Hounds of Tindalos Review

This short story by Frank Belknap Long is better than anything I've read by Clark Ashton Smith. It follows a man who experiments with psychiatric drugs to induce time travel. Across time and space he encounters the Hounds that "scented" him and chase him through time. The man uses plaster to seal up the corners in his room for the beasts can only travel through angles of time while we exist in the curves. Of course, something happens. An earthquake shakes the foundation and the plaster falls off. The man is found with his blood drained and humid decapitated head resting on his chest. We never find out if his plaster actually stopped the beasts or if he was doomed from the start.

I know little of Einstein and his theories on time and space but the concept is facinating. Like most of Lovecraftian stories, this one dives into unexplained lore as the man experiences time travel. He seems to enter the bodies of different people  from slaves to kings. Whether this is our past or another time line is never made clear. For my taste, the story seems to be trying to throw in vague ideas during the time travel like they're red herrings. The travel doesn't add much to the story that already feels like a formula. Through in a few odd references and vague ideas and you've made a story in the Eldritch universe.

 I know these writers are trying to add to the lore with Easter eggs and references but it doesn't work for me. I wonder why that is because I know Stephen King makes references to his monsters, like Pennywise showing up in a different book than "It." So why does it work for King? Maybe because the story in Derry was completed. There aren't many, if any, Eldritch stories about the past of Lovecraft's world. Im referring to stories about Atlantis or the other vague ideas used in this story. I think one of them was about black midgets rulling the world. I suppose the lack of concrete concepts adds to the mystery. You wonder if the protagonist in this story is really seeing through time or delusional.

It feels like this story is Lovecraft-adjacent rather than pure Lovecraft. It's not done quite right. With Lovecraft i could tell that there was a wonder if the narrator was crazy or not. But what about our protagonist? He likely didn't drain his blood and decapitates himself. I think it would have been better if there was someone stalking the protagonist. Then there's a reason to believe he's insane rather than hunted by the hounds. Of course the hounds are never described which leaves room to the imagination. 

That's also the problem I'm having with my story: disbelief. People who deal in magic likely would believe a story about being hunted by time hounds rather than the man being insane. I should mention that the protagonist expresses his time travel experiences to a narrator who calls for a doctor. So we have our story-teller and someone to doubt him. Perhaps that is where the weakness lies because the doubting isn't strong enough. 

I think you need a more reasonable doubt to make Lovecraft work.