Render of the Veils Review

 I'll be writing this one based on my notes so it may get a little weirder from my usual writing. I've been doing research on the lesser-known gods and Daoloth showed up on my list. He's another god based on the works of Ramsay Campbell, one of my favorite Eldritch authors. I've already heaped praises on his story "The Tugging" which I thought was a fantastic story. But it all depends on the frame of mind and my mind wasn't well when I read it yesterday. I found this short story to be a little weaker than Campbell's usual work. 

A man named Gillson waits for the cab in the rain and picks up the last cab of the night with another man named Fisher. First, I'd like to point out their strange similar names. "Gillson?" "Fisher?" Was Campbell thinking of fishing at the time or is it me? Fisher invites Gillson to see a ritual he's has recreated from his time in a strange cult. Intrigued, Gillson agrees and they stop off at Fisher's house. Inside are homages to past artists such as Dali, Bosch, and even a reference to Clark Ashton Smith's art work. Smith is mainly remembered for his contributions to the Eldritch universe, contributions that are seem weaker to me than other writers. Fisher explains that he originally thought that they human eye only saw things in a distorted way. He says the cult taught him all kinds of strange things such as the unused parts of the human brain and the secret of what's really buried in the nearby graveyard. And this is something I like about this story: the lore. It's a technique I've love to see in stories, this casual reference to more story that leaves the reader wondering what happened. Stephen King does the same thing in his story "Salem's Lot" where he mentions the town's dark secrets that will never be revealed. It's this subtle way of getting the reader's attention that you don’t' even notice at first glance. Fisher shows a strange object that seems both 2D and 3D at the same time. It's a connection of angles and hemispheres that create a strange shape. As Gillson turns away, the object fills his peripheral vision, covering the entire wall and suddenly shrinks when he looks back at it. I immediately thought of how this could work in a film. A scene where something obscures the side of the screen until the camera looks back at the object. A powerful image. Fisher says that our mind’s eye deludes us into seeing a counterpart of what you see in our world. If you believe it is a table you are seeing, your other senses will confirm it. You will touch a table because it fits with what your eyes see. Fisher believes that this ritual will allow them to see the reality behind the reality. He places several egg objects that he calls Crystallizers of dream into a pentagram which project a mind into other dimensions. Fisher claims to have gone through twenty-five dimensions and met beings in metallic robes who gave him the strange object in the center of the pentagram.

At first, I didn’t understand the nature of the object. Was it a skull? A device? Since it’s an effigy of sorts of Daoloth, I think it’s a 3D version of a constellation. It fits the description that Campbell gives of the object. Daoloth was the god of astrologers in Atlantis before it sunk into the sea. Fisher claims that they have to be careful because seeing the true nature of Daoloth’s convolutions causes the mind to go insane. The pair wait until 2:45 when the time is right and turn out the lights and light a pair of candles. Fisher brings out a tape recorder to tape their session. When the stars align, the candles in the pentagram become negative flames. It’s a strange occurrence described but I thought again of a film. It’s like when a photo negative. The same image could be applied to the flame. Fisher offers eye patches to Gillson in case he wants to avoid seeing the true world. Gillson decides to forgo the patches and turns on the lights.

The police find Fisher stabbed to death and Gillson’s body thrown from the second story with shards of glass in his throat. The recording reveals that the two men saw each other as monsters in the light. Gillson must have killed Fisher out of fright. The only strange thing to the police is this weird sound of Dry Rustling heard on the recorder. Likely from the god.

Overall, not a bad story but not the best I’ve read of Campbell. I saw it more as a short film than a story. I have no idea who Bosch is but I’ll be looking into his work after this. I know that Dali created works from dreams and tried to push the boundaries of reality. The real “aha” moment for me was when I put together an image of Daoloth’s effigy. I’m likely wrong but I think there’s evidence that Campbell meant for the reader to imagine the device as a constellation. The cutout before the big reveal was also well done. It’s nice to leave the horror to the imagination because no matter what you think of it will always pale in comparison to the reader’s mind.

That’s enough for now, I’m going to go read.