# The Colour Out of Space explained — Short Fiction

> Chapter companion for Short Fiction by H. P. Lovecraft.

## 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.

## Character check-ins

### 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 lines

> 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._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_26_se/chapters/the-colour-out-of-space
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_26_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_26_se/chapters