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"The Gorge Beyond Salapunco: The Testimony of Claiborne Boyd" is a Cthulhu Mythos short story by August Derleth, part of his Trail of Cthulhu series. It was written in June 1946, but not published until the March 1949 issue of Weird Tales.
Reception[]
Few people are enthusiastic about this story, starting with Derleth himself: "I am far from satisfied with it, believe me," he wrote to a correspondent. "I think it a very poor job." He complained of the difficulty of writing a story complete in itself that also serves as a transition between two parts of a novel. S. T. Joshi dismissed it as “a retelling of ‘The Call of Cthulhu’”, while Derleth specialist John Haefele calls it "subpar". Weird Tales initially rejected it in July 1946, saying "we like this latest Cthulhu the least of all our problem material," before agreeing to publish it three years later.[1]
Characters[]
- Claiborne Boyd: A scholar of Creole culture and the heir of a wealthy New Orleans family.
- Asaph Gilman: A retired Miskatonic University professor of nuclear physics and student of the Mythos, who dies under mysterious circumstances.
- Japhet Smith: An agent of the Cthulhu Cult.
- Laban Shrewsbury: An expert on the Cthulhu Mythos who offers Boyd advice in his dreams.
- Professor Andros: An academic whom Boyd meets with in Peru on Shewsbury's dream advice.
- Father Andrada: A saintly priest in Peru who first warns Boyd about the Cthulhu Cult, but later is subverted or replaced by it.
External Link[]
"'The Testament of Claiborne Boyd' aka 'The Gorge Beyond Salapunco'" review at Cthulery
References[]
- ↑ Haefele, John D., A Look Behind the Derleth Mythos: Origins of the Cthulhu Mythos (Cimmerian Press)
| "The House on Curwen Street" • "The Watcher from the Sky" • "The Gorge Beyond Salapunco" • "The Keeper of the Key" • "The Black Island" |