"The Night Ocean" is a short story by H. P. Lovecraft and R. H. Barlow. Barlow drafted the tale, and handed it to Lovecraft to edit in the summer of 1936. It first appeared in the magazine The Californian, in its Winter 1936 edition. It tells of an unnamed artist, who, whilst vacationing by the beach, becomes increasingly unsettled by the presence of the ocean. Chapters: 0:00:10 - Introduction 0:00:54 - Part One 0:33:02 - Part Two 1:02:02 - Further Listening Bandcamp link: horrorbabble.bandcamp.com/album/the-night-ocean Narrated by Ian Gordon for HorrorBabble Music and production by Ian Gordon & Jennifer Gill Image by jplenio: pixabay.com/users/jplenio-7645255 Become a HorrorBabbler here on RU-vid: ru-vid.comjoin Support us on Bandcamp or Patreon: horrorbabble.bandcamp.com www.patreon.com/horrorbabble HorrorBabble MERCH: teespring.com/stores/horrorbabble-merch Search HORRORBABBLE to find us on: AUDIBLE / ITUNES / SPOTIFY Home: www.horrorbabble.com Rue Morgue: www.rue-morgue.com Social Media: facebook.com/HorrorBabble instagram.com/horrorbabble twitter.com/HorrorBabble
This piece is just pure mood. Don't come to the night ocean looking for action. I've always thought it was weirdly special for how simple it ends up being.
I've lived at the beach six decades. This is spot on; there are things that happen and that are seen that can not be explained; only felt and known. My 12 yo granddaughter told me about a thing in the waves watching her on the pier...she knows an otter from a seal from a whale...they wait to rise.
I agree. I've seen lights that I can't tie to any sort of bioluminescence etc. I've never seen anything from out of the depths leering at me though. It might make reconsider the next midnight swim.
Them or Arknights or AFK Arena or King's Lust or any of those other garbage tier gatcha non-games with blatantly false advertising. Pure trash, I'm constantly telling RU-vid to stop showing me the ads because they're indeed Irrelevant and sometimes Inappropriate.
It's things like this that make me glad I pay for the absence of ads. It's a weird reality that we can pay NOT to be inundated with advertisements, but the way they intrude into everything anyway no matter what steps you take to prevent them is one of the Devil's Bargains that comes with the modern age. At this point I'm really angry that they've begun sponsoring videos in order to get around the flimsy barrier my monthly fee has erected. I can skip it, sure, but why should I have to? The fact that they don't shill for any of these nightmares is one of the reasons I patronize Horrorbabble. There are a few others that I do likewise for, but very few. It's enough to make you want to isolate to the extent that you can't even be found by urgent telegram or strike a bargain with the furtive fishy beings from the deeps. I'll take my chances with the lesser known horrors over Progressive, Dollar Shave Club, Audible (of which I'm already a member! Yet still they come! Don't screw with me, Google, you already know that!) and of course Rage! Shadow Legends, thank you very much modern age. God, what if Google and Amazon really ARE the true Eldritch Horrors, and there aren't any greater evils that lie waiting??
Excellent reading. This is one of my favorite stories, even though it is 95% Barlow and 5% Lovecraft. Barlow understood how HPL tried to express atmosphere and mood and things just beyond perception or understanding, and did that perfectly in this story himself.
HPL appointed Barlow his literary executor - which may have annoyed Derleth, who clearly wanted to play St. Paul to Lovecraft's Christ. Barlow later taught anthropology in Mexico City, where William S. Burroughs was one of his students.
Interesting. I've read a fair amount both by and about Burroughs but never linked him in any way to Lovecraft but if I think about it they shared a similar florid imagination. Now the idea of a Burroughs in his early 20s gorging himself on Lovecraft strikes me as highly possible. Time to put both their names in the search engine and see what connections pop up.
It truly is my favourite nautical horror story. It is the unknown lurking in the deep that frightens me. Not a single action filled ocean book offers me the chills and terror this story does.
Simply amazing. Evocative, disturbing and even mind expanding. Never heard of this HP Lovecraft story, or more accurately, half Lovecraftian story. As always so well narrated and produced by Ian. Thanks for creating this experience.
Was listening to this alone at home while drawing and late at night, it should be mentioned. And it really got to me. I felt, in this story, the sense of "a greater truth" being hinted at, almost revealed...but then just beyond our grasp. We will never know, if that object was actually a hand or what that thing was carrying on his back. I have been to the sea and I am not sure whether I should love or fear it more now. It is deep and dark and mighty. And it will toss and roar on eternally, in the dark...I am rambling, I am sorry. Honestly, just a great story, probably one of my most favourite cosmic horror stories. Your voice really brought it to life!
That was a wonderful reading of this underrated story. The Night Ocean was actually written by Robert H. Barlow. Lovecraft, with whom he corresponded, only wrote/edited a couple of sentences.
From my understanding Barlow actually let HPL do a bulk of the writing for a number of stories, while banking all the credit and most of the pay. HPL has a very distinct style and you can usually read his influence quite easily. I recommend the HP Lovecraft Literary Podcast. They discuss pretty much all his known professional work. Including the Barlow colabs.
@Gary Lorette That isn't true at all. Lovecraft co-wrote with a number of people. The Curse of Yig bein just one of many. Also he was quite social and frequently traveled all over the US to meet friends.
A lot of stories Lovecraft gave credit to other authors he essentially wrote himself of a few paragraphs from an outline by the other author. You'd have to check his letters to other authors to confirm for each individual story. R/lovecraft has academics with access to those letters it's worth asking there.
The ending sounds like what happens when Cthulhu or Azathoth awakens, and I believe it to the latter of the two. Great work as always!!!!!!!!!! Stay safe out there!!!!!!!!!!!!
I read this story last night . An excellent Lovecraftian horror tale. Will THE OCEAN in Rhode Island , " The Ocean State ", seem more creepy to me now at night ? The POETIC style must be Barlow's .
This was an outstanding performance you gave on this reading tonight. The story was superb, so much detail, description. You felt like you were right there. Thank you. Stay well and have a splendid day♡
Such a wonderfully odd and evocative tale by Lovecraft and it's co-writer. I wonder if Brown university has the original manuscript and then I'd like to compare it to Lovecraft's revisions. It is turned out to be one of my favorite tales of his. And of course the narration is top notch as always. Ian Gordon is by far my favorite narrator of Lovecraft's tales. Many thanks for producing this podcast and posting it.
Amazing story. As a retired sailor, I can say the sea holds odd, strange, and unique things indeed. We are quite taciturn, but remain open to even the most outlandish stories. I really like this story. Very interesting. This is a phenomenally written story! Great job, Ian!
Hey Ian, This video is over an hour, but is included in the "15-45 minute" playlist. Just wanted to throw that out there. It's the only video out of hundreds that I have noticed was in the incorrect playlist. And I listen to your channel literally every night to fall asleep.
His work is nearly a century old. And even back then it was weird. So don't sweat it. I'd still read some of the more popular stuff at least once, if horror and pulp fiction interest you. Just for (historical) reference. For instance: you might have a whole new appreciation for King, if you spot HPL influences. Or just the pop culture references all over. Like in DnD.
@@robertmiller6467 it is wonderful that we are all uniquely tuned to love only certain things, and types of things, better than others we know around us. If we had nothing by which to make the comparison "I like this BETTER" or less often "I like this not at all", we would end up being not only indistinguishable from one another, but incapable of liking or loving anything, since loving everything is the same as being moved by nothing. So your frank disclosure of disliking Lovecraft only means you have taste in only some literature, and talking to people such as yourself is always how I discover new writing and new authors to explore and either fall in love with or underscore how definitely I love other things.
This isn't entirely (or even predominantly) his writing, just to let you know... the attribution is a little misleading on this video's thumbnail. This channel's is my favorite HPL narrator though, so if you don't like the other HPL stuff on here, then you probably actually don't like him. I didn't either, for years, and then something just kicked in...
