"The Beast in the Cave" is a short story by American horror fiction writer H. P. Lovecraft written in 1905, when Lovecraft was fourteen. It was first published in the June 1918 issue of the amateur press journal The Vagrant.
Plot[]
A man touring Mammoth Cave in Kentucky separates from his guide and becomes lost. His torch expires and he is giving up hope of finding a way out in the pitch dark, when he hears strange non-human footsteps approaching him. Thinking it to be a lost mountain lion or other such beast, he picks up a stone and throws it toward the source of the sound. The cave beast is hit and crumples to the floor. The guide finds the protagonist, and together they examine the fallen creature with the guide's torchlight. The creature mutters in its last breaths and they see its face, discovering that it is in fact a pale, deformed human, who had also become lost in the cave.
Popular culture[]
- Sapthuran's EP The Beast in the Cave (2007) is based upon the short story.
- H. P. Lovecraft's The Beast in the Cave (2016) is a short horror film adaptation.
Behind the Mythos[]
This story is the first example of devolution in Lovecraft's work. Devolution is where more recent forms of a species are "degenerate" and more "primitive" or "savage" than earlier forms. This idea undermines any concept of progress, whether moral or biological, and of course removes humanity from its destined role as rulers of creation. As such, it is also an early example of Cosmicism.
Other works that explore the devolution of humanity are "The Lurking Fear", "Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family", "The Rats in the Walls", and arguably even The Shadow over Innsmouth.