lamp suddenly flared into life.
“‘ Parkinson, come quick, the lamp is alight!’
“ Parkinson raced downstairs into the parlour and stared out with me through the window.
“‘ Nothing yet,’ I reported.
“ Parkinson then went and prepared two brandies from his liquor cabinet. ‘There will be, I can assure you.’
“ Both staring out at the lamp, fortified by a false bravado which the brandy had kindly encouraged, we exchanged some small talk. And then it began.
“‘ Look, Mr.Carnacki! Can you not see it?’
“ Sure enough, there was a peculiar misty activity coming from the lamp.
“‘ See? I told you, it is happening again.’
“ Parkinson seemed almost jubilant with vindication as his past account regarding his supernatural ordeal was to be confirmed.
“‘ I stood by the window unable to move, frozen by my own funk. I watched as these ghastly horrors took on their terrible shape.
“‘Their manifestation was a horrible spectacle to b ehold: never in any of my investigations had I come across such a feeling of deep dread and horror as was engendered by these denizens of the lower planes. Truly these were outer monstrosities of the most grotesque kind.
“‘ Hours stretched longer as the night bled out before us. Forever swirling around the premises so as to gain access to the lodge, the unspeakable monstrosities would howl in a soul-destroying fashion when foiled in their attempts at entry.
“‘ Then it happened. The electrical generator that powered the lodge’s electric lighting blew, and all was in darkness.
“‘The only source of light was the lamp outside, which flooded through into the parlour and afforded us some respite against the complete blackness of the night.
“‘Mr. Carnacki, I think that the haunting has stopped!’ Parkinson gasped.
“‘Both of us stood together in silence, listening and watching. Then we heard a dreadful, hollow sound that can only be described as someone blowing across the neck of a bottle.
“‘A sixth sense drew my attention suddenly to the fireplace, and in my funk I could make out misty tentacles feeling their way out of the hearth and into the room.
“‘ My God, they are coming down the chimney!’ screamed Parkinson.
“‘ We must get to the electric pentacle now! Run!’
“ Both Parkinson and I fled at full speed up the stairs to the safety of the electric pentacle where Mrs. Parkinson lay asleep, oblivious of our danger.
“‘ Positioned at each corner of the lower end of the bed within the pentacle, both racked with fright, we watched the approach of these misty fiends as they made their way up the stairs into the bedroom.
“‘ Will this device of yours work, Carnacki?’ Parkinson said, hopeless with fear.
“‘ Yes, I think so, but we are in for a terrible time. Whatever you do, do not leave the pentacle at any cost!’
“As we both watched the bedroom door, which stood half ajar, we saw the horrors slowly ebb their way in. This was too much for poor young Parkinson; he fainted out of sheer terror as the abominations leered forward to the edge of the pentangle. I caught him in time and laid him out on the bed alongside his wife.
“ My hands were wet with perspiration as I saw first-hand and up close what sort of monstrosities these manifestations were. The sheer menace that they conveyed to me was, I felt, to be extremely real. Each time the unspeakable horrors tried to breach the defence of the pentacle and, thankfully, could not, their shrill, horrifying howl would sound throughout the lodge.
“ I checked my pocket watch with a hope that it would give me some good news as to the arrival of the dawn, but that relief was still some time off.
“ Thankfully, daybreak at last crept up steadily and the haunting ceased. I revived Parkinson with smelling salts and a hearty swig from my hip flask.
“ Parkinson sat up and looked around. ‘Is it over?’
“‘ Yes, for the moment, but we must act today to make sure
“‘ Parkinson, come quick, the lamp is alight!’
“ Parkinson raced downstairs into the parlour and stared out with me through the window.
“‘ Nothing yet,’ I reported.
“ Parkinson then went and prepared two brandies from his liquor cabinet. ‘There will be, I can assure you.’
“ Both staring out at the lamp, fortified by a false bravado which the brandy had kindly encouraged, we exchanged some small talk. And then it began.
“‘ Look, Mr.Carnacki! Can you not see it?’
“ Sure enough, there was a peculiar misty activity coming from the lamp.
“‘ See? I told you, it is happening again.’
“ Parkinson seemed almost jubilant with vindication as his past account regarding his supernatural ordeal was to be confirmed.
“‘ I stood by the window unable to move, frozen by my own funk. I watched as these ghastly horrors took on their terrible shape.
“‘Their manifestation was a horrible spectacle to b ehold: never in any of my investigations had I come across such a feeling of deep dread and horror as was engendered by these denizens of the lower planes. Truly these were outer monstrosities of the most grotesque kind.
“‘ Hours stretched longer as the night bled out before us. Forever swirling around the premises so as to gain access to the lodge, the unspeakable monstrosities would howl in a soul-destroying fashion when foiled in their attempts at entry.
“‘ Then it happened. The electrical generator that powered the lodge’s electric lighting blew, and all was in darkness.
“‘The only source of light was the lamp outside, which flooded through into the parlour and afforded us some respite against the complete blackness of the night.
“‘Mr. Carnacki, I think that the haunting has stopped!’ Parkinson gasped.
“‘Both of us stood together in silence, listening and watching. Then we heard a dreadful, hollow sound that can only be described as someone blowing across the neck of a bottle.
“‘A sixth sense drew my attention suddenly to the fireplace, and in my funk I could make out misty tentacles feeling their way out of the hearth and into the room.
“‘ My God, they are coming down the chimney!’ screamed Parkinson.
“‘ We must get to the electric pentacle now! Run!’
“ Both Parkinson and I fled at full speed up the stairs to the safety of the electric pentacle where Mrs. Parkinson lay asleep, oblivious of our danger.
“‘ Positioned at each corner of the lower end of the bed within the pentacle, both racked with fright, we watched the approach of these misty fiends as they made their way up the stairs into the bedroom.
“‘ Will this device of yours work, Carnacki?’ Parkinson said, hopeless with fear.
“‘ Yes, I think so, but we are in for a terrible time. Whatever you do, do not leave the pentacle at any cost!’
“As we both watched the bedroom door, which stood half ajar, we saw the horrors slowly ebb their way in. This was too much for poor young Parkinson; he fainted out of sheer terror as the abominations leered forward to the edge of the pentangle. I caught him in time and laid him out on the bed alongside his wife.
“ My hands were wet with perspiration as I saw first-hand and up close what sort of monstrosities these manifestations were. The sheer menace that they conveyed to me was, I felt, to be extremely real. Each time the unspeakable horrors tried to breach the defence of the pentacle and, thankfully, could not, their shrill, horrifying howl would sound throughout the lodge.
“ I checked my pocket watch with a hope that it would give me some good news as to the arrival of the dawn, but that relief was still some time off.
“ Thankfully, daybreak at last crept up steadily and the haunting ceased. I revived Parkinson with smelling salts and a hearty swig from my hip flask.
“ Parkinson sat up and looked around. ‘Is it over?’
“‘ Yes, for the moment, but we must act today to make sure
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