"The Fairground Horror"

by Brian Lumley

Originally Published The Disciples of Cthulhu, 1976

Anderson Tharpe runs a nasty little freakshow exhibit at the carnival (Hodgson's Funfair), called the "Tomb of the Great Old Ones".  Mostly its the usual stuff.  But in a back room, he's got a full-on altar to Cthulhu set up, surrounded by various Cthuloid artifacts.  When a spectator of obvious occult knowledge stops by (Anderson helpfully has a printed invitation to such folks to meet him after showings), Anderson will show him a few of his real goodies - in exchange for some information.

You see, the altar actually was started by his weirdo brother, Hamilton, who traipsed around the world collecting such artifacts, and the usual books, of course.  Anderson eventually discovered Hamilton was onto something - that he could summon greenish lights and apparently make people disappear.  He suggested using these acquisitions for gain, but Hamilton was devoted to the worship of Cthulhu.  A scuffle ensued, and Anderson was forced to kill him.  He also found a nasty surprise - Anderson's toupee covered a weird, white, anemone-like growth coming out of his skull.

Anderson barely understands Hamilton's old books and notes and such, but he's looking for help.  If he can learn the invocation, maybe he can make people vanish and figure out a way to parley this into a fortune!  He even writes to Titus Crow for help (Crow is rude and discourages him, of course).  Meanwhile he is tormented by dreams of R'lyeh in which Cthulhu hisself warns him to stop taking his artifacts in vain.

One night a little man named Hiram Henley stops by.  Obviously a man of considerable Cthulhu know-how, and willing to help. Henley translates the invocation for Anderson and even reads it aloud.  A green, living light fills the room, and tentacles reach out of the light for Anderson.  A scuffle ensues, and Henley's hand is revealed to be a mass of white tentacles.  He's a priest of Cthulhu, sent by the master to fix Anderson's little red wagon for ignoring those warnings.  Anderson is sucked into the light, and presumably, down to R'lyeh.  Hiram destroys the artifacts in a fire, and wanders off.

I vividly remember finding The Disciples of Cthulhu at Tower Books at the height of my Lovecraft-lust, and this story being one of my top faves at the time.

Re-reading it 35 years or so later, it impresses me less.  It's a good Lumley story - well-written and clever.  But it's not one of his best works.  The atmosphere of the carnival - simultaneously seedy and spooky - is effectively evoked.  Having Anderson be not a dedicated devotee, but just a greedy little creep out for some riches and revenge, is clever and has a touch of originality.  The white worm-head and worm-hand are classic Lumley gross-outs - and I'm of the opinion that Lumely's love of the gross-out is one of his strengths.  In the end, this reminds me of something I might have read in Creepy or Eerie when I was a kid.  But that's hardly a bad thing.