great story, classic Lovecraft.

Oh, how I’ve missed reading Lovecraft.

A perfect case of eldritch karma. Two friends have interesting and deranged tastes that lead them to grave robbing during the night. They live in a secluded home in England, where they have a private exhibition of all their stolen souvenirs on display. When they get tipped off that a legendary tomb raider like themselves resides in Holland, they jump on a boat immediately.

The resting place of their fellow ghoulish grave robber is far from ordinary. It resides within an ancient graveyard where the crows seem to linger around with purpose. The hallowing of a hound can be heard echoing in the background. This deters them not in the slightest, and continues the excavation of the grave. To their surprise, the remains are intact despite centuries of being buried. The grave robber also has injuries that suggest he met his end by a rabid animal. Around the deceased neck is an elaborate and peculiar jade amulet, which they recognize from their readings of the dreaded Necronomicon. They snatch the amulet, re-bury the grave and flee back to England. On their trip back, they can hear the echoing of the hound lingering around them. But this is just the start of the horrid things to come...

Another of my top 5 Lovecraft stories. The dread is introduced like a small snow ball that's rolled down a hill. Before you know it, the snow ball has become a mass of horror billowing down with no way to stop but to watch it crash. Like a typical Lovecraftian horror, there is no happy ending to this eldritch horror. If you like other works by Lovecraft, definitely give The Hound a read. Even if you haven't it's a great place to start. The Hound doesn't have a lot of the mythology and is a great taste of what eldritch horror is about.

8/10

(Listened to Horrorbabble's audiobook (special edition) narrated by Ian Gordon.)

Audio: 4 stars
Story: 2 stars

7/10 - Relido. Short Story