The Colour Out of Space
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- For the fictional being related to this article, see Colour out of space (species)
Synopsis
"The Colour Out of Space" is a first-person narrative written from the perspective of an unnamed surveyor from Boston. In order to prepare for the construction of a new reservoir in New England, he surveys a rural area near the fictional city of Arkham. While researching a valley that is to be flooded, he comes across a mysterious patch of land, an abandoned farmstead of five acres, which is completely devoid of all life. At the centre of the farmstead is an old well. The site fills him with an unnatural sense of dread, and he hurries past it.
When he returns to Arkham, the surveyor asks around for information regarding the waste. He learns of an elderly hermit, Ammi Pierce, and asks him about the "blasted heath". The hermit tells him a horrific tale.
In the early 1880s, the farm had been productive, run by a Nahum Gardner and his family. Then, one afternoon in June of 1882, a large meteorite crashed into the farm, beside the well. It was metallic and contained a substance of an indescribable colour, that proved toxic and mutagenic. While scientists were never able to tell what (or who) the meteor contained, its effects were undeniable - the entire Gardner family was struck by insanity, illness, and worse as the land around them was slowly drained of life.
Significance
Lovecraft considered this to be the best of all his stories. One possible explanation is that some personal viewpoints are summed up in it. As detailed by biographer L. Sprague de Camp, Lovecraft was disgusted by the popular portrayal of aliens by science fiction writers of his time, primarily because they seemed so human.In "Colour", the alien presence is unknowable, not just to the characters, but to the reader as well. If this lifeform has any motives, goals, background, etc., they are never revealed. In fact, it is never definitively established that the alien lifeform even possesses intelligence.
Connection to other Lovecraft stories
- The story is set near the village of Dunwich and the reservoir going atop the site of Nahum's old farmhouse and well will supply the city of Arkham with water.
The reservoir
While the reservoir in the story is presumed to be based on the Quabbin Reservoir, Will Murray says that Lovecraft was actually inspired by the Scituate Reservoir in western Rhode Island. Murray cites an unpublished letter that Lovecraft sent to Richard Ely Morse dated October 13, 1935 in which Lovecraft mentions a trip he took "through the doomed Swift River Valley" shortly before the Quabbin Reservoir was built. The journey reminded Lovecraft of the sadness he felt over the Scituate Reservoir project near Rhode Island "where a vast amount of territory was flooded in 1926
Other appearances
- The 1965 film Die, Monster, Die! with Boris Karloff was based on the story.
- The Doctor Who serial Planet of Evil has strong resemblances to this story.
- A film of the story called The Curse, starring Wil Wheaton, was made in 1987.
References
- Definitive version.
Notes
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