Seeds from the Blasted Heath

"Seeds From the Blasted Heath" is a short Cthulhu Mythos story by American author Brian Barnett. It was published in the Gavin Chappell-edited zine Lovecraftiana, Vol 8, Issue 2 by Rogue Planet Press in July 2023 Lovecraftiana Vol 8, Issue 2 "Read sample" feature at Amazon.co.uk (retrieved 10 August 2024).
==Synopsis==
While returning home to Kentucky via the back country west of Arkham, the unnamed narrator stops off at a roadside stall selling the most incredible tomato plants he has ever seen. Unable to resist buying one from the oddly-afflicted vendor, he proceeds on his way, intending to cultivate the plant at journey's end.
On the way home, he notices a pungent odour coming from the tomatoes, but thinks little of it. At his house, he leaves the plants at his back door with the intention of attending to them in the morning. However, upon awakening, he discovers that the fruit has rotted overnight: determined to salvage what he can, he rescues as many seeds as possible, replanting them in a nursery. He then notices that he has begun to develop the same afflictions possessed by the stallholder, but quickly dismisses this as the compulsion to sell the seedlings on grows stronger…
==Behind the Mythos==
The story is intended to be a continuance of H. P. Lovecraft's 1927 short story "The Colour Out of Space"; the title's reference to the "Blasted Heath" refers to the location contaminated by the alien entity's presence in Lovecraft's story, while the mutated flora and strangely-afflicted vendor are consistent with the effects generated by the being.
==References==
Category:Brian Barnett works
Category:Expanded Mythos Works