''The Shadow Out of Time'' is a novella by American
horror fiction
Horror is a genre of fiction which is intended to frighten, scare, or disgust. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror, which is in the realm of speculative fiction. Literary historian J ...
writer
H. P. Lovecraft. Written between November 1934 and February 1935, it was first published in the June 1936 issue of ''
Astounding Stories
''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' is an American science fiction magazine published under various titles since 1930. Originally titled ''Astounding Stories of Super-Science'', the first issue was dated January 1930, published by William Cl ...
''. The story describes time and space travel by mind transfer. The premise is that a person in a given place and time can switch bodies with someone who is elsewhere or elsewhen. Other writers have re-used this concept in later works, such as drinking tea from Red Forest leaves in the television series ''
12 Monkeys
''12 Monkeys'' is a 1995 American science fiction film directed by Terry Gilliam, inspired by Chris Marker's 1962 short film ''La Jetée'', starring Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, and Brad Pitt, with Christopher Plummer and David Morse in sup ...
'' and long-range communication stones in the ''
Stargate SG-1
''Stargate SG-1'' (often stylized in all caps, or abbreviated ''SG-1'') is a military science fiction Adventure fiction, adventure television series within Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Stargate, ''Stargate'' franchise. The show, created by Brad Wrigh ...
'' television series. As with other Lovecraftian works, this story features otherworldy alien beings that are not simply variations on humans or other familiar terrestrial animals.
Plot
''The Shadow Out of Time'' indirectly tells of the
Great Race of Yith
The Cthulhu Mythos is a mythopoeia and a shared fictional universe, originating in the works of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. The term was coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent and protégé of Lovecraft, to identify ...
, an
extraterrestrial species with the ability to travel through space and time. The Yithians accomplish this by
switching bodies with hosts from the intended time and place. The story implies that the effect, when seen from the outside, is similar to
spiritual possession
Spirit possession is an unusual or altered state of consciousness and associated behaviors purportedly caused by the control of a human body by spirits, ghosts, demons, or gods. The concept of spirit possession exists in many cultures and reli ...
. The Yithians' original purpose was to study the history of various times and places, and they have amassed a "library city" that is filled with the past and future history of multiple races, including humans. Ultimately the Yithians use their ability to escape the destruction of their planet in another galaxy by switching bodies with a race of cone-shaped plant beings who lived 150 million years ago on Earth. The cone-shaped entities (subsequently also known as the Great Race of Yith) lived in their vast library city in what would later become Australia's
Great Sandy Desert
The Great Sandy Desert is an interim Australian bioregion,[IBRA Version 6.1](_blank)
data ().
The story is told through the eyes of
Nathaniel Wingate Peaslee
''The Shadow Out of Time'' is a novella by American
horror fiction writer H. P. Lovecraft. Written between November 1934 and February 1935, it was first published in the June 1936 issue of ''Astounding Stories''. The story describes time and ...
, an American living in the first decade of the 20th century, who is "possessed" by a Yithian. He fears he is losing his mind when he unaccountably sees strange vistas of other worlds and of the Yithian library city. He also feels himself being led about by these creatures and experiences how they live. When he is returned to his own body, he finds that those around him have judged him insane due to the actions of the Yithian that possessed his body. While he was experiencing a Yithian existence in Earth's ancient past, the Yithian occupying his body was experiencing a human one in the present day.
The narrator at first believes his episode and subsequent dreams to be the product of some kind of mental illness. His initial relief at discovering other cases like his throughout history is withered when he discovers that the other cases are too similar to his own to be without a connection. The narrator's dreams become more vivid, and he becomes obsessed with archaeology and ancient manuscripts (as was the Yithian) – but lacks any sort of proof that would demonstrate whether he was (or is) simply mad.
He discovers that the Yithians on Earth died out eons ago (their civilization destroyed by a rival, utterly alien pre-human race described as "
half-polypous" creatures) but the Yithian minds will inhabit new bodies on Earth after humanity is long gone. His tenuously held sanity is challenged when he discovers the proof he seeks—and that not only do remains of the Yithians' past civilization still exist on Earth; but also still remaining are those who destroyed them. It is also mentioned that the current appearance of the Yithians is not the original; but one acquired during a previous mass-projection of the minds of their race when disaster beckoned, leaving the original inhabitants to die in the bodies of the Yithians.
Characters
*Nathaniel Wingate Peaslee: The narrator of the story, a professor of
political economy
Political economy is the study of how Macroeconomics, economic systems (e.g. Marketplace, markets and Economy, national economies) and Politics, political systems (e.g. law, Institution, institutions, government) are linked. Widely studied ph ...
at
Miskatonic University
Miskatonic University is a fictional university located in Arkham, a fictional town in Essex County, Massachusetts. It is named after the Miskatonic River (also fictional). After first appearing in H. P. Lovecraft's 1922 story "Herbert West–Rea ...
, and, from 1908 until 1913, a victim of the
Great Race of Yith
The Cthulhu Mythos is a mythopoeia and a shared fictional universe, originating in the works of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. The term was coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent and protégé of Lovecraft, to identify ...
. He was born c. 1870.
:There are autobiographical aspects to the character. The years of Peaslee's amnesia correspond to the timespan of Lovecraft's adolescent
nervous breakdown
A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...
, which forced him to drop out of high school and withdraw from society. During this period, Lovecraft suffered from facial
tic
A tic is a sudden, repetitive, nonrhythmic motor movement or vocalization involving discrete muscle groups.American Psychiatric Association (2000)DSM-IV-TR: Tourette's Disorder.''Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders'', 4th ed., ...
s, which may be reflected in the Yithian-possessed Peaslee's inability to control his facial muscles. The feeling Lovecraft described, upon returning to Providence after living in New York City for two years, that he was "awakening from the queer dream about being away from home" has been called "the cornerstone upon which Lovecraft built his masterpiece, 'The Shadow out of Time'." But ''An H. P. Lovecraft Encyclopedia'', which calls Peaslee perhaps "the most thoroughly developed of HPL's characters", notes that there are parallels as well to Lovecraft's father, Winfield Scott Lovecraft, who also displayed eccentric behavior during a five-year period of madness.
*Wingate Peaslee: Son of Nathaniel Peaslee, also a
Miskatonic
Miskatonic University is a fictional university located in Arkham, a fictional town in Essex County, Massachusetts. It is named after the Miskatonic River (also fictional). After first appearing in H. P. Lovecraft's 1922 story " Herbert West–Re ...
professor. He is described by his father as "the only member of my family who stuck to me after my queer
amnesia
Amnesia is a deficit in memory caused by brain damage or disease,Gazzaniga, M., Ivry, R., & Mangun, G. (2009) Cognitive Neuroscience: The biology of the mind. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. but it can also be caused temporarily by the use ...
of long ago, and the man best informed on the inner facts of my case."
*William Dyer: A Miskatonic University geology professor who accompanies the expedition to Australia. See ''
At the Mountains of Madness
''At the Mountains of Madness'' is a science fiction-horror novella by American author H. P. Lovecraft, written in February/March 1931 and rejected that year by ''Weird Tales'' editor Farnsworth Wright on the grounds of its length. It was ori ...
''.
The story mentions a number of victims of the Yithians' mind-swapping whom Nathaniel Peaslee recalls talking with, including:
*Titus Sempronius Blaesus: A
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
"who had been a
quaestor
A ( , , ; "investigator") was a public official in Ancient Rome. There were various types of quaestors, with the title used to describe greatly different offices at different times.
In the Roman Republic, quaestors were elected officials who ...
in
Sulla
Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (; 138–78 BC), commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman general and statesman. He won the first large-scale civil war in Roman history and became the first man of the Republic to seize power through force.
Sulla had ...
's time". Sulla first became Consul in 88
B.C. and was dictator of Rome 82-80 B.C. A quaestor was a Roman financial official; Sulla reformed the office and raised their number from ten to twenty.
*Bartolomeo Corsi: A "12th century
Florentine monk
A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...
". This character also appears in Phillip O. Marsh's 1994 novel ''The Worm Shall Ye Fight!''
*Crom-Ya: A
Cimmerian
The Cimmerians (Akkadian: , romanized: ; Hebrew: , romanized: ; Ancient Greek: , romanized: ; Latin: ) were an ancient Eastern Iranian equestrian nomadic people originating in the Caspian steppe, part of whom subsequently migrated into West Asi ...
chief who lived
c. 15,000 B.C. This is a homage to Lovecraft's friend
Robert E. Howard
Robert Ervin Howard (January 22, 1906June 11, 1936) was an American writer. He wrote pulp fiction in a diverse range of genres. He is well known for his character Conan the Barbarian and is regarded as the father of the sword and sorcery subge ...
, whose best-known creation,
Conan the Barbarian
Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian) is a fictional sword and sorcery hero who originated in pulp magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, films (including '' Conan the Barbarian'' and '' Conan the Destroyer'') ...
, hailed from Cimmeria and worshipped
Crom. In Fred L. Pelton's 1989 short story "The Sussex Manuscript", Crom-Ya is said to be a worshipper of
Tsathoggua
Tsathoggua (the ''Sleeper of N'kai'', also known as Zhothaqquah) is a supernatural entity in the Cthulhu Mythos shared fictional universe. He is the creation of American writer Clark Ashton Smith and is part of his Hyperborean cycle.
Tsathoggua/Z ...
.
*Khephnes: "An
Egyptian
Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt.
Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to:
Nations and ethnic groups
* Egyptians, a national group in North Africa
** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...
of the
14th Dynasty, who told me the hideous secret of
Nyarlathotep
Nyarlathotep is a fictional character created by H. P. Lovecraft. The character is a malign deity in the Cthulhu Mythos, a shared universe. First appearing in Lovecraft's 1920 prose poem "Nyarlathotep", he was later mentioned in other works by ...
". The 14th dynasty was about 1700 B.C.
*Nevil Kingston-Brown: An "Australian physicist...who will die in 2518 A.D."
*Pierre-Louis Montagny: "An aged
Frenchman
The French people (french: Français) are an ethnic group and nation primarily located in Western Europe that share a common French culture, history, and language, identified with the country of France.
The French people, especially the nati ...
of
Louis XIII
Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown ...
's time". Louis XIII was king of France from 1610 to 1643.
*Nug-Soth: "A magician of the dark conquerors of 16,000 A.D."
*S'gg'ha: A being from "the
Star-headed vegetable carnivores of Antarctica."
*Theodotides: A
Greco-Bactrian
The Bactrian Kingdom, known to historians as the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom or simply Greco-Bactria, was a Hellenistic-era Greek state, and along with the Indo-Greek Kingdom, the easternmost part of the Hellenistic world in Central Asia and the India ...
official of 200 B.C.
*James Woodville: "A
Suffolk
Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...
gentleman of
Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...
's day". Cromwell lived from 1599 to 1658, and was the English head of state from 1653 until his death.
*Yiang-Li: "A philosopher from the cruel empire of Tsan-Chan, which is to come in 5,000 A.D." Tsan-Chan is first mentioned by Lovecraft in the story "
Beyond the Wall of Sleep
"Beyond the Wall of Sleep" is a science fiction short story by American writer H. P. Lovecraft, written in 1919 and first published in the amateur publication ''Pine Cones'' in October 1919.
Plot
A former intern and a worker of a mental hos ...
".
Inspiration
S. T. Joshi points to ''
Berkeley Square
Berkeley Square is a garden square in the West End of London. It is one of the best known of the many squares in London, located in Mayfair in the City of Westminster. It was laid out in the mid 18th century by the architect William Kent ...
'', a 1933 fantasy film, as an inspiration for ''The Shadow Out of Time'': "Lovecraft saw this film four times in late 1933; its portrayal of a man of the 20th century who somehow merges his personality with that of his 18th-century ancestor was clearly something that fired Lovecraft's imagination, since he had written a story on this very theme himself—the then unpublished ''
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward
''The Case of Charles Dexter Ward'' is a short horror novel (51,500 words) by American writer H. P. Lovecraft, written in early 1927, but not published during the author's lifetime. Set in Lovecraft's hometown of Providence, Rhode Island, it w ...
'' (1927)." Lovecraft called the film "the most weirdly perfect embodiment of my own moods and pseudo-memories that I have ever seen—for all my life I have felt as if I might wake up out of this dream of an idiotic Victorian age and insane jazz age into the sane reality of 1760 or 1770 or 1780." Lovecraft noted some conceptual problems in ''Berkeley Squares depiction of time travel, and felt that he had resolved these flaws in his novella.
Other literary models for ''The Shadow Out of Time'' include H. B. Drake's ''The Shadowy Thing'' (originally published as ''The Remedy'' in 1925), about a person who has the ability to transfer his personality to another body; Henri Beraud's ''Lazarus'' (1925), in which the protagonist develops an alter ego during a lengthy period of amnesia; and
Walter de la Mare
Walter John de la Mare (; 25 April 1873 – 22 June 1956) was an English poet, short story writer, and novelist. He is probably best remembered for his works for children, for his poem "The Listeners", and for a highly acclaimed selection of ...
's ''The Return'' (1910), featuring a character who seems to be possessed by a mind from the 18th century.
A similar plot was used in the story ''Les Posthumes'' (1802) by
Nicolas-Edme Rétif
Nicolas Restif de la Bretonne, born Nicolas-Edme Rétif or Nicolas-Edme Restif (; 23 October 1734 – 3 February 1806), also known as Rétif, was a French novelist. The term '' retifism'' for shoe fetishism was named after him (an early nov ...
, where the character the Duke of Multipliandre has the power to project his soul into other humans and through time and space across the universe.
Reaction
Lovecraft critic
Lin Carter
Linwood Vrooman Carter (June 9, 1930 – February 7, 1988) was an American author of science fiction and fantasy, as well as an editor, poet and critic. He usually wrote as Lin Carter; known pseudonyms include H. P. Lowcraft (for an H. P. L ...
calls ''The Shadow Out of Time'' Lovecraft's "single greatest achievement in fiction", citing "its amazing scope and sense of cosmic immensitude, the gulfs of time it opens,
ndthe titanic sweep of the narrative", while horror author and critic
Ramsey Campbell
Ramsey Campbell (born 4 January 1946) is an English horror fiction writer, editor and critic who has been writing for well over fifty years. He is the author of over 30 novels and hundreds of short stories, many of them winners of literary awa ...
describes it as "awe-inspiring".
Swedish Lovecraft expert Martin Andersson named the story as one of his four favorites and called it Lovecraft's "
magnum opus
A masterpiece, ''magnum opus'' (), or ''chef-d’œuvre'' (; ; ) in modern use is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, ...
". Lovecraft himself was dissatisfied with the effort, so much so that he mailed the original manuscript to
August Derleth
August William Derleth (February 24, 1909 – July 4, 1971) was an American writer and anthologist. Though best remembered as the first book publisher of the writings of H. P. Lovecraft, and for his own contributions to the Cthulhu Mythos and the ...
without taking a copy for himself.
Cinescape Magazine rated the story to be one of the top 10 Science Fiction and Fantasy Books of 2001. Mark Squirek wrote in the New York Journal of Books that, "The complexity of Mr. Lovecraft’s story is enhanced by the art showcasing what he wrote—a great way for a novice reader to discover the work of H. P. Lovecraft." Also, ''Publishers Weekly'' wrote, "Lovecraftians will hail the publication of H.P. Lovecraft's The Shadow Out of Time."
Adaptations
*The
H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society
The H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society or HPLHS is the organization that hosts Cthulhu Lives!, a group of live-action roleplayers for the '' Cthulhu Live'' version of '' Call of Cthulhu''. Founded in Colorado in 1984, it is now based in Glendal ...
has produced ''
Dark Adventure Radio Theatre: The Shadow Out of Time'', a
Dark Adventure Radio Theatre
The H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society or HPLHS is the organization that hosts Cthulhu Lives!, a group of live-action roleplayers for the ''Cthulhu Live'' version of '' Call of Cthulhu''. Founded in Colorado in 1984, it is now based in Glendale, ...
adaptation of the story, similar to their previous adaptations (''
Dark Adventure Radio Theatre: At the Mountains of Madness'' and ''
Dark Adventure Radio Theatre: The Dunwich Horror'').
*''The Shadow Out of Time'' was adapted by artist
Larry Todd
Larry S. Todd[Todd entry]
''Who's Who of American Comics Books, 1928–1999.'' Accessed Sept. 19, ...
as "The Shadow From the Abyss" in ''Skull Comics'' No. 5 (
Last Gasp
Last Gasp or The Last Gasp may refer to
* Last Gasp (publisher)
* ''Last Gasp'' (''Inside No. 9''), a TV episode
* ''The Last Gasp
Impaled is a death metal band from Oakland, California. The band's name is a backronym, standing for "Immoral M ...
, 1972).
*''The Shadow Out of Time'' was adapted by cartoonist
Matt Howarth
Matt may refer to:
*Matt (name), people with the given name ''Matt'' or Matthew, meaning "gift from God", or the surname Matt
*In British English, of a surface: having a non-glossy finish, see gloss (material appearance)
*Matt, Switzerland, a mu ...
in the book ''Graphic Classics: H.P. Lovecraft'' (''
Graphic Classics
''Graphic Classics'' is a comic book anthology series published by Eureka Productions of Mount Horeb, Wisconsin. ''Graphic Classics'' features adaptations of literary classics by authors such as Arthur Conan Doyle, H. P. Lovecraft, and Edgar Alla ...
'', Volume 4) and is included in both the first (2002) and second (2007) editions.
*''The Shadow Out of Time'' was adapted by cartoonist I. N. J. Culbard in a graphic novel of the same title, published in 2013.
*The protagonist of the 2006 video game ''
Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth'' is revealed to have been sired by a Yithian who mind-swapped with his father.
*Manga artist
Gou Tanabe has adapted several of H.P. Lovecraft's stories into graphic novels, including The Shadow Out of Time.
References
Sources
* Definitive version.
*
Lin Carter
Linwood Vrooman Carter (June 9, 1930 – February 7, 1988) was an American author of science fiction and fantasy, as well as an editor, poet and critic. He usually wrote as Lin Carter; known pseudonyms include H. P. Lowcraft (for an H. P. L ...
, ''
Lovecraft: A Look Behind the Cthulhu Mythos''.
*
S. T. Joshi and David E. Schultz, ''An H. P. Lovecraft Encyclopedia''.
*David E. Schultz, "Lovecraft's New York Exile", ''Black Forbidden Things'',
Robert M. Price
Robert McNair Price (born July 7, 1954) is an American New Testament scholar. His most notable stance is arguing in favor of the Christ myth theorythe claim that a historical Jesus did not exist. Price is the author of a number of books on bi ...
, ed.
External links
*
Hippocampus Press page with links to reviews
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shadow Out Of Time, The
1936 American novels
Fiction about body swapping
Cthulhu Mythos novels
American fantasy novels
Fiction set in 1935
Novels by H. P. Lovecraft
Novels set in Australia
Novels set in Massachusetts
Novels about time travel
Works originally published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact
Weird fiction novels