by H.P. Lovecraft
originally published Weird Tales, October 1931
Thomas Olney is a "philosopher", which I guess is Lovecraft-ese for "consultant", or "unemployed unrecognized genius", who lives in creepy ol' Kingsport with his wife and kids.
High on a cliff overlooking the town and the ocean is a strange house which the locals fear and whisper odd things about. It's been there for generations. Olney decides to investigate, and climbs the mountain to poke around.
The house is small, almost medieval in construction, and does actually have an occupant. It is also impossibly placed on the cliff edge.
The resident is a strange character, a young man with ancient eyes, who speaks of strange and ancient places and things - Atlantis, Poseidonis, gods older than "The Elder Ones". Things get weird as Olney sees shadowed shapes around the windows. There's a knock on the door. Who shows up but the gods Neptune and Nodens, ancient sea deities. Nodens takes Olney up on his shell-chariot and off they go. They fly over Kingsport during a storm.
Olney comes back but seems more prosaic after his encounters. He has lost interest in the mysteries of life and the universe, but seems content.
An odd little story, very Dunsany-influenced, but HPL's writing style is borderline obtuse here, and I'm not sure if he knew where he wanted to go with this one himself. Atmospheric though.
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