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Loneanimator β The Guardian of the Treasure
#british #edwardian #english #ghost #horror #monster #tentacles #victorian #mrjames
Published: 2014-12-12 21:17:44 +0000 UTC; Views: 3140; Favourites: 58; Downloads: 23
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From the M R James story "The Treasure of Abbot Thomas".Related content
Comments: 23
Good question! We never find out, except that it is a supernatural guardian of some kind. It's briefly described, but it's chillingly organic.
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Guardian: Mmm-hmm...you haven't flossed, have you?
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I think I've found the legend on which "Treasure" was based.Β There are several spooky stories connected with Netley Abbey in Hampshire, UK, according to one of my favorite ghost books, Haunted Britain by Anthony Hippisley Coxe.Β It seems a treasure was supposed to be buried somewhere under the abbey, hidden in an underground passage.Β However, something unspeakable dwelt in the passage, βso awful a secret that a man called Sloan literally died of fright.Β His last words were screamed instructions to a labouror to βBlock it up!Β In the name of God!ββ [p. 64]
Β
And thatβs all we get, unfortunately.Β At least James (and Loneanimator) delivered a tentacled Lovecraftian horror.
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That story sure seems similar. I also found a Swedish folktale, where a treasure buried in a peat bog is guarded by a huge monster. The treasure guardian concept seems to be widely spread.
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Isn't there even a suggestion that the thing locates the hotel at which the treasure-hunter is staying -- and it finds the hunter's friend's room instead?
"They parted upon this, and if Mr Gregory woke once or twice in the small hours and fancied he heard a fumbling about the lower part of his locked door, it was, perhaps, no more than what a quiet man, suddenly plunged into a strange bed and the heart of a mystery, might reasonably expect. Certainly he thought, to the end of his days, that he had heard such a sound twice or three times between midnight and dawn."
All you can do is say, "Not, me, Buddy, try the room across the hall!"
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Or maybe it was actually the ghost of Abbot Thomas himself? Such things are almost never explained by James, but do create a great atmosphere of anticipation.
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Very good! I've recently gotten into M.R. James and this story is one of my favorites.
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Thanks! It's one of my favourites too. Up until this point in the story, it seems to be a standard treasure hunt, so when the monster in the hole appears it's a very effective moment.
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That what I like about it, and your welcomed.
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One of the best of James's stories, definitely on my Top 10 list, and a seminal moment in terror as the barely-seen guardian suddenly grabs the treasure-hunting protagonist. The RPG player in me was absolutely thrilled by the scene. Β The vague but unsettling description along with the inscription in the well gives the artist a lot of leeway in making up something icky.
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What are your thoughts on this one?
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Wrong color--such a creature would necessarily have the dank, slimy gray-green of the well.
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Oh, the story is a classic, of course!
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One of his finest compositions, surely - claustrophobia of the ending is wonderful!
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Hardly surprising, as the protagonist was down a bloody well at the time!
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I opted for a more organic colour for the monster, or I should say organ-like. I wanted it to look like it was pulsatingly alive.
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Ah! 
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I love how the story starts off as a realistic mystery story with some compelling secrets and puzzles, and then ends as an almost Lovecraftian horror tale.
And I love how absolutely dark and terrifying this picture is! Really captures the feel of the grit, darkness, and claustrophobia of that scene! Great job, as usual.
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Another of my favorites! Love how you still kept the monster vague.
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