The Black Stone

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"The Black Stone" is a classic short story by Robert E. Howard, first published in the November 1931 issue of Weird Tales. The story introduces the mad poet Justin Geoffrey and the fictitious Unaussprechlichen Kulten by Friedrich von Junzt.

Among Howard's stories that can be considered part of the Cthulhu Mythos, this one is no exception — it is written as a mythos story rather than as simply a tale compatible with the Lovecraftian universe. It follows the same pattern and has the same features as H.P. Lovecraft's classic work, and it is an obvious wink to Howard's friend and mentor, Lovecraft himself.

Contents 1 Synopsis 2 Characters 2.1 Justin Geoffrey 2.2 Friedrich Wilheim Von Junzt 2.3 Narrator 3 References

[edit] Synopsis

[edit] Characters

[edit] Justin Geoffrey

(1898–1926)

[edit] Friedrich Wilheim Von Junzt

(1795–1840)

An eccentric German poet and philosopher noted for his extensive travels and membership in myriad secret societies. He is mainly remembered as the author of the Unaussprechlichen Kulten (Nameless Cults or The Black Book), which was published shortly before his death. Six months after his return from an expedition to Mongolia, he was found dead in a locked and bolted chamber with taloned finger marks on his throat.

Robert M. Price compares the death of Von Junzt to the demise of Abdul Alhazred, author of the Necronomicon: "[In] Lovecraft's tongue-in-cheek 'History of the Necronomicon'...he recounts the doom of Abdul Alhazred. 'He is said by Ebn Khallikan . . . to have been seized by an invisible monster in broad daylight and devoured horribly before a large number of fright-frozen witnesses.' ...And 'what of the monstrous hand that strangled out his life?' In both cases, the coroner reports the cause of death as a phantom monster suspiciously like the one that rent Lovecraft himself limb-from-limb in Robert Bloch's 'The Shambler from the Stars'." ^[1].

At the time of his death, von Juntz was working on a second book, the contents of which are unknown since it was burnt to ashes by his friend, the Frenchman Alexis Ladeau. Afterwards, Ladeau slit his own throat with a razor after having read the work. Von Juntz was one of the few people to have read the Greek version of the Necronomicon.

[edit] Narrator

Almost nothing is known about the story's anonymous narrator. He is very learned, with extensive knowledge of history and anthropology, and has read much on the subject of ancient religion, including obsure or bizarre authors like von Junzt. His tastes in poetry go to the obscure and weird too, such as Geoffrey.

Other Howard stories suggest that John Kirowan, with his extensive travels in Hungary, is possibly the narrator.

[edit] References

• Robert E. Howard [1931] (1998). "The Black Stone", Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos, 1st ed., New York, NY: Random House. ISBN 0-345-42204-X.