Out of the Aeons
Encyclopedia
"Out of the Aeons" is a short story by H. P. Lovecraft
and Hazel Heald. It focuses around a Boston museum that has found an ancient mummy
from a past-sunken island to be put on display.
Over the years, the mummy garners a reputation as a possible link to an ancient tale from the Black Book by von Juntz of a man named T'yog, who challenged Ghatanothoa
, one of the gods of Yuggoth
, using the power of a magical scroll. In his sleep, however, one of the cultists stole the true magical scroll and replaced it with a fake one, and T'yog was never seen again. When the possible link to the Black Book and T'yog reaches the general public, the narrator begins to notice more and more suspicious foreigners coming to the museum.
Soon, several incidents occur when suspicious foreigners attempt to steal the mummy itself. These incidents come to a head when two men die as the mummy seemingly springs to life, opening its eyes before them and revealing the last images imprinted upon its eyes, the approaching form of Ghatanothoa. Though the curator does not know at the time what he has seen, it shakes him horribly and he orders an opening of the mummy's braincase, to dispel once and for all the notion of the Existence of the petrified high priest. As the braincase is opened, the curator and all present are shocked and horrified: The mummy's brain is still alive. With this revelation, the reader comes to understand that the mummy is actually the living-yet-petrified and still aware remains of T'yog.
wrote a screen adaptation of the story for the 1971 TV series Night Gallery
; however, it was unproduced. Bloch wrote the teleplay but it was never filmed; it was rewritten by Alvin T. Sapinsley, filmed, and broadcast as "Last Rites of a Dead Druid." Sapinsley's screenplay
bore little or no relation to the original Lovecraft tale which Bloch had adapted.
H. P. Lovecraft
Howard Phillips Lovecraft --often credited as H.P. Lovecraft — was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction....
and Hazel Heald. It focuses around a Boston museum that has found an ancient mummy
Mummy
A mummy is a body, human or animal, whose skin and organs have been preserved by either intentional or incidental exposure to chemicals, extreme coldness , very low humidity, or lack of air when bodies are submerged in bogs, so that the recovered body will not decay further if kept in cool and dry...
from a past-sunken island to be put on display.
Plot summary
The story is told from the point of view of the curator of the Cabot Museum in Boston. In 1879, a freighter captain sighted an uncharted island, presumably risen from its sunken state due to volcanic activity. From it, they recover both a strange mummy and a metal cylinder with a scroll with it. A year later, the mummy is put on display in the museum, though the island once again vanishes without a trace.Over the years, the mummy garners a reputation as a possible link to an ancient tale from the Black Book by von Juntz of a man named T'yog, who challenged Ghatanothoa
Ghatanothoa
Ghatanothoa is a fictional deity in the Cthulhu Mythos. The being first appeared in the short story "Out Of The Aeons" by H. P. Lovecraft and Hazel Heald. It is a large, amorphous, exceptionally hideous being comparable to Medusa.-Summary:...
, one of the gods of Yuggoth
Yuggoth
Yuggoth is a fictional planet in the Cthulhu Mythos. H. P. Lovecraft himself said that Yuggoth is the then newly-discovered planet Pluto. However, other writers claim that it is actually an enormous, trans-Neptunian world that orbits perpendicular to the ecliptic of the solar system.-In the...
, using the power of a magical scroll. In his sleep, however, one of the cultists stole the true magical scroll and replaced it with a fake one, and T'yog was never seen again. When the possible link to the Black Book and T'yog reaches the general public, the narrator begins to notice more and more suspicious foreigners coming to the museum.
Soon, several incidents occur when suspicious foreigners attempt to steal the mummy itself. These incidents come to a head when two men die as the mummy seemingly springs to life, opening its eyes before them and revealing the last images imprinted upon its eyes, the approaching form of Ghatanothoa. Though the curator does not know at the time what he has seen, it shakes him horribly and he orders an opening of the mummy's braincase, to dispel once and for all the notion of the Existence of the petrified high priest. As the braincase is opened, the curator and all present are shocked and horrified: The mummy's brain is still alive. With this revelation, the reader comes to understand that the mummy is actually the living-yet-petrified and still aware remains of T'yog.
Media Adaptations
Robert BlochRobert Bloch
Robert Albert Bloch was a prolific American writer, primarily of crime, horror and science fiction. He is best known as the writer of Psycho, the basis for the film of the same name by Alfred Hitchcock...
wrote a screen adaptation of the story for the 1971 TV series Night Gallery
Night Gallery
Night Gallery is an American anthology series that aired on NBC from 1970 to 1973, featuring stories of horror and the macabre. Rod Serling, who had gained fame from an earlier series, The Twilight Zone, served both as the on-air host of Night Gallery and as a major contributor of scripts, although...
; however, it was unproduced. Bloch wrote the teleplay but it was never filmed; it was rewritten by Alvin T. Sapinsley, filmed, and broadcast as "Last Rites of a Dead Druid." Sapinsley's screenplay
bore little or no relation to the original Lovecraft tale which Bloch had adapted.
Connections
- Several members of Lovecraft's Cthulhu MythosCthulhu MythosThe Cthulhu Mythos is a shared fictional universe, based on the work of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft.The term was first coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent of Lovecraft, who used the name of the creature Cthulhu - a central figure in Lovecraft literature and the focus...
are mentioned in this story, including Shub-NiggurathShub-NiggurathShub-Niggurath, often associated with the phrase “The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young”, is a deity in the Cthulhu Mythos of H. P. Lovecraft...
and Yig.
- The first curator of the Cabot Museum was named "Pickman", sharing a name with the titular character of Lovecraft's "Pickman's ModelPickman's Model"Pickman's Model" is a short story by H. P. Lovecraft, written in September 1926 and first published in the October 1927 issue of Weird Tales...
".
- One of the visitors to the museum is a strange man who calls himself "Swami Chandraputra." This is actually Randolph CarterRandolph CarterRandolph Carter is a recurring protagonist in H. P. Lovecraft'sfiction and a thinly disguised alter ego of Lovecraft himself. The first tale in which Carter appears--"The Statement of Randolph Carter" --is based on one of Lovecraft's dreams....
, who, as described in "Through the Gates of the Silver KeyThrough the Gates of the Silver Key"Through the Gates of the Silver Key" is a short story co-written by H. P. Lovecraft and E. Hoffmann Price between October 1932 and April 1933. A sequel to Lovecraft's "The Silver Key", and part of a sequence of stories focusing on Randolph Carter, it was first published in the July 1934 issue of...
," uses that alias after his mind is trapped in an alien body.