The Nameless City
written by H.P. Lovecraft
www.ink2quill.com

“The Nameless City” is a short story written by the cosmic horror grandmaster of the genre, H.P. Lovecraft himself. It was written and published in 1921 in an amateur journal and is part of the Cthulhu Mythos that the author is so famous for. This story has influenced so many stories across all genres from fantasy, action adventure films to literature whose names I am drawing a mental block on now. Cosmic Horror is one of the most interesting and not so obvious to think up genres in all of literature. The idea that someone or some people thought up this genre is genius. I heard it said that this story was not initially so popular when it was published but gained traction with time and is now a considered a classic in the genre. Think about it. So many good films, action films, and great books have started out with the same beginning as that in the story “The Nameless City”.

The Nameless City, H.P. Lovecraft Archive webpage

The Nameless City, American Literature webpage

Data page for “The Nameless City”, H.P.Lovecraft

“The Nameless City” tells the story of a man, the narrator, who sets out to explore a very ancient and nearly completely buried city that appears to be older than the human species itself. The city is buried under Middle Eastern sands in a part of the desert everyone, especially the locals, fear and stay away from. But the narrator goes anyway. The narrator is a vey curious person. He’s a scientist in the style of the old fashion explorer from the Victorian Age, complete with paper books, candles, torches and his trusty camel. It makes me think of the “Indiana Jones” movies but with so much more authenticity. He sweeps all trepidations aside and is drawn to the tunnels like a moth to a flame. The abandoned city is nearly completely covered in sand with dark entrances and tunnels that spew gusts of wind so ancient that lead deep below the sands. He sees strange carvings that are terrifying and strange, of lizard like people and strange hieroglyphs. Some of the murals tell of a time when these lizard like creatures owned the Earth and maybe even ate human beings. The stories depicted on the walls are of a terrifying past where you would not want to be a human being.

I loved this story and if I were to have one criticism it would have to be that it was too short. The author could have given us a little more tangents to the storyline that would eventually lead to the end. So many good short stories give me this feeling, that they are too short and somehow the author kept some juicier details for themselves. You know details so good that he/she kept them for themselves. Now that’s greedy. No but seriously, I hope somebody makes a good mini-series out of this and takes liberties to expand it.

The thing I liked the most was how H.P. Lovecraft put us in the shoes of the narrator. His descriptions make your skin crawl, and like in so many good horror movies, I wanted to shout to the protagonist to get out of there. I kept asking myself questions like “Why isn’t he running the h*ll out of there?”, “He’s not gonna go down that tunnel with just a torch?”, “WTF?”. The author is a master at the description and I love that in his stories. His use of the right words that are very well dated and so chilling is just brilliant. There is no other author like H.P. Lovecraft. Many try to emulate him and some are inspired by him but none can ever be like him. It goes without saying that he is one of the fathers/parents of the ‘Cosmic Horror’ genre with his Cthulhu Mythos. Some of the ideas behind the Cthulhu Mythos are some of the most strange I have ever read and I would even say that it broadened my mind and imagination. Don’t get me wrong, the ideas in the Cthulhu Mythos are terrifying but I feel that they jar the imagination in the right way and take us outside of our comfort zone. That is the genius of H.P. Lovecraft and the entire Cosmic Horror genre. That is why I think everybody should read his stories and books and understand the underlaying themes.

Let me finish by telling the reader/listener to ask yourself the question:

“Can you imagine a reality so old and so strange you risk insanity when confronted with it?” That question is at the core of the Cosmic Horror genre.

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The Nameless City audio-book on Youtube website:

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John Ink2Quill

Ink2Quill Blogs / Short Story, Novellas & Poems / Written 1921 / 2026 / cthulhu / horror / ink2quill / john / lovecraft / quill /