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The Temple
"The Temple" is a short story written by H. P. Lovecraft in 1920, and first published in the pulp magazine Weird Tales in February 1925. It was the first story Lovecraft published in Weird Tales, and indeed was his first publication in any professional outlet.
The story is narrated as a "found manuscript" penned by Karl Heinrich, Graf von Altberg-Ehrenstein, a Lieutenant Commander in the Imperial German Navy during the days of World War I. It documents his untimely end at the bottom of the ocean.
The story is narrated as a "found manuscript" penned by Karl Heinrich, Graf von Altberg-Ehrenstein, a Lieutenant Commander in the Imperial German Navy during the days of World War I. It documents his untimely end at the bottom of the ocean.
30 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1920
28 people are currently reading
826 people want to read
About the author
H.P. Lovecraft
6,040 books19.2k followersHoward Phillips Lovecraft, of Providence, Rhode Island, was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction.
Lovecraft's major inspiration and invention was cosmic horror: life is incomprehensible to human minds and the universe is fundamentally alien. Those who genuinely reason, like his protagonists, gamble with sanity. Lovecraft has developed a cult following for his Cthulhu Mythos, a series of loosely interconnected fictions featuring a pantheon of human-nullifying entities, as well as the Necronomicon, a fictional grimoire of magical rites and forbidden lore. His works were deeply pessimistic and cynical, challenging the values of the Enlightenment, Romanticism and Christianity. Lovecraft's protagonists usually achieve the mirror-opposite of traditional gnosis and mysticism by momentarily glimpsing the horror of ultimate reality.
Although Lovecraft's readership was limited during his life, his reputation has grown over the decades. He is now commonly regarded as one of the most influential horror writers of the 20th Century, exerting widespread and indirect influence, and frequently compared to Edgar Allan Poe.
See also Howard Phillips Lovecraft.
— Wikipedia
Lovecraft's major inspiration and invention was cosmic horror: life is incomprehensible to human minds and the universe is fundamentally alien. Those who genuinely reason, like his protagonists, gamble with sanity. Lovecraft has developed a cult following for his Cthulhu Mythos, a series of loosely interconnected fictions featuring a pantheon of human-nullifying entities, as well as the Necronomicon, a fictional grimoire of magical rites and forbidden lore. His works were deeply pessimistic and cynical, challenging the values of the Enlightenment, Romanticism and Christianity. Lovecraft's protagonists usually achieve the mirror-opposite of traditional gnosis and mysticism by momentarily glimpsing the horror of ultimate reality.
Although Lovecraft's readership was limited during his life, his reputation has grown over the decades. He is now commonly regarded as one of the most influential horror writers of the 20th Century, exerting widespread and indirect influence, and frequently compared to Edgar Allan Poe.
See also Howard Phillips Lovecraft.
— Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 294 reviews
June 12, 2019
What a creepy tale. A German submarine, unable to manouvre, steers towards the bottom of the sea. Its captain discovers an ancient town and is fascinated by this great old architecture he beholds. He seems to be lured into a vast temple and leaves the ship at the end of his air supply. Will he survive? What is with the mysterious carving of a head that went lost with his Lieutenant Klenze who already followed the call of the temple? Spine tingling, very well written diary of madness and terror. A really good and haunting story, you feel like being part of it as a reader. Who built this city and why is it spotless after thousands of year in the sea? Highly recommended!
September 20, 2020
Una historia corta pero muy interesante.
Lovecraft nos presenta una historia fatalista que, complementada con las supersticiones de los marineros ante lo desconocido, nos hace ver como un ser humano adulto y racional puede llegar a perder la cordura ante el riesgo de peligrar su vida. Claramente, puede ser una historia real y causar gran horror a quienes navegan por el mar. Para nosotros que estamos lejos de ese entorno, puede parecer absurdo imaginar que los muertos vivan o que una tripulación enloquezca de repente. Sin embargo, si viviéramos personalmente una experiencia de este tipo, probablemente nuestra opinión cambiaría e incluso enloqueceríamos, porque nuestro cerebro puede pasar de ser una gran herramienta a el arma más peligrosa que podamos encontrar.
A pesar de ser el primer texto que leo del autor, reconozco que me ha gustado mucho y que sin dudar leeré más de Lovecraft en el futuro. Lo que más me gustó fue la no explicación de los hechos: A veces, las explicaciones en los libros de horror echan a perderlo todo, por lo que quedar con la incertidumbre de si todo fue una alucinación por el estado de locura de los personajes, o si por el contrario algo aterrador fue el causante de los acontecimientos, es un punto muy alto en esta corta historia. Cada lector determinará en que creer.
Como cada quien tiene sus propios miedos, siempre será discutible el hecho de calificar una historia de horror. En mi caso, no siento miedo ni por la claustrofobia ni por lo sobrenatural e incluso me gustaría ver algo fuera de lo normal, por lo que nunca me sobresalté. Pero para quienes tienen alguno de estos miedos, debe ser angustioso imaginar estar en una situación similar. Por esa razón, siento que las cuatro estrellas es una calificación justa.
Recomendado para leer en voz alta por la noche y asustar a nuestros familiares y amigos.
Lovecraft nos presenta una historia fatalista que, complementada con las supersticiones de los marineros ante lo desconocido, nos hace ver como un ser humano adulto y racional puede llegar a perder la cordura ante el riesgo de peligrar su vida. Claramente, puede ser una historia real y causar gran horror a quienes navegan por el mar. Para nosotros que estamos lejos de ese entorno, puede parecer absurdo imaginar que los muertos vivan o que una tripulación enloquezca de repente. Sin embargo, si viviéramos personalmente una experiencia de este tipo, probablemente nuestra opinión cambiaría e incluso enloqueceríamos, porque nuestro cerebro puede pasar de ser una gran herramienta a el arma más peligrosa que podamos encontrar.
A pesar de ser el primer texto que leo del autor, reconozco que me ha gustado mucho y que sin dudar leeré más de Lovecraft en el futuro. Lo que más me gustó fue la no explicación de los hechos: A veces, las explicaciones en los libros de horror echan a perderlo todo, por lo que quedar con la incertidumbre de si todo fue una alucinación por el estado de locura de los personajes, o si por el contrario algo aterrador fue el causante de los acontecimientos, es un punto muy alto en esta corta historia. Cada lector determinará en que creer.
Como cada quien tiene sus propios miedos, siempre será discutible el hecho de calificar una historia de horror. En mi caso, no siento miedo ni por la claustrofobia ni por lo sobrenatural e incluso me gustaría ver algo fuera de lo normal, por lo que nunca me sobresalté. Pero para quienes tienen alguno de estos miedos, debe ser angustioso imaginar estar en una situación similar. Por esa razón, siento que las cuatro estrellas es una calificación justa.
Recomendado para leer en voz alta por la noche y asustar a nuestros familiares y amigos.
August 6, 2019
“The Temple” (1920), first published in Weird Tales (September 1925), is presented to the reader as the text of a manuscript found in a bottle off the coast of Yucatan, an ocean adventure narrative composed by U-Boat Commander Karl Heinrich near the end of World War I. Like “Dagon,” (1917) it is one of Lovecraft’s early submerged city narratives, but it lacks “Dagon”’s poetic concentration and gains no narrative power from its length.
I think, though, that this tale has been pummeled a bit too much by its critics. True, the narrator is an irritating ubermensch, contemptuous of all things unGerman and convinced of the purity of his Teutonic iron will, but there is nevertheless considerable irony in his iron. His Teutonic will eventually collapses completely as he drifts to his watery death surrounded by the mysteriously glowing ruins of the ancient metropolis, but an even greater irony suffuses a statement he makes earlier in his explorations:
On August 16 I effected an exit from the U-29, and laboriously made my way through the ruined and mud-choked streets to the ancient river. I found no skeletons or other human remains, but gleaned a wealth of archaeological lore from sculptures and coins. Of this I cannot now speak save to utter my awe at a culture in the full noon of glory when cave-dwellers roamed Europe and the Nile flowed unwatched to the sea.This man from what he thinks of as a superior culture realizes his ancestors were mere cavemmen when this culture was in “the full noon of glory," and he can say nothing “save to utter [his] awe.”
October 24, 2022
The Temple is H. P. Lovecraft's first published work ever and published in the pulp magazine called Weird Tales in September 1925. The narrative is a found manuscript written by a German U-boat commander where he unflinchingly relates his mission and the subsequent happenings. He tells the story with some urgency because he feels that he will not survive an upcoming encounter. Not only does the commander sink a British freighter in the opening paragraphs, but there is a deliberate attempt at sinking the lifeboats as well to make certain that there would be little to no survivors. When the submarine rises and the hatch is opened a dead sailor is found with his arm hooked onto the sub. One of the crew is directed to remove the body, but before he does, he finds an ivory totem in the body's pocket and decides to keep it. Mysterious occurrences begin to follow the submarine. The crew begin to have nightmares, even to claim that they have seen apparitions of the sailors from the sunken freighter. They attempt a mutiny, and the ivory totem appears to have even greater significance still when the submarine is raised near underground catacombs that hold an ancient temple in the ruins. I found the story rather sophisticated for a first time offering. It holds the paranoia well, which would become a Lovecraftian trope. The underground catacombs, and temple would also serve to build on a prevailing ethos of ancient Gods and alien visitation, colonization, and possible takeover. Overall, surprisingly dense for a short story, but an excellent read.
March 22, 2020
This is a slightly unusual story for Lovecraft, in that it is set on a U-boat with German characters, and although some of his standard ruins-of-ancient-maybe-not-dead-races appear, the the horror elements are more reliant on the plight of the crew trapped in their foundering vehicle and their gradual loss of hope and sanity.
The grim Prussian commander was a little stereotypical, but his stoicism made a pleasant change from the usual feeble hysteria of Lovecraft protagonists. No fainting in terror this time! Face inexorable doom like a mensch.
The grim Prussian commander was a little stereotypical, but his stoicism made a pleasant change from the usual feeble hysteria of Lovecraft protagonists. No fainting in terror this time! Face inexorable doom like a mensch.
February 2, 2020
Claustrophobic underwater horror. A major inspiration in some of my own earlier writings.
June 20, 2019
Como todo lo que he leído de Lovecraft está obra, la primera en ser publicada, es perturbadora y espeluznante sin ser demasiado gráfico o descriptivo, siempre deja mucho a la imaginación y tiene la habilidad de envolverte en ese halo de misterio y terror. Dentro de la bitácora podemos conocer un poco a un Capitan de la Marina Alemana a cargo de un submarino fuera de combate en el fondo del océano que refleja un patriotismo y una defensa a la “raza aria” donde podemos ver una amplia de crítica a hacia el Nazionalismo Alemán.
October 14, 2021
Relato corto -dura un suspiro-, con una maravillosa prosa, y una atmósfera angustiante.
Todo lo que tiene que ver o pase en el mar, me pone un poco nerviosa y me incomoda, sobre todo si es en sus profundidades.
¿Os imagináis encontraros una ciudad bajo el mar? ¿Y si esa ciudad es más antigua que nada que el ser humano haya visto? ¿Y si además se escucha una risa demoníaca? ¿Y si ves una luz que no debería estar ahí, bajo toda esa agua?
Si bien no es el relato de Lovecraft que más me ha gustado, sí lo he disfrutado.
Todo lo que tiene que ver o pase en el mar, me pone un poco nerviosa y me incomoda, sobre todo si es en sus profundidades.
¿Os imagináis encontraros una ciudad bajo el mar? ¿Y si esa ciudad es más antigua que nada que el ser humano haya visto? ¿Y si además se escucha una risa demoníaca? ¿Y si ves una luz que no debería estar ahí, bajo toda esa agua?
Si bien no es el relato de Lovecraft que más me ha gustado, sí lo he disfrutado.
October 15, 2024
Hasta ahora es de los que mas me ha gustado del autor.
Dos alemanes intentan sobrevivir a bordo de un submarino que se va hundiendo cada vez más. Uno de ellos enloquece y se mata, el otro logra sobrevivir pero no por mucho tiempo.
El submarino llega al fondo del mar y ahí encuentra un como templo en ruinas, siente que lo atrae, que lo llama. La imagen en la entrada es igual a una figura que encontraron en los bolsillos de hombre muerto.
Me imagino lo que debió sentir al ir cayendo al fondo del mar y todo oscuro porque obviamente todas sus provisiones se iban agotando.
Que desesperación 😫
Dos alemanes intentan sobrevivir a bordo de un submarino que se va hundiendo cada vez más. Uno de ellos enloquece y se mata, el otro logra sobrevivir pero no por mucho tiempo.
El submarino llega al fondo del mar y ahí encuentra un como templo en ruinas, siente que lo atrae, que lo llama. La imagen en la entrada es igual a una figura que encontraron en los bolsillos de hombre muerto.
Me imagino lo que debió sentir al ir cayendo al fondo del mar y todo oscuro porque obviamente todas sus provisiones se iban agotando.
Que desesperación 😫
May 17, 2017
Personally I love this story. The nautical element, the mysterious discovery at the bottom of the ocean, the weird relic...it could be a novel all its own but instead is a compacted, moody, short little tale that hints at much larger terrors but never fully brings them into light.
June 13, 2017
This one is a major creeper.
October 29, 2020
More like 2.5 stars. Detestable protagonist, in the guise of a racist German submarine commander during WWI, and a story which could have been promising but doesn't deliver much suspense, horror or ultimately fulfillment.
March 15, 2021
3,5 Sterne abgerundet auf 3 Sterne, weil der Anfang nicht ganz so packend war. Zum Schluss wurde es aber immer gruseliger, tolles Ende.
June 13, 2015
3.5
The Commander is not a likeable character. His chauvinistic attitude, first towards the enemies ('the English pig-dogs are waging upon the Fatherland'), then later towards his own men ('a superstitious Alsatian swine', 'paralysed and inefficient, as one might expect of a soft, womanish Rhinelander') makes him a very annoying character to put it mildly. Nobody seems German enough except him.
After they sink an enemy ship, they find a dead man holding 'a very odd bit of ivory carved to represent a youth’s head crowned with laurel'. His second-in-command takes it and it marks the beginning of their end. The crew goes insane and he ends up alone in the bottom of the ocean.
The searchlight beam reveals a city (could be R'lyeh) and it is the first time the man feels dread. I wish if the story were longer.
Source
'On August 20, 1917, I, Karl Heinrich, Graf von Altberg-Ehrenstein, Lieutenant-Commander in the Imperial German Navy and in charge of the submarine U-29, deposit this bottle and record in the Atlantic Ocean at a point to me unknown but probably about N. Latitude 20°, W. Longitude 35°, where my ship lies disabled on the ocean floor.'The Temple is a story of a World War I U-Boat and its end told by Karl Heinrich, Graf von Altberg-Ehrenstein, Lieutenant-Commander in the Imperial German Navy.
The Commander is not a likeable character. His chauvinistic attitude, first towards the enemies ('the English pig-dogs are waging upon the Fatherland'), then later towards his own men ('a superstitious Alsatian swine', 'paralysed and inefficient, as one might expect of a soft, womanish Rhinelander') makes him a very annoying character to put it mildly. Nobody seems German enough except him.
After they sink an enemy ship, they find a dead man holding 'a very odd bit of ivory carved to represent a youth’s head crowned with laurel'. His second-in-command takes it and it marks the beginning of their end. The crew goes insane and he ends up alone in the bottom of the ocean.
The searchlight beam reveals a city (could be R'lyeh) and it is the first time the man feels dread. I wish if the story were longer.
Source
June 15, 2025
This is from a manuscript found on the coast of Yucatán, written by Karl Heinrich, Graf von Altberg-Ehrenstein — Lieutenant-Commander in the Imperial German Navy, and captain of the submarine U-29.
A true Prussian: you’d never catch him laughing in public.
(There’s an old German saying — 'Preußen gehen zum Lachen in den Keller.' Translation: 'Prussians go to the basement to laugh.')
This man witnesses things no one has seen before, drifting aimlessly through the Atlantic for weeks in his U-boat, while his crew vanishes one by one.
And it all begins with a young, handsome dead sailor — and his little ivory idol.
Good old Karl Heinrich is on a very special journey this summer.
And we’re going along for the ride.
A short story of 30(?) pages (~37 minutes).
Here are the Links for you to read and/or to listen for free.
For your ears -> »The Temple« @ Youtube
For your eyes -> »The Temple« @ The H.P. Lovecraft Archive
A true Prussian: you’d never catch him laughing in public.
(There’s an old German saying — 'Preußen gehen zum Lachen in den Keller.' Translation: 'Prussians go to the basement to laugh.')
This man witnesses things no one has seen before, drifting aimlessly through the Atlantic for weeks in his U-boat, while his crew vanishes one by one.
And it all begins with a young, handsome dead sailor — and his little ivory idol.
Good old Karl Heinrich is on a very special journey this summer.
And we’re going along for the ride.
I liked it. The atmosphere was suffocating — heavy, claustrophobic._____________
I could (almost) feel the pressure in my chest, just imagining myself entombed in that steel coffin, miles beneath the surface, with no escape in sight.
A short story of 30(?) pages (~37 minutes).
Here are the Links for you to read and/or to listen for free.
For your ears -> »The Temple« @ Youtube
For your eyes -> »The Temple« @ The H.P. Lovecraft Archive
July 9, 2019
pues... va a ser que no...
No me ha gustado
No me ha gustado
October 20, 2022
Echoing Stoker's 'log of the Demeter,' and Alien's 'the Nostromo,' a U-boat crew undergoes death by a thousand eldritch cuts.
4 'Salty Cursed,' stars.
4 'Salty Cursed,' stars.
October 23, 2021
Un historia espectacular, con una narración extraordinaria. Una de las mejores historias de Lovecraft.
Un grupo de hombres zarpan en un submarino, viven momentos de angustia atroz, gracias a la pluma de Lovecraft, puedes sentir la desesperación y el dolor de los personajes. El final fue correcto.
Un grupo de hombres zarpan en un submarino, viven momentos de angustia atroz, gracias a la pluma de Lovecraft, puedes sentir la desesperación y el dolor de los personajes. El final fue correcto.
August 19, 2018
Not creepy so much as it is visually satisfying to read. This is Lovecraft’s interpretation of the discovery of Atlantis. There are some horror themes prevalent, but they are overshadowed by the strange and beckoning beauty of the mysterious underwater foundation. As much as I fear the sea, I almost wanted to take a dive to explore it myself.
January 8, 2018
Pretty decent story, with an intentionally detestable main character, at least I'm assuming Lovecraft meant for him to be perceived as an asshole. Nice portrayal of a gradual descent into madness of the entire crew, as their numbers declined due to suicide and murder.
April 30, 2022
Wonderful atmospheric prose as always, but the subject matter didn't grab me. What did grab me. - German U-boats. But another example of Lovecraft exploring the maritime theme, a theme which is always hauntingly desolate in the hands of Lovecraft.
August 26, 2019
Definitely more in the style that Lovecraft is famous for. Not quite of Eldritch proportions, but an interesting and tense story of a sailor. A good read.
January 31, 2022
SO GOOD
November 28, 2024
For a short story, it was very well written, totally creepy, claustrophobic, efficient and should I say immersive ?...
It made me want to read more Lovecraft !
It made me want to read more Lovecraft !
December 1, 2015
Written in 1920, H.P. Lovecraft's THE TEMPLE is an atmospheric short story that stands the test of time. The story is presented in the form of a journal entry from a German U-Boat officer during WWI documenting the final moments of the ship's damned voyage. After finding an ivory idol in the water and bringing it aboard, the crew descend into madness as the ship draws nearer to a lost underwater city.
This audio presentation is terrific and wonderfully captures the isolation and moments of panic aboard the U-Boat. Rather than reading this as a straight-up narration, K. Anderson Yancy has produced here a full-fledged sonic experience with sound effects and a mild background score that never distract and serve the story perfectly.
At only 45 minutes, THE TEMPLE is a great listening experience. This is my first listen to one of Yancy's "sonic movies," which harkens back to the days of radio drama, but it definitely will not be the last.
Highly recommended.
(Note: This audiobook was provided by the narrator at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBlast dot com.)
This audio presentation is terrific and wonderfully captures the isolation and moments of panic aboard the U-Boat. Rather than reading this as a straight-up narration, K. Anderson Yancy has produced here a full-fledged sonic experience with sound effects and a mild background score that never distract and serve the story perfectly.
At only 45 minutes, THE TEMPLE is a great listening experience. This is my first listen to one of Yancy's "sonic movies," which harkens back to the days of radio drama, but it definitely will not be the last.
Highly recommended.
(Note: This audiobook was provided by the narrator at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBlast dot com.)
December 30, 2024
3.5 * This short story written by H.P Lovecraft first appeared in the September 1925 edition of 'Weird Tales'. I really enjoyed this story and it fully deserves its above average 3 star review in my rating. I've enjoyed reading some Lovecraft again. Michael K. Vaughan who hosts an amazing channel on YouTube (BookTube) often provides information and recommendations in regards to writers from the Pulp era, especially Robert E.Howard, H.P Lovecraft and many more. He mentioned doing some reading for December, called #CthulhuXmas. I'm pleased that I found time and participated in that by reading a Lovecraft story. 'The Temple' has been ideal to read today, I recommend it to those readers with similar tastes and interests to my own.
November 13, 2025
First Rating - 3.5
Second Rating - 3.75
Second Rating - 3.75
September 1, 2022
Possessive Possession
24 August 2022 – Geneva
I’ll call this my Geneva piece, even though I happen to be writing it on a train travelling from Geneva to Lyon. Mind you, it does somewhat surprise me that most places around train stations seem to be pretty seedy. Well, okay, maybe not Sydney or Brisbane, or Paris or London, but certainly a number of other places that I have noticed. This was particularly the case in Geneva (and Frankfurt, and Cologne). Actually, I discovered pretty quickly that you really shouldn’t be going out for a walk at night if you, like me, accidentally book a hotel near the station. That is probably why it ended up being so cheap (and it was a shame because, well, I like visiting bars and having a beer). Actually, they were still wondering around at 7:30 in the morning – don’t they ever get any sleep.
Anyway, enough of my stories about the underside of Geneva, which I have to admit that it is quite a beautiful city, and in a way, like Bangkok, it is only a rather small section that really should be avoided, and on to discussing this short story. In a way it is similar to the first short story in this collection, and that is that it is set during World War I and out in the ocean. Basically, the story is a testimony by a German u-boat captain who sunk a British ship, and then filmed the u-boat machine-gunning the survivors. Later though, they find the body of a sailor clutching the hull and carrying an carved ivory piece. Liking it, the captain takes it, and that is when strange things start to happen.
One could argue that what eventually happens, and that is that pretty much everybody on the u-boat, including the captain, go mad. They start seeing and hearing things, and everybody is convinced that these manifestations are due to the carving, but the captain has become so attached to it that he refuses to let go of it, even going to the point of executing people who disagree with him. This idea of obsession over an object is a theme that seems to be prevalent in horror stories, but in another sense you also see it in roleplaying games, namely with cursed items. Sure, in a roleplaying game, it usually is the case that these items are stuck on your character sheet, or in your inventory and cannot be removed. However, Lovecraft is giving us a much better picture of how these items operate, namely that the owner will become so obsessed with it that they will kill friends and colleagues rather than let go of them.
Yet one also wonders whether this ivory carving was also in possession of the sailor while on the British Boat, which could also explain why everybody died. It is difficult to tell though, but there is an indication in the story that the dead sailors were cursed to undeath, though Lovecraft is somewhat coy on the whole thing, making us question whether the what people are seeing is the truth or an illusion. We also know that events have taken control of the u-boat, which at the end finds itself in a sunken city. What is also unclear is whether this curse came upon the u-boat because of the captain, or there is another reason.
It is an interesting story though, but I’ll leave it there for now, and move on to something else.
24 August 2022 – Geneva
I’ll call this my Geneva piece, even though I happen to be writing it on a train travelling from Geneva to Lyon. Mind you, it does somewhat surprise me that most places around train stations seem to be pretty seedy. Well, okay, maybe not Sydney or Brisbane, or Paris or London, but certainly a number of other places that I have noticed. This was particularly the case in Geneva (and Frankfurt, and Cologne). Actually, I discovered pretty quickly that you really shouldn’t be going out for a walk at night if you, like me, accidentally book a hotel near the station. That is probably why it ended up being so cheap (and it was a shame because, well, I like visiting bars and having a beer). Actually, they were still wondering around at 7:30 in the morning – don’t they ever get any sleep.
Anyway, enough of my stories about the underside of Geneva, which I have to admit that it is quite a beautiful city, and in a way, like Bangkok, it is only a rather small section that really should be avoided, and on to discussing this short story. In a way it is similar to the first short story in this collection, and that is that it is set during World War I and out in the ocean. Basically, the story is a testimony by a German u-boat captain who sunk a British ship, and then filmed the u-boat machine-gunning the survivors. Later though, they find the body of a sailor clutching the hull and carrying an carved ivory piece. Liking it, the captain takes it, and that is when strange things start to happen.
One could argue that what eventually happens, and that is that pretty much everybody on the u-boat, including the captain, go mad. They start seeing and hearing things, and everybody is convinced that these manifestations are due to the carving, but the captain has become so attached to it that he refuses to let go of it, even going to the point of executing people who disagree with him. This idea of obsession over an object is a theme that seems to be prevalent in horror stories, but in another sense you also see it in roleplaying games, namely with cursed items. Sure, in a roleplaying game, it usually is the case that these items are stuck on your character sheet, or in your inventory and cannot be removed. However, Lovecraft is giving us a much better picture of how these items operate, namely that the owner will become so obsessed with it that they will kill friends and colleagues rather than let go of them.
Yet one also wonders whether this ivory carving was also in possession of the sailor while on the British Boat, which could also explain why everybody died. It is difficult to tell though, but there is an indication in the story that the dead sailors were cursed to undeath, though Lovecraft is somewhat coy on the whole thing, making us question whether the what people are seeing is the truth or an illusion. We also know that events have taken control of the u-boat, which at the end finds itself in a sunken city. What is also unclear is whether this curse came upon the u-boat because of the captain, or there is another reason.
It is an interesting story though, but I’ll leave it there for now, and move on to something else.
June 28, 2023
7,5 von 10
Eine wirklich interessante Geschichte aus der Feder des H.P. Lovecraft. Sie erzählt die Geschichte eines U-Boot-Kapitäns der deutschen Marine während des ersten Weltkriegs. Durch den Kampf und das Versenken eines britischen Schiffes, gelangt die Mannschaft an ein merkwürdiges Schmuckstück. In den folgenden Tage schwinden die geistigen Kräfte seiner Mannschaft nach und nach und die Besatzung des U-29 gerät in einen Abwärtsstrudel des Wahnsinns und des Todes. Das U-Boot erleidet mysteriöse Schäden und kann sich bald nicht mehr bewegen. Doch nicht verzeichnete Strömungen treiben das deutsche Unterseeboot und seine stark dezimierte Besatzung weiter hilflos in die Tiefe.
Bald schon der einzige auf dem U-Boot gelangt der Kapitän zu einer versunkenen Stadt. Nun beginnt auch er langsam den Verstand zu verlieren. Als dem U-Boot der Strom ausgeht beschließt er das es mit einem zuvor schon selbst gebauten Tiefseetauchanzug das letzte mal zu verlassen, getrieben von einem nicht zu erklärenden Drang.
Es ist eine wirklich schön geschriebene, beschriebene und auch für Lovecraft verhältnismäßig einfach geschriebene Geschichte. Gerne würde ich mehr davon sehen.
Ich hätte gern noch mehr die Beklemmung wahrgenommen, die ein Mensch in einer solchen Situation empfindet.
Der Protagonist hat es für mich ein wenig zu logisch und wissenschaftlich interpretiert.
Ich brauche mehr Verzweiflung!
Eine wirklich interessante Geschichte aus der Feder des H.P. Lovecraft. Sie erzählt die Geschichte eines U-Boot-Kapitäns der deutschen Marine während des ersten Weltkriegs. Durch den Kampf und das Versenken eines britischen Schiffes, gelangt die Mannschaft an ein merkwürdiges Schmuckstück. In den folgenden Tage schwinden die geistigen Kräfte seiner Mannschaft nach und nach und die Besatzung des U-29 gerät in einen Abwärtsstrudel des Wahnsinns und des Todes. Das U-Boot erleidet mysteriöse Schäden und kann sich bald nicht mehr bewegen. Doch nicht verzeichnete Strömungen treiben das deutsche Unterseeboot und seine stark dezimierte Besatzung weiter hilflos in die Tiefe.
Bald schon der einzige auf dem U-Boot gelangt der Kapitän zu einer versunkenen Stadt. Nun beginnt auch er langsam den Verstand zu verlieren. Als dem U-Boot der Strom ausgeht beschließt er das es mit einem zuvor schon selbst gebauten Tiefseetauchanzug das letzte mal zu verlassen, getrieben von einem nicht zu erklärenden Drang.
Es ist eine wirklich schön geschriebene, beschriebene und auch für Lovecraft verhältnismäßig einfach geschriebene Geschichte. Gerne würde ich mehr davon sehen.
Ich hätte gern noch mehr die Beklemmung wahrgenommen, die ein Mensch in einer solchen Situation empfindet.
Der Protagonist hat es für mich ein wenig zu logisch und wissenschaftlich interpretiert.
Ich brauche mehr Verzweiflung!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 1, 2019
وددت حقا لو كان هذا الكتاب مترجما إلى العربية ....استمعت إليه باللغة الفرنسية وكان رائعا من حيث الإلقاء والموسيقى المرافقة
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQxhP...
هذه أوّل قصة يكتبها "لوف كرافت" سنة 1920 والمفاجأة تكمن هنا كيف يكتب هذا الرجل أقصوصة تجمع الرعب والإثارة وكلّ هذه المؤثّرات الوصفية وعناصر التشويق سنة 1920 ويختزنها في 20 ص ...
القصة باختصار تبدأ بمخطوط يتمّ العثور عليه وهو الموثّق للقصّة التي كتبها كارل هاينريش وهو ملازم أول في البحرية الألمانية خلال أيام الحرب العالمية الأولى. وينقل فيه موته هو ورفاقه بعد غرق الغواصة U-29 في قاع المحيط حيث اكتشف المعبد ... يعيب القصة النزوع إلى مدح وتضخيم "الذات الألمانية" وهو خطاب رافقنا حتى موت صاحبه "كارل هاينريش"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQxhP...
هذه أوّل قصة يكتبها "لوف كرافت" سنة 1920 والمفاجأة تكمن هنا كيف يكتب هذا الرجل أقصوصة تجمع الرعب والإثارة وكلّ هذه المؤثّرات الوصفية وعناصر التشويق سنة 1920 ويختزنها في 20 ص ...
القصة باختصار تبدأ بمخطوط يتمّ العثور عليه وهو الموثّق للقصّة التي كتبها كارل هاينريش وهو ملازم أول في البحرية الألمانية خلال أيام الحرب العالمية الأولى. وينقل فيه موته هو ورفاقه بعد غرق الغواصة U-29 في قاع المحيط حيث اكتشف المعبد ... يعيب القصة النزوع إلى مدح وتضخيم "الذات الألمانية" وهو خطاب رافقنا حتى موت صاحبه "كارل هاينريش"
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