The Shambler From the Stars was originally published in 1935 in the pulp magazine Weird Tales, and dedicated to H. P. Lovecraft whose Cthulhu Mythos inspired the story. Lovecraft turned around and wrote a story as a response-slash-sequel to this, The Haunter in the Dark. This in turn prompted a third story from Bloch, The Shadow from the Steeple, creating a sort of ad-hoc and loosely connected trilogy. We present to you the first of these, though we will likely not be publishing the other two on this platform, as to do so will require that they be split up into mini serials of their own. As the stories are separate and do not necessitate a reading of all three, this should not prove to be problematic. You can enjoy Shambler all on its own. However, if there is enough interest, we will consider publishing the other two stories here.

In The Shambler From the Stars, we follow a narrator who, unsatisfied with their daily life as a moderately successful writer, seeks adventure in the cryptic tomes of dark magicians and practitioners. As the story is written from the viewpoint of the narrator, we may deduce that if any harm comes to them, it is not great enough to bring their existence to its end. Their plight, however, must be of such intrigue it is of value in itself to have been written down.

The story is indeed intriguing, and the label of terror applicable. Despite even the most lucid moments of understanding, the narrator and their accomplices push forward on their intended course, leading to the horror that required more than one story to contain it. The remaining two stories—mentioned above—provide further insight to what our narrator here discovers.

Gather and prepare yourself before diving into this tale of terror. Lock tight your windows and secure your doors and hallways; also read with plenty of light all around you. Or, perhaps, you are the type who enjoys maximizing the tension in a tale by establishing an environment fit to frighten even the most staunch fan of horror.  Whatever the case, prepare accordingly, and may you fear, er, enjoy this classic tale of horror.

And now, without further ado, we begin …