"Witche's Hollow"

by August Derleth
originally published Dark Mind, Dark Heart, Arkham House1962

Apparently, "Witches' Hollow" is based on a paragraph or two Lovecraft scribbled down as the germ of a possible, never-written novel.

In 1920, a Mr. Williams takes a job at a rural school outside Arkham. One student, Andrew Potter, is of particular interest, because the other kids shun him, he's highly intelligent but unmotivated, and he lives with a shunned family in the remotest part of the region.

Feeling that Andrew could be a more successful student, Williams offers him a ride home, though Andrew insists his parents will not be supportive.  Home turns out to be overgrown and run-down, and the fam just as hostile as Andrew had warned.   Williams departs, warned by Andrew not to talk to others in town about the family.  That night, the family of a student who had filled Williams in on some of the Potter back-story has their barn blown down in a freak storm, and several of their cattle killed.

Williams heads to the town newspaper to look up info about Witches' Hollow, and the Potters. The old editor spills his guts about an Old Wizard Potter who was said to have called something down from the sky.  This leads Williams to good ol' Miskatonic U.  Where he ends up browsing The Necronomicon.  While doing so, a Prof. Martin Keane, expert on all things Cthulhuey, introduces himself.  They head back the Prof's place for a crash-course in Cthulhu-ism, and Williams spills his guts.  Prof. believes the family is under the domination of a sinister force, but not to worry - he has a plan.

Next day, Williams takes Andrew to his car and slaps a star-stone (the Seal of R'lyeh, we are told) on his head.  He takes him straight to the Prof, where they slap another seal on the kid's chest and sedate him for good measure(!)

Prof. and Williams accost the Potter family with stones, getting everyone but mom, who it seems "harbors the seat" of the alien intelligence dominating them.  They get mom by setting fire to the house and trapping her inside, which causes the alien entity to exit her, flying up the chimney and out “in the direction of the Hyades, back to that place from which Old Wizard Potter had called it into himself.”

A very minor tale.  I really can't say much about it.  It's competently written but it's know-it-all hero, abrupt and rather ruthless denouement, and just in general being a not-very-interesting slice of Derlethia all drag it down.