Free Download
Hypnos
Hypnos
Book Excerpt
interpreted dreams, and the gods have laughed. One man with Oriental eyes has said that all time and space are relative, and men have laughed. But even that man with Oriental eyes has done no more than suspect. I had wished and tried to do more than suspect, and my friend had tried and partly succeeded. Then we both tried together, and with exotic drugs courted terrible and forbidden dreams in the tower studio chamber of the old manor-house in hoary Kent.
Among the agonies of these after days is that chief of torments- inarticulateness. What I learned and saw in those hours of impious exploration can never be told- for want of symbols or suggestions in any language. I say this because from first to last our discoveries partook only of the nature of sensations; sensations correlated with no impression which the nervous system of normal humanity is capable of receiving. They were sensations, yet within them lay unbelievable elements of time and space- things which at bottom possess no distinct and definite existence. Human utterance can best convey the general character of our experiences by calling them plungings or soarings; for in every period of revelation some part of our minds broke boldly away from all that is real and present, rushing aerially along shocking, unlighted, and fear-haunted abysses,
Editor's choice
(view all)
Popular books in Short Story, Horror
More books by H. P. Lovecraft
(view all)
Readers reviews
3.7
LoginSign up
A corpulent and wordy story; not great, but mercifully short. The hero is trying to extend himself into his dreams using drugs. He meets a man whom he senses has penetrated the dream world, makes friends with him, and joins his experiments. The places they go are measureless, untransmissible, unmentionable, can never be told, etc.--but scary. His friend pierces the forbidden, and stuff happens.
There's no real horror, because nothing horrible is described.
There's no real horror, because nothing horrible is described.
- Upvote (0)
- Downvote (0)
Beautifully written short.
09/02/2011
Lovecraft, that great Old gentleman From providence, is well known for his Cthulhu Myhtos, but he is also well known for a series of stories known as the Dreamlands Cycle, a stable of stories that ultimately resulted in his Dreamlands masterpiece The Quest For Unknown Kadath. Hypnos is an early story in the cycle of a man who plunges to far into the mysteries of dreams and pays a price. Not one of Lovecraft's best, but an enjoyable twenty minute diversion.
01/23/2007