"The Dweller in Darkness"

 

by August Derleth

originally published Weird Tales, November 1944

Jack, our narrator (He has a NAME!  Stop the presses!) is asked by his bud Laird Dorgan to go on a little camping trip with him.  

It seems a few months ago, Laird took Prof. Upton Gardner out to this cabin in the woods around Rick's Lake, in cheese-and-beer-laden Wisc., there to ruminate on some old and creepy legends involving a half-man half-beast said to roam the woods.  Some recent events, including the finding of the all too-well preserved bod of a missionary who vanished in said woods 300 years ago, had led Gardner to figure there was something there worth checking out.  

During his time there, Gardner sent Laird three increasingly weird letters, first alluding to a weird, spooky atmosphere about the woods, then noting strange sounds at night, seemingly eerie music and singing in possibly non-human voices, requesting photocopies from the Necronomicon et al, and a copy of Lovecraft's The Outsider and Others ("published by Arkham House last year"  - I guess Auggie had no qualms re: product placement!); finally a frantic note saying that there really are creepie crawlies in the woods.  Then Gardner vanished.  The coppers have searched thoroughly, but Laird isn't satisfied and wants to find out what might have happened to the Prof.

So Jack and Laird trek out there and make themselves comfy, taking with them among other things a dictaphone and cylinders to record anything interesting that happens.  Interesting things happen fast.  First there's the sound of howling wind ... even though there's actually no wind blowing.  Then there's Gardner's notes, alluding to various mythos baddies and a slab or carving (also having been mentioned by a local drunk injun earlier).  A conversation with grumpy eccentric Prof. Partier, a rival of Gardner's reveals a bit more about mythos business and gives Aug an excuse to trot out another laundry list of deities, etc.  With a little firewater, Jack and Lair persuace the aforementioned local drunk injun to take them to the carved slab, something he's clearly afraid of, and which is revealed to be a big stone slab with weird figures carved on it.

Upon arriving back at the cabin, J&L discover a message has been recorded on it by --- Prof. Gardner!!  Gardner's message warns them of, waxes poetic about all the places he's been and seen since the Goo-Goo's took him (cue laundry list number two) and also leaves them a chant to invoke Cthugha, who somehow opposes Nyarlathotep, who is apparently prone to manifesting himself in the woods and having himself a gay old time, singing and chanting with some of his minions.

J&L decide to hang out at the slab that night and watch the proceedings, and are not disappointed when a woodwind-playing squiddly-diddley shows up.  That causes them to haul ass back to the cabin!

Shortly after, Prof. Gardner shows up - in the flesh - but with a mightily changed attitude - telling them the entire thing's been a hoax, taking credit for faking all the weird noises at night and chalking the squiddly up to hallucinogenic miasma.  Then he goes to bed.

The next morning Prof. G is gone, and so are the notes and copies from the rare books (he does leave behind The Outsider, and some copies of Weird Tales).  Laird isn't buying the Prof's story.  They hang for the music and chanting to start up again, then reproduce the Cthugha-summoning chant, which causes little sentient fires to pop up everywhere and go after the giant figure of Nyarlathotep which is stomping around the woods, basically destroying his stomping grounds, while J&L high-tail it home.

This is a modestly diverting tale but nothing special. The whole thing has a ludicrous obviousness and never goes anywhere particularly interesting.  There's a kind of hastibness to it, Derleth's failed to connect the dots or tie up the loose ends which leads me to suspect it was  bit dashed-off.  The product placement gave me a good laugh though!