A gravedigger in a certain village discovers a substance that gives the appearance of death to living beings. He intends to use it on his enemies, but in the end, he himself becomes a victim.
The horror in the cemetery is distinguished by a slightly gallows humor and the rustic slang of the characters. The story at times resembles the works of the master of macabre, Ambrose Bierce.
The last of the stories written by Lovecraft for Hazel Heald. Common to all of them is the motif of transformation and paralysis or incapacitation. Heald paid regularly, and H.P. Lovecraft didn't seem to complain about her, which cannot be said about other clients
