Passing of Eric Holm

"Passing of Eric Holm" is a Cthulhu Mythos short story by August Derleth. It was published in the December 1939 issue of Strange Stories, in which Derleth was credited by the pseudonym "Will Garth".
==Synopsis ==
An inquest is held to determine the circumstances of the death of Eric Holm, who was last seen alive on April 3, 1939, returning home with a newly-bought book. Mr. Sanderson, the bookseller, testifies that Holm had bought the Confessions of the Mad Monk Clithanus. A witness named Johnny Heckler claims to have seen some kind of creature sliding over the wall of Holm's garden, but this is largely dismissed due to Heckler's reputation as a drunkard. Finally, a respectable man named Lansing shockingly reveals that he and Holm used to purchase books on witchcraft and try out the spells, usually without results.
On the night of April 3, Holm had invited Lansing to see his new book, and claimed to be able to summon a kind of "animal" from the sea. Clithanus' book identified the creature in question as one of the Spawn of Cthulhu, and provided a formula for summoning one and sending it after the summoner's enemies, as well as another formula for banishing it back to the sea. Holm proposed to send the Spawn of Cthulhu after Lansing, who would then banish it back safely. Although skeptical, Lansing agreed to try it, and returned home. Once in his library, he heard the noises of something breaking into his house. Frightened, he recited the formula, and was relieved to hear the thing stop and turn back the way it came from. When he gathered enough courage to leave the library, Lansing saw the front door opened and a trail of large webbed footprints that emanated a noxious smell.
Lansing called Holm to tell him that the ritual had worked, but Holm in turn revealed that the creature was now coming for him. Over the telephone, a terrified Lansing heard Holm screaming, and the sounds of the beast breaking into the room and attacking him. Lansing promptly notified the police. Once in Holm's house, the police and Lansing found the same giant webbed footprints, and Holm's body torn apart and half-eaten. The trail of footprints revealed that the creature had left the house, climbed over the garden wall, and went back to the sea.
==Publication History==
*Strange Stories (1939)
*Dwellers in Darkness (1976)
*The Cthulhu Mythos (1997)
*In Lovecraft's Shadow: The Cthulhu Mythos Stories of August Derleth (1998)
Category:Lovecraft Circle Works
Category:August Derleth works