The Unnamable

Name:  The Unnamable

Features:  Devil-like creature with horns and hooves

Source:  H.P. Lovecraft

Habitat:  House on Meadow Hill in Arkham, Massachusetts.  North America

The unnamable is referenced as being very difficult to describe because it had thousands of shapes of horror, it was a slime- a vapor, it was everywhere – that is why it is referred to as unnamable.

In H.P. Lovecraft’s short story that was included in the 1925 issue of Weird Tales – character Randolph Carter describes the creature as being devil-like, having four-inch horns, hooves and having a human-like face.

There were tales of this creature with a blemished eye being seen at the windows at night or sometimes in the deserted meadows near the woods surrounding John Winthrop’s house on Meadow Hill.  Its image was said to have been permanently etched in the windows of the house from which it looked and stared out of.

In the early 1700’s on a dark valley road near the house, an attack had left a victim with horn marks on his chest and claw marks on his back.  When they went back to look for prints at the scene of the attack, they found marks of split hooves in the dust.

Another account of the creature occurred in the moonlit hours just before dawn when a post rider had witnessed an old man chasing a frightening nameless thing at Meadow Hill.  The creature was rumoured to have been kept locked and hidden in the attic by the owner of the house at Meadow Hill.

When the owner of the house passed and was buried in a crypt behind it, talk of the creature - if it was a living being, was that it must have also eventually died.

In 1793 out of curiosity & interest, a boy decided to visit the shunned, abandoned house to explore the house and the attic.  It is said that he went completely mad from what he found & saw.

THE UNNAMABLE - IN THE MOVIES

THE UNNAMABLE

1988 Starring Mark Kinsey Stephenson, Alexandra Durrell, Charles Klausmeyer, Laura Albert & Katrin Alexandre.

In this movie four students decide to meet at the house and explore it at night for some thrills.  They set up in a room to tell each other ghost stories – that is when the creature begins stalking them one by one.

THE UNNAMABLE II - THE STATEMENT OF RANDOLPH CARTER

1992 Starring Mark Kinsey Stephenson, Charles Klausmeyer, Maria Ford, John Rhys-Davies & Julie Strain.

The story continues outside the Winthrop House where the victims are being taken to the hospital and Randolph Carter is in possession of Joshua Winthrop’s book of spells.

Return to Top of The Unnamable Page

Return to Fictional Characters Page

Return to Mythical Creatures and Beasts Home Page