"The Statement of Randolph Carter"

 

by H.P. Lovecraft

originally published The Vagrant, May, 1920

It seems old Randolph Carter's in a spot of trouble.  They found him wandering around Big Cypress Swamp in a state of partial amnesia.  Sometime earlier he and his bff Harley Warren were seen tramping around the area, carrying a bunch of equipment.  But now ol' Harl has vanished and Randolph's answers are a little - out there.

It seems Harley had acquires an obscure book which led him to believe there are entrances to a demonic underworld, here on earth.  And he had determined that one such could be found in a nearly-abandoned graveyard bear Big Cypress Swamp.  So the two of them headed out there straightaway with picks and shovels and flashlights and a portable telephone rig.  

They open up a tomb, revealing a flight of stairs, and Warren makes his way down, telling Randy his nerves are too delicate for such a trip.

After awhile, Warren starts babbling in disbelief at the things he's seeing - first in awe, then in panic.  He finally starts yelling at Warren to get the hell out of there.  Randy keeps shouting into the phone for him.  Finally an inhuman voice comes on the line and informs if "You fool - Warren is dead!"

Hoo boy!  I remember reading this in 7th grade English class (we had taken a test and those who finished had some free time) and being blooown away!

Re-reading it today: still a fun story, with a lot of atmosphere (admittedly, said atmosphere is laid on with a trowel, but it still works).  Lovecraft's a much less experienced writer at this point.  You can see it in the slight, flimsy plot and almost EC-comical ending (c'mon, some beastie picks up the phone to tell him they killed his buddy??).  Then there's the paragraph-length list of adjectives he trots out in an attempt to describe the voice.

So, a bit silly, a bit amateurish - but still a lot of fun!