The colour out of space

Metadata

Gutenberg ID

68236

Title

The colour out of space

Language

en

Book source

Project Gutenberg

Description max 80 words

A cosmic horror tale where a meteorite from unknown space releases an alien color that infects the local ecosystem, driving inhabitants to madness and death while transforming the landscape into a desolate grey wasteland.

Summary up to 500 words

In the remote hills west of Arkham, surveyor Ammi Pierce investigates a desolate region known as the 'blasted heath,' an area abandoned by farmers and shunned by foreigners due to an inexplicable sense of dread. The catastrophe traces back to the summer of 1882, when a meteorite struck the ground near farmer Nahum Gardner's home. Unlike ordinary stones, this fragment was soft, hot, and possessed a unique affinity for silicon, causing it to shrink until it vanished entirely. Its presence triggered bizarre phenomena: the stone glowed in the dark, lingered with intense heat, dissolved acids, and displayed spectral bands unknown to science. The infection spread rapidly through the Gardner household and environment. Nahum's wife began screaming about unseen entities before crawling on all fours; their horses stampeded and were shot; livestock turned grey, brittle, and died quickly. Plants withered into dead grey dust, and well water became tainted. One by one, the family members—Thaddeus, Merwin, Zenas, and finally Nahum himself—disappeared or perished in horrific ways, seemingly consumed by an alien influence. Ammi Pierce witnesses the climax as a 'colour out of space' erupts from the well, pouring into the sky and turning the entire valley a sickly, shifting hue. This color infects everything organic, causing trees to twist and buildings to glow with an unholy light. A massive explosion of unnatural sparks blasts the area into oblivion, leaving behind only five acres of sterile grey desert known as the blasted heath. Years later, Ammi recounts the tale, noting that the region remains cursed, affecting the minds of those who visit and ensuring that nothing ever grows there again. The story serves as a warning against cosmic forces that defy natural laws, suggesting that some mysteries from unformed realms of infinity remain to trouble humanity.

LLM editorial rating

4.2/5

Download URL

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/68236.epub.noimages

Local file path

data/epubs/pg68236.epub

Download EPUB

Downloaded at

2026-08-19 18:18 UTC

Categories

• Horror
• Science Fiction