From Beyond:
As mentioned previously, I've tried to read this one numerous times but kept getting distracted or just couldn't get into it/keep focused. Which is surprising, considering its a very short story (like 3-5 pages). I've been on a Lovecraft kick lately, even jotting some stuff down last night in regards to my retelling of "A Shadow over Innsmouth," and binging on some Lovecraft YouTube videos. I decided to open my tome of H.P Lovecraft and beat my head against this story to finally come through and finish it. I had to re-read the first page and a half several times and I have come to the realization that it just seems kind of dense. Maybe it is because each time I tried to pick this story up it had been awhile since I read Lovecraft, whom is notorious for denser purple prose, and my brain was just not synced up with his writing style. Like an atrophied muscle, I had to really work it out and get it back up to speed to get through it. After the first page and a half being re-read 4-5 times I fell back into the groove and the rest of the story seemed easier or at the very least more interesting.
The story begins with The Narrator (I will call him Wendel), as Lovecraft is true to form and has an unnamed narrator again. Its like an art for him. Wendel brings up his scientific friend Crawford Tillinghast, that kicked him out of his house when Wendel last visited him 10 weeks prior. They had an argument over whether Tillinghast should pursue his proposed experiment to prove that there are things that exist outside our perception. Wendel remonstrates several times which lead to his ejection from Tillinghast's home. After 10 weeks, Wendel receives a note to visit Tillinghast. When he visits, Tillinghast is not looking so good. He has wasted away looking almost skeletal, like a man that has been avoiding food and sleep for about as long as Wendel and Tillinghast were departed. All of Tillinghast's servants had left 3 days prior, which was a shock to Wendel because he was good friends with one of the servants and found it odd that the friend didn't stop by to let him know what happened. Tillinghast brings Wendel to the attic where he had built a machine that allows someone to see/feel/hear/perceive the world around them and see into the "ultra-violet." This machine showcases them in purple. After witnessing some extra-dimensional jellyfish, Tillinghast reveals that the servants all disappeared because they alerted the creatures of this dimension to their presence and were taken by some predators, in fact there's a predator right behind Wendel! Tillinghast invited Wendel over to kill him since Wendel didn't support Tillinghast in his endeavor. Wendel, who carries a gun ever since being mugged, shot the machine which brought them out of the bridge of realities. Tillinghast gets so angry he has a stroke and dies. The police arrested Wendel but after doing a through investigation he is released since he didn't murder Tillinghast. The doctor tells Wendel that the machine caused Tillinghast to hypnotize Wendel and that everything is fine. Wendel would be willing to believe the doctor, if it wasn't for the fact the bodies of the missing servants were never found.
Again, it was a bit hard to get into, but the second half was rather fun and I could see this being a 30 minute episode of an anthology series in my hypothetical AHS style show.