The Horror from the Hills

The Horror from the Hills is a horror novel by Frank Belknap Long, originally serialized in Weird Tales magazine in 1931 in the January and February-March issues. It was published by Arkham House in 1963 in an edition of 1,997 copies. It has come to form an integral part of the Cthulhu Mythos.
==Synopsis==
Algernon Harris, the curator of Archaeology at the Manhattan Museum of Fine Arts, has sent field works all over the world in the hunt for unusual and valuable artefacts. Some of these agents have returned injured and in two cases horribly mutilated. However another agent by the name of Clark Ulman has returned with a hideous stone idol. Incongruously, Ulman now conceals his face behind a scarf.
The strange and ugly idol most closely resembles, to the extent it resembles anything recognisable, an elephant. The pedestal is also described as ugly and made from an unidentifiable stone. 
Another agent had written of the tortures he had been forced to suffer at the hands of a secret cult of subhuman worshippers of the idol. It emerges that Ulman was sent with the the idol back to civilization so that ancient prophecy may be fulfilled. In the process of this revelation Ulman reveals that the idol is based on life and that the entity it represents, named Chaugnar Faugn, is a real living being. Ulman also reveals that Chaugnar Faugn, a monstrous vampire, has already feasted upon Ulman himself.
Chaugnar and his brothers, revealed to be all parts of the same alien superorganism, lived in a cavern in the Pyrenees between Spain and France. This cavern was inaccessible in normal circumstances to humans. Chaugnar created the Miri Nigri humanoids as servants, made from the flesh of toads. Chaugnar and his brothers were offered human sacrifices from the people of the nearby settlement of Pompelo until the Romans attacked Pompelo and ended the sacrifices. Chaugnar Faugn and his brothers then destroyed Pompelo. Since then the Chaugnar Faugn brothers have been resting hidden in Asia until the time comes for their rise, assisted by their "White Acolyte" - none other than the unfortunate Ulman, who has been forced into the role by the high-priest Chung Ga so that the prophecy can be fulfilled.
Revealing all this is Ulman's final act. He collapses and dies. On examination it is discovered that Ulman's face had undergone mutation. He had an elephantine trunk and huge ears, not the result of surgery or disease. 
The idol of Chaugnar Faugn was put on display in the museum by Algernon Harris. Shortly afterwards, a museum guard is murdered in mysterious circumstances. At the same time there are news reports of the discovery in the Pyrenees of 14 dead villagers. Their heads were missing and gigantic hoof marks were found in the area where they were killed.
Harris consults Roger Little, a criminal investigator turned hermit and mystic. He had past experience with the Mythos and could offer guidance as to what had happened- and what was going to happen.
Little relates a dream about Pompelo's destruction (the text here is taken almost verbatim from a Nov.1927 letter by Lovecraft to a Mr. Bernard Dwyer relating one of his dreams - see Behind the Mythos below).
By this time, the "idol" in the museum has revealed itself to be Chaugnar Faugn in person. The creature has stepped down from its pedestal and begun marauding in the streets of Manhattan.
It becomes a race against time, with Little and his entropy-reversing machine against the monster from the Pyrenees.
==Characters==
*Algernon Harris, the young Curator of Archaeology of the Manhattan Museum of Fine Arts.
*Chaugnar Faugn, a monstrous extradimensional creature worshiped as a god in the Plateau of Tsang.
**The Brothers of Chaugnar Faugn, who still reside in the Pyrenees.
*Clark Ulman, archaeologist who brings Chaugnar Faugn to the museum.
*Chung Ga, high-priest of the cult of Chaugnar Faugn in the Plateau of Tsang.
*Henry Weigal, coroner who examines Clark Ulman's body after his death.
*George Francis Scollard, president of the Manhattan Museum of Fine Arts.
*Cinney, museum watchman killed by Chaugnar Faugn.
*Jim Williams, museum's employee who found the exsanguinated body of Cinney.
*A museum attendant who tells Harris and Scollard about Cinney's death.
*A police sergeant investigating Cinney's death.
*Hsieh Ho, owner of a laundry close to the museum who has a dream prophesying Chaugnar's return.
*Henry C. Imbert, ethnologist and friend of Algernon Harris, who is far more skeptical than him.
*Roger Little, retired occult detective and inventor.
==Behind the Mythos==
With H. P. Lovecraft's full knowledge and permission, Long incorporated a dream Lovecraft had into the novel, using Lovecraft's description nearly word for word.
The year this story is set is unknown, although "The Dweller in the Tomb", by Lin Carter, refers to the events of this novel as having taken place before 1913. This might be contradicted by the novel's mention of "the late Halpin Chalmers", former curator of archaeology, as having retired from his position "in the fall of the previous year". In Long's "The Hounds of Tindalos", Halpin Chalmers dies on July 3, 1928, suggesting that The Horror from the Hills might take place after that date. However, Chalmers' obituary in "The Hounds of Tindalos" makes no mention of his status as former curator, which suggests that this Chalmers might not necessarily be the same character.
Category:Frank Belknap Long works
Category:Novels
Category:Lovecraft Circle Works