Miskatonic Arcihves

Explore the encyclopedia

An encyclopedia of strange fiction, its creators, places and mythos. Follow the sources; draw your own conclusions.

Tagged: 1900s

Literature

The Alchemist

The Alchemist follows Antoine, the last count of a declining French family whose male titleholders repeatedly die around the age of thirty-two. His investigation of a centuries-old curse leads beneath his own castle, where an apparent hereditary doom becomes the work of a single, unnaturally persistent avenger. The story combines ancestral guilt, material decay and the pursuit of prolonged life.

6 min read · 1,068 words

Literature

The Beast in the Cave

The Beast in the Cave concerns a visitor lost in Mammoth Cave who attacks an approaching creature in complete darkness, then discovers that his assumptions about it were tragically mistaken. The story makes the absence of sight a problem of judgment: a sound first interpreted as rescue becomes evidence of danger, and only afterward does recognition arrive.

5 min read · 995 words

Literature

The Mysterious Ship

The Mysterious Ship survives in short and long versions, both following a suspicious brig whose appearances coincide with disappearances. Discovery of a submarine turns an apparent maritime enigma into a pirate-abduction plot. A remote northern base provides the setting for rescue and the final confrontation. The two versions expand and resolve this sequence differently.

3 min read · 552 words