The Challenge from Beyond (Fantasy and Horror Classics)

A cosmic cube. A journey to a stellar nightmare. The ultimate, horrifying body swap. This unique and rarely collected short story is a collaborative work of supernatural horror, written by five of the greatest names in 20th-century weird fiction: C. L. Moore, A. Merritt, H. P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, and Frank Belknap Long. The story begins with geologist George Campbell, who, while enjoying a solitary vacation in the Canadian wilderness, discovers a strange, ancient crystalline cube. This cube is inscribed with non-human symbols and possesses a hypnotic, unsettling glow. As Campbell studies the artifact, the strange light intensifies, plunging him into a terrifying, accelerated journey across the cosmos. This is where Lovecraft takes the reins, injecting the tale with classic Cthulhu Mythos elements and the profound horror of mind transference. Campbell's human consciousness is violently expelled across billions of light-years, finding itself trapped in the monstrous, worm-like body of a malevolent alien creature on the distant planet Yekub. Simultaneously, the alien entity takes possession of Campbell's human form on Earth. Trapped, utterly helpless, and light-years away from home, Campbell's human mind must grapple with the sickening reality of being a prisoner in a grotesque, non-human body--a body belonging to one of the ancient, cosmic entities that threaten all known life. The Challenge from Beyond is a fascinating literary experiment and a classic slice of high-stakes cosmic horror, showcasing a chilling vision of body-horror and existential panic that asks what happens when your mind is merely a passenger in a universe far too large for human understanding.