Short Fiction · Chapter
The Colour Out of Space explained
A surveyor for a new reservoir explores the desolate 'blasted heath' near Arkham and hears from old Ammi Pierce the story of a strange meteorite that fell on Nahum Gardner's farm in 1882, bringing an alien colour that poisoned the land, dro
What happens
A surveyor for a new reservoir explores the desolate 'blasted heath' near Arkham and hears from old Ammi Pierce the story of a strange meteorite that fell on Nahum Gardner's farm in 1882, bringing an alien colour that poisoned the land, drove the family mad, and left a lingering blight.
Themes in this chapter
Horror of the Unknown
The alien colour from beyond known space defies scientific understanding and natural laws, embodying cosmic terror.
Decay and Fallen Grandeur
The Gardner farm and surrounding region fall into ruin and desolation after the meteorite's arrival, with the blasted heath as a permanent scar.
Madness and Psychological Decay
The influence of the colour drives people mad, including Nahum and others who went 'queer' in the years after.
Characters to notice
- Unknown Narrator
The surveyor who visits the blasted heath and recounts Ammi Pierce's tale.
- Ammi Pierce
The old man who witnessed the strange days and tells the narrator the story of the meteorite.
- Nahum Gardner
The farmer on whose land the meteorite fell; his dying words are recalled by Ammi.
Key passages
“It was just a colour out of space—a frightful messenger from unformed realms of infinity beyond all Nature as we know it; from realms whose mere existence stuns the brain and numbs us with the black extra-cosmic gulfs it throws open before our frenzied eyes.”
The colour is an alien entity from beyond the known universe, whose very presence overwhelms the mind with cosmic dread.
The narrator reflects on the true nature of the colour as something incomprehensible and terrifying.
“can’t git away—draws ye—ye know summ’at’s comin’, but ’tain’t no use—”
Nahum's dying words express the inescapable pull of the colour, foretelling doom despite awareness.
Ammi recalls Nahum's final warning about the colour's irresistible influence.