The Whisperer in Darkness brings together the original Cthulhu Mythos stories of the legendary horror writer H.P. Lovecraft. An Arkham university professor is contacted by a farmer living in a remote part of Vermont, who claims to have evidence of aliens living in the hills and mining a mysterious metal. When local newspapers report strange things seen floating in rivers during a historic Vermont flood, Wilmarth becomes embroiled in a controversy about the reality and significance of the sightings, though he sides with the skeptics. After visiting, the professor becomes alarmed at the mysterious change in the behavior of the farmer, including his assertion that the aliens can extract a human brain and keep it alive in jar for eternity. Wilmarth uncovers old legends about monsters living in the uninhabited hills who abduct people who venture or settle too close to their territory.

The Whisperer in Darkness is a 26,000-word novella by American writer H. P. Lovecraft. Written February-September 1930, it was first published in Weird Tales, August 1931. Similar to The Colour Out of Space, it is a blend of horror and science fiction.

The Whisperer in Darkness" is a short story by H. P. Lovecraft. Written February-September 1930, it was first published in Weird Tales, August 1931. Similar to "The Colour Out of Space" (1927), it is a blend of horror and science fiction. Although it makes numerous references to the Cthulhu Mythos, the supernatural does not figure in the plot. The story also introduces the Mi-Go, an alien race of fungoid creatures.

The Whisperer in Darkness and Other Weird Stories CONTENT: The Outsider The Case of Charles Dexter Ward The Haunter of the Dark The Nameless City The Rats in the Walls The Statement of Randolph Carter The Tomb THE WHISPERER IN DARKNESS The story is told by Albert N. Wilmarth, an instructor of literature at Miskatonic University in Arkham. When local newspapers report strange things seen floating in rivers during a historic Vermont flood, Wilmarth becomes embroiled in a controversy about the reality and significance of the sightings, though he sides with the skeptics. Wilmarth uncovers old legends about monsters living in the uninhabited hills who abduct people who venture or settle too close to their territory. The Case of Charles Dexter Ward: Incantations of black magic unearthed unspeakable horrors in Providence, Rhode Island. Evil spirits are being resurrected from beyond the grave, a supernatural force so twisted that it kills without offering the mercy of death! The Tomb: This extraordinary collection features 13 spine-tingling tales of delicious terror by the unquestioned master of the horror genre, as well as portions of stories he never fully completed. Discover how the mind of H.P. Lovecraft worked, and how much his early and late stories tell about this intriguing writer.

If you read one terrifying tale of demoniacal creatures terrorizing the hills of Vermont, let it be this one. I'd call this story the masterpiece of the tyrant of terror, H. P. Lovecraft. Stephen King referred to Arthur Machen's "The Great God Pan" the best horror story ever written. With the greatest of respect to the "Master of Horror", "The Whisperer in Darkness" actually made me afraid to sleep with the lights off. It frightened me so much; I even get chills every time someone mentions Vermont to me.Lovecraft put a lot of thought into his monsters. As he wrote this piece in 1931, classic creatures like Frankenstein and Dracula had been around for decades. He needed to come up with something creative to horrify his readers. He sure did in this one. Here's his description of the beasts.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. (Location 10753)After reading this, mummies, zombies and witches don't seem so scary; they're also much better looking.The narrator of the story cited a written account of the creatures. I liked how the author managed to work in some setting.Briefly summarized, it hinted at a hidden race of monstrous beings which lurked somewhere among the remoter hills--in the deep woods of the highest peaks, and the dark valleys where streams trickle from unknown sources. (Location 10760)This sure isn't the Vermont I remember from the Newhart show.Lovecraft came up with an exceptional plot for this story. Albert N. Wilmarth, a professor at Miskatonic University received a series of letters from Henry Wentworth Akeley, a resident of the hills the creatures inhabit. In each missive, Akeley described with accelerating intensity how he feared for his life. Here's an excerpt from one of his last.I think I am going crazy. It may be that all I have ever written you is a dream or madness. It was bad enough before, but this time it is too much. They talked to me last night--talked in the cursed buzzing voice and told me things that I dare not repeat to you. I heard them plainly over the barking of the dogs, and once where they were drowned out a human voice helped them. Keep out of this, Wilmarth--it is worse than either you or I ever suspected. They don't mean to let me get to California now--they want to take me off alive, or what theoretically and mentally amounts to alive--not only to Yuggoth, but beyond that--away outside the galaxy and possibly beyond the last curved rim of space. I told them I wouldn't go where they wish, or in the terrible way they propose to take me, but I'm afraid it will be no use. My place is so far out that they may come by day as well as by night before long. Six more dogs killed, and I felt presences all along the wooded parts of the road when I drove to Brattleboro today. (Location 11180)Now here's where the story really got scary. What follows is a section of a letter Akeley sent to Wilmarth a few days later.

If you read one terrifying tale of demoniacal creatures terrorizing the hills of Vermont, let it be this one. I'd call this story the masterpiece of the tyrant of terror, H. P. Lovecraft. Stephen King referred to Arthur Machen's "The Great God Pan" the best horror story ever written. With the greatest of respect to the "Master of Horror", "The Whisperer in Darkness" actually made me afraid to sleep with the lights off. It frightened me so much; I even get chills every time someone mentions Vermont to me.Lovecraft put a lot of thought into his monsters. As he wrote this piece in 1931, classic creatures like Frankenstein and Dracula had been around for decades. He needed to come up with something creative to horrify his readers. He sure did in this one. Here's his description of the beasts.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. (Location 10753)After reading this, mummies, zombies and witches don't seem so scary; they're also much better looking.The narrator of the story cited a written account of the creatures. I liked how the author managed to work in some setting.Briefly summarized, it hinted at a hidden race of monstrous beings which lurked somewhere among the remoter hills--in the deep woods of the highest peaks, and the dark valleys where streams trickle from unknown sources. (Location 10760)This sure isn't the Vermont I remember from the Newhart show.Lovecraft came up with an exceptional plot for this story. Albert N. Wilmarth, a professor at Miskatonic University received a series of letters from Henry Wentworth Akeley, a resident of the hills the creatures inhabit. In each missive, Akeley described with accelerating intensity how he feared for his life. Here's an excerpt from one of his last.I think I am going crazy. It may be that all I have ever written you is a dream or madness. It was bad enough before, but this time it is too much. They talked to me last night--talked in the cursed buzzing voice and told me things that I dare not repeat to you. I heard them plainly over the barking of the dogs, and once where they were drowned out a human voice helped them. Keep out of this, Wilmarth--it is worse than either you or I ever suspected. They don't mean to let me get to California now--they want to take me off alive, or what theoretically and mentally amounts to alive--not only to Yuggoth, but beyond that--away outside the galaxy and possibly beyond the last curved rim of space. I told them I wouldn't go where they wish, or in the terrible way they propose to take me, but I'm afraid it will be no use. My place is so far out that they may come by day as well as by night before long. Six more dogs killed, and I felt presences all along the wooded parts of the road when I drove to Brattleboro today. (Location 11180)Now here's where the story really got scary. What follows is a section of a letter Akeley sent to Wilmarth a few days later.

Howard Phillips Lovecraft (1890 - 1937) was an American author who achieved posthumous fame through his influential works of horror fiction. He was virtually unknown and published only in pulp magazines before he died in poverty, but he is now regarded as one of the most significant 20th-century authors in his genre. Lovecraft was born in Providence, Rhode Island, where he spent most of his life. Among his most celebrated tales are "The Call of Cthulhu" and "The Shadow over Innsmouth", both canonical to the Cthulhu Mythos.Stories included in this volume: Dagon / Herbert West-Reanimator / The Call of Cthulhu / The Dunwich Horror / The Whisperer in the Darkness / At the Mountains of Madness / The Shadow over Innsmouth / The Shadow out of Time / The Hunter of the Dark