by Colin Wilson
originally published Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos, Arkham House, 1969
Out story starts out in a very typical Cthulhuoid fashion. Our narrator starts to tell us about the events he's going to relate. But wait! There's a big difference!! This narrator actually has a name!!!
He is Paul Lang, a University of Virginia Literature Prof and Poe scholar. And he's 72 years old, just so's ya know, and he doesn't give a shoggoth's ass what he's colleagues think about him now, so here goes his tale...
After meeting a colleague in Moscow, Lang becomes interested in The Voynich Manuscript, a medieval text attributed to Roger Bacon, which is either a treatise on magic, or impossibly advanced science for the 13th century (in which it was supposedly wrought), or both - since it's all written in code or cipher.
Lang gets his hands on the book - it gives off an unpleasant aura of "nastiness" that only Lang seems to experience. He has photostats made, then high definition photos which allow him to translate the book - which is not in cipher but simply Arabic characters which had faded over time - so it's written in both Greek and Latin using Arabic script!
After a lot of work and probably downing many Excedrin, Lang is able to translate the book, which is indeed a complete scientific account of the universe, its origin, history, geography…mathematical structure and hidden depths. He also learns that the book has a name: Necronomicon.
It ain't too long before Paul finds out about the fiction of Mssr. H.P. Lovecraft, and starts binge-reading. He also catches references from Arthur Machen's work in HPL that tie in with reference in the Necronomicon. He makes a trip out to Machen country (that's Wales, kiddies), which turn out to be one dreary place. A few well-placed questions guide him to one Col. Urquart, who has no chin but knows a lot about Welsh legends and the mythic lost continent of Mu. Among the things he knows is that Wales and Providence, RI are the best places to pick up Muvian artifacts (Ebay having not been invented yet). Urquart shows him a relic or two and talks to him of Ghatanothoa, chief god of Mu, and its rulers, an alien race called the Lloigor, who held the Muvians as slaves. The Lloigor, though driven underground and deep into the ocaen by the earth's subatomic processes - all tied in with the concept of optism vs pessimism - i.e. man's eternal striving for hope vs the Lloigor's inability to even understand such a concept. The Lloigor also have a hard-on against humans, and occasionally have struck back - c.f. the sinkings of Mu and Atlantis.
Urquart further points to the high rate of violent crime, insanity, and human perversion around this part of Wales, as proof of Lloigor infestation. A little research demonstrartes that Lang is probably onto something. Lang also finds himself nearly sucked into some kind of robbery scam by a lecherous hotel maid and an unsettling encounter with a local inbred youth. Urquart takes a bad fall in his cellar, and blames it on the Lloigor. He also warns Lang about Chickno, a local gypsy and head of a clan of inbred turds suspected of any number of icky crimes.
Lang soons spots Chickno in town and decides to take the bull by the horns - by taking him to a pub and getting him drunk. Chickno warns him that "they" are only really interested in Urquart, and tells him he should get his ass back to America. Chickno keeps blabbing about how powerful "they" are until he drinks himself into a stupor.
The next day a mysterious explosion blows up Chickno and his whole gypsy camp. Afterwards, the entire nearby village, and Lang and Urq, feel worn-out and under-the-weather. They surmise that (a) the Lloigor killed Chickno for talking too much and (b) the Lloigor draw their energy, vampire-like, from handy nearby humans.
Urq and Lang head to London. Further research suggests the Lloigor are active worldwide, and causing natural disasters and mass outbreaks of unnatural behavior. They try to alert the scientific community, but are jeered at. They try to bring their message to the US, and catch the attention of the Secretary of Defense, but their flight to Washington disappears without a trace.
A final note in the story is an epilogue written by Lang's nephew, who outlines his conviction that Urquart was a charlatan and a phony who either conned Lang, or that the two of them were working together on an elaborate hoax.
A wild ride that recalls Wilson's fascinating books on the occult. Structurally, its very similar to The Philiosopher's Stone in that not so much action actually takes place. The narrator learns things ... and then learns more things. Until a disturbing picture emerges...
For such an intellectual sort of tale, Lloigor is gripping all the way and the various references - am ix of fact, fiction, and fictionalized fact - are enough to send a curious soul off on a research binge of his own.
Not only is it gripping, its also scary. The last portion is an exercise in paranoia. The Lloigor, who, lets face it, are never established as other than a theoretical opponent, are definitely dangerous. You're not supposed to even know about them. And even their alleged allies are subject to elimination if they reveal much of anything. Unnerving stuff.
The legend goes that Wilson came to write this story after Aug Derleth challenged him to write an effective Lovecraftian tale (following some less-than-flattering remarks Wilson had made re: HPL's literary talents). I'd say ol' Colin rose to the challenge.
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