Зов Ктулху
The Horror in Clay
Apulpy,tentacledhead surmountedagrotesqueandscalybodywithrudimentarywings; butitwasthegeneraloutlineofthewholewhichmadeitmostshockinglyfrightful. BehindthefigurewasavaguesuggestionofaCyclopeanarchitecturalbackground.
Thewritingaccompanyingthisodditywas,asidefromastackofpresscuttings, inProfessorAngell’smostrecenthand;vandmadenopretensetoliterarystyle.Whatseemedtobethemaindocumentwasheaded"CTHULHUCULT" incharacterspainstakinglyprintedtoavoidtheerroneousreadingofawordsounheard-of. Thismanuscriptwasdividedintotwosections, thefirstofwhichwasheaded "1925—DreamandDreamWorkofH.A.Wilcox,7ThomasSt.,Providence,R.I.", andthesecond, "NarrativeofInspectorJohnR.Legrasse,121BienvilleSt.,NewOrleans,La.,at1908A.A.S.Mtg.—NotesonSame,&Prof.Webb’sAcct." Theothermanuscriptpaperswereallbriefnotes, someofthemaccountsofthequeerdreamsofdifferentpersons, someofthemcitationsfromtheosophicalbooksandmagazines (notablyW.ScottElliot’sAtlantisandtheLostLemuria), andtherestcommentsonlong-survivingsecretsocietiesandhiddencults, withreferencestopassagesinsuchmythologicalandanthropologicalsource-books asFrazer’sGoldenBoughandMissMurray’sWitch-CultinWesternEurope. Thecuttingslargelyalludedtooutrementalillnesses andoutbreaksofgroupfollyormaniainthespringof1925.
Thefirsthalfoftheprincipalmanuscripttoldaverypeculiartale. ItappearsthatonMarch1st,1925,athin,darkyoungman ofneuroticandexcitedaspecthadcalleduponProfessorAngellbearingthesingularclaybas-relief, whichwasthenexceedinglydampandfresh.
