Haunter of the Dark

“Cautious investigators will hesitate to challenge the common belief that Robert Blake was killed by lightning, or by some profound nervous shock derived from an electrical discharge. It is true that the window he faced was unbroken, but Nature has shown herself capable of many freakish performances. The expression on his face may easily have arisen from some obscure muscular source unrelated to anything he saw, while the entries in his diary are clearly the result of a fantastic imagination aroused by certain local superstitions and by certain old matters he had uncovered. As for the anomalous conditions at the deserted church on Federal Hill, the victim was a writer and painter wholly devoted to the field of myth, dream, terror, and superstition, and avid in his quest for scenes and effects of a bizarre, spectral sort. Between these two schools of opinion the reader must judge for himself. The papers have given the tangible details from a skeptical angle, leaving for others the drawing of the picture as Robert Blake saw it – or thought he saw it. Now, studying the diary closely, let us summarize the dark chain of events from the expressed point of view of their chief actor. Providence, Winter, 1934.” [The Haunter of the Dark by H.P. Lovecraft]

Submitted by Morgoth — Apr 25, 2025

Lost in my art, by my passions I’m consumed Shut away from the world outside My home this lonely attic room Outside my window, the great unknown The streets etched with mystery and dreams unfulfilled Sunset approaches and I train my eyes on that spectral unreachable plane Called Federal Hill For months the typewriter ribbon weaves Nameless nightmares of horror and dread My canvas holds the fresh dry paint Of images both hellish and deep blood red Over the rooftops and towers stands the steeple awash in deep black Against the flaming orange sky An obsession it’s drawing me in, the dark church whispers calling my name On to Federal Hill Gripped by a restless spirit, I stare out the window and through the looking glass The forbidding church stirs my inner thoughts From dawn to dusk, so the hours pass Over the rooftops and towers stands the steeple awash in deep black Against the flaming orange sky An obsession it’s drawing me in, the dark church whispers calling my name On to Federal Hill Now the muse has left me and I long to be inspired The secrets of the church upon the hill have sparked the fire I resolve to climb the city streets to see the things unseen And travel on this journey into the smoke wreathed world of dream Over the rooftops and towers stands the steeple awash in deep black Against the flaming orange sky An obsession it’s drawing me in, the dark church whispers calling my name On to Federal Hill

Submitted by Corpse Defiler — Apr 25, 2025

Drifting crowds of strange dark face Like windswept grains of sand These shuffling feet, so out of place In an undiscovered land Out of time, the old facades The buildings defy age Shutting out the sun from view Dark shadows have their way Something unseen calls me... (Something unseen) Something unseen draws me on The distant view I spied for months No landmarks can I find Like in a dream, but stranger still Were they figments of my mind? I ask a merchant about the church Of Gothic stone, and tall dark spire He makes the cross and turns away My query draws his ire In search of the great unknown Obsession is calling me on, calling me on Can illusion and dream be real? The answer is calling me, calling me on From harried walk, I stop apace And check my watch for time Two hours since the journey’s start The dark steeple I can’t find Through a maze of alleyways And streets of cobblestone A test of my endurance To find the church of stone In search of the great unknown Obsession is calling me on, calling me on Can illusion and dream be real? The answer is calling me, calling me on Something unseen calls me... (Something unseen) Something unseen At last I see the tower Here in this windswept open square The vision become real No more an illusion I found the church God heard my prayer! In search of the great unknown Obsession is calling me on, calling me on When fiction becomes the truth The answer is calling me, calling me on In search of the great unknown This yearning is calling me on Yes, it’s calling me on Can illusion and dream be real? The answer is calling me, calling me on

Submitted by The Void — Apr 25, 2025

[Chapter I: Dark Whispers] Standing in its shadow, the old temple shows its age Desolation and decay hang like a pall about the place The vacant Gothic structure, by padlocked rusty gate confined A touch of the dimly sinister, which I cannot define Dark whispers, tales of superstition From some unknown, vast gulf of night What monstrous evil dwelt within and left its mark, shuttered from the light? Legends are evoked, fear of something locked away behind the darkest door Some things are better left to rest in peace, alone in the blackness forevermore The square is oddly quiet, the church yard overgrown A few people in the distance, I approach a constable He speaks of priestly warnings, foul things of days gone past And a cult that summoned evil, in dark days that didn’t last Dark whispers, tales of superstition From some unknown, vast gulf of night What monstrous evil dwelt within and left its mark, shuttered from the light? Legends are evoked, fear of something locked away behind the darkest door Some things are better left to rest in peace, alone in the blackness forevermore The dark sect took root within the church’s Gothic walls Sometimes town folk would go missing, a mystery still unsolved It took a valiant priest to exorcise the beast Drive out the heretics, but some still believe the evil lies in wait... Now I’m edging nearer to the church’s iron gate Missing bars provide me entrance to the temple and my fate My trespass is revealed by those who make the cross They slowly back away, as if they know the cost Amidst the rot and tangles I search for entryway Doors locked, I walk the path around the stone blockade A cellar window, passage to within the church’s walls I struggle with my fear, but still I hear the call... [Chapter II: Entry] Into the dark, I let myself down to the concrete floor Within the vast cellar of dense shadows, my courage I enforce A black archway to the right leads to the upper floor I climb the worn stone steps, the darkness I deplore Strange as any imagining As if my weird tales came to life Strange feelings, eyes upon me A malignant presence I can’t describe I fumble without light, a blind man feeling with his hands Stopped by a closed door in dark as black as night Pushed open to a corridor, dimly lit my eyes do glance The massive hall revealed, through stained glass rays of light Strange as any imagining As if my weird tales came to life Strange feelings, eyes upon me A malignant presence I can’t describe Cobwebs dress the pews, the altar holds the dust of time The cross of an unknown faith, adorned in filth and grime Into a vestry room are shelves of mildewed, rotting books Black, forbidden volumes of legend or unknown Strange as any imagining As if my weird tales came to life Strange feelings, eyes upon me A malignant presence I can’t describe This place was once the seat of evil older than mankind The manuscripts they prove it The local rumors had not lied Characters and symbols on the printed page Occult, and long forgotten from the darkest age I see the Book of Dzyan, the Necronomicon Books of blackest magic, darkest echelon Within a ruined desk I find a small black book A record book of entries in ancient cryptograph I recognize the symbols from days of study past The small book I take with me, the code I must unmask Am I the one to conquer the town’s pervasive fear That left the church deserted for over sixty years? Am I the only one to tread these hallowed halls Since the start of rumor and dark cultists’ fall? [Chapter III: The Ascent] Through the dust and silken webs I trudge on I will not be deterred to the front entrance A door reveals stairs It begins with just one step and leads to my ascent Spiral motion, pull me up Anticipation, push me on Upward still proceeding, in winding, twisting steps The windows show a city in miniature Church tower lies above I await with bated breath It all seems so unreal Spiral motion, pull me up Anticipation, push me on Just a few more steps To end this epic quest Just a few more steps Just a few more steps [Chapter IV: The Shining Trapezohedron] At last I reach the summit – the tower has no chime I see a stone pillar center lined A strange box atop, from outside time and space Within a shining crystal, black as hate Entranced as if by magic, shining crystal holds my gaze I see worlds of great stone towers, alien terrain Around the pillar a rough circle, seven Gothic chairs And cryptic carvings alien Hieroglyphs of unknown origin The peculiar rock, the power to transcend Titan mountains, worlds of wonder, clouded by a haze Stirring in vague blackness, struggling, hard to look away [Chapter V: Spectres] My eyes are pulled away, a skeleton in tattered suit of grey A steeple as a tomb How did he meet this doom? He wears a reporter’s badge Notebook of black, clutched in bone white hand The past his pages illustrate Mystery of the church’s darkest fate Professor Enoch Bowen buys the church Back from Egypt, so starts the curse 1848, ten have disappeared, Stories of blood sacrifice are whispered on the air Spectres from the past reduced to dust and ash Within the church’s walls, unholy rites recalled Message from the past, the conspiracy is vast Within the crystal stone, into the great unknown The priest warns of devil worship And a box from Egypt’s ruins It calls something from the darkness And is banished by the light Some claim the crystal shows them heaven And the Haunter of the Dark tells secrets in some way They call the Haunter forth from void of blackness Only light can send it back from whence it came 1857, they call it up by crystal gaze The cult of Starry Wisdom growing day by day Some claim the crystal shows them heaven And the Haunter of the Dark tells secrets in some way They call the Haunter forth from void of blackness Only light can send it back from whence it came Spectres from the past reduced to dust and ash Within the church’s walls, unholy rites recalled Message from the past, the conspiracy is vast Within the crystal stone, into the great unknown Too many years of mystery disappearance Opinion of the public finally sways The time is right for justice, retribution All that’s left are ghosts from those dark days The crystal pulls me in again, entranced by far off worlds Panic breaks the spell Strange connection, somehow our beings are entwined I feel it there behind me, the Haunter of the Dark I slam the lid down on the shining crystal stone I hear movement from above, I know I’m not alone A monster in the steeple, I fear for my life I run from the church and into the night Back to the sane central streets of my home Away from this nightmare, nevermore to Federal Hill

Submitted by NecroGod — Nov 17, 2025

Silence, without exception Not one soul would I tell Of the disastrous expedition to the church on Federal Hill I lose myself in research at the library downtown Through years of old newspaper files For me the printed page recounts Lost in daydreams of hide and seek It’s looking through the crystal, staring back at me (staring back at me) Lost in nightmares and elegies Something claims my soul and I cannot break free (and I cannot break free) Obsession with this cryptogram I found within the leather volume Amidst the dust and mildew In the cobwebbed vestry room The cipher I discover is not a simple one A code in language strange, uncommon A puzzle from beyond In June I solve the quandary Research in matters magic black The text is in dark Aklo A language ancient and abstract I fear these things uncovered from behind the walls of sleep I never thought ignorance was bliss, but now I’m in too deep I see the birds of spring Avoid the gaunt lone church’s spire Whispers on the wind The darkness closing in Every evening, the old impulse To gaze westward returns The terror grows as the hours pass From the stranger things I’ve learned Lost in daydreams of hide and seek It’s looking through the crystal, staring back at me (staring back at me) Lost in nightmares and elegies Something claims my soul and I cannot break free (I cannot break free) Lost in daydreams (lost in daydreams) of hide and seek (hide and seek) It’s looking through the crystal (crystal), staring back at me (staring back at me) (I cannot break free) Lost in nightmares (lost in nightmares) and elegies (and elegies) Something claims my soul and I cannot break free (I cannot break free) (I cannot break free!) Every evening, the old impulse To gaze westward returns The terror grows as the hours pass From the stranger things I’ve learned...

Submitted by Immortal — Apr 25, 2025

Discovery of the darkest kind Outside our world of space and time Down the rabbit hole I go Things human minds should never know Eyes now wide open To see things unseen Hide in the shadows Try not to scream Reference to a monster The Haunter of the Dark Gaze in shining crystal Summons creature forth The creature holds all knowledge Demands blood sacrifice From black gulf of chaos The crystal stone invites Eyes now wide open Dark things of dream No place to hide From this evil fiend Summoned, I called it By a twist of fate There in the church For me it lies in wait It lives among the shadows In the dark of night The Haunter seeks its refuge From the rays of light I fear the evening twilight The sky awash in black The Haunter stalks me like its prey Ready to attack From my attic window in fear I count the hours I watch the orange sun set on the church’s spire The street lights ablaze around my building guard May they give protection from unholy fire... The Shining Trapezohedron A crystal window on all time and space Created on dark Yuggoth Long before the Old Ones came Brought to earth many aeons ago Passed through the centuries from tribe to tribe Serpent men of Valusia to the humans of Lemuria Crossing strange lands and stranger seas The Shining Trapezohedron A crystal window on all time and space Created on dark Yuggoth Long before the Old Ones came Lost with Atlantis, then retrieved from the sea Possessed by a Pharaoh, this evil seed Asleep in the ruins, its temple confined Then dug from the sand to again curse mankind I read it in the papers Fear grows on Federal Hill The local superstitions Intensify in build Rumor, ghostly sounds From the church unseen Banish the spirits That haunt townfolk’s dreams They say something watches At entry of church It waits for night’s cover To venture forth It lives among the shadows In the dark of night The Haunter seeks its refuge From the rays of light I fear the evening twilight The sky awash in black The Haunter stalks me like its prey Ready to attack From my attic window, in fear I count the hours I watch the orange sun set on the church’s spire The street lights ablaze around my building guard May they give protection from unholy fire... I feel remorse – my actions set this thing free Must capture the crystal and hide, where no man can see Can I find the courage to banish the beast? A morbid longing, to the crystal stone’s deceit

Submitted by Corpse Defiler — Apr 25, 2025

The morning paper brings me dread I can’t believe the things I read Power outage on Federal Hill Strange things afoot, my heart is still Fear, spreading, growing strong Panic, thriving, corresponds Seduced by the great unknown Some things should be left alone I’m paralyzed by this fear of the dark Black magic brings my doom Curiosity consumed I’m powerless against this fear of the dark Thunder struck, took out the lights Left the city in cloak of night Creature came down from the tower Streetlights shut down for an hour Fear, spreading, growing strong Panic, thriving, corresponds Seduced by the great unknown Some things should be left alone I’m paralyzed by this fear of the dark Black magic brings my doom Curiosity consumed I’m powerless against this fear of the dark Set my fate when I set it free It will never stop, now it comes for me Face my fear, complete the task One ray of light will send it back In the dark hour, downpour of rain Crowd with candles form a blockade Around the church, together they pray This guard of light keeps creature at bay Shattering glass, back up to the tower The Haunter retreats, lights return with the power In darkness, the steeple again its domain The Haunter it waits, to be free again Still the worst was yet to come Details reported in The Bulletin Intrigued by the rumors, they explored the church But nothing suspicious in their long search The reports the same as what I’d seen But proclaimed as hoax of charlatanry Two things unwritten that cut to the bone The body is missing, as is the stone Something scratching at my brain, The lurking horror in the spire It shows me things insidious From unknown realms of fire Dire consequence, power lost In a frantic state, I’m in too deep Mounting tide of terrible dreams Nervous apprehension, afraid to sleep Fear, spreading, growing strong Panic, thriving, corresponds Seduced by the great unknown Some things should be left alone I’m paralyzed by this fear of the dark Black magic brings my doom Curiosity consumed I’m powerless against this fear of the dark Set my fate when I set it free It will never stop, now it comes for me Face my fear, complete the task One ray of light will send it back Fear, spreading, growing strong Panic, thriving, corresponds

Submitted by Grave666 — Apr 25, 2025

I hear it whisper, feel it tugging at my will This connection that’s between us, getting stronger still In bed I lie awake afraid to close my eyes I tell myself it’s alright to believe the lies I know that it is waiting, waiting in my dreams Through strange worlds walking in my sleep Visions vague and incomplete Nightmare phantoms and cold sweat screams Is all that we see or seem but a dream? I awake in fright, sleep walking through the night It draws me closer still, yet I struggle and I fight I bind my arms and legs to the bed in which I lay To keep myself from wandering or being led astray Through strange worlds walking in my sleep Visions vague and incomplete Nightmare phantoms and cold sweat screams Is all that we see or seem but a dream? Haunted by this thing, it takes me to the brink Of mental nervous break, how much can I take? I make myself a prison of this attic room I see the knighted moon outside my private tomb Strange as any imagining As if my weird tales came to life Strange feelings, eyes upon me A malignant presence I can’t describe Strange as any imagining As if my weird tales came to life Strange feelings, eyes upon me A malignant presence I can’t describe My body not my own, dangling like a puppet on a string Control lost to a monster, this wicked nightmare king It brings me to the church in hazy mist of slumber deep Prodding at my mind to find the secrets that I keep I find the strength to run I scurry down the spiral stairs Away from church and steeple And away from its dark lair I awake on my own floor With the rising morning sun Bruised and beaten, my mind is numb Pulling up memory, pushing back time Remember my hopes before the decline Live in the past, closing the door Wish for bright days like they were before Pulling up memory, pushing back time Remember my hopes before the decline Can’t hide in the past, the wolf’s at the door No more bright days like they were before...

Submitted by Morgoth — Apr 25, 2025

Midnight, August 8th, rain on the roof Harbinger of the great storm to come I feel it, I know it when I see the lightning strikes I fear my time is short This unholy connection growing stronger I see what it sees, it knows where I am ...The lights must not go… Thunder fills the sky tonight City loses sleep One AM a frantic call, Lines are down complete Pitch black outside my window Lightning flashes city streets 2:12 AM the lights go out Citywide is power lost I see the things the Haunter sees Townfolk below do counterplot With candle, flashlights, crucifix They hold the thing at bay Rising wind blows out the flames Sounds from the steeple stray They say their prayers, Defy the wind as they relight the flames They call the priest to invoke the Almighty’s name Lights out, hope lost, the darkness is rising Frenzy, despair, the darkness is rising Fear paralyzing, the darkness rising 2:35 sound swells in the black tower Foul smell of evil emanates from the church A loud splinter of wood and a crash in the church yard High windows agape, it’s attempting to escape Lights out, hope lost, the darkness is rising Frenzy, despair, fear paralyzing Possessed, God help me, the darkness is rising Free will the cost, no use in fighting Fear paralyzing, the darkness rising Half numb, with awe I watch My mind is not my own Through eyes of a monster Watching those below Lights out, hope lost, the darkness is rising Frenzy, despair, fear paralyzing Possessed, God help me, the darkness is rising Free will the cost, no use in fighting Fear paralyzing, the darkness rising Wind howls like the flapping of wings Fire extinguished, all lost in blackest night Chaos ensues, the crowd trembles in fright Left in a world without the light I sense it coming for me from the east There is no escape from the beast Like a formless cloud of smoke The Haunter does approach... Trapped within dark worlds of wonder, clouded in a haze Entranced by blackest magic, Haunter has me in its gaze Connection of the darkest order, controlled in every way Stirring my subconscious, struggling, hard to look away I write my final thoughts, like some frantic eulogy I lose train of thought, I lose myself, like in a dream Losing hold on reality, I slip into the fray Must document the story’s end The Haunter makes its way False memory, I see things I never knew before Other worlds, other dark galaxies, visions seen nevermore The long, winging flight through the void Cannot cross into the white light Caught in the Shining Crystal Thoughts forever lost in time I’m Robert Harrison Blake I am on this planet Sense of distance gone Far is near, near is far Roderick Usher, am I going mad? I am it and it is I must get out, unify the forces It knows where I am Sense transfigured, I see the tower in the dark I see it coming for me Hell-wind, titan blur, black wings, Yog-Sothoth, save me From the three-lobed burning eye Lights out, hope lost, the darkness is rising Frenzy, despair, fear paralyzing Possessed, God help me, the darkness is rising Free will the cost, no use in fighting A flash of lightning, all is lost, the Haunter in mid-flight Electric surges through its form and surges through my mind Light sends it back to its own world, trapped in darkness, blind Terror filled, insanity, rigid body left behind

Submitted by VladTheImpaler666 — Apr 25, 2025

Providence, Summer, 1935. The next day’s papers mentioned the great lightning flash which followed the Federal Hill occurrence was most marked over College Hill, though no trace of its striking could afterward be found. A youth in the Tau Omega fraternity house thought he saw a grotesque and hideous mass of smoke in the air just as the preliminary flash burst. These points were discussed very carefully because of their probable connection with the death of Robert Blake. Students in the Psi Delta house, whose upper rear windows looked into Blake’s study, noticed the blurred white face at the westward window on the morning of the 9th, and wondered what was wrong with the expression. When they saw the same face in the same position that evening, they rang the bell of the darkened flat, and finally had a policeman force the door. The rigid body sat bolt upright at the desk by the window, with glassy, bulging eyes, and the marks of stark, convulsive fright on the twisted features. The coroner’s physician made an examination, and despite the unbroken window reported electrical shock as the cause of death. The hideous expression he deeming it a not improbable result of the profound shock as experienced by a person of such abnormal imagination. He deduced these latter qualities from the books, paintings, and manuscripts found in the apartment, and from the blindly scrawled entries in the diary on the desk. These are the entries – or all that can be made of them: Lights still out... must be five minutes now. Everything depends on lightning. Some influence seems beating through it. Rain and thunder and wind deafen. The thing is taking hold of my mind...” [The Haunter of the Dark by H.P. Lovecraft]

Submitted by Finntroll — Apr 25, 2025