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'''''The Faceless God''''' is a short story by American author [[Robert Bloch]] which is set in the fictional [[Cthulhu Mythos]]. |
'''''The Faceless God''''' is a short story by American author [[Robert Bloch]] which is set in the fictional [[Cthulhu Mythos]]. |
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Revision as of 22:05, 20 October 2020
The Faceless God is a short story by American author Robert Bloch which is set in the fictional Cthulhu Mythos.
Synopsis
A ruthless black marketeer named Doctor Stugatche discovers that a caravan of traders have uncovered a potentially-priceless statue in the desert. Torturing its location from one of the traders, he mounts an expedition to retrieve it.
Upon locating the statue, Stugatche finds that his hired group of locals are unwilling to touch the thing, and he has to resort to the threat of violence to force them to dig it from beneath the sands. Settling down for the night, he awakes in the early hours of the morning to find that the natives have all departed while he slept, and taken everything except the statue with them.
Attempting the long walk to the nearest oasis, Stugatche begins to notice a dark presence stalking him. Panicking, he loses his way and, still pursued by the presence, travels in an enormous circle, eventually finding himself back at his original campsite. There, the sands open and engulf him, leaving only his head above ground, to slowly die in the heat of the desert while chanting the name 'Nyarlathotep.'
Characters
- Doctor Stugatche, described as being around forty-five years old and heavy-set, except for his legs, which are almost comically spindly in comparison. He was formerly an attachΓ© to an archaeological expedition in Egypt who went on to deal in black-market antiquities.
- Hassan, an elderly man who was a camel-driver for the caravan which discovered the statue. Later abducted, tortured and killed for information by Stugatche's henchmen.
- Nyarlathotep, one of the Outer Gods, is revealed to have been both the subject of the statue and the presence which followed Stugatche. He is stated to have been dwelling in the desert since before the building of the pyramids, when he and his cult were cast out from civilisation. He now waits for the time to be right to return to the world.
Behind the Mythos
The Faceless God was originally published in the May 1936 edition of Weird Tales, and collected in Robert Bloch's collections The Opener of the Way and Mysteries of the Worm. It was later included as part of the eBook release The Cthulhu Mythos Megapack by Wildside Press in 2012.
Mythos References
- The lost continent of Mu is mentioned.
- Abdul Alhazred's Necronomicon, the Book of Eibon, and the Mysteries of the Worm by Ludvig Prinn are all referenced.