Episode 60 - "The Colour Out of Space," Part 2

[Eric Lofgren]

p.s. Years ago I read a "sequel" to Colour (by a different author).  Don't recall the title.  It was set after the flooding of the reservoir.  As I recall it really missed the mark; the Colour manifested as some kind of humanoid, creature from the black lagoon-style monster, which was then hunted down and destroyed by the heroes.  Not very Lovecraftian.

I believe the book you are referring to is The Colour Out of Time, by Michael Shea. I would agree with you on your assessment, but I do find it an easy, enjoyable read, that on occasion gets close to the mark. And while not exactly to the true flavour of the original, the tree sequence towards the end is mind boggling.  What I do recall vividly is the drinking the protagonists do. Lot's and lot's of drinking. And just when you thought it wouldn't be brought up again, the protagonists buy another bottle and have at 'er

[Eric Lofgren]

Anyone who likes this story should definitely check out T.E.D. Klein's "The Events At Poroth Farm" (I read it recently in Penguin's "American Supernatural Tales" edited by S.T. Joshi), which features the same subject: an isolated group of people threatened by an unseen, unknowable, evil force.  Note though that Klein's story has more of a pagan/"White People" sort of vibe, whereas "Colour Out of Space" has a more Space Invader slant; however despite this difference, Klein references Lovecraft in the story (specifically with an allusion to a polluted well) as well as several other influential horror writers.  If there was ever a story written with the modern weird tale fan in mind, it's "Poroth Farm".

That story was eventually assembled into novel form, titled The Ceremonies. Yes, I can't recommend it enough. In fact, it's one of the few books that I've lost count on for the amount of times I've re-read it.

[adamgurri]

I especially love that Lovecraft himself expressed pride over this story. I think that this story really does embody Weird Fiction, as opposed to just horror.

[LambethWarp]

OH MY GOD the coolest thing happened a couple of hours ago. I was listening to the 'TCooS' podcast again and just as the second part began, CRAZILY powerful gusts of wind began, really out of nowhere, and within a few minutes the sky was being lit up by huge cloud-to-cloud lightning bolts, several strikes every second, which were too far away to be audible. And the whole time there was no rain, just these crazy blasts of wind.

This went on for some time before the lightning moved close enough for me to hear the thunder and the rain reached me. But for a while it was just uncanny, in the genuine sense of the word.

Really reminded me of the start of Ami Pierce's story, with the inexplicable noonday cloud, 'explosions in the sky' and weird thunder that herald the appearance of the fatal meteorite.

[LambethWarp]

I'm re-reading 'The Shunned House' and it's interesting how clearly it's a prototype for the far superior 'TCooS'. Nowhere else does Lovecraft exploit the idea that some places are just bad, and that terrible things will inevitably happen to anyone who lives there for any length of time, quite as thoroughly as he does in these two stories. I think they're both quite personal stories for him too, since they describe characters descending into madness and eventually fatal illness through the agency of some malignant entity that can occasionally be half-seen through the corner of one's eye, and which gradually saps the victim's vital essences; of course both of HPL's parents died insane, his father probably from syphilis, while his mother apparently saw creepy things flitting around her sick bed as her dementia progressed.

But there are important differences:

1) In TSH the malignant agent is originally human, while in TCOOS it is extra-terrestrial in origin and of a completely unknown nature;

2) In TSH the agent is expunged from the location by human actions, while in TCOOS it leaves of its own accord while pursuing its own agenda;

3) in TSH the location returns to healthy normality after the exorcism, while in TCOOS, even after the horrific climax some portion of the curse or infestation remains and gradually spreads, with the added implication that it could endanger millions of people due to the intended flooding of the valley to create a reservoir.

All of which, I think, helps make TCOOS a far more effective and horrible story. Having said that, I quite like TSH for its sheer grossness.

[Genus Unknown]

I hadn't thought of connecting the two stories, but that makes a lot of sense. Now that you mention it, there's even a bit of a parallel in the two menaces living underground: one buried in the basement and causing the mushrooms and fungi to grow in weird shapes, the other living in the well and causing EVERYTHING to grow in weird shapes and colo(u)rs.

Good catch!

[LambethWarp]

Yes, good point about the source of evil being subterranean. But I think this is quite common in Lovecraft - think about 'The Rats in the Walls', the shoggoths in ATMoM and the flying polyps in TSooT, the various ghasts and gugs and so on in the Silver Key stories, even old squidface himself I suppose (the bottom of the sea being thematically pretty similar to deep underground).

[LambethWarp]

Just relistening to the podcast, it's only just struck me - because I'm a bit slow sometimes - how incredibly similar this story is to The Andromeda Strain, to the extent that I wouldn't be surprised if Crichton had been directly inspired by the HPL story. It was the humorous references to meteorites carrying "space germs" on the previous pages of discussion that made me think of it.

Edit: also, did anyone hear about this http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7001897.stm a few years back? Brrrr, creepy stuff.

[mac]

I love The Colour Out of Space, I think it's his creepiest story. I read it on holiday whilst staying in a seclude location which made it much more interesting. That BBC report is quality! I wonder how many more real events there are that mimic Lovecraft stories?

[LambethWarp]

How awesome is this?