"The Thing on the Doorstep" / Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos
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- Опубликовано: 29 сен 2024
- Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos (12 of 14)
"The Thing on the Doorstep" is a horror short story by American writer H. P. Lovecraft, part of the Cthulhu Mythos universe. It was written in August 1933, and first published in the January 1937 issue of Weird Tales.
Chapters:
0:00:15 - Introduction
0:00:44 - One
0:10:12 - Two
0:19:14 - Three
0:27:34 - Four
0:41:46 - Five
0:52:56 - Six
1:00:20 - Seven
1:11:40 - Credits
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Narrated by Ian Gordon for HorrorBabble
Music and production by Ian Gordon
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How about some Lovecraftian artifacts?
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Shub-Niggurath infamously a fan of playing poker afterall eternity a long time.
I've been falling asleep to horror babble 4 years. Maybe that's why my wife tells me I scream in my sleep.
Just don't scream another woman's name.
@@knowjusticeknowpeace15 q@~
Me too!
Are we not supposed to do that anymore? 😬
Tell me, in your dreams, have you seen the Yellow Sign?
his friends wife was gonna turn into a deep one anyways.
Who says Lovecraft never wrote anything romantic? lol
"You're a fish girl, and it's gone to far cause ya know it don't matter anyway😂"...Did Hall and Oates wrie it like that??😂😂😂
Good call. I had an ex who wasn't as bad as garbe but close.
I believe is is one of hp,s tales where the. Storek
The solitary scholar of great talent marries an Innsmouth lady? Oh, that is a positively magical couple!
She has a fishy smell if you get my vernacular
This, my fav HPL tale, is in my opinion the scariest story ever told by anyone, anywhere.
Haven't listened yet, but you really think it beats the Wendigo, and some of the other really scary stories?
@@wmnoffaith1 Horror is subjective, just like humor. I could see the identity and body horror of this story strongly affecting a lot of people.
Hi Kevin, found this story again thanks to your comment!!! I loved this story too
@@Kropothead opinions can also be disagreed with though
This is my favorite story by him to.
Your reads keep Lovecraft alive. I appreciate your effort and I really believe he would too.
He’d appreciate the voice and how it’s delivered, though I get the feeling Lovecraft would be afraid of sharing audio over the Internet.
If he’s afraid of air conditioners, I sincerely doubt he’d follow RUclips
@@JyujinPluslol
Ian, you have become my favorite narrator of Lovecraft
Thanks Paul, that's always very nice to hear! Ian
Try Wayne June as well. Another interpretation.
Yes...yes...yes...Ian is DA MAN!
The other 2 will be very disappointed to hear that.
Mine to
This reading definitely has the best versions of Edward's ramblings.
Moral of the story: Don't get married!
I read it more as “Dont use witchcraft in your BDSM” but I see how you find it being marriage
No witchcraft in my BDSM? Sure, ruin all the fun in life.
"I married a fish girl who was her own dad and she stole my body!" - The Sunday Sport probably
Don't get married to the wrong person....😂😂😂
There is very limited number of things that bring me as much joy as coming back to those wonderfully narrated stories during autumn, and listening with hot drink in hand.
Must say, poor Edward had really suffered a father in law out of hell, interesting how this story puts an nuanced angle and links to Shadow over Insmouth. I feel like Lovecraft was not given enough time, since here we witness another take on Deep One hybrids, with original Azanath being briefly portrayed as victim and sympathetic rather than kind of monster Shadow over Insmouth would suggest all hybrids were. Also interesting that it seems that sorcerers in Lovecraftian universe consider human bodies preferable over more powerful hybrid ones.
I listened to this a few days ago and enjoyed it SO much I wanted to listen to it again, but could not remember the title… but I did remember the first comment about how this was the person’s favourite and creepiest story… and so found it again…it really does have everything an excellent scary story needs💀❤️
Ian...U broke me. You are now the only person that I ever want to hear read Lovecraft. And blackwood. I could go on and on. Wonderful voice and cadence. You are awesome.
asenath was gonna turn into a deep one anyways when she came of age.
I wonder why he married and bred with a deep one in the first place?
Not always some people only change about halfway and very rarely some don’t change at all or very little but very commonly they all become full deep ones sooner or later
@@CJM-rg5rt Why wouldn't he? All esteemed families in Innsmouth do it. It doesn't help that his sensibilities are unreasonable.
The question would be: why didn't he try a second time to have a son before he fell ill? I mean he's clearly disappointed in his having a daughter.
Asenath is such a raw name
Edward pretty much explains everything when Dan picks him up from Maine but Dan doesn’t figure anything out until Azanath’s body shows up on his doorstep. I hope if I’m ever possessed by my wife my best friend isn’t that oblivious.
It's easy to judge from the sidelines...but who would believe it?
Cody, it's hard for me to say. I hate everybody. Lol
@Cody Ingram I know I'm not in this conversation, but like you, I doubt if a friend of mine came to me with a story that sounded really wild, if I trusted the person I would believe them and try to help them. However, also like you, I have few friends. I've had people take advantage of this quality and make up a story just to " wind me up". Meanwhile, I'd be trying to figure out how I could help them, and they'd be laughing behind my back. I am lucky though that I was in a really weird situation once, many years ago,, and had a friend who actually believed me and helped me; she happened to be Cherokee and knew an old Cherokee medicine woman who fixed my haunting situation.
@Cody Ingram well, in some ways you are correct; I could argue that they aren't really my friends. The real truth though that I have found is not really that people aren't trustworthy. It's that you can trust them to be themselves, and act consistent with their nature.
I remember my father telling me a story when I was young about a man needing to cross a river. An alligator offered to carry the man across on his back. The man was worried but the alligator promised he wouldn't bite the man. Of course, when he got near the alligator, the alligator bit him. The man asked him, Why did you bite me? You promised you wouldn't bite me? The alligator said, Because I'm an alligator. In other words, no matter what people say or what they promise, you need to realize that their behavior will be consistent with their nature. If you have a friend who is an addict, let's say, and you have pain meds prescribed, the friend may promise you they would never steal them from you. The truth though is that they are an addict. If they need a fix, and your pills are there, they will steal them. You can trust that people will always be themselves.
So when I say, I have few friends, even my close friends and family, who I know love me, can only be trusted to a point. A person isn't going to change their nature just because they become friends with you. I've had friends and family threaten me, blackmail me, steal from me. They do love me, but they can't help being themselves and giving into temptation. If a person is pushed too far by circumstances, then you find out who they really are. Not by what they say...that means nothing, but by what they do.
@Cody Ingram well, I agree with everything you said. The problem is you can't pick your family; you can pick your friends, but being in my fifties now, I can honestly say I've never had a single friend that didn't screw me over. I usually didn't realize it at the time, but I'd find out later on that they lied about me, lied to me, totally took advantage.
Perfect example; a person I had been in a relationship with, and then separated, charged a lot of personal expenses on his company credit card, $2,000. Human resources told him they were switching banks for the company card so his balance had to be paid by the end of the month. He didn't have the money; he knew they would find out they were personal charges because he never filled out an expense report, and he would be fired.
Because he was desperate and felt like he would lose everything, he resorted to desperate measures. I was the only one he knew who had the money, so he blackmailed me. He threatened to call CPS on me and report me for child abuse. He also had all of the email addresses of my students and fellow teachers, and he wrote an open letter accusing me of doing drugs, sleeping with a fellow teacher, and a lot of other things. It was either I pay 2k, or my life would become hell; constant investigation in my home and my career, so I paid the money. It isn't the first time I was blackmailed, had money stolen, etc.
Unfortunately, I've never found a single person that didn't do something like this eventually. When things go really wrong for them, that's when you find out who they are, and sometimes someone you've been friends with for 20 years will pull something like this because they get desperate. Other than my grandmother, I've never had a person in my life that didn't pull something like this eventually. That's why I said. I trust them to be themselves. I don't give full trust to anyone, because I don't know anyone who can be fully trusted.
Very recently I decided to get into Lovecraft, and I am very glad that I did as it lead me to this incredible channel. Your performance and the sound design really add so much to these stories. So far, this is my favourites of yours.
Keep up the great work, you deserve more love! 🖤
Thank you!
i totally agree!!!
so I'm curious, is this your favorite Lovecraft story also?
does that have anything to do with it being your favorite horror babble production?
lastly.. two years later does it still hold up as your favorite?
@@KosMik_Skul I revisited this video because of your reply, and it definitely holds up! Thanks for bringing me back to this gem!
Though not my favourite Lovecraft story (I don’t think I could choose just one to be honest) its definitely up there!! I find it really interesting. It stands out in the Cthulhu mythos being one of the only stories to have a “human” main antagonist.
❤😂🎉😊🎉
Ian Gordon is an absolute treasure. This channel is a godsend. Thank You soooo much! God Bless!
The description of the ending is transposed to 1:03:00 (Dan shoots it)
"shoots it" ?
lol wtf... well does he score? is it a win? come on yer keeping us all in suspense!
An Innsmouth native who resents being a hybrid? Now that is an interesting prospect.
Ian, how do you achieve the vocal persona in your readings? I just watched your video on your upcoming schedule. You are so much younger than I would have guessed. Great interpretation and character assumption.
Thanks Mark! No real insight to share with you unfortunately - I just try my best to understand the characters. I'm glad to hear it works once in a while. Ian
I love how we never get to know if the bodies were cremated or not
Just finished listening to this on Spotify and pop over here to offer my thanks. Once my finance have change which should be shortly I will be join or offering any help I can...
Thanks, Joz!
You really do an amazing job with these. Thanks for all the hard work, I'm sure it's not easy to turn out this kind of high quality audiobook.
So that's why the Pickman Gallery in Fallout 4 is so demented... huh.
A man's brain better than a women's?!
Pure madness, that is.
*woman's lol
I’ve just got into babble it’s beautifully bad absolutely binging on Lovecraft many many thanks👍👍👏👏
Welcome aboard!
Poor Edward, did not know what he was getting himself into.
PLEEAAASSEEEEE! Do Ramsey Campbell Cold Print. Excellent lovecraft mythos anthology
Ian Gordon IS the voice.
It's time to do 'The Nameless City' and 'The Street' Justice.
Thank you! Though The Street will be recorded in due course, we've already recorded The Nameless City: ruclips.net/video/LmjMshKifIQ/видео.html
Listening to these Lovecraft stories, I realise how many subsequent writers have, over the years, "borrowed" bits and pieces from his works.
Great story.
I don't read so well.
It's good to have
audio-books.
I live in Maine, which makes this especially fun.
Go to the woods and find the 6000 steps!
I'm so close to finishing the necronomicon, and decided to get it done quickly I'd look up a read thru, now here I am on a 5 year old video wishing I had discovered you sooner. Tremendous work sir, I love your energy with tone and inflection
This is just a wonderful tale paired with a wonderful narration. Thanks for your great work Ian and Jen!
Brilliant as always! It pains me that I am unable to keep up as I had. This was an underrated take imo and I am glad it came to the channel! Thank you! 🍻
This story is so good and intriguing. I really appreciate you Ian for reading these stories to us. ☺ And HPL would too. 💖
I have just today started reading H.P. Lovecraft and I was spellbound throughout the whole session (I read „Rats in the walls“ and „The thing on the doorstep“).
I, sadly, couldn't get an english book for Lovecraft beginners so I'm reading it in german, which is just as good but I'm always wondering, wether some of the authors style gets lost in translation.
So I wanna thank you for narrating it as I can compare the versions after I read it and also, it gives me a new view on or interpretation of the story. You did a great job of bringing the story to life :)
Thanks for listening Gerrit, much appreciated. I'm glad these readings are of use!
I love hearing this story. This is one of the best versions I've listened to... A little too fast a little too detached but otherwise just wonderful. Thanks!
Brilliant, I was just looking for something to listen to. This macabre treat is perfect. I've always really enjoyed this tale. Thank you very much, perfection as always!
Your tellings of these Lovecraft's stories are amazing. I've read them all years back, but now it's great to return to them in the form of audio books while doing some menial tasks.
I didnt even realize this so closely ties into shadow of innsmouth until months later
Wow, what a tale. True horror.
I can't sleep without hearing your voice thank you so much
Wonderfully excellent performance, Ian. The inclusion of sound effects made the experience so much more immersive!
If I may offer a piece of constructive criticism, many of Edward's later dialogue seems to me like it should sound much more distressed and anxious. While I noticed often some subtle inclusions of uneasiness as you voiced Edward, I didn't truly get the feeling of "my body is being stolen from me!"
Great work as you always give us, many thanks :)
Thanks, sir! It's always a tricky balancing act in trying not to overdo it - but I appreciate the feedback of course! When we finally get around to producing an adaption or two, we'll be looking at full casts - each of us unrestrained! Thanks again. Ian
@@HorrorBabble: Wow, (Mr.) Ian...the thought of a large handful of unrestrained voice actors, horror narrators, verbal stylists of the macabre, etc., all in the same snug recording booth (ha!), sends a veritable avalanche of agonizing pleasure/pain down my unwilling but ultimately powerless spine! (Ah, but if I could be a fly on the wall - except that I absolutely LOATHE flies!)
A uniquely matchless rendering of this creepy tale, as per usual (heh, heh), (Mr.) Ian. It takes a guy (or gal, as the situation dictates) with lots and lots of brains to accomplish such a thing time after time.
Thank you. kris k.
Azanath - Goth edgelord at uni.
Your readings are amazing, i have been binge watching your videos for days now lol, thanks alot.
I can relate to this me hearty. I've been huntin' a creature like this for years. Yet it still comes back to consume the youth o' those around it. I be wonderin' sometimes, will a day come where I put it down for good, or will it outlive me and kill everyone.
One of the best Lovecraft's stories. I was shocked when I found out what that little creature at the doorstep was.
Thank you so much for all of your videos. Your narration is phenomenal. This is already one of my favorite H.P. Lovecraft stories but your voice brought new life to it somehow.
this was the very first story i read after i bought the big HPL mythos book. i had listened to a few stories and a few years before that i randomly had read some of his weird tales in another collection but found it too hard.
So by the time i read this i had gotten more familiar with his work from listening, although i hadn't heard this one, and it just unlocked it all for me. Some things about the way he writes this one is so much more accessible, like how it's more character driven and he does a fantastic job describing their personalities, their perspectives, and giving them real character that makes it relatable in a timeless way. it reminded me of the Twilight Zone and a bit how Rod Serling would write.
which is funny because he doesn't write that way very much in just about any of his other stories. don't get me wrong, he's fantastic, one of the best horror authors of all time, but i wish he had written more like this.
anyway I'll never forget reading this story for the first time and being drawn in to it and the way it got into my head and then under my skin , and it gave me the giddy feeling. i loved it!
it was totally new to me and amazing how he combined body horror and cosmic horror. almost 8 years ago more or less, i read this for the 1st time and now hear i am listening again, thank you Horror Babble for keeping it alive and fresh! lol
(btw everyone they finally adapted this story into a really decent movie, in a similar style to the Stuart Gordon HPL films, it even has Barbara Crampton in it looking very pretty and strong for her age. it's called Suitable Flesh.
i highly recommend it to fans, esp of of this story.)
Thank you Mr. Gordan for your deft narration of our beloved cthulhu mythos. I end my every day with your storytelling. Bravo Sir. Bravo!
I go to bed every night listening to Ian telling stories. Love it! But I cannot help but wonder if the thing at the doorstep was cremated or not?
"ieahhh! glub! glub! yeeaihh!" (other various liquifarious comments)
You know, the whole body possession thing reminds me of DID, and that's probably what we would say if something like this happened nowadays.
Lovecraft should of finished the story with Dan breaking into the asylum to have a face off with Ephraim
This one always really got me 😬 such a horrific prospect to be trapped conscious in someone else’s body or worse a corpse 😢
This is a great story. I had kinda forgotten about this one. Veeerry intersting a creepy in all the right ways.
I will be totally honest. I thought there was a different guy talking when you did your American accent xD
But in all seriousness. I wanted to do this one for a particular reason. And its the need for the modern reader to have some kind of morality. From many articles of Lovecraft I’ve read I’ve seen journalists of his day accuse him of some kind of ism because of his sensibilities. Honestly this story explains all of what I need to know, is it hate or fear that we worry about in our fellow man. Looking over his life Lovecraft was overly smothered by his mom, overly protected. And over the course of his childhood, and into his schooling, the fear enforced into him by his mother influenced his view of the world. Never let strangers touch you for they have degeneracy. And don’t touch animals for they are carriers of disease. Be careful of what you worship as they will damn you outside of gods light. And a lot of these hypothesis were confirmed in academic books and the theories of the time he lived. It’s truly a fascinating time as new scientific methods are being discovered and Howard has in him a fear that seems inhuman (Influenced or otherwise). And I know this since Lovecraft wrote in his essay “notes on writing weird fiction” that he writes fear because fear is the most common of emotion.
Now with that all said we have the science on Waite. So one constant thing is the statement of “man’s brain” versus “woman’s brain”. Now it has been confirmed in biology that human males have inherited white matter which influences higher thinking. And since men also have bigger brains overall we are dealing with a thesis talking about if a brighter brain than contain more information. This is something we can’t fully Confirm because you never establish a fact, only a recreatable theory. Growing up in a family that is predominantly medical it’s understood that things can always change based on new data. So that being said on average this is common with 1920s men. But that being said we than ask if the brain contains the soul. If you go by what my dad says, an alchemist in his own right, it’s not the brain itself.
In an earlier paragraph he spoke that he saw a shoggath, shut niggurath and her thousand young, and ideas of eternity. This could be confirmed if you look at the effects of the brain with the spine. Looking at it this is what makes humans unique as we are upright, brains at the top of our figures and connected to our spine. It’s essentially an antenna, just like your normal lightning rod or even television rabbit ears can transmit a signal. Using the brain analogy again, this could mean a male brain has a better ability to receive information from other places. This doesn’t make a woman’s less capable, but possibly it needs more time to take in a signal. But than it goes into the human question, do we wish to take in that information.
Like Lovecraft’s mom, Waite is purely domineering. Happy to crush and consume like the deities he worships to preserve his life. This is even more so as a once mortal man was able to tame a deep one to create an heir. An heir to assure that his will and ideals continues. From a catholic mindset, is it truly love for your child if they are going to be your next physical anchor? This story is frightening not for the threat of the monster, but how personal it is to its writer. It’s a blend of other more well known stories, brain science from Whisperer in Darkness, a mad mans ascensions from From Beyond, and the personal violation of feeling our minds and bodies aren’t our own From Shadow Out Of time. That is its true fear, how our values and our fears may not really be our own. I see that Thing on The Doorstep, and I really hope I could save him for he is now scared in a broken form not his own in a world now Alien to him.
This last part is simply personal to me. In my teens I had serious gender identity disorders. And it was hard to deal with since I did feel like I was a foreigner in my own skin. But as I got older I managed to get better at it, and learn how to use it. I went on my own little journey to understand what I feel and how I can make it better, going from Native American medicines to Greek monsters and predatory habits. I ended up learning my most valuable lesson from. The two spirits of the natives of Louisiana. That a human with both a man and woman’s spirit must understand, to not be biased in the superficial because there are plenty of others who run at first fear. So I grew to accept who I am as my sisters brother and my parents son, and most importantly my nieces uncle. And that is what helps me face only own personal Waite. Sorry for getting personal, but I hope this analysis was helpful to another great story.
Thanks again for sharing, Rhett. Always an insightful read. Ian
HorrorBabble always happy to give. I admit I don’t know all the answers. But all I need is one counter singular thought. Which is the beauty of fiction.
-Rhett
I was unaware of this story thank you
Arkham Horror is an excellent game, and has returned me to Lovecraft's work.
Thank you so much for making this recording. Reading physical books has become difficult for me.
I also have horror babble as my sleep soundtrack... these stories are so creepy and well written. Ha ha
Oh them Innsmouth folk! Read shadow over Innsmouth, so was fun to hear a sequel.
Wonderfully horrific! Thanks, Ian.
Extremely well done performance. Also extremely creepy.
Darby is LITERALLY just Lovecraft.
Lovecraft's best open, hands down.
Brilliant!
I did certainly enjoy
Thank you 👍
Amazing story & riveting narration.
I came here for Algernon Blackwood, sadly my local library has none of his works. My surprise and delight when I found so much Lovecraft. Ive read his stories many, many, times. But your voice is better than the one in my head. Keep it up, you have a gift for narration.
This might be the only good H.P. Lovecraft story I've heard. All of his other works sound like theme park rides where the main character can look, but never is touched or is touched by the story. Like just when the creepy, unknown stuff is just starting, the story ends with little happening.
But this. This is great. So much drama, impending doom and foreshadowing. And it's a continuation after Innsmouth. A+
Ian, I would absolutely love to hear you narrate a Hollywood Horror film someday. Blessings, Love, and Respect
Thanks Steven! Well, I'm working on something out there at the moment actually... so you never know! Ian
I love listening to you read these stories 😍 ❤ 💕
Excellent reading once again. This story was surely kind of creepy .
I’ve listened to about 7 of your HPL reads thus far. Really enjoying them. Thanks !
Spoils the whole switch mechanism fairly early doesn't it?
the first sentence is an artwork on inself! i love this story!
Yuss! One on my favorite lovecraft stories right here
Well done! Thank you!
I’m trans and the whole body switching thing/visiting forbidden places feels like a such a metaphor. Body after body after body. The horror of having a body and a different mind.
As someone who is mid to late thirties I object to thirty four being referred to as ‘middle age’. 😂
i would like to suggest the azathoth cycle:)
Ooh finally I’ve been waiting for this book for a long time. Awesome reading as always thanks a lot
Pls excuse disperate perspective.
This story has been read by many interpreters, many dedicated and faithful followers of HPL, and until @37:00-ish... When Aseneth recovers her (at this point clear) control over E.P.Derby's body on the car ride home...
We have paused after this to say we've never heard a reading that is more fundamentally true to, and representative of this story. This reading literally gave chills.
Wow. (This is a rare thing, an HPL reading that actually... well, y'know.) ...wonder what will be found in the rest. On on the same page, we Right? 'Right!.'...)
There's something FISHY about Edward Derby's young wife. 🤔
🐐
Still crazy after all these years 😂
Time is on my side, yes it is
Time is on my side, yes it is
Now you always say
That you want to be free
But you'll come running back (said you would baby)
You'll come running back (I said so many times before)
You'll come running back to me
The protagonist in this story is so frustrating lmao "help I'm being possessed by my wife" "I wonder why Darby acted so odd" great narrating though
Been looking forward to this one since you announced it, nice work Ian!
Azanath Waits being transition goals
Most married men have this issue. 🤷🏽now it’s a plague of Simps. 😮
Having social troubles? Become a fanatical devotee of subterranean lore!
Omg that was so good Ian cheers and thankyou so much oh im scared now. The scariest part was not knowing when or who switched bodies 🥶
Reminded of when the girlfriend comes to visit.... The thing on the doorstep indeed lol 😂😂
My favorite part of this story is it’s the defense the narrator is giving to the police for seemingly unloading his gat into his best friend.
Keep on Rockin thanks guys so cool
N creepy .💀❤️🤠🤘
Nothing like a lovecraft audiobook to relax me for the day
Well, that must have been an awkward honeymoon.