The Colour Out of Space

Written in 1927, "The Colour Out of Space" is a short story written by American horror author Howard Phillips Lovecraft.

In the tale, an unnamed narrator pieces together the story of an area known by the locals as the "blasted heath" in the wild hills west of Arkham, Massachusetts. The narrator discovers that many years ago a meteorite crashed there, draining the life force from anything living nearby; vegetation grows large, but tasteless, animals are driven mad and deformed into grotesque shapes, and the people go insane or die one by one...

Lovecraft began writing "The Colour Out of Space" immediately after finishing his previous short novel, "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward", and in the midst of final revision on his horror fiction essay "Supernatural Horror in Literature". Seeking to create a form of life that was truly alien, he drew his inspiration from numerous fiction and nonfiction sources.

"The Colour Out of Space" became one of Lovecraft's most popular works and remained his personal favourite short story. It was adapted into feature film versions in 1965, 1987, and 2020.