The Beast in the Cave
by H. P. Lovecraft
Written April 21, 1905
Published June 1918 in The Vagrant, No. 7, p. 113-20.
The horrible conclusion which had been gradually obtruding itself upon my confused and reluctant mind
was now an awful certainty. I was lost, completely, hopelessly lost in the vast and labyrinthine recess of
the Mammoth Cave. Turn as I might, in no direction could my straining vision seize on any object
capable of serving as a guidepost to set me on the outward path. That nevermore should I behold the
blessed light of day, or scan the pleasant bills and dales of the beautiful world outside, my reason could
no longer entertain the slightest unbelief. Hope had departed. Yet, indoctrinated as I was by a life of
philosophical study, I derived no small measure of satisfaction from my unimpassioned demeanour; for
although I had frequently read of the wild frenzies into which were thrown the victims of similar
situations, I experienced none of these, but stood quiet as soon as I clearly realised the loss of my
bearings.
Nor did the thought that I had probably wandered beyond the utmost limits of an ordinary search cause
me to abandon my composure even for a moment. If I must die, I reflected, then was this terrible yet
majestic cavern as welcome a sepulchre as that which any churchyard might afford, a conception which
carried with it more of tranquillity than of despair.
Starving would prove my ultimate fate; of this I was certain. Some, I knew, had gone mad under
circumstances such as these, but I felt that this end would not be mine. My disaster was the result of no
fault save my own, since unknown to the guide I had separated myself from the regular party of
sightseers; and, wandering for over an hour in forbidden avenues of the cave, had found myself unable to
retrace the devious windings which I had pursued since forsaking my companions.
Already my torch had begun to expire; soon I would be enveloped by the total and almost palpable
blackness of the bowels of the earth. As I stood in the waning, unsteady light, I idly wondered over the
exact circumstances of my coming end. I remembered the accounts which I had heard of the colony of
consumptives, who, taking their residence in this gigantic grotto to find health from the apparently
salubrious air of the underground world, with its steady, uniform temperature, pure air, and peaceful
quiet, had found, instead, death in strange and ghastly form. I had seen the sad remains of their ill-made
cottages as I passed them by with the party, and had wondered what unnatural influence a long sojourn in
this immense and silent cavern would exert upon one as healthy and vigorous as I. Now, I grimly told
myself, my opportunity for settling this point had arrived, provided that want of food should not bring me
too speedy a departure from this life.
The Beast in the Cave by H. P. Lovecraft
As the last fitful rays of my torch faded into obscurity, I resolved to leave no stone unturned, no possible
means of escape neglected; so, summoning all the powers possessed by my lungs, I set up a series of
loud shoutings, in the vain hope of attracting the attention of the guide by my clamour. Yet, as I called, I
believed in my heart that my cries were to no purpose, and that my voice, magnified and reflected by the
numberless ramparts of the black maze about me, fell upon no ears save my own.
All at once, however, my attention was fixed with a start as I fancied that I heard the sound of soft
approaching steps on the rocky floor of the cavern.
Was my deliverance about to be accomplished so soon? Had, then, all my horrible apprehensions been
for naught, and was the guide, having marked my unwarranted absence from the party, following my
course and seeking me out in this limestone labyrinth? Whilst these joyful queries arose in my brain, I
was on the point of renewing my cries, in order that my discovery might come the sooner, when in an
instant my delight was turned to horror as I listened; for my ever acute ear, now sharpened in even
greater degree by the complete silence of the cave, bore to my benumbed understanding the unexpected
and dreadful knowledge that these footfalls were not like those of any mortal man. In the unearthly
stillness of this subterranean region, the tread of the booted guide would have sounded like a series of
sharp and incisive blows. These impacts were soft, and stealthy, as of the paws of some feline. Besides,
when I listened carefully, I seemed to trace the falls of four instead of two feet.
I was now convinced that I had by my own cries aroused and attracted some wild beast, perhaps a
mountain lion which had accidentally strayed within the cave. Perhaps, I considered, the Almighty had
chosen for me a swifter and more merciful death than that of hunger; yet the instinct of self-preservation,
never wholly dormant, was stirred in my breast, and though escape from the on-coming peril might but
spare me for a sterner and more lingering end, I determined nevertheless to part with my life at as high a
price as I could command. Strange as it may seem, my mind conceived of no intent on the part of the
visitor save that of hostility. Accordingly, I became very quiet, in the hope that the unknown beast
would, in the absence of a guiding sound, lose its direction as had I, and thus pass me by. But this hope
was not destined for realisation, for the strange footfalls steadily advanced, the animal evidently having
obtained my scent, which in an atmosphere so absolutely free from all distracting influences as is that of
the cave, could doubtless be followed at great distance.
Seeing therefore that I must be armed for defense against an uncanny and unseen attack in the dark, I
groped about me the largest of the fragments of rock which were strewn upon all parts of the floor of the
cavern in the vicinity, and grasping one in each hand for immediate use, awaited with resignation the
inevitable result. Meanwhile the hideous pattering of the paws drew near. Certainly, the conduct of the
creature was exceedingly strange. Most of the time, the tread seemed to be that of a quadruped, walking
with a singular lack of unison betwixt hind and fore feet, yet at brief and infrequent intervals I fancied
that but two feet were engaged in the process of locomotion. I wondered what species of animal was to
confront me; it must, I thought, be some unfortunate beast who had paid for its curiosity to investigate
one of the entrances of the fearful grotto with a life-long confinement in its interminable recesses. It
doubtless obtained as food the eyeless fish, bats and rats of the cave, as well as some of the ordinary fish
that are wafted in at every freshet of Green River, which communicates in some occult manner with the
The Beast in the Cave by H. P. Lovecraft
waters of the cave. I occupied my terrible vigil with grotesque conjectures of what alteration cave life
might have wrought in the physical structure of the beast, remembering the awful appearances ascribed
by local tradition to the consumptives who had died after long residence in the cave. Then I remembered
with a start that, even should I succeed in felling my antagonist, I should never behold its form, as my
torch had long since been extinct, and I was entirely unprovided with matches. The tension on my brain
now became frightful. My disordered fancy conjured up hideous and fearsome shapes from the sinister
darkness that surrounded me, and that actually seemed to press upon my body. Nearer, nearer, the
dreadful footfalls approached. It seemed that I must give vent to a piercing scream, yet had I been
sufficiently irresolute to attempt such a thing, my voice could scarce have responded. I was petrified,
rooted to the spot. I doubted if my right arm would allow me to hurl its missile at the oncoming thing
when the crucial moment should arrive. Now the steady pat, pat, of the steps was close at hand; now very
close. I could hear the laboured breathing of the animal, and terror-struck as I was, I realised that it must
have come from a considerable distance, and was correspondingly fatigued. Suddenly the spell broke.
My right hand, guided by my ever trustworthy sense of hearing, threw with full force the sharp-angled bit
of limestone which it contained, toward that point in the darkness from which emanated the breathing
and pattering, and, wonderful to relate, it nearly reached its goal, for I heard the thing jump, landing at a
distance away, where it seemed to pause.
Having readjusted my aim, I discharged my second missile, this time most effectively, for with a flood of
joy I listened as the creature fell in what sounded like a complete collapse and evidently remained prone
and unmoving. Almost overpowered by the great relief which rushed over me, I reeled back against the
wall. The breathing continued, in heavy, gasping inhalations and expirations, whence I realised that I had
no more than wounded the creature. And now all desire to examine the thing ceased. At last something
allied to groundless, superstitious fear had entered my brain, and I did not approach the body, nor did I
continue to cast stones at it in order to complete the extinction of its life. Instead, I ran at full speed in
what was, as nearly as I could estimate in my frenzied condition, the direction from which I had come.
Suddenly I heard a sound or rather, a regular succession of sounds. In another Instant they had resolved
themselves into a series of sharp, metallic clicks. This time there was no doubt. It was the guide. And
then I shouted, yelled, screamed, even shrieked with joy as I beheld in the vaulted arches above the faint
and glimmering effulgence which I knew to be the reflected light of an approaching torch. I ran to meet
the flare, and before I could completely understand what had occurred, was lying upon the ground at the
feet of the guide, embracing his boots and gibbering. despite my boasted reserve, in a most meaningless
and idiotic manner, pouring out my terrible story, and at the same time overwhelming my auditor with
protestations of gratitude. At length, I awoke to something like my normal consciousness. The guide had
noted my absence upon the arrival of the party at the entrance of the cave, and had, from his own
intuitive sense of direction, proceeded to make a thorough canvass of by-passages just ahead of where he
had last spoken to me, locating my whereabouts after a quest of about four hours.
By the time he had related this to me, I, emboldened by his torch and his company, began to reflect upon
the strange beast which I had wounded but a short distance back in the darkness, and suggested that we
ascertain, by the flashlight's aid, what manner of creature was my victim. Accordingly I retraced my
steps, this time with a courage born of companionship, to the scene of my terrible experience. Soon we
descried a white object upon the floor, an object whiter even than the gleaming limestone itself.
The Beast in the Cave by H. P. Lovecraft
Cautiously advancing, we gave vent to a simultaneous ejaculation of wonderment, for of all the unnatural
monsters either of us had in our lifetimes beheld, this was in surpassing degree the strangest. It appeared
to be an anthropoid ape of large proportions, escaped, perhaps, from some itinerant menagerie. Its hair
was snow-white, a thing due no doubt to the bleaching action of a long existence within the inky confines
of the cave, but it was also surprisingly thin, being indeed largely absent save on the head, where it was
of such length and abundance that it fell over the shoulders in considerable profusion. The face was
turned away from us, as the creature lay almost directly upon it. The inclination of the limbs was very
singular, explaining, however, the alternation in their use which I bad before noted, whereby the beast
used sometimes all four, and on other occasions but two for its progress. From the tips of the fingers or
toes, long rat-like claws extended. The hands or feet were not prehensile, a fact that I ascribed to that
long residence in the cave which, as I before mentioned, seemed evident from the all-pervading and
almost unearthly whiteness so characteristic of the whole anatomy. No tail seemed to be present.
The respiration had now grown very feeble, and the guide had drawn his pistol with the evident intent of
despatching the creature, when a sudden sound emitted by the latter caused the weapon to fall unused.
The sound was of a nature difficult to describe. It was not like the normal note of any known species of
simian, and I wonder if this unnatural quality were not the result of a long continued and complete
silence, broken by the sensations produced by the advent of the light, a thing which the beast could not
have seen since its first entrance into the cave. The sound, which I might feebly attempt to classify as a
kind of deep-tone chattering, was faintly continued.
All at once a fleeting spasm of energy seemed to pass through the frame of the beast. The paws went
through a convulsive motion, and the limbs contracted. With a jerk, the white body rolled over so that its
face was turned in our direction. For a moment I was so struck with horror at the eyes thus revealed that I
noted nothing else. They were black, those eyes, deep jetty black, in hideous contrast to the snow-white
hair and flesh. Like those of other cave denizens, they were deeply sunken in their orbits, and were
entirely destitute of iris. As I looked more closely, I saw that they were set in a face less prognathous
than that of the average ape, and infinitely less hairy. The nose was quite distinct. As we gazed upon the
uncanny sight presented to our vision, the thick lips opened, and several sounds issued from them, after
which the thing relaxed in death.
The guide clutched my coat sleeve and trembled so violently that the light shook fitfully, casting weird
moving shadows on the walls.
I made no motion, but stood rigidly still, my horrified eyes fixed upon the floor ahead.
The fear left, and wonder, awe, compassion, and reverence succeeded in its place, for the sounds uttered
by the stricken figure that lay stretched out on the limestone had told us the awesome truth. The creature
I had killed, the strange beast of the unfathomed cave, was, or had at one time been a MAN!!!