Dagon and Other Macabre Tales by H. P. Lovecraft
"Dagon and Other Macabre Tales" is a collection of stories by H. P. Lovecraft, a pivotal figure in 20th-century horror fiction. Compiled posthumously by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei, this anthology features works that were originally published between 1917 and 1936, showcasing Lovecraft's unique blend of cosmic horror and existential dread. The titular story, "Dagon," introduces a protagonist whose harrowing encounter with a grotesque underwater deity leads him into madness, reflecting Lovecraft's recurring theme of characters confronting terrifying realities beyond their comprehension.
The collection includes other notable tales like "The Tomb," where a man becomes obsessed with his ancestry, ultimately seeking his own demise, and "Herbert West—Reanimator," which explores themes of life, death, and the moral implications of scientific experimentation. Lovecraft's narratives often depict civilizations or individuals ensnared by malevolent forces, suggesting a universe where evil is insurmountable and the thin veil separating reality from horror is ever-fragile. This anthology not only preserves Lovecraft’s significant contributions to horror literature but also illuminates key motifs that have influenced the genre, inviting readers to reflect on the nature of fear and the unknown.
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Dagon and Other Macabre Tales
First published: 1965 (corrected text of original, 1986)
Type of work: Stories
Type of plot: Fantasy—occult
Time of work: Various times from antiquity to the near future
Locale: Various places around the world and on other planets
The Plot
This collection by perhaps the greatest twentieth century writer of horror fiction was assembled by his fellow fantasy writer, August Derleth, and reissued with a new introduction by T. E. D. Klein in 1986. The stories originally appeared in print between 1917 and 1936. After H. P. Lovecraft’s death in 1937, Derleth and his collaborator, Donald Wandrei, wanted to assemble and present in permanent form some of Lovecraft’s work that had appeared in pulp magazines such as Weird Tales. Lovecraft had often written of the strange research occurring in the library of Arkham University. Derleth and Wandrei therefore chose the name Arkham House for the publishing firm that produced this collection and also saved from oblivion the work of many other horror and fantasy writers.
The typical Lovecraft protagonist finds a shocking and terrifying reality other than the normal that unhinges him, destroys him, or changes his life for the worse. He (the protagonists in this collection are exclusively male) sometimes stumbles over the evidence of another, frightening world, as does the main character of the title story, “Dagon” (1917). After having his ship torpedoed by a German submarine, he finds himself stranded in a strange land with temples dedicated to Dagon, the fish-god. That discovery is unsettling enough, but then the shipwrecked sailor sees fishlike monsters who worship Dagon. Now insane, he tells the story from a San Francisco hospital; hearing a slithery noise outside his door, he leaps out the window to his death.
Even more disturbing are Lovecraft’s stories involving characters who are drawn to some discovery or to their doom by some unknown malevolent force. In “The Tomb” (1917), a young man is pulled through his dreams into another time, in which his ancestors lived in a great mansion that had burned to the ground. Driven mad by his obsession, he asks to be buried in a long-locked tomb that bears his name. Sometimes the victim of such an apparent curse is an entire civilization, destroyed by the demon-descendants of an enemy they had conquered a millennium before (“The Doom That Came to Sarnath,” 1919).
In Lovecraft’s world, the dead do not necessarily stay dead. In “From Beyond” (1920), a scientist invents a machine that sends creatures to and from another dimension, including two of his servants whom he is supposed to have murdered but who cannot be found. In “Herbert West—Reanimator” (1921-1922), a Frankenstein-like experimenter brings corpses back to life, but his ghouls are usually criminally insane. He searches for “fresh” corpses so that the dead can resume their previous lives, but he does so because of his fascination with the power he wields.
In Lovecraft’s visions, evil can not be defeated. In story after story, such as “The Lurking Fear” (1922), in which the idiotic descendants of the stunted branch of a family survive as molelike subterranean creatures who forage by night, another world of fear and dread is always there, right behind the door or buried slightly under the ground.