The Last Feast of Harlequin

"The Last Feast of Harlequin" is a Lovecraftian short story by American author Thomas Ligotti, first published in the April 1990 edition of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.
==Synopsis==
A university professor with a lifelong fascination with clowns, their history, and their social evolution heads to a small town after hearing about a festival centred around clown culture. Observing a strange subculture of sad-faced clowns lurking in the background and tested with contempt by the other townsfolk, he infiltrates the group, only to find a cult dedicated to a subterranean creature called "the worm". Although he manages to escape the group during a sacrificial ceremony, the cult leader's final words remain with him forever after: that he is one of them, and has always been one of them.
==Behind the Mythos==
Since its debut, "The Last Feast of Harlequin" has been reprinted many times, and has appeared in a number of Lovecraftian anthologies, including Cthulhu 2000 (1995), Return to Lovecraft Country (1997), and A Mountain Walked (2014). It has also been translated into German, Italian, Serbian and Finnish.
Category:Thomas Ligotti works
Category:Mythos-Inspired Works