The Ghost-Eater

"The Ghost Eater" is a horror short story by  C. M. Eddy, Jr. with H. P. Lovecraft, published in the April 1924 issue of Weird Tales. 
==Synopsis==
An unnamed narrator sets out on journey from Mayfair to Glendale, Maine, on foot, but must traverse a dangerous forest on the way. He believes this trip will take only a day. When he can get no one to be his guide, he sets out on his own. However, he soon becomes exhausted from the afternoon heat and falls asleep until it is nearly sundown. Upon awakening, he sees a storm on the horizon and frantically searches for shelter.
He sees a light and follows it to a house built within a clearing. Inside is a kindly old man with a limp who offers him dinner, yet doesn't eat his meal alongside the narrator. The old man isn't talkative, so the narrator retires in an upstairs guest room. As he takes his lamp with him, he notes how the old man's eyes reflect in the light. Fearful about the possibility of being robbed, he poses the bed as if it were occupied and sits watch in a corner chair.
Late in the night, he's awoken by heavy footsteps on the stair, as the narrator's door begins to open. He hides behind a dresser, as a tall unfamiliar man enters the room and proceeds to lie down in the bed before going to sleep. Determined to rouse the man, he moves to touch him, but find his hand passes through the man's body.
He hides again in terror as more footsteps are heard, these with a limp. A huge gray wolf with luminous eyes and a lame paw comes into the room and proceeds to eviscerate the sleeping apparition. Frightened, the narrator flees in terror.
Finally arriving in Mayfair the next morning, he finds refuge at the Lafayette House but doesn't reveal his ordeal. The proprietor is amazed he would travel through the "Devil's Wood" on the night of the full moon. The proprietor proceeds to tell the tale of Vasili Oukranikov, a Russian immigrant who built a home in the woods.
Oukranikov was reported to be a werewolf and devil worshipper. People reported being chased through the woods by a huge gray wolf. After a local shot the wolf in the foot one night, the suspicious of the townfolk were confirmed when Oukranikov returned to town with a limp. In time, Oukranikov sent Feodor Tchernevsky, the so-called "Count", to pay him a visit. The Count was warned about the danger of Oukranikov and had compatriots follow in case of danger. At some unspecified point, they stormed the house and found a huge gray wolf feasting on the Count's corpse. They killed the wolf, buried it underneath an oak tree, and burned the house to the ground. The proprietor asks if the narrator saw anything on his journey, but he denies it.
Category:C. M. Eddy, Jr. works
Category:H. P. Lovecraft works
Category:Lovecraft Circle Works