The Colour out of Space

The Colour out of Space

Illustration with the original publication.

Author H. P. Lovecraft Published 1927-09-?? Type Fiction, Short story Genre Horror Themes Horror, Science fiction Age Group Adult

The Colour out of Space is a science fiction horror short story written by H. P. Lovecraft and published in September 1927 in Amazing Stories. The story has been adapted to film multiple times and inspired several others. It has also been adapted into an audio drama, and inspired multiple video games including Maniac Mansion. The story is in the public domain.

In the story, a meteor crashes on a farm. Initially scientists perform a battery of tests on it, only to discover it has strange properties which they can't understand, and they can't seem to finish their tests as the meteor continues to shrink away into nothing. As time goes by, the farm's crops produce horrible food, and the wild animals which grow on it become foul and unearthly. The farmer's family begins to lose their minds, and the very color of every living thing in the area begins to be drained leaving behind only dull grays.

Personal

Own?	Compilation book.
Read?	Compilation book.
Finished	2023-01-14.

After reading The Outsider, I wanted to read more of Lovecraft's short stories, and, having this one, I read it.

Review

Overall:

Good

• Lovecraft uses extensive vocabulary; I needed to look up about a dozen words. It's also nice to see old spelling styles like "colour" and "shewed" instead of "showed."
• The story is quite effective at creating a terrifying atmosphere.

Bad

• While describing something as "unmentionable" is a nice way too evoke horror, Lovecraft uses it so frequently, it feels lazy.

Ugly

• Nothing.

Media

Illustrations

• 

  J. M. de Aragon's illustration published in Amazing Stories in September 1927.

• 

  Virgil Finlay's illustration published in Famous Fantastic Mysteries in October 1941.

Representation

Strong female character?	Fail	Women are only ancillary characters.
Bechdel test?	Fail	I don't think any women speak.
Strong person of color character?	Fail	Everyone in the story is white.
Queer character?	Fail	There are no queer characters.

Links