The Shadowy Thing — H.B. Drake

"H. B. Drake's The Shadowy Thing summons up strange and terrible vistas." --H. P. Lovecraft. A weird supernatural thriller in which a character possesses the power of mind-transference, praised by Lovecraft in "Supernatural Horror in Literature" and believed to be influential on his stories "The Thing on the Doorstep" and "The Shadow Out of Time." The uncanny powers of young Avery Booth alarmed and frightened his friends. After coming under his influence it became clear to others that people were doing things against their wills. He implanted the dark fear of the unknown in the hearts of his acquaintances, weakening their conventional security of thought and troubling their minds with foolish shadows of doubt and dread and fantastic imaginings that worked like a subtle poison. Even his satellites moved in a maze of unpleasant and inexplicable shadows, for the very atmosphere they lived in seemed haunted. But in Dick Bellew, Avery met an antagonist worthy of his skill. The enthralling story of their conflict and its final dramatic conclusion is gripping and amazingly well done.