"The Nameless City"

by H.P. Lovecraft

originally published The Wolverine, November 1921

Somewhere is the Arabian desert lie the ruins of a city so ancient, it predates the human race.  An explorer comes looking for it, and finds it.

It was apparently inhabited by a horned, reptilian race which went on all fours.  Abdul Alhazred wrote of it "That is not dead which can eternal lie/ And with strange aeons even death may die."

In caverns beneath the city, the original inhabitants still maintain some form of life, in a place lit by luminescence and hieroglyphs and reliefs that tell of the rise and fall of the city.  The explorer flees for his life and sanity.

For a lot of Cthulhu Mythos fans, this is alleged to be where it starts - the first true Cthulhu Mythos story!
I myself am less convinced, only because I'm not sure the Mythos stories "start" anywhere.  More like a coming together of tropes until a form was reached.

Lovecraft was pleased with this story.  I find it rather slight, but at times effective.  Still Lin Carter was not entirely wrong when he notes that Lovecraft "describes" a mood of fear more than evoking it.  There are some nice touches here, though.