COLOURED GAS BEING

COLOURED GAS BEING

"He had learned much of the Other Gods in distant parts of space, especially in that region where form does not exist, and coloured gases study the innermost secrets. The violet gas S’ngac had told him terrible things of the crawling chaos Nyarlathotep, and had warned him never to approach the central void where the daemon-sultan Azathoth

gnaws hungrily in the dark."

H.P. Lovecraft, Dream-Quest Of Unknown Kadath

DWELLER

DWELLER

"It had been old when Babylon was new;

None knows how long it slept beneath that mound,

Where in the end our questing shovels found

Its granite blocks and brought it back to view.

There were vast pavements and foundation-walls,

And crumbling slabs and statues, carved to shew

Fantastic beings of some long ago

Past anything the world of man recalls.

And then we saw those stone steps leading down

Through a choked gate of graven dolomite

To some black haven of eternal night

Where elder signs and primal secrets frown.

We cleared a path—but raced in mad retreat

When from below we heard those clumping feet."

H.P. Lovecraft, The Fungi From Yuggoth

INVISIBLE THING

INVISIBLE THING

"55-Man followed by invisible thing."

H.P. Lovecraft, Commonplace Book

PRIMORDIAL THING

PRIMORDIAL THING

"169-What hatches from primordial egg." 

H.P. Lovecraft, Commonplace Book

VALUSIAN SERPENT PERSON

VALUSIAN SERPENT PERSON

"There was a mind from the planet we know as Venus, which would live incalculable epochs to come, and one from an outer moon of Jupiter six million years in the past. Of earthly minds there were some from the winged, star-headed, half-vegetable race of palaeogean Antarctica; one from the reptile people of fabled Valusia; three from the furry pre-human Hyperborean worshippers of Tsathoggua; one from the wholly abominable Tcho-Tchos; two from the arachnid denizens of earth’s last age; five from the hardy coleopterous species immediately following mankind, to which the Great Race was some day to transfer its keenest minds en masse in the face of horrible peril; and several from different branches of humanity."

H.P. Lovecraft, The Shadow Out Of Time

"It was treasured and placed in its curious box by the crinoid things of Antarctica, salvaged from their ruins by the serpent-men of Valusia, and peered at aeons later in Lemuria by the first human beings."

H.P. Lovecraft, The Haunter Of the Dark

"I can compare the sound to nothing more aptly than to the roar of some dread monster of the vanished saurian age, when primal horrors roamed the earth, and Valusia’s serpent-men laid the foundation-stones of evil magic."

H.P. Lovecraft & William Lumley, The Diary Of Alonzo Typer

"For as he watched, Tu's face became strangely dim and unreal; the features mingled and merged in a seemingly impossible manner, Then, like a fading mask of fog, the face suddenly vanished and in its stead gaped and leered a monstrous serpent's head!"

Robert E. Howard, The Shadow Kingdom

PROGENY OF YIG

PROGENY OF YIG

"The moving object was almost of human size, and entirely devoid of clothing. It was absolutely hairless, and its tawny-looking back seemed subtly squamous in the dim, ghoulish light. Around the shoulders it was rather speckled and brownish, and the head was very curiously flat. As it looked up to hiss at me I saw that the beady little black eyes were damnably anthropoid, but I could not bear to study them long."

"Yig’s chief trait was a relentless devotion to his children—a devotion so great that the redskins almost feared to protect themselves from the venomous rattlesnakes which thronged the region. Frightful clandestine tales hinted of his vengeance upon mortals who flouted him or wreaked harm upon his wriggling progeny; his chosen method being to turn his victim, after suitable tortures, to a spotted snake."

H.P. Lovecraft & Zealia Bishop, The Curse Of Yig

THING IN THE MOONLIGHT

THING IN THE MOONLIGHT

"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."

"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. . ."

H.P. Lovecraft & J. Chapman Miske, The Thing In the Moonlight

RAT THING

RAT THING

"Witnesses said it had long hair and the shape of a rat, but that its sharp-toothed, bearded face was evilly human while its paws were like tiny human hands. It took messages betwixt old Keziah and the devil, and was nursed on the witch's blood, which it sucked like a vampire."

H.P. Lovecraft, Dreams In the Witch-House

CREATURES FROM BEYOND

CREATURES FROM BEYOND

"Foremost among the living objects were inky, jellyish monstrosities which flabbily quivered in harmony with the vibrations from the machine. They were present in loathsome profusion, and I saw to my horror that they overlapped; that they were semi-fluid and capable of passing through one another and through what we know as solids."

H.P. Lovecraft, From Beyond

DEFORMED HAIRY DEVIL

DEFORMED HAIRY DEVIL

"When they had thinned out enough to be glimpsed as separate organisms, I saw that they were dwarfed, deformed hairy devils or apes - monstrous and diabolic caricatures of the monkey tribe." 

"The object was nauseous; a filthy whitish gorilla thing with sharp yellow fangs and matted fur. It was the ultimate product of mammalian degeneration; the frightful outcome of isolated spawning, multiplication, and cannibal nutrition above and below the ground; the embodiment of all the snarling and chaos and grinning fear that lurk behind life. It had looked at me as it died, and its eyes had the same odd quality that marked those other eyes which had stared at me underground and excited cloudy recollections. One eye was blue, the other brown."

H.P. Lovecraft, The Lurking Fear

DIMENSIONAL SHAMBLER

DIMENSIONAL SHAMBLER

"Shuffling toward him in the darkness was the gigantic, blasphemous form of a black thing not wholly ape and not wholly insect. Its hide hung loosely upon its frame, and its rugose, dead-eyed rudiment of a head swayed drunkenly from side to side. Its fore paws were extended, with talons spread wide, and its whole body was taut with murderous malignity despite its utter lack of facial expression."

"Coward—you could never face the dimensional shambler whose hide I put on to scare you—the mere sight of it alive, or even the full-fledged thought of it, would kill you instantly with fright! Iä! Iä! It waits hungry for the blood that is the life!” 

H.P. Lovecraft & Hazel Heald, The Horror In the Museum

BYAKHEE

BYAKHEE

"There flapped rhythmically a horde of tame, trained, hybrid winged things ... not altogether crows, nor moles, nor buzzards, nor ants, nor decomposed human beings, but something I cannot and must not recall." 

H.P. Lovecraft, The Festival

MI-GO

MI-GO

"They were pinkish things about five feet long; with crustaceous bodies bearing vast pairs of dorsal fins or membranous wings and several sets of articulated limbs, and with a sort of convoluted ellipsoid, covered with multitudes of very short antennae, where a head would ordinarily be."

H.P. Lovecraft, The Whisperer In Darkness

MOONBEAST

MOONBEAST

"For they were not men at all, or even approximately men, but great greyish-white slippery things which could expand and contract at will, and whose principal shape - though it often changed - was that of a sort of toad without any eyes, but with a curious vibrating mass of short pink tentacles on the end of its blunt, vague snout."

H.P. Lovecraft, Dream-Quest Of Unknown Kadath

SHOGGOTH

SHOGGOTH

"They were normally shapeless entities composed of a viscous jelly which looked like an agglutination of bubbles, and each averaged about fifteen feet in diameter when a sphere. They had, however, a constantly shifting shape and volume - throwing out temporary developments or forming apparent organs of sight, hearing, and speech in imitation of their masters, either spontaneously or according to suggestion."

"Formless protoplasm able to mock and reflect all forms and organs and processes - viscous agglutinations of bubbling cells - rubbery fifteen-foot spheroids infinitely plastic and ductile - slaves of suggestion, builders of cities - more and more sullen, more and more intelligent, more and more amphibious, more and more imitative! Great God! What madness made even those blasphemous Old Ones willing to use and carve such things?"

H.P. Lovecraft, At the Mountains Of Madness

TOMB TAPPER

TOMB TAPPER

"Tappers are tall and humanoid, with very hard, blue-gray skin and great claws which can dig through solid rock. They are sometimes called “the Faceless” due to their featureless heads."

"Tappers have gigantic mouths in their abdomens. These jaws can crush rock, from which Tappers extract mineral sustenance."

Ed Greenwood, Dragon Magazine #41

TROLL

TROLL

"Troll hide is a nauseating moss green, mottled green and gray, or pulrid gray. The writhing hair-like growth upon a troll's head is greenish black or iron gray, The eyes of a troll are dull black."

Gary Gygax, Monster Manual

NITRODJINN

NITRODJINN

"The nocturnal creature of desolate areas known as the Nitrodjinn is a rare and strange being. Each creature is invariably associated with an atomic energy source such as a reactor or large battery, from which it appears to draw its 'life force.' Each being manipulates the local weather conditions to produce a thick fog for a 100-meter radius around the atomic power source."

"In ultraviolet light or when seen without the surrounding fog, this being appears to have a vaguely humanoid torso with four arms and a featureless head. The lower half of the body is a long serpentine form stretching along the ground all the way back to the power source."

Roger Moore, Dragon Magazine #75

WINGLESS WONDER

WINGLESS WONDER

"The Wingless Wonder is a comical beast that resembles a walking egg (which it has also been called). It stands rather unsteadily on two weak legs that have rubbery, sticky bases, and it has two small arms which it flaps constantly (hence its name). Its mouth is atop its head, surrounded by a fringe of tentacles which are are extendable to 12 feet. Most of these creatures eat only fruits and vegetables and have nine such tentacles. A rare (20% of all Wonders) type is omnivorous and has 12 tentacles."

"Wonders are blue-green in color with purplish undersides. Their skin, which is covered by fuzz, is delicate and does not heal quickly."

"The creatures are apparently bisexual. When a solitary Wonder encounters another of its species, the two will intertwine their tentacles and chitter excitedly in chorus for 2 rounds. This appears to be a mating contact."

Ed Greenwood, Dragon Magazine #40

EYE OF THE DEEP

EYE OF THE DEEP

"It is possible that this monster is a relative of the beholder, for There are remarkable similarities between the two species. The eye of the deep dwells only at great depths of the ocean, floating slowly about, stalking prey. It has two huge crab-like pincers to seize its victims and a mouth full of small sharp teeth, its primary weapons, however, are its eyes. The creature has a large central eye which emits a blinding flash of light to dazzle and stun those in its ray. The eye of the deep also has two smaller eyes on long stalks with which it is able to create an illusion; or, acting independently, the small eyes are able to cast hold person and hold monster spells respectively."

Gary Gygax, Monster Manual

SHAPELESS LIVING THING

SHAPELESS LIVING THING

"80-Shapeless living thing forming nucleus of ancient building."

H.P. Lovecraft, Commonplace Book

SITTER

SITTER

"106-A thing that sat on a sleeper’s chest. Gone in morning, but something left behind." 

H.P. Lovecraft, Commonplace Book

SLIMY ENORMOUS FROG

SLIMY ENORMOUS FROG 

"As I fled from that accursed castle along the bog’s edge I heard a new sound; common, yet unlike any I had heard before at Kilderry. The stagnant waters, lately quite devoid of animal life, now teemed with a horde of slimy enormous frogs which piped shrilly and incessantly in tones strangely out of keeping with their size. They glistened bloated and green in the moonbeams, and seemed to gaze up at the fount of light. I followed the gaze of one very fat and ugly frog, and saw the second of the things which drove my senses away."

H.P. Lovecraft, The Moon-Bog

STRANGE PREHISTORIC CREATURE

STRANGE PREHISTORIC CREATURE

"100-Subterranean region beneath placid New England village, inhabited by (living or extinct) creatures of prehistoric antiquity and strangeness."

H.P. Lovecraft, Commonplace Book

DISTORTED BIRD

HORRIBLY DISTORTED BIRD

"He dreamed of great birds that fought and tore, birds with horribly distorted human aspects; he dreamed of monstrous beasts; and he dreamed of himself in strange roles."

H.P. Lovecraft & August Derleth, The Lurker At the Threshold

BEAST IN THE CAVE

BEAST IN THE CAVE

"Its hair was snow-white, a thing due no doubt to the bleaching action of a long existence within the inky confines of the cave, but it was also surprisingly thin, being indeed largely absent save on the head, where it was of such length and abundance that it fell over the shoulders in considerable profusion."

"From the tips of the fingers or toes long nail-like claws extended. The hands or feet were not prehensile, a fact that I ascribed to that long residence in the cave which, as I before mentioned, seemed evident from the all-pervading and almost unearthly whiteness so characteristic of the whole anatomy. No tail seemed to be present."

"They were black, those eyes, deep, jetty black, in hideous contrast to the snow-white hair and flesh. Like those of other cave denizens, they were deeply sunken in their orbits, and were entirely destitute of iris. As I looked more closely, I saw that they were set in a face less prognathous than that of the average ape, and infinitely more hairy. The nose was quite distinct."

"The creature I had killed, the strange beast of the unfathomed cave was, or had at one time been, a MAN!!!"

H.P. Lovecraft, The Beast In the Cave

THING WITH NO BODY

THING WITH NO BODY

"But I had to shut my eyes again when I realised how many of the things were assembling—and when I glimpsed a certain object walking solemnly and steadily without any body above the waist."

H.P. Lovecraft & Harry Houdini, Under the Pyramids

DARK YOUNG

DARK YOUNG OF SHUB-NIGGURATH

"'Ever Their praises, and abundance to the Black Goat of the Woods. Iä! Shub-Niggurath!Iä! Shub-Niggurath! The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young!'"

H.P. Lovecraft, The Whisperer In Darkness

"That's as close as I can come. The mouths was like leaves and the whole thing was like a tree in the wind, a black tree with lots of branches trailing to the ground, and a whole lot of roots ending in hoofs. And that green slime dribbling out of the mouths and down the legs was like sap!"

"It came crawling up the hillside to the alter and the sacrefice, and it was the black thing of my dreams-that black ropy, slimy, jelly tree-thing out of the woods. It crawled up and it flowed up on its hoofs and mouths and snaky arms. And the men bowed and stood back and then it got to the alter where they was something squirmin on top, 

squirming and screaming."

Robert Bloch, Notebook Found In a Deserted House

SHAPELESS ELEMENTAL

SHAPELESS ELEMENTAL

"Odours of incense and corruption joined in sickening concert, and the black air was alive with the cloudy, semi-visible bulk of shapeless elemental things with eyes."

"In an instant every moving entity was electrified; and forming at once into a ceremonial procession, the nightmare horde slithered away in quest of the sound—goat, satyr, and aegipan,  incubus, succuba, and lemur,  twisted toad and shapeless elemental, dog-faced howler and silent strutter in darkness—all led by the abominable naked phosphorescent thing that had squatted on the carved golden throne, and that now strode insolently bearing in its arms the glassy-eyed corpse of the corpulent old man."

H.P. Lovecraft, The Horror At Red Hook

"Elementals-The unseen intelligences who inhabit the four elements, of the finest essence of which thy are composed."

Lewis Spence, An Encyclopedia Of Occultism 

MONSTROUS BAT

MONSTROUS BAT 

"She affirm'd, and her good neighbours likewise, that it had been borne to her, and took oath that she did not know by what manner it had come upon her, for it was neither Beast nor Man but like to a monstrous Bat with human face. It made no sound but look'd at all and sundry with baleful eyes. There were those who swore that it bore a frightful resemblance to the Face of one long dead, one Richard Bellingham or Bollinhan who is affirm'd to have vanished utterly after consort with Daemons in the country of New Dunnich. The horrible Beast-Man was examined by the Court of Azzizes and the which then burnt by Order of the High-Sherif on the 5th of June in the year 1788."

H.P. Lovecraft & August Derleth, The Lurker At the Threshold

SILENT STRUTTER

SILENT STRUTTER

"In an instant every moving entity was electrified; and forming at once into a ceremonial procession, the nightmare horde slithered away in quest of the sound—goat, satyr, and aegipan, incubus, succuba, and lemur, twisted toad and shapeless elemental, dog-faced howler and silent strutter in darkness—all led by the abominable naked phosphorescent thing that had squatted on the carved golden throne, and that now strode insolently bearing in its arms the glassy-eyed corpse of the corpulent old man."

H.P. Lovecraft, The Horror At Red Hook

THINGS THAT DEVOUR AND DISSOLVE

THINGS THAT DEVOUR AND DISSOLVE

"You think those floundering things wiped out the servants? Fool, they are harmless! But the servants are gone, aren’t they?" "Things are hunting me now—the things that devour and dissolve—but I know how to elude them."

"My pets are not pretty, for they come out of places where aesthetic standards are—very different. Disintegration is quite painless, I assure you—but I want you to see them. I almost saw them, but I knew how to stop."

H.P. Lovecraft, From Beyond

SAND-DWELLER

SAND-DWELLER

"Then out of one of the caves came a Sand-Dweller—rough-skinned, large-eyed, large-eared, with a horrible, distorted resemblance to the koala bear facially, though his body had an appearance of emaciation. He shambled toward me, manifestly eager."

H. P. Lovecraft & August Derleth, The Gable Window

SENTIENT POLYHEDRON

SENTIENT POLYHEDRON

"Two of the less irrelevantly moving things - a rather large congeries of iridescent, prolately spheroidal bubbles and a very much smaller polyhedron of unknown colours and rapidly shifting surface angles - seemed to take notice of him and follow him about or float ahead as he changed position among the titan prisms, labyrinths, cube-and-plane clusters and quasi-buildings"

H.P. Lovecraft, Dreams In the Witch-House

RAFFLE WINNER

Hey guys! I'm happy to announce the winner of the *after* raffle is................

ORGAN BANK! 

Thanks to everyone that bought a ticket. I'll be making a donation to the Sameer Project and if anyone is interested you can learn more & donate to them directly here.

I'm soooo sorry about being late in announcing the raffle winner. Unfortunately, I had to say goodbye to my cat Vampira this week. It was unexpected and really heartbreaking. 

THE SHADOW IN THE SHED

THE SHADOW IN THE SHED

"And this Shadow, or whatever it was, was a most peculiar and unusual thing. It seemed circular in shape, tubelike; about five feet through, as near as they could tell, it extended from the dirt floor of The Shed clear to the roof, and up beyond the rafters inside it was too dim to see clearly."

"The thing was of a nondescript color, mostly gray."

"He began poking at two shiny objects, working them across the close-packed dirt floor,ignoring the Shadow, which was rippling and twisting as though annoyed by the intrusion."

"Suddenly they stopped short, for the Shadow now seemed subtly different. More colorful, more solid, and a movement to it that was sort of....an aliveness!" 

The strange and evil mistiness was curling and entwining itself all about and around the cow. Thicker and thicker grew the folds of Shadow-substance."

"The colors of the thing were more pronounced, now. Flaming, angry reds, flashing blues, sickly greens and yellows."

E. Everett Evans, The Shed

Read Scott's blog-post about this story here.

WILL ANNOUNCE RAFFLE WINNER WEDNESDAY

 WILL ANNOUNCE RAFFLE WINNER WEDNESDAY

I'll announce the winner of the raffle that was a benefit for the Sameer Project this coming Wednesday. 

TWISTED TOAD

TWISTED TOAD

"In an instant every moving entity was electrified; and forming at once into a ceremonial procession, the nightmare horde slithered away in quest of the sound—goat, satyr, and aegipan, incubus, succuba, and lemur, twisted toad and shapeless elemental, dog-faced howler and silent strutter in darkness—all led by the abominable naked phosphorescent thing that had squatted on the carved golden throne, and that now strode insolently bearing in its arms the glassy-eyed corpse of the corpulent old man."

H.P. Lovecraft, The Horror At Red Hook

NON-TERRESTRIAL BEING

NON-TERRESTRIAL BEING

"187 Dream of awaking in vast hall of strange architecture, with sheet-covered forms on slabs—in positions similar to one’s own. Suggestions of disturbingly non-human outlines under sheets. One of the objects moves and throws off sheet—non-terrestrial being revealed. Sugg. that oneself is also such a being—mind has become transferred to body on other planet." 

H.P. Lovecraft, Commonplace Book

MARTIN'S BEACH HORROR

MARTIN'S BEACH HORROR

"The object was some fifty feet in length, of roughly cylindrical shape, and about ten feet in diameter. It was unmistakably a gilled fish in its major affiliations; but with certain curious modifications such as rudimentary forelegs and six-toed feet in place of pectoral fins, which prompted the widest speculation. Its extraordinary mouth, its thick and scaly hide, and its single, deep-set eye were wonders scarcely less remarkable than its colossal dimensions;" 

H.P. Lovecraft & Sonia H. Greene, The Horror At Martin's Beach

FISHER FROM THE OUTSIDE

FISHERS FROM THE OUTSIDE

"The ancient Fishers from Outside—Were there not tales the high-priest told, Of how they found the worlds of old, And took what pelf their fancy spied?" 

H.P. Lovecraft, The Outpost

"One glimpse of the repulsive thing with its one leg and one glaring Cyclopean eye and hideous, hooked, fang-lined beak-"

Lin Carter & H.P. Lovecraft, Fishers From the Outiside

NEW FUNDRAISER

 

Hey everyone! While searching through drawings for last month's Many Lands Mutual Aid fundraiser I stumbled on the originals for Scott Nicolay's long out of print novella *after* published through Dim Shores. 

So I'm going to raffle off the lot as a new fundraiser for the Sameer Project. 

"A donations based aid initiative, led by Palestinians in the diaspora, working to supply emergency shelter and aid to displaced families in Gaza."

Each raffle ticket will cost $6 (a little more in Europe & the rest of the world) and will enter you in a chance to win this combo!

Included will be Sam's very last copy of *after*, three full color postcards of the interior art, the original inked pages for the cover art & all three interior illustrations and the original pencil drawings for two of the interior illustrations (sadly the pencils for the cover & the third interior are lost to time & my negligence). The raffle will end Friday May 9th, and I'll use a random number generator to choose the winner. 

Get a raffle ticket below or in the you-blogsoth store!

____________________________________________________

1 RAFFLE TICKET FOR A CHANCE TO WIN:

• The last remaining copy of Scott Nicolay's *after*.
• Full color postcards of interior art.
• Original inked drawings of cover & interior illustrations.
• Original pencil drawings of 2 interior illustrations.

Shipping incl.

USA $6.00 USD Canada $8.00 USD World $10.00 USD

DECATON

DECATON

"There are exactly 100 decatons, the lowest order of officials found in Nirvana, These creatures appear as 10-tentacled spheres on stumpy legs and are overseers of the physical welfare of the base modrons. One deeaton is assigned to each sector of Nirvana, while the remaining 36 serve with the hextons commanding the armed forces of the plane."

Gary Gygax, Monster Manual II

OCULON

OCULON

"The oculon is an enchanted monster created by a high-level magic-user to act as an assistant or guardian. The process of creating one is long and quite involved, but the resulting being is fairly powerful because of the many special skills it has. An oculon is humanoid in shape, though only vaguely so, and is 4 feet tall at the shoulder. Instead of a human head, the oculon has a flexible neck about 3 feet in length with a single large eye at the end. The neck is 2” in diameter and the eye is 4” across."

"The body of an oculon is light grey in color, and slightly glossy. The cornea of the eye is dark grey, and the pupil of the eye is black."

Roger E. Moore, Dragon Magazine #53

ROPER

ROPER

"Ropers inhabit subterranean caverns. They prey upon all forms of creatures, but humans are their favorite form of food. These monsters can stand upright in order to resemble a pillar or stalagmite or flatten themselves to full length upon the floor so as to look like nothing more than a hump. The roper has six strands of strong, sticky rope-like excretion which it can shoot from 2'-5'."

"This yellowish gray monster appears to be a mass of foul, festering corruption. The roper is cigar-shaped, about 9' long, with a diameter of some 3'."

Gary Gygax, Monster Manual I

DEATH SHEEP

DEATH SHEEP

"These deadly sheep roam the verdant hillsides where they live, ravaging anything in their paths. From a distance, they seem to be nothing more than wild, somewhat dirty sheep. Up close, however, the sheep can be seen to have an evil nature. Their large mouths are filled with long, sharp black teeth that drip vile ichor. These sheep attack any living thing that they can find, fearing nothing and fighting to the death."

Dragon Magazine #156