is a Cthulhu Mythos short story by American writer Robert Bloch, first published in the May 1951 issue of Weird Tales. The notebook in the story, is the account of a frightened 12-year-old boy, who is hiding from 'them ones'.

HE was first published in the September 1926 edition of Weird Tales Magazine. The story tells of an unnamed narrator, who has moved from New England to New York City and greatly regretted it. One night, while wandering in a historic part of Greenwich Village, he happens upon a man strangely dressed in garments from the eighteenth century. The man offers to show the narrator the secrets of the town...

THE HAUNTER OF THE RING is a Cthulhu Mythos story featuring the characters Conrad and Kirowan by Robert E. Howard. The story first emerged in Weird Tales in June 1934, and was described as follows: "A strange story of dark powers and occult evil."

THE GREEN MEADOW is a short story by H. P. Lovecraft and Winifred V. Jackson. The tale, which first appeared in The Vagrant in its Spring 1927 edition, tells of a small notebook discovered within a meteorite in Maine.

THE TREADER OF THE DUST is a short story by American author Clark Ashton Smith, first published in Weird Tales in August 1935. The story introduces Quachil Uttaus and the Testament of Carnamagos to the Cthulhu Mythos, in relation to the tale of an unnamed character who obtains the forbidden tome from a sinister book-seller.

THE SEALED CASKET is a short story by Richard F. Searight, notable for introducing the Eltdown Shards, which would later be incorporated into the Cthulhu Mythos. The story was first published in the March 1935 edition of Weird Tales. "The icy fingers of a fetor that was old when the world was young reached for the life of the scheming Wesson Clark."

THE FESTIVAL is a Cthulhu Mythos story, written in 1923 and first published in the January 1925 issue of Weird Tales. Set during the Yuletide season, the story follows an unnamed narrator who visits the ancient, coastal town of Kingsport, Massachusetts to partake in a mysterious family tradition known only as "the Festival."

THE TOMB FROM BEYOND is a Cthulhu Mythos short story by Carl Jacobi, first appearing in the November 1933 edition of Wonder Stories. Long-lost civilizations may have possessed enigmatic abilities far beyond our understanding—forces that would render our science trivial by comparison. One day, through chance or intent, these powers might be uncovered once more. Whether they bring salvation or doom...

IN THE WALLS OF ERYX was written in collaboration with Kenneth Sterling and first published in the January 1939 issue of Weird Tales. Set on Venus, the story is presented as the recovered account of an Earthman employed by a mining company to harvest valuable crystals sought after for their energy properties. While exploring the Venusian jungle, the narrator becomes trapped inside an invisible maz...

THE MOON-BOG was first published in the June 1926 issue of Weird Tales. The story is narrated by a friend of Denys Barry, an American who purchases an ancient estate near a bog in Ireland with the intent of draining the swamp and modernizing the land. Despite warnings from the superstitious locals about ancient legends tied to the bog, Barry proceeds with his project, disturbing the resting place...

AN INHABITANT OF CARCOSA is a short story by Ambrose Bierce, first published in the San Francisco News Letter and California Advertiser, Dec 25, 1886. The story, which tells of the wanderings of a man through a strange desert, introduces several elements to the Cthulhu Mythos.

HAITA THE SHEPHERD is a short story by Ambrose Bierce, first published in The Wave, Jan 24, 1891. The story, which tells of the naive worshipper of the god, Hastur, introduces several elements to the Cthulhu Mythos.

THE TOMB was first published in the The Vagrant no. 14 (March 1922). It is one of Lovecraft’s earliest stories and showcases his fascination with ancestral memory, Gothic atmosphere, and psychological horror. The story is narrated by Jervas Dudley, a reclusive and imaginative young man with an obsession for a nearby, long-abandoned mausoleum belonging to the Hyde family. Drawn to the tomb by a str...